I've been seeing a lot of people writing Jaune saving Velvet being bullied.

Here's my swing on that, as well as other shipping cliches. Yeah, it's going to end in Jaune getting himself a harem...

Please post a review if you enjoyed the chapter!

I only wish I owned RWBY, and was anywhere near as awesome as Monty Oum. I wouldn't mind a job offer from Rooster Teeth, all said and done...

Prestige, experienced teachers, talented students, amazing facilities and a breathtaking view.

A few among many things Beacon Academy was known for.

If there was one thing Beacon was not known for, Velvet knew, it was a quiet breakfast.

The brunette with the gunhammer was rowdy for sure, as was the one in the red hood and the blonde joining the table, but that wasn't bothering her either; even the tap tap tap of the blonde human scribbling on his paper while he gulped down cereal the hubbub of students waking up, eating, drinking… the clatter of cutlery on plates, the rattle of spoons in their cups, packaging being ripped open, food being spilled (oops) and the scrape of seats...

None of that bothered her.

She was used to it, being a city girl.

Many people thought loud noises would bother a rabbit faunus, but despite the high sensitivity of her ears, so was her tolerance for noise.

Things that did bother her, though, wasn't really loud so much as it was obnoxious. And rude.

And wouldn't stop pulling on her ears.

Worse still, there were four of them.

"Hey, quit it will ya!?" Velvet made to push away the hands tugging at her ears, too slowly given her current disadvantage. Unlike last time, they had caught her with her tray still laden with breakfast in her hands. While they were annoying, the faunus wasn't about to give up her first meal in twelve hours - and her ever-precious coffee - to four idiots and their petty amusement. Oh, if only she could kick them... she grit her teeth and tried to pull herself free, and did for a brief moment, before another hand seized her sensitive ear and squeezed.

"Ow! Hey, that hurts!" She tried to skip back a step and get away, but there were four of them and they had her boxed in all too well. Eight arms to her two (barely one, if she didn't want to lose her breakfast), all reaching out and pulling, pulling, pulling! The stinging pain of having her ear pulled made her wince, jerking back instinctively - which only brought another sharp spike of pain hammering into her skulls. Velvet let out a little yelp, which got them laughing again, wishing for all the world that she wasn't so tied down, both literally and metaphorically.

Beacon was a home for Hunters and Huntresses in training, after all, and with all the students being trained for combat fights between hormonal teenagers was inevitable. The school had already been clear about their zero tolerance policy, and Velvet knew that it would be double for any faunus who couldn't control their 'primitive instincts'.

If she threw the first punch in this fight… she was lucky enough to be in Beacon, and being thrown out for kicking these human boys in their heads was not something she wanted happening. The human teachers would say their thing, and while she'd be expelled these four humans would only get a suspension. So she grit her teeth as another tug yanked her head around again, and endured.

She knew that. They knew that. They were more than happy for it.

Of all the luck… She had been bothered by these fools before, but never this badly. Generally they avoided her when she was with her teammates, and she could hear them from far away enough that she could get out of the way if she was alone - these four didn't know the first thing about sneaking.

So... why today, of all days?

And while the four tormented her with shoves that threatened her breakfast, and painful pulls on her animal ears, she noticed something: they were venting on her. Something had bothered them, and she was their punching bag.

The first human reached out again, again pulling at the soft appendage, and let out another one of his cruel chuckles. "Aww, c'mon, I thought you liked us touching them?"

"Hey, maybe she wants us to touch something else instead?" Suggested another, already making a crude groping motion with his hand. "Maybe she's got a tail to match?"

If there weren't four of them… The faunus grit her teeth and tried again to wriggle free, slowly feeling the pressure of anger build up in her stomach and flushing her cheeks a bright red.

Dammit, I gotta get out of here!

Velvet let out a quiet mewl as another seized her ears - gripping both - and pulled them apart. She shrieked and furiously held back the urge to lash out with a leg.

Are they trying to rip them off or something!?

"Hey, Cardin!"

Another voice? Velvet was thankful for a moment, as the hands grabbing her ears relaxed their grip, but eventually that gave way to despair on the inside, despite her keeping up an angry facade. A new idiot? This wasn't going to end well. She braced herself for that fifth set of hands to join in, but found herself being left alone as the four bullies decided to focus their attention on the newcomer instead.

The biggest of the humans - their leader, she had quickly determined- seemed to be surprised for a moment, before setting himself defensively, hackles rising. "What is it, Jaunie? Come to be a hero again?"

Again? There was something in that voice of his. A sudden bitterness adding onto the hate. Her ears picked out so many layers of meaning in that one word. The faunus dared to look up, and saw that the subject of her tormentor's attention was a blonde boy, coming closer, his eyes bright with… wait, was it determination?

'Jaunie' stopped a few feet short - just out of arm's reach - and unslung his bag.

"Remember the Forever Fall field trip?" He asked, arching his eyebrow. Velvet frowned as she noticed her bullies suddenly tense up; on edge, they were a word away from starting a fight. She figured it would be the big one that started it, too.

The blonde's eyes flicked back and forth, sizing up the opposition, before he unzipped the bag. A weapon, Velvet wondered. Why would he get into a fight for me?

No, she realized, it was a folder.

The four members of CRDL stepped forward to slowly surround the blonde. Cardin and his lackey's eyes tracked the manilla folder as Jaune untucked it from his bag, holding it up to draw everyone's attention to it. "You told me to write that report for Professor Oobleck, didn't you? About the Faunus war? Did one about the Battle of Menagerie Plains, one where the Faunus forces were sent running."

"Yeah…" The brown haired bully slowly edged out, eyes narrowing in suspicion. As he saw the report being held out to him, a cruel smile was slowly forming on his lips; hurt pride was quickly reasserting itself as he saw the status quo being restored in his favor. Cardin stepped forward, more confident now, and reached out for the report.

"Good to see you know where we stand, Arc." He teased, fishing for a reaction.

"Sure, Cardin." Jaune nodded quickly, meekly. He held out the folder and let the bully take it without a second glance. The blonde checked over his shoulder to the clock, and gave a quiet smile. "Gotta run."

"See you later, Jaunie." Smiled Cardin. The blonde waved them goodbye, and disappeared into the cafeteria. "Let's meet after class, alright? I'm sure we'

He turned, confidence redoubled, and gawked in surprise at what was waiting for him.

Or rather, what wasn't. The faunus girl had completely disappeared into the crowd around them, while the others had been focused on Jaune. A few of the faces surrounding them were smiling now, unsubtle laughter echoing over the sounds of breakfast being served.

The head bully growled low, glaring at his three lackeys. Each offered apologetic and embarrassed words, trying to soothe his temper, but Cardin brushed them off as he paced over to his bag.

That animal might have been lucky she had gotten away, but at least he had his report. He had almost forgotten about the order, and had started on his own paper after the Forever Fall incident. Well, it would save him some time, and now that he had Jaune under his thumb again - for no effort at that - he could enjoy even more free time. Maybe have him do the rest of his team's reports to make up for letting their entertainment escape.

Idly, he flipped it open to the first - and only - page. The bully felt a sinking feeling settle into his gut. Wait, didn't Oobleck tell them to write three pages?

Cardin flipped the single sheet over and looked at its back. He bent the folder inside out and checked it for anything else that might have been there. A memory disk for him to print out, a folded sheet? Nothing. There was only that one page, and as he read the writing on it - only a handful of words - the bully let out an impotent howl as he threw the folder and paper at the ground, stomping off as his lackeys tried to keep pace and scattering students, ignoring their indignant shouts of protest.

Velvet peered out from around the corner, and sighed in relief as she saw that the blonde had gotten away safely. She did, however, spy the fallen folder. Why had he left that behind? She quickly walked over to it, wondering what had caused so much anger from Cardin. Quickly making her way back, she squatted down and scooped it up, before running back to her stowed away breakfast. The folder itself was unremarkable, as was the paper. She flipped it over, and read it once.

Then twice.

She nearly bent over double with sudden laughter. On the paper it read, with messy pencil writing:

A Distraction,

by J. Arc

"Arc." She whispered to herself, chuckling and wiping a happy tear from her eyes. Moons above, she hadn't laughed that hard in a while. "I'll remember that."