Jonathan took a deep breath on the airship platform, barely containing his overwhelming excitement. He kept tapping his toes while on the airship. He was ready to jump in the air. A cheer almost escaped his mouth. He skipped and strode through the massive school grounds, admiring the courtyard and the clock tower he'd seen many times.

He was finally in Beacon. At last. Not as a random visitor. But as a proper student. Everything was going to be all right. He squeezed past the others and found himself in a large open area. It was like he was at the height of the Vytal Festival, apart from the lack of stalls and the Tournament. There were so many old and new students, families and friends. His eyes immediately settled on a girl with long, fluffy blond hair. She waved her iconic golden bracelets as she bantered with her friends.

He smiled. "I see you're enjoying yourself, Yang."

"Jonathan? You're here too?!"

He narrowly dodged her hug. "Yup, I managed to pass my resit. Not a good grade, but a pass is a pass."

"That's what I always say." She gasped. "Are you turning into me?!"

He laughed. "Oh, no. The horror."

After introducing Jonathan, she excused herself and walked with him. They exchanged gossip, cracking jokes about their previous classmates and teachers. Despite her antics and occasional illegal actions, spending time with her was always energising. His time in Signal would've been less memorable if not for her.

Jonathan stopped dead in his tracks. "Wait, Ruby is our year too? I thought she was still in Signal."

"Nope. She stopped a robbery a few days ago, and...Professor Ozpin found her." Her smile flickered. "Anyway, he was so impressed that he asked her to join our year. Isn't it great?!"

He was half-confident that it wasn't allowed. A blatant favouritism under most circumstances. But he wasn't going to sour the mood.

"Y-Yeah. I was just surprised, considering how much you've badmouthed her."

"Hey! I never badmouth my sister." She jabbed his shoulder.

"Really? I must've been hearing things for the last four years." He chuckled and rubbed his shoulder. "But seriously, that's really amazing. You must be very proud of her."

She beamed. "Yup! She's my baby sister!"

Jonathan frowned. Something wasn't quite right.

"Is…everything okay? You seemed disappointed."

She flinched and crossed her arms. Her face and posture turned unexpectedly guarded.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I? What kind of a sister wouldn't be happy?"

He let out a soft sigh. If she were acting that way, she wouldn't tell him anything. But as her friend, he should try.

"Yang, you know you can—"

"Oh! Hey guys!"

She waved at someone behind him. Jonathan turned around and found another group of students walking towards them. Their smiles were genuine and infectious. They weren't from his class. Or from his year, for that matter.

She smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I haven't seen them in ages. Catch you later?" She held up her fist.

He returned the smile and fist pump. "Sure. See you later."

Like a gust of wind, she was gone. A heavy sigh escaped him; she was probably avoiding him. One would think a girl like her would be more honest. While he wanted to help her, he should give her some space first. He walked for a few steps, and someone caught his eye. A student was sitting alone on a bench. His short grey hair was combed neatly. The style of his pale blue button shirt matched the seriousness of his face. His right forearm was covered in steel-black armour. His scoped assault rifle hung in front of his blue-and-black harness. What piqued Jonathan's interest, however, was that he was turning his head like gliding along a smooth surface.

Jonathan smiled. "Hello, are you here for the Initiation too?"

The man gazed at him. The steely, golden eyes behind his glasses bore into his soul.

"Yes," he replied.

Jonathan waited, only for him to keep staring at him.

"O-Okay… Well, I'm Jonathan. Nice to meet you." He extended his hand.

He glanced at his hand and shook it mechanically. His impassive expression never changed.

"Grayson."

"Cool. So, is this your first time in Beacon? I don't think I've seen you in Signal before."

"Yes."

"Ah, that's why. I guess it's not that surprising. Beacon is quite popular. Where did you come from?"

"Atlas."

"Hey, I've been there before! Quite a cool place... I really like how futuristic you guys are. Whereabouts do you live in Atlas?"

"…Atlas."

Jonathan shrieked internally.

He rubbed his forehead. "…Right, sorry. When you said Atlas, I thought—"

"This is unnecessary."

"…I'm sorry?"

"Your attempt at acquaintance is redundant. All the new students will congregate during the ceremony. We can familiarise ourselves later."

"O-Okay…" Jonathan muttered. "Nice chat. I'll see you then. Bye."

Jonathan hurried away. His whole body kept tensing up. After making sure he was far away enough, he grumbled to himself.

"I guess not all of us can be Yang."

But at least he tried. There was no shame in making mistakes. He turned around, and a girl bumped into him. A small glass bottle was flung out of her hand.

He blinked. "Sorry—"

"Another one?!"

"Um... Sorry?"

She huffed and crossed her arms. "You should be. First that dort and now you. Why is no one paying attention today?!"

He narrowed his eyes. She was definitely posh, judging from her exquisite red and white dress. It was difficult to focus on her since her skin appeared mysteriously illustrious. Her white ponytail was tied to the side, and her rapier rested around her waist. Jonathan sighed in his mind and put up his best smile.

"Look, I can see you're having a bad day. It was my fault, and I'm sorry. Why don't we put this behind us and go our separate ways?" His voice was strained but level.

She groaned. Her sour expression softened marginally.

"I suppose. I've been delayed long enough anyway."

"Thank you." He bent down and picked up the bottle. "I'm Jonathan, by the way."

"Weiss." She snatched it.

He nodded, glancing at the smartly dressed helpers behind her. Their arms twitched under the weight of her white luggage.

"You sure like the Schnee Dust Company," he remarked on the snowflake logo.

"Of course. It's a family business, after all."

"Right…" He perked up. "Wait, Weiss Schnee? I heard you singing on the radio before. You're pretty good."

She raised her eyebrows and stumbled, her mouth ajar. Then, her eyes lit up like a bonfire. The brightest smile that he'd seen all week appeared. She was right in his face before he knew it.

"Thank you! I didn't expect to meet my fan here, but I'm not complaining! What's your favourite song? I put the same effort into every song, naturally. But I want to know what my fans like."

Jonathan stiffened and instinctively stepped backwards. His heart raced. His mind scrambled for any song names he could recall.

"W-Well... I love Mirror Mirror." He gave her a thumbs-up.

"Oh, that one! It's one of my earliest works. Yes, I can see why you love it. I was in a bad place when I wrote that song. What you might not notice, though, is that…"

Jonathan nodded as she explained about the composition and background behind her songs. While he struggled to comprehend her jabber sometimes, her puppy enthusiasm was contagious. He smiled when she talked about the interesting trivia and chuckled when she dispelled some of the wild speculations. After a while, her helpers reminded her about the time. She hinted she was writing another song that would take Remnant by storm and waved him goodbye.

He watched her leave. A warm feeling lingered inside him. That was an unorthodox way of making friends. Still, a friend was a friend. He checked the clock tower and hurried along the pathway as well. The ceremony was about to start.

Author's Notes:

Ah, good old Jonathan. I actually had the most trouble characterising him. Sure, he's normal. But how normal is the tricky part. I want to make him relatable without making him clueless or irrelevant. I hope I've made a good balance.

This chapter also underwent a few edits. In my first draft, Jonathan watched the argument between Ruby and Weiss. But then I realised it wouldn't fit the timeframe if he'd chatted with Yang.

He also received an autograph from Weiss, for some reason.

See you next week.