Back again, sorry for all the delays with the last chapter, but highschool got in the way.

And sorry for the delays on THIS chapter, but now college is getting in the way.

Now then, let's get on with the story, shall we?

RWBY belongs to RoosterTeeth

Chapter 7: Retaliations and Attractions


Jaune stretched languidly as he attempted to use his aura like Jacques had in order to absorb the water from his morning shower, which chose to annoyingly cling to all of the muscle-made ripples of his skin. He chuckled as he recalled Ruby's words the day before, about Yang telling her that 'Handsome guys absorb the humidity out of the air.'

'She's just so innocent, so kind, so friendly, so... well she can be awkward, but she's the best kind of friend, one who will protect her friends no matter what, who can move past ANYTHING, who is just... so... so strong.' his internal monologue continued as he attempted to use his aura to absorb the water. It was a painfully slow process, but it left the blue-eyed youth completely dry. His shower routine had been completed in record time, giving him a moment's respite to stop, think, and practice.

'She's strong for someone so small and seemingly dark... I'll never understand why she looks like a goth and acts like a hyperactive cheerleader.' he snickered and blushed a bit at a mental image that came to mind, Ruby wearing a cheerleader outfit and waving a pair of pom-poms around.

Then the image shifted to Jaune wearing a grifball player uniform and Ruby standing up on her tippy-toes, kissing him on the cheek.

'I don't deserve someone like her... in only a few short days, I've been knocked out twice and taken over twice, and I've yet to learn being knocked out, as now I'm only curious to know what Jebediah acts like when he's not rushed by my recovering from the FIRST time I got knocked out like a bitch...'

Blue aura flashed over his body as he felt complete relief from the last of the dull aches and pains that had been plaguing his whole body after the ungodly workout Jacques had given it the night before.

The results had been satisfactory, Jaune felt noticeably lighter, and a lot stronger. Maybe it was just a metric ton of applied bullshit from his healing semblance, which he's found so much use for that he was surprised he had managed without it. Taking a few moments to observe himself in the mirror, he could see that he had a lightly defined six-pack. It was only one session and only one day, but great improvement was already starting to show. In all honesty, he would literally take anything that would help him improve better or more efficiently.

Anything.

However, that anything could wait for now. It was Sunday, so that meant a few things for the Arc heir. He headed out the door.

First Objective: Getting dressed


'How could I forget today was Sunday? Classes aren't held on Sunday, Blake! Dammit, I still need to talk to Jaune, and now I have no idea where he might be!' Blake mentally scolded herself as she donned her usual outfit, though she replaced her normal sleeveless jacket with one that had sleeves reaching to halfway down her forearms, a trail of little purple bows running down the middle of the back.

She was, unsurprisingly, the second one awake, right behind Ruby, who had skipped out whilst wearing a black t-shirt, black baggy jeans, red slip-ons (think Vans) and a pair of black leather gloves. The younger of the two had claimed she had "Some friends to visit." in another dorm building.

Blake didn't protest, after all, Ruby was allowed to have friends outside of the team, so she didn't even think to ask a question about who these people were.

The door to the dorm was opened and the B of RWBY stepped out to begin her search, which logically started with the first place she could expect her target to be: in his team's own dorm room.

She firmly, yet gently knocked on the door three times. A couple of seconds later, a shock of blonde hair and a pair of blue eyes showed themselves behind the partially open door, "Ah, hello Blake." he greeted her with a warm and friendly tone.

"Jaune, may I come in?" from this angle, and with a calmer mind, Blake couldn't help but notice just how tall Jaune was, towering over her five-foot-eight frame by more than half a head.

"Uh... n-no, it's kinda... really dry in here, I woke up nearly coughing my lungs out 'cause I was thirsty, and I'm kinda-" his quite important next few words were killed on the trip from brain to mouth when Blake pushed at the door a little.

"Jaune I need to talk to you about something very important." Blake pushed at the door again, trying to get in.

"B-but Blake, I-" the blonde stood firm against the door.

"Jaune this isn't the time for childish games, let me in." her brow furrowed slightly, there were two things that needed to be said.

"Blake can you please let me ta-" blue eyes widened as a flash of light consumed the ninja in front of him... who then dissipated like a bubble being popped.

He'd seen Blake's semblance before, a blink-type teleport that left a short-lived clone of her behind.

If she teleported, then that meant.

"Oh... my... god..." yep, she was behind him.

While he was wearing nothing but his boxers.

He had planned to capitalize on his team members' sleepy Sunday morning schedules and get dressed without interruption, but interruption came anyway.

A tiny part of Blake, the part that was addicted to raunchy novels and triple-x fantasy stories, was thoroughly disappointed that the black boxers he wore revealed nothing to her.

A part that was larger than that, but still relatively small, couldn't help but drink in Jaune's figure, and she liked what she saw.

An even larger part was screaming at her to escape, either through another blink or by ninja-maneuvering her way out the window.

The main part of Blake's mind was trying to manage four things at once: preventing her nose from bleeding, remembering her plan to ask Jaune about if she should reveal her heritage to her team, telling him about Velvet's thanks, and formulating a plan of escape to get away from seeing Jaune's excellently toned, muscular form.

Wait, what was she supposed to prevent?

"Ah crap! Blake I told you it was dry in here." Jaune, in the span of four seconds, had located and put on a white t-shirt, grabbed a handkerchief from the drawer in his nightstand, and gotten only a couple of steps away from Blake, holding the handkerchief gently against her nose, which had a small trickle of blood.

Blake just stood there, shocked still by the warmth that flowed through her, originating from Jaune's strong hand giving her nose a gentle touch, a handkerchief dutifully absorbing the signs of her nosebleed.

"... attractive or something..." Jaune said, having been talking before, but his words had fallen on both pairs of Blake's thought-deafened ears.

Pale cheeks turned red when she realized that Jaune must have been talking about her, muttering under his breath and not realizing her more sensitive cat ears were able to pick up his words, because he didn't even know she had cat ears to begin with!

"... you're already in here, so go ahead and tell me what you were going to say." he said reassuringly to her as he began cleaning the handkerchief of Blake's blood.

"Uh... what's your standpoint on... s-s-s-secrets?" golden eyes clamped shut as Blake internally facepalmed at her wording of the question.

"Secrets? Blake... what's wrong... are you hiding something from your teammates?" Jaune knew very well he was hiding something BIG from two of his own three teammates, but he knew that the time would come when they would accept it because it didn't matter.

"If I told you, it wouldn't be a secret, would it?" her sarcastic remark held far more edge than she intended, and internally she winced when Jaune looked hurt.

The knight placed a hand over his heart, "Blake, I'm hurt... you can trust me, whatever it is." the immense sincerity and care in his words struck a cord in her heart, "You could reveal to me that you're actually a man and I wouldn't judge you for it... whatever it is that you're hiding, I'm sure you have good reasons for it, you're a smart girl... or possibly boy, Blake, you should know honesty when you hear it." the way he smiled at her made her heart flutter and soften.

Gulping audibly, "I think it would be easier if I just showed you..." she slowly reached up to her bow.

Blue eyes widened and suddenly her advancing hands her halted as the knight held her by the wrists.

"Jaune? W-w-what are you doing?" the ravenette asked hesitantly as he slowly lowered her unprotesting arms.

With careful motions, he secured the protective garment around her cat ears, his touch soft and gentle, it was... nice. After he finished with her bow, he straightened out her hair a little bit, and finally spoke, "Are you sure you want to reveal that to my teammates should they wake up during our conversation?

Blake shook her head, but then the implications behind the knight's statement hit her full force and her eyes nearly popped out of her head with how wide they shot open, "Y-y-y-y-you-"

"Know about the bow? Yes, in fact I knew not too long after we met." his royal blue eyes met her golden yellow ones with a soft, easygoing air about them.

"H-h-how? And why didn't you say anything?"

"I have an adopted sister who also happens to be like you, her name is Kira, she's like a mix between Nora's energy and Ruby's innocent enthusiasm. She hopes to one day be a superhero, hehe, gonna call herself 'Catwoman', and y'know, I tell her 'Now Kir-kir, you know there's already a superheroine named Catwoman.' and... well... you know what she said in response?"

Blake shook her head, almost entirely lost from the story.

"She said 'Catwoman can be like Robin, but, y'knyow, a cyat.' and she got this really adorable little smile that she gets when she feels smart, and well... you've probably seen it with Ruby, it just looks so happy, proud, and innocent all at the same time that you can't bring yourself to correct her." Jaune sighed longingly, "She isn't really my sister, and shoot, she was never really even adopted, we just told her she was allowed to be my sister and she was happy with 'hyaving the byestest big bwother evew!' and getting to read out of my comic book collection." his gaze was turned towards the ceiling as he reminisced about his family life.

"That's... nyice..." Blake mentally cursed herself for letting out the verbal tic of her species, "But... how does this relate to-"

"She once had a bow put on her by my sister Juniper II, it covered her ears, and it looked JUST like that one, except it was brown on brown hair instead of black on black hair."

"Oh... w-well then..."

"It was pretty cute, though Kira just thought it was a joke... she's really open about her faunus heritage since she's been raised thinking it's completely alright with society... she has the ears, a tail, little claws, cherry-red eyes, slit pupils, she's really flexible, really sneaky, and despite being a few months past sixteen, she still acts like a little kitten, getting into the fish and the milk, playing with balls of yarn, and all sorts of cute stuff... I digress... uh... so I know about the bow, yeah... is this just about that?" he looked at her with friendly concern bright in his eyes.

Blake rubbed her elbow, looking at the floor, "Uh... V-v-velvet, you know, the rabbit faunus girl?... she wanted to thank you for stopping Cardin's bullying, but she didn't know how to approach you..."

"This would be, uh, a much more awkward situation if it was her here." the blonde chuckled, causing Blake to lighten up slightly.

"So um... from Velvet, thank you." the faunus-in-disguise nodded as if to confirm these were true words, "I'll just be on my way, then... um... this one is from me; I want to thank you for being a friend."

"I'm more than happy to help, and I'm ecstatic to be your friend, all of you, my team and team RWBY, are just... amazing." there was a tone of honesty, joy, and gratitude in the boy's words that made Blake's heart soar. She was nearly taken aback by what she already knew from reading his journal (though she had, respectfully, only skimmed over the pages, picking up only what stood out)

Lacking proper words to convey her feelings without seeming smitten, she simply put up as warm a smile as she could manage, nodded, and gave an approving hum.

Their eyes met, gold and royal blue, and the owner of the golden eyes chose not to question why the other pair had changed color last night.

The ravenette turned away from the blonde and used her semblance to blink out of the room.

The blonde smiles, his thoughts running high 'I've helped people... I've done good... that's all I wanted. I also had a nice little conversation with Blake. She's usually so quiet, so mysterious and unreachable, and yet she came to me to tell me something important... she should be more proud of herself, I mean, she's beautiful, skilled, surprisingly kind, and I just know that her cat ears are gonna turn out to be adorable.' he pulled on a pair of medium-blue jeans, slipped on a pair of immaculately clean gray and white sneakers, and finally grabbed his scroll.

Next Stop: Team FLRE's room.


"So what you're saying is, this thingy took Jaune's measurements, and basically used special technology to implant material into the physical world like a... what did you call it?" Ruby asked curiously, looking at the massive contraption that occupied one corner.

"A 3D Printer, Ruby." Raiden answered with a soft smile and a calm, friendly voice that made the reaper feel relaxed, "It prints things... in 3D. I used one part of the machine to scan Jaune's body, another part ran a few hundred tests to see his ranges of motion, a third took the materials we fed it into a chamber that the fourth part used as fuel to make the clothes."

"That sounds... AWESOME!" Ruby cheered with her fists thrown into the air, "I mean, I dressed up expecting some nitty-gritty forging to go on, but if this thing can make Jauney some new armor? I wanna see it work!" silver eyes scanned over the entire machine, trying to find the entry port.

"Well~... there IS a, uh, problem with the mechanics of it and using... that kind of metal... it has something to do with the uh, how you say, Raiden, the atomic structure of the material?" Fenerion asked, unsure of the specifics of this high-end scientific stuff.

"Actually, Fen, I fixed that with the latest update to it, since it's pretty hard to repair Luke's armor or my 'stuff' if we have to manually forge it." the suited swordsman said, putting airquotes around 'stuff'

Ruby raised one eyebrow, "What do you mean... 'stuff'... are you doing illegal things?" she narrowed her silver eyes at the tall man.

Raiden's eyes reddened for a split second, and he muttered "Murder is illegal..." quietly to himself, then blinked a few times, which made his eyes turn back to a pale blue. He shook his head a little and looked down at Ruby, "Uh, no, it's just an awkward subject to talk about... but let's just say there's a reason I wear an outfit that covers my whole body." he gestured with his gloved hands to his simple two-piece business suit, "Anyways, our point of focus was making armor for our friend Jaune... so, Evan." the pale swordsman turned to his teammate.

Evan blinked, he had been in the middle of picking at his fingernails when he was addressed, "Uh... yeah, bro? Whaddya need?" he asked in a chilled-out tone.

"Make sure the material gets fed into the machine, okay?"

"Alright, bro, I gotcha." he gave his teammate a thumbs up and stood by the receiver.

Raiden cracked his knuckles, which Ruby could have sworn gave little mechanical whirring sounds, but brushed it off as part of this massive '3D Printer' device's technological cacophony it was quietly giving off. The swordsman and the cowboy worked together, the former punching in codes while the latter carefully placed materials into the opening labeled 'Insert Printing Materials'.

The young reaper watched with wide eyes as the machine almost seemed to paint the metal onto the physical world, watching the white alloy form into a pair of smoking hot shinguards, then taking the rest of the material and forming them upwards to be able to cover the knees. She reached into her small pack and took out the pauldrons and chestplate she had taken from her best friend's locker, "Hey, can you, like, make these cover more?"

Raiden smiled softly, "Of course we can, Ruby." he placed the armor pieces into the proper positions using a hologram the same size and shape of Jaune's body, fixing up and slightly expanding the covered areas, using the last of the material to make a bracer for the right arm, "Alright... and we're done."

A wide smile lit up the reaper's face when she got a proper look at the armor, it was PERFECT! With this, she could...

She could...

What was she doing?

'I... I want Jaune to like me, so I'm helping him out and making him a gift he'll use a whole bunch... but... why? I... I just thought it, I want him to like me... because why? I... I like him... as a friend, but also... as more...'

"You okay, Ro-*ahem*... Ruby?" innocent silver eyes didn't see the twinge of pain in the pale blues of the swordsman as they met.

"Uh, y-yeah... just... Raiden, can I ask you a... a serious question?" she nervously tapped the tips of her index fingers together.

'Oh boy, this ought to be good...' he sat on his bed, "Sure, what is it?" he fully removed his sunglasses and looked her in the eyes, his gaze warm and reassuring.

Ruby took a deep, calming breath, then said the first thing that came to mind, "W-w-what is love?"

"Baby don't hurt me." he replied instantly in a near monotone voice, "Which, in all seriousness, is a good way to start the explanation." he folded his glasses up, "You see, Ruby, in life, love is a special, wonderful thing. It's light and soft and sweet, but also heavy and hard and bitter. It has great ups and great downs, but beyond a shadow of a doubt, true love is worth all the hardships in the end. If you're wondering, then let me tell you that while I don't know a whole lot about him, I consider myself to be a good judge of character, I can tell that there is a lot of love, life, and light in Jaune's heart, and you'd be very lucky to have him." the look he got from Ruby was priceless, and he couldn't help but laugh a little, "Let me say that if it were any more obvious, Ruby, then it would blind me."

Pale cheeks flushed as red as the namesake of the girl to whom they were attached, "B-b-but, I... it's... I..." she opened and closed her mouth several times in a surprisingly good, though completely unintentional imitation of a goldfish.

"Try not to be so obvious when you actually talk to him, okay?" the nod he received was all he needed.

Ruby collected the armor from the suspension field and put them in her pack. She slung it over her shoulder and waved goodbye to the three huntsmen-in-training. Suddenly, a knock on the door cut through her slight stupor like one of her baby Crescent Rose's bullets through a tissue.

She opened the door, only to come face-to-chest with the boy she had been thinking of, "J-Jaune?"

"R-Ruby? What are you doing here?" Jaune was surprised to say the least, he had expected the quiet footsteps approaching the door to belong to Fenerion.

"I was just... asking a... t-technical question..."

"Oh, okay then." Jaune scratched his head in confusion.

"OkaythenbyenowIshouldgomakesureWeissdoesn'tburndowntheroom!" her words were spoken so quick that the knight was half-convinced she had used her semblance with her mouth. She quickly stepped past him and a trail of red rose petals formed behind her as she sped off, trying with all her might to hide the massive rose-red blush that had bloomed across her face.

Jaune watched as his best friend zoomed away, then he shook his head, 'It's probably just a girl thing.' he stepped into the room, "So~... what was Ruby's problem?" he pointed his thumb back into the hallway

Raiden smirked, "She doesn't want baby to hurt her anymore." he gave a few quiet chuckles.

The knight cracked his knuckles, "Who hurt her? I swear, lord give me the strength to knock that fool into next week." the look in his eyes showed fire and pain for whoever it was that hurt the young girl.

"I was just joking, Jaune, don't go bloodthirsty on me." though the casually-dressed blonde couldn't notice the suit-wearing blonde's tension, it was practically palpable and his teammates could sense it.

Jaune shook his head a little and rubbed the back of his neck, suddenly sheepish, "S-sorry, Rai, I just felt... well I felt like anyone who hurt my best friend ought to get smacked around some, y'know?" he chuckled sheepishly and looked at the floor. Raiden's tension faded for the most part, when the knight spoke once more, "Anyways, speaking of next Sunday, I came by because, well, since you did such a bang-up job with the last outfit, I was wondering if you could make me something more formal? I was thinking maybe a button-up shirt, some nice jeans, nice shoes, just... nice clothes, y'know?" he made a vague gesture with his hands, as if trying to imitate the word 'nice' in physical form.

Pale blue eyes narrowed slightly, "Mind telling me what exactly this is for?"

"My question is why are you coming to us again, eh, so soon?" Fenerion added from his little corner of the room.

Jaune shrugged, "That's easy, it's Sunday." he smiled.

"And?"

"And I'm going to church."


Yang sighed as she leaned back in her desk chair. The moment Ruby had gotten back from wherever she had gone earlier, she had immediately hounded Yang about her essay for Professor Oobleck. The boisterous blonde didn't even get a chance to tease her little sis by asking why she was blushing so much.

Now the chance was gone, as was Yang's mental energy after only one page.

Blowing air, the brawler looked around the room. Weiss was gone, Blake was gone, and Ruby was in her blanket fort doing... something.

Standing up as quietly as she could, Yang walked over to the fort and got level with it, then threw the walls apart, "What'cha doin' sis?!" she asked loudly.

Ruby jumped and nearly kneed Yang in the face by accident as she practically threw herself on top of the piece of paper she had been writing on, "Yaaaaang~! Dyon't do thyaaat~!" she whined adorably.

The older sister smiled, "You know I'm still gonna do it... so what'cha doin sis?"

Ruby blushed slightly, "Oh, uh, I'm just going over some notes I took in Professor Port's class." she looked at the paper, "Uh... yeah."

"Pfft, lame~." Yang rolled her eyes, drew the blanket curtains, and dropped back down to the floor. She had suspicions that Ruby was just covering for a more interesting possible idea, after all, there were a LOT of things you could write on paper, a LOT.

She made stepping sounds going away from the bunk bed, but in reality just stood there, waiting for Ruby to continue doing... whatever it was she was doing.

A few seconds later, she heard her little sister go "Phew~." and continue scratching down something on the paper.

The situation stayed like that for about fifteen seconds, then Yang quickly threw the curtains open, "I need those notes!" she quickly took the paper from Ruby and held it far out of the younger girl's reach.

"YANG THAT'S MINE GIVE IT BACK!" the silver-eyed youth cried out in protest, trying to get past Yang's hand placed firmly on her forehead.

Lilac eyes scanned the page and went wide.

Plans to Win Jaune's Heart

Step 1: Find out what things guys like (0~0)?

Step 2: Use those things to secure deep-set feelings in Jaune's heart (must be careful to never betray his trust)

Step 3: Using that depth of feelings, get a date with Jaune (may have to ask him in case he doesn't pick up on my hints)

Step 4: Dates, dates, and more dates. Liberally apply affection and love and get hugs and cuddles and kisses ^3^

Step 4: At this point I will have won his heart (and everything that comes with it)

Step 5: Continue and build life experience with him and do things together ranging from nice to awe-inspiring.

Step 6: Get married one day and have kids and stuffs (^w^) (Yang should appreciate being an Aunt, I think)

Step 7: Live a long, happy, fulfilling life (killing every Grimm in the world optional) with my amazing husband and die peacefully in my sleep.

Step 8: Get awesome tombstone, VIP access to heaven, and my spot in history

Yang paled slightly. She could see that a lot of time and effort had gone into the list by the fine penmanship alone. There were bulleted lists of things she could use to appeal to Jaune's male mind and heart. There were possible venues for dates including plans in case future developments may get in the way, even going so far as to plan for if the place was burned down, shot up, or bombed by terrorists. There were a few cute little drawings of Ruby hugging, cuddling, and kissing Jaune, all of which struck at tiny chords inside Yang's mind. A few more small drawings of her and Jaune together, him presenting her with a love heart to represent her 'winning it', pictures of them having a picnic together, kissing under a sky filled with fireworks, and spending Christmas together (that one also featured Yang and their father Taiyang in the background), there was a drawing of Ruby and Jaune holding hands with tiny wedding rings on, Ruby was taller in the picture and Jaune looked much buffer, two small children stood to either of their sides, a young blonde boy to Ruby's left and a young black-haired girl to Jaune's right. The final picture was half-finished, it looked like the statue in front of Beacon, but with Jaune and Ruby in place of the ancient hero and heroine.

Ruby watched Yang carefully, on the verge of tears as her older sister's eyes took in everything she had been working on for the past half hour, "Yaaaaang~, give it baaack~." she whined in a tragically sad and adorable tone.

The blonde couldn't bring herself to damage all of this hard work, it would tear Ruby's heart to pieces. As painful as it would be, she would have to pick the lesser of the two evils and win Jaune's heart first. While it would still break her heart to not win the object of her desires, it would be a lot less painful than outright destroying her plans, "Here... sorry, sis." she handed back the paper to her struggling silver-eyed scythe-wielder snatched the set of plans with startling speed.

"If you steal any of my ideas you will wish I had the mercy to kill you." Ruby shot her sister a powerful death glare, silver hardening and transforming into steel as all manner of small and large cutlery were directed at the brawler.

Yang raised her hands in defense, "Hey, sis, I can't NOT take some of that because, y'know, it's unavoidable if I'm planning on having a normal relationship with him." she shrugged and tried to look innocent.

The reaper's gaze softened, "You too? I mean... you're... wanting-"

"Yeah... I guess I've just... figured out kinda how valuable someone like him is. He's, *sigh*... you know?" Yang couldn't find proper words at a moment's notice.

"Y-yeah, ever since he helped me up on our first day here at Beacon... can we agree on a ceasefire when it comes to Jaune?" Ruby offered a hand to shake.

The older of the sisters smiled softly, "Sure, as much as I want to sabotage you, I also don't want to hurt our friendship, sis." she opened her arms for a hug.

"Fwiendship~." the younger of the sisters recited with cheer, drawing out the word as she hugged her big sis with a happy grin, "Now then... get back to writing that essay, Yang, that's important."

"Aaawwwww~, can't I plan like you?" Yang moaned in complaint

"Nope!"

"But-"

"Nope!"

"I want to-"

"Write your essay? Awesome, get to it, sis." a small pale hand pointed towards the desk.

Yang let out a whine as she stomped back to the desk. Ruby was many things, easy to make compromises with was not one of them. Fiddling with her pencil for a few seconds, she went back to writing her essay, her thoughts still on how to get Jaune first.

Hopefully this wouldn't cause conflict.


"Please no..."

"But come OOOOOOONNNNNNNN!"

"But I don't want to."

"But we gotta do it! I don't like seeing you like this."

"Have you ever thought that maybe I like being like this?"

"Lie Ren! As your best friend for life, it is my duty to ensure that you find a girlfriend!" Nora proclaimed matter-of-factly, booping the magenta-eyed boy on the nose.

Ren sighed, shaking his head, "And you aren't offering yourself... why?"

"Ren, we grew up together, like... dating you would feel like dating my BROTHER! And I don't do ince-" the rest of that word, as well as the rest of her sentence, was cut off as Ren firmly placed a hand over her mouth.

Ren gave her a lightly scolding look, ignoring Nora's tongue licking at and wiggling against his hand to try to convince him to let her go, "Nora, what did I say about 'don't say your complete thoughts', hm?" he released her mouth to get her answer.

Nora sighed and slumped a little bit, "Stop before saying any curse words or sexual stuff." she recited.

"Exactly... now then... why are we in the shopping district?" the green gunman looked out of the alleyway he and his hammer-wielding companion had taken sanction in, glancing around at the dozens of stores along the street, countless people hustling and bustling about.

"Duh, Ren! What do girls love? SHOPPING OF COURSE! I should know, after all, I'm a girl too!" Nora quickly pulled them both out of the alleyway, into the flow of people, and into a random store in the span of about five seconds.

"I don't think this is a good idea, Nora." Ren looked around at the contents of the store, which mainly consisted of women's undergarments.

"Don't worry, Renny, you'll figure something out, you're smart like that!" Nora reassured with a grin, right before shoving Ren further into the store.

Ren let out a small yelp, and only thanks to his many, MANY years of training did he not trip into a something.

This was going to be terrible.


Weiss huffed, crossing her arms with a frown on her lips. She had gotten dressed and spent her valuable time waiting for the only bearable blonde she knew to arrive.

And the dunce had the nerve to not show up!

"Did I miscalculate something? No, no he always comes to the cafeteria at this time, why isn't he here? Of all the times for him to deviate from his schedule, he had to pick the time when I actually want to accept his offer of going out with him?" she sighed.

Maybe she deserved this? She had rejected literally every single one of the knight's attempts at flirting or asking her out. In all honesty, she might have accepted if he hadn't been so... forward with his attempts. A little tact on his part and she more than likely would have accepted.

With her plan already damaged, she had free time to think.

'Ugh, why have I started to like him? Well, that's easy, actually. He's not some gold digger, he doesn't want my money, he wants my happiness. Dammit Blake, why did you have to take the book? I kinda wanted that work wife and house husband picture.' she sighed longingly.

"You lookin' for some company, baby?" came a voice to her left.

Weiss turned and immediately called upon years of training to not immediately cringe away when she saw Russel Thrush of Team CRDL sitting next to her, smiling at her. She turned up her nose, "Piss off." and immediately stood up and walked away, her heels clicking on the floor with each forceful step.

When she was out of the cafeteria, she heard a beep from her scroll. Checking it, she nearly facepalmed.

Reminder:

Check Dust shops in Vale City

"How could I forget?" she sighed and began walking to the airship docks, continuing her previous thoughts.

'He's strong, and not just like Yang breaks faces, no... strong with will and heart. Even though he was rejected so many times, he didn't stop. I know that... I was taught young that a person is most honest when they think they're alone, that they're willing to open their chests and heads to lay their hearts and minds out on display when they think nobody else is around to witness them.' she thought back to the contents of his journal, his wishes to take her out on a date, and to show her love and adoration, to make her happy, to make her smile.

She couldn't help but smile at those thoughts. The boy had barely even known her, and already he was willing to fight for her to smile. Weiss couldn't tell if that was stupid or if that was love at first sight.

No, seriously, she actually couldn't tell, she had absolutely NO experience with guys who were actually like that, rather than, say, foolish greedy boys set upon her by their company-owning parents in an effort to get the two together and merge with the mega-corporation that was the SDC.

Frederic Mayflower? Trying to get a deal for his dad's watercraft company.

Jaden Strender? 'Dust could be essential in the next step in genetic research!'

Chris Wishworth? The desires of an animal and a sense of tact to match!

'Seriously! Who says "I wanna see you without clothes on" and does not honestly expect to get kicked in the crotch?!' Weiss' thought-voice was practically screaming.

Jaune Arc? Wanted to see her smile, because he thought she would be much more beautiful with a smile.

... idiot, how DARE he make her lose her precious composure like that?!

She was NOT blushing!

"Ah, h-hey, Weiss, are... are you okay? You look a little overheated." that boyish voice and kind sincerity could only belong to...

Weiss turned towards the source and was almost starstruck.

There he was, the man she'd been thinking of, and what a man he was! He was cut from an exquisite cloth, unlike the simple blue button-up shirt he wore, or the medium denim jeans he wore, or his brown leather shoes, but the difference was... striking. She could see a small bit of blonde stubble on his chin, and the way his hair had been tamed from its usual messy mop into something smoother and cleaner?

Jaune Arc? He was getting what he wanted, because Weiss couldn't help but smile as wide as she could manage.

"Weiss? Are you okay?" his voice had become deeper and smoother with a level of relaxation to it that both put her off and drew her in.

"Huh? Oh, uh, s-s-sorry, Jaune, I just... uh." she blushed even more, her face rivaling the redness of Ruby's cloak.

The knight looked at her, concerned, "You look really uncomfortable..." he gently reached his right hand toward her, "Hold still, I need to make sure you don't have a fever or something."

The fencer nodded meekly, standing nearly ramrod straight as the slightly cool, very comforting hand gently pressed against her forehead.

"Ah, good, not hot enough to be a fever, but just in case..." a soft, warm feeling flowed from his hand, filling the heiress with a sense of relaxation. Meanwhile on Jaune's end, he felt a tightness in his arm that felt similar to being squeezed on all sides, as well as a coldness. Attributing it to his arm simply falling asleep unexpectedly (his body was weird, he had come to realize, so it seemed normal enough to him) he continued filtering the healing aura into her for a few more seconds, "There we go, that should clear up any aches, pains, and possible future illnesses you might have gotten." he smiled a cheesy, goofy, but friendly grin, "Trust me, I'm not a doctor."

Weiss' reaction was not one he expected. She giggled at his words... she GIGGLED.

Jaune had never heard her giggle, but after hearing the symphony-like beauty of the sound, he wanted to record that sound so it would never be lost in this cruel world. Seeing her smile, he found it to be even more beautiful that he imagined. He could see the slight shine of her ice-blue eyes.

She was beautiful.

... and ridiculously out of his league.


And now for something completely different.

"So... how ya doin', Little John?" his voice was light and cheerful, almost a little goofy. Then again, he was talking with one of his two prides and joys in this bleak world, how could he not feel cheerful?

"Daaad~! It's Slade now, remember? You said to make a name when we got here." the slightly rough, but still youthful voice spoke over the secure line.

"I'll remember it when you get your grades high enough to go to Beacon." shoes clacked on the floor, metal meeting stone tended to do that.

"Well things are a little roof... at least the lab hasn't blown up."

"That's good, we need that lab."

"Yeah, your repairs aren't cheap-" the younger started

"-or possible-" the older interjected

"-without our lab. So... your aura is maintaining power levels?"

"Perfectly, more efficient than a billion batteries."

"Batteries ain't that efficient to start with, dad."

"Bah, you're no fun... so how are the scimitars workin' out?"

"Excellent! I think I may have even figured out what exactly my semblance is!"

"That's great, champ! So~... what is it?"

"Well at first I thought it was Electricity Manipulation, which would be, as you say, 'overpowered', because that would encompass a VERY wide array of abilities, probably more than I could learn in a lifetime."

"O...kay~... so what is it ACTUALLY?"

"So you know how we thought that your aura getting that massive jump in efficacy was it finally 'settling in'? Well turns out when I had attempted to heal you... my semblance was used. Soul Acceptance... I can break down the metaphorical door that makes people who go through surgery unable to fully use their prosthetic parts."

"I don't think I'm following you here, John..."

"What I'm saying is that, despite your metal and wires in place of flesh, your aura recognizes that your body is 'normal', and it will work to maintain it, even heal its wounds."

"So, say you lost an arm, and I attached a new robotic one..."

"I could use my semblance and the robotic arm would become, under my aura's metaphorical eyes, part of my 'normal state', so if I lost a finger on it, then with time and patience, it could regrow that robotic finger."

"Dear god... this is amazing! Do you realize what this could mean?"

"A lot of things, really. I'm still working with experiments, I managed to fuse some armor to a salamander."

"That's... not what I would have gone for." he responded with slight hesitance.

"Hey, a salamander came into the lab and I caught it. It's stuck as my guinea reptile until it dies or outlives its usefulness."

The man stopped walking immediately, "Johnathan Rosebud Impatriot, I swear if I hear that thinking out of your mouth again, I will fly home MYSELF and slap some sense into you."

Slade gulped, "Yes... sir... s-s-sorry dad. I'm sorry." he sounded saddened and immensely remorseful.

The change in tone made the man stop walking, "Hey... look... just remember, champ. Justice."

"Justice." there was an audible nod of acknowledgement in the statement.

"Alright, well I'd better let you go for now, I'm almost at my destination."

"Oh, uh, o-okay, dad. See you later."

"See you later." with that, the call went dead.

Opening the doors, Raiden stepped into the classroom, "Hey, professor, sorry I'm late."

"Late? I say, Mister Raiden, today is not late! Filing things on time shows good work ethic, but filing them early shows even better initiative! Hahaha~." Professor Port chortled heartily, "Now then, where is the paperwork?"


"H-hey, s-so~..." *BA-BA-BANG* "Why are we doing this again?" the brunette panted lightly as he rested a hand on his hip and slumped to preserve energy

"Fighting our fellows is of little proper use! We slay the grimm-" *SHLUK* "-so we can know a more easy peace. We are eliminating the pests and the problems, though we leave the ones sized in between to our fellow students." a black boot met a blacker throat as Luke crushed the Beowolf's neck.

"Exactly~... it is, how you say~... the most lawful course of action." Fenerion grinned behind his mask as he swung his kama, Wraith-Splash, at a group of approaching Ursa, launching an arc of electrified water at them and shocking them all into stopping their charges...

At least long enough for his morningstar, Sear-Spike, to impale one of the Ursa's eyes and wrench off its facemask. As the assassin kept on the move, he did a backswing and impaled the second one's neck, then chopped the third one's neck with Wraithsplash before discharging a bit of the respective fire and electricity into the Grimm.

"Ah, 'kay then." Another three-round-burst of bullets spat from each of the three barrels of Ballistica, "You know, you guys are awesome. Not a lot of people are willing to deal with me because of..." he looked down at his hand, at the sharpened nails he naturally grew, "... my heritage."

Under his helmet, Luke frowned slightly, "'Tis of no concern, comrade. You are a skilled combatant and a good friend. As your teammates, this is all that we logically must care about. To dismiss you because of your wolf traits would be pure idiocy on our parts."

"Yeah, besides... I might as well reveal this now." Fenerion dropped the whistle and used his Other-Self in small measure to send an omni-directional pulse of aura to eliminate what else was coming their way.

"Reveal what, brother?" Luke sheathed his sword and put away his shield, turning to his lithe companion.

"Whatever it is, it can't be that bad." Evan compressed Ballistica and holstered them.

Fenerion shook his head, "They say just rip off the bandaid..." he lowered his hood and mask, revealing a scar along his mouth, fully revealing his unnaturally bright green eyes.

It also revealed a pair of black cat ears affixed atop his head.

A pregnant silence hung in the air for several uncomfortably long seconds, then it gave birth to a rhetorical question, "... you're a faunus too?" was Evan's dumbfounded response.

"Ever since I was born... my father is weak-willed, he ran away from her, probably to continue living an uncommitted life. I even once worked for the White Fang, though not long after they turned to their wicked regime of violence." the sneer upon his lips showed his hatred, "Such bastardization could go on without me helping it."

"Not long after? Did you perform some of their violent acts."

"Hehe... back when Sear-Spike was Smoke-Shroom, a flanged mace with fiery enhancement... I stopped just short of a swing that would have smashed a young man's face open... the look of despair in his eyes told me in that instant that he was doubting the life of the lord and thought I was the Reaper of Death, come to collect him. I could see a thousand utterances of repentance in those eyes... I left... unfortunately an uncouth fellowfaun was not so intuitive, and cut the man's neck. I was thirteen, I couldn't fight my way out past dozens of other armed members, not that I didn't outclass them, but that their collective luck would most-likely end with a lucky shot that would kill me... so I walked, quickly and quietly, and took up a new appearance and a new life when I escaped... nobody even realized I was leaving."

The cat faunus tensed up, ready for whatever verbal spat Luke, the most outspokenly anti White Fang person he'd met to date.

"Well... as long as you didn't lay the stain upon your slate, you'll be verily alright, friend." Luke said with his caber-bearing arms crossed over his broad chest, "Now then, shall we continue our extermination excursion?"

"Actually, bros, I was thinking that maybe we could just... chill out?" the gunner offered hesitantly, "I mean, we work enough under Raiden's schedule, Team FLRE ought to lay back and take a bit to not care." he shrugged with his offer.

"Hmm~... an expedition into town would be a most efficient way to spend our leisure time. Good plan, Evan, friend." the cat faunus agreed slyly

"Well then, I am wholeheartedly in agreement to this plan. Shall we?" the black knight drew his shield once more, "To the Academy! And then? To Vale City!" he began jogging toward the cliff, "Onwards!" he ordered almost mirthfully.

Wordlessly, the far lighter faunus pair followed.


"Ah~, nothin' like a nice sermon to ease the soul." Jaune sighed and smiled widely, stretching his arms over his head, "Though I'm surprised you came along with me, Snow Angel."

"Well, I was curious as to why you were dressed up, and after you practically sang the graces of the church, I had to see for myself." Weiss smiled, surprised at how good she felt.

All she did was sit and stand in a room for a couple of hours and occasionally sing songs, yet it made her feel good. Why? Was it some sort of actual holy strengthening? Was it a placebo effect to make her feel better about herself? Was it...

Was it him?

She looked up at Jaune again, blue meeting blue and smile exchanged with smile, "Well, nice to see I've lighted up your day. You deserve it, y'know." he smiled warm, friendly, charming smile, 'Just be honest about stuff, and you'll do fine. Just like Yang said, and Yang knows how to talk to people. She's a lot smarter than she gets credit for. Oh yeah! Be daring too! Don't be afraid to maybe look like a fool if it might also make you look cool!'

Pale cheeks reddened when that smile came out, "D-d-deserve it?"

"Yeah! Weiss, the queen of ice." he let out a small grunt as he focused his aura into his hand, letting movie knowledge tell him what was needed. A glowing white cane of energy formed under his hand, stretching and reaching down in rapid splinters as spun it around on a finger, "Angel of the Snow, she puts on quite the show~." he was practically singing now, "I could sing it to the WORLD~!" he pointed the cane towards the sky, still on a bit of a high from the feel-good atmosphere of the church, "All the beautiful things about this wonderful girl~!" he looked at Weiss again, smiling widely.

Weiss, on her part, was doing a very good impression of a smiling tomato, the look in her eyes was shy and bashful, obviously unused to such praise, or such praise at such volume. She could hear a few bits of lighthearted laughter from around the two.

"Aw yeah~! Job well done, Jaune, ya got her to smile." he did a goofy little celebration dance, which made her laugh and lighten up a bit, "H-hey! Is my friendship funny or something?"

"N-no, it's just, heeheehee, your dancing is funny, Jaune." her smooth lips curved up into a smile as she continued giggling.

To Jaune, her giggle was light, soft, almost powdery, and cool, like... well like a powdery snow that gently dusted his head and made him feel cool and relaxed, "Well I can dance better when I have a beat and a floor. I've been told I'm a pretty good dancer."

The fencer, to her credit, felt playful, and because of that, her response was simply, "Oh? Well I'd love to see you try."

The knight felt ecstatic. He was talking to Weiss! She hadn't huffed and stomped off, she hadn't called him a dunce and stomped off, she hadn't... well there were a LOT of things she hadn't done that she might have the mind to do to him immediately before stomping off. She was acting far unlike anything he'd seen before. She was acting warmer, more lighthearted, friendly, and even playful. She wasn't being the cold, prissy heiress that most saw her as, rather she was being... strikingly similar to how he had predicted she might be if someone took the time, heart, care, and warmth to melt the ice she put up around her heart and mind.

It made him feel unbelievably happy. He had, with kindness and gentleness, brought out a better side of her. She had smiled, fully and wholly, for the first time he'd seen since he met her.

'I guess I was right... all she needed was just some love, care, and warmth to make her happy.'

Unbeknownst to either of them, a subtle glow covered them both, invisible under the sun's light.


Pyrrha sighed. Once more, Jaune was nowhere to be found. She'd looked everywhere in Beacon, even going so far as to check in on his new group of friends, Team FLRE. Unfortunately, they were all out, so she was stuck between a rock and a hard place.

The rock of being unable to find her beloved leader, and the hard place of admitting defeat and giving up the search.

The spartan sighed so heavily she briefly thought she lost weight until she breathed in again, at which point not only did the heaviness in her body increase, but so did the heaviness in her heart.

'He probably has found a girl who's willing to put up with his goofiness... why couldn't that be me~? I'm his partner, I saved his life, I unlocked his aura, I deserve him doing something for me for once!' she grit her teeth, composing herself enough to keep her aura from flaring up. Many were intimidated by the aesthetic effect it had taken during her career as a huntress.

Sparks, a swirling flurry of dark maroon sparks around her form.

It wasn't the most reassuring of sights.

Were they sparks of fire? Of electricity?

Yes.

'What will it take to deepen our relationship? What does he want most? I'd give him anything just to win his love! I'd do anything to win his love! Even...' her cheeks matched her hair as she changed course, 'I need to blow off some steam.' she headed towards the locker room. Milo and Akuou were calling to her.

At some point, she was surprised to see Cardin Winchester toweling off a sheen of sweat next to his open locker, which happened to be fairly close to her own.

The mace-wielder stretched a bit, his head happening to turn in Pyrrha's direction, "Well, aren't you a sight for sore eyes?" he hoped to crack her seemingly impenetrable composure. If he could get Pyrrha Fucking Nikos to get mad, that would be a victory for the ages.

"Quiet, Winchester. Unless you know where Jaune is, I don't wanna hear it." she opened her locker and took Milo and Akuou from inside, gazing briefly at the picture of Jaune she had stuck to the inside of her locker. He had a carefree smile on his handsome face, and looked relaxed and happy. Pyrrha had taken it in secret just a few moments before she gently forced the knight to stop reading his X-Ray and Vav comic and to start reading his Grimm Studies textbook.

The spartan sighed longingly as she pushed her locker closed and walked away with the dignity and composure that had been drilled into her for years.

What she didn't notice was her locker's failure to close.

Cardin finished wiping his slightly reddened face dry, glaring holes in the back of Pyrrha's head as she disappeared from sight. When she was gone, Cardin stood up.

He couldn't help but notice her locker was still cracked open, and grinned, going over and opening it fully.

It was barren except for a few pictures taped to the back inside wall.

Pictures... of Jaune.

Cardin scowled. That blonde wimp had become a gigantic pain in his side.

He had been useful at some point, trapped under Cardin's thumb, but then the guy grew a backbone and pulled off a crazy Ursa kill, twice.

The mace wielder slammed the locker shut, storming out of the room.

He would make the swordsman pay for being such a nuisance.

He would have his revenge for being humiliated.

He would get vengeance in the name of his reputation and dignity!


"Hm?"

"What is it, Mister Raiden?" Port asked with a bit of concern, unsure what caused the student to pause.

"... nothing, just... thought I heard something." Raiden grimaced, a few bad memories surfacing, but he continued his work.

"Well, alright then... so, AHA! I have passed a record of three pipes in this 'Flappy Bird' game, soon I will flap all the way to victory!" the mustached man laughed in minor victory.

Raiden rolled his eyes, but smiled.

It was the little things.


Jaune was confused. He had absolutely no idea how his course of action led him to this moment.

Ren felt sorry for his fellow man. He knew exactly why they were here, and knowing didn't help.

"Alright! Noble knight, faithful monk, while the princess of the north is off at her embassy, I, the queen of the castle of thunder, shall assist you both!" Nora proudly proclaimed, beaming a smile as bright as a flash of lightning.

"Uh~... what?" was all Jaune could manage, utterly confused.

"Well I figured that since Ren is all sad and needs a girlfriend to boost his mood and his confidence, I figured that since you don't have a lot of confidence then I could also help you get a girlfriend so it'll boost that and your mood and then half of our team will be in prime condition! And we'll win every fight they throw at us we'll be the best!" the hammer wielder finally breathed after explaining her intentions in one go.

"Wait, find Ren a girlfriend? But I thought-"

"Nope! Ren and I are like brother and sister! I mean, come ON Jauney, you wouldn't date YOUR sister, would you?" Nora giggled loudly as she imagined Jaune and what her mind immediately conjured as another Jaune, but smaller and wearing a dress.

Ren's eyes widened as he saw Jaune tense up, his aura glowing slightly as he got the look of a man enraged. It wasn't so much directed towards his orange-haired teammate as it was at something internal.

Jaune seethed inside his mind. Nora's words had brought up bad memories, and all of them occurring within the past couple of months. Some of the bullying he'd received. Most of it was senseless garbage he could pass off like water off the duck's back, but a few comments had... struck far too close to home.

He couldn't blame Nora, he knew that she didn't know of these other comments, or perhaps even of his hometown. If she knew of these other bullies, there would be a mass of cases of broken legs rising up in the days to come.

It was a simple concept, but it was slathered with monumental layers of taboo.

Incest.

There were some lines that nobody should cross.

...

"...-aune please don't be mad at me!" his senses kicked back in and he heard Nora quickly saying something very loudly.

"Huh?" was all he managed, "What?" oh, wait, there was more, "Nora?"

"I'm sorry Jaune please don't be mad at me!" the explosives expert repeated with a remorseful frown on her face, "I just wanna help out, not make you mad, but I made you mad and I'm sorry!"

Brotherly instincts kicked in and Jaune put a hand on Nora's shoulder, "H-hey, Nora, calm down, it wasn't your fault, you didn't know, and I'm not mad at you, just at some idiots at the school." he chuckled softly, "I couldn't possibly get mad at someone as happy and cheerful as you, Nora." he gave her that charming smile, "So come on, be happy and cheerful."

Nora couldn't help but brighten up, "Okay~!" she grinned cheerily and placed one hand on either boy's shoulders and lifted herself up above their heads, "Okay! Ten minutes, go get girls' scroll numbers, the one with the most wins!" she whistled to signal the start of the game, "GOOOOO~!"

"Wait WHAT?" Jaune stood there confused for several seconds.

The green gunman smoothed down his green jacket while processing the words of his companion, "We have to get girls' scroll numbers, Jaune, to get potential dates... just do it to make Nora happy."

'Well... I can do that, I suppose. For Nora, to make her happy... why? Will it make her feel like she helped us? That's... really sweet, actually.' he smiled, Nora may have been crazy at times, but Jaune could appreciate the thought she put into it.

He could do this.

'Alright, let the game begin.'


Well, that's as far as I'm willing to bring this chapter.

So yay! Excuse for Nora to get in on the eventual harem, XD

And Jaune's tactic for this game will be some hardcore BS

Just wait and see.

Next chapter: Smarter, and maybe Harder.