Disclaimer: I do not own any of the material appearing in this story. The OC's belong to their respective owners.

Friendly warning: This chapter is loooooong. Apologies in advance!

The Day After The Group Left For The Wings Of Ruin, Sunday Evening…

BGM: To The Gateway (Super Mario Galaxy)

Oran sat by himself near a campfire, cooking some fish that he had just recently caught.

"Ah, there you are-"

"Ack!" Oran yelped as he hid behind his shell.

"Next time you decide to go camping in the woods and you only give us a note, at least give us a location. Took me a bit to find yo-... oh. Sorry there, squirt. Didn't mean to scare ya."

Oran peeked from underneath his shell. "Uncle Qrow…? Wh-what are you doing here?"

"Like I said, we're lookin' for you. Ya really had us worried Thursday morning when we saw the note in your room. And in case if you've forgotten, you have school tomorrow and we're not letting you skip. So those who are home at the moment went to look for you."

Qrow noticed the shame on Oran's face as he sat down next to him. "Wanna talk about it, kiddo?"

End BGM

BGM: Luma (Super Mario Galaxy)

Oran sighed softly. "I… I really messed up. I nearly got all of us killed because I didn't want to listen to the warnings of Anya and Bond…"

Qrow scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Yeah… you really did… that being said, you can't really beat yourself up for it, y'know? You were pretty much lured into a trap."

"But still… I nearly got everyone killed, and then when we got home and had to tell mom and big sis what happened… and the looks on their eyes… how angry they seemed at me…" He teared up while gritting his teeth in frustration. "...And then everything else was just tense… and I know everyone was angry at me…"

He buried his face into his hands as he started crying, mumbling about "getting the family killed".

Qrow scooted closer to Oran and patted his back. "They weren't mad at you, kiddo. Disappointed, sure. A bit horrified that they were about to lose those they cared for to Eggman, but they weren't mad at you, and besides, I'm pretty sure Eggman would have just ambushed us at home if you three weren't outside. And look, you have to remember your mother spent who knows how long looking for a new family. She told us that the thing that kept her going during those final hours was the hope that we were all still alive."

Oran frowned. "I know… I just… I thought I'd give everyone space."

Qrow nodded in understanding. "Reasonable idea. Unfortunately, you worried us even more and you chose a forest close to Vale to camp out in rather than the many forests in Patch."

Oran hung his head low in shame. "I'm sorry…"

Qrow pulled Oran into a hug. "I know you are, squirt. But avoiding it forever won't help. So here's what we're gonna do; we're gonna go home, have a nice pizza dinner, and when your mother gets home in hopefully a few days, you're gonna talk to her and see that she isn't mad at you." He smiled.

Oran perked up once he heard that Rosalina wasn't home. "Wait, where's mom? What do you mean she isn't home?"

"Oh, that's right. You remember back in the Grimm world where we faced off against Blake's Grimm counterpart and her evil ex?" Oran nodded. "Well, the real version went and stole Weiss's kid."

Oran tilted his head quizzically. "Manaphy?"

Qrow shook his head. "No, no… the other one. So she, your sisters, your mother, and a bunch of others went to go and deal with it."

Oran glanced a bit to the side. "Well, I hope they're okay…"

End BGM

"Yeah, so do I." He got back up. "Now, come on. Let's go home. I'm sure that your grandparents have already finished making the base of the pizzas by now and all we gotta do is add the toppings-" He playfully smirked. "-And I don't think the ashes of your fish are going to add much flavor."

"Huh…?" Oran wondered before his eyes widened. "Oh no! My fish!" He looked over toward the fire and saw that his fish was extremely well done. "Gah, no! Not my fish!" He whined as anime tears rolled down his cheeks.

Qrow chuckled. "Ah, don't worry about it. I'm sure we got some anchovies at home. If not, we can raid the Belladonna home and see if we can't find some." He joked, hearing an amused chuckle from Oran. He smiled and ruffled his hair.

The two of them walked off after extinguishing the fire.

"One more thing… maybe have a talk with Bereto about your feelings of guilt. Can't have that build up, who knows what will happen."

"Why not Byleth?"

"She's busy at the moment, and I think Bereto is better suited for this sort of thing."

"Fair enough…"

The next day…

BGM: A Gentle Breeze (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

"Yaaawn… can't school be just an afternoon thing…?" Anya asked tiredly as Oran was literally dragging her to school with Loid, Byleth and Qrow behind them.

Anya was wearing a new outfit that she had just recently bought at Coconut Mall. She was wearing a black leather zip-up jacket decorated with a belt around the hem and a few extra zippers on the sleeves, lapel, and left chest part over a white shirt, as she was also wearing a black studded choker and a silver chain pendant around her neck. She was also wearing a red plaid skirt with a pink belt decorated with black heart patterns hanging loosely with the belt buckle shaped like a peanut.

She also wore some black leather boots with two straps on each one with zippers on the top as she was also wearing vermillion red socks. She also had a punk black bracelet with silver studs and a red adjustable string bracelet on her right wrist.

"We were going to be late if I didn't get you out of bed sooner." Oran said.

"Mmm… getting up for school while you're still tired as a Slakoth should be against the law or something…"

"I've been waiting for you!" A voice said once they entered campus, seeing that it was none other than Laura.

Anya gasped, her tiredness leaving her body as her eyes sparkled. "Boss Girl~!" She exclaimed as she hugged Laura.

"I told you she was faking it." Loid said, causing Qrow and Byleth to snicker.

Laura chuckled as she returned the hug. "Nice to see you again, Anya." She smiled. "Nice new outfit, by the way! It makes you look like a real rockstar!"

Anya giggled. "Hehe~ Thank you~! I picked this outfit by myself when papa and I went shopping together at Coconut Mall for my school supplies the other day."

Oran smiled. "We meet again, Laura."

Laura smiled back. "Likewise, Oran." She hugged him as he returned the favor.

"Excuse me, Laura." Loid spoke up. "Where is the headmaster? I was informed via email that that he would be the one giving Oran and Anya an orientation tour of the school campus on their first day."

"Ah… Headmaster Chouri responded to an emergency meeting he had to attend with the school faculty earlier this morning. He personally requested that I take his place."

"Ah, fair enough."

"Now then, before we begin… allow me to give a brief introduction of this school. I've written it myself!" She immediately whipped out her scroll and cleared her scroll. "Ahem… welcome to the Hathaway School of Performing Arts! Founded in-"

A minute later…

"While Hathaway is an art school for the most part, students here are still required to take core classes such as English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies just like other regular schools. Not to mention that P.E., Health, Foreign Language, Home Economics, Literature, and Fine Arts are secondary but required classes too. Oh! And, yeah... the school also has an athletics program with various sports teams. Soccer and basketball being the most popular!"

Laura put her scroll away. "Have more than you show. Speak less than you know." She recited before giggling. "That's our school motto."

"Short and sweet, I like it." Qrow said.

"I'm pretty sure mottos are supposed to be short and sweet, Qrow." Byleth said.

"Trust me, kiddo… I've seen some long winded mottos in my day."

"Name one."

"Can't. They've been extremely forgettable for being so long winded."

Laura giggled. "Come on, let's go!"

Second Grade Hallways and Class 2-A

"These hallways in particular are where the second graders usually hang around before class starts and then they go into their specified classrooms." Laura explained, opening the door to Class 2-A where they got a good look around.

"Huh… spiffier than Beacon's." Qrow mused as they walked out… where they ran into Run and into an old, yet elegant looking old man.

"Ah, hello. My name's Run. Mathematics teacher and the homeroom advisor of Class 2-A. And who are you two?"

"Oran-Rose Moss."

"Anya Forger!"

"Nice to meet you all."

Hmm… spill your secrets! Anya thought as she used her semblance on him.

These new kids definitely seem well mannered. I like them.

Anya smiled. And I like you too~!

The man next to Run cleared his throat. "I am Henry Henderson, the homeroom advisor of Classroom 2-B and I am a social studies teacher. In fact, I used to be a former Huntsman of nobility and acting coach in Atlas who moved here to Vale years ago and became a teacher in Hathaway."

"He may look strict and holds a high importance of… elegance, of all things, but students and his fellow faculty all love him for his many years of teaching at Hathaway because of his competence and disciplined, but progressive style of teaching." Run explained.

"Indeed. Now, you may be put off by the fact that I am Atlesian, and for that, I do not blame you… but rest assured, I'm not as snobbish or elitist like most of them."

"Ah, so open minded and kind? That's a rare trait for Atlesians." Qrow said.

"Indeed. I do not discriminate against the lower class nor Faunus. Unlike some folk, like, say… Jacques Gele. In fact, it was his inelegant decision to put that poor Faunus in the mental hospital that drove me to consider moving away from Atlas in the first place. His greediness, classist and racist mindset actually drove me away."

"That sounds about right…" Byleth mumbled.

"Of course, I do wish I had stayed a bit longer so I could have found a way to elegantly get Ms Ubiquitous out of the mental hospital where she would have gotten proper treatment and a potential loving home. That said, I've a feeling the Mushroom Kingdom is the right place for the young lady."

Anya lightly nudged Oran and whispered in his ear. "He's actually sincere in his words."

"Oh good." He whispered back.

The greenhouse…

They walked into the greenhouse where they had found a lot of lush potted plants such as garden vegetables, shrubs, flowers, bonsai trees, edible fungi and herbs growing on display as there were also some friendly Grass Pokemon such as Carnivine, Victreebell, Sunflora, Bellossom, Oddish, Cherrim, two Kantonian Exeggutor and a lone female Snivy.

"Oh cute!" Byleth smiled warmly.

As Laura showed them around, she immediately found Emile Elman watering some plants with the aid of some Grass types and a semi bald and muscular man wearing an eyepatch.

The beaver faunus also had a new outfit, consisting of a powder blue shirt underneath a forest green flannel jacket with a dark grey drawstring hood, a pair of brown ankle-length cargo pants, and a pair of black and white running sneakers with Castleton green accents.

"Hmm?" Qrow spotted the man near Emile. "Well, I'll be darned." He said with a smile as the man turned around, his eye widening in surprise before smiling. "Green, it's been a while."

"Long time no see, Branwen." He extended his hand for a handshake. "I haven't seen you since our graduation day at Beacon."

"You know each other?" Loid asked.

"You kiddin'? Green used to be classmates with Team STRQ!" Qrow said.

"Speaking of STRQ, how's the team? I've heard rumors that Summer had come back!"

"You've heard right, but you just missed her. She only came back to help her daughter out with a problem, and then after that, she stuck around for a little while before heading back to the afterlife."

"Oh, that's a shame… she was always nice to chat with." Green mused as he noticed Byleth. "Ah, but I see you have a nice looking woman with you."

Byleth blushed. "I'm his adoptive niece. Byleth-Rose Eisner."

"Oh? Nice to meet you! For a second there, I thought you were Qrow's girl."

Qrow laughed. "Not a chance, bud! …Although, if the circumstances were different, I suppose she would be my wi-"

Byleth immediately sharply elbowed him in the gut. "I would've said no."

"Mmmph! First your fists and now your elbows… what the hell did Jeralt teach you?!" Qrow asked as he had hunched over.

Green let out a hearty laugh. "Classic Qrow!"

As the adults were chatting, not to mention Qrow was rubbing his now possibly bruised abdomen, the Faunus and Laura approached Emile.

"Hey Laura!" Emile waved as he spotted them. "Oh, who are these two?"

"Emile, this is Anya Forger-"

"Hi~!"

"And Oran-Rose Moss."

"Hello!"

"They're both faunus like you!"

Emile's eyes sparkled. "Really?! Oh, that's so cool!"

"I take it you like to garden?" Anya guessed.

"Oh, absolutely. Plants are my specialty! In fact-"

One long speech about his love of plants later…

"And that's what got me into loving plants!"

"Cool." Oran smiled.

"Awesome!" Anya smiled.

"Alright, kids. Let's get going." Qrow said after they finished speaking with Green.

"Okay!" Laura nodded. "See ya around, Emile!"

"Yeah! I'm looking forward to seeing either of you in my class! …Or maybe both!" He smiled as they walked off.

In the art room…

"And here we have the art room where-"

BOOM!

Pause BGM

"Huh? What was that noise?" Oran wondered.

"What the heck are you doing, you idiots?! That thing just exploded?!"

"I think it came from outside…" Anya said.

"Really? Let me check." Laura checked out the window and immediately grimaced. "Oh no…"

In the school courtyard…

BGM: Funny Footsteps (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

Albedo's head was covered in a bit of soot. "It sounds to me like you used gunpowder! Did you just use gunpowder?!"

Damian shook his head in denial. "Oh no, we didn't use any at all. Besides, we're in a school, aren't we?"

Damian was also wearing a new outfit consisting of a white v-neck t-shirt with a black ink-drawn artwork of a Griffon Grimm imprinted on the front underneath a seafoam green drawstring hoodie decorated with greenish-white paint splatters, a pair of blue faded denim pants with a black leather belt wrapped around his waist, and a pair of mint green, fern green, and white basketball sneakers.

"You liars! Alright then, if it wasn't gunpowder, what did you two use to create an explosion?!"

Nick shrugged carelessly. "Some fire dust Damian and I stole from the science lab."

Albedo looked at them in shock. "You… WHAT?! Look at what you've done! Look to my poor luxurious white hair, all dirty and frizzled up!"

Damian gave a careless and mischievous smile. "You're fine, Al. It doesn't look any different than normal."

"THAT'S your reason!" He comically snapped.

"Oi! You three trouble-making kids again?!" A teacher spoke up from a distance.

Albedo flinched. "Shoot, a teacher! Time to bail, guys! Let's hurry up and get out of-" He noticed that they weren't there anymore, complete with blinking white outlines. "Th-they're gone?!"

Nick smiled smugly at Albedo. "Catch you later, Eraserhead~!" He said as he took off.

"Nice knowing ya, man~!" Damian followed Nick with a smug smile.

A cross vein appeared on his forehead. "Th-those insensitive jerks…!" He ran after the two.

End BGM

Back in the art room…

Resume A Gentle Breeze BGM

Laura facepalmed. "Augh… typical…"

"Laura? Who were those two boys with Al?" Oran asked.

Laura sighed. "Those two? Oh... they're Nick Foxtrot and Damian Desmond. Just like Al... they also have an infamous reputation for being total trouble-makers here in school."

"Wait, Desmond?" Qrow spoke up. "As in like, Melinda Desmond of the Vale Council?"

Laura nodded in confirmation. "Yeah, he's Councilwoman Melinda's son alright." She sighed softly. "In fact, she and my dad used to be close friends back when he was still alive."

Qrow raised an eyebrow. "Your dad? You mean the late Councilman Jason Winchester?"

Laura nodded again in confirmation.

"Huh, never thought that her son would be studying here of all places considering their family's prestige and extreme wealth... Let alone him being a troublemaker."

"Eh, this is just a common occurrence anyway." Laura shrugged it off. "Come on, I oughta show you the art in here."

In the room, there were drawings, paintings, sculptures and other art-related works in the room that were put up on display, such as Sayo's acrylic landscape painting of Mount Glenn and Blanche's colored pencil-drawing sketch of a face off between an Anjanath and a Rathalos that stuck out to Anya the most.

"Whoa…" Anya mused as she looked at Sayo's artwork then turned to Blanche's sketch. "Ooooh~! Look at this one, Oran! It's a cool-looking Rathalos fighting a vulture T-Rex!"

"Huh, I guess there's a reason why Hathaway is known as the number one art school in Vale." Qrow then whistled impressively while curiously examining a well-detailed painted plaster sculpture of a Yian Garuga head. "Whoever made this must be a great artist."

"Hmmm…" Byleth looked over at an ink sketch of the Nuckelevee displayed on the wall. "I'd pay anything to see more of these students' works if this school was also an art museum."

"I agree." Loid nodded as he was examining a wire sculpture of a dead tree made from red metal wires. "I must say… these artworks are exquisite."

Pause BGM

Meanwhile, in a secluded part of the school with the three troublemakers…

Albedo had his hands on his knees, catching his breath. "Phew… I think we finally lost them."

"Tell me about it… For a second there, I thought we were goners…" Damian agreed.

Nick nodded while panting. "Yeah… just as long as my sister doesn't find out that we caused that Fire Dust explosion, I think we're a-okay…"

"Is that so…?"

The trio felt their bodies freeze from the source of the feminine voice. Their heads shook as they turned to come face to face with a pair of sharp brown eyes burning with a demonic fiery aura of fury and bloodlust along with a visage of a nine-tailed firefox menacingly staring down onto their poor souls.

"Hello, boys~" Magnolia greeted with a sickeningly sweet smile, her arms crossed and glasses having a scary bright shine.

"Uh… h-hey there, sis…! H-How's it hangin'...? Hahaha~..." Nick laughed nervously as the trio paled in absolute terror from the demon from hell in front of them.

"Oh, nothing~" Magnolia started as she still had her "sweet" smile. "I was just happening to pass by until I overheard my dear brother chatting with his buddies about an explosion that happened a few minutes ago in the courtyard~"

The trio began to sweat nervously.

"We have no idea what you're talking about!" Albedo said.

"It was probably an illusion!" Damian lied.

"Y-yeah, that explosion had nothing to do with the explosive fire dust we stole from the science lab earlier this morning!"

Albedo and Damian's bodies completely lost their color. Oh, now you've done it! They both thought in horror.

"You…" Magnolia uttered as she hung her head low and clenched her fists tightly, her body shaking violently in anger and fiery demonic aura intensifying.

"Oops, time to disappear!" Albedo said in terror as he tried to run away, but Nick grabbed his arm. "Dude, what are you-"

Nick had a defeated look in his eyes, as did Damian. "Best if you stand your ground and prepare yourself, man… Once my sister's this angry, there's no use escaping her…"

"Wh-what…?!" Albedo said dumbfoundedly.

"See you guys on the other side…" Damian whimpered.

Albedo stared back at an angry Magnolia before gulping nervously. "Sis… help me…"

"You… you… YOU…! YOU IDIOTS!" Magnolia gritted her teeth before screaming and throwing three consecutive superheated punches at the boys' heads.

POW!

POW!

POW!

The trio knelt in front of her with smoking goose eggs on their scalps while their heads hung low in embarrassment.

One massive earful from Magnolia later…

"So, the next time I hear you guys steal any more Dust from the science lab and create another explosion prank, I won't be so merciful next time. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, ma'am…" The boys muttered half-heartedly.

"I said… do I make myself clear~?" She repeated in a sickeningly sweet tone, her demonic fiery aura coming back in full force.

The trio were now scared shitless from her "subtle" anger. "Y-YES, MA'AM…!"

Resume BGM

Back with Laura and her group…

The next stop was the outdoor field where PE classes and many sporting events usually take place. A multi-purpose field where outdoor sports occurred such as football, soccer and baseball were played, as there was also a separate area for tennis and badminton.

"Glad you haven't adopted the Mushroom Kingdom equivalent of these sports…" Qrow chuckled.

"So am I, honestly. Headmaster Chouri wouldn't have allowed Bob-ombs being used as baseballs or… whatever the heck you guys do in a Strikers tournament." Laura shuddered. "Anyway, over there is the school gymnasium building. It holds PE classes and sporting events too, though the only sports played in there are basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, various martial arts and gymnastics. It also serves as an auditorium of sorts for general assemblies."

"Sounds about right." Loid said.

"Oh! I should mention that our school's sports team: The Hathaway Serpents and as for our school colors for identity, light green, yellow and white."

"Fascinating… I like it." Byleth smiled.

"Aaaand over here is our swimming pool." Laura said as it was next to the gymnasium, which the pool in question was Olympic-sized.

"Goodness… that's long!" Anya blinked in surprise.

"I can just smell the gold medals…" Qrow chuckled.

"This is where swimming classes for PE typically take place, and also the training grounds for the swimming club. At least once or twice a month, five random students from a chosen class are assigned to help Mr. Green clean the pool."

Oran sweatdropped at the thought. "That's a lot of cleaning…"

"Ah, I'm sure it'll be fine." Qrow chuckled.

Later, at the playground area…

"Here's the playground, a lot of kids tend to hang around here during recess or lunch hour. Though the playground also acts as a training ground for students who wish to improve their combat abilities, aura and semblance."

At that moment, they all saw a small crowd gathering around.

"Hmm? What's going on over there?" Byleth wondered as they walked over.

Loid looked over the crowd to see Damian and Becky on the field at opposite sides. "Hmm… it seems a match is about to start."

"Hey, Maggie? What's going on here?" Laura wondered.

"Just another daily Pokemon Battle." Magnolia responded.

"Whoa, is it that time already?" Laura asked in surprise. "Who's fighting who?"

"Damian and Becky." Albedo responded.

"Okay. Deep breath. You got this. I'm not losing to this loud mouth…" Damian said to himself, psyching himself up.

Albedo spotted Oran. "Hmm?" He gasped in surprise. "Oran! It's been a while since that ancient Hyrule adventure." He then looked toward Loid. "You too, Mr. Forger. Been a while."

Oran smiled back. "Nice to see you again, Al."

Loid smiled back as well. "A pleasure to meet you again, Sniegowski."

"Hmm?" Magnolia turned her head. "Oh! Hey there, Oran! Been a while too!" She smiled.

Oran smiled back at her. "It's been a while too, Maggie. The last time I saw you was at that party in Sarasaland with Laura."

Magnolia chuckled. "It sure was. I'm also glad to see that you're now speaking well too."

"Hey…" Nick whispered in Laura's ear. "Is it me or does the Armadillo Faunus sound a bit like Damian…?"

"I dunno." Laura shrugged.

Magnolia then noticed Anya. "Huh? I've never seen you around here before. Who are you?"

"Maggie, meet Anya Forger." Laura smiled. "And Anya, this is my best friend, Magnolia Foxtrot! Although we call her Maggie for short."

"Hello~!" Anya greeted with a smile.

Magnolia smiled back. "Hello to you too, Anya."

Nick grinned as he wrapped an arm around Magnolia's shoulder. "And I'm her older twin brother and the prankster that caused that explosion earlier, Nicholas Foxtrot! But of course, my friends call me Nick for short."

"Twins?" Anya briefly looked at the two. "Whoa, I can almost see the resemblance between you two! Except for the fox ears though."

"Hmm… sorry if this sounds a bit rude, but I'm curious. What kind of fox Faunus are you two, anyway?" Oran asked.

"Oh, that?" Magnolia giggled. "I'm a cape fox Faunus." She pointed her thumb toward Nick. "My brother here is a bat eared fox Faunus."

"Yup, yup!" Nick nodded. "Anyway, how 'bout you? I already know that Oran's an armadillo faunus after I saw his shell, but what about you, Anya?"

"Me?" Anya took off her horn accessories to show off her plumicorns. "I'm a great horned owl Faunus~!" She giggled.

"Oh, cool!" Albedo said. "So, uh… is it true that you can also turn your head a hundred and eighty degrees like most owls?"

In response, Anya simply turned her back toward them, and then casually moved her head exactly like an owl to face them.

"Ack!" The trio yelped, flinching in shock.

Anya smirked smugly. "Heh."

"I'll… take that as a yes." Magnolia sweatdropped as she readjusted her glasses since they came undone due to the shock.

Pause BGM

Meanwhile, in the playing field…

"Alright… here we go." Damian said to himself.

"I'll knock him down a peg." Becky smirked.

"Time for some real action!" Damian said, pulling out two Net Balls. "Gon! Killua! I choose you!" He called out, sending them up in the air as they opened up to reveal a Vibrava and a Wimpod.

"Bravaaaa!"

"Wiiimp!"

"Vibrava and Wimpod, eh? Oh well, better fight fire with fire!" Becky smirked before taking out two Dusk Balls from her pocket. "Soundwave, Blastwave, let's go!" She called out, tossing up the Dusk Balls in the air, revealing a Noibat and a Loudred.

"Noi! Noi!"

"Loudreeed!"

Anya's eyes sparkled. "So cool!"

Standing in the center was Ewen as referee. He, too, was wearing a new outfit consisting of a periwinkle blue shirt underneath a white unbuttoned short-sleeved dress shirt, a pair of light beige cargo shorts, a pair of dark grey ankle socks, and a pair of periwinkle blue and white sneakers. He was also wearing a gold wristwatch with a black leather strap on his left wrist and a sterling silver omega symbol chain pendant around his neck.

"Hmm?" Anya wondered as he saw three faint scar marks on the left side of his forehead, which were almost concealed by the bangs of his chin length blonde hair. I wonder how he got those scars…

"Okay, listen up! The battle between Damian Desmond of Class 2-B and Becky Blackbell of Class 2-B is now underway!" Ewen announced. "And since this match will be a Dual Battle, each side will be using a total of two Pokémon each. The battle ends when either side's Pokémon are unable to continue."

"Ever since Pokemon came to Remnant, both Pokemon Training and the sport of Pokemon Battling have become very popular among the students and teachers." Laura explained. "As such, you always have to expect a Pokemon Battle twice a day."

Qrow chuckled. "Who woulda thought that'd be popular with the kids…"

"Ready?" Ewen raised his arm up and swung it down. "BEGIN!"

BGM: Main Street Colosseum (Pokemon Battle Revolution)

Both sides lunged forward, quickly unleashing moves and sound based attacks from Becky's Loudred to knock back the Vibrava and Wimpod, yet they were able to come back around and knocked the Loudred away.

As the battle continued on, Damian ordered Killua, his Wimpod, to get into position as he curled into a ball as Gon came over to pick it up and flew high into the air and then dropped the Wimpod as Loudred tried to blast it away, but Killua slammed into Loudred to knock him down while the Vibrava slammed into the Noibat who was caught off guard by the move, knocking it down as well.

Once the dust settled, both Pokemon were KO'd with swirly eyes.

End BGM

"Soundwave! Blastwave!"

"Noibat and Loudred are unable to battle! Vibrava and Wimpod win! The victor of this match is Damian Desmond!"

"Interesting maneuver…" Loid mused.

"I hate to admit it, but Damian's pretty much the strongest Pokemon Trainer in our grade." Laura said.

Oooh, definitely gonna have to tell him that later~ Nick thought with a smirk.

Damian smiled and knelt down. "C'mere, you two."

His Pokemon's eyes sparkled as they jumped into his arms for a quick victory snuggle.

"H-hey! E-Easy there, guys!" Damian laughed.

Becky walked over to her two Pokemon. "Are you two okay?"

"Loud… Loudred…" Blastwave nodded while rubbing his head.

"Noi…" Soundwave sulked.

Becky smiled at the Noibat reassuringly. "Ah, don't worry too much about it, Soundwave. I promise we'll do our best next time. Just gotta train harder too!"

"Noi…?" Soundwave smiled. "Noi! Noibat!"

"Loudred!"

"Hey."

Becky looked up to see Damian standing in front of her, staring at her… before he smiled and held out a hand to her. "Great match."

Becky smiled. "Likewise, Dame."

Qrow chuckled. "Talk about good sportsmanship. Maybe the Desmond kid isn't too bad after all."

Anya's eyes sparkled in amazement. "Again, so cool~!"

Resume A Gentle Breeze BGM

At the cafeteria…

"The heck…?!" Qrow said in surprise as he saw the layout of the cafeteria. "This is a cafeteria you'd expect to see at a college campus, not a school like this!"

"I mean, it is a big school…" Byleth said.

"Despite the food being cheap, this place still serves a variety of first rate cuisine in meal sets that are not only delicious, but also nutritious enough to… "Bewitch the artist's senses and brew our sense of imagination"... or least, that's what Al told me."

Qrow knelt down next to Oran and Anya. "I'm kinda jealous. You two are gonna be eating like royalty here."

"...Huh?" Both tilted their heads in confusion.

At the school infirmary…

"And this is the school infirmary. Basically, the infirmary is where the injured and sick at school are treated. Five to nine kids land here every two weeks because of how the school is vulnerable to Grimm attacks. It wasn't always like this, but ever since the Red Sky incident, the Grimm had taken notice of our school and… yeeeeah…"

"Typical… Ruby's demented twin has to go and ruin it all…" Qrow mumbled.

"Glad she's no longer a problem." Byleth said.

"The headmaster is thinking of setting up new defensive measures/extra security around the school." Laura explained as they looked around the room.

"Hey, welcome to the infirmary." A nurse said as they all turned to see said nurse… who was none other than Hiroko Hagakure herself.

Qrow blinked before he licked his hand and proceeded to smooth it over his hair as he leaned in against the wall to meet her. "Hellooooooo nurse~"

"Not interested." She said as Byleth grabbed him by the ear and pulled him away.

"Ow! Ow ow ow ow ow!"

"Come on, casanova." Byleth mumbled as she gave Hiroko an apologetic look.

"Ah, don't sweat it. He's not the first guy to flirt with me. A lot of kids' fathers take one look at me and do what he did. Two possibilities happen: I either threaten to sedate them until they look stupid or they forget their wives are there and get an earful." Hiroko waved it off.

"I'm curious to know more about you." Loid said.

"Well, let's see, I'm originally from Towa City but ever since the war ended between children and adults and are currently living in harmony, I decided to move out to look for a new job and start a better life elsewhere after all that happened. Luckily for me, my son Hiro and his friends Komaru and Toko pulled some strings to find a well paying job for me. We find a decent apartment in Vale and I was able to land a job here as a nurse at Hathaway after I found a "Help Wanted" from an online news article. After an interview with Chouri, well… here I am."

She then chuckled. "It was my first week where the students all loved me due to my experiences as a nurse back at Towa. Of course… I had to give up smoking so I switched to lollipops, which is honestly more effective than I thought it'd be. So here I am, living my best life here in Vale."

"How long have you been here?" Byleth asked.

"Oh, not too long, I'd say it was around after Eggboy's defeat and the Death Egg fallin' who knows where. That's about the time when I got the job. That said, I've been here for about… oh… three months, I believe."

She smiled. "I'm making it a habit about once a month to head back to Towa to visit the newly built memorial for those who died in the city's Demon Hunting Game and pay my respect for the fallen… except for Haiji. May he burn for eternity in Hell."

"So… do you have any ways to get there?" Qrow asked.

Hiroko smiled, pulling out an Arc Phone. "I have Palkia on speed dial."

Later…

"And our last stop is the Headmaster's Office." Laura said. "The Headmaster asked me to bring them here once the tour was over." She explained as they made their way over where they would find a terrarium sitting on display in the hallway leading to Chouri's office.

Said terrarium had a smooth green snake residing inside of it.

"Oh, and here's our school mascot, Stretch the Serpent!"

"Huh… somehow it now makes more sense to me why your school's sports team is called the Hathaway Serpents." Loid mused. "Not to mention why an art school such as this would choose a snake as its mascot. Historically, serpents and snakes are known to represent fertility and creativity, two of which are the important virtues of an artist."

"Mhm~! Got that right!" Laura nodded in confirmation, then noticed Anya looking a bit on edge over the snake. "Oh, don't worry, Anya. He's very friendly and not venomous at all. He's one of the many species of non-venomous snakes."

"He still might eat me…"

"Nah, he's an insectivore. He's usually fed live crickets by students and faculty."

Anya sighed in relief. "Phew…"

"Hmm?" Byleth noticed the snake already slithering out of the terrarium and approaching the group out of curiosity. "Um… I hate to alarm you, but-"

"Oh, he tends to be an escape artist. Don't worry, he's very friendly with strangers."

At that moment, Stretch slithered up on Byleth's legs and through her body, causing her to shudder. The one day I wear shorts instead of sweats… Byleth thought as it moved through her T-Shirt and came out of the opening and wrapped around Byleth, curiously checking her out before playfully flicking its tongue at her cheek, causing her to giggle.

"Aww, he likes you." Laura smiled as Stretch slithered over to Loid's arm and checked him out as well before flicking his tongue in approval.

"Friendly little guy." He said.

"Heh…" Qrow gently poked him on the head. "Definitely a cute little-"

CHOMP!

"Mmmph!" Qrow grimaced as he tried to pry him off.

"Huh? That's weird… usually Stretch is non-aggressive…"

They managed to pry the snake off of Qrow's finger as they got him back in the terrarium.

"Reminds me of the time we saw a little Garter Snake in the garden. Really friendly to everyone, Loved to play with the Lumas and Zwei… yet it just kept biting Qrow for some reason." Byleth said.

"Little dude was a jerk…" Qrow grumbled.

Laura guided them to Chouri's office, knocking on the door. "Headmaster Chouri? It's Laura! I brought them over. Are you in there?"

"Come in!" A voice said as they walked in to see Chouri smiling at his desk. "I just finished up my meeting. So, what do you kids think of the school?"

Both of their eyes sparkled. "I love it!" They said in unison.

"I liked the art room! It was so creative and all those cool stuff that everyone made!" Anya said.

"I liked the greenhouse! I felt right at home!" Oran smiled.

Chouri smiled again, happy that his two new students are already liking the school before their first classes had already begun.

"Now then… Oran, you are assigned to Class 2-A, and Anya, you are assigned to Class 2-B."

"Wha?!" Both said in surprise before frowning in disappointment since they wanted to be in the same class together.

"Don't worry!" Laura smiled. "We can all see each other a lot during both recess and lunch periods!" She reassured, causing them both to perk up with smiles.

"Well, I say it's about time we hit the road." Qrow said. "See ya, squirts."

"We'll see you back home soon." Byleth smiled sweetly.

"Be good, okay?" Loid asked as both of them nodded as they hugged the trio, though they took their time with Byleth because of her big, yet gentle hugs. Once they all said their goodbyes, the adults left.

Later, at Class 2-A…

"Alright, students. Simmer down. We have a new student in our class today." Run said and turned to Oran. "Mr. Rose-Moss, please introduce yourself to the class."

"Um…" Oran looked a bit flustered as he stood up in front of the class. "What… do I say…?"

"Just some of your interests, what do you like, all that stuff." Run explained and gave him a reassuring smile. "No pressure, we're all here to learn."

"Okay… okay… stuff to introduce myself with…" He took a few small deep breaths to calm himself. "Um… my name is Oran Rose-Moss, but the teacher told you that already… I lived in the wild for five years and that's why I took a liking to nat-"

"Why were you living in the wild for five years?" A random 2-A student asked out of curiosity.

"Huh?" He looked on in confusion.

"You said you were living in the wild for five years. Why was that?"

Oran became slightly uncomfortable. "Well… you see… I…"

Laura immediately noticed Oran's discomfort while Magnolia was glaring at the student. "He doesn't have to answer that."

"Why? I'm just asking a question. Just curious."

"It's personal for him, so he doesn't need to answer that." Laura replied sternly.

"But-"

"I'm sure that Ms. Winchester made herself quite clear. Now, if you would be so kind as to drop it, then your new classmate can finish his introductions. Am I clear?" Run asked in an equally stern tone.

He nodded, feeling a bit guilty. "Yes, sir…"

"Good." He turned to look back at Oran with another reassuring smile. "Mr. Rose-Moss, you may continue."

Oran smiled a bit before turning his attention back to his fellow students. "As you can see, I've got an armadillo shell, and I like foods with strong flavors such as sweet or spicy."

"Oooooh!" All the kids "ooohed" in intrigue.

"Can you curl up into your shell and roll around?" Nick asked curiously, which earned a glare from Magnolia. "What? I just wanna know, okay?" He asked with his hands raised.

"Oh, sure! But only if I'm allowed to." He looked at Run, wordlessly asking him for permission. Run nodded toward him in response, silently giving him his okay. Oran put his backpack down and curled up into his shell before rolling around the room… only for the small space to make him lose control as he accidentally crashed into a wall, making him uncurl slightly dizzy.

"Ooogh… still not used to small spaces…"

Run smiled as Oran got back up. "Thanks for the introduction, Mr. Rose-Moss. Now, please go to your seat while I hand out copies of the school paper." He pointed to a vacant seat in the room. "It's the empty one near Ms. Winchester, as well as Mr. and Ms Foxtrot."

Oran regained his bearings as he walked over to his new seating arrangement. Once he got himself seated, Run passed around copies of the school newspaper, "The Hathaway Tattler". "Now then, let's begin the lesson-"

Oran briefly read through the paper, only to come across two ads that caught his attention.

Now recruiting new actors/actresses for the Theater Club! We also need production design members who can join the crew!

And the second ad:

Currently searching for a new guitarist in the Light Music Club!

"Hmmm…"

End BGM

Meanwhile, in 2-B…

BGM: Mess Around (Cage the Elephant)

"Eh…?" Anya blinked in confusion as just a few moments ago, Becky had taken the initiative to start a conversation with her.

"Oh, right! Sorry 'bout that. I forgot about introductions! Well… re-introductions on Emile's part since you two had met earlier this morning." Becky cleared her throat. "Anyway, you have me, Becky Blackbell, the vice leader…"

She turned her attention to the next person. "-Ewen Egeburg, our resident mediator and peacekeeper…"

"Nice to meet you." Ewen greeted Anya warmly with a smile.

"Emile Elman, our snacks provider, who once stuffed about thirty fries into his mouth for twenty Lien and had his jaw broken..." Becky continued.

"Hey, don't tell her that...!" The beaver Faunus exclaimed in embarrassment.

"Trust me, Emile. No one's ever going to let you live that one down." Ewen teased while playfully elbowing him.

"... And Damian Desmond, our team leader." Becky finished. "I think you can figure him out."

"Hey." Damian greeted rather coolly.

Talk about cold...! Anya shivered a bit. She just had a feeling that Damian wouldn't be as easy to chat with in the class.

Becky noticed this and chuckled lightly. "Ah, don't take it personally, Anya. He's usually like that to people he doesn't know very well." She assured.

"Don't worry, I assure you that he's not much of a bad guy once you get to know him better." Ewen chimed in.

"Anyway, we're team Daybreak!" Becky said. "D-B-E-E."

"...Dabee?" Anya tilted her head.

Ewen chuckled. "Nah, it's Daybreak."

"It's much easier to figure out than… say… LAFF." Damian said.

"Lakefront?"

"Laura thinks it's a good idea to spell it as L-A-F-F."

"...Team Laugh?" Anya blinked in confusion.

"It's Lakefront. I can assure you…" Becky said, giving Damian a small glare.

"So, you got a cool semblance?" Ewen asked. "I mean, it doesn't have to be cool, but-"

"My semblance is telepathy! I can read minds." Anya smiled.

"Really? What am I thinking about just now?" Becky asked.

"Hmmm…"

My brother Kaito is so cool. I wonder if I should introduce him to Anya later.

"Your brother Kaito is so cool and you're wondering if you oughta introduce me to him later."

Becky gasped. "That's exactly RIGHT!" She grinned and hugged her tightly.

Oh please, that's just a fluke. There ain't no way she's telepathic. Damian thought.

"It's not a fluke. It's the real deal." Anya said.

"HUH?!" Damian yelled in surprise. "Oh my gosh, it IS legit!"

"Neat!" Both Ewen and Emile smiled.

"So where'd you come from, anyway?" Becky asked.

"Oh… I… can't really remember much of my past, but I do remember waking up in a science tube thingy in Atlas." Anya said. "Papa was able to-"

"Oh, you're from there?" Damian rolled his eyes. "Typical, another snobby Atlesian to deal with…"

Ewen groaned in annoyance. "Not this again…"

Becky frowned. "Just ignore him, Anya. Dame's just being a prejudiced blowhard again."

"Why? It's the truth, isn't it? Don't get me started on Weiss and her little band she made with that Mine girl. Epiphany or whatever."

Weiss?! Anya thought in horror as she immediately growled. "No, it's cool… it's not gonna bother me…"

"I mean, come on… every Atlesian out there are a bunch of snobs anyway, think they're so better than everyone. And then there's Anya over here, who's nothing more than a lab experiment where she was programmed to become like those snobbish classist jerks. It's a good thing Atlas fell because good riddance to that society! And of course, the Schnees didn't do anything to save Atlas… why? Because they're not good people, just like the rest of them."

"You take that back…" Anya said.

"Why? The Schnees did nothing while Jacques had his crusade against faunus! And when he gets thrown in jail and dies, NOW they do something? Talk about trying to keep their PR in check. Sea5ons are a joke, so is Epiphany."

"We get it, Damian…" Emile rolled his eyes.

"I mean, singing and dancing to win the public over? Good luck with that." Damian shrugged. "Oh, and friendly tip? Just because you're a lab rat doesn't make you good either since, again, you were probably programmed into being a snobby brat."

Anya said nothing as she looked down at the floor, her bangs shadowing over her eyes as her fists clenched tightly in anger.

"Though, admittedly, I think the Atlesians overreacted when Atlas fell but yet… the Schnees couldn't save their falling island. They're all bad people." Damian said as he smirked at Anya. "What you gonna do about it, lab rat?"

End BGM

In a split second, Anya responded by throwing a punch into Damian's cheek, sending him flying across the classroom and slammed into the wall.

"Ooooh!" All the 2-B students winced.

"Auuuugh!" Damian cried as he clutched his sore cheek.

Ewen immediately ran toward Damian's side. "Damian! Are you okay?!" He asked as Becky and Emile stared at Anya in horror with their jaws dropped.

"What? He was being mean to me and Weiss!"

Ewen inspected the damage. "You okay, bud?"

Damian calmed down a bit. "I-I'll be fine… b-but still…" He glared at Anya with tears still in his eyes. "How dare that uggo hit me like that…!"

"Well, if you didn't want to get punched in the face, then you never should have insulted her or her friend for no good reason in the first place." Ewen responded bluntly.

"Huh…?!" Damian looked at him shocked.

BGM: Reuniting the Family - Family Therapy (Grand Theft Auto V)

Ewen looked at him sternly. "Look, I'll admit that I don't condone the way Anya dealt with the situation… but you still had that one coming either way."

"Yeah, if anything… I'm kinda okay with you having a grudge against any anti-Faunus human you meet." Emile said before frowning. "Still, it's already becoming tiring and annoying to hear you generalize Atlesians as heartless and greedy monsters, especially after Atlas fell." He sighed. "Just give it a rest, man…"

"You should be lucky that Logue isn't here right now to see all this." Becky frowned. "To be honest with you, I'd never forgive anyone who'd hurt her simply because she's Atlesian."

Damian opened his mouth, ready to say something…

"Young Blackbell and Elman have made a set of valid points that should not be overlooked, young Desmond."

Everyone turned to see Henderson standing at the doorway, much to their shock.

"Mr. Henderson?!" Everyone said in surprise.

Henderson bowed his head a bit. "Apologies for my late arrival. There were merely a few things I needed to take care of back at the faculty room." He took off his monocle to clean it with his handkerchief. "Regardless, it was still inelegant of me to be this tardy for homeroom period." He put his monocle back on his eye.

Ewen approached Henderson with Becky next to him. "M-Mr Henderson, Becky and I can explai-"

Henderson raised his hand to stop them and shook his head in a stern, yet reassuring gesture. He already understood what was going on and wished to hear the whole story from Anya and Damian.

"The most elegant way to go about this is to hear both sides of the story. I believe it is the most fair." He looked at the boys and Becky. "I am also allowing you to vouch for both of them respectively."

He turned to Anya. "Ladies first."

"Well, I was explaining how my semblance worked to my friends and I mentioned I couldn't remember my backstory as much but I remember coming out of a science tube thing-y in Atlas. And then Damian proceeded to mouth off about every Atlesian being "horrible" and such, even bringing my friend Weiss Schnee into the scenario and mentioned how all the Schnees were bad people for letting Jocky to get away with it. …I couldn't take it anymore."

"I see… young Desmond?"

"So she shows off her semblance and goes to say she was a lab experiment from Atlas and I go on my usual spiel on how all Atlesians suck because they're snobbish and whatever. It's true that the Schnees didn't do anything to stop Atlas from falling, so it's like… totally fair to go after them. Next thing I know, I'm flying across the classroom because she slugged me in the face!"

Damian folded his arms. "Honestly, the girl's a total psycho. Since she's a lab rat, she's totally off her rocker and shouldn't even be here. Heck, since she slugged me across the room, she's a threat to everyone."

Several cross veins appeared on Anya's forehead as tears started to prick on her eyes the more Damian gave his side of the story. Henderson noticed this as he looked at her nervously, yet understood why she was getting more and more upset.

"Young Desmond, I think you ought to-"

"Why would I? She's an Atlesian freak! She's a lab rat and-"

"AAAAARGH!" Anya screamed as she turned to Damian with angry tears. "DO YOU THINK IT'S FUN BEING KIDNAPPED FROM YOUR FAMILY AND BEING EXPERIMENTED ON AGAINST YOUR WILL?!"

Team DBEE looked at Anya in shock. In fact, all the students looked in shock as well… even Henderson looked horrified.

"What…?" Damian asked in shock.

"You have no idea what it's like!" Anya shouted, her voice cracking. "You have no idea what it's like to have bad people do a lot of inhumane experiments on you just to enhance your semblance and turn you into a brainwashed super soldier against your will while the last thing you remember before you get taken away is seeing your birth family die right in front of you by some psycho!"

Goodness me… Henderson thought, feeling absolute sympathy for the Faunus.

"She went through all of that?" One student whispered.

"She needs a hug… no one deserves to go through with that…"

"I want to be her friend…"

"I need to invite her to sit by me during lunch…"

Anya glared harshly at Damian with tears rolling down her cheeks. "Do you have any idea… what that was like… because I'm sure you don't!"

Damian's expression softened, immediately feeling remorse. "A-Anya… I…"

Anya turned around with her back turned to him. "Forget it… Trying to be friends with someone like you was a mistake anyway…"

Ewen approached Anya and put a comforting hand on her shoulder while Becky hugged her. The former then looked toward Damian in disappointment. "You really crossed a line right there, Damian…"

"Hmmm…" Henderson closed his eyes, folding his arms as he proceeded to digest the information. He opened his eyes a minute later to look at the two kids. He first looked toward Anya, though it was a soft sympathetic look.

"Young lady, while I understand the reasons why you retaliated against Young Desmond and while it is a bit commendable, it was still very wrong to confront the issue by resorting to violence, let alone raising your voice. You see, it's very elegant to restrain yourself when things start to frustrate you. It is very important for you to have self control. You can't punch or yell your way out of everything, no matter how much you want to. You have to learn to roll with it, do you understand?"

Anya looked down for a moment. "Yes, sir…"

"Of course, yelling your lungs out does make anyone feel better…" He mused as he gave her a handkerchief. "Here, dry your tears… no one deserves to be sad on their first day of school." He said gently as Anya took it as Becky helped apply it.

Henderson then slowly turned his head toward Damian, his expression more stern.

"Young Desmond… your prejudices and bias against Atlesians is extremely disappointing. Every Atlesian has a story to tell, not to mention they may be going through something, just like this young lady right here. She's hurting… and you with your prejudice makes her feel worse. And I've reason to believe that Miss Schnee is also hurting. She lost her home too, so I expect her to be out of sorts as well. She was not the only one to suffer when Atlas fell on top of Mantle… everyone suffered."

He cleared his throat. "Being Atlesian myself, I feel absolutely offended by your negative perspective of Atlesians in general. You are not entirely wrong that a majority of them are elitist and racist snobs… it is still wrong to generalize all Atlesians as such."

He looked at Damian with a sad look.

"All things considered, while I may now understand the reasons behind your prejudices, let me ask you this, young Desmond… Are you in the right mind to imply that I am a heartless monster as well just because of one bad example?"

He didn't show it, but everyone in the classroom felt the hurt in his voice.

Damian hung his head down in shame, he was already feeling horrible over insulting Anya about being "a lab rat", but indirectly insulting his own teacher was just the cherry on top of his misery.

"N-No… sir…"

"Now then… I believe assigning you to help Mr. Green clean the pool this Friday would be suitable punishment enough. May as well clear your heads a bit too." He suggested. "Not to mention, it is 2-B's turn this month."

"I… wouldn't mind that…" Anya mumbled.

Damian sighed. "I suppose I can live with that…" He glanced to the side. "I could use a little cool off from this warm May weather anyway…"

"Excellent. Now then-"

"Mr. Henderson!" Ewen spoke up. "I wanna volunteer to clean the pool too!"

"Me too!" Emile said.

"Me three!" Becky chimed in.

Henderson looked at them in surprise before smiling. "Well, students are allowed to volunteer… so very well then! We have our five students." He said. "Now then, first order of business before we start homeroom… Young Desmond, head to the nurse's office."

"Right." Damian walked off, but then Henderson grabbed his arm and whispered in his ear.

"If I were you, I'd apologize to the young lady as soon as possible."

Damian said nothing as he walked out, giving Anya a side glance as he looked away in guilt and walked off.

"Now then, second order of business: Before we have Young Forger introduce herself… would anyone like to cheer her up first? I feel like she would-"

Everyone raised their hand up.

"-Need some… encouragement." He chuckled. "Well well, I wasn't expecting the whole class to give her some much needed support. How simply…" He tried to hold back his tears. "...Elegant!"

End BGM

One cheering up Anya later…

BGM: Respite and Sunlight (Fire Emblem: Three Houses)

"Now then, Miss Forger… come introduce yourself to the front of the class when you are ready." Henderson requested as Anya approached the front of the class.

"H-Hi… I'm Anya Forger and… well… you already know about my past that I tried to avoid bringing up…" She frowned before smiling. "Oh! But I do like eating peanuts! They're like my favorite snack! And I have a dog named Bond, he's such a good boy! And and… uh…"

She chuckled nervously. "Shoot, I… forgot what I was gonna say next. But I do have a big family and my Aunt Rosie gives the biggest and softest hugs imaginable."

The class gave her a round of applause.

"Anyone have any questions for her?"

"Are you a Faunus by any chance?" A random student asked as Anya took off her head ornaments, revealing her owl ears.

"Yup!"

"Hey, I'm curious…" Another student spoke up. "Since you're an owl Faunus, is it possible that you could turn your head around like one?"

Anya smiled as she turned her back to the class… and then turned her head around a hundred and eighty degrees.

Becky's eyes nearly bugged out. "EH?!"

"Whoa…!" Ewen said as he was both surprised, yet impressed by this. "Cool!"

As for Emile… the poor kid fainted, as did a few other kids while everyone else either found it really cool or disturbing. In fact, even Henderson had flinched in surprise over this.

Anya smirked. "Heh." She returned back to normal, only to feel a twinge of dizziness. "Ooof…" She rubbed her head. "Ooof… that's the second time today… I keep forgetting how dizzy that makes me…"

"Ahem…" Henderson recovered from shock. "Maybe it would be best if you don't play that trick too much, young Forger." He then cleared his throat with a smile. "In the meantime, please return to your seat and rest your head for a while. I'm about to start with class attendance check right now."

"Yes, sir" Anya nodded as she walked over to her seat which was conveniently placed right next to Becky. As she sat down, she gently clutched her forehead as her headache subsided.

"Hey… you okay there?" Ewen asked as he was sitting behind Anya.

"Just a little headache… but I'll be fine…" She grunted a little in pain. "I just gotta learn how to get used to my own Faunus quirks."

"Ah, don't worry. I'm pretty sure you'll get 'em in no time." Becky smiled reassuringly as she noticed Emile was still KO'd with his head face down on the desk. "And uh… can someone please wake him up?"

A few hours later, at lunchtime…

Oran sat in the cafeteria with his new friends and classmates, with Logue joining them and getting introduced to Oran while having their lunches out.

"So, Oran… you said during your introduction earlier that you really like spicy and sweet foods." Magnolia said.

"That's right. Why do you ask?"

Magnolia smiled. ""Well, if there is one thing my big brother is good for…."

"Hey!"

"…it's making this one specific homemade spicy mozzarella stick recipe." She showed him a tupperware filled with red colored mozzarella sticks. "He calls these "Cruncherella Sticks". Basically mozzarella sticks, but with a twist. Would you like to try one of them?"

"Sis, are you crazy?!" Nick asked in shock. "The others tried and had to drink a couple gallons of milk to survive it!"

"Oh, don't be so dramatic, I'm sure he can handle it." She turned her attention back to Oran. "So, what do you say? Wanna try one?"

Oran glanced at the others, who are desperately trying to signal him that it was a bad idea… buuuuut… "Sure, I'll try." He shrugged.

Nick grimaced. "Oh, he's done for…"

"Excellent." She gave Oran one of the sticks as she proceeded to watch him with full attention as he took a bite… and a few seconds later, steam erupts from his ears before it cooled down. "So… what do you think?"

Oran coughed out a bit of smoke while straining a smile. ""It's good… It starts off strong, but then it dies down…" He flashed a small thumbs up while giving her a proper smile after recovering from the spice. "Spicy, but cheesy. I like it."

Magnolia giggled before looking at a stunned Nick. "Guess you can double your cooking from now on, brother dearest."

Nick chuckled sheepishly after he recomposed himself. "Hehe~ I guess so…"

Albedo looked at Oran in amazement over brushing off the heat like nothing. "Dude, I already knew you were awesome, but this one takes the cake!"

"Yeah!" Laura nodded in agreement. "My… you really are full of surprises, aren't you?"

Oran smiled back. "Maybe I am." He looked at Nick while helping himself to another Cruncherella stick. "I'm curious, Nick… how did you make these?"

"You wanna know how I make my world-famous Cruncherella Sticks?" He grinned. "Oh, it's pretty simple…" He cleared his throat. "First I crush up a bag of spicy hot Cheetos Crunchies, and then I place the crushed crumbs on top of a plate with a bunch of string cheese sitting on them right before I have it microwaved for about 10 seconds or so… just until the cheese is hot and gooey, but not super melted." He took a stick from the tupperware. "After that, I roll the string cheese around in the crumbs until they're fully coated, and then… bam! You've got yourself some Cruncherella Sticks, baby!"

He took a bite out of said stick, not even showing a reaction. "Mmm… so spicy, but so cheesy."

Magnolia winked. "The best two in one snack concept you'll ever taste!"

"Oooh~" Oran said in awe as he took another bite. "True that. I'm also surprised that you two are barely getting a reaction out of this."

Magnolia giggled as she helped herself to a Cruncherella stick. "Raised on chili peppers, Oran." She winked. "My brother and I are practically immune to any kind of spice. Not even the Superspicy Curry from Kirby's world can stop us."

Nick chuckled while grinning cheekily. "Darn right, she is!"

Becky sweatdropped. "...For a couple of polar-opposite twins, I guess that you two really do share a few things in common after all." She glanced to the side. ...Not surprised either since the three of us also grew up together even before we went to Hathaway and met the rest of our other friends here…

"Ah, there you all are." A voice said as they turned to see Henderson arriving with Anya. "Young Rose-Moss, you will have to take this note home with you."

"Huh?" Oran wondered as he read it, and immediately grimaced. "Anya, did… did you punch someone the second I took my eyes off of you?!"

"Hmph." Anya huffed. "Sy-on Boy was being rude to Weiss."

"Sy-on Boy…?" Laura wondered before realization hit her, causing her to grimace. "Oh no, Anya… on the first day too…!" She turned her head to the side for a bit. Sy-on Boy, huh? She smirked. Heh, gotta save that one for later~

"Haha~! Pay up, guys! Told ya something like that would happen on the first day!" Albedo said, where he immediately received an unamused death glare from Magnolia. "N-Never mind, I-I choose life…!"

"Where is the big guy anyway? His pride has gotta hurt by getting decked by a girl as small as her." Nick said.

"Right behind you, you rocks-for-brains."

Nick shrieked in fright like a singer in an opera as he turned to see Damian with a bandage on his cheek.

Aaaand I'm not letting him live THAT one down… Magnolia smirked.

"Oooh… you… you okay there, man?"

"I'll live." He focused his attention towards Anya with a miffed glare while also trying to hide his guilt and remorse from earlier. "Just so you know Esper Girl, I won't let that slide." He frowned in a bit in a mixture of guilt and annoyance. "Look… I know what I did and said to you earlier was a really bad move on my part… but did you really have to go that far to punch me in the face…?"

Anya smirked smugly. "Heh, you deserved it."

Damian looked at her face, and by listening to her voice, which sounded a bit similar to Laura, dread immediately kicked in for him.

Wh-what the hell is this...?! It's already bad enough that there's one smug smirker... but now there are two of them?! He mentally cursed while gritting his teeth and clenching his fist in anger before recomposing himself. "Hmph, fine. I'll let this one slide. I kinda deserved that anyway…" He muttered before darting his eyes around at the lunch table his friends were sitting at.

"So, where's that other newcomer I heard about…?" He asked as he looked at the group and spotted Oran with widened eyes, the armadillo Faunus following suit.

End BGM

"It's you!" Both exclaimed.

Becky looked at them in surprise. "You two know each other?"

Emile sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "Well, uh… how do I put this…?"

A few days earlier…

Damian, Ewen and Emile wandered around the woods and enjoyed themselves where they spotted a campfire. "Huh?" Damian wondered as they went to investigate as they spotted Oran cooking some fish.

"Hey, that looks delicious." Ewen said. "Mind if we have some?"

"Hmm?" Oran turned to look at them. "Oh, sure. I made plenty." He said as the trio sat down.

"Hey. I'm Damian Desmond."

"Ewen Egeburg!"

"Emile Elman."

"Hey. I'm Oran Rose-Moss." He said as they started to chat about different things while enjoying each other's company…

…Until…

"Tch… wow, you're friends with that snobby Weiss girl?" Damian rolled his eyes. "Girl's pathetic."

"Damian…" Ewen groaned. "Cut it out!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" Oran glared.

"Girl thinks she can earn forgiveness after what her father had done by making a little dance band with that pink haired Mine girl? Please, I ain't buying it. She's just as snobbish as the rest of the Atlesians."

"That's not true! Weiss is kind and very friendly too!"

"That's just a mask!"

"No it isn't!"

"Yes, it is!"

"Oh brother…" Emile and Ewen shook their heads.

"Okay okay… let's not ruin each other's day over this silly argument over Atlesians." Even if I'm right…

"Fine by me."

"Besides, I actually kinda like you." Damian said.

"So do I."

Back in the present…

"I didn't know you were going to this school when we met." Damian mused while eating a Cruncherella Stick given to him by Nick and also sipping from a small carton of milk to counter its spiciness. Despite its overall taste, even he finds his close friend's homemade snack quite delicious.

"Neither did I." Ewen added.

"Heh, I never actually thought we'd meet again since the moment you and Anya stopped by the greenhouse earlier this morning." Emile chuckled.

Oran chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah… I kinda forgot to mention it." He then turned to Anya sternly. "And you. You should know better than to punch someone in the face."

"But he was rude!" Anya whined.

"I know, but punching him in the face won't change him from being a pompous jerk." Laura said.

"Hmph. Smartest thing you ever said, Winchester." Damian mocked with a forced smile on his face, causing Laura to turn her attention to him and shoot him an annoyed glare.

"Just so you know… I'm still beating you in terms of grades, Desmond." Laura retorted while forcing up a smile. "And don't even think that I plan to be as complacent as you on the academic standing hierarchy."

Damian felt his eye twitch a bit at that comment, his smile still unchanging. "Complacent, am I? Oh, please. I have no idea what you're talking about, Winchester." He sneered while straining to keep up his smile. "Besides, it's no different with how passive-aggressive you are."

Laura gritted her teeth as she still kept her own forced smile on her face. "Oh-ho? I'm passive-aggressive... Sy-on Boy?" An oppressive cobalt blue aura started to form around the beanie-wearing girl.

"Well, I'm not sure what else is better to call you, considering your... disposition, Nerd Bird." An equally-oppressive seafoam green aura later formed around Damian which matched the smug look on his face. "And since when did you have permission to call me by that nickname Esper Girl called me earlier?" He asked in annoyance while still forcing up his smile.

"Oh, only now." Laura retorted with an equally smug smirk of her own. "Not like I needed anyone's permission anyway."

The other kids gulped nervously at the intensity as they looked between the two rivals who looked ready to mercilessly rip into each other, although Henderson simply watched on with skeptical amusement.

"Um, guys...? Why don't you two take a moment to like, I dunno... calm down or something...?" Emile spoke up meekly. However, he immediately regretted his choice of words the moment both kids turned their focus on him with menacing stares. "Urk, n-nevermind...! I-I mean... c-carry on...!"

Laura and Damian turned to each other as they continued arguing against each other.

Magnolia pinched the bridge of her nose. "Oh, for the love of…"

"Just kiss already." Nick, Albedo, Becky, Logue and Ewen said in unison.

Both blushed in anger and embarrassment. "WE'RE NOT DATING!"

The other kids laughed in amusement, including Oran, Anya and even Henderson joined in on the laughter.

"Hi, I'm Anya Forger!" Anya introduced herself to Logue.

"Hi! I'm Logue Lang!"

Later, at PE class…

Both kids from Class 2-A and 2-B were hanging around in the gymnasium, chatting amongst themselves while waiting for their PE teacher to arrive for their interclass PE session.

Their uniforms consist of a white short-sleeved polo shirt with a dark green collar with the emblem of Hathaway embroidered in yellow on the left breast of the shirt, a pair of dark green gym shorts with two yellow line patterns going up on the sides, and a pair of white gym sneakers.

"Splatoon 3 is one of my favorite games." Becky said as they were talking about their favorite games. "Heck, me and the boys often compete against each other after school in the Light Music Club's clubroom."

"Oh cool!" Anya said.

"Aaaah…" Becky sighed deeply. "Shiver is so cool. Her calm and collected nature… her pet shark… aaaaah! It's so wonderful! I even got her autograph~!"

"Autograph, schmautograph… Frye's way cooler!" Ewen said playfully.

"Ay! Ay! Big Man's better!" Emile grinned.

"Do you two have an autograph from them? I didn't think so~" Becky giggled.

"Mmmm…" Damian folded his arms, visibly uncomfortable around Anya but had chosen to tolerate her presence out of courtesy. "I'm more of an Off the Hook kind of guy myself."

"I like Ink Fresh." Anya said. Aaaand I just recently became a Sayaker~

Curiosity came over Anya soon after. Light Music Club…? What's that? She wondered as she opened her mouth to ask…

…But a whistle stopped her as they all turned to see Spear blowing the whistle. "Alright, kids! Gather around!" She instructed as both classes did so, to which she spotted Anya and Oran. I see we have a couple of new faces here. She thought before smiling. Looks like I'd better start making a good impression for these two on their first day here.

Spear cleared her throat. "Alright, for those of you who do not know me yet, my name is Coach Spear and I am your gym teacher. P.E. was a part of my life back when I was a student here in Hathaway, which is almost the same as waking up in the morning or painting a new picture on a blank canvas almost daily. I live and breathe the art of Physical Education."

I don't understand what she just said, but this class is gonna be so cool~! Anya thought with excitement, as Oran had the same sentiment… though he more than likely understood what she said compared to Anya.

Spear grinned. "Alright, who's with me? Are you kids ready to have some fun?!"

"YEAH!" All the kids said excitedly.

"Okay, outstanding! So before we start our activity today, I'm going to need you kids to group yourselves by class." She pulled out two medium-sized boxes. "I'm also going to pass out one box of armbands for each class. Please also be reminded that all of you can only take one armband each from the box."

A few minutes later…

"Okay, for Class 2-A… since you guys were assigned the red armbands, all of you are going to be known as Team Autonomous! The hero team!"

"Yes!" Team Autonomous cheered.

"And for Class 2-B, since you guys are assigned with the purple armbands, all of you will be known as Team Deception! Also known as the villain team!"

"Yeah!" Team Deception cheered.

"Villain team…?" Anya looked at her purple wristband. "So we're the bad guys?"

"Pretty much, Anya." Becky nodded as she also had a purple wristband.

Anya grinned gleefully. "Hmm! If that's the case, maybe I should also get into character too!" She immediately put her hands on her hips with an evil smirk. "WAHAHAHA~! That's right~! You'd better tremble in fear before me, you mere earthworms~! For it is I, the great and fearsome Anya the Atrocious~!"

Her friends all laughed at her antics, all the while Damian had to look away to hide a snicker.

We haven't even started the activity yet, yet she's already starting to enjoy this class. Spear chuckled in joy and amusement. I'm so happy for this new girl. She looked back at the whole class. "Okay! For today's activity, let's start off with a fun game I'd like to call… dodgeball."

Many dodgeballs thrown later…

BGM: Never Miss a Beat (Kaiser Chiefs)

"Hup!" Laura dodged a ball as she went over to Oran and pulled him to the side. "Psst, be on the lookout for Class 2-B's star dodgeball player, Bill Watkins."

"Okay, who's Bill?"

"He's big and muscular despite his age… Becky says it's due to his genes he inherited from his equally muscular father who works as a commander-in-chief at the Blackbell Heavy Industries. You'll know what he looks like when you'll see him."

"Okay…?"

Oran and Laura got back into the area… and Oran looked on in awe as he saw a muscular second grader in front of him, as even Anya looked on in shock.

Holy cow! He's about as big as Yang! Both thought. And he's on Anya's/My team!

Anya then smirked. Cool! We got a secret weapon!

Crud, she's got a secret weapon… Oran whimpered.

"Ah, crud… Bazooka Bill's here…" Albedo groaned.

Bazooka?! Then that means-

Bill immediately threw some dodgeballs… although instead of simple dodgeballs, he threw dodgeball missiles at the opposing team.

"Whoa!" Oran ducked as a kid behind him got nailed instead.

"Oooof!"

"Ever since the first grade, he's been called that due to his mental and physical domination in in various sports/activities in the school!" Laura said as she dodged a missile from Bill.

Surprisingly, Bill's lenses on his glasses were colored ruby red instead of clear.

Are they for fashion? Both Oran and Anya thought as Bill, along with Damian, Anya and a few others, proceeded to throw the balls at the group.

"Ack!" Albedo dodged many balls thrown at him as he hid behind Nick. "Cover me, dude!"

"Me?! Go hide behind my sister instead!"

Magnolia gracefully avoided the dodgeballs. "Oh, shut up, you cowards!"

So this is how I die… Oran whimpered.

"Ooomph!" Emile grunted as a dodgeball hit him. "Beaver down! Avenge me, guys!"

The game continued on as both sides landed some good hits against each other, as even Oran used himself as a fake out ball to distract Bill.

Soon, Spear blew the whistle. "This match is a tie! Good game, everyone!"

End BGM

Both teams went over and shook on it with smiles on their faces. "Nice use of that fake out, Oran." Bill complimented. "It actually got me good!"

Oran smiled. "Ah, thanks. You're not so bad yourself!"

Meanwhile, Anya got compliments all around from Becky, Ewen, Emile and Damian, though the latter simply put on a tsundere approach with "Eh, you were alright for a rookie dodgeball player".

Anya turned to Spear, giving her a thumbs up with a grin, wordlessly telling her she greatly enjoyed her PE class.

Spear returned the gesture, feeling appreciated and happy that she managed to do her best to leave a good first impression on the two on their first ever PE class with her.

BGM: "But, Frederick, it's nearly dark!" (Fire Emblem: Awakening)

"And so-"

"Wah wah wah wah wah wah wah wah" was all Anya was hearing as she was trying to keep herself awake from Henderson's lecture on social studies. Thankfully, Becky and Ewen were kind enough to share their notes with her.

On the chalkboard in Run's class, he had this problem:

"There are eighteen students in the class, there are thirteen girls in the glass. Eleven of the students wear glasses.

1: What fraction of the students wear glasses?

2: What fraction of the students are boys?

3: If 3/11 of the students wearing glasses are boys and 8/11 of the students wearing glasses are girls, are there more boys or more girls wearing glasses?"

And to Oran's amazement, Laura was able to figure it out without much effort on the board.

"That is correct." Run said.

Whoa… Oran thought in awe.

In the science room, the substitute teacher was none other than Stanford Pines himself. He decided to apply for a part time job in Hathaway to keep himself occupied during his stay in Remnant and the Mushroom Kingdom. Luckily, he was able to enjoy his part time job as he was able to share a rather friendly relationship with his students, especially since they found his abnormal six fingers to be intriguing instead of mocking him for the abnormality.

"A six fingered hand… so cool~!" Anya said as she was examining said hand with Becky and Emile.

Damian snickered as he read a random entry on the borrowed Journal #3 with Ewen. "Pffft, the gnomes' weakness are leaf blowers of all things? Talk about pathetic…" He turned another page.

"Hmm?" Ewen wondered as he raised an eyebrow. "Who is this Bill Cipher?"

"Um…" Ford looked uncomfortable. "Best if you don't know, kiddo."

Damian grimaced at the notes on the page. "DO NOT SUMMON AT ALL COSTS" and "BILL CAN'T BE TRUSTED!" were written in red ink. "You know what? I think you're right about us being better off not knowing who Bill Cipher is."

He turned the page, only to see two pages were ripped out from the journal. "Hmm?" He tilted his head.

Said missing pages were part of Ford's blueprints for the interdimensional portal he built years ago back at Gravity Falls. Following Bill's defeat and his travel to the Mushroom Kingdom with his family, he tore out the blueprints from all three journals and burnt them to ashes for good measure, not wanting to risk bring another Weirdmageddon to Remnant and the Mushroom Kingdom if ever another portal to be rebuilt.

"Hmm… eh, probably not worth my business." Damian shrugged.

At the end of the school day…

Oran was at one end of the Pokemon Battle arena with his Heracross, while Anya called out her Pokemon, an Abra.

"Let's go, Gibson!" Anya said.

"Abra!"

"Alright!" Becky raised her hand up. "Let the Pokemon Battle begi-"

End BGM

Suddenly, the alarms sounded, interrupting them all. "What's that siren mean?" Anya asked.

"Ugh, right now?" Becky groaned. "It's another Grimm attack!"

BGM: Rampage (Monster Hunter Rise)

"But we just had one a few days ago!" Damian said.

"Alright, let's save this school!" Laura said as they took off running as Oran grabbed Anya as they quickly ran inside the school, pulling out his backpack from the locker and opening it up.

"You brought it with you!" Anya smiled.

"Just in case!" Oran smiled as he handed Anya her weapon, which was a dual-wielding weapon in the form of twin pistols that have a total of three separate modes. Namely a dagger, a bladed fan, and a pistol mode with an internal built-in suppressor. It was also colored silver and pink with black, yellow and green accents.

Anya smirked. "Time to put Tacito to good use!" She said as they took off running.

Once they were all outside and separated to deal with the Grimm, Damian and the rest of his teammates squared up as four Beowolves came charging. "Beowolves, huh?" He smirked. "Hmph, no problem… we can take them. Four on four!"

"Um, actually, Sy-on Boy… there's five of us." Anya corrected.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't count you because, y'know... you're not officially a member of Team DBEE yet. Remember?"

Anya glared at him in annoyance. "I CAN STILL FIGHT!" She snapped.

"Alright. Okay, then... Four on four plus Esper Girl."

A cross vein appeared on Anya's forehead, angrily growling at Damian. "Rrrgh…!"

The other three, meanwhile, sweatdropped at the display before turning their attention back to the Grimm. Though, they were also thankful they weren't at each other's throats after what had happened earlier.

Becky and Ewen brought out weapons of their own.

Becky's was a Megaphone and SMG hybrid called Noisy Boy. There was a switch that allows Becky to switch between "Gun Mode" and "Megaphone Mode" which can be indicated in a black digital panel on the side that says either "銃 - FIREARM" or "姦 - NOISE" respectively in neon yellow text. The weapon is colored in purple and black with white and yellow accents.

Becky prepared to take a deep breath. "You guys might wanna cover your ears for this one." She warned as they covered their ears as Becky unleashed a mighty scream into her weapon, unleashing sonic boom waves that sent a Beowolf or two flying, while the other Grimm whimpered and covered their ears in agony.

"My turn!" Ewen smirked, wielding a pair of three-pronged jagged titanium claw blades fashioned in a white liger motif called Pridestalker. He quickly slashed at the remaining Beowolves.

A Beowolf snarled and swiped at Ewen, but he quickly activated his semblance, where his whole body (and clothing) disappeared as the Beowolf swiped at nothing, confusing the Grimm as Ewen appeared behind him and swung at him to knock it down.

His semblance was Phantom Force, where he can become invisible and intangible to the point he can phase through most solid objects (Except for certain gasses, liquids or energy-based matter like force fields) undetected. He can also easily dodge enemy attacks via intangibility and conveniently slip away from sight whenever he needs to via invisibility.

However… whenever he uses the intangibility part of his Semblance, he needs to be careful and act fast regarding where he phases through. If he accidentally deactivates his Semblance in the middle of a thick wall or structure, he can easily get stuck there, and his movement will be limited. Worse scenario, he'll suffocate within the wall if his whole body including his head completely gets stuck.

While Becky and Ewen were using their semblances (The former having changed her semblance's name to Boomburst since she thought it sounded better than "Sonic Boom"), Emile and Damian had no weapons of their own, but were able to hold their own with either Damian's freestyle karate that he had trained under a private karate instructor at home and occasionally sparred with his friends during his free time.

As for Emile, his semblance was called Forest Emergence. As such, he was able to call upon trees from the ground to impale the Grimm from below… as long as he was around wood or wood-based plants… or at least in fertile areas that have the potential to grow wood or wood-based plants.

However, due to him still being a child, his knowledge, skill, strength, and natural limits of his Semblance are quite underdeveloped as much as he can only manipulate wood-based plants as big as a shrub or a common backyard tree. Not to mention that he can also only gain control over certain types of wood or wood-based plants along with a limit on the amount of wood he can control.

As such, trying to control a wood-based plant as tall as an oak tree would take a huge chunk out of his aura and would exhaust him rather quickly.

Nearby, Bill Watkins was also part of the fight as he glared carefully at some Grimm and proceeded to shoot lasers out of his rose colored glasses similar to Cyclops himself from X-Men, as this was his semblance known as Optical Blast.

…However, just like Scott, his semblance had a serious drawback, hence the rose colored glasses where he's able to freely see and block out his lasers and unwittingly frying up his classmates by accident. His glasses were specially made from Becky's father due to Bill's father's request. Luckily, ruby quartz was just the ticket.

How he got his semblance was during one day in PE in the first grade, he was practicing dodgeball with his classmates when he got hit by a small migraine with his eyes flashing red. He rushed over to the restroom as his migraine only got worse. He looked in the mirror to see that his eyes were starting to glow a bright red color as he felt like something was about to shoot out of his eyes.

One of his classmates went to check on him… when suddenly the large boy started to fire out beams of bright red colored energy straight from his eyes, not knowing how to stop them. In his panic and horror, he dealt serious damage to the restroom and almost a quarter of the gymnasium. He was quick enough to shut his eyes tightly and blocked out the beams before he did any more collateral damage as he was also excused to go home for the rest of the day, while also being forced to wear a blindfold, so that he and his parents can have his eyes checked out.

…Anyway, enough explanations for now.

More Grimm started to show up as more Beowolves came along with Nevermores, Creeps, Ngoubous, Kongamatos, and even Satyrs, humanoid goat-like Grimm with the upper body of a man with the head, bony horns, and sleek back legs of a goat. Next to Beowolves, Satyrs were most formidable for beginner level Huntsmen.

For the most part, the students and teachers were able to hold their own against the Grimm with few injuries here and there…

End BGM

…Until a new Grimm came to play, as a Beringel jumped into the area and beat his chest like a normal gorilla… until his scorpion tail came out.

"A cross between a Beringel and a Death Stalker…" Nick muttered in shock before it morphed into awe. "Maybe we should call this one the "Stalkerilla"!"

Magnolia rolled her eyes as she stabbed a Beowolf with Hinokami. "Oh, that's real original, bro!"

"Hey! At least it's better than nothing!" Nick retorted as he quickly punched the ground and impaled a couple of Creeps using a bunch of pointy rock spires he summoned beneath it.

Laura prepared her twin wakizachi. "Guys, cut the chatter! We've still got a school to save!"

The Grimm, now named Stalkerilla, let out a loud war cry, beating its chest right before charging straight toward the students and teachers.

BGM: Scorporilla Music - Fight (Crash of the Titans)

Combination of Muscle and Poison - Stalkerilla

Albedo brought out Kushinada. "Okay guys, what's the plan?"

Nick squared up as a pair of large rocky gauntlets formed on his fist. "Kick some gorilla scorpion butt!" He rushed toward the Grimm.

"Yeah!" Anya agreed as she switched Tacito to its bladed fans mode.

Emile glared at the Stalkerilla. "Right behind you." He rushed toward the Grimm behind Anya and Nick.

Albedo looked at them flabbergasted. "No, seriously! For real, guys! WHAT is the plan?!"

"Guys, wait!" Laura reached out to them.

Just like a regular Beringel, the hybrid was just as fast and powerful thanks to its gargantuan arms… but throw in a scorpion tail on top of that and it was even deadlier, nearly striking at the kids with its poisonous tail.

Nick instinctively summoned a rock wall to protect himself from the Grimm hybrid's incoming megaton punch… which shattered through and sent him flying. Luckily, through Sonia's training, he remembered how to instantly recover himself whenever he's sent flying.

Nick gritted his teeth as he had recovered. "Darn it… he's too strong!"

The Grimm Hybrid was assaulted as they faced it either head on or through projectiles, but either way, it was enough to prove too much of a challenge for them as it beat its chest proudly after backhanding, punching or swiping with its tail.

A cross vein appeared on Becky's forehead after the latter kept dodging its shots. "Rrrgh… okay! That is IT! I'VE HAD ENOUGH!" She holstered Nosy Boy and pulled out a familiar purple marble-like object as she tossed it to the ground, which formed into the Crab Tank she had gotten in Alterna.

Becky hopped inside of it. "Time for some heavy artillery!"

She proceeded to fire upon it, and thanks to Kaito's help, she and her bro had upgraded the Crab Tank to where the pincers shot regular tank ammunition with explosive Fire Dust and retractable homing missile launchers attached to each side of the crab "head", on top of the ink being fired as well.

The Stalkerilla was able to be pushed back by Becky as it tried in vain to fight back… which was enough to get everyone else to regroup.

"Okay, so how do we do this?" Laura wondered while rubbing her chin in thought as together with Oran and Damian, they were able to figure out a battle plan and was able to communicate this with the others.

Albedo grinned. "Okay, now THAT is a plan!" He brought out his Namikaze kunais.

"Alright! Let's do this team!" Laura smiled.

The group got into position while Becky continued to lay on the assault on the Grimm Hybrid.

"Oran, Damian, all three of us will face the Stalkerilla head on." She turned to look at Oran specifically. "Oran, if possible, try using your wings and see if you could also provide some aerial fire cover fire with your arrows."

Oran nodded, sprouting his wings. "Let's do this, Laura!"

Through their teamwork and Laura calling the shots, they were able to sufficiently fight the Grimm Hybrid, where at one point, Becky blew off the scorpion tail off of the Grimm as Oran was airborne and fired arrows to keep it busy until eventually, the mighty beast fell to the ground in defeat, slowly disappearing.

End BGM

"That's how we do it!" Albedo cheered, high fiving his friends.

However, the battle hasn't been won yet as there were still a few stragglers. With a nod, they went off to help out to deal with the issue.

Oran spotted a few kids being cornered by some Beowolves, where he quickly jumped in between them as the Beowolf got ready to strike. He turned around so his shell would take most of the blow.

The Beowolf swiped down, hitting the shell… but the sheer force was enough to knock him into a nearby wall, shattering his aura upon impact.

"ORAN!" Laura called out as Oran fainted from the shock of the impact while the teachers proceeded to destroy the Grimm as his eyes closed, with the last thing he heard were his friends calling his name.

Later…

Oran woke up, finding himself in the infirmary as he noticed he was surrounded by his friends. "Oh thank goodness… he's okay!" Anya sighed in relief as she hugged him while everyone else sighed in relief.

"Dude, that was reckless of ya! You could've gotten killled!" Damian chastised.

"He's right! If your aura didn't protect you, you could've died!" Magnolia agreed.

"Alright, alright… no need to gang up on him." Nick said. "...Even if it is true."

"Sorry guys… aheheh…" Oran blushed a little bit.

"What you did back there… it… reminded me of a similar experience that happened to me before." Ewen said.

Anya looked at him curiously. "Ewen… does it have something to do with that scar on your forehead?"

Ewen sighed softly as he brushed his bangs to the side, showing off his forehead scar. "Yeah…"

"Oh…" Anya frowned. "I've been meaning to ask… how did you get that scar anyway?"

"Well… it happened around last year…"

A year ago…

"It was like any other ordinary Grimm attack. The first graders were part of the school's line of defense."

The Grimm attacked the school, which were a bunch of Beowolves, Nevermores and Creeps.

"We were able to hold our own against the Grimm despite our numbers. However, some of the younger students were scared to fight back as they had no experience with basic combat or they didn't have their Aura/Semblance unlocked yet for protection."

"I was one of those students…" Becky chimed in.

Becky watched LAFF, Damian, Ewen and Emile face the Grimm head on with their auras and semblances already unlocked… while she was stuck with nothing.

At that moment, a Beowolf ambushed her from behind and knocked her away to a wall. She was then cornered by said Grimm as she was too scared to move as it closed in on her as it raised its claws up to slash down at the defenseless girl.

"HEEEEELP!" Becky screamed as loud as she could, as her screams reached Ewen's ears as he had just defeated a Creep with the help of Damian and Nick. He immediately sprang to action as he recklessly rushed in and pushed Becky out of the way as he got struck by the Beowolf instead.

Despite his aura protecting him, the impact was strong enough to knock a seven year old child like him and left behind some gashes on his forehead. They were deep, but thankfully non-fatal.

"Ewen!" Damian called out.

"Get them both to safety!" Henderson ordered. "The teachers and the older students will deal with the rest!"

"This event still brings me to tears every time I think of it… because I feel responsible for getting him hurt…" Becky mumbled.

A few hours later, Ewen woke up as he found himself lying in bed with bandages around his forehead. He realized he was in the infirmary as he felt gentle hugs from both Damian and Emile, relieved that he was alright.

They then brought him to speed on what happened, he also noticed Becky was in the room but she was oddly silent. "She hasn't spoken a word ever since you were knocked out…" Damian said. "Heck, when you woke up, she's been quiet."

Ewen saw the distress in Becky's eyes. "Hey… can you leave us alone for a while? I need to talk to her in private."

"You got it, bud." Damian nodded as he and Emile left the room, leaving the two alone as there was a long awkward silence between the duo.

"...Hey. I'm not mad at you." He reassured. "Just get it off your chest…"

Becky stared at him stunned before she looked down, her bangs covering her eyes. "I'm sorry…"

Ewen stared at her in confusion. "Y-You're sorry? What for?"

BGM: The Champ (Creed III)

Becky grabbed Ewen's hands. "I'm so sorry for being such a weak coward! It's all my fault that you almost got killed by a Grimm!"

"...It's not your fault, Becky." He said reassuringly. "Hey, look at me."

Becky looked at her with tears still in her eyes.

"What happened to me back there...? That wasn't entirely on you. Never was. That dumb Grimm earlier was the one responsible for attacking our school and giving me that big scratch on my forehead." He sighed softly. "And if anything… I think that I'm the one who should be at fault here."

"Y-Your fault…?" Becky asked on confusion while wiping her tears.

Ewen nodded. "We're just kids, Becky... A bunch of young and inexperienced little children who don't know any better... and that we tend to do a lot of stupid things without even thinking ahead, you know...?" He looked to the side in shame. "I know that I only wanted to protect you at that time... but I guess that it was still pretty reckless of me to put myself in front of something really dangerous without a proper plan on what to do next."

Ewen then smiled. "It's not your fault. Admittedly, I would have been frozen in fear too if I had been in a spot where I couldn't find a way out with no chance of escape. It could've happened to anyone… so cheer up! It's not your fault. You shouldn't blame yourself for it."

Becky smiled as the two then proceeded to hug it out while nearby, Damian and Emile were eavesdropping and smiled in relief.

In the present…

"My hairstyle used to be entirely different… but ever since that day, I stopped styling by hair and just let it down, mostly to cover my faint scars. Of course, it's also a reminder that I need to be more careful in the future."

Anya looked on with tears in her eyes. "That… that's so beautiful!" She blubbered as she hugged her best friend as well, with Becky looked down in sadness over the bad memories coming back. "I'd feel the same way as Becky if I were in her shoes!" She sniffled.

"Hmm…" Oran looked down in contemplation. "Yeah… I can relate to that. I… feel a bit guilty about worrying you guys, but… I can agree with you. Despite what I can do, I'm still just a kid who doesn't know any better…"

"Ah, don't worry about it. We all learn from our mistakes!" Ewen said.

Oran smiled. "Yeah!"

End BGM

"Um, excuse me…" Logue spoke up. "I found this note at the front entrance… it's addressed to you." She said, handing Oran the note.

Oran opened the note, as his eyes widened and grimaced in horror.

"Hope you enjoyed your first day at school. - Donovan"

To say that his blood boiled with lividity was an understatement. Those who were with Oran in ancient Hyrule saw who the note had belonged to and immediately felt the same way.

It wasn't because Donovan wanted to ruin Oran and Anya's first day at school… but because he almost sent them and their new friends to an early grave just for the sheer hell of it.

Logue looked at Oran in concern. "Oran… are you okay?"

Oran gritted his teeth in rage. "That monster…" He crushed the note in his hand and tried to jump out of bed. "I'M GONNA KILL HIM!"

Thankfully, Albedo and Nick instinctively rushed in and held the enraged armadillo Faunus in place, preventing him from doing something rash.

"Oh no, you don't." Laura said sternly. "Besides, Ms. Hiroko didn't give you an all clear yet."

Logue picked up the crumpled note that fell to the ground in worry with Magnolia. "Oran… what does this mean…?"

"...It means that his problem has just become our problem as well." Laura said grimly.

Realization hit Oran the moment she said it. "Wh-what? N-No…"

"Oh, really now? Did you forget the promise we made in ancient Hyrule? What was it I said again? Oh, yes. That's right… "We'll help you take that loser down". And now he decided to target our friends. So, yes. We're not going to let you fight him alone."

"I can fight him on my own." Oran stubbornly insisted.

"No. No, you can't." Damian said firmly while shaking his head. "Last time you tried, you nearly died."

Oran looked at him in confusion. "Huh?"

"Oh, that's right… You see, Winchester informed us about the whole thing after she and Al came back from ancient Hyrule." He closed his eyes. "And again… by attacking the school, I believe that this Donovan guy had just made an enemy out of all of us."

"But-"

"But nothing." Damian said with a stern look before sighing to recompose himself. "Listen to me, Oran… I know how much this evil hyena Faunus ruined your life. And I know how much you want to make him pay for everything he's done, but it's not today or right now."

He looked at him determinedly. "I swe– No… we swear to you that one day, he will get everything he deserves."

Oran looked at him confused. "Damian… why?"

Damian smiled. "Because I'm your friend, man. A friend that cares about you." He looked around the room. "In fact, we all are."

BGM: Main Theme (Riverdale)

Oran stared at him and the others in stunned silence.

Albedo grinned. "See? Just like I told you back on ancient Hyrule. We're in this together and we'll have each other's backs no matter what."

Nick nodded in agreement. "Yeah, man! Like it or not, we're not going to let you face that hyena jerkwad all by yourself again!"

"Al… Nick…"

"Heck, the next time we see him again, I assure you that we'll do everything we can to make him regret the day he messed with us." Ewen said.

"And when we do, we'll be ready for him and for whatever he throws at us next." Magnolia added.

Emile nodded. "Yeah! What she said!"

"You guys…" Oran uttered as he stared at his new friends in stunned awe. They just barely got to know each other today and now they were all able to help him out and risk everything just to help support a fellow friend in need.

He smiled and lightly chuckled. "Hehe~ Thanks… I really needed that." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "And, yeah… I'm sorry about how I acted earlier."

"Ah, don't worry about it. Happens to the best of us." Albedo said.

Logue held Oran's hand while giving him a reassuring smile. "You're not alone, Oran."

Anya hugged him. "Friends always stick together~!"

Becky smiled. "Like Al said, you know we'll always have your back whenever you need us."

Laura smiled as well. "Now you get it, Oran? I know that most of us had just only met you today, but we're not the type of people who would leave a new friend hanging dry like that. Like it or not, we're not going to let you be alone next time and we're not going to let you endure all of this by yourself on the long run."

She briefly glanced at Ewen. "And like Ewen said… The next time we see Donovan again, we'll always be ready for him."

Ewen silently nodded in agreement, with appreciation to the gesture.

Oran was left in stunned awe once again. "Laura…" He smiled. "Thank you…"

Laura smiled back. "You're welcome." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "That said… I think we're now all on the same page together." She slowly clenched her fists. "No matter what, we will try our best to be better next time. We will never allow ourselves to lose to that monstrous hyena again."

She opened her eyes, which were now filled with pure determination. "The only time we'll truly lose is the day we give up on ourselves and quit being Huntsmen who fight for the free future!"

She triumphantly raised her fist into the air. "Junior Hunters, forever!" She then paused as realization dawned upon her. "Oh, Oum… I just figured out what to call our group."

"Junior Hunters…" Oran mused before he nodded with a smile. "Yeah… that's great! You're pretty amazing, Laura!" He blushed a bit. "Uh… all of you are as well."

Damian smiled while patting him on the shoulder. "Hey, don't sell yourself too short, man. You're pretty great too." He looked at Laura. "Look, I know we may not always agree on a lot of things, but even I have to admit that "Junior Hunters" does sound pretty fitting for a group of next-gen Huntsmen like us."

He smiled a bit in respect where Laura returned a small smile in kind while nodding.

"Junior Hunters, huh…?" Magnolia thought before smiling. "I like the sound of that."

"Mhm! Me too~!" Logue smiled.

Emile grinned. "Ditto here!" He agreed as the other kids vocally agreed as well.

"Hey, Boss Girl? Why don't you do that rallying cry again?" Anya asked with a giggle. "To be honest, it felt really awesome hearing you say it."

Oran nodded. "Me too. Hearing that rallying cry almost made me feel like I'm confident enough to take on the evils of this world."

Laura giggled. "Hehe~.. Alright…" She triumphantly raised her fist up in the air. "Junior Hunters, forever!"

Hiroko watched on from a short distance, chuckling fondly. "JUNIOR HUNTERS FOREVER!"

"Kids…"

End BGM

Meanwhile, at Chouri's office…

Chouri, with his daughter, Spear, by his side were calling Ozpin, Glynda and Port via video chat.

"Chouri, it's been a while!" Ozpin said fondly.

"It has indeed, Oz." Chouri smiled as he and Ozpin started to catch up while Glynda, Port and Spear waited patiently for the two to finish reminiscing.'

"As much as I'd like to catch up, there's some serious matters to discuss… such as the Grimm Attack that had happened just several minutes ago." Chouri said as Spear put up a recorded footage of the Stalkerilla. "Namely, this."

"Hmm… that may be the second known Grimm Hybrid in the world." Ozpin said.

"Second known?" Spear asked.

"Here is what some folks over at Dimble Wood discovered." Port said as he showed a photo of the Quickstriker. "We had just discussed this with the head of Future Foundation, Kyoko Kirigiri, over this matter. She's planning on figuring a way out to boost the Mushroom Kingdom's defenses specifically for Grimm."

"And not those wild invasions from that Bowser guy?" Spear wondered.

"To her, she believes that Bowser's invasions are kept to minimal damage while he kidnaps the princess, so she's not too worried about him." Glynda said.

"But what about the time he nearly burnt the castle to the ground?"

"That was by a magical belt that brainwashed him." Ozpin said.

Spear blinked in confusion. "...What."

"Heh, the Mushroom Kingdom continues to be filled with mystery." Chouri chuckled nonchalantly.

"No, go back on that brainwashing belt thing! How does…?" Spear tried to comprehend such a thing.

"It's the Mushroom Kingdom, don't question it." Ozpin, Glynda and Port said in unison, causing Spear to sweatdrop.

"Anyway, Chouri, I wish you luck in your future endeavors. If you need any help, don't be afraid to call me."

Chouri nodded. "Likewise, old friend. Stay safe out there."

A major shout out to DarkRebellion and Log for actually writing up this massive Gaiden chapter! All I had to do was translate it into my own doc and just write what was given because... holy crap, this was fun to write!

Ibuki: Go Junior Hunters~!

Deadpool: *snuck a Cruncherella stick away* Oh Naaaaan~!

What? ...Oh no! Don't you dare! I don't have a spice tolerance, you know that! Mild is my limit!

Deadpool: It's not that spicy! *shoves it into my mouth*

Mmmph! ...Mmmm... hot hot hot hot hot HOT HOT HOOOOOT! *breathing fire as I run off to grab a gallon of milk*

Ibuki: Hang on, Nan-chan! Ibuki'll get two gallons for ya!

Deadpool: Hehe~ Worth it~!