Blake didn't really understand why her parents were so persistent that she spend time with Jaune. Sure the first time she met him he was a bit weird, but he seemed alright enough. The second time was even stranger with all the cameras and people taking pictures of their two families.
Now normally Blake would have probably never have met with Jaune again if she had a choice. He didn't leave a lasting impression on her to make her want to see him again, but now that she was forced to be with him she was suspicious as to the reason why.
She was a polite enough girl that she wouldn't do or say anything to his face, so she kept her mind to herself and looked for solace in her room for when she needed some alone time with her books.
It was even during one of those times that she hid away in her room that she got a very atrocious feeling in her gut.
She had spent all morning walking around Menagerie with Jaune. He was just an endless flow of words that just wouldn't stop. As polite as ever though, Blake had continued to converse back to Jaune even if they were sparse replies. After two hours though, her patience had begun to ran dry and she told Jaune she was tired of walking and that she was going to go home and read.
Jaune's response was to tell her he was fine on his own now, after two days of being toured around the island he thought he could find his way around. Besides, even if he couldn't find his way back he could always find the market district and ask how to get back from all the merchants he had already met there.
So it was another hour later as Blake had relaxed in her room with a book nestled comfortably into her lap that the terrible feeling had arisen.
She didn't know what compelled her, but her body had quickly gotten up and started rushing towards the front door to her house. She was in such a rush that she didn't even take the time to safely put her book down and it loudly crashed to the floor.
As she neared the door to leave, her mother's head poked out from a random doorway. Kali had just started to speak when Blake had already thrown the door open and was rushing outside.
Alarmed that her daughter had just evacuated the house as if it was on fire, she quickly decided to follow her daughter to whatever her destination may be.
(~)
In a random park swing in Menagerie sat Jaune as he slowly swung by himself. He didn't know why but there seemed to be no other kids around during this time of day, and Blake had decided to head home already so he was effectively alone until he decided to head back to the Belladonnas house.
Not quite ready to go back yet, Jaune persisted in sadly swinging by himself on the swing set hoping some other kid would come outside to play.
*SIGH* 'I wish I was back home with my family, at least then I know Jane would come out and play with me.' Jaune thought to himself.
Another few minutes passed by with no one around, and Jaune was about to give up hope when he saw three boys start walking towards him.
The three boys all looked to be about his age, maybe a year or two older, but that wouldn't make any difference when it came to playing outside.
Jaune smiled as he got up from the swing set and gave a slight wave to the three boys. "Hi there. My name's Ja-" Jaune started to say before one of the other boys started talking.
"Yah we know who you are." said a boy with long blond hair that was tied up in a bun, a single horn protruding from his head.
"You're Jaune Arc, the human that came from the city of Vale with great news." another boy with short light green hair and a scaled tail said sarcastically.
Jaune gave a slight nervous laugh at the boy with green hairs tone. He didn't know if he was being serious or that was how these boys liked to joke around.
Suddenly the last boy with short brown hair and rainbow feathers coming from different places on his body moved forward with a frown. "What are you laughing at punk?!"
"Yah!" said the boy with the horn. "Is it because we're faunus? You think because you're a human you can laugh at us?"
Jaune's eyes quickly widened as he put his hand up and quickly took a few steps back. "W-what of course I wouldn't laugh at you for being faunus." He said quickly, the back of his legs bumping the swing that he was just on.
The three boys just looked at him and then at each other, before looking back at him. Quickly the three boys all broke out into smiles and started cackling at Jaune.
The boy with the horn and the boy with the tail both started to walk to Jaunes sides while the kid with the feathers walked right up to him. "Of course you wouldn't be doing that! You would have to be an idiot to do that."
Jaune started to relax as he saw that the kids were just joking with him and started to smile, before the kid with the feathers decided to push him in the chest.
Normally this wouldn't do much to Jaune except move him back a foot or two, but with both his side blocked by the other boys and a swing behind his legs Jaune toppled over the seat and did a small flip before landing on his face.
The three boys quickly started to laugh again at Jaune as he laid on the floor dazed and a bit hurt, not really knowing what had just happened.
The boys quickly moved to surround Jaune again as he was down and started to prod him with the tips of their shoes. "Look at him he doesn't even know what's going on!" said the kid with the tail mocking Jaune.
"Well maybe this will teach him what's happening!" said the kid with the horn as he started to rear his right foot back and aim for Jaune's torso.
"HEY! LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Blake yelled from the direction the boys had entered the park.
She was breathing heavily and looked a bit sweaty, but other than that she looked fine.
The three boys on the other hand were shocked to see this girl appear from almost nowhere and yell at them. "Isn't that Blake Belladonna?" asked the rainbow feather kid.
"Yeah it is. I'm pretty sure she's been babysitting this idiot for the past two days also!" said the kid with a tail.
The three of them started to smile as they now left Jaune and started to walk towards Blake. "Maybe we need to teach her a lesson too." said the kid with a horn as he started to crack his knuckles.
Before they had even made it five feet though Jaune had quickly jumped up to his feet at the mention of teaching Blake a lesson and had jumped onto the kid with rainbow feathers back.
"Don't even think about touching her!" Jaune shouted as his surprise jump tackle shoved the rainbow feather boy onto the ground knocking the wind out of him.
Jaune quickly turned to the boy with a tail and tried to shove him hard enough to make him fall, but it was quickly Jaune's turn to be surprised as the boy effortlessly rightened himself as he was pushed back.
"A tail really does mean something you idiot." as the boy with a tail said while winding back his fist to hit Jaune.
"JUST WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?!" Shouted Kali as she finally caught up to her daughter who was frozen to her spot as the boy with the tail was already swinging his fist.
Jaune immediately turned to look at Kaile and that ended up with him getting a left hook right to nose. As he fell the boy with the horn quickly turned and started to take off, the rainbow feather boy was already scrambling up when Kali came and ran after his friend. The boy with the tail however wasn't so lucky.
Before he could finish nursing his hand from the pain of punching someone in the nose, Kali had walked right up to him and grabbed him by the ear yelling at him.
Jaune didn't hear most of what Kali said as he was focused on the splitting pain that was coming from the middle of his face. He rolled around for a bit before a pair of small hands settled on his arm trying to lift his body from the ground, and as he slowly looked up he saw it was Blake tugging on him with a worried look on her face.
"Does it look bad?" Jaune asked a bit nasally with a grimace.
Blake didn't respond though as she continued to pull to get Jaune up from the ground. Having enough of being on the ground for the day and with Blake's tugging Jaune finally got up from the ground and stood.
Blake didn't give him a chance to speak as she quickly took one of his small hands into hers and started to guide him back to her house.
She didn't speak on the way there but he could feel the tension growing between the two of them as he was dragged along.
It took them no more than five minutes to get back to the Belladonna residence, and once they were both safe within the confines of the house Blake sharply turned on Jaune and slightly shoved him away from her.
"What were you thinking?!" Blake shouted at Jaune with her small hands balled up into tight fists and the edge of her eyes a soft red.
"Those boys could have really hurt you! Why didn't you just run away?" Blake continued to yell at him, the red around her eyes growing and now watering.
Blake didn't say anything else as Jaune just stood there thinking of what he should say to calm Blake down. "I didn't want them to hurt you." Jaune said simply.
Jaune would have hoped that this answer would calm Blake down but it seemed to do the complete opposite.
"To hurt me! I'm smart and would have ran away before they got to close to me!" Blake yelled again. "You just needlessly got yourself hurt for nothing!"
Jaune took a moment again to think. He swore that Blake wouldn't have been able to run away. She was rooted to the spot when those boys had started to walk towards her. So instead of saying something else that might get him yelled at Jaune just stayed quiet and hung his head down.
Blake took in a deep breath and shakily let it out. Her hands unclenching and a tear finally falling from her eyes. She shuffles her feet at the quiet before deciding to speak up again.
"S-sorry for yelling at you...and...thanks. For not letting them hurt me." Blake said quietly. "I just...I don't know how to feel when it comes to you Jaune." Blake continues.
Jaune lifts his head now as he sees Blake looking away from him. "Everyone keeps saying that you're important to me and that we should get along...but I barely know you." She finishes.
Jaune looks at her in the eyes and then laughs a bit, then quickly stops when pain floods through his head. When he catches Blake's glare he quickly begins to speak. "I-i'm not laughing at you. I'm laughing with you." Jaune says.
"Everyone around me has been telling me the same thing about you, and that together we're going to make a bigger difference than if we were separate." Jaune continues.
Blake just stares at Jaune as he says this with narrowed eyes. "Then why are you trying so hard to make this seem normal?" She questions.
"Because...if everyone is right...and we can make a bigger difference together than separate, then I would be willing to try my hardest!" Jaune said with a small smile.
Blake remained silent for a moment hoping he would say more, but when he didn't she just sighed and closed her eyes.
"If you're trying so hard to make this work...then maybe I can put in a bit of effort also." She said.
The two kids looked each other in the eyes, each noticing the other not wavering.
(~)
When Kali came back she didn't expect her daughter and Jaune to be having a fierce staring competition.
She did however have to treat Jaune's probably broken nose. "I'm back you two." She said just loud enough to get their attention.
Quickly the two of them jumped in place and turned to look at her. She laughed to herself and then walked towards Jaune while grabbing him by the shoulders and walking him towards the kitchen.
"We have a lot to talk about young man." Kali said while Jaune started to clam up. As they entered the kitchen she had Jaune sit down on a chair.
She quickly moved around the kitchen. Grabbing a glass of water, a collection of different herbs from different cupboards, and a small bundle of ice wrapped in a plastic bag.
She handed the ice pack as she dropped a few herbs into the water and swirled it around a bit and then using her free hand to gently poke at Jaune's nose.
"Owww." Jaune groaned as Kali placed her hand on his nose and then quickly took it away again.
"Well at least it's not broken and just bruised." She said.
"How can you tell?" Jaune asked while warily eyeing the now cloudy water glass.
"Well if it was broken then you would be crying your eyes out after I touched it." Kali said with a slight smile.
She took the ice pack from Jaune and now handed him the cloudy water. "Now drink this. It'll help with the blood flow in your body and make the bruise go away faster."
Jaune gave another groan but didn't refuse the drink as he began to accept it. He had only gotten two gulps down when he gagged and had to put down the glass.
"I thought it's supposed to help me not poison me!" Jaune said in a strained voice.
Kali laughed a bit at Jaune antics. "Well if you were a good boy and didn't get into fights, then maybe you wouldn't have to drink this." she said with a teasing tone.
Jaune quickly shrunk further into his chair at her words and didn't make another sound. "But...since you only did it to defend Blake, maybe you can get a treat too." Kali said quietly as she pulled out a popsicle from one of her pockets and handed it to Jaune.
Jaune smiled and happily tore away the wrapping before quickly plopping the candy in his mouth trying to get rid of the taste of the nasty water concoction.
"Now Jaune. I want you to lie down and rest while keeping this ice pack over your nose." Kali said in a demanding voice. "That means no running, jumping, or playing to rough!" She said.
Jaune nodded as he started to get up. Kali smiled and patted his head as he started to walk off towards the room that was his during his stay.
(~)
"So…" Ghira said as he climbed into bed with Kali, who was already nice and settled into the bed. "I've heard a rumor earlier today about a certain boy at a park." he continued with a grin.
Kali just gave him a cross look as she starts to turn onto her side and face away from Ghira.
Ghira laughs as he comes down and wraps himself onto his wife. "I'm only teasing you my dear, I would never say...I told you so." Ghira quietly whispered into Kali's ears.
Kali quickly turned red as she turned onto her other side to see Ghira and start swatting at him with her arms.
Within Jaune and Blake's separate rooms they could hear Ghira's thunderous laugh for the next few minutes before sleep overtook the two kids.
AN: Here it be, another chapter for thee.