The week went by fast, and Haruto boarded the ship to Beacon. Ozpin had told him to try to blend into the incoming students, so he had to ride the flying deathtrap that brought the rest of the students. He tried to stay away from the windows, and leaned against the wall trying to act nonchalant. He couldn't help but overhear a feminine voice squeal not too far from him.
"Oh, I can't believe my little sister is going to Beacon with me!" said an attractive blond girl. "This is the best day ever!"
"Please stop," the red hood wearing girl pleaded, being hugged by her sister. Haruto wondered if they were really sisters, or if their case was like his and Gaara. Regardless, he tried to tune them out, and started watching the news. It showed a guy's mugshot and was discussing his latest scheme.
"Huh, he robbed a Dust shop?" he asked himself. "Wish I could use Dust…" The news then went to talk about the White Fang, a group he didn't really know much about. Before the newscaster could get into further detail, the program was shut off, and Glynda appeared in a hologram. Haruto intently listened to her little speech, which he thought was optimistic enough from the stern looking woman. He tried to calm his nerves, as he heard the two sisters from earlier beginning to freak out at the vomit that appeared on the floor. "That's gross," he said to himself. Soon enough, the ship landed, and he was finally able to return to Beacon. "So… this is my new home, isn't it?" he asked himself, the realization finally hitting him. He would never be able to return to Konoha to see his friends again. He slowed to a halt as the other students walked past him. Dark thoughts began to enter his head. Konoha was a crater when I last left… I'll never be able to see the friends left who made it ever again. All of this was because of that guy. One name came out of his mouth bitterly. "Pein."
"Pain?" repeated a girl from behind him. She wore a nervous expression, and her body language was timid. "Are you hurt?" she asked.
"I'm fine," he assured. "Sorry, got lost in thought."
"Oh, ok," she said with a sad smile. Haruto immediately could feel the sad emotions rolling off of her. Even if he didn't have the ability to sense negative emotions, he was sure he would have noticed. "Do you know where we are supposed to go?" she asked shyly.
"Um, yea, we're going to the auditorium over there," he said, pointing to a building. "At least that is was I was told. Do you want to walk over together? I don't know anybody, I'm not from around here." The girl nodded, her mood lifting a little. "I'm Haruto, by the way. Haruto Uzumaki."
"It's a pleasure to meet you," she said, covering her smile with her hand. "I'm Raquel Rhodes." The two made small talk as they walked.
Once they got there, Haruto looked in surprise to see how many students were here. Having been wandering around Beacon for three months, he was used to its empty hallways and the occasional professor getting their coursework ready. It was definitely going to be more lively around here, which brought a smile to his face. He was never one to enjoy being isolated, and with all the new faces, he was eager to make some new friends. As he looked around, he saw Ozpin take the stage.
"Ahem, I'll… keep this brief. You have traveled here today in search of knowledge, to hone your craft and acquire new skills, and when you're finished, you plan to dedicate your life to the protection of the people. But I look amongst you, and all I see is wasted energy, in need of purpose and direction. You assume knowledge will free you of this, but your time at this school will prove that knowledge can only carry you so far. It is up to you to take the first step."
"You will gather at the ballroom tonight," said Glynda, as Ozpin walked off stage. "Tomorrow, your initiation begins. Be ready. You're dismissed."
"Did that seem… a little down to you?" asked Haruto. "Not exactly the exciting speech I expected from Ozpin."
"I think he just wants us to take this school seriously," she replied. "I'm just happy I was accepted."
"Why wouldn't you be?" asked Haruto, as the students began to head over to the ballroom.
"Well, I didn't actually apply here," she admitted. "I applied to Shade Academy in Vacuo, but I might have filled in the wrong form…"
"I hear ya," replied Haruto, remembering his own lack of literacy. "But if you didn't we wouldn't have met." The girl covered her mouth again, as a small smile made its way on her lips.
"I guess that's true," she replied quietly. "You said you weren't from around here, where are you from?"
"Oh, I'm from a village outside the walls," he replied. "It was destroyed not too long before I left, so I don't really like to talk about it."
"I'm so sorry," she said quickly. "I didn't mean to bring up painful memories."
"It's fine, you didn't know," he replied with a large grin. "Anyways, we should probably get to the ballroom before all the good spots are taken." The ghostly pale girl nodded, and the two followed the large crowd.
"It's like a big slumber party!" said Yang, crashing onto her sleeping bag next to her sister.
"I don't think Dad would approve of all the boys though," said Ruby, writing on a piece of paper.
"I know I do," she said with a purr. She was looking at a few boys who were going to bed shirtless when a boy wearing a onesies walked by, earning him a quick "ew." She continued to look around when a handsome blond man caught her eye. He was wearing a simple black t-shirt with a bowl of ramen on it and a pair of orange pajama bottoms. "Hey, wasn't he the dude on the ship keeping to himself?"
"Who?" asked Ruby, looking up from her letter. "Oh, him? Yea, he looks like a completely different person now," she pointed out.
"Well, I got to go put in some work," said Yang, getting up to approach the blond boy, before she noticed what Ruby was doing. "What's that?"
"A letter to the gang back at Signal," she answered. "I promised to tell them all about Beacon and how things are going."
"Aw, that's so cute!" squealed Yang. She was then hit in the face with a pillow.
"Shut up! I didn't get to take my friends with me to school. It's weird not knowing anybody here!"
"What about Jaune? He's, umm, nice. There! Plus one friend! That's a one hundred percent increase."
"I'm pretty sure Weiss counts as a negative friend," replied Ruby. "So back down to zero."
"There's no such thing as a negative friend, you just made one friend and one enemy!" Ruby threw her dog faced pillow at Yang's face again, only for her to dodge it. It ended up hitting Haruto, who looked up confused.
"Oh no!" cried Ruby.
"Well here's our chance to talk to him!" said Yang, dragging Ruby along with her. Haruto just scratched his head at the mysterious pillow. "Hello!" sang Yang. "I believe that pillow is my sister's"
"Oh, is that so?" asked Haruto, a mischievous glint in his eye appearing. Yang nodded enthusiastically, as Ruby looked apologetic.
"I'm really sorry!" she began, "I was trying to hit Yang but she moved, and it flew—" she was interrupted by the same pillow hitting her across the face with surprising force, causing her to fall over.
"All is forgiven," replied Haruto. Yang on the other hand grabbed the pillow.
"Hey, you can't do that!" she said, swinging the pillow at Haruto, who jumped back to avoid it. "She came to apologize!" Haruto was just grinning like a madman, and picked up another pillow.
"PILLOW FIGHT!" he shouted, as he threw his pillow at Yang, who avoided it again, and making it hit an orange haired girl walking by.
"Pillow fight?" asked the girl, not remotely phased by the pillow. "Ren! Get up! This is happening!" Grabbing the pillow that pelted her, she ran over to Haruto and Yang, swinging it with a goofy smile on her face. Yang turned around only to receive a vicious blow that sent her rolling away. Haruto picked up the pillow that Ruby had initially hit him with and charged toward the eccentric orange haired girl, but was tripped by a pillow thrown at his legs.
"Got him!" shouted Ruby. Haruto jumped back to his feet, and pointed at her dramatically.
"This means WAR!" he shouted, looking over to the orange haired girl. "You, take on the blonde one, the red one's mine!"
"Got it Whiskers!" chirped the girl happily, running after Yang. Soon, more and more people began to join, and the room was split into two sides. Haruto then took the stage, rallying up his side.
"Tonight, we were attacked when we had our backs turned. They know not the consequences of their preemptive actions, and for that, they must pay!" He received a loud cheer from the students, who were a little too invested now. "Tonight was supposed to be a peaceful night with our brothers and sisters sleeping soundly to prepare for the tasks of tomorrow. We will show them our collective might! We will not go quietly into the night! We will not go down without a fight!" He received another cheer. "Students, ready your breakfast and eat hearty, for tonight, WE DINE IN HELL!" This time he received strange looks, and only one cheer from Nora, the same orange haired girl from earlier. "CHARGE!"
The two sides then became a large mass of feathers flying, and students falling. A few students sat on the side lines, shaking their heads at the immaturity of it all. Haruto was then grabbed by Nora, who threw him with a ridiculous amount of strength, making him rocket towards a group of unsuspecting students.
"Eat my feathery filled justice!" he shouted, before being brought to a sudden stop by Yang, who had two pillows duct-taped around her hands. She then began attacking him with punches, making Haruto smile. "That's genius!" he said, grabbing a pillow to block her punches.
"Thanks," she said with a smile, "but I won't forget what you did to my sister! You will pay!" She swept his legs out from under him, causing him to fall flat on his back. He barely managed to block her punch with the pillow he was still grasping onto.
"She struck first!" he accused. " I was minding my own business when I got pelted by that dog faced pillow!" He rolled away and hopped back to his feet. "Now pay for your crimes, evil-doer!"
"Evil-doer?" she asked. "Who says that anymore?" The answer she received was a pillow to the stomach, followed by two more being thrown at her face. "Wha-? How did you do that?"
"Trade secret," he replied with a wink. He dodged another pillow swing, only to be struck from behind by Ruby.
"Leave Yang alone!" she shouted adorably.
"Striking from behind?! Have you no honor?" asked Haruto dramatically. Ruby charged at him again, only to be taken out by a pink and orange blur. "Thanks Nora!"
"No problem, Whiskers!" Haruto then turned back to his fellow blonde, who had thrown her pillows away, and was whistling innocently. Confused, he turned and saw that the majority of the students had discarded their pillows, and the rest of the students were quickly following suit. Looking over to the main entrance, he saw a seething Glynda.
"Children," she hissed, getting the ruckus to stop completely. "Please go to bed!" Everybody stopped mid throw or swing, except for a certain whiskered blond. He couldn't show weakness in front of his followers.
"NEVER!" he shouted, throwing his pillow at the professor. Everything went slow motion as the entire student body paled in fear for Haruto's life. Finally, the small pillow pelted the professor in the face with a small thud. The rest of the room was silent, unsure if to laugh at his bravery, or feel bad for the punishment he was about to receive. Glynda simple fixed her glasses, raised her riding crop, and all the pillows in the room rose up, making Haruto immediately regret his decision. With one flick, every pillow came raining on Haruto with no mercy, earning a bunch of pained groans, and worried gasps.
"If this happens again, I will be much more liberal with my punishment, got it, Uzumaki?" she growled through her teeth. A lone hand popped out of the mountain of pillows with a shaky thumbs up. "Good, now go to sleep. Your initiation begins tomorrow morning."
"I can't believe he did that," whispered a student to another as Glynda left. "He must have balls of freakin' steel!"
"I can't believe he got off so easily!" said a third student.
"Dude, look at him, I don't think he got off easy." The three boys turned to Haruto, who had spat out a tooth, and fell face first into his sleeping bag, falling asleep in a second. "And to be on Glynda's shit list from day one? I feel bad for him."
"It was fun though," replied the first boy. Meanwhile Yang was breathing a bit heavily, and smiling.
"Now THAT'S somebody who knows how to have fun!" she said falling to her sleeping bag. The lights went off, and the student body each drifted to sleep one by one.