On a scale from one to ten, the attempt of Weiss Schnee to garner her favor ranked around three in terms of obnoxiousness for Pyrrha Nikos. Enough to be noticed, but too little to stimulate the part of her brain that was responsible for violent outbreaks of regret. The girl was so bad at kissing ass it was almost funny, most likely because she's used to being the one whose derriere goz smooched by spineless sycophants.
It had the advantage of keeping others away. From the welcoming speech to the forced mass sleepover and finally their gearing up for the initiation testing in the locker room, nobody dared cutting in line against the heiress of a multibillion lien company.
They were completely isolated from the others changing clothes around them. How dull had the life of the invincible lady become. Day after day, living up to the Nikos family name, going through the motions of squashing lackluster opponents and smiling at the cameras.
And if she had to sign one more box of subpar sugar cereal, she would suffocate someone with the plastic wrap!
The enrollment at Beacon was more an escape than anything else. The fame and glamour had become too much in Mistral. Vale cared a lot less about her outside the tournament circuit. Only well connected people like Weiss Schnee made a conscious effort to get close at this point.
"...and I believe we both would benefit from becoming partners for the next…"
The constant flow of honeyed words petered out and stopped for the first time since Pyrrha had met Weiss. Naturally, anything managing to shut her up garnered immediate attention from the tournament fighter. Others in the locker room turned heads at well, watching the entrance of Beacon's newest source of gossip.
Jaune Arc and Yang Xiao Long, the two troublemakers. Their names were on everyone's tongue after the incident yesterday, making Pyrrha's attendance at Beacon nothing more than a footnote.
The two wore barely anything, he a pair of dark pants and shoes, she with an orange tank top and pyjama shorts. Yang Xiao Long wasn't bothered by the stares, due to her zombie-like state after waking up.
"Must... find… Ruby…"
"Are you sure you're gonna be ok?"
"Find… Ruby…"
She shambled away from Jaune in janky steps, making several other students step away from her wobbly path. The remaining blonde stood with a piece of paper in his hand. His eyes traveled from locker to locker until he found the right one.
As fate ordained it, the locker of Jaune Arc was exactly between Weiss and her, meaning the shirtless male stood now between them as well and rifled through his belongings. The Schnee almost crawled into her own locker in a desperate attempt to stay unnoticed. The plan was abandoned the moment Jaune pulled down his pants and revealed a pair of striped boxer shorts.
"How about you show a shred of modesty? There are women here!"
"This is a changing room, a little bit of skin is to be expected." he grabbed a pair of washed out jeans and looked at Weiss for the first time. "Ah, you're the girl from yesterday."
"And you're the brute who harassed me!"
He put the pants on and buttoned up. "Did I? I remember telling you about my attraction towards your body. You look nice."
Weiss blushed, extremely noticeable like a red signallamp against her white hair and outfit. "There's proper etiquette in courting! Consider the consequences for the Schnee family image should I engage in a relationship with a thug!"
"What relationship?"
"Exactly! There is none!"
"I'm confused. What are you angry about?"'
"About you, you dolt!" Weiss had all but forgotten her target, a circumstance the redhead from Mistral found fascinating. A quick cough brought Pyrrha back into the perception of the heiress, and the girl had the decency to look embarrassed about it. "This is Pyrrha Nikos, top graduate at her school in Sanctum."
"Never heard of it." Jaune put on an orange shirt, covering up the tattoo Pyrrha had been staring at for several seconds.
"She won the Mistral Regional Tournament four years in a row, a new record."
"Doesn't ring a bell." Jaune pulled out his sword and turned towards them. Both girls became wide-eyed.
"How can you not know? Her face is on your shirt!"
The piece of clothing Jaune wore was merchandise for Pumpkin Pete cereal, a print of a smiling Pyrrha Nikos holding the bowl at the front.
"So it is," Jaune looked down to compare the girl on fabric with the one standing before him. "I got it with some other stuff that had fallen from a truck. The cereal tastes like dirt covered in sugar."
"Yes, it does." Pyrrha said, remembering how many takes they had to film before she was able to hide the look of disgust while eating the stuff. Her eyes fell to the sword in his hand. "Interesting weapon choice."
It really wasn't to be honest. The most remarkable feature of the sword was how dented and crooked it looked. The only danger from that rusty thing would be tetanus.
"A weapon is mandatory for entrance to Beacon. This thing was lying around in my stuff and fulfills the purpose."
"I see…" Pyrrha hummed. "random question, what's your opinion on tournament fighting?"
"Worthless blustering without any point or merit," Jaune said without missing a beat, missing the excited twinkle in Pyrrha's eyes. "Is that all? I need to take a piss."
"Of course… good luck." Pyrrha said and grimaced when he raised an eyebrow.
"Thanks, I guess."
During his walk along the line of lockers, every student stepped out of his way and started whispering behind his back. Pyrrha had sympathy for his plight. Fame, no matter the source, could be exhausting and nerve wracking. Small signs were there, his stiff posture, the guarded expression and the conscious effort to avoid eye contact.
"I apologize for how rude he was. That Jaune Arc is a menace without tact and manners!"
"No, it's alright, Weiss."
More than alright, fantastic even.
RWBY
Cheap vending machine coffee was the sweet stomach-destroying nectar of the gods. Life began to bubble inside Yang after the third plastic cup of brown caffeine sludge scalded her esophagus. She had slept well, too well to get up this early and leave the soft sanctuary of a nice bed. The slumber would have continued if it hadn't been for the meddlesome school nurse demanding her infirmary back.
Why do huntresses like her need to get up so early? Grimm could be killed at all times of day.
"I can't believe you slept somewhere else and let me worry for the whole night!"
Ruby was a morning person, shown by the energy she put into her lecture, a healthy mix of concern, nosy question, unasked advice and motherly scolding. Yang loved her sister, she really did, but her getting friends at Beacon and dividing attention towards them would do wonders for Yang's sense of well-being.
Too bad she was hellbent to stay close. "We still need to make a plan for getting on the same team."
"Do we?" Yang mumbled and wanted to stuff the damn words back into her throat as soon as they left it.
"Yang Xiao Long, do you have something against being on a team with me?"
Oh, the full name meant business.
"No, I just thought it would be better to…" Yang trailed off when Jaune passed them from the corner of her vision. On instinct, she faced towards him making eye contact. "Sup, Jaune?"
He stopped from the sudden attention and stared back. "Not much since five minutes ago, Yang."
Jaune waited for her to add anything. She stood there with her lips firmly pressed against each other, her mind fully awake yet unable to come up with something witty or at least marginally reasonable in time.
Ruby Summers had no such problems. "Hi, I'm Ruby."
"Ok." He averted his eyes like they were gazing at something bright. Jaune's posture tensed in the presence of the five foot tall girl he dwarfed by at least a whole head.
The lackluster reaction made Ruby pout. "We've met before. Don't you remember me?"
"I do remember." Jaune's expression remained neutral at the sight of a kicked puppy distilled into human form, although his jaw began to tremble. "Excuse me, my chest hurts for some reason."
Jaune basically fled the scene, an amusing image considering who Ruby was as a person and a completely new experience for the fifteen-year-old girl. The affected teenager couldn't find any humor in the situation, staring after the retreating back of a guy she hoped to get along with in the future.
"What was that about?" Ruby asked crestfallen. "Since when are you two close? I met him first and was way more friendly, so why does he barely acknowledge me?"
Yang had no real answer. "Maybe we click better?"
"He vomited on you! You tried to punch him in the face!"
"Not a lot better." Yang shrugged. "He was pretty standoffish until we slept together."
Sound around them ceased to exist. Every student in hearing distance stopped what he or she was doing and looked at her. No blissful tiredness to shrug off this embarrassment but when in doubt, be louder than the others and take the bull by the horns.
"Separate beds, no hanky panky, you gossip vultures!"
The last remaining students dispersed from her outburst and the impending initiation test. Most people knew to get out of the way from the red-eyed, glowing berserker.
Ruby wasn't most people. "You want him."
Three simple words with massive effect. "What… pft…" she broke eye contact and leaned into her locker, randomly grabbing items and shuffling them around. "Why would I want to be with that guy?"
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Because you want to fight him and as team partners you spend the most time with each other. Why else would you?"
The red in her face didn't stem from embarrassment anymore, neither did the pulsating vein at her neck. "Yeah, fighting… of course I meant fighting!"
Ruby's cheeks weren't only cute but also very pinchable.
"Why are you mad now?!" Ruby retaliated with lots of hair pulling and kicking of shins.
The siblings struggled against each other groaning and screaming profanities, until someone barrelled them over and both landed in a heap of limbs on the floor.
"Hey, watch it!" Yang bellowed and tensed after getting a look at the person responsible as her danger sense started tingling.
A very tall brown-haired guy walked purposefully towards Jaune, who just came from the men's bathroom. At the last moment, the giant grabbed the unaware blonde by the head and smashed him face first into a locker. The metal door dented inward from the impact.
"Holy shit!" Ruby screamed horrified at the gruesome sight while Yang was already on her feet and loading up her gauntlets with shotgun shells.
The distinctive cocking sound made the brunette tense up. One wrong move and the locker room would devolve into a battleground. Defusal of the situation came in the form of a raised hand and request of attention from Jaune. He peeled himself off the locker, leaving a perfect imprint of his side profile in the metal.
Not a single scratch marred his face. "You two should hurry, the test starts in a few minutes."
Yang blanched. "Dude, do you think we just leave after this guy assaults you?"
"Yeah, we are friends," Ruby glanced at him with a hopeful twinkle in her eyes. "Right?"
There was that chest burn again, making it really difficult for Jaune to turn their help down. "I'm in no danger from him. This won't take long to settle."
"That depends on you, Arc."
"Winchester..."
Exchange of names meant no random attack then, Yang figured as much. They knew each other but wouldn't engage until her and Ruby had left. More mystery to unravel about an already very secretive guy.
"Fine, we're leaving." Yang hissed through gritted teeth,dragging Ruby with her at the arm. Said girl wanted to object but a poignant look with red eyes shut her up.
Moments later, the two guys were the only remaining people in the locker room. Jaune reached out with a hand. The young man named Cardin Winchester eyed the offered appendage with a frown, then smacked it away to pull the attached man close.
Right into his chest for a bear hug. "You couldn't tell me that you'd be here in Beacon, asshole?"
"It was a spontaneous decision."
Cardin released the hug, still grabbing Jaune by the shoulder with a genuine smile. "You're on my team, no discussion!"
"You are already four guys, Cardin. Unless, you want either Russel, Sky or Dove to be left out? I'm fine on my own."
Cardin's smile turned into a frown and Jaune motioned him to follow. They walked to a nearby vending machine, drawing two cans of orange soda. Both opened theirs with a fizz and sat down on a bench, taking the occasional sip in silence.
"I don't like it."
"Yeah, the stuff doesn't taste great."
The can got crushed in Cardin's grip. "I'm not talking about the goddamn drink, Jaune!"
"What is the problem? Are you concerned about me?"
Cardin laughed. "Don't be ridiculous. You're the indomitable Grimmhound, the toughest son of a bitch this side of Remnant!"
'Yeah, people call me that." The smile didn't reach Jaune's eyes. "I need to get to the test before they find a reason to throw me out."
Jaune left without looking back, sword on the hip and hands in his pockets. Cardin sat for a moment longer, waiting until he was sure to be the last in the locker room.
"You might be the Grimmhound, but that doesn't mean I accept just anybody to be your partner." He grabbed his scroll and started a conference call. "Guys, change of plans. We are conducting some tests on our own."