In Which Jaune is a cousin
Typical days at Beacon are crazy, loud and tend to involve at least someone being injured in some way, shape or form.
But, for some reason today was different.
It started out as it normally did, with teams RWBY and JNPR meeting up for a quick breakfast in the cafeteria before heading off to Professor Port's class… and promptly falling asleep in it.
After surviving the boisterous lecture from the portly man, they would have to focus in completely to keep up with the teachings of Profe-Doctor! Oobleck in history. Mostly it ended with the rest of the group needing to borrow notes from each other.
This led into lunch, in which all of them would sit and listen to either another of Nora's tall tales or Yang's awful puns before finishing the school day out with Professor Goodwitch's combat class.
With all of that done, and none of the normal craziness having happened, it left a lot of free time for each group. But for Ruby and Yang, that free time was now being taken up by a letter sent from their father.
"Yang! What do you think dad could have sent us? You think it's something for Zwei?" the silver-eyed girl questioned from her bunk, while holding said dog in her arms.
The two were currently sitting alone in their dorm, Weiss having gone to spend time with Neptune and Blake researching something in the library, though Yang was adamant that she was just using that as an excuse to read her smut alone.
"I don't know Rubes, but I'm not waiting around to find out!" the blonde-brawler declared loudly as she tore the letter open and flung herself onto the bed next to her half-sister and held the letter up to begin reading.
"Dear girls,
I bet you didn't expect to hear from me so soon after sending you Zwei to take care of, but my assignment is finished so I got home a bit earlier than expected.
While I was out, I ran into an old friend of mine and Qrow's so we caught up over a few drinks before I had to head out. It was a pretty good time, but that isn't why I wrote instead of just calling.
Not exactly sure how to tell you two this, but you mom, Summer, wasn't an only child. She had an older sister named Juniper Rose who she loved very much. She talked very highly of her and I have met her a few times in the past.
Unfortunately, as much as Summer would have loved for the two of you to have an Aunt like her, the rest of her family really didn't like the idea of her becoming a hunter and forbade her from attending combat school.
This didn't stop you mom, as she managed to convince a retired huntsman to teach her how to fight, and by convince I mean she pestered him and acted cute until he caved. And when the time came, the old man pulled a few strings and got her into Beacon since he knew Ozpin.
Apparently, they were old buddies from when they were active huntsman and he owed him a favor, lucky for Summer she grew on the guy and he used that favor on her. But that's beside the point.
Even after coming clean about her training, Summer's parents still refused to let her go, so instead of trying to gain their approval, she wrote them a letter saying she was going to follow her dreams no matter what and left in the night.
After that, the only meetings between her and her family were the instances when Juniper would come to visit her in Vale. That was when we met her and found out she was dating an old buddy of myself and Qrow who was attending Atlas Academy.
The last time I spoke to her was at your mother's funeral years ago, but she was doing well and had a few kids of her own… and by a few, I mean I think she was on kid five. Never understood Alex's situation until I had you two at Signal and realized he had to deal with more than double that.
Anyways, the point of this letter is that apparently one of Alex and June's kids is attending the academy with you. Alex said he is a first-year like you and is pretty easy to spot.
I know how much Ruby always wanted more siblings, so I guess telling you both that you have a cousin with you at school should come as a pleasant surprise.
I don't know his name, never bothered to ask Alex while we were drinking, but I know he is a little younger than you Yang, if that helps. I also know for a fact that he will be tall and have blue-eyes because both of his parents are tall.
No clue on hair color or anything else, but knowing you two, you will enjoy playing detective and finding out who he is. Just try not to scar the kid when you find him okay? He is family after all.
Speaking of which, when you do find him, drag him home with you for the upcoming break. I want to meet my nephew and I'm sure no matter what Qrow says he would too.
Keep me updated!
Taiyang Xiao-Long "
Once she was done reading the letter, both sisters just sat in silence, probably replaying their father's words in their individual heads.
The silence didn't last long though, as the bed started bouncing as Ruby literally began vibrating in excitement. A squeal followed soon after as she jumped up and grabbed her sister's shoulders.
"Yang! Do you know what this means!?" the youngest Rose said, not even trying to hide the pure glee in her voice.
Her sister might not have shown nearly as much sheer happiness, but the smirk on her face showed just enough.
"We have a family member to find and subject to 17 years of sisterly interrogation… even if he is just a cousin." The bombshell might have sounded calm, but no one could miss the mischievous twinkle in her eyes as she stood up.
Rushing to the door, the bundle of energy known as Ruby Rose turned back to her sibling.
"Who should we ask first? We don't know many of the guys on campus… the only ones we do know are Jaune, Ren and CRDL."
Yang just wagged her finger as she slung an arm around her sister, closing the door behind them as she dragged her out of their room.
"Then we just need to use our resources and go from there. Ren is probably with Nora doing… something and keeping her out of trouble, and since we want to play the detective angle and not just shout it out to the whole school, I think we should avoid Nora coming anywhere near this."
Ruby nodded and kept pace with her sister as they walked the halls of their currently very quiet school.
"CRDL is out for sure. They might be a lot nicer now after what happened on the field trip, but I still don't like them that much. So that leaves Jaune! He said he was going to the gym to work out since Pyrrha had something to do in town today and she had to cancel their training session."
"Alright then. Time to drag Vomit-boy into our search for our long-lost cousin!"
With their new plan set, they walked out of the dormitory and into the main building of the school. Soon enough, they found themselves walking through the automatic doors and entering the typically packed gym.
It had dozens of machines and weights scattered around the large room, but only one of them was being used.
A mop of blonde hair peeked out above a few machines, leading the sisterly-duo to walk further inside until they caught sight of their friend working out on the leg press.
He had weights loaded up on the machine and was rapidly pushing up against the pad that held his feet. He wasn't struggling with the weight, but sweat coated his once scraggly body.
Both girls had to smile at the rapid improvement their fellow student had made after being well behind everyone else in the school in terms of fighting experience. Not only was he not the worst fighter in their year, his body had clearly grown to match his new prowess.
Something that Yang used to her advantage every day when she got her daily dose of teasing in at the expense of the blonde-knight. He would always give her a priceless reaction when she flirted or grabbed onto him.
He had yet to notice the new pair of eyes watching him finish his exercise, most likely because of the headphones blasting music into his ears. He got up from the bench, wiped it down with a towel and started to put the weights back on the rack.
Once he was finished he wiped off his own face with a towel, covering his head. This gave the prankster of their group the perfect opportunity to walk up behind him and jab her fingers into his exposed sides.
He jumped into the air and let out a very manly squeal at the contact, which cause the huntresses-in-training to burst out into laughter.
Removing the towel from his head, he threw a half-hearted glare at the pair and took off his headphones.
"Haha, very funny. To what do I owe this lovely intrusion upon my free time fair maidens." The only male child of Arc joked dryly with a small smile.
The teasing continued as the first offender walked closer to him and jabbed his chest with a finger.
"Excuse you, you are lucky someone as beautiful and talented as the great Yang Xiao-Long would grace you with her presence during HER free time."
With a roll of his eyes, that caused Ruby to laugh even harder, he backed up and bowed his head.
"Oh, how thoughtless of me. Here, let me thank you with a hug."
The boy opened his arms and stepped forward with a big smirk on his face.
"You wouldn't dare Vomit-boy." The blonde warrior said, warily eyeing him as he approached.
"Xiao-Long do you think she will last Rubes?" he asked the only person still laughing as he ensnared his prey within his long arms and heard her protest against his sweaty embrace.
"Puns are my thing Jaune!" Yang yelled dangerously as she broke free from his grip, her eyes betraying her as they remained a deep lilac instead of a threatening red.
"Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say Yang. So, I assume you needed something from me since you both came down here? What can I help with?"
The group relaxed into a comfortable atmosphere as Ruby finally spoke up.
"Our dad sent a letter to us earlier today. He said that we have a cousin going to school in the same year as us here at Beacon and we want your help finding out who he is. Weiss and Blake are gone and since Ren is with Nora we don't want to bug him."
"Sure thing. How about you two come to our room in about 20 minutes? I'll shower and then I can look the letter over while we are there."
Receiving nods from both girls they walked back to their rooms and split up. After 15 minutes, Yang was getting antsy and decided time was up.
"Knock knock!" she announced, pushing the door open and seeing no one inside.
Each bed was empty, but the sound of running water was enough to signify that Jaune hadn't finished his shower yet.
Looking around, Ruby walked over to the desk that was clearly Jaune's and began to look over it.
Notebooks full of notes from their various classes or strategies he wanted to test out in their next team battle class were stacked up on the side. A bookmark held the page to an issue of X-Ray and Vav that laid out, but what caught her the most was a picture.
In it, Jaune was smiling and had two younger girls under each arm. The one on the left had blonde hair like his, but unlike him, her face looked slightly irritated at the situation. The other had brown hair and looked as happy as their friend.
A girl that looked the same age as him, had her face nuzzled against him, if Ruby weren't sure that the girl was wearing a dress, she would have said she was just another Jaune, but with longer hair.
Four older women were in various positions around the clearly younger four, each had long hair, two brown and two blonde. The oddest thing about them were their stunning silver eyes, while the younger group all had blue eyes.
Off to the side a man that was easily as large, maybe even larger than Yatsuhashi stood with a broad grin on his face. His arm was around a much shorter, but still tall brunette woman. She had a small smile on her lips.
"What are you looking at Rubes?" Yang asked from her position laying on Jaune's mattress, where she planned to tease him upon his entrance, but her attention was drawn to the still form of her sister.
When she received no answer in return, she walked over and looked at the object of her focus. She took in the picture just as her sister did, before stopping at the same point.
Neither sister looked up as their sister team's leader walked into the main room wearing nothing but a pair of shorts.
"Ah! Yang, Ruby, what are you doing in here?!" he called out and finally broke the spell that had enraptured them.
Ruby looked to her sister with questioning eyes. When the look she received back was one of confirmation, she made her move.
I flood of rose petals danced in the air as the small girl rocketed across the room and tackled her fellow team leader to the ground, gaining a cry of surprise from him on the way down.
"Ruby why did you do th-" his question was cut off as her face filled his vision with the picture held in front of him.
"Jaune. This is your family right?" she asked, masking the small amount of hope that she was feeling deep within her.
"Yeah? That's my mom, dad and seven sisters. Why? I've told you about them before, haven't I?" he asked, clearly confused about why that necessitated him being tackled.
The next question came from above him, as the purple eyes of the elder sibling bore into his own blue orbs.
"What are your parent's names?"
The question wasn't meant to sound so serious, but it made the tension in the room much more palpable and even made Jaune swallow a newly formed lump in his throat.
"Uh… my Alexander and Juniper… why?" he asked, still extremely confused and now slightly worried about the reasoning behind the questions.
He noticed both girl's eyes widen before they glanced back to each other and grin. His confusion was brought to a peak when the picture was discarded on the ground beside him and Ruby wrapped both of her arms around his torso in what he assumed was he attempt at one of Nora or Yang's bone-crushing hugs.
"Rubes? Is everything okay?" he asked warily before wrapping his arms around her and gently rubbing her back like he would do for his sisters when they were troubled.
Her grip seemed to tighten on him in that moment.
"Everything is great Jaune." Her voice sounded oddly happy for the situation, but he didn't really care all that much.
"Okay, I'll bite. What's going on?" He asks as Yang extends one of her hands to the downed boy and hauls him to his feet, the emotional Rose still wrapped around him.
"Oh, nothing much Jauney. We just finished putting together some recently discovered evidence and found out who we were looking for." His fellow blonde pointed out, not elaborating much, but still bringing a smile to his lips.
"That's great! Sorry I wasn't of much help with your search, but I'm glad you found him!"
"Don't be silly, you are the biggest piece to this puzzle!"
That statement confused him, why was he so important to the search for their family member, especially if they had already discovered his identity.
"Seriously Jaune! I guess you could say that brings and end to this Arc!" she said, slugging him lightly on the arm.
That pun and the look she gave him made his brain stop…
"I can see I made your brain stop. Yeah… I'm just Jaune-some like that…"
He groaned and placed his face into his hands, being mindful of the giggling girl still wrapped around him. The pieces fell into place alright.
"Is this going to be even worse now? Any other punny people I should be warned about before the next family reunion?" he asked with a grin that matched both of theirs.
"Yup! Dad is just a little worse than Yang when it comes to bad jokes. Uncle Qrow is pretty funny though." The youngest in the room chimed in as she finally released her target from her hold.
"And I hope you like hugs cous. You are going to be getting a lot more of them." The Y of RWBY added with a wink and slung an arm over his shoulder.
"Oh god… it's like having two more sisters…" he muttered in absolute terror as the two girls laughed, reveling in their resolved search that led to their close friend being something even more.
A/N: Since I wanted to write something else that wasn't Overwatch, welcome to the "In Which Jaune" series.
You guys asked for this over on DA... well not this particular story, but a RWBY related story. So in response, I bring you the first of a new series. The "In Which Jaune" series of stories.
I am leaving one-shot out of the title for the sole purpose of, if their is a strong enough want for it, I will continue this story into a second chapter. Now it will not be any time soon, since this series will only happen when I am inspired by something, but the option is there.
This is an original idea, as in not based on anything, and has no connection to any comic or fanfic prior. That won't be the case all the time though.
This will be a series of, mostly, one-shots that I think of or am inspired to wright revolving around the lovable doof of team JNPR.
This won't be updated every week... probably, but whenever I want it to be.
Leave your ideas for what you would like to see as a review! I might think something up!
Cover art by Deviant-akaari on DA.
Next Chapter: Whenever I want!