A BIG RED FLAG


With the combined efforts of Ruby Rose, Jaune Arc, and Cinder Fall, things almost went downhill.

And yes, Ruby knew she didn't word that thought incorrectly.

On their way to the auditorium, Jaune and Cinder pointed at two different directions, their predictions of where the starting ceremony for the first year students at Beacon would take place being completely different. After much trial and error, it turned out that none of them were correct, and the auditorium was at a completely different location.

Thankfully, they made it at the nick of time. Almost tumbling through the entrance, the three gasped in relief as they panted for breath.

Shaking her head frantically, Cinder straightened herself as a proud smile entered her features again. "Well," she said with a confident tone, "we made it just on time."

"Just… barely," Jaune agreed, taking their wild goose chase the worst out of the three. "But, on time is better… than off of it, I suppose…"

As Ruby's eyes glazed through the crowd, her gaze fell on blonde hair impossible to miss even from a mile away.

"Ruby, over here!"

Yang Xiao Long waved at her half-sister with a large grin. "I saved you a spot!"

"Oh! Hey, uh," Ruby turned to the other two next to her with an apologetic smile. "I gotta go! I'll see you two after the ceremony!"

"Huh? Hey, wait!"

Before Jaune could say anything further, Ruby made her way to Yang. As much as she wanted to hang out with Jaune and Cinder, she very much preferred not having her sister embarrass her in front of her friends. Not that Yang didn't embarrass Ruby almost on a daily basis, but sisters just seemed to exist to be a handful to deal with.

A lovable handful, but still a handful.

"So," Yang began with an innocent grin, "how's your day going, little sister?"

"You mean since you ditched me and I exploded?"

The blonde brawler stared at Ruby expectantly. When it turned out that Ruby's little glare wasn't going to go away any sooner, she blinked and raised an eyebrow. "Yikes, melt down already?"

"No, I literally exploded a hole in front of the school," Ruby retorted, though it contorted into a thoughtful look as she tried recalling earlier events involving a prissy white-haired girl. "And there was some fire, and I think some ice…?"

"…Are you being sarcastic?" Yang asked, her smile refusing to leave.

"I wish!"

Rolling her eyes, Ruby frowned as she mumbled, "I tripped over some crabby girl's luggage, and then she yelled at me…"

Gods, she could still hear the angry girl ranting on about how important her things were. It sucked so much, and it didn't help that she just seemed so unlikable.

"…and then I sneezed, and then I exploded! And then she yelled again, and I felt really, really bad, and I just wanted her to stop yelling at me-!"

"YOU!"

"OH GOD IT'S HAPPENING AGAAAAIN!"

As Ruby leapt into the arms of her sister, she prayed that her first year wasn't going to be an infinite loop of angry, yelling girls around her.


With Ruby out of the picture, Jaune decided to stand next to Cinder.

If he were to be honest? Well, it wasn't that bad, actually. Cinder Fall just seemed like a naturally talkative person, so the awkward realm of having nothing to talk about completely refused to exist with her around. Of course, it seemed she just wanted to talk about herself a lot, but some of the things she talked about weren't entirely boring.

"And so like, all three of us were walking out of Vale, right?" Cinder spoke excitedly with a fire blazing in her eyes as her fists remained pumped in front of her. "And then we met this cool lady with a cloak who gave us a free apple, telling us to take care of ourselves- probably because of how awesome we looked. We weren't lost, by the way, I just happened to be walking because I got a high score in an arcade the other day."

So you were lost, he corrected her in his thoughts.

"So what happened next?"

"Then, some creepy guy showed up and we all made a tactical retreat!" Cinder laughed at the memory, evidently. "He was far too slow, though. The fool never saw it coming. The four of us separated, and we never saw each other again. Except for these guys next to me, though, they're my friends-"

The instant moment the "F word" left her mouth, Cinder's eyes widened before she coughed, clearing her throat.

"My… partners," she corrected herself. Why she did? Not even Jaune could understand. Cinder just seemed to hate using that word, even when she bragged about herself outside of the building. He could tell the two students standing next to Cinder were her friends, however.

Emerald and Mercury. As Cinder liked to call them, Em-And-M. They seemed rather polite and greeted him as soon as they saw him with Cinder, despite their odd quirks of jabbing at each other's credibility. While Emerald seemed calmer than the confident Mercury, both of them treated Cinder almost identically.

A weirdo who has their respect.

Sure would be nice if I had someone like that, Jaune thought. Well, outside of my family, that is.

"So, Emerald? Mercury?" Cinder asked as she hovered at hand at Jaune's direction. "What do you think of Jaune, here? Don't you think he's a pretty good guy?"

The two glanced at him. Noticing he'd been suddenly shoved into the spotlight, Jaune gave them an awkward smile as he bowed politely.

"Well," Mercury thought carefully, "he's able to listen to pretty much everything you said so far, so that's pretty good."

"…What's that supposed to mean?"

"Mercury means that Jaune's a good listener and is polite to you, Cinder," Emerald pointed out, though for some reason, the last part felt less genuine and more out of necessity. The way she sneaked an apologetic bow at Jaune's direction said enough.

"Hm…"

Turning to Jaune with a lush smile, Cinder stared at the blond boy, who grew red under her gaze. A mysterious glint shone in her eyes.

As she ruffled his hair, her smile widened as she laughed like a rich lady again.

"Well, of course he would!" She exclaimed. "The tales I share are unmatched in terms of exciting content! What a wise man. I'll give you a billion Lien if I ever conquer the world."

What a wonderful reminder that looks aren't everything, Jaune thought in amazement, all of his earlier embarrassment fading rapidly. She's somehow beautiful and a weirdo. Well, if someone like her is in Beacon, maybe I could stand a chance.

Who am I kidding? She just said she wiped out entire nests of sand crabs in Vacuo on her own. That's insane.

According to his father, not even seasoned Huntsmen were known to fight in areas like Vacuo for extended periods of time. During the night, winds grew far too harsh to make navigation safe in the shifting sands, and in the day, the heat wore down even those who lived in Vacuo if they stayed out for too long.

Someone like her shouldn't be talking with him- yet, she had yet to ditch him to talk with someone else. It was weird- he swore that the way she bragged about herself should be annoying. Everything she did brag about, however, was rather mundane. She almost felt like that one kid in class who'd ace everything without trying.

Despite all that, she dragged him along with her excitedly.

Personally, even if he didn't felt qualified to do so, Jaune didn't mind getting to know of quirky people like her.

Maybe she could be a good friend!

"Say, Jaune Arc," Cinder turned to him with a beaming, expectant smile, "do you like pineapple on pizza?"

Emerald and Mercury visibly froze in horror. They weren't alone, as evident with Jaune sharing their visible emotion. Cinder innocently glanced between them, as if she didn't know what was wrong.

No, wait, Jaune realized. She isn't pretending- she legitimately doesn't know...

At their silence, Cinder added, "I heard it's the next best thing to wearing jorts in the winter."

On a second thought, maybe he just stepped on an atomic landmine.