Enclosed

by Proto-Saber

In which the aftermath of a training session takes an unexpected turn and where trying to find ways to waste time can lead to some meaningful conversations. Lancaster if you want.

xxx

Jaune Arc was feeling…cramped.

Considering his current position, it was probably the appropriate feeling he should be experiencing. For it was not the first time he ended up confined within his own rocket propelled locker, courtesy of the help of one of his classmates, Cardin Winchester, had so 'kindly' provided several times since his acceptance at Beacon.

This time, however, the mace wielding Huntsman in training was not responsible for Jaune's imprisonment given that he had managed to get Cardin off his back when he had saved his life from that big Ursa in the Forever Fall forest a few months ago. Looking back at that fight, the blond himself was surprised that he had managed to obtain a victory against a foe that, in normal circumstances, would have slaughtered him like a bag of soft meat. Perhaps his sign's luck had been especially good that day.

But Jaune digressed. In short, his current predicament had nothing to do with Cardin and was, in fact, his own doing. In a sense. Yes, Jaune Arc managed to somehow lock himself inside his own locker and was facing three problems due to this. The first being that he was cramped and uncomfortable within the confines of the metallic structure. The second problem was that he didn't have his scroll on hand either so he had no way of calling for one of his teammates to come and get him out. The third problem on the other hand was probably the one Jaune was experiencing the most as it made him feel even more uncomfortable than usual.

"Jaune?" A soft whisper broke the boy from his thoughts, reminding him fully that he was not by himself.

"Yeah, Ruby?" The blond answered slowly as he did his best to look at the girl he currently shared his locker with. Indeed, his third problem took the form of one Ruby Rose, the leader of team RWBY and the first friend he made since he took the first step off the Bullhead that brought him to the Academy.

Said girl was currently trapped with him and given the lack of movement space, their bodies were so close to one another they were practically hugging. Even so, they had maneuvered within the limited space and ended up with Ruby's body pressed against her friend's front with both of her hands resting on his chest plate. Jaune, wanting to be nice, tried to give the girl as much room as possible so he ended up with his back glued against the steel wall behind while his hands were pressed on the wall behind Ruby, their weight resting slightly on the girl's shoulders.

It was bad, to say the least. Jaune had no doubt that if anyone were to see them, they would immediately assume that the two were about to kiss. Just thinking about it made the boy's face flush, the heat within the chamber not helping his condition in the slightest.

"What are we going to do?" The reaper asked while involuntarily shifting her body slightly to get in a more comfortable position, at least as much as she could in the small space. This motion only resulted in adding a bit more friction and discomfort to the blond who was doing his best to ignore the close proximity between them.

Swallowing a small lump in his throat, Jaune looked to where he guessed Ruby's face was. "I'm…not sure." He managed to answer. How did they even end up like this? They were only supposed to have a simple practice spar to help the young Huntsman improve.

Going on a small trip down memory lane, Jaune tried to make sense of his current situation by recounting the events that led to his current predicament. If he remembered correctly, this started out with a suggestion from his partner, Pyrrha Nikos.

Flashback

"You don't want to train me anymore?" Jaune asked numbly as he stared at his partner, his mind going in overdrive to make sense of what she had just said. After starting his training weeks ago, the leader of team JNPR could feel himself growing stronger under the champion's tutelage. It was a slow process, but the results of his hard work were beginning to show. He wouldn't be able to beat any of his friends anytime soon, but he wouldn't feel like dead weight anymore. It was the reason why the girl's announcement came as a surprise to him.

"What? No!" Pyrrha replied in a panicked manner as if he said something outrageous. Approaching him, she slowly placed her right hand on his shoulder, hoping to calm him down. "I didn't say that! What I said was that it would probably be a good idea to fight other people as well." Her words were comforting and the girl could feel the tension leave from his body.

"But, why? Haven't I improved since we started our training?" He asked another question, his tone shifting from 'surprised' to 'confused' this time.

The redhead gave him an encouraging smile. "You have and I'm pleased to say that you've grown more than I expected. But in order to become a better fighter you must be able to adapt to various situations. Not all your opponents will fight like I do and you should be able to chance your fighting style on the fly to perfectly counter them. That's why I believe that you should fight someone else for a change, to get a better grasp on fighting people with different styles and weapons." The girl argued her point, laying out the benefits he could gain from such a change.

"I don't know." Jaune's shoulders slumped unsurely at the idea. He had grown used to fighting Pyrrha and was comfortable with her presence. The prospect of fighting someone else was a difficult idea to swallow, at least for a socially awkward person like him.

"Jaune, don't think for one second that I'm going to stop helping you. I won't. All I want is for you to become the best Huntsman you can. Even if it means having to let someone else help you as well." She added the last part under her breath so that the boy couldn't hear. A feeling of sadness coursed through her at the knowledge that she wouldn't be able to help the boy she thought so dearly of, but with his future on the line she would deal with her conflicting emotions by herself and do the right thing. "We'll still do our usual training, but from time to time you'll switch to someone else to better expand your abilities."

The blond understood what she was saying. "Alright then." He agreed softly after a few moments of thought. "If you think it's going to help then I'll do it." While it wasn't what he wanted, he could find no flaw with the idea and given his circumstances, he still needed all the help he could get.

"I do. Thank you for understanding, Jaune." Pyrrha gave him a warm smile, one which the boy returned with one of his own.

"So, have you thought about who can help me?" The boy inquired.

Pyrrha blinked before her face turned apologetic. "Well, not yet. I was concerned about your reaction and how you'll respond to the idea so I didn't want ask anyone until I knew for sure how you felt. But now that we do, we can see who's willing to lend us a hand with your training. I'm sure one of our friends can do it."

Jaune nodded. "Okay, so let's see who we can ask." The boy then began thinking of all the people he knew and who would agree to this idea. Sadly, Jaune had not many friends at Beacon. He barely knew anyone outside of his team and team RWBY. But maybe he didn't have to look far, the people he knew best were in the two teams so it was obvious that he should start with his own team. "Ren?" It was an obvious option, they were on the same team and he was patient enough to deal with him as well as skilled enough to help him learn.

The girl pondered a few moments, assessing the choice. "No. Ren is skilled, but his style is too focused on hand to hand combat, even with Storm Flower. He'll be a good opponent later on, but for now it's best to have an opponent who also wields a weapon." With that said, the girl thought a bit about the last option available from their team. "How about…Nora?" She asked tentatively, a part of her already knowing the answer.

Stopping whatever though he had on his mind, the boy tried to visualize the scenario. It didn't take look before his entire face went white. "I-I think I'll leave Nora for when I'm a bit better." He laughed nervously. He had no doubt that the small bomber would agree, but when it came to Nora she didn't do things half measure and would usually be a bit more…energetic than necessary. And the boy sincerely doubted that his body could handle a training session with the pancake loving girl.

"Okay, no Nora then." Pyrrha agreed. "In that case I guess you can ask someone from team RWBY. Though I'd advise against Yang as her style is similar to Ren's. Either Ruby, Weiss or Blake should work fine. They use weapons like yourself and won't go overboard if they know it's just a training exercise."

"I guess you're right." Team RWBY, the sister team to JNPR. Or at least that's how he thought about it. The eight teenagers got together during the initiation and have stuck together since then. The fact that they had almost the same classes and their rooms were in front of one another really helped the two teams form a bond. "But I'm not sure Weiss is going to agree. I mean, she's been giving me the cold shoulder a lot lately." He muttered dejectedly as he remembered how the snow white haired girl usually treated him. Eh, she'll fall for the Arc charm one day. Like his father said, it's all about confidence.

Pyrrha approached him and placed a hand on his shoulder. "Don't say that, Jaune. You'll never know until you try. Just ask Ruby's team tomorrow and get a clear answer." Her emerald orbs peered into his blue ones as if instilling confidence in him. Pyrrha Nikos always knew what to say to bring his mood up.

"You're right. I'll ask them tomorrow." The blond declared confidently, flashing a smile to his partner, one that the girl immediately returned. With that, both teenagers went to the JNPR official funhouse, that's what Nora called their room at least.

xxx

As promised, the next day Jaune Arc stood in front of white door behind which team RWBY resided. It was convenient that they lived in front of one another, it made for an easy and quick walk. Since it was a Friday, the boy figured he'd ask the girls after their classes to not take much of their time. He hoped that he wasn't intruding on any plan they might have scheduled beforehand. He'd rather not bother them if he could help it. In a sense, it was as good of a time as any to see if the Arc luck, his family's second best talent after the Arc charm, according to his father, would produce a fortuitous opportunity.

Well, no sense in delaying the inevitable. He raised his hand and knocked three times, the moderate in intensity sound was loud enough to be heard, yet quiet enough to not bother anyone in the vicinity. Some ruffling noises were heard from behind the door, like sheets were being moved around or something. A loud thud echoed within the room, followed by quieter, more rapid ones which Jaune attributed to footsteps approaching the door.

And soon enough, the wooden door was swung open and from behind, a small, red themed girl emerged. "Hey, Jaune!" Ruby greeted her fellow leader cheerfully, a bright smile permeating her entire face. "How are you?" She looked at him expectantly, almost as if she knew it was him behind the door. Weird that.

The blond smiled at the energy of the young girl, her presence alone was enough to enliven those around her. "Hi, Ruby. I'm fine, thanks for asking."

"So, what can I do for you?" The red reaper asked as she waited for the boy to state his reason for this surprise visit.

"Well…" The young knight started, but stopped himself as he wasn't exactly sure how to tell the girl his current predicament. A small part of him was still embarrassed having to ask for help, but he recalled Pyrrha's words from a few weeks back regarding his 'accepting help' issue. Not wanting a repeat or anything bad to happen, he decided to be honest. "I have a favor I need to ask you and your team." Good, that was direct.

"A favor?" Ruby tilted her head to the side at his sudden seriousness. "Is something wrong? Do you need help with something?" The girl asked, a bit of worry seeping into her voice as she feared her fellow leader may have gotten in trouble again.

Seeing her concern calmed the boy and made it easier for him to answer. "No, nothing is wrong, not really. I just wanted to-" He didn't get to finish his sentence.

"Shouldn't you be having this kind discussion inside rather than the middle of the hall?" Another voice, unmistakably female and certainly familiar, was heard from within team RWBY's room, startling the young man. It seemed that Ruby was not alone and from the stoic delivery of that sentence it was pretty easy to guess who the voice belonged to.

"Oh, that's right!" The young leader exclaimed, her eyes going wide as she couldn't believe she forgot to invite the boy inside. "Sorry about that, Jaune. Come on, we'll talk inside." With those words, the small girl opened the door wide and motioned for the blond to enter.

Jaune followed the young reaper's advice and entered the room. He took a second to scan the interior as Ruby closed the door behind him. It still baffled him that they slept with their beds suspended in the air like that. Those ropes holding Ruby's bed barely looked safe and Jaune had his doubts about the stability Yang's bed got from those books. Heck, he was surprised Weiss went along with it since he doubted this arrangement passed any safety regulations. But he didn't come here to comment about team RWBY's living habits, he was here to ask for help.

Shifting his gaze, his eyes landed on the only other member of team RWBY that was present in the room. "Hey, Blake." He greeted the dark haired girl who appeared to be casually sitting on her bed and reading a book. To be honest, whenever he saw her she always had a piece of literature in her hands, be it during lunchtime or when they had classes. She really loved to read, he figured.

Blake, for her part, barely acknowledged his presence. All she did was lower her book and gave him a quick "Hi." before delving within her fiction once again, the world around her seemingly forgotten. She was even quieter than Ren, something Jaune hadn't noticed before.

"So, Jaune, what do you need?" During the small exchange Ruby had appeared in front of the boy, curious to hear him out on his problem.

Gazing into her silver orbs, Jaune took one second to relax before he began to explain his ordeal. "Okay, so, I'm sure you know that I'm not the best fighter and that I've been training with Pyrrha to get better." He took a small break in which Ruby nodded, prompting him to continue. "And it's coming along great, I mean, Pyrrha says so at least. Okay, so recently she gave me this idea that in order to improve more, I should train with more people that use different styles."

"That sounds wise." Blake remarked from the side, seemingly interested enough to abandon her book and make a comment. "One of the greatest skills a Huntsman must possess is the ability to react and adapt accordingly to unforeseen dangers."

"Yeah, that's exactly what Pyrrha said." Jaune confirmed by nodding at her before he faced Ruby again. "And that's kinda why I'm here. I want to ask if any of you girls want to help me train. I mean, I would have asked my team, but Pyrrha told me that Ren's unarmed combat style wouldn't work for now and that it would be better to fight someone with a weapon and Nora…is Nora." He said after a small pause, the sentence being self-explanatory, requiring no other information to be understood. "So, uh, what do you girls say?" He asked again, a bit of nervousness entering his voice as he waited for an answer.

"I'd like to help Jaune, but I still have homework to do and I really need to finish it." Ruby replied dejectedly, her eyes going a bit downcast. It was one of the agreements she had with Weiss, she would always do her school assignments diligently, like a good leader should. "Yang's out to wherever she goes on a Friday night. She left early and usually comes back late, really late. Weiss is in the library studying for that exam we'll have in two weeks. She said something about getting an early start and avoiding distractions. And Blake…" She trailed off before turning her head to look at the girl in question.

Following her example, Jaune moved his head to gaze at the other girl present in the room. Any interest Blake had in the conversation was gone as she was, once again, absorbed with her literature and didn't seem to pay attention to the world around anymore. Well, he wasn't going to force her. "You know, it doesn't have to be now, Ruby." The blond addressed Ruby again. "I'm just asking now, but we can do it when you have time."

"Really?" The girl's previous excitement retuned as she heard his proposal. "Then you can wait until I finish? It shouldn't take me that much, just another hour or two. I mean, if it's not too late." She said apprehensively, gazing at the blond with hopeful eyes.

The boy just gave her an appreciative smile. "Sure, if it's fine with you then I'm in, I usually train with Pyrrha late as well. Might do some homework myself or something in the meantime." Either that or catch on some sleep.

He could practically see motivation invade the small girl's body as she nodded her head vigorously. "Okay then. I'll finish my homework as fast as I can and afterwards I'll come and get you. It shouldn't be that long. Two hours, yeah, I'll be done in about two hours." She declared strongly. She was really determined, Jaune remarked. He didn't expect such motivation, but he wasn't going to complain, so long as it meant that he'll get started with his training as soon as possible.

Giving her another smile, he took his leave. "Right. I guess I'll see you later, Ruby." He then turned towards the other occupant of the room. "Bye, Blake." With the pleasantries exchanged, he left the room and headed to his own, contemplating on how to spend his time.

The dark haired girl merely gave him a hand wave as a sign of goodbye, but as soon as the door closed she lowered her book and turned to her leader. "That was really kind of you, Ruby. To offer to help him with his training." She was also thankful that she had not been dragged into this herself. No offence to Jaune, but she didn't consider him more than an acquaintance. She would be polite to him in their interactions, but wouldn't go out of her way for him.

"Of course I'd help. He may not be the strongest, but he's trying his best to improve. As his fellow leader and friend it's my duty to help him in whatever way I can." She declared proudly, letting a bit of her 'leader' persona slip outside.

"I see. Then shouldn't you get started with your homework?" Blake noted with amusement as the proud image the girl had dropped before she panicked and jumped in her bed to do her work.

xxx

Around two hours later, Jaune had woken up from his small nap. Mercifully, Ren and Nora were out to some new pancake shop in Vale which meant that the room was quiet and he could get some rest. He tried doing some homework initially, but after about half an hour he gave up. He'd do it sometime tomorrow, there was plenty of time. Oddly enough, his own partner was absent. Grabbing his scroll, he sent her a message asking of her whereabouts. It didn't take long before his scroll rang, signifying that he got a new message. From the text it seemed that she was at the library, studying with Weiss. Not paying much thought to it, he informed her of his scheduled training with Ruby, mentioning that it would probably end up late. Just as fast as before, the blond received another message with his partner thanking him for the information and wishing him luck. With the conversation done, Jaune was curious to see how much time he had left until Ruby would arrive.

As soon as he glanced at the time, he heard a knock at his door. Well, that didn't take long. Jumping on his feet, he quickly made his way through and opened the door, revealing the small reaper, now clad in her usual gothic, combat uniform.

"Hey, Jaune. Are you ready?"

"Yeah, just give me a sec." Going back inside the room, the boy grabbed Crocea Mors that was leaning on the footboard of his bed, strapped it and exited the room. "Let's go." He nodded to the girl.

On the way they decided that it would be best to train at one of the training facilities available for students. Truth be told, the rooftop he and Pyrrha usually trained wouldn't work for Ruby as her fighting style requires her to move a lot more and would need more room to maneuver and the rooftop was too small for that, plus he didn't want to risk her falling off the building by accident. The arenas offered by the Academy had more space and even offered students the possibility to use humanoid drones to test their strength against. He also needed to store Crocea Mors in his locker for the night.

Since the training facility was in a separate building their walk took a bit of time which the two filled with some small chat. It was mostly just Jaune trying to convince Ruby to take it easy on him and that they were only sparring to help him get a feel of her technique and not actual combat. For her part, Ruby just giggled and told him that it would be fine.

After gaining entrance, Jaune was pleased to note that the facility was empty and at their full disposal. He preferred I like this if he was honest, it made it easier for him to concentrate. Entering the field where they would fight, the two went to opposite corners of the arena and settled in their respective stances before they began to spar.

About an hour later Jaune was done. He imagined that fighting Ruby would be different compared to Pyrrha, but the actual experience really set in stone how different fighting styles can really throw you out of the loop. Just by having a different weapon, the boy had to discard most of his usual tactics because the different length of the blade negated most of them. Add in a completely different, but highly effective, combat style and their spar turned into a dodging contest, for Jaune at least. However, halfway through their fight, Jaune, following some advice Pyrrha gave him, began to get used to the small reaper's continuous onslaught. Using the tactical mind his partner praised him for, he managed to slip past the seemingly relentless assault and get within the girl's guard. However, that was all he could do since at that point Ruby would use her Semblance and just vanish before he could even realize what was going on.

That was how the majority of their second half of the spar was spent. Jaune surviving her barrage of attacks by either dodging or blocking with his shield, managing to slip past her guard and failing to land a single hit as the girl would simply disappear, leaving a trace of red rose petals in her wake. Evidently, he still had a long way to go, but his fight with Ruby really enlightened him on the importance of having a more diverse fighting style. He would admit it though, it was only because of his training with Pyrrha and the fact that Ruby took it easy on him during the spar that he was able to perform as well as he did and learn something as a result of it. If she had gone all out he would have been on the floor in the first five seconds without even understanding what had happened.

Having said that, he still felt as if he had wrestled a Beowulf for the better part of the past hour. Jaune had always suspected it, but now he had the confirmation. Ruby hit a lot harder than her small frame would imply. In hindsight, that should have been obvious considering that monstrosity of a weapon she's wielding. Seriously, her scythe was really heavy and to be honest, the sight of such a small girl wielding a weapon like that sent a chill or two down his spine.

Glancing at his fellow leader, Jaune was met with the image of the girl coddling her weapon as if it was a pet and was praising it for doing such a good job. His lips twitched upwards at that, what a cute and odd sight she was. Feeling a bit of mischief possess his being, he took out his scroll and snapped a picture of her. Who knew when he was going to need some blackmail material for a joke or something like that.

Arriving at the lockers, Jaune took a seat on a bench in front of his locker to get some rest while Ruby went to put Crescent Rose into her own locker. Their team's lockers were pretty close so she didn't have to go very far. Upon returning, Jaune glanced lazily at her and was slightly surprised to see her appear lost in her thoughts for some reason. Rising on his feet, his weapon already discarded and resting on the bench he previously sat on, he turned to the red reaper.

"Ruby." Jaune began hesitantly, his gaze firm on her form. "Is something wrong?" He asked, hoping that her current state wasn't due to something he may have done.

"Huh?" The girl's shoulders rose in surprise as she heard his question. She then began waving her hands defensively. "Oh no, I'm fine. Totally and perfectly fine." She tried to say cheerfully, but Jaune could see she was nervous. After all, it took a socially awkward person to know one. Sensing his eyes on her, Ruby's shoulders dropped before she looked at her feet. "I, uhm…" Her mouth opened before closing again. "I didn't do anything bad on your training, did I?"

"What do you mean?" The boy asked.

Fumbling with the hem of her skirt, her eyes darted from one side to the other before locking them with his own. "I've never helped anyone train before." She informed him. "I mean, I've trained with my uncle when I was learning how to use Crescent Rose. But I know it's not the same. When you help someone you have to make sure that person learns something, but I've never done something like this. What if I forget that we're supposed to be training, what if I get to into it an forget to hold back and hurt you, what if I use more force out of habit or worse, use my sniper riffle? What if you don't learn anything because I'm so distracted?" The girl kept on spiraling down in her own insecurities Jaune felt the need to put an end to it.

"Ruby." He approached her and placed a hand on her shoulder, prompting her to stop from her rambling. "Relax, you did great. I promise that I've learned a lot from our spar. And don't worry, you used just enough strength not to go easy on me, but enough to keep me on my feet and get the most out of it." Jaune comforted the distraught girl while showing an encouraging smile on his face. It was at moments like these when Ruby's age really stood out. Despite her being prodigy in his eyes, his fellow leader still lacked some experience and had insecurities to work on, much like himself to be perfectly honest.

The little reaper visibly cheered at his words. "Really?" She then recovered herself before coughing a bit and adopting a pose that would better suit her partner. "I mean, I'm glad to know that my assistance has proven useful in your…" The girl paused a bit, her right hand rubbing under her chin as she thought of a word. "…worriment?" Ruby finished unsurely, waiting for his reaction to gauge the level of her success.

Chuckles escaped his mouth at her attempt to sound prim and proper. "Sure, let's go with that." He answered good-naturedly. "Is Weiss rubbing you off though? That sounded more like something she would say."

Ruby blinked. "I don't know. I mean, I don't think so. She does tell me from time to time that a leader should be good with words and I've been trying to learn some big words, but it's so boring." The girl whined a bit as she complained. She understood the importance of being able to properly convey information and lead others, but it was so much easier to just slay Grimm. "Yang has been telling Weiss to give me a break. She's afraid that I'll end up like a Weiss clone after a while." What she didn't say was that Yang also comically wailed that she didn't want her precious little sister to fall to the 'white' side. Whatever that meant.

Surprisingly, Jaune picked up on Yang's concern. "Sounds like she's worried about you. It's not like you're in any danger, but she wants you to be safe at all times. Siblings are like that, they worry about you even when you think you're alright. My sisters are like that with me as well sometimes." It went without saying that he too felt the same about them.

"You have sisters?" Ruby asked surprised, not expecting this piece of information.

The blond nodded. "Yeah, seven of them." He replied nonchalantly, already used with the notion.

"You have seven sisters?" Ruby did a double take when she heard that, involuntarily taking a step back with her right foot landing on the edge of her cape, an action which she hadn't noticed and would prove detrimental in the immediate future. "How did you…" The words were lost in her mouth as she didn't even know what to ask first. As much as she loved Yang, there were moments where she could become overbearing with her overprotectiveness.

Jaune smiled fondly, a part of him becoming a bit homesick as he remembered his sisters. "You get used to it. Although let me tell you, it wasn't easy, especially a few years ago." He tried to ignore the harsher times when they went and used him as their dress up doll. They even gave him a dress when he left for Beacon as a joke. Like hell he'd ever wear it, but he still didn't have the heart to throw away something given by his sisters.

"I guess." She supposed it was possible. She had gotten used to Yang after all and she did see both Weiss and Blake almost like sisters.

At that point, an idea hit the blond. "Hey, I have some pictures of them on my scroll. You want to see them?" He reached in his jean's pocket and pulled out the device.

"Yeah, of course." She nodded cheerfully before she leaped energetically towards the blond to get a better look, a habit she had developed ever since she discovered her semblance. What she didn't realize was that the hem of her red cape was caught under her boot so as she leaped forward, she pulled the cloth and tripped, the momentum carrying her into her unprepared friend, sending them both towards his open locker.

The crash made Jaune drop his scroll as his body was propelled into the steel wall, almost knocking the air out of him. Wincing a bit, he saw that the girl too was a bit disoriented, but before he could comment on anything, most of the light faded and a resounding, metallic 'click' was heard. After a quick look, he realized, alarmed, what had just happened.

"Are you okay, Jaune?" Ruby asked, unaware of their situation.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Was all that the boy could say.

"I'm really sorry. I tripped on my cape and fell. Here, let's get out and see if you're really alright." With that, the red themed girl tried to push the door open only to be met with resistance. After a harder push it still wouldn't budge. "Jaune? The door is not opening." The red reaper said in a panicked voice before turning to where she guessed was the boy's face.

Jaune gulped in nervousness. "I... I may have set up my locker to lock automatically every time the door closes." It was a function that every rocket propelled locker had and since the blond didn't feel like inserting the code every time he had to close it, he set it to lock itself. He couldn't have foreseen such an incident.

His only response was silence.

Flashback End

Huh, that was a bit of a story. But that was not the point, back to the matter at hand. He was stuck in a locker, with a girl, who happened to be one of his closest friends at the Academy and who was nearly glued to him in the tight space. Did he mention she was a girl? Okay, it was bad. Not in the sense that he'd rather have been locked with someone else, but rather that it made things really awkward between the two teenagers.

The uncomfortable silence was once again broken by the girl. "So, shouldn't we try and get out?" She asked as she tried to gaze at the boy's face.

That would have been preferable. "Well, yeah, we should. But I don't really have any ideas how we could. Do you?" He hoped she did, she was smart and he was in need of a distraction.

"Our lockers can also be unlocked with our scrolls, right? Can't you do that?" It was convenient, their scrolls acted like a remote control for their lockers. You could set up different coordinates and the locker would come to you in a matter of minutes.

Jaune released a resigned breath. "I dropped it when you crashed into me. It's probably somewhere on the floor." So much for the Arc luck, he thought dryly. He was starting to believe that it didn't exist in the first place and it was just some concoction his father made up to sound cool.

The girl grumbled at that. "Ugh, this wouldn't have happened if you didn't set your locker to lock us inside." She complained exasperatedly. She pushed him lightly as punishment, but it didn't amount to anything since his body had nowhere to go.

"Hey, it's not like I planned for us to get locked in the first place. How about you watch your step next time?" The boy bit back at her, a bit of his anger showing. He then realized that he was getting upset and released another breath to calm himself. "Sorry, it's just…" he trailed off, biting the inside of his cheek in guilt. He didn't mean to take out his frustration on her.

Ruby regained her focus as well, knowing that their current ordeal wasn't his fault. "Yeah, I get it." Her shoulders slumped as she resigned to the situation. "I'm sorry too."

A small silence settled within the chamber, the discomfort of their small argument creating a bit of tension that both of them disliked. Given their narrow quarters, it made things very awkward.

"How about we try and make some noise? Maybe someone can hear us." The boy ventured an idea, at this point ready to try almost anything to fix the mood between them. He didn't want Ruby to be upset with him, not after she went out of her way to help him when she didn't have too. That spoke volumes of her character and he didn't want anything to come up between their friendship.

Being of similar mind, the girl too wished for the atmosphere between them to improve. "I don't know if anyone will hear us. No one else came to train since we started and it's late as well, I doubt anyone will show up at this hour."

"I see." Jaune replied dejectedly. "I'm sorry, I don't have any other ideas." Whether he was talking about their predicament or their mood, she couldn't tell, but she felt that whatever weight was in the air between them had already vanished. At least there was that. She too didn't wish to be mad at her fellow leader.

"Well, we could wait for someone to find us." Ruby suggested quietly, obviously not pleased with such an idea since it involved a lot of waiting and sitting still. She hated being so immobile, it made her feel so vulnerable. She didn't have her baby either for comfort and it made things worse.

"It's probably the only thing we can do." The boy agreed before slowly throwing his head backwards, the back of his head meeting the steel wall behind. "Man, what I wouldn't give for a teleporting Semblance right now." Maybe there was a God out there somewhere that could hear him and grant him this wish.

The small reaper felt her lips twitch a bit in amusement. "Yeah, that would be very helpful now." She was happy with her Semblance, but there was only so much her speed could do. "But are you sure you'd want a Semblance like that? What if you do get it and then you're stuck with it?" She asked curiously, preferring to spend the time talking with the boy.

He perked up at the occasion to explain his choice in ability. "Of course, I'll have you know that teleportation is a badass power." That's what he believed anyway thanks to his vast experience from reading comic books throughout the years. Okay, so maybe he didn't have all the facts, but he did read about some really impressive ways one could use such an ability. "Imagine this scenario. You're going on a high speed train brimming with enemies, you're facing a strong opponent that manages to get the best of you and knock you to the ground. That moment when you find yourself unconscious and with your enemy hovering over you, ready to end your life, I'll suddenly appear out of thin air, defend you and chase the villain way. And then, just as you regain your conscience, all you'll see is my back as I retreat and disappear without a trace." His finished the small, imaginary adventure with a proud tone.

Ruby couldn't help it and release a wave of barely suppressed laughter. "Haha, that almost sounds cool. Way too cool for you though. You don't do cool, Vomit Boy." She teased lightly while getting more comfortable in the enclosed space by leaning her back on the wall behind her.

"Hey, I may not be as strong as you guys yet, but I'll get there." Jaune felt the need to defend his ongoing quest of becoming a hero. "I hope so at least." He added halfheartedly as he began to think about his friends, himself and how far he still had to go. Pyrrha had told him numerous time to stop putting himself down, but he couldn't help him sometimes.

Panicking at his change in mood, Ruby tried to amend the situation. "Hey, don't worry. You'll get there Jaune. I know you will." She replied truthfully.

"Are you sure?" He asked unsurely, yet still hopeful for a positive answer. He received it.

"Of course." The girl said cheerfully, hoping to instill some confidence and trust in him. "Look, it's only been a few months and you've made good progress already since our first day. You'll be able to lead your team like a true leader in no time." It was true. Ruby did have faith in him, believe it or not. Sure his performance had been lacking compared to the rest of them, but she could clearly see that he wanted to get better, to improve and become a true blooded Huntsman.

Before either of them could say anything else, the sound of a ringing scroll was heard from outside of the metal contraption. Jaune's scroll, he recognized it by the song it played. At least he knew it was working. Then again, given some of the tasks they had to perform at times it would have been pathetic for the device to break from a simple drop.

"Your scroll?" The girl asked, already guessing what the answer would be.

"Yep." Jaune confirmed plainly, the piece of information clearly of no use to them at the moment. It lasted nearly a minute, but the song stopped and silence settled once again. Musing on the possibilities on who the caller could be, he settled for his partner as she had the habit of worrying for his well-being.

"You think they'll come looking for us?" The girl asked, hoping for an early end of their entrapment.

The blond frowned in thought. "I don't know. I told Pyrrha that our training would end late, though we don't know how late it is in the first place." Noticing the girl went quiet again, he tried lifting of the mood with a small joke. "But hey, don't worry. The worst that could happen is them forgetting about us and us being stuck here for the rest of our lives." Realistically speaking though, they would notice their lack of presence in the morning and would start a small search party. Of that he was pretty sure. Now on the other hand, he had another issue.

"What? But I don't want to spend the rest of my life inside a locker!" The scythe wielder cried out, catching the boy off guard. "Oh God, we're going to die here. I don't want to die yet. I still have so many Grimm to slay and cookies to eat!" She whined as her mind played various scenarios of the two teenagers dying within the metallic chamber. They would either starve to death or die out of boredom. Or maybe die out of thirst since they had no water either. Not to mention that it would kill their backs trying to sleep on their feet. Then came their physiological needs, how would they work that out? Then the worst of all, Weiss was going to kill her when she would find out that she had died.

Hearing small, painful whimpers coming from the small girl, vaguely similar to that of a puppy's, Jaune's eyes widened when he realized that she actually believed him. "Relax Ruby, I was just kidding." He reassured as best as he could. "Look, between the two of our teams, I'm sure Yang, Pyrrha or Weiss will notice that we've gone missing and will do whatever they can to find us. If not tonight then I' sure first thing in the morning they'll look for us." He squeezed her small shoulders in comfort, feeling her calm down under his touch.

Regaining composure, Ruby nodded. "Yeah, you're probably right. I can already hear the lecture Weiss will give me." He was right, she had to have faith in her friends that they would eventually begin to search for them. Yang usually worried about her if she was late. She then focused on the boy again. "You're oddly reliable at times like these though. Who knew." She made an honest comment which also held a small amount of teasing as well.

"Oh come on, I too can be reliable." Perhaps not all the time, but he was working on that.

Ruby just hummed slowly to herself, smiling lightly. "I guess you can." She agreed simply.

Neither of them spoke for a while after that, having run out of topics for discussions. Shuffling their bodies a bit more, they tried to move a bit more. Standing still for so long wasn't doing their bodies any good.

Of course, such movement instantly reminded Jaune of one of his problems. He stood really close to the girl. In their talk he had forgotten that simple detail having relaxed enough to not pay any mind to it. But now the feeling came back full force and given his lack of experience with the female gender, he couldn't help but heat up a bit at their proximity. Still, due to this close arrangement, he couldn't help but notice how small she actually was. Her body felt really delicate, much more than he would have guessed, gifted with small feminine curves. Jaune admitted that Ruby was a very cute girl and she had the makings to become very beautiful in the future. A part of him wished he could admire her facial features as well, to see if they held the same grace, but with the light that barely managed to pass through he could barely make out her face. Sure, she was two years younger, but that kind of difference would not matter in a few years.

A sudden realization hit him, making his eyes widen in shock and deter from his current train of thoughts. Wait a minute, why was he thinking about Ruby like that? The one for his heart was none other than team RWBY's resident Snow Angel. With her porcelain like beauty she was the textbook definition of a princess from the snowy lands. Granted, she didn't seem to favor his advances, or his existence, for the time being and would often shoo him off in less than cordial ways, but he was confident that he could win her over one day.

There was one thing about Ruby that was keeping his sense on edge and kept his mind focused on her. She smelt really good. And before people got the wrong idea, he wasn't a creep. To explain, she gave off the fragrance of a field full of fresh, red roses. He was aware that she normally left a trail of rose petals in the wake of her Semblance and one day, out of curiosity more than anything, he picked some of them and examined them The flowery essence invaded his nostrils and produced a jolt of pleasure and freshness from his body as well as a bringing back nostalgic feels of joy from years ago.

Back when he was still a child, he would usually spend a lot of time with his sisters. Due of the circumstances of being the only male child of the Arc family and one of the younger children, it went without saying that the eldest of his sisters would develop a soft spot for him. Violet Arc, his older sister of six years would often spend time and play games with him.

On certain days she would take him on walks through the lands where his family resided. The Arc mansion was built in a more rural environment, somewhere on the outskirts of Vale. They were close enough to the Kingdom to be safe, yet far enough to be disconnected from all the people and congestions of the people. On their small escapades, they would often end up on a field of flowers. Violet would tell him to pick those which he believed were pretty and bring it to her. They would find their destination in her violet colored long hair and in a way that it would complement her amber eyes and make her beauty shine. Under the rays of the brimming Sun, they would run and drown the world in their laughter before making their resting place on the flora infested ground between the rainbow of flowers. Then she would bring him close and hug him tightly. He would experience all those floral scents along with his sister's warmth and love and feel joy into his innocent heart. It was one of his most treasured memories in life.

With Ruby, it was something else. She wasn't one of his sisters, that much was obvious. And while at times when she appeared somber he did feel the need to cheer her up like he would with one of his sisters, there was a distinct difference in the underlying reason between them. He couldn't put his finger around it, but right now the leader of team RWBY had an effect on him that he had not experienced before. It made him want to get more of her, to savor her intoxicating smell. His breath became more ragged and he couldn't help but swallow some excess saliva as he attempted to calm himself.

It felt as if time itself had slowed down, all for the very purpose of aggravating his life. He was in dire need of a distraction.

"Hey, Jaune?" And there it was. Thank God for small mercies.

"Yeah, Ruby?" He responded in a single breath, his excitement still not fully under reign.

"I'm glad I ended up stuck with you in a locker." She said suddenly, pausing a bit before clarifying her connotation. "I mean, I'm not happy that I'm stuck in the first place, but I'm a bit happy that it's you. You're really easy to talk to." She finished quietly, feeling her voice go soft at the proclamation, hoping she didn't come off as weird.

A feeling of warmth formed within his chest at her words. "Yeah. Me too." He answered truthfully. If he thought about it a bit, she was right. Had he ended up locked with any other member of her team then things would have been a lot worse. Perhaps this setting was the result of some hidden fortune, he had no way of telling. As he was contemplating his luck, he was reminded of a small event from a few months ago. "By the way, I never got to thank you for that pep talk you gave me a few months back."

"Pep talk? Are you talking about that time with Cardin?" She inquired, hoping this was the event the boy was referring to.

"Yeah." Jaune confirmed. "You may not know, but at one point Cardin told me throw a jar of sap we were told to collect at Pyrrha and set loose some rapier wasps on her." The girl gasped in shock at that, unaware of that piece of information. "And I almost did." He said with guilt, the events still vivid in his memories. "But then I remembered your words, how we should value our teammates over ourselves, otherwise we could not function as a team. I realized that it would be no different than betraying them as well as the trust they put in me. If you hadn't talked with me that day, I may have become the kind of person I hated the most. One that would be the exact opposite of the one I dream of becoming." He finished resolutely, silently promising to himself to never fall down that path again.

Ruby felt her cheeks explode with heat at his words. She stuttered a response. "Y-you're welcome, but I didn't do much." She had never received such heartfelt praise from someone outside her family before.

The blond slowly shook his head. "No, you did more than you think and I'm grateful for that." He then began listing a few of her achievements. "You're two years younger than the rest of us and yet you're able to keep up no problem with the rest and you're also the leader of a team which has the reputation of being one of the strongest teams at Beacon. You're pretty amazing, you know?"

Grabbing the front of his chest plate, she began shaking him lightly. "Stop it! Don't say things like that!" She replied with agitation, feeling her face red with embarrassment and heart beating at one thousand rose petals an hour. "I'm just a girl with normal knees. Normal knees!" She whined slowly.

"Normal knees?" Was Jaune's confused question. He had not expected this outburst from the girl, but he waited for her to explain.

Face still flushed, Ruby stopped shaking him and turned hear head to the side to avoid feeling his gaze. "Sorry, it's something Yang said on our first day." She apologized quietly before taking a breath. "Look, I just don't want to be seen as special. It puts me in the eyes of other people and I don't like that." Being in the center had never been her goal, her only goal was to become a Huntress and slay Grimm.

Jaune blinked in understanding. He empathized with her view. "I see. Well, you don't have to worry about that with us, your team and mine, I mean. Whatever others might say, we won't treat you any differently. You're our friend and that's what friends do, they take care of each other." It was something he learned from her.

She cheered up at his words. He was right, her team had already made a promise of sharing their troubles should they arise and finding way of dealing with them together, as a team." Yeah, you're right." She then turned her attention to him. "After all, you are the guy who befriended a girl that exploded on her first day at the Academy." She reminded him fondly. Back then, he had been the first person to try and befriend her. When she believed that her future at the Academy was destined for disaster, he had come along, offered his name and a hand for her to grasp and the rest was history.

The blond only grinned at that. "And I'd do it again if I was put in the same spot. I mean it, I'm really glad we became friends, Ruby." He said honestly, his lips setting for a sincere smile.

"Me too, Jaune." She returned the smile in earnest.

It was weird. For most of her life, Ruby had felt like an oddball. Never being able to understand or do things like other people her age. It was why she never actually managed to make too many friends at her previous Academy. They would often call her weird or avoid contact with her. By coming at Beacon she feared a repeat of that, especially since she was a special case that was permitted entrance by the Headmaster himself. "Jaune?" But that was not the case, she had actually managed to find people she could get along with. Having Yang at her side helped as her sister could understand her and would try to help her, even if sometimes it was annoying. But she was family so perhaps that was a given. However, the thought of her being part of a team as close as team RWBY as well as befriending team JNPR was something she never imagined on the day she set foot at the Academy. And it all started with the blonde, goofy Huntsman in training in front of her. "Thank you." Her honest reply was followed by the girl wrapping her small arms around his back and burying her face in his chest, paying no mind to the hard piece of metal and feeling content with her position.

Surprised by the sudden intimate contact, Jaune took a few moments before he returned the gesture and brought her entire body in a hug. He could feel the girl smile and that was more than enough to get his nerves under control. It wasn't long until her breath became even as the small rose seemed to have fallen asleep. Feeling his own eyelids heavy, his body lowered itself slowly to the ground without disturbing either of them as they succumbed to the realm of unconsciousness.

xxx

"Yang, calm down, we'll find them." The dark haired Faunus of team RWBY assured her partner as she was following her through the halls of the Academy at an early hour of the morning.

Not how she imagined spending her Saturday, but a small situation had developed when Yang returned from wherever she went on Friday nights near dawn and urgently woke both her and Weiss asking where Ruby was. After informing her about the arrangement between the two leaders from the previous day, the blonde brawler bolted out of the room and went over to their neighbor's door not giving much thought of the ungodly hour.

From behind JNPR's room, the form of a tired Pyrrha appeared who was instantly woken up by Yang's bombardment of questions demanding Ruby's location as well as some death threats at their leader. What she got instead was as worried answer about Jaune's absence from their room. With the knowledge that Jaune was missing as well, Yang began fearing the worst. Pyrrha had told them that she tried getting a hang of Jaune on his scroll last night before her team went to bed, but he didn't answer and Ruby had left her scroll in the room last night.

With the prospect of both leaders missing, the two teams woke up and decided to start a search of the entire school. Arriving at the common decision that they should split up to cover more ground, it was decided that Ren and Nora would search the rooftop as well as the surroundings of the dorm, Pyrrha and Weiss would verify the Academy with all the classrooms and the cafeteria, while Yang and Blake would check out the training facility. If neither of them could be found on the premises of the Academy then they would inform the staff and extend the search. No one hoped it would come to that.

And this is where the pair found themselves, approaching the training facility in search of their friends.

"Tell me to calm down when I know Ruby is in her bed sleeping and not when I find out she's been missing all night." The brawler bit back a retort which held no heat, only worry for the health of her sibling as the two of them hurried to their destination.

Blake said nothing and just followed the girl. After arriving and gaining entrance, they went to where both teams usually kept their lockers. Yang immediately went to the one belonging to Ruby and inserted the code her sister shared with her. The door opened, revealing the familiar shape of Crescent Rose. "Ruby's weapon is here." The blonde noted.

"And I assume this is Jaune's weapon." Blake spoke from a few feet away, pointing at the sword and sheath/shield resting on a bench in front of the lockers. Next to the bench, on the floor was another belonging of his. "His scroll as well." She commented as she picked up the fallen device.

"If his weapon and scroll are here then where is he?" Yang asked, becoming more upset and worried.

Blake didn't answer and just stared at the communication device until her enhanced vision managed to pick on something. A piece of red fabric coming out of a locker, a familiar shade at that. If that was Jaune's locker then that couldn't possibly be what she thought it was. Could it? They would have to open it and see for themselves.

Checking the scroll, she confirmed that it was indeed Jaune's, having one missed called from Pyrrha. Perhaps one of his teammates knew the code number for his locker. While looking through his contacts for a familiar name, she paused when she found an entry labelled as 'Locker Code'. She blinked once at the screen before the thought that Jaune saved his Locker's code number as a contact registered in her brain. A careless decision on his part, but useful for them at this moment.

"Blake?" Yang called to her partner again after receiving no response.

Pressing the entry, the number revealed itself on the screen and Blake inserted the code in the locker's keyboard, resulting in the door opening. Once she caught sight of what was inside, she turned to the blonde. "I think I found them."

Confused, Yang approached her and saw for herself what her partner had found. It was undoubtedly their two missing leaders, cuddled together inside the locker and lost in the dream realm, unaware of the worried souls searching for them. Neither Yang nor Blake spoke for a few moments, this entire situation being too weird to digest so quickly. Then, the dark haired girl made an attempt.

"You don't think they've locked themselves in, do you?" Blake asked unsurely, trying to picture up the scenario which led to this development. As much as she didn't believed it, her assessment seemed to be the most likely case. All she heard from her partner was a snapping noise of a device. Shifting her gaze to the source of the sound, she was surprised to find the blonde taking a picture of the two with her scroll.

"What?" Yang asked quietly once she saw her partner's gaze. "I'll lecture her later about making us worry. Right now this is perfect teasing material." She replied with a tired smile, a bit of her usual mirth returning for the first time since they began to search as she was finally at ease.

Rolling her eyes at the brawler's antics, Blake once again turned to the pair resting inside the metal structure. It seemed that they hadn't been disturbed from their slumber. She felt a small tug of her lips at the sight, she couldn't deny that they looked cute like that. Still, that won't excuse them from the scare they gave them.

"So, who's going to wake them up?" Yang asked while locking eyes with her partner.

xxx

End

AN: I'm not sure what the purpose of this story was, but I hope you enjoyed it.