AN: I'm sorry this took so long! Real life has been hellish but I got some time to finish this chapter finally. Thanks for your patience. Also, other characters like Yang, Ren, and Nora will have a bigger part later on in the story. I didn't forget about them. This also includes Jaune's parents.

Beta:DragonManMax

Chapter 7: The Note

It had been a about month since Jaune had seen Weiss at the club. Surprisingly, she and the others had gotten along pretty well.

Pyrrha and Blake had also been pretty absent lately...He hadn't seen or heard a thing from them in the past month, and he hoped it would stay that way. The sad thing was his gut feeling knew that wouldn't happen.

At the very least he was glad that his school work was going okay. He often had a lot of homework during the week and having to work on the side didn't make it any easier, but none the less he was still able to hang out with his friends on the weekend or even after class for a short period of time.

Though, all in all, life on campus was pretty good.

Jaune looked down to the math homework he was currently trying to finish. He was currently in his math class, and they had finished the lesson early so professor Goodwitch allowed them the rest of the class time to work on their homework.

Math was truly an abomination.

He looked the mess of seemingly random numbers and even letters with disgust.

Who invented this? Why? How?

His eyes glanced around to the front of the room. Students were all busy working silently except for one or two who went up to ask the professor a question.

Weiss sat alone in the front row. Normally two other students sat next to her, but they had already left after finishing. Even when they were there he never notices them talk to Weiss.

Part of him felt had hoped she would be more social with others, who might be just as smart as her, instead of just Ruby and her other she looked nothing like the girl who had bullied him in high school.

Now she just looked lonely…

He hated that. He hated that he was starting to feel sympathy for her.

She had done so much to him in high school, but now… Ever since college, she had been nothing but pleasant. Helpful even.

Could she have really changed for the better? He figured people never really changed deep down but if that was the case, then wouldn't Weiss have still been the same as she was before she left him for Neptune?

He froze when she looked up at him. It surprised him even.

Her icy blue eyes looking into his.

Quickly he looked back to his math homework. It was sad he was using math as an escape from the gaze of a girl.

The next few moments he tried in vain to solve the first question followed by erasing and starting over. He was about ready to get up and ask when someone tapped his shoulder.

Looking up, he saw those same icy blue eyes looking down at him. Her facial features seemed reluctant or hesitant even.

"Hey…" She greeted softly.

"Hey." He responded evenly.

"You looked like you need help?" She offered. "I mean… I know I'm the last person you would probably ask, but I just thought I'd offer anyway. I'm doing pretty well in this class, so I just thought if you needed it…"

Not sure what to make of her offer he shrugged. "I'm not sure. I mean I don't want to take up your time. I could always ask the professor or something. Cinder is really good at math too."

He appreciated the offer but didn't want to take her up on it. She had already given some good advice to his new friends in the past. Why? Why was she being helpful and nice? Why for the most part with the exception of fate inserting itself did she leave him alone like he requested until now? How could someone change so much in what seemed to be so short of time?

"I really don't mind. I mean, if you really don't want my help then that's fine… But as for me I wouldn't mind at all. I offered after all." Her face lowered as she looked at his notebook.

"Why?"

She looked back up to him? "Why what?"

"Why have you been acting so nice as of late? Why help out my friends? Why offer to help me when not to long ago I could have sworn you hated my guts? I don't get it all."

Her face twisted as if he had hurt her.

"Because… I'm sorry for what I did. I…" She paused as if struggling to speak. "I don't' know how to say it, but I really am sorry. I know I can't set things right with you, but I want to at least try in some way… If that's okay. Plus, I mean your math would get done faster with my help, so it would benefit you right?"

It was just math homework and he had little to lose from this. Actually, he had nothing to lose really.

"Alright. I could use your help then. Thanks…" As the words left his mouth, he felt like he was going to choke on the inside. He never thought he would say something like that again. Not in person anyway.

Her face brightened as she took the now empty seat next to him and pulled out her notes. "Cool." She handed him her notebook. "Take a look at this while I look over your sheet and see what you did wrong."

He nodded and did so. Weiss used to help with his math homework all the time in middle school. This was definitely starting to bring back more memories and…They weren't bad ones.

Upon looking at her notes he noticed how detailed they were compared to his. With this he would probably be able to figure out how doing it on his own. It was obvious she understood the material a lot more than him.

"So, it looks like you didn't get past the first question." She stated with a small smile. "And I can tell where you went wrong. Not that you looked over my notes can you tell now?"

He nodded. "Yeah… I forgot to divide there, and I should have carried over X as well."

"Very good." Her smile grew. "I'll help you work the others out just to make sure you get it okay?"

The situation still felt too unreal and nostalgic for him as he nodded. "Yeah…Sounds good."

Smiling, she pulled out her calculator and then together the two of them got to work on solving the abomination known as math.


Ruby hummed to herself as she strolled through the halls. Her English class had gone fine, and she handed her first major paper. She was pretty sure she had nailed it. As expected the halls were also sparse with people and so she made great time getting back to her dorm. Now she would have about two hours before her next class and the thought of what to do weighed on her mind.

As she neared her room, she found a surprising but familiar face near Jaunes room.

"Pyrrha? What are you doing here?"

The redhead froze for a moment before turning around.

"Oh, Ruby. You scared me. I didn't think anyone would be around at this time…"

"Yeah, Jaune is still in class I think, but I got done early in English today. Was there something you needed?" The rose asked, although confused as to why the redhead would be here if she knew no one was here.

"Oh, it's nothing major. I just wanted to return something to Jaune. Since he was out I decided to just slip it under his door." Pyrrha smiled sweetly and placed a folded piece of paper under her blond friend's door.

Ruby nodded. "Oh, okay." Although slightly confused, she decided to shrug it off.

"I have to get going. See you later Ruby." Pyrrha smiled and hurried off before Ruby could say another word.

"That's weird. She must have been in a hurry or something." Shrugging it off Ruby went back into her room and decided to finish the last comic book she was reading before her next class.


Jaune had finished his math class with very mixed feelings. Looking back at the things that happened with Weiss he wasn't really sure where he stood anymore.

The fact that he went from loving Weiss to being bullied and hating her to having her apologize to wanting her out of his life to getting life and math advice from her…It was too much!

The logical part of him was screaming that this shouldn't be possible and that he should shut that princess out of his life completely. Then the emotional part yarned for the days when they got along before high school. The fact that not only had she apologized, but also helped his new friends out in a way really did shock him. Not to mention helping him with this type of math was no simple task.

'She must've have really changed…but why?'

Jaune was pretty sure people didn't just change like that. In fact, he used to think people didn't change at all...But now he wasn't so sure.

Over the past few years, hate had been forged into him. Inner anger had become a way of life. His every existence warped to a degree that wasn't normal for most people. So where did that leave forgiveness? It never once entered his head before, but now with Weiss acting the way she was it ran the risk of opening the doors he thought to be closed forever.

It terrified him.

Alice would no doubt have been proud of him for forgiving her.

'Alice was always too kind for her own good at times…'

After Weiss helped him with his math homework she had hurried off to her next class. He on the other hand was making his way to his dorm.

Part of him was tempted to go to the bar and get a drink. To find some way to clear his mind, but the thought of ditching his next class also didn't sit right with him.

"Hey stranger. You seem lost."

His eyes looked up to see his favorite amber eyed friend. Of course, people were probably looking at more than her eyes. Wearing a pair of black short shorts and black T-shirt Cinder greeted him with a smile.

"Oh, hey Cinder. You look like your about to go for a run or something."

She smiled and placed a hand on her hip. "Close. I actually just got done with a run and shower. I decided to go out and grab a bit to eat and I was too lazy to put on different clothes for the day."

He nodded. "Oh, cool. I'm just heading back to my dorm."

Her face changed from a confident smile to one of worry. "Are you okay? You looked so lost in your own head, I thought you were going to run right into me if I hadn't said anything."

A wave of embarrassment went through him. "I'm sorry about that. I just had a lot on my mind. My ex just helped me with my math homework…

"Wait. It wasn't Pyrrha was it?"

Jaune shivered. "No! Thank God for that…"

"Okay good. Still…Your ex helped you? I can't even get ahold of my current boyfriend…"

"Sorry?" He muttered.

"It's nothing I haven't dealt with before." She shook her head. "Anyway, did you want to talk more about what happened with your ex?"

"No…Not right now. So, did you want to talk about what's going on with your boyfriend?" Perhaps focusing on someone else's problems for a change might help.

She shrugged. Her beautiful eyes sank to the floor.

Jaune felt his heart ache. Seeing such a fun, kind, and beautiful girl like Cinder have that type of look on her face made him want to hug her on the spot. Instead, he settled for asking another question.

The sad thing was he had seen that look a few times before. She never seemed to want to talk about it, but maybe now that they were alone then she would finally open up.

"We can talk about it in my room if you want? I got left over pizza if you're hungry? Also got some soda and juice."

Her eyes returned to his as she let out a smile. "I wouldn't mind that."

It didn't take long for Jaune and Cinder to return to his room. He noticed a folded piece of paper but decided to ignore it for now. It wasn't uncommon for random pieces of notebook paper fall out of his binder given his level of organization and so he placed it on the desk before getting his guest some pizza and juice.

A strange combination sure, but it was all he had at the moment.

Cinder sat down on his bed and crossed her legs. She smiled and offered a soft thank you when he put the snacks down in front of her.

He sat on the desk chair across from her. "So, what's the story?"

"It's nothing really…Nothing new. I have a bad habit of falling for the wrong guys. They usually stick around long enough for me to give them what they want before vanishing."

"Is that what you think your current boyfriend did?"

She nodded. "Probably. I think he moved on to this girl named Neo. It sucks…Just thinking about him makes me frustrated now. I actually really liked him. He was fun and had a great way with words. Very charming."

His heart sank. "I'm sorry. I haven't had the best luck with the opposite sex ether."

"It's fine…It might be my own fault."

"What do you mean?"

"Well…It's no secret I'm attractive." She placed a hand on her leg. "I know a lot of guys like girls like me. Tall, nice legs, long hair, pretty face and easy eyes. I'm sure my rack doesn't hurt anything ether."

Jaune nodded. He was mostly sure what she might be getting at but part of him felt a bit lost.

She paused and looked down. Her hand rubbed her leg as it trailed up to her shorts. "I actually started developing pretty early. Things started to get pretty weird for me at a young age. I did things I was probably too young to do with guys who might have been a bit too old at the time."

Jaune could easily guess where this was going now.

"Cinder…I…You don't have to tell me anything you don't feel comfortable with."

"It's okay Jaune." She smiled. "It's something I've come to terms with. I'm not really ashamed of my mistakes anymore."

Her eyes looked down however, as she continued. "Long story short, I started getting sexual at a young age and I started having a reputation. Especially in high school. I've been called every name in the book. Slut, whore, you name it and to be fair, it was probably true. I was the girl boys went to if they wanted an easy fuck. Every time I hoped it would be different, but I eventually learned the truth and it seems with Roman it wasn't any different."

"Cinder…I'm really sorry."

"It's fine…I'm just happy I didn't become a teen mom. I doubt any of those guys would have stayed to help with a child."

Jaune didn't know what really to say. Cinder seemed to give this information so casually, despite how heartbreaking it was to him. He wasn't really sure what to do in this situation.

With his silence, she continued. "It wasn't all bad though. I eventually met Adam, Mercury, and Emerald and then more recently I met the twins. I've had a lot of good times with them and they are there when I need them. I really can't complain."

He nodded. "I'm grateful to you for helping me meet them."

Her smile widened. "It's no problem. I'm really happy to have met you too Jaune and it's obvious they seem to like you as well." She leaned back against the bed as she continued. "Things weren't great at home ether…My dad was great, but he worked a lot. My mom's been in jail since I was a kid and my step mom, and two step sisters were pretty abusive when my dad wasn't around."

Jaune frowned even more. "Did your dad know at all?"

"No. I didn't want to tell him. He was already doing so much that I didn't want to burden him with such things. However, he soon found out when he noticed a black eye I had gotten. He didn't believe the whole falling down the stairs excuse ether. He divorced my step mom and we moved soon after."

"I'm glad your dad did something." Jaune had always been lucky in having great parents himself.

Cinder nodded. "Yep. Life's a lot better now for the most part, but I suppose love is still out of the question."

"I don't think so. You're an amazing girl Cinder. Not everyone has looks, brains, and even a fun personality like yours. I can't believe how dumb guys must be to ditch you like that."

"Maybe…It's probably my fault for being too easy. You're sweet though Jaune. Thank you."

Jaune knew what this was…Or what it could be. However, it was something he couldn't support. Cinder was someone he lusted for. In fact, if he did something, nothing would really come of it...Given his own past experiences with Weiss and Pyrrha, plus what was happening now he doubted being in another relationship would do him any good, or Cinder for that matter.

He could probably use this as an opportunity to get into her heart…And her pants if he wanted.

That wasn't something he was going to allow. She deserved a lot better then that. Instead he could do something else…

Just be the friend she deserved.

"Cinder?"

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

"You know your current boyfriend?"

She nodded. "Um, yeah?"

"Fuck him."

She looked at him in disbelief.

"Excuse me?"

"Fuck him. Forget about him. Someone like him doesn't deserve to be in your thoughts. Instead, you need to think about the great time we are going to have this weekend. We are going back to the club and I'm inviting the others too."

"Oh, yeah?" Her confident smiled returned.

"Yep! Plus, afterwards we are going to return to play some video games. Also, lots of drinks will be involved. Hope you're not a lightweight."

"Since when did you drink so much?" She laughed.

"I don't. That doesn't mean you can't. I'll make sure no one tries anything. We should all just have fun with our friends." He smiled. Deep down, he hoped it would cheer her up. He didn't really know until recently but being with close friends often did wonders for him. He owed that to Cinder and hoped he could do the same for her.

"Alright. I can't wait. I hope being drunk will help us clear that dungeon me and Adam are still struggling to beat."

He shrugged.

Cinder lightly tapped his foot with hers.

"Thanks, Jaune. I can't wait to hang out with you and the others. People I know who actually care about me."

He nodded. "It's fine. You're my favorite nerd."

She rolled her eyes. "Whatever dork."

He hoped this weekend would go as well as he promised. He still needed to get in touch with everyone about it too. He was still just really happy to see that smile of hers again.


"Well I better get going. See you later Jaune."

Cinder smiled as they finished talking. She seemed in better spirits now and Jaune made it a point to avoid mentioning anything about her boyfriend in the future. In fact, he hoped she found a better one soon.

"Later Cinder. You better look forward to this weekend."

"I am now you dork. I hope you can handle me drunk." She grinned.

"I'm sure you'll be a breeze compared to what I'm used to."

"We will see." With a final wave she closed the door behind her and the blond was alone with his thoughts.

Jaune found her smile contagious and couldn't help but look forward to the weekend as well. He hoped the others really could join them. He was on the fence about inviting Weiss…And Ruby would probably want to go so he should probably invite her too.

His eyes traveled back to the piece of paper he found on the floor.

"I really should try to be more careful. This could have been something important."

Casually he picked up the paper and opened it.

"Roses are red. Violets are blue. Your heart beats fast and I see YOU. Did you like my short poem Jaune? Because it's true. I see you always. I can see you when you sleep, and I know when you're awake. We. Will. Meet. Again. MY. Love."

Panic set in and Jaune didn't even have to guess who had sent this. He looked around his room to see if anything was out of place. Hidden cameras? Did she sneak in somehow or did she slide this under the door?

He cursed under his breath. He knew he would be late if he didn't leave soon.


Ruby woke up from her short nap. She put the comic book that rested on her lap to the side as she stood up and went to go brush her hair before getting her stuff ready for her next class.

It didn't take her long and within ten minutes she was ready to leave. Opening the door, she was mildly surprised to see Jaune. It seemed he was about to leave as well, judging by the fact he had his backpack too.

"Hey Jaune!" She greeted.

He looked up and she could tell right away something was wrong with him.

"Oh, hi Ruby."

She also noticed a crumpled-up piece of paper in his hand as well.

"Is everything okay Jaune?"

He looked at her and then down at the paper. He sighed and handed her the paper. "See for yourself. Someone decided to write me a nice creepy letter."

Ruby took it when he handed it to her and started to read it. She felt some light shivers go down her spine. Surprisingly, she had seen some creepy stuff from some guys and even a girl back in high school when it came to herself or Yang. Mostly to Yang but the girl was trying a bit too hard for her.

Her eyes went back up to his. "Jaune…Who wrote this?"

The blond shrugged. "I have a few ideas. Did you see anyone around here? I'm not sure if you were back before me though."

"Well…I did see Pyrrha…She said she had to return something to you and slid it under the door, but I can't imagine her writing something like this right?"

To her surprise Jaune just shook his head while muttering. "I figured as much…"


Jaune had figured it was Pyrrha from the start but the fact that Blake hadn't done anything for a while worried him and so he couldn't completely rule her out.

"Jaune? What do you mean? It's normally Yang, who pulls weird pranks on you. That doesn't really sound like Pyrrha at all."

Ruby's innocent voice pulled him out of his contemplation. Part of Jaune had no real interest in telling Ruby of her friend's misdeeds. It wouldn't gain him anything and if she was too naïve to see their wickedness then that was on her.

However, keeping it from her now wouldn't do him any good either.

"It does to me Ruby. To be honest Pyrrha does this all the time back in high school. In fact, she has done way worse."

"What? How?" Ruby frowned. "She's been nothing but nice and sweet. She's smart and even helps me with my homework from time to time. I can't even picture a bad bone in that girl's body."

Jaune sighed. "Ruby you saw her here yourself, didn't you?"

Ruby paused and looked at the note in his hand before nodding. "I did…But that doesn't mean it was her for sure. It still could have been someone else!"

"Another person who also slid paper under my door like Pyrrha? Two people just happen to do that on the same day?"

She froze again unable to counter the evidence presented before. The very evidence that she had seen earlier and is now in Jaune's very hand.

"But…But why?" She stammered. "Why would Pyrrha ever hate you? Why would she ever want to hurt you or creep you out? I don't get it."

He sighed. "I don't even know what goes on in that psycho head. All I know is ever since high school started… She had her crazed eyes on me like a hawk. I don't get it either. I really don't. She obsessive...She even…"

Ruby waited a few seconds before asking.

"She even what?"

Jaune didn't respond right away. The memories of that night were easily summoned back into his mind. Being trapped in that room for who knows how long. Getting hit in the head…Losing his virginity in the most unpleasant of ways.

"She even…" He paused. Even now he wasn't sure how to spill the words to Ruby.

"Jaune…What did she do?" Ruby pressed. Her hand touching his shoulder.

"It's…Not something I can say right now." He straightened. "Anyway, Pyrrha is good at hiding who she really is. She wouldn't have been one of the most popular girls in school if she wasn't."

Ruby bit her lip softly before shaking her head. "I'm sorry Jaune. You don't have to tell me if you don't want to. I just can't imagine Pyrrha being anything other than amazing…The evidence speaks for itself though."

He shrugged. "It's okay. I suppose… Anyway, thanks for helping me confirm it was her."

She nodded. "It's not a problem, but… What are you going to do about it? Are you going to tell anyone what Pyrrha did?"

"No." He shook his head. "I can't really."

"What!?" Ruby grabbed him. "Why!? I mean…If someone wrongs you then you should be able to do something about it right? You should be able to tell someone and have them help you. There should be justice."

"Ruby… The real world doesn't always work that way. I don't have enough evidence, even with you to do anything about it. Even this note, which they could and possibly would assume one of us wrote. To be honest, I just don't know enough to tell someone. I don't think they would take my word over Pyrrha's."

Pyrrha was smart and wealthy. Try to convict her of anything was just out his realm of possibility. She would get off one way or another. If anything, it might even make things worse for him.

Ruby frowned. "I just can't believe it…" She looked back up at him. "Is there anything I can do Jaune?"

"Not really. I have to go to my next class. Just…Forget about it. I'll take care of it. This doesn't really concern you anyway. It's better to keep it that way."

"But if someone is wronging you…Even if it's Pyrrha then I want to help you. I care too much to let you suffer."

"It will be fine Ruby." He started to walk away. "I have to go now. Talk later, okay?"

"Sure!" She called after him before watching him go in silence.

In truth Jaune had little interest in pursuing this conversation with Ruby. He wondered if telling her as much as he did would prove to be a mistake.

Only time would tell…

AN: Thank you for reading.