Gareth's First Day [Closed]

Gareth stood in the courtyard, trying to focus on minding the schedule and map in his hands. He found himself distracted by the other people in the courtyard. Most of them had some kind of weapon holstered by their side and many of them had real armor. He didn't buy himself a weapon coming here. Did he need one? He assumed it was safe around here. And that one would be provided with training. It made him a little self-conscious. All he had was his beat-up jacket and a bag of dust. He wasn't particularly tall or imposing either, just average height and rectangular build. He was thoroughly aware he was a rather underwhelming student and standing around with real students nearby made him more aware of it.

Gareth shook himself and brought his attention back to his map.
He also had no idea where his class was supposed to be.
He probably should have paid more attention to the tour.

Friday. It was the day where Sakura had nothing school related to do on campus. She had no class today nor did she have any Shadow Missions or Major Missions to do as they were all taken up for today. Due to this, Sakura had decided to leave Syne Academy for the day so that she could explore Central Bellmuse. Despite of the fact that she been to Central Bellmuse before, Sakura hadn't explored the city in great detail. In particular, Sakura was interested in visiting the Pet Shop for some time now. Sakura now finally had a chance to pay the shop a visit.

As Sakura made her way to the Courtyard of Syne Academy, she soon encountered a young man who looked like he was lost. Sakura noticed that he had a map in his hands and that he was looking around in a confused fashion before looking back down at his map. After seeing this, Sakura decided to walk up to the man to see if he needed help.

"Good Morning to you, Sir. Are you in need of assistance?" Sakura greeted in a polite and slightly concerned fashion. After asking if the young man needed help, Sakura waited patiently for his reply.

Gareth looked up when someone spoke to him.
"Oh, Hi," he said wittily. "Yeah, do you know where this place is?” Gareth asked, showing the listing on his schedule. Maybe he just misread where he was supposed to go. Or the schedule had a different name than the map. He assumed that she was a student.

“I can’t figure out where it’s supposed to be,” he continued. Being late on his first day after all the work it took to get here would be pretty embarrassing to say the least. Gareth turned the corner of a page to glance at his watch. Still had plenty of time. No worries.
This is why it was good to leave extra early the first day.
He put the corner back down and tried not to move the schedule or map too much. “I thought it might be in the building west of here but I couldn’t find it.”

Rika Titania had left her class in a rush, happy to be out of the boring classroom, it had been a maths class rather than anything huntsman related and as such the pigtailed faunus had been bored out of her mind. Apparently the academy had decided her primary education was less than adequate and as such was making her take extra classes to “catch up with her peers” on the more mundane subjects.

The pigtailed girl was just happy to be out, so she could go explore the city more than she had been. Specifically, the shops involved. Technically it was still early, and she had a class later, but the cat-girl didn’t really think much about that, she’d probably make it back before noon…maybe. The near responsible thought was derailed when the redhead noticed a flash of pink in her peripheral vision easily identifying it as her friend Sakura talking to…some guy. He really didn’t look like a student, she wondered if he was at the wrong school. The guy stood out just because of how…average he looked.

The pigtailed girl shrugged it off, going over to greet her friend rather than think about the normal looking guy. “Sakura! I’m hungry, lets go eat somethin!”

"Oh, Hi. Yeah, do you know where this place is?” the young man replied before showing Sakura his class schedule. Sakura instantly knew which building the man's class was located in after seeing the classroom number. The building was located just east of the Courtyard. Sakura then handed the man back his class schedule before speaking.

"Yes, Sir. I do know where your classroom is located. The building where your class is being held in located just east of here." Sakura replied politely as she explained to the man that the building where his class was being held was located just east of the Courtyard. Sakura then showed him the location of the Eastern Pathway which would lead him to his class. As she was explaining to the man how to get to his classroom, Sakura heard an extremely familiar voice calling out to her. Sakura instantly recognized the voice as her friend, Rika Titania.

“Sakura! I’m hungry, lets go eat somethin!” Rika called out enthusiastically as Sakura had finished explaining to the man where he should go. Soon after, Sakura turned towards her friend and smiled.

"Oh, Miss Rika. Good Morning to you." Sakura greeted in a polite fashion. Sakura had barely known Rika for a few weeks. During this time, Sakura had developed a rather older-sister-like relationship with Rika which was Sakura enjoyed. Sakura had always been the older sister type to everyone back home in Atlas.

"That sounds like an extremely lovely idea, Miss Rika. Where would you like to have breakfast?" Sakura added in her polite tone of voice. Sakura hadn't had breakfast yet as she had just finished her daily training regimen. Due to this, she was in the mood for a very good breakfast.

Gareth frowned when she said east and rechecked the map. He quietly turned it back over the correct direction while the woman was explaining how to get to the classroom.
He would have noticed he was holding it the wrong way.
Eventually.
Honest.

He nodded as she finished up. “Cool, thanks,” he said. He started to put out his hand to introduce himself when another person bounded up to who he was talking to. (He was a little surprised to see she had a tail. Was there a protocol to interacting with Faunus or..?) They seemed like they were close friends. Gareth waited for a good moment to interject, feeling a bit more awkward as the waiting got longer.
When there was a pause he decided to just break the awkward and go for it. He figured it would be better to just introduce himself to people instead of slipping away anonymously. You had to try and make friends somehow.
“Hey,” he said, putting the hand up in a short wave. “I’m Gareth. I guess you two are students here?”

Rika’s face scrunched up in thought, as she hadn’t really thought about WHERE she wanted to eat, just that she did indeed want food. The relationship between her and Sakura wasn’t one Rika would know how to classify not having much reference to familial bonds or the like, but she did know that the other girl could probably figure out the details, were Rika to even consider any of the logistics of any of her decisions.

A thought popped into the redhead’s mind and immediately her face morphed into an excited look. “ooh how about that place next’ta the park, the one with the pancakes’n stuff!!!” Something sweet sounded like just the thing after the trial that had been her remedial lessons. She didn’t get why she needed to know all this stuff about numbers anyways, it wasn’t like it would ever be useful to her of nothin’. Nobody who knew Rika would be surprised by her opting for something sweet, as she typically had quite the sweet tooth when it came to her preferences of food.

The normal looking guy had been forgotten, her attention span having long since been diverted from him until he spoke up asking if they were student. “Yep, I’m learnin’ ta use dust’n things like that!”

"It is a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Gareth. My name is Sakura A. Brynhildr and this is my friend, Rika Titania." Sakura replied in a polite tone as she introduced herself and Rika to the man. The man had hesitantly ad awkwardly introduced himself as Gareth. Soon after introducing himself, Gareth then asked Sakura and Rika if they were both students here. Rika quickly responded with an extremely enthusiastic "Yep, I’m learnin’ ta use dust’n things like that! Sakura smiled at Rika's reply before answering Gareth's question.

"Likewise, I am also a student at this academy. I am enrolled as a Tech Major, so that I could follow in my father's footsteps." Sakura answered in a polite fashion. Sakura had always dreamed of following in her father's footsteps and becoming an Engineer. She also hoped that she could join the Engineering Team of Caledfwlch Techniques when she gets older.

Gareth nodded as the others introduced themselves as Sakura and Rika. “I’m a dust major,” Gareth said.He wasn’t really sure there was much else to it for him. It was all he was really familiar with here. (And even then it was more of a functional knowledge.) He nodded to himself. “I’m pretty new to all of this,” he said, partially as a note to himself and partially just to say something else.
Gareth fiddled with the papers in his hands, glancing at the schedule again.
“Out of curiosity, have you guys taken Grimm studies? What’s that like?”
Gareth remembered the Grimm he had seen that was partially to blame for losing the family farm. (The other part was a huntress’s poor aim.) He wasn’t sure how he felt about taking an entire class about them. You picked the right school, Gareth. Knowledge was power and all but he wasn’t really looking forward to picking fights with more monsters.

Rika got excited at the fact that the guy was a dust major, at least he had good taste! She thought dust was great. She didn’t really get the chance to talk to anyone with the same major as her yet, so the idea of it was cool. “oh that’s great…what type’a weapon ya use, how do ya use dust with it?” She’d seen a lot of weapons that could be interesting paired with dust while she’d been here, just passing by but the guy didn’t seem to be carrying anything noteworthy. Was it retractable like her whip? Or did he just not choose to carry his weapon today?

“An’ I wouldn’t know, their puttin’ off my normal classes til I get through some’a these re-er remedy classes?” She frowned trying to remember the word the administrators had used. “It sucks, why do I gotta know this stuff anyways?” The pigtailed girl whined before thinking more about what she’d heard about the subject he’d asked about. “Think ya learn how’ta fight grimm there though, an’ I heard they bring Grimm’n stuff.”

The pigtailed girl was still annoyed at her lack of interesting classes, it wasn’t like she could have gone to school in the middle of nowhere or anything.

"I see. There is no need to worry, Mister Gareth. I have a feeling you will fit in and do well here at Syne Academy." Sakura replied in a polite yet reassuring fashion after seeing Gareth say "I’m a dust major. I’m pretty new to all of this." while fiddling with his class schedule once more. Sakura could tell that Gareth was feeling a bit uneasy about attending Syne Academy, so she decided to reassure him. Sakura understood that feeling as she felt an uneasiness in the weeks prior to her starting at Syne Academy. Soon after, Gareth asked about the Grimm Studies class.

"I have taken Grimm Studies, Mister Gareth. Personally, I think it was an extremely interesting class since you learn a lot about the various types of Grimm." Sakura replied politely. Sakura was currently taking Grimm Studies this semester. She was thoroughly enjoying the class as it was extremely interesting. The topics covered in the class included Grimm classification, Grimm Intelligence, and Grimm Combat Tactics.

Rika rebounded with renewed enthusiasm when Gareth said he was a Dust Major. Then she asked about weapons.
Evidently he was supposed to have one.
“Well, I don’t actually have one,” he admitted sheepishly. “I usually just use the crystals.” It probably wasn’t as eloquent or refined as most students and full-fledge hunters, but effective enough. Probably. It was at least passable, seeing as he got into the academy in the first place.
It was nice of Sakura to offer her polite reassurance.
Maybe she was right not to worry about it too much: everyone had to start somewhere, right?

Rika had only heard about the Grimm studies course, since she was apparently stuck in remedial classes (he assumed that’s what ‘remedy’ was referring to anyway.). But uh, they brought in Grimm? Like...actual Grimm? That sounded like a bad idea and if it wasn’t as bad as it sounded Gareth still didn’t really want to willfully be in the same area as one. (Again.)
Sakura had taken it, though, and she only mentioned learning about different types and tactics. Gareth made himself relax. Actually fighting Grimm in a class would surely be notable enough to mention right off the bat, right?
“Well,” Gareth started. “It certainly sounds interesting, to be sure.”
He might have a different definition of interesting than these two did, though.

Rika thought about it for a moment, thinking about using dust without a weapon, she’d done it before, and in fact used dust with and without her weapon a lot in a fight but this guy could win fights without even having a weapon. That sounded awesome. Any uneasiness the guy had, or other emotions were lost on the faunus, as she was not nearly as skilled at reading people as others might have been, and often didn’t pay attention to the such details.

“Oooh we gotta go on a hunt some time, it’ll be great!” The pigtailed girl was visibly excited now, she had been wanting to see someone else with her major fight, and if this guy was good enough to use crystals alone it was probably something worth seeing. “An’ yeah it sounds cool…too bad they won’t let me inta none’a that yet…stupid maths!” The pigtailed girl looked upwards, wondering when she’d get done with this stupid make-up stuff. “why do we gotta know that stuff anyways?”

"There is no need to fret, Miss Rika. I have confidence that you will do well in your remedial classes." Sakura replied politely as she started petting Rika's head in a reassuring manner. She understood the feelings that Rika was going through. Sakura also thought that certain classes that hunters took as part of their education was not needed as they had no relation to hunting Grimm. However, Sakura soon realized that all the extra classes they needed were necessary as well. The skills they learned in these extra might prove themselves useful outside of the field of hunting Grimm.

"Well, Miss Rika. If you are struggling in any of your classes, I can provide you with tutoring lessons." Sakura suggested politely. Unlike Rika, Sakura was doing well in her academics. From her complaining, Sakura could tell that Rika might be having trouble in her remedial classes. Since Rika was her friend, Sakura decided to tutor her personally so that she could catch up with her and the rest of the class.

Gareth panicked a little on the inside when Rika suggested they go hunting. “That’s... not really my cup of tea,” he said carefully, making sure to smile and not panic on the outside too. “But thanks for the offer.”
He checked his watch again as the two talked about Rika’s math classes. It was getting closer to class time.
“Well, I’ve got to run,” Gareth said, adjusting his pages so he could hold them better. “Class is about to start.” He gave a small polite wave. “It was nice meeting you both. I’ll probably see you around.”
Gareth headed off east to the proper classroom. Rather belatedly, as he was wondering about his class, he realized he probably should have asked if they recognized the teacher. Learning how tough or lax they were would have been nice. Gareth shrugged to himself as he walked in the door. He’d find out soon enough anyway.