I sat in the chair opposite Headmaster Ozpin, thinking about what was to come, while the man had a thoughtful look on his face.
After returning to the cliffs from that....interesting Initiation, they asked us to give them our relics.
But that was when I realized that, after being caught up in the whole mess, I forgot to pick up a relic.
So, by the end of Initiation, I had no partner and no relic.
By all rights, I should have been straight away marked as a failure and told to go home.
Thankfully, my sisters still had my back with Ruby picking up an extra relic, a White Rook, for me.
However, I was still missing a partner.
That is why I was not surprised when Ozpin asked me to meet him here.
"Mr. Ruben, I believe you know why I called you here instead of simply failing you in Initiation?"
I nodded hesitantly.
"I believe it is about the fact that I failed to find a partner during or after Initiation?"
The man leaned back in his seat and nodded before he started speaking seriously.
"You see, every year, Beacon receives thousands of applications from across the kingdoms, out of which, only a hundred and twenty students are given the chance to go through initiation."
"A test, in which half of the prospects end up being rejected for one reason or another every year."
"This leaves us with sixty first-year students. Fifteen teams of four. That is how it has always been."
"However, it is not unusual for there to be an odd number of students left after Initiation."
I nodded my head at his words.
It made sense.
If Beacon only selects the cream of the crop and will not dismiss anyone they see potential in, there will inevitably arrive a point through sheer statistical probability, where they will have to deal with an odd number of students left after an Initiation.
That means there is already a precedent for my situation. Which also means there is already a comprehensive solution in place.
I felt the tension in my body leave a bit at that realization as Ozpin smiled.
"Just like you, sometimes, there are students who lack a partner, or have a partner but don't have enough numbers left for a full team. And for such cases, there is already a solution available."
"And what is that solution? Professor?"
The man took a sip from his mug and smiled at me.
"To put you as a fifth member of an already formed team."
...Huh? Is that even possible? I've never heard of a huntsman team with five members, though? Hell, I don't think I've ever seen such a case in any kingdom out there based on what I've read up about this career path so far.
He must have seen the confusion on my face since he decided to elaborate.
"As you already know, teams consist of four students each, with the selection method changing every year."
"This year, we decided to use the pairs of chess pieces to decide teams."
"....huh. That makes way too much sense now that I think about it. Doesn't that mean Ruby, Weiss, Yang, and Blake are going to be in a team, and Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha, and Ren are going to be in a team as well?"
Ozpin nodded.
"Correct. Now, the reason why I am telling you this before the teams are scheduled to be announced soon is that you have the White Bishop piece."
"This means that, if we had another pair of partners who also had a White Bishop piece, I would have straight away placed you with them."
I nodded and spoke up.
"But there are none. Are there?"
"Yes. The other White Bishop piece remains unclaimed. Not only that, this year's Initiation produced sixty-one students, with you being the odd one out without a partner."
Again, it made way too much sense.
I was never supposed to exist in this world. If I were not here, the number would have been a clear sixty with no odd one out.
However, because whatever happened, happened, and I ended up in this world all those years ago, I became the odd one out in this school.
"That is why, after deliberation, we have decided to follow the precedent set before you and go with this idea of putting you in with an established team.
"Now, we know that doing this will put you and your prospective teams in both an advantage and a disadvantage at the same time, so we believe it is prudent that you be informed of this beforehand. Hence why I summoned you to my office."
"What kind of disadvantages and advantages are we talking about here?"
Ozpin still held that enigmatic smile of his.
"For advantages, it is obviously going to be the numerical advantage compared to other teams. When the time comes in your second term for you to take missions, your team will have the clear advantage with an extra member, making their task much easier."
"Alongside that, you will also have the advantage of having an extra member to organize your positions or split up on the field should the need be, covering more distance or more defensive positions."
"Not to mention that with more members, the possibility of forming more friendly relationships increases as well."
"As for the disadvantages, the most relevant to you and your team would be that you can only take four members to the Vital Festival. Who will be participating can be decided internally within the team, but it is inevitable that someone will be left behind."
"Aside from that, there is also the problem of the dorms feeling a bit more cramped, as five people will have to share a room designed for four. And before you ask, no, we don't have larger rooms available, and you can't have one built either since it goes against school rules."
That stopped my question before I could even ask it.
"The next disadvantage would be that standard four-member team tactics that are usually taught to you in the combat classes will be of no use to your team. You will have to either modify them yourself or look up the notes left behind by your predecessors who were in a similar predicament as you. Of course, our Instructors will help where they can, but you will also have to put in the work."
"So, basically, we will have to juggle between the positives and negatives and find a way to balance them, yes?"
Ozpin nodded.
"Correct. As for the team that we wish to place you in, there are two candidates. One of them is team RWBY, the one with your adoptive sisters-"
"I'll take it."
"....You haven't even heard the other option."
"No need."
I shook my head.
I don't even need to hear the other option. If I can stay with my sisters and make sure they don't bring down Becaon on our heads by the end of the week, I will definitely take that choice, no questions asked.
"....Very well. The teams will be officially announced in an hour. Before that, I will be having a discussion with the members of team RWBY individually and ask their opinion on this arrangement. Provided they agree as well, we will finalize it."
I nodded and headed out once dismissed.
This has been a really exhausting day, especially with my curse of only facing Goliaths! So I need some time to process everything that has happened and get ready for whatever happens next.
I am confident that Ruby and Yang will agree without hesitation to have me in the team. The question is if Weiss and Blake will agree to it.
I don't know them well enough to make any estimates, and neither do I have much of a bond with them aside from being comrades that fought together, so I can't guess what they will choose.
All I can do is hope that they agree.
Because if they don't, I can only plead with those girls to control Ruby's tendencies to explode stuff while experimenting and control Yang's tendencies to party too hard and cause property damage.
I prefer Beacon to remain intact until I graduate, thank you very much!