POV - Ilia

We made our way into Professor Gaia's classroom and took up residence at one of the many tables that dotted the room.

"I like this way more than the pews," Neon commented as she spread her arms across the table and laid her head down. Whitley flicked the top of her head causing her to look up to fix him a glare. "What was that for?"

"Sit up, it's rude," Whitley answered.

"She isn't even here yet," Neon told him before "rebelliously" laying her head back down.

"She should be in less than a minute," Whitley said. This statement made Neon sit up in a flash. "Thank you."

"Y'know actually quite excited to see what all we're gonna be doing in this class," Flynt said, trying to reel in the attention of both Neon and Whitley. It seemed to work as Whitley looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"How, are you excited about any of this," Neon said, voicing what was no doubt the same thing Whitley was thinking.

"Hello class," a young, curvy woman said as she walked into the room.

'She must be an aid or something''

"Before any of you ask, yes I do look much younger than I should. I attribute this to the choices I made in life that let me avoid any unnecessary stresses, which included beating my team into order," the woman who I finally recognized as Professor Gaia said.

"But isn't being a huntress an unnecessary stress," I said before I realized that I said that outloud.

"Only if you let it be," Professor Gaia said with a kind smile, "If you avoid things like unnecessary drama and or missions that deal with high profile clients then you should be fine."

"Well I'm screwed," Whitley joked.

"With your father I'm surprised you don't look like Professor Kronos," Professor Gaia joked.

"I have a feeling that I will here soon," Whitley said.

"Now I know some of you are wondering why on Remnant do you need to take a team building class," Professor Gaia said receiving nods and sounds of acknowledgment from the class, "Well the answer is simple, this class is simply here to help you along in creating strong bonds with one another."

POV - Neon

'That makes sense, after all not everyone was a social butterfly like me'

"Now once I feel that you are all as thick as thieves this class can be used as a free period where you WILL work on assignments given to you by other teachers or you can work on more civilian skills if you wish," Professor Gaia said. The idea of a free period was very appealing to me, but I wouldn't mind learning some house skills. "Now to start off today I want you and your partner to fill out these sheets, you will ask one another the questions on the paper and fill it in accordingly." She walked around the room gracefully and placed in front of me a sheet that had a mix of small talk questions and conversation questions. "Do remember that this class is 3 hours long so don't feel rushed."

"Well this is... fine I guess," I said as I looked at Whitley who seemed to be lost staring at me. For a minute I thought he was just thinking but after a minute of staring I decided to try and snap him out of whatever state he was in. "Whitley, you alright?"

That seemed to do the trick as Whitley seemed to come back to reality before taking a deep breath, "Yeah I'm fine, just thinking," he said.

"Ok, just try staring at something like the table next time, unless you like what you're staring at," I teased trying to get Whitley to relax.

"And what if I did," he asked, catching me completely off guard.

'What if he did'

"Well then I'm gonna need a few more fish dinners to think about it," I said.

POV - Professor Gaia

I sat behind my desk and scanned the room seeing all of my new students taking time to answer each question when my eyes landed on Mr. Schnee staring at Mrs. Katt.

'Please Oum don't let him be a smaller version of Jackass'

I walked out from behind my desk and walked the opposite direction of the two of them trying to not be noticed. Mrs. Katt leaned forward and said something to Mr. Schnee that seemed to pull him out of whatever trance he had been in. I walked directly towards them, throwing my subtle approach out the window.

"Ok, just try staring at something like the table next time, unless you like what you're staring at," Mrs. Katt teased Mr. Schnee.

"And what if I did," Mr.Schnee asked. This response caught my attention.

'So you're not like your father... good'

Mrs. Katt took a moment to reply, "Well then I'm gonna need a few more fish dinners to think about it," she said.

'Looks like I have a new couple to bet on'

I walked past them and back to my desk.

'I starting to understand why Ironwood thinks this year is going to be so interesting'

POV - Neon

I noticed Professor Gaia quickly walking past us, moving like she was on a mission.

"She was watching us," Whitley commented before he picked up the sheet, "What's your favorite color?"

"Pink or blue," I answered. It wasn't really true because I liked the rainbow more than anything but that isn't really an answer.

"Really now," he said, he hadn't written a single thing on the paper.

"Am I that readable," I asked him, wondering how he knew I was lying.

"Sure, I'm just good at reading people and to be honest I feel like I'm reading a story when I'm looking at you," he said. Was that a good thing?

"Is that bad," I asked.

"Nope, just because I can read you doesn't mean Flynt or Ilia can," he answered.

"Well since you aren't going to put that down just put rainbow," I said.

"That makes more sense," he said.

"Ok, what's your favorite color, Whitley," I asked. I was curious if it was blue due to the number of blue hues his combate outfit had.

"My favorite color is white," he answered. That seemed bland, way too bland for my liking.

"Why," I asked, I immediately knew the answer to my own question, "It reminds you of mountains."

"Yup," he said as I wrote down the answer. The next question was what your favorite dish was.

"Why did you choose to use glow sticks," he asked. I was caught off guard because I had been thinking of food not my weapons.

'What... that's not the... alright'

"I like partying and when I was at a rave I had the idea of using glow sticks as a weapon. After a week or so I had what seemed to be a functional blueprint," I answered proudly. I loved my weapons far too much.

"So you chose glow sticks cause you like to party," he commented.

"Pretty much, yeah," I said. I looked down at my paper and skimmed for a better question but couldn't pick one so I just decided to go in order. "What's your favorite food?"

"I like a good venison steak every so often," he answered.

"Why," I asked, I already knew but the paper wanted clarification.

"Mountains," he answered simply.

"Figured," I said as I wrote down his answer. "Hit me."

"Why did you decide to become a huntress," he asked.

"Why do you have all of the hard questions," I asked with a pout.

"I honestly don't know," he answered with a small grin. He was enjoying this, I'll have to change that.

"Because my people need more examples that we are more than some group of people with animal traits," I answered honestly. I knew I was smiling like an idiot, but I was enjoying the warm feeling that had managed its way into my stomach.

"A very noble reason," he said with a smile. "Hit me."

I scanned the paper trying to find a harder question when my eyes landed on a hard hitter.

'Finally'

"What is your favorite memory you have with your family... I'm sorry Whitley I shouldn't have asked that question," I apologized.

"You have nothing to be sorry for, I have an answer. Two years after I returned from the mountains I set a goal for myself, to get a picture that had the three most important people in my life smiling with me," he said before he reached into his blazers inner pocket and produced a small picture of his older sister Winter, his other older sister Weiss, and how I assumed was his mom, sitting at a table with him. They all had big smiles on their faces as they all laughed at something together.

"So this is your favorite memory," I asked. It would make sense since it was a nice picture.

"Yes," he answered. He was in no rush to take it back from me, which gave me time to look at the photo. It really was a nice photo, to see such a stoic family having fun together was nice. I handed the photo back and wrote down his answer.

"What is your favorite spot in your hometown," he asked. That wasn't such a hard question.

"There is this clearing in the forest that I would run to anytime I wanted to be alone," I answered.

"So a quiet place, figured you'd say some club," he teased.

"I like clubs but everyone needs some quiet every once in a while," I said.

"Fair enough," he said as he wrote down my answer.

"Where do you want to go when you retire," I asked.

"I feel like that's a weird question," he said.

"Very but it's the next one on the paper," I said.

"I want to go back to that little town in the mountains," he said, answering the question.

"Oum you really hate it here don't you," I commented before writing down his answer.

"What is your favorite movie," he asked.

"I like this movie that was made based on the Ever After fairytale," I answered.

"I've heard the fairytale was good, never got the chance to read it though," he said as he wrote down my answer

"Your parents never... forget I was saying that," I said.

"Again it's fine, I know plenty well that I have a messed up family," he said with a smile.

'Are you smiling to hide the pain or do you smile because you've just expected this'

"Why did you decide to become a huntsman," I asked.

"Well I didn't want to make all the time and effort Blanc put into training me be a waste," he answered.

"So you felt obligated," I asked.

"Yeah kind of," he answered. That felt wrong, did he not want to protect people.

"Do you not want to help people," I asked.

"Oh absolutely I want to help people," he answered.

"Oh, good," I said, writing down both of those answers.

"What led you to Atlas when choosing what Academy you wanted to attend," he asked.

"It's close to home," I answered.

"That's fair," he said, writing down my answer.

"What about you, why did you choose Atlas," I asked.

"Well I didn't necessarily choose, Ironwood sent me a personal invitation to attend early," he answered. Yeah I forgot about that.

"If that hadn't happened which Academy would have chosen," I asked, trying to figure out if he still would have come here.

"I really don't know, I might have gone to Heaven if I didn't come here, coming here would probably have been my only option knowing my Father," he answered.

"Interesting," I said as I wrote down his answer.

"I wouldn't really mind if this was all this class was but it would definitely get boring after some time," Whitley commented.

"Agreed," I said.