First Day of School

Atrament's alarm went off at 7AM, waking him up. It was a little later than usual, but the day before had been quite exhausting and he had expanded quite a bit of Aura, which he needed to replenish. Still, it was Team ABYS' first actual day of studying at Beacon, and it would not do to be late. He got up, noticing that Yang and Blake were already up and in the school uniform, stretched and looked at Weiss, who was also in the process of waking up. Shrugging, he took his own uniform, greeted Yang and Blake and went to the bathroom. Time to get prepared by the day.

After both he and Weiss had taken a quick shower, the whole Team met in the dorm room. "Now that we're all ready for the day," Atrament began, "we can get started on the first order of business."

"Decorating!" Yang enthusiastically claimed, her arms full of various knick-knacks, one of them suspiciously familiar.

"Yang," Atrament asked, "did you steal Pyrrha's shield?"

"It's just a replica, don't get your panties in a bunch," Yang retorted.

"I see," Atrament nodded. "Anyways, we're not doing that."

"Aww, why not?"

"Because classes begin in..." Atrament checked the time on his scroll. "...a little over one hour, and we haven't had breakfast yet. We can take our time to unpack after classes."

Yang nodded enthusiastically, Weiss looked like she wanted to contradict you but didn't actually disagree with what you just said and Blake looked like she wanted to contradict Weiss, but couldn't as she hadn't said anything. He would have to deal with that before it blew up, but this was not the time and the issue needed to really surface before he could take care of it. Team leader was a full-time job, it seemed. "Well, now that that's sorted out, shall we see if Team RNRP want to join us for breakfast?"

Weiss sniffed haughtily. "I still can't believe Ozpin chose Ruby as their Team leader over Pyrrha. What was he thinking?"

"Ruby has a good heart, and I'm sure she will make a great Team leader," Blake countered. "But I'm not surprised that you didn't pick up on that." Well, it didn't take much time.

"Yeah, you tell her," Yang added. While Atrament had no doubt that she was only defending her sister, he was also aware that Blake's stance had less to do with Ruby herself and more to do with Weiss. If the Schnee heiress had approved of Ruby's position, Blake would have immediately expressed her doubts on her leading skills. He didn't know what had been said by both parties under the Alpha Boarbatusk's influence, but clearly it had left an impact, especially on Blake.

Still, he should try to defuse the situation, at least until he could address it properly. "Am I to understand that you don't want to have breakfast with Pyrrha?" He asked Weiss innocently.

"I didn't say that," she replied hurriedly. "Let's go." Blake snorted and opened her mouth, probably for one more dig, but one glare from Atrament managed to keep her quiet. For now. Handling that Team was like herding cats, and he had been in position for less than 12 hours. Hopefully it was just growing pains, but if it didn't get better, Atrament would have to do something drastic.

It turned out that Team RNRP (or rather Ruby) had the same idea as Yang, without Atrament's influence to remind them of their other obligations. Fortunately for them, it didn't take much convincing for them to understand that being late on the first day would be a bad look for them, and they decided to follow Team ABYS to the school cafeteria.

Getting seated was an exercise in politics. Ren and Nora immediately sat next to one another on one end of the table, with Pyrrha facing Nora. Weiss sat next to Pyrrha, at one end of the table, and Blake immediately sat as far as she could from the Schnee heiress. At least, this might minimize confrontations between the two. Ruby sat next to Pyrrha and Yang next to her sister, and Atrament took the last place, between Blake and Nora. Hopefully, neither of the feuding parties would see him sitting next to Blake as picking a side.

"So," Ruby began uneasily, clearly picking up on the tension between Weiss and Blake. "Classes. Anyone is feeling nervous?"

"Of course not," Weiss sniffed haughtily. "It's simply a matter of being adequately prepared."

Blake snorted, but mercifully didn't comment, instead opting to open a book and start reading. Yang decided to divert the attention away from the conflict to avoid it bursting wide open. "C'mon, Weiss-Cream, don't tell me you're not feeling at least some first-day jitters."

"I most certainly do not. And don't call me that!"

"Besides," Nora added, "Weiss looks like the kind of freak that actually enjoys going to school. No offense, Weiss."

Before Weiss, who clearly took offense, could react, Yang countered "Nah, that's more my partner's type."

"Guilty," admitted Atrament, who much preferred being the focus of the conversation. "But to be fair, they're going to teach us how to fight Grimms, not the usual dullness of regular schools."

"Yeah," Nora bounced. "I'm sure there won't be the usual boring schoolwork and notes and homework."

"I highly doubt there will be none," Ren countered.

"I agree," Atrament nodded. "Sure, practical exercises will undoubtedly have their place in the curriculum, but they will still teach us about the different types of Grimms, the different uses of Dust, weapon maintenance..."

Nora groaned and dramatically slammed her head on the table. "Way to suck all the fun out of it."

Atrament shrugged. "It's a school, it's not supposed to be fun. Besides, we do have Combat Practice on Fridays."

Nora immediately perked up. "Yeah, you're right!" Then she slumped down. "Ugh, but Friday is in so long. What do we have today?"

"Nora, you have your own schedule," Ren pointed.

"I don't mind," Atrament shrugged as he pulled his scroll out to look at the schedule. "Well, the last period is Grimm Studies with Professor Port, and it's the only one that might have some action. In the future. Probably not in the beginning of the year. Otherwise, we start with Biology with Professor Peach..."

True to Atrament's words, the lessons of the day were theoretical only, and he doubted that Grimm Studies would be the exception, at least judging by Professor Port's look and behavior.

"Monsters! Deeeemons! Prowlers of the night!"

No, Peter Port didn't look one bit like a valiant Huntsman. He was a portly old man with a thick white moustache, wearing a maroon suit. Now, if his appearance was all the issue, Atrament would not mind; being old in this line of work was a sign of either extreme skill or extreme cowardice, and he doubted that Beacon would hire cowards that never fought anything more dangerous than a baby Beowolf.

"Yes, the creatures of Grimm have many names, but I merely refer to them as prey! Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

No, the main problem he had was Port's teaching style. Competent or not, the man was clearly a braggart (he even had a gold bust of himself next to his desk) and seemed unable to capture his students' attention, which was a problem when you wanted to teach them. Half the class seemed to be daydreaming, Pyrrha was clearly trying to keep Ruby awake, and he had only been teaching for less than a minute. The only one paying attention was Weiss, who was taking notes, and as much as Atrament commended her for that, Port hadn't said anything noteworthy yet.

"Uhhh..." Clearly, the Grimm Studies professor didn't seem to know how to react to his joke falling flat. How many years had he been teaching again? "And you shall too, upon graduating from this prestigious academy! Now, as I was saying, Vale, as well as the other three kingdoms, are safe havens in an otherwise treacherous world! Our planet is absolutely teeming with creatures that would love nothing more than to tear you to pieces! And that's where we come in. Huntsmen! Huntresses!"

Port punctuated the last word with a wink directed to Yang, who seemed uncomfortable. And he just fell even lower in Atrament's esteem. Seriously, what kind of teacher flirted with his students like that!? At least, Yang was an adult; if he did the same thing with a 17-year-old student, it would just be plain creepy.

Nevertheless, Port continued his speech. "Individuals who have sworn to protect those who cannot protect themselves! From what, you ask? Why, the very world!"

"Ayyyy-yep!" Well, it seemed like Port had managed to capture at least one student's attention.

"That is what you are training to become. But first, a story. A tale of a young, handsome man: me!"

Ugh!

"When I was a boy..." Atrament sighed and started to listen Port pontificating. Maybe he would say something interesting in his story. "...Despite smelling of cabbages, my grandfather was a wise man. 'Peter', he told me..." Yeah, probably not. Still, as a leader, it would not do to appear disinterested in lessons.

On the other side of the lecture hall, Ruby seemed to have taken a different approach to leadership, considering she was showing a paper to her Team, who was snickering more (Nora) or less (Ren) loudly.

"Ah-heh-hem!" It seemed like Port was paying more attention to his students than he thought, considering that he interrupted Team RNRP's antics. It was just a shame that he either didn't notice how generally distracted the class was or didn't think changing his teaching style was worth it.

"In the end, the Beowolf was no match for my sheer tenacity, and I returned to my village with the beast in captivity and my head held high, celebrated as a hero!" Well, that was... Atrament wanted to say instructing, but this story was anything but. Sure, it mentioned that Beowolves often hunted in packs, but outside of that there was nothing but grandstanding. And even if Atrament assumed that the point of the story was to teach them the very basics about Beowolves and not flatter Port's ego, well... using dynamic storytelling as a teaching tool only worked if the storytelling was dynamic.

"The moral of this story? A true Huntsman must be honorable! A true Huntsman must be dependable! A true Huntsman must be strategic, well-educated, and wise!"

"And a true Huntsman must get there on their own and not because Daddy paid for it." Atrament didn't know whether Blake intended for Weiss to hear that dig or if she was just muttering to herself, but the Schnee heiress did hear it, and it clearly infuriated her. Great. And here he was hoping that the girls would at least ignore each other during classes.

"So, who among you believes themselves to be the embodiment of these traits?"

Weiss angrily raised her hand. "I do, sir!"

"Well then," Port chuckled, "let's find out!"

"All I'm saying is that some of us got in on our merits and not our family name."

"I don't need to take this from someone who defends a bunch of degenerates!"

"Oh, here we go. Of course they're all scumbags, it's not as if the father of someone I know oppresses thousands of Faunus and that they are just tired of it."

Port's little test went as well as it could have been. Weiss had to face a regular Boarbatusk in single combat. Given that they had killed an Alpha Boarbatusk the day before, it really was quite simple for the Schnee heiress: she used a Glyph to stop its charge, the Grimm bounced on it and landed on its back and Weiss stabbed it through its exposed belly before it could react. Unfortunately, it didn't win Blake's admiration: as Team ABYS left the class, she merely said that it was easy compared to the Alpha, Weiss countered by saying at least, she had been useful in that fight, and it led to the present situation.

"Sheesh," Yang whispered while gesturing at the two girls that seemed on the verge of a fistfight in the middle of the dorm, "that's not exactly how I imagined my Team would be."

"You're telling me," Atrament sighed as he pulled out a fountain pen.

"Speaking of... Isn't it kinda your job to stop this, O Supreme Leader?"

"It is," he replied as he walked to the far wall, "and I am."

"Really?" Yang said dubiously. "Cause from where I'm standing, it looks like you're vandalizing our dorm."

"It's my Semblance," Atrament explained as he was writing. "It's a form of information analysis that allows me to reveal certain characteristics of something by writing on it." It was the usual lie he gave to people who wanted to know his Semblance, and it had the advantage of explaining why people started to think something belonged to him because they saw his name: said name was just his Semblance unveiling that that thing belonged to Atrament. Not that they would be able to connect the dots otherwise, but it could be a useful explanation either way.

"Neat. I wonder what you could reveal by using that Semblance on me."

Atrament felt himself throbbing. He really liked the idea. Still, he should focus on the matter at hand.

"Maybe later. For now..." He finished writing and felt the familiar drain on his Aura as the claim happened. Fortunately, his reserves had recovered enough that he could do that with not much strain. Not enough that he would make the claim permanent quite yet, maybe in a day or two, but it would suffice for now. For now, he put four fingers in his mouth and whistled.

"What!"

"What!"

The two girls temporarily interrupted their dispute and directed twin glares at Atrament. "Girls, I just found out about something quite important," he said as he pointed at the two words he just wrote on the wall: Atrament's dormitory.

"Huh," Yang blinked. "You know, I didn't realize this was your place, Atrament. Sorry we've been crashing here without asking."

"Don't worry about it," Atrament replied. "You're my Team and I'm not using it otherwise, you can stay for as long as you want." He paused shortly. "Of course, that means that you must follow the rules."

"You have the right to do as you wish with your properties," Weiss acquiesced. "What rules are these?"

"For now, I have just one rule," Atrament announced. "No argument in the dorm. If you have an issue with one another, just calmly explain what the problem is and listen to what the other has to say. You don't have to agree with them, but at least make an effort to understand where they're coming from. Just be honest and don't try to insult or aggravate the other party."

Both Weiss and Blake looked at him skeptically, seemingly ready to leave the room and continue their row. That was the issue with this particular use of Written Ownership: if people didn't like the rules he put in place in a location he owned, they would just leave. "Please, just... at least, give it a try."

Blake frowned. "No offense, but there are some things I'm not ready to tell the Team."

"You don't have to reveal everything in your life," Atrament countered. "Just don't lie about your side of the disagreement. That's all I ask."

"Very well," Blake nodded. "Then I will begin. My issue with Weiss is her arrogance. She is not incompetent, I will admit that, but she still has a long way to go to improve. In fact, I doubt that she could have graduated from combat school and get into Beacon without her father's influence. And despite that, she behaves as though she is better than us and rejects her own mistakes on others. Look at Ruby: she is skilled enough that she got to Beacon two years early and yet, Weiss acts like she's an idiot in over her head. Also, there's the issue of her prejudice towards Faunus."

"Are you done?" Weiss asked after a moment. When Blake nodded, she started to talk. "I personally don't have an issue with Blake. In fact, she was the one instigating our arguments every time." Blake went to counter Weiss, but briefly thought about it and deflated.

"As for her issues with me... I am not perfect, I will admit it. But there is a difference between that and saying I don't have my place at Beacon. I believe Ruby, however, shouldn't be here yet. Not that she's not skilled, Yang," she defended herself as the buxom blonde's eyes turned red. "But she's clearly not mature enough yet. If you had looked her during classes, you'd have noticed that she was messing around rather than listen. She would have benefitted from at least one more year at her combat school, which would have bridged the gap between the students our age and her, no matter how skilled in combat she is."

"Now, you say that I only went to Beacon because of my father," Weiss continued. "That is not true. In fact, he disagreed with my decision and attempted to stop me from getting out of his thumb. I got to Beacon because he tried to humiliate me in front of my whole family by making me face an enemy he thought I couldn't beat, which meant he couldn't back down when I managed to defeat it." She unconsciously rubbed the scar over her eye. "As for the Faunus, I'm simply not prejudiced against them. My father certainly is, I'm aware of what he does, but I am not him."

Blake snorted. "And what about your earlier comments?"

"Those were about the White Fang," Weiss explained. "They are irredeemable lunatics who claim to defend the Faunus cause but really use it as an excuse to attack humans."

"They're just misguided," Blake protests.

"They're murderers who want to wipe humanity off the face of the planet. The White Fang are pure evil."

"There's no such thing as pure evil. Sure, there are some bad apples..."

"Some bad apples?" Weiss was clearly incensed at the idea, and only Atrament's rule was stopping her from restarting the argument. "Do you know how many family friends I've watched disappear? How many board members they've executed? How many funerals I've been where the dead were victims of the White Fang? They're not naive, misguided Faunus who just need to be explained that being mean isn't very nice, they're cold-blooded killers and thieves who just want to let out their worst impulses on whoever they see as the enemy."

"They didn't start that way. They've tried peaceful methods and were spat on, you can't blame us for switching to methods that work."

Atrament blinked at the slip in Blake's speech. "Us?"

"I..." Blake froze as she realized her mistake. Weiss took a step back in shock. Blake suddenly ran, leaving the room in a flash.