"Faith Foster. Feldspar Fourier. Flan Freeman. Florence Florencia. The four of you boarded boat 15. From this day forward, you will work together, as Team FFFF (forest), lead by Faith Foster."
Everyone clapped. The four new students walked across the stage, celebrating their introduction and initiation, waving to the cheering crowd as they joined the ranks of the students of Haven Academy.
Haru also clapped, not out of joy or celebration though. Her body operated on peer pressured bandwagon instinct; meanwhile her mind was somewhere else.
"... and Yusha Bestial, who is recovering in the hospital."
She nearly flinched when the name was called. Her eyes scanned the screens around the stage, showing the names of who's been called; herself, along with three others, including Yusha. Haru marched forward, taking a deep breath and trying hard to appear strong as she crossed the stage with the other two Faunus she recognized from the initiation, the ones who boarded the boat with her: Perry and J'atoh. They greeted her, one with a polite nod and the other with an over-enthusiastic slap on the back. Perry wore a teal trench coat and trousers with lots of pockets, a brown fedora, and an orange-esque vest. Meanwhile, J'atoh wore a white long coat over a black button down and slacks, with a vivid red cravat and matching red fingerless gloves. Together they approached Headmaster Lionheart to receive their team name.
"The four of you boarded boat 9. From this day forward, you will work together as Team HYJR (hydrangea), lead by Haru Goro."
Haru starred, dumbfounded at the appointment. She barely registered the other two celebrating and moving on without her. "But I..." Headmaster Lionheart cocked his head in confusion. Haru stopped herself, suddenly remembering the crowd. A few cheered and clapped. Some booed. Most were silent. She looked at the screen again; four Faunus, all in the same team, all anomalies at Haven and in Mistral. Haru pulled her hat down to cover her eyes, scurrying off stage and barely keeping herself together. The headmaster called up the next four names.
J'atoh and Perry were waiting for her off stage. "Heeyyyy, congrats leader!" J'atoh said, moving forward to greet her.
"I shouldn't be your leader," Haru replied, ignoring J'atoh's outstretched hand and brushing past. "This was a mistake, I'm going to talk to someone about this."
"Whoa whoa whoa, calm down, yeah?" J'atoh grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "What are ya talking about?"
"It's a mistake. It has to be!" Haru finally snapped. A dam broke inside her, the words pouring out. "It was my fault she got hurt and ended up like that! Not to mention, I barely even did anything the entire time! I was useless, and because of me, Yusha-" The name choked in her throat. "She's in the hospital now. I should have been better, I don't deserve to be leader!" Tears stung at her eyes.
Perry shook their head. They grasped Haru on the shoulders and knelt down. "We don't choose our fates," they said gruffly. "You did what you could."
"Yeah, listen to the big dude. Trust, I was pretty useless too, that initiation was no joke!"
Another team walked past chatting about how easy the initation was.
"That initiation was no joke!" J'atoh repeated, louder.
"That doesn't change anything!" Haru wiped her face with her arm. "Because of me, someone was hurt, and now I'm supposed to be responsible for their life going forward? That doesn't make any sense."
J'atoh sighed and shook their head. They shoved Perry away and gave Haru a hug. Haru yelped in surprise, but J'atoh didn't let go. "You're ok. Look, let's find our dorms, get set up for now, and then later this evening we can visit Yusha in the hospital, 'kay? I'm sure she's doing fine."
Haru hesitated. Eventually, she acquiesced and returned the hug. "Ok," she whispered back, wiping the tears off her face again. "Let's go."
***
J'atoh was the first inside the new dorms. They spun around as they walked in, taking in the common area. A fine, oval shaped plush rug sat in the middle of the hardwood floor; on top, a low table and several pillows for seating. A large recessed window took up most of the back wall, the dying sunlight pouring in and bathing the room in warmth. Outside it, the view was nothing special, just Haven academy, which rather disappointed Haru. She was hoping for a good view over the mountains, or maybe over Mistral itself. A bench sat below it. On either wall were two doors, leading to the private rooms for each student. J'atoh picked the far left one, running straight in. Perry picked the other left one, while Haru chose the room closest to the entrance on the right.
The rooms themselves were rather plain; a smaller window on the far wall, a desk with a chair, and a four post bed with accompanying dresser. Large enough to live in, maybe to add some new furniture too. Haru briefly wondered if the other two were decorating their rooms or unpacking their stuff. For her part, Haru just flopped onto the surprisingly soft bed and tried to clear her mind. Yusha, the responsibilities of a leader, her failure at initiation... Everything in past, present, and future was swirling around in her mind in a slurry of self-deprecating depression. Haven was turning out nothing like she thought it would. For a brief moment, Haru wondered if she even belonged. She would probably fail her team if she stayed. It was only a matter of time until someone got hurt again on a mission, under her watch, following her orders. She-
There was a knock at the door. Haru lifted her head from the pillow and mumbled something. J'atoh swung the door open, took one look at Haru, and burst out laughing. Haru mumbled again.
"Passed the fuck out, eh? And I thought I was the sleepy head. Come on, we're heading to the hospital. Also wipe the drool off your face."
Haru suddenly flushed with embarrasement. She wiped the drool off and got up, joining J'atoh to the hospital. The sunlight had mostly died; whatever dribbles of it were left shone weakly through the commons window. Once inside the hospital, they found Yusha's room. She wore a simple hospital gown and was tied up to a machine that seemed to monitor her vitals, including her aura levels. Haru stared at the machine for a while, while J'atoh went to use the bathroom. Eventually, Haru moved to the side of the bed and sat down, studying Yusha's face. Yusha was grimacing, though no sounds escaped her mouth. Haru hesitated for a moment, then gave in and held Yusha's hand.
Haru heard the curtain rustling open. She looked up to see a nurse. A very scantily-clad nurse. A very J'atoh looking scantily clad nurse.
"J'atoh, what the fuck?" Haru asked, utterly flabbergasted.
"What? What'd I do?" they asked in reply, genuine confusion on their face.
"Why... why are you wearing a sexy nurses outfit?"
J'atoh leaned forward over the bed, getting close to Haru. "Oh, you think it's sexy?"
"That's not... No, what! the fuck is happening?"
J'atoh chortled, flopping back on a seat. "As they say, when in Rome, etc etc."
"The fuck is Rome?"
J'atoh just shrugged, pulling out a book from seemingly nowhere and reading it. Haru chose to ignore it. She held on to Yusha, wondering if she would forgive her for her mistakes, hoping she gets better soon. At the very least, Yusha's face seems to have relaxed somewhat.
"So like, are you two a couple or something?" J'atoh asked, eyebrow raised.
Haru immediately blushed and let go. "No! I just... it's my fault she's like this, and as leader this is the only thing I can do." Haru looked down at Yusha, worry spilling over her face. J'atoh didn't reply, and the two lapsed into a long silence.
"Oh, where's Perry?" Haru asked, realizing the other member of their team wasn't there.
"Hmm? Oh, they said they were going to go scout out the campus and figure out the route we need to take for classes."
"Right, those are starting soon."
They lapsed into silence yet again. After another long while, Haru drifted off to sleep.
***
“Your eyes are slightly different colors."
Haru was taken aback. A strange warmth spread through her; she felt her cheeks flushing. "They are..." she replied, unsure what else to say. She's had heterchromatia all her life, but the colors were similar enough almost no one had ever noticed. Well, that, and not many people really paid attention to her eyes. She tuned back into the conversation just as Yusha was questioning whether J'atoh was actually a nurse or not, which they weren't but for some reason decided to dress in a hot nurse costume. She wondered if she should say something to them about it as leader as she explained who they were.
As soon as Yusha realized they had passed the initation, she immediately tried to shoot up. Haru watched the expression on her face almost immediately change to pain, then back to non-chalantness. She talked as though she wasn't hurt or the pain was nothing, but Haru could see the pain she was hiding underneath. Then, her reply to the two of them telling her what happened left her concerned. What did she mean not fee like just a stab? As the nurse escorted Haru and J'atoh out, she kept mulling that comment over. Had she been stabbed like that before?
The thoughts slipped away from her as J'atoh elbowed Haru in the side. "She'll be fine. Come on, we should get back to the dorms."
"Oh, right," Haru said. "What time is it anyways?"
J'atoh checked an imaginary watch they definitely didn't have. "Like 5 AM."
Haru jolted, immediately awake. "What the fuck?! Class starts in like an hour!"
"Eh, it's the first day, they're probably going over the syllabus and stuff."
Haru ignored them, instead sprinting straight down the hall, gunning it for the exit, J'atoh hot on her trail and yelling something about not running in the halls of a hospital.
