"...huh. So you invited her over for some dinner because you felt like thanking her?" Pyrrha inquired curiously, nursing a cup of warm coffee under her chin, looking over at Jaune, who was gazing up sleepily at her.

It was a mild Saturday morning in Vale, with the morning sky a cool blue and clear of clouds. A light breeze blew through the trees, and the only people visible on campus were Professor Goodwitch, doing the morning rounds, and several students- Nora, unsurprisingly, among them- running around to start off the weekend. Jaune could even hear Nora screeching something about sloths in the distance.

Of course, Jaune hadn't planned on joining them, but Absolute Choice, as always, conspired against him. It wasn't that he didn't want to have coffee with Pyrrha- quite the opposite, he was always happy to talk to one of his closest friends; very simply, it was the fact that six o'clock in the morning, by the standards of any person who wasn't called Nora Valkyrie, was an ungodly time to be having coffee-or much of anything, really.

Jaune frowned, sighing. "Yeah. I've not been having an nice week. Winter kinda helped out, I guess, so I felt I owed her a little something.

Really, she and I are just...acquaintances. We just met a week or so ago. Really!"

Pyrrha carefully sipped her coffee. "I...see. Alright. Understandable. I was just concerned you were jumping into a relationship quite too early."
"H-hey!" The knight flailed around, waving his hands. "No, no! What gave you that idea?!"

The spearmaiden looked away suddenly, embarrassed. "Oh...just friendly concern, i-is all. Really.

I'm happy that you're making friends outside ourselves and Team RWBY. Miss Schnee seems like a nice person to befriend.

You're lucky to have befriended her."
"I...guess I am." Jaune rubbed the back of his head, chuckling and taking a sip of his coffee. "She's pretty understanding. Just like you, I guess."
"If she's understanding enough to tolerate you rolling around like a dying pig..." Pyrrha responded, smiling. The knight blushed, looking away slightly.

'Yeah. She must be a saint if she can put up with that and all the other things I have to do...'

The knight mused.

"What was that about, anyway? Why were you rolling around like a dying pig, anyway?" Pyrrha asked, curiously. "You...weren't trying to impress her with breakdancing, right?"
"Breakdancing?" Jaune laughed nervously. "Y-yeah, of course I was breakdancing. Yeah! It's pretty-"
"You know, Jaune, you've been acting weird lately." Pyrrha noted, sipping her own coffee. "You've been acting rather odd ever since I accidentally hit you in the head during our training. First, you sniff a girl's phone in the corridors, then you pull Weiss' underwear out of your bag, and now...this.

Are you entirely sure you're alright? We can go see a nurse about that if needed. You may have a concussion!" Pyrrha looked incredibly worried, reaching over to Jaune to look at him carefully.

"Are you sure you're entirely fine?"

"Pyrrha, I'm fine, really. I've had the nurse look at it." The knight reassured her, laughing. "I'm not concussed. I'm just...a little stressed, is all. Look, you don't have to worry. It'll clear up soon, alright? I'm fine!"

Pyrrha stared cautiously at him, frowning. Jaune smiled nervously, chuckling lightly.

'I can't even tell her about Absolute Choice! The only people who'll even believe me are Blake and Nora...' Jaune noted, shuddering as he realised the issues.

'I just have to play it cool and not worry her too much. Dust knows what Absolute Choice would make me do with the nurse...or to her...that is, if it lets me go to one...'

"...I see." The spearmaiden had an enigmatic look on her face. "Well...if you've been absolutely reassured of your good health, I'll take your word for it.

So...Jaune. Do you have anything planned today?"

"Uh...no." The knight shook his head. "I've got nothing, really. Why, you-"

"Choose."
'You're kidding.'
Jaune grumbled. 'Now what?!'

The choice boxes swirled around the table, displaying exactly what he could do at this point.

"Offer to take Pyrrha out to a love hotel for the day. Alternatively, you may abandon Pyrrha, due to something else coming up for you."

'...this curse is going to kill what's left of my social life.' Jaune thought irritably. '...no way in hell I'm inviting Pyrrha to a love hotel- one, she'd probably castrate me, and then Weiss would kill me, and then the whole school would probably mutilate what's left of my corpse...

I have to go with choice two. I'm really sorry about this, Pyrrha...'

The choice boxes faded. Jaune sighed in relief, looking around immediately. Pyrrha looked at him strangely.

"Jaune? Is everything alright? You look like you saw something."
"Oh. Uh..." The knight laughed nervously for the umpteenth time. "Nothing, I just-"

Suddenly, his phone started to vibrate incredibly quickly within his pocket, causing Jaune to wince and the entire table to shake, splashing drops of coffee everywhere.

"Ggh..." The knight muttered as he drew his phone, holding up his finger to Pyrrha. "J-just a second, I gotta take this..."

"Huh?" The spearmaiden tilted her head, lifting her coffee to ensure it wasn't being splashed. "What's going on? Are you expecting a call, Jaune?"
"Actually, I wasn't." The knight admitted. "This was...pretty...out of the blue..."
Hurriedly, the knight examined his phone, checking what exactly it was.

'Ggh...what does that flippant god want now?' Jaune thought, closing his eyes in resignation as he checked the message.


Message Sender: God

Message Subject: Curse Elimination Mission

Make Weiss Schnee smile sincerely with no sarcastic or condescending intent. Mission due by Monday.

No, this is most definitely not like that mission with Furano.


'Make...Weiss...smile?' Jaune felt his eyelid twitch. '...is this supposed to be some sort of...'

He sighed, closing his eyes. 'Right, they definitely want to kill me. Or get me castrated.'

"Jaune?" Pyrrha tilted her head. "You look as if you were just told to walk straight onto a minefield."
Jaune exhaled resignedly. "I think I just did get told to do that, in a way.

Listen, Pyrrha, something just came up, and I'll probably be pretty busy for the rest of the day. Sorry."

She looked disappointedly at him. "You just said you were not busy at all for the rest of the day."
"Something came up! Nora asked me to help her with their homework, you know?" The knight hastily lied, patting himself mentally on the back."And I can't just blow her off like that. I, uh, made a promise, after all."

'Pyrrha, I'm really sorry about this...but I have to take this mission. When it's over, I'll explain everything, I promise.' Jaune swore, feeling guilty for having to abandon her again.

He stood up, taking up his lukewarm coffee. "Look, Pyrrha, I'm going to go now, alright? Nora said I need to meet her pretty soon.

We'll catch up...some other time, alright? I'll see you later!" He waved at her before running off.

He looked down at his phone as he did. 'Alright, I just have to find Nora and confer with her.

Pyrrha waved weakly at him. "Bye...Jaune..."

When he was out of earshot, Pyrrha sighed, looking down at her coffee.

"That was...odd." The spearmaiden noted mournfully. "But...if he has his obligations...I cannot simply stop him.

One day, Jaune. One day..."


Later, at JNPR dorm...

Nora looked up at Jaune curiously, sitting on Jaune's bed. "So you've got to make Weiss smile?"
"Not laugh, and it has to be an actual, sincere smile." Jaune clarified, sinking next to the berserker and closing his eyes, lying back on the bed.

"At least cooking for Winter, I had a stroke of luck with the grilled cheese. How am I supposed to make Weiss laugh?

And who the heck is Furano?"

Nora gazed brightly at Jaune. "Never you worry! We'll get this mission done by Monday!"

She dove to her closet, rooting around in it briefly before yanking out a massive tome and tossing it lightly to Jaune, who caught it, grunting in mild pain.

"Ow..." The knight grumbled, staring at the book. "Ten Ways to Make an Ice-Cold Heiress Smile.

You...sure this isn't as bad as the other one, Nora?"

"As positive as pancakes are sweet!" The berserker nodded vigorously. Jaune studied the book with reluctance, frowning as he opened it.

"Alright...let's see what you got. Tip One...beg like a dog at her feet." The knight's eyes narrowed. "Yeah, not gonna happen.

Tip Two...admit your inferiority and stroke her ego. What the hell?! I'm not a freaking sycophant! Good Dust..." Jaune rubbed his temples. "Who writes this stuff?!"
"God!" Nora pointed out happily. Jaune's expression suddenly turned even more irritated.

"That...explains a lot, actually." The knight sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I have half a mind to find this 'God' and give him a good slap..."

He tossed the book aside, shaking his head. "Well, do you have any tips on trying to make Weiss smile?"
"You could get her a sloth doll! It makes me smile!" Nora cheered, giggling.

"Yeah, that's just you."
"A cute dog doll?"
"They have Zwei for that."
"A cute shark doll?"
Jaune stared at her in disbelief. "In what world would Weiss like sharks? Sounds like a crappy fanfic or something.

You're not helping!"

"Um...you could...err...bake her some pancakes?"
"She hates those after you accidentally doused her in batter during that one lunchtime food fight." The knight pointed out. The berserker nodded, remembering.

"Ahhh, right. So...I guess...you can't make her smile! I'm sorry." Nora shrugged. Jaune groaned.

"Gee, you're such a good helper. Dammit, I'm going over to find Blake. Maybe she'll know what to do..."

Jaune stood up and headed out of the room, looking for the catgirl. Nora huffed and pouted, pulling a mini-pancake out of her pocket.

"Hmph. Meanie." The berserker huffed. "I don't see why my ideas wouldn't work..."

...

"You want to make Weiss smile?" Blake inquired, staring at Jaune as he looked pleadingly at her. The pair were just around the corner from RWBY dorm, with Blake on a bench, reading what seemed to be a collection of Valean fairy tales.

The knight nodded. "Yeah. The missions said I had to make her smile by Monday."

"Couldn't you just say something stupid that'd make her-oh, probably not allowed by the mission, huh." The catgirl realised, sighing. Jaune nodded to confirm her fears.

"It has to be a sincere smile, not one from condescension or sarcasm." He clarified, showing her the text message. "You know what she might like?"
"Hum." The catgirl looked up in thought, crossing her arms and tapping her finger carefully. "Well...that's pretty tough, actually. Weiss smiles less than Ren talks for longer than one minute.

You're going to have a challenge on your hands if that's what you need to do. And if there's something she'd really like, I don't know. Maybe Zwei...but if you're asking me to go near him, I'm not about to get involved."

Jaune shook his head, resigned. "So...I really am screwed."

"Not...entirely." Blake pointed out. "There is one more person you could ask. I mean, I'd point you to Ruby, but she's been gone for the whole day.

She said something about fixing her weapons. I mean, you could ask...Winter, I suppose."

"That's...not a bad plan." Jaune admitted, smiling in gratitude. "Thanks, Blake. I'll find her right away.

By the way...Yang didn't say anything about...the grocery, right?"
"The grocery?" Blake blinked. "Why would she say something about- Absolute Choice?"
"You really don't want to know." Jaune responded, shuddering at the memory of it. "Alright, well, I'll see you later then.

Thanks for the help!"

Jaune began to move to head off, before-

"Choose." The voice boomed, with its slightly mocking tone, as if taunting the knight with the idea of having to choose once more.

'COME ON!'

"Pet Blake on the head and call her a 'good kitty' for helping you. Alternatively, offer Blake a little fishie for helping you out."

'That's...racist and offensive on so many levels...' The knight thought, weighing the consequences of each choice.

'I'll have to go with...choice one.'

He immediately strolled over, standing over Blake. The catgirl tilted her head.

"Huh? Jaune? I thought-WAH!" She yelped as the knight began patting her on the head, giving her a cringing smile.

"Hehe...good kitty...you're a good kitty, you know that, Blake? Who's the good kitty! You are! Yesss you are!" The knight praised her in an artificially high, happy voice.

Blake just gave him a deadpan stare. "...if it wasn't for Absolute Choice, you wouldn't be standing right now."
"I...I'm really sorry, Blake, okay! I'll try to make it up to you!" Jaune yelped as he ran away, going to find Winter.


Elsewhere...

Winter was calmly sitting on a bench on the other side of the school, calmly enjoying the fresh air. She had her face looking up, the sunlight lightly warming her face.

"It is rare that such an opportunity comes up nowadays." The lady stated with a sigh. "Very rare..."

"Winter!"

She looked up to whoever called her name, to see Jaune running towards her. "Hey! Winter!"
"Oh." She smiled, waving lightly at him. "Hello, Mister Arc. To what may I owe this pleasure?"
"I need your help with something!" The knight cried as he stopped in front of her, catching his breath. "...do you mind if it's a little private?"

'Private?' Winter looked curiously at him. She tilted her head. "What might you mean by private?"

"It...involves your sister."

"My...sister?" Winter put a finger to her lip thoughtfully. "...what might you need?"
"What might make her smile? You know her pretty well, so I'm thinking you might know, right?" Jaune stated breathlessly. Winter's eyes widened.

'He wants to...make Weiss smile?' The lady inquired. 'What? Why could he possibly want to make her smile? He is hardly a comedian...and I know her birthday is not any time soon. That means only...one thing...

Oh my. He wishes to...woo her? This is...very interesting...and Weiss and Mister Arc together? Perhaps...he could...I have to aid him in any way I can.'

Winter clenched her fists, looking up at Jaune determinedly. "I see what you wish to do now!"
"...you do?" Jaune stared at her, confused. Winter nodded quickly.

"I do indeed." The lady nodded hurriedly. "That is why...you must come with me immediately!"

She grabbed his hand, standing up. Jaune stepped back, flailing.

"Wah?! What are you-"
"I am going to instruct you in the art of pleasing my sister!" Winter declared proudly. "And then you will finally succeed in making her smile!"
'Did she...not notice the innuendo? Oh, right, she's...pretty innocent...' Jaune realised, sighing. 'Well, this is better than nothing, right?'

Winter, meanwhile, was thinking about something else.

'Weiss and Mister Arc...maybe if I can aid him in this...she would finally see him for the gentleman he truly is, instead of constantly calling him a dunce.' The lady reasoned. '...I have to help him.

It is only the right thing for a sister to do.'

"Come with me at once. I will have to start your training immediately!"


To be continued...


BONUS OMAKE:

Choice Two: Offer to take Pyrrha out to a love hotel for the day.

"So, Mister Arc! Where did you learn to become so...popular with the ladies?" The interviewer asks me as I lay back on my golden throne laid with velvet cushions.

I just have to shrug and smile. "Well, I amassed my vast harem rather quickly, yes."
"And what's your secret?"

"...well..." I laugh, popping up to give one of the girls a kiss on the cheek as she scurries up. "...I had to start somewhere, didn't I?

It all began on one fateful morning, back in Beacon. I'm pretty sure it all started with Pyrrha- bless her, she used to be so shy- and...it kinda spiralled once I decided to take her to a love hotel."
"And how do you feel about the title 'Sexiest Man in the Four Kingdoms?"

I just smile smugly.

"I think it suits me perfectly."


DISCLAIMER: RWBY does not belong to me, otherwise one character would have ki bursts as their Semblance.

NouCome belongs to Takeru Kasukabe.

A/N: Well, the second mission is upon us, Winter thinks Jaune's trying to woo Weiss, Jaune himself has absolutely NO clue, and things are about to get hilarious. It's a normal day in one of my fanfics, basically.

So, I hope you enjoyed that, leave your ideas, comments, reviews, criticisms, thoughts and suggestions, and I hope you have a GREAT day! Until next time!