LJNT

"Normalcy"

"Oh, Pyrrha-there's strawberries!"

Lyra rushed over to the fruit section of the cafeteria, a delighted look in her golden eyes as she loaded her plate full of the red fruit. Pyrrha simply shook her head in amusement at her sister's antics.

"Goodness, Lyra," Pyrrha chuckled as she finished filling up her own plate. "No one is coming to take them away from you. Slow down."

"That man will," Lyra narrowed her eyes at the cook who was coming to take the strawberry bin away for refills. The cook raised his brow in slight annoyance at her reaction, and Pyrrha could only shake her head.

"Come on, Lyra. Let's go sit down."

"Oh, fine," Lyra relented, and she let Pyrrha lead her to a table. Weiss Schnee, Jaune, four other girls and another boy were sitting there. "Ah, hey everyone. I'm Lyra-"

"Oh, yeah, I know!" A girl with short orange hair and bright blue eyes gushed loudly, her mouth full of pancakes. "You're Pyrrha's sister! So cool! ...I'm Nora! This guy right next to me is my sloth buddy, Ren!"

"I don't think 'sloth buddy' is the right term," Ren sighed as he ran a hand through his long black hair. His eyes were calm and a bright, pink shade. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Lyra."

"Wait, I didn't know that both of you guys were coming to Beacon!" A girl with short, red and black hair gushed, her silvery eyes wide in awe. "I-I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose. Oh my gosh, I'm such a huge fan of you two, I might die-! Your weapon is so cool, Lyra, it's crazy how you can wield it and still jump so high, and-"

"Ruby, you dolt. Of course the two of them would travel together," Weiss sighed, an exasperated look on her face. "Besides, Lyra is way more experienced than us, I'm sure. After all, she had Pyrrha as a sister!"

"Well, if you're up for a challenge sometimes, I'm down to fight!" The girl with long blonde tresses grinned. "I'm Yang, Ruby's older sister! Oh, and this is Blake."

"Hey there," Blake said, not looking up from her book. Lyra might have been imagining it, but she looked a bit uncomfortable sitting next to Weiss. "Nice to meet you."

"Ah, I remember you!" Jaune smiled as Pyrrha sat next to him, and Lyra seated herself next to her sister. "I'm Jaune, in case you forgot...if you'd like to go out for dinner sometime, I'd be happy to take you-"

"Sure! Where are we going?" Lyra smirked, watching as the boy froze up. He scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.

"W-Wait, you actually want to go?"

"Hah! I knew you were bluffing!" Lyra burst out into laughter at Jaune's reaction, and she held her chest to try and control herself. "Sorry, I couldn't help it."

"Hah! That was a good one, Lyra," Weiss snickered, her laughter much more sinister than Lyra's own. Pyrrha just patted Jaune's back comfortingly.

"Sorry about that," Lyra managed to say after finally recovering her composure. "I just couldn't help it. But I'm sure you'll find someone."

"Thanks," Jaune muttered dejectedly.

"It's alright, Jaune. She's always like this, it's not your fault," Pyrrha tried to console her partner. She glanced up, looking into the distance. "Oh, Lyra, there's the rest of your team!"

Oh, great. That wasn't really something Lyra necessarily wanted to hear, to be quite honest. Janelle and Tanya, she didn't mind. Nico, on the other hand...

"Hey Lyra, hey Pyrrha! Can we sit here with you guys?" Tanya asked energetically, and then didn't even wait for a response as she seated herself. "Great!"

"The more the merrier!" Yang chirped excitedly. Her sister Ruby looked somewhat nervous as she fiddled with her hair.

"Haha, wow...so many people..."

"I am going to have to agree with her on this one," Janelle sighed, a look of discomfort also on her face. It was weird for her to be around so many people that hadn't been subject to the strange strict rules she was accustomed to. "And all of you are quite...rowdy."

"I like...being alone..." Nico fiddled with her fingers nervously. She hadn't bothered to look at everyone; she knew she'd face everyone's judgment soon enough once they actually looked at her.

"Oh, cool!" Nora jumped up to study Nico in excitement, and Lyra looked away. It still was too hard for her to look at her partner... "You're like a Wolf Faunus!"

"Yeah, except...you kind of look like a Grimm?" Weiss frowned as she crossed her arms. Nico sighed, her ears drooping downward. She wished it wasn't the first thing everyone noticed... "What gives?"

"Kind of look like a Grimm...?" Blake suddenly glanced up from her book, and her amber eyes met Nico's red ones. Nico growled, her red eyes glowing menacingly. Lyra couldn't help but notice the noise, and it made Lyra's eyes threaten to turn red. The voice began to creep up once more. Kill it.. Upon seeing Nico's reaction, Blake stood, a frightened look in her eyes. "S-Sorry, I've got to go!"

Blake quickly dashed out of the cafeteria, leaving in a hurry as everyone watched in confusion. Tanya quickly patted the back of her teammate, trying to calm her down.

"Whoa, Nico, chill."

"That was kinda weird," Yang shrugged, a nonchalant look in her eyes. She just wrote it off as Blake being shy. "I've never seen Blake run so fast!"

"I mean, I'm sure she was just taken aback by seeing a Grimm," Weiss replied with a roll of her eyes. Upon seeing this, Lyra frowned. She knew it was up to her to stop everyone from going after her partner. She knew it was up to her to claim that they were wrong; that Nico had a genuine reason for all this, that Nico was innocent.

Yet, the words wouldn't come out.

"Yeah, I'm sure that's it," Was all that Lyra could say instead. She focused on her strawberries, hoping the delicious taste would drown out her guilt.

It did.

The rest of the conversation, Lyra blissfully ignored Nico, and pretended that she was just having fun with friends.

After all, it was easier this way.