As Weiss stalked around the hallway corner towards the elevator to Professor Ozpin's office, she suddenly came face-to-face with Professor Port. Jolted out of her seething rage for a fraction of a second, she quickly stammered: "Professor Port!"

The older man stopped and assessed her. "Ah, Ms. Schnee, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Oh—er—I was just on my way to see Ozpin, sir."

Port put his hands on his hips. "Hmm… whatever's troubling you, dear girl, you can share with me. Professor Ozpin is a busy man."

She let her shallowly-buried anger burst to the surface. "Ozpin named the absolute ingrate, Jaune Arc, as the leader of Team… my team. Not only is he an obnoxious, small-brained womanizer, he's also hopelessly incompetent. I unlocked his Aura no less than two hours ago and he doesn't seem to have the slightest clue as to how to be a Huntsman! He needs to be expelled now so I can repair my team's reputation as leader before it's too late!"

"Hmm…" Port said, stroking his mustache. "That's preposterous."

"Excuse me?!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Jaune and Ruby were the only ones who showed an honest desire to aid their fellow huntsmen and huntresses during Initiation," Port said. "A shockingly low bar, admittedly, but one the rest of you did not pass.."

Weiss couldn't believe what she was hearing. As if her day wasn't bad enough already. "So I'm supposed to just blindly tolerate him when he's an active hazard in the field?!" She struggled to rein in her emotions. Had her father been right about Beacon after all?

Port frowned at her. "With all due respect, your exceptional skill on the battlefield is only matched by your poor attitude."

"How dare you!"

"My point exactly. Before me, I see a girl who's spent her entire life getting exactly what she wanted."

All her energy suddenly fled from her body. "That's not true," Weiss muttered.

"Did you really think that acting in this manner would cause those in power to reconsider their decision?" Port asked. He shook his head. "Instead of fretting about what you don't have, savor what you do. Hone your skills, perfect your technique, and be not the best leader but the best person you can be."

His words swam in her head. The day was suddenly too much for her. "I'll—I'll think about it, Professor," she told him. But truth be told, she didn't feel like doing anything. Not even training. All she could think about was how she could possibly explain her first day at Beacon to her father without getting immediately dragged back to Atlas. Did she want to stay, anyway?

"Good," Port nodded and started walking away. "Oh," he added over his shoulder, a strange look on his face. "In future disputes with your team, I suggest resolving them in the sparring gym. It can be a great way to let out your emotions in a safe place."

Somewhere far above, Ozpin shook his head as he watched the exchange over his security cameras. "Now, we should play fair, don't you think, Port?" he tutted.

…

If someone had told her a couple days ago that she'd be saddled with a week-long detention before classes even began, Yang would've laughed in their face. And then maybe gotten slightly offended. Yeah, she was a bit of a hothead at times, but she knew how to hold herself together when things mattered most. Or at least, she thought she did.

She dejectedly stared down the massive stack of papers in front of her. Her sister's last words to her rang over and over in her head. 'You're only fighting for yourself.' She knew the words were true, as much as she hated to admit it. That's why they stung so much.

After she and Nora had leveled the entire first-year gym in their bout, Glynda had come in and levitated them both into the air. Humiliatingly, they had remained floating behind Glynda through several long corridors as she marched them all the way to her personal office for detention.

At least she wasn't alone in her woes. Yang looked to her side at the girl sitting next to her. The normally loud and bubbly Nora was as silent as a mouse, staring at the same mountain of papers that was to be their fate from 5-7pm for the next seven days.

"Well, the papers aren't going to sort themselves," Glynda said crossly. "You may begin."

Yang sighed and picked up the piece of paper closest to her. Her eyes glazed over the title… then refocused. Errrr, what? "Uh, Professor, are you sure I should be sorting students' admission and health records? This feels like an HR violation…"

Glynda flexed her riding crop and said nothing.

"Uh- I mean, I'm right on it, ma'am," Yang said quickly.

Glynda sighed and rubbed her forehead. "Call me Professor, not ma'am. Truthfully, this school is not run the way I'd like it to be run. So if you have an issue with this assignment, feel free to take it up with Headmaster Ozpin. Or better yet, the city council," she said with a devious gleam in her eye.

"Er, no, that's okay," Yang said. "We'll do it. Right, Nora?"

The pink girl said nothing.

Glynda looked between the two of them carefully. "I can trust you two to not start fighting again, right?"

Yang felt herself go bright red. Damn her fair complexion. "No ma'am. I mean, Professor."

"No, I can't trust you?" Glynda quirked an eyebrow, a note of jest in her tone.

"Ugh! You know what I meant!" Yang groaned, throwing up her hands.

And then the traitorous pink girl next to her let out a small chuckle.

"Oh, so she does speak," Yang said. As she spoke, she noticed her professor move towards the office door with a small smile on her face.

"I'll be back in an hour or so," Glynda said with a twinkle in her eye before shutting the door.

Yang waited for the pink girl to speak, but after the silent milliseconds stretched into a few short seconds she lost her patience and spoke first.

"Look…" she began. "Let's just agree to not talk about Initiation, okay? I don't want to fight about it anymore. Just… please be a good partner to my sister, okay? She was already nervous about coming here two years younger than everyone else. She could really use your support."

"What makes you think I'm not a good partner?" Nora abruptly snapped.

Yang raised her hands in surrender, trying to force down the immediate flare of temper that rose inside her. "I'm not saying anything. I'm just trying to look out for my sister."

Nora deflated and said nothing.

Yang thought about bringing up Ren but decided against it. She thought of a thousand different things she could say to Nora in that moment but they all felt wrong, somehow. Ugh, how had she gotten herself into a situation like this? She was someone who spoke first and thought later, dang it!

Then, Nora grabbed the first paper off the pile and began sorting. Yang sighed and joined the pink girl in what had to be the worst detention assignment in all of Beacon. As they worked, she sneaked a glance or two at the pink girl next to her. Although she couldn't put her finger on what, something had changed between the two of them.

Yang could only hope it was for the better.

…

"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet, strangers are just friends you haven't met yet," Jaune muttered to himself as he walked briskly back to his dorm, bags in tow. He'd been saying it to himself like a mantra for hours now, ever since the Human Lives Matter situation. The problem was, his teammates weren't really strangers anymore, and to call them friends would probably be generous.

Okay, fine. They were enemies. But it was one-sided! Jaune knew he could win them over somehow. He wasn't going to give up on his dream so quickly. And what brought a team together faster than some good-old bonding time?

In one bag he had the newest edition of his family's favorite game, Compost King. It was way better than Settlers of Catan, in his opinion. Who didn't want to roleplay as a farmer gathering up mulch? And in the other bag he had four custom T-shirts. He'd been lucky enough to find a vendor down in Vale who'd been able to create them on short notice.

Sure, their team name was a little cringey. But they had to embrace it. They were a team now, and they had to succeed! So he ignored all the whispers and laughs from the people he passed in Beacon's corridors. He wouldn't let it get to him. He wouldn't.

Unfortunately, as he rounded the corner, he could already hear the screaming coming from his dorm—six doors down!

In a flash, Cardin was thrown out of the doorway, skidding across the floor on his butt and slamming into the opposite wall—hard.

Weiss stalked out after him, rapier drawn. "YOU. ABSOLUTE. VERMIN!" she screeched. All around them, other students peeked their heads out of their dorms to get an eyeful of the drama.

"It wasn't me, I swear!" Cardin said, feigning innocence. His gaze landed on Jaune, and Jaune felt a chill of impending doom run down his spine. Cardin grinned and pointed a finger straight at him. "It was him."

Weiss spun towards him, and if looks could kill, well, that was sure it. Jaune raised his hands innocently and let out a nervous chuckle, eyeing the pointy end of Weiss's rapier. "What did I do… exactly?"

She suddenly sounded like she was on another planet. "Just tell me, Jaune. Did you do it?"

Jaune swore he could've heard a pin drop in the hallway. But this side of Weiss was oddly… vulnerable. He thought he caught a glimmer of a tear in her eye.

"Look, I was gone this whole time down in Vale," Jaune said hurriedly. "I don't know what happened, but I want this team to work. I went and got us a board game to play and some t-shirts to wear. That's all I did, Weiss. I promise."

Weiss looked at him emotionlessly and said nothing.

Cardin broke the silence with a loud laugh. "You're joking," he said, walking up and yanking the bags out of Jaune's hands. First he pulled out the t-shirt and held it up for the entire hall to see, and then everyone was laughing. Except Jaune and Weiss, that was.

"TEAM BWWA" the shirt read in bright yellow comic sans. And behind the letters hid a little cartoon monkey, casually chewing on a banana.

"This is the worst thing I've seen in my life," Cardin laughed, choking on each word. "How did you think that we would wear this crap?!" With one strong motion, he tore the shirt in two. "What a joke."

"You're the joke," Jaune muttered before he could stop himself.

"Ooooo," went the hallway.

"What did you say to me?" Cardin challenged.

"I SAID, YOU'RE THE JOKE!" Jaune snapped. "Do you want to be a Huntsman or not? If you do, you need to start acting like a teammate, not a bully."

A storm rolled over Cardin's features. He shoved a finger directly into Jaune's chest. "I can never be a proper huntsman with you as my so-called 'leader,'" he spat. "You're pathetic. A waste of space. You'll get us all killed out there, you know? Beacon isn't a wannabe daycare. Just go home."

Jaune said nothing as Cardin wrenched open the other bag. He held Compost King up for the hallway to see. "See? A child's game. Wake up!" he roared, throwing the game down the hall. The lid flew open and little farmers and haystacks scattered across the floor. "People die out there, you know! You're a hazard. You're not a real huntsman. I am."

"Real Huntsmen don't steal the undergarments of their teammates," Blake said coldly from the doorway.

Whispers ran through the assembled crowd as Jaune stood shell-shocked. That's what Cardin had done? His fists clenched. Enough was enough. Weiss was rooted to the spot, expressionless. Jaune took a step closer to her. "Come on," he said to Weiss, pleadingly. "Let's go to Ozpin and get him kicked out. We'll get another teammate. If need be, we can make it work with three people. We'll figure it out."

A bated breath. Jaune searched Weiss's expression. Meanwhile, Cardin continued to protest his innocence in the background. But eventually he, too, fell silent, and everyone turned towards Weiss for a response.

"He's right. You should go home," Weiss said finally.

Jaune's heart crashed somewhere beneath his feet.

"We can't be a team," she continued, meeting his eyes directly. For once, her eyes weren't filled with anger or disdain. It was worse. Resignation. "I'm going home too."

She turned on a heel and walked away down the hallway, the students parting for her silently as she passed them by. Then, she rounded a corner and was gone.

"It really wasn't me, you know," Cardin said after a moment.

Blake decked him.

…

A/N: In my defense, I did say the updates for this fic would be irregular, lol. I didn't really have much of a plan for this fic before- it was just a fun concept I wanted to play around with. Now I have a rough outline for about 6 more chapters to wrap everything up. Now that there's an actual plan, there won't be another hiatus- at least not one as long as this last one was.