Before the girl's reached their dorm, they passed the infirmary building, and Yang suggested they go inside to have Neo's arm looked at. Neo was a little hesitant, having never been to a proper doctor, but eventually gave in. Yang went up to the counter to get the required paperwork while Neo and Blake took a seat in the waiting room. Blake noticed Neo's fingers tapping nervously, and put a hand on her shoulder.
"Nervous?" Blake asked. Neo flinched at the contact.
"I guess. I've never been to an actual hospital before."
Blake gave a comforting smile, "Relax, there's nothing to worry about." Neo smiled back, but continued to tap her fingers.
"Okay, you're all set!" Yang announced, taking a set next to Blake. "The doctor should be out soon. Oh, and if they ask if you're a student, say yes, and that you're on team NEMP."
Neo grinned, "Well thanks for making me the leader, but that's the best name you could come up with? What does that even stand for?"
Yang just shrugged and they all shared a laugh. They didn't wait long, only minutes later a tall woman with a white coat and a clipboard came into the room.
"Neopolitan?" she inquired, and Neo stood up. "I'm Dr. Fields, please follow me and we'll take a look at that arm."
"Can my friends come back too?" Neo asked nervously.
"Of course."
"Actually, I think I'll wait out here," Blake said, picking up a magazine from the table. "I hate the smell of hospital rooms."
Yang rolled her eyes, "Suit yourself. Come on Neo." They followed the doctor back to an examining room, and Neo took a seat up on the table. After a few questions and what Neo felt was a little too much poking of her arm, the doctor reached a conclusion.
"Looks like a minor dislocation. It's as simple as popping it back in and you'll feel as good as new," she said with a smile. Neo, however, didn't look as happy.
"How do you pop it back in?" she asked.
The doctor gave Yang a look, and the blonde moved to Neo's left, taking her hand. "Just close your eyes and squeeze my hand," she said, and Neo complied without question.
"Okay, ready?" the doctor asked, taking a firm grip on either side of Neo's elbow. Neo nodded, squeezing Yang's hand a little tighter. "Alright. Three... Two... One..." Neo felt a sharp pain and a pop, followed by a very relaxed feeling in her arm.
"There, that wasn't too bad was it?" Yang asked, patting Neo on the back. Neo flexed her arm and smiled.
"You're right, good as new," she said. They returned to the front to pick up Blake, and resumed the walk back to their room.
"Ready to meet the team?" Blake asked as they approached the dorm building.
"I'm ready to meet them, I'm just afraid of how ready they are to meet me," she answered.
"Trust me, it'll be fine," Yang said as she opened the doors. Neo didn't believe her for a second, but the blonde's positive attitude at least seemed to help. They ascended a few flights of stairs and finally arrived at their door.
Alright, here we go... Neo thought anxiously.
"Here we are! Team RWBY headquarters!" Yang cheered. Before Neo could respond, the door swung open and a bubbly Ruby stood to greet them.
"Hey guys! You'll never guess what—" Ruby stopped mid sentence when she caught sight of Neo. Her smile was instantly replaced with a look of alarm and confusion.
Yang put her arms out and took a step toward her sister, "Ruby, before you say anything, let me explain—"
"What's she doing here?!" Ruby exclaimed, pulling Crescent Rose to her side. Hearing Ruby shout, Weiss ran up behind her leader to see what the commotion was about, and froze when she saw Neo.
Blake walked in between them and Neo, "Please listen before you freak out. She's not with Roman anymore!"
"Why would you bring her here!?" the heiress shrieked. "Are you trying to get us killed?"
Neo shrank back at Weiss' outburst. She knew this was how they'd react, but she had still been hopeful they would act like the other half of their team. Ruby held her weapon at the ready as Weiss drew Myrtenaster. Neo flinched, not out of fear of the weapons, but of herself. Back in the alley, she couldn't fight back, and so her other side couldn't come out. But now she felt it coming to the surface as a confrontation seemed imminent.
'Calm down, calm down, this can't happen now, she thought in a panic. She focused as hard as she could on keeping her other side from forcing its way out, and breathed a sigh of relief as she finally succeeded. Okay, I think I'm good. That was a little too close though. I guess I can forgive Weiss since she's kinda pretty.
"It's not what you think," Yang said, trying to calm her teammates down. "She's changed. She's on our side now."
Weiss wasn't convinced, "Of course she'd say that now! Roman's in jail and she doesn't want to follow him! How stupid can you—"
Weiss was interrupted by Ruby, who had yet to take her eyes off Neo.
"Hold on Weiss. I want to hear what she has to say." Neo stepped out from behind Blake, and looked Ruby in the eye. "Why are you here?"
Neo started from the beginning, explaining what happened to her after their last encounter on the train, her running into Yang and Blake in town, and the meeting they just had with professor Ozpin. As she finished, Ruby had grown inclined to believe her, but Weiss was still just as suspicious as ever.
"Well... If Yang and Ozpin trust you, then so do I. Welcome aboard!" Ruby cheered, rushing forward to give her new teammate a hug. Weiss, however, was appalled.
"WHAT? You can't be serious! He just let you in? No fact checking, no investigation... No entrance exams!? That's outrageous! And Ruby, you'd believe her just like that?"
Blake sighed, "Weiss, please don't be this way."
"This is ridiculous! I'm going to the police right now and ending this before something happens!"
"Weiss Schnee, don't you dare leave this room!" Ruby shouted, and Weiss turned to her leader with a look of shock.
"Weiss...?" Neo ventured quietly, and all heads turned to her. "Weiss, I don't expect you to trust me given my history. I haven't earned it. To be honest, I'm amazed your teammates trusted me enough to bring me to Ozpin, and that he offered to let me stay here. I know you don't believe me, but I have changed. I've been given this opportunity to turn my life around, and I'm going to take it. Please, give me the chance to prove to you that I'm telling the truth. If you give me a chance, I promise in time I'll earn your trust."
Weiss huffed and crossed her arms. Now all eyes were on her, and she admitted defeat.
"Fine. I'll respect my team and headmaster's judgement, and I'll give you a chance," Weiss said, and Neo smiled. "But, I'll be keeping my eye on you."
"Thank you," Neo replied. She wanted to give the heiress the same hug the crimson leader had given her, but decided it was probably not the best idea. Instead, she settled on a handshake.
Ruby smiled, "Well, come inside! I still haven't told you the news!"
"What news is that?" Blake asked as they walked into the room.
Weiss groaned, "Let it go, Ruby." Blake raised an eyebrow at the response, and Yang grinned.
"Oooo I know what this is gonna be!" the blonde said excitedly and hopped up onto her bed.
"What? How?" Weiss asked.
"Let's call it a hunch," the blonde replied. Blake and Neo turned to Ruby, eager to hear the news.
"Weiss has a date with Neptune next weekend!" the redhead exclaimed with a giggle.
"Ruby! I told you not to make a big deal about it!" Weiss snapped, glaring at her leader. Ruby shrugged and leapt up to her bunk.
"So who asked who?" Yang asked.
Weiss sighed, "You mean 'Who asked whom?', and he asked me if you must know."
"Who's Neptune?" Neo asked. Blake grabbed her scroll off the desk and pulled up a picture of him, then handed it to Neo, who shrugged. "Eh, not a fan of his hair."
Yang chuckled, "I don't think you have room to talk about weird hair." Neo stuck her tongue out at Yang, who pretended to faint in offense.
"Whatever," Weiss said, seeing the opportunity to change the subject. "So... If Neo's staying here, where is she going to sleep?"
"Um..." Yang started, but didn't have an answer. The girls looked at each other and around the room for a few moments before she had an idea. "I guess she can take my bed for tonight. Rubes, you mind if I bunk with you? We can get another bed in here tomorrow."
"Sounds good to me!" Ruby said from her perch.
"Are you sure?" Neo asked. "I don't want to be in the way."
Yang smiled and turned to Ruby, "Of course! It'll be like when we were kids!"
"Well now that that's settled, I don't know about all of you, but I could use some dinner," Blake chimed in.
Dinner already? Neo thought and looked outside, surprised to see that it was already getting dark.
"Sounds good to me!" Yang agreed. The others quickly agreed as well and they headed off to the dining hall.
Along the way they ran into team JNPR, who were also headed to dinner. They walked together, and Ruby introduced Neo to Jaune and Pyrrha. Somehow in the midst of introductions Yang brought up the food fight from the start of the semester, sparking a very heated debate on who bested whom. Neo just listened and laughed.
Wow, I wish I had been here for that, she thought, smiling to herself. I think I'm really going to like it here. They arrived at the dining hall with Nora the victor of the argument, though only because team RWBY felt another food fight would ensue if she wasn't. Not that Neo would've been opposed. As they entered, team CRDL passed on their way out, and Cardin took notice of the new addition to team RWBY.
"Whoa, who's the new girl with the freak eyes? What happened, your mom fuck an ice cream cone?" Cardin taunted, getting a laugh from the rest of his team. Neo glared up at the tall boy, easily a foot and a half taller than she was. She took a step forward, but luckily Yang jumped between the two.
"Lay off, Cardin, don't you have a box of puppies to go kick around?" the blonde said angrily, a hint of red in her eyes.
He laughed, "Whatever, let's go guys. We can get to know our new friend better later."
With that, he and his team left the hall, leaving Yang and the rest of the group fuming. "I swear, one of these days I'm gonna snap and kill him," Yang growled.
Neo suppressed a laugh, "Well that was my plan until you stepped in."
"Just ignore him," Blake said sympathetically. "He's not worth it. Come on, let's have a nice dinner." Blake was right, and they got in line at the buffet, the smell of all the food instantly reminded Neo of how hungry she was. She loaded her tray until she almost couldn't carry it. She set it down with a thud at the table, turning all heads to her.
"What?" she asked innocently. "I haven't eaten today."
"There's no way you'll finish all that!" Jaune said, receiving several nods of agreement. Neo put her hands on her hips.
"Wanna bet?" she asked, a mischievous grin forming on her lips.
Jaune smirked, "You're on. What's the wager?"
Neo stopped and thought for a moment, but Nora interjected before she could think of anything. "I know!" the redhead announced, slamming her hand on the table. "The loser... has to eat the Deathstalker Chili at the end of the buffet!"
Deathstalker Chili? Neo thought. They make chili out of those things? Or is it just a name? I know I'm gonna regret asking...
"What's Deathstalker Chili?" Neo asked worriedly.
"Don't worry," Yang laughed. "It's not actually made from Deathstalkers. It's just spicy as hell. They use those Grimm peppers from Vacuo to make it." Neo and Jaune exchanged a nervous glance, both knowing that it was a little too late to try to back out.
"What's the matter? Too chicken?" Nora mocked, flapping her arms. Neo glared at her and extended her hand to Jaune.
"Let's do it," she said. Jaune was a little hesitant, but shook her hand.
"It's a bet. I don't know why I'm worried, I won't be the one eating it," he said slyly. Neo laughed and dug into her dinner, starting with a hefty bowl of pasta.
"So did you guys finish the essay for Professor Port's class tomorrow?" Jaune asked, receiving blank stares from team RWBY. "I'll take that as a no."
"Think he'll expect me to have it done?" Neo asked between bites.
Pyrrha laughed, "Probably not."
"He'd have to stop regaling us with his stories to collect them anyway," Blake added, getting a laugh from the rest of the table.
"Well I guess that answers what we'll be doing tonight," Yang pouted.
Ruby chuckled, "Oh cheer up, it's only two pages on Grimm migration. We can knock it out in an hour."
"There's no way we can do that in an hour!"
"If we have Weiss we can!" Ruby said and looked at the heiress with her puppy dog eyes.
Weiss groaned, "Ugh... Fine. But you owe me!"
"Yay! Thank you Weiss!" Ruby cheered, pulling her in for a hug.
"Get off me you dolt!" she protested, but couldn't resist her leader's iron grip. The rest of the table couldn't help but laugh at Weiss' discomfort.
"So how's your dinner, Neo?" Jaune asked, turning to the new girl. To his, and the rest of the table's surprise, she was over halfway done with her tray. She'd polished off the pasta, three slices of pizza, and was almost done with a double cheeseburger.
"It's delicious," Neo answered as she put the last bite of the burger in her mouth. Nora laughed and elbowed Jaune to get his attention.
"How's that chili tasting, Jaune?" she asked. He shrugged, his face showing a little more worry than before.
"How can you eat so much and stay so small?" Pyrrha asked incredulously.
Neo shrugged, "I dunno, I guess I'm just lucky."
She picked up a turkey leg and dove in, and could start to feel her stomach reaching its limit.
Uh oh, she thought, and looked at the rest of her tray: Three tacos and a piece of chocolate cake were all that stood between her and winning the bet, but her stomach was having other ideas. I'm either gonna finish strong or with just bites left. I'm hoping for the former, I don't think that chili would sit well with all this.
As if Nora could hear Neo's thoughts, she got up and brought back a bowl of the scorching dish and set it between Neo and Jaune.
"Just some motivation," Nora cackled, and Jaune grimaced.
Alright, you can do this, Neo thought, and scarfed down the tacos.
She picked up her fork and set the cake in front of her. It wasn't a huge slice, but to her it felt like the whole cake. She took a deep breath and tore in, and her teammates rallied behind her, cheering her name. Neo paused to take a drink with three bites still on the plate, feeling as if she could explode at any minute.
"Come on Neo, you can do it!" Ruby cheered.
"Just a few more bites, you got this!" Yang added.
Neo stared at the plate, ready to admit defeat.
No, that's it, she thought, having admitted defeat in her head. There's no way I can—
Her thoughts were interrupted by a cocky Jaune.
"Ready to give up?" he asked, pushing the bowl of chili toward her.
"Not quite yet," she replied, narrowing her eyes. With a bit of renewed strength, she powered through and finished the cake, earning a chorus of hoorays from her team, and leaving team JNPR open mouthed at her accomplishment. She let out a loud burp and turned to Jaune.
"Eat up, Jaune," she grinned as she pushed the bowl back to him. Jaune was white as a ghost at this point, but he wasn't about to chicken out. With a loud gulp he put a spoonful into his mouth and everyone leaned in, eagerly awaiting his reaction. His face turned as red as Ruby's cloak, and with a gasp he finished every cold drink at the table.
Both teams burst into laughter as Jaune desperately tried to find something to extinguish the fire raging in his mouth. Nora ran and got two ice cream cones, offering one to Jaune. He snatched it from her and began licking it furiously.
Yang leaned over to Blake and whispered something to get in a low voice. Neo couldn't make out the whole comment, but heard something about Pyrrha being a lucky girl. Blake giggled, and Neo did her best to act as if she hadn't heard.
"Hey Neo, want some ice cream?" Nora offered, extending a cone toward her.
"No, thanks, I'm already too full," Neo replied. She couldn't help but laugh when she saw the flavour that Nora had brought her. "Also, believe it or not, I'm not a fan of Neapolitan ice cream."
Nora laughed back, "If you say so."
The two teams continued eating, with Neo growing more and more comfortable joining in on their conversations. As their meal came to an end, she felt like she'd successfully made seven new friends. And an icy acquaintance.
"Well, it's getting kinda late," Blake said after checking the time on her scroll. "We should really get to work on that essay."
The rest of her team agreed, and they returned to their dorm after saying goodbye to JNPR. While the rest of the team got to work on their papers, Neo got ready for bed. Ruby was nice enough to let her borrow a pair of pajamas, promising to take her shopping after classes tomorrow. Neo climbed up into Yang's bed, and wrapped herself up in the blankets like a burrito.
That was a lot of fun, despite the food baby, she thought, patting her stomach. ' And that Cardin kid is a total dick, but Blake's right, I just need to ignore him. No need for getting into trouble this early. I never thought I'd be so accepted here, or anywhere for that matter, let alone make this many friends so quickly. If this is any sign of what the future has in store for me, then I can't wait.
Neo smiled to herself and drifted off to sleep, eager to start the first full day of her new life.