(A text-graphic of the seating chart is supplied at the bottom of the chapter.)

Sounds in the school cafeteria merged into a hum that dulled individual noises. A clatter of a tray or roar of laughter might occasionally break over the din and travel clearly, but those could still be missed. A long section of seating was taken up by PNNC with ease, their reputation keeping their table and the two to either side free from stragglers or other groups. They were joined by teams RWBY and JEPR, their group of twelve separated from any other students by at least three seats.

A second-year team, CFVY, sat to one side of the group and served as the brave spark that lured other second years to the connected tables. Fox had greeted Coco, a friend from before Beacon, as he settled into his seat; across from him sat his partner Cinder, from which Emerald turned away to hide her gaze, busying herself in her plate.

On the other side of the group, sat Ren beside Nora who spoke animatedly with Penny and Ruby across from her, occasionally losing some food from her fork which she flicked around to make her point. Jaune was having difficulty keeping up, not sure where the lines of reality fit into the discussion but trying his best. Pyrrha to his left had been drawn into a discussion comparing Atlesian, Valen, and Minstrali style differences with Weiss and Coco. Yang had nearly given up following her sister's conversation, and of interrupting Blake's book, but unable to relate to the architecture and fashion conversation found herself attempting to draw Jaune into a discussion about the best way to stay awake in Port's class.

Neopolitan, similarly to her neighbors Blake and Emerald, ate silently, but instead of fixating her attention on a book or her plate she was strongly preoccupied with searching through the room of bustling students. Her eyes flicked from one student to the next, never giving any a full second as her eyes flashed through colours nearly as quickly. It was after Jaune and Ruby had returned with heaping second plates, full of the dishes they found most acceptable, and each with another plate of desserts to share, that Neo tapped the table between Coco and herself.

The energy through the hall had settled as students filtered out or found it less pressing to get food as soon as possible, yet still full with the occasional student eying the empty seats around them. Neo huffed, looking at the three talking across from her. Another tap on the table was unsuccessful. Neopolitan leaned back, allowing her to glance under the table, and kicked outward, quickly sitting back up. Directly in front of her, Coco yelped and finally turned to her.

"What?!"

Neo jerked her head backward, twitching her eyes to the right. Coco followed the gesture but a confused expression indicated that she had not caught on. With a roll of her eyes Neopolitan tugged on her shirt near the collar and Coco looked back up, a smile catching on her lips.

"Why, what an unfortunate smear of red that is." said Coco, leaning over her tray and speaking quietly. Having joined the game, she looked around assuming it was her turn. Turning to her devious teammate she casually pointed to a female student with her fork, one with an unfortunate gravy stain on the thigh of her pants, one that she might have noticed given the positioning of the book she carried.

Neo hid her smirk behind a hand, faking a yawn, then using the hand coyly pointed down their stretch of tables past Ren. A laugh erupted from Coco, who tried to seal it away quickly; the student had his shirt buttons one off with bedhead that no expert could manage intentionally. Coco searched around as Neo took a bite of her lunch, unwilling to be outdone with such a simple case despite the other having had additional time to prepare.

Weiss and Pyrrha had hardly noticed Coco's departure from the conversation but had now been drawn into a heated debate between Jaune and Yang. Yang has successfully pealed Jaune away with a topic about getting a large group game started in the lawn outside. His argument that including any of PNNC would have the entire faculty shut it down was immediately discarded by Nora, who paused her story to comment. She claimed that if they picked the right game, one that moved a lot or lacked anything that looked capable of damage, the faculty wouldn't be able to stop them. Now nearly the whole of the three-team group was arguing about the best game to get more students in and not get shut down; the exceptions were Coco, Blake, Neopolitan, and Emerald, although Yang was pushing Blake for some input who generally disagreed in an attempt to be left to her reading.

Coco settled on her newest mark, a female student wearing a short skirt over pajama pants and a large jacket that matched neither likely intended to hide an immodest top - a solid candidate for having woken up in the wrong dorm room not five minutes prior, getting a noon breakfast before the good food was gone. Neo snickered, taking a sip of her orange soda float to temper her reaction. Emerald, disinterested in their game found herself listening more and more toward the second-year students discussing their upcoming mission selection.

The two plates of desserts, which had slowly worked their way through the group, clinked against Coco and Blake's plates. Although some items were taken, or chunks missing from a sample, plenty to choose from remained. From the lack of conversation about them it could be surmised that none of the desserts had been found to be repulsive, as well as the lack of anyone demonstrating how hard a brownie was by tapping it against the table, for example. Blake liberated a cookie without a noticeable glance at the plate beside her empty one. In contrast, Coco poked each of the offerings on hers with the handle of her knife before selecting a square with a mix of light brown and dark brown that she couldn't name.

Lifting her hand from her orange desert drink, four of Neopolitan's fingers tapped her opposite wrist before she pointed over Coco's right shoulder. A student wearing multi-coloured, florescent shoes from a cheap brand with the toes wrapped in silver tape to hold the soles on, had gotten up to put away a tray. Tight, straight-legged, light blue, denim pants and a dark, grey-blue denim jacket both with holes and stitches from actual wear completed the ensemble. Coco quickly turned back around, her face red. Upon seeing Neo she could do nothing but slap a palm to her mouth, biting her third finger, in a failed effort to not laugh audibly. It truly wasn't fair for Coco to have to try to keep quiet when Neo was already laughing behind two hands.

After some time to pull herself together, Coco spoke. "I don't think I can beat that, but how about a cheap knock-off of traditional Vacuo garb complete with a printed pattern?" She pointed with a dart of her eyes without waiting for a response.

Neo nodded, picking up a chocolate chip from the dessert plate beside Coco, and looked in the indicated direction only to see Yang, followed by Penny, taking their dishes up to the bins. Curious, Neo twisted the other way and saw that half their group had gotten up, with the remainder scraping plates, and Jaune pocketing a small container of chicken strips. She checked that Coco had noticed the end of the meal as well before standing up, tray in one hand and the other holding the drink she was noisily finishing. She let her left elbow brush Emerald's head as she passed, waking her from a trance.

Author's Note:

Yes, I did headcanon an 'n' ending for people of Atlas and Vale, 'i' for Minstral, and that Vacuo doesn't conjugate.

'o's are empty spots and dashes are the breaks between tables, although they are all against each other forming a long table, as in the show.

Ren|Nora|Jaune|Pyrrha|-|Weiss|Coco| o . | o | - | o | o | Fox|Yatsu

o |Penn|Ruby | Yang |-|Blake| Neo|Emer | o | - | o | o |Cind|Velvet