Author Note: So, chapter 9. This one's a breather for me. Technically, fanfiction in general should be a breather to me. But noooo, I have to have standards of telling a story. Half the time I just want to break the rules of this fic and just do something outlandish. This chapter is probably the closest I've ever gone without actually breaking tone. So yeah, enjoy the more comedic and light-hearted chapter. We've all earned it after Jaune having a giant stick up his ass and being shitlord supreme the last several chapters.

Remember to review, follow, and favorite if you enjoyed this story. Let's me know people still care about my mediocre writing.


Present Time-Beacon Dormitory

Jaune stares at his Scroll, so his mom was asked to look for Winter. This... isn't what he was expecting at all. Didn't his family completely despise that family? Jaune rubs his forehead to massage away the growing headache. Why is he even at Beacon? Why was Adam so insistent that he head to Beacon first? Why is Cinder so hell-bent on making his job harder than it needed to be? He sighs and tosses his Scroll onto his bed. Ozpin and Azure are working directly against him, that much he knows. Cinder might or might not be a thorn in his side. Tukson could be a great ally. This is why he preferred the shadows, less likely to get screwed by someone. Too late for that now.

He walks to the bathroom to prepare for the day. A quick knock and no response. Open door, walk in, wash face, get out. Today's going to be boring, isn't it, he breathes in.

"You look like shit." Yang rests her left arm on his right shoulder as an armrest. Jaune winces.

"And you're heavy. Please don't." He goes to remove her arm but she's grinning the trademarked Yang grin.

"That's not very nice. However will my broken heart mend?" She mock places her left hand on her chest and her right arm on her forehead.

"I'm sure you'll find a way." Jaune shakes his head. A soft ping comes from his scroll. Direct from his business associates back in the Fang more than likely. This one was new. Factory default ping noise. Someone wants his attention it seems. He grabs it off the bed and begins silently reading.

Single Ladies near you want to meet yo-

Jaune presses the delete button. Apparently marketers have a way of finding Black-market numbers.

"Single ladies, eh?" Yang wiggles her eyebrows. Jaune groans.

"It's spam Yang. Spam. Let's get to class already..." Jaune picks up his book bag.

"It's Saturday you dork." Jaune drops his book bag. "Wow, you really are out of it. What's wrong? Big Sister Yang will make all your troubles go away~"

"It's nothing you can help with." He types out a message to Neo asking how things are progressing. "I'm just trying to get to tomorrow in one piece."

"Depression, huh? I know a great and affordable place we can get you some therapy." Wait, what? How in the...?

"I'm not depressed." He pokes Yang's nose. Yang smacks his hand away.

"Still, if you need someone to talk to and you don't want us knowing your tragic fifth-level childhood of pain, give this lady a call." Yang hands him a business card.

"Are you...?" Normally, he'd mock the girl in front of him. But the genuineness... It gave him pause.

"Depressed? No. She's just a nice person who helps me deal with my anxiety." Yang gave a small sad smile.

"I find that hard to believe. You're the opposite of anxiety. Sometimes I think you never think things through." There it is.

"You should've seen me when I was a kid. I was the stereotypical tomboy. Short hair, suspenders, hated anything girly. Couldn't talk to other girls. They would make fun of me behind my back. But the boys? They would insult you to your face. None of the bullshit of backstabbing. If they had a problem, they'd fight it out. I loved that. Still do." Yang smiles sadly as she looks out the window. "I wanted to be a part of that. I was part of that. Hell, still am in some ways. But eventually, I wanted to enjoy my feminine side as well. The girls... they didn't take too well to it. They accused me of trying to steal the boys' attention. I second-guessed myself so much. I couldn't do anything. Until... my dad finally had enough and point blank said that I needed therapy. I wanted to punch him so hard. Scratch that, I did punch him. But ultimately? I trusted him. I still worry to this day what people think of me Jaune. But I decided that my happiness is independent of what others think. I'll do what I want and worry about what bullshit might ensue after." Yang playfully punches Jaune in the shoulder.

"..." Jaune stares at Yang, unsure of what to say. He breathes slow, deliberate breaths. Unsure of what he should do. This isn't what he expected. This isn't what he wanted. This isn't what he thought was possible. She has a father like his, one who made sure that they were taken care of. This isn't what he wanted, to see himself in Yang. To be reminded of memories that were poison to him now.

He frowns as memories surge forward in a wild dance. Fleeting moments of when his sisters would play board games with him and his father. A time when his family was unbreakable. His father ruffling his hair gently as he gave him more lessons and advice on life. His father reading him stories of heroes and heroines when he couldn't sleep. His dad holding him close as Jaune would sob because his schoolmates kept calling his father a blood traitor and an animal fucker. His dad who stood strong and proud, never wavering in his convictions. A man whose legacy was to be spat on for daring to stand up for what he believed in.

Dad... His eyes begin to water.

"Jaune?" Yang's voice cracks as she sees Jaune's face contorts with anguish.

And then Jaune does something he thought he'd never do authentically. He hugs Yang. "You're all right Xiao Long." Yang stands there dumbfounded, unsure what to do or say. Like a damn breaking, tears run down her eyes as she accepts the hug and hugs him back.

"You don't need to cry Jaune. It's not that bad of a memory." Yang laughs in a broken sob.

"I miss my dad." Jaune frowns as the words escape his lips. Why did he say that? What could have possibly possessed him to say that? "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that." Now an apology... What's going on with me today? He bites his upper lip. Tears break free and he quietly sobs, his body shaking and shivering.

"It's fine. You're fine. Let it out." Yang rubs his back, not quite ready to let go of the hug. "Tell me about him. Your dad." She lets go of the hug and urges him to sit on Pyrrha's bed with her right hand.

"No. It's useless. It won't get anything done. I just need to move past it. I've already wasted enough time as it is." Jaune closes his eyes and looks away, tears falling and voice cracking. How'd he reach this point? Did he actually trust Yang? In a lot of ways, Yang reminded him of his older sister Violet. Fleur would mock him but Violet would look out for him. But no one knows where Violet went after their father was executed. Jaune wipes his eyes and shakes his head.

"I..." Yang starts to say something, but the words die in her throat. The dorm door swings open and Blake and Pyrrha walk in.

"Did Jaune accidentally trip the Yang flag without meaning to?" Blake smirks from the hallway. Trip a flag? What? Yang grabs a pillow and throws it at Blake. She merely side-steps and the pillow hits Pyrrha instead.

"When'd you guys get here?" Jaune opens his mini-fridge and grabs a tangerine, hands shaking a little.

"Just now. I must say, that scene, most excellent. I could feel the raw emotions. Encore!" Blake mock claps.

"Did you and Yang swap personalities or something?" Jaune peels the tangerine, hands shaking, voice cracked.

"I thought I'd pay the resident pun acolyte a dose of her own medicine." Blake fluidly moves onto her bed, almost like a cat... Book already open.

"I don't even know how we got to this point..." Jaune frowns. He pops the tangerine into his mouth, whole. Why did these people trust him so much? Everyone in his life were always guarded with secrets and deception. Was he wrong?


Present Time-Unknown Location

Neo looks at the message Jaune sent her. A progress report? What was Jaune thinking? Roman didn't mind, Jaune could ask him to kill Ozpin, and Roman would humor Jaune. But this... this wasn't Jaune being Roman's mind. This was Jaune making his own power-play. Why is Roman so forgiving of this? So indifferent? If this was anyone else, they would be bullet-ridden and rotting in the dirt. Was it the fact that Jaune distrusts Cinder? Was he doing all this as a drawn out device to protect himself from her? Neo truly didn't know. She moves her fingers across the Scroll to show video surveillance of Winter Schnee. The torture's going along to plan. In a week's time the starvation and lack of sleep would make her more susceptible to suggestion. In that time, Jaune could join her in that room as an "ally. " That's the aim of Jaune's insane plan. He wants to intentionally drive a wedge in the Schnee family. But the scope, that's what Neo just doesn't understand.

Roman twirls his cane and walks up to Neo. "You look troubled."

'He's overstepping his bounds.' Neo emphasizes the signed word bounds.

"It's a good plan. Besides, I think it's cute how important he thinks he's being." Roman chuckles. "Besides, if it throws that fiery bitch off our backs for a little while, it's well worth it."

'You're not worried that he'll tried to take over?' Neo activates her Semblance and Roman is surrounded by imagery of Jaune shoving a sword into Roman's gut. She smirks.

"I hate it when you do that... No matter." Roman takes out a cigar. "No I'm not worried. The kid worships me."

'You better be right, Roman. Last thing we need is an idiot with all our secrets to paint bulls-eyes on our back.' Neo reaches into Roman's right pocket and grabs his lighter.

"Enough Ice Cream. Jaune is someone that I will protect." Roman leans in and Neo snaps the lighter three times before a small fire bursts to life. Cigar lit, Roman puffs.

'That's exactly what I'm afraid of.' After Neo finishes signing, Roman shrugs.

"Make sure that everything is ready for when Jaune gives the word. I want to see how this plays out. I tell you, this is more entertaining than a summer blockbuster by Bikael May." Roman spins his cane around arms and neck, a near useless parlor trick he learned to entertain himself. Or at least that's what he wanted people to think. He ponders Azure Arc for a moment. With what he knew, she would never work with the Schnee and yet here they are. People change, don't they? Roman lets out an amused chortle. He wants Jaune to fuck up. He wants him to ruin everything. Destruction after all would be far more entertaining, especially if Cinder Fall is the one to crash and burn alongside them.


Present Time-Hei Xiong's Bar

Azure prefers not to deal with the black market. Too many hotheads trying to prove something. But today's different. She walks up to the counter and sits down. Noir told her that Jaune had frequented this bar for information. The man even owed her son quite a few favors for some reason.

"What drink do you like?" A bearded man asks, staring only at the cup he's cleaning in his hands.

"Chateu Merlin." Azure folds her fingers to make herself a chin rest. Hei tilts his head and his eyes narrow.

"Coming right up. Anything else, lady?" He places a cup into a dispenser without taking his eyes off of her.

"Please Junior. No need for formality. I'd like to think of us as friends by mutual association." Azure smiles the way a mother bear would if her child breaks her favorite China Plates.

"That psychotic smirk tells me you're not here for drinks." Hei Xiong clicks his tongue in annoyance. "Information costs you five-thousand lien."

"Wow, that's expensive." Azure rolls her head onto her left hand. "I'm looking for Winter Schnee. A diplomatic liaison of Atlas goes missing in Vale territory... That doesn't look good on us proud citizens of Vale." Hei Xiong got the feel that maybe this lady didn't include him in the us sentence.

"That information is out of my grasp. If it's a kidnapping like you imply, there hasn't been stirrings in the Relays. But I can point you in a direction that might or might not prove beneficial." Business is business. No matter who comes for it. The Hunters frequently came to him enough that he has practical immunity from the law. Once the cup is full, he hands her the drink.

"How much?" Azure unfolds her chin rest and takes a sip.

"The drink is free if you buy the recommendation. Two-thousand lien."

"Done." She takes a card and inserts it into her Scroll, takes it out and hands it to the man. He takes the card and loads it up. The money is there.

"There's a bookshop run by a Faunus named Tukson. He might know more than I do. Word of warning, he's White Fang."

"I'm an Arc. I'll be fine." Azure gets up slowly.

"I take it you're related to Jaune." Hei Xiong snorts. The similarities were too funny not to laugh at it.

"I'm his mother." Azure bows her head quick and turns to leave.

"Oh." Hei scratches his beard, that certainly changed things, didn't it?


Present Time-Beacon Cafeteria

Ruby Rose stares into Nora Valkyrie's eyes. Sparks fly, a crowd gathers, chanting ensues. On the line is honor, on the line is glory, on the line is sweet confections! Nora's left eye twitches; Ruby smirks. She wiggles her fingers in anticipation, soon victory will be hers! She rolls her hand into a fist. She can do this! She will do this! Those cookies are as good as hers.

Ruby's eyes begin to water and she blinks. "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

"VICTORY IS MINE! MWAHAHAHAHAHHA!" Nora steps onto the table and slams the hilt of her hammer down. "ALL THE PANCAKES BELONG TO ME!"

"Nora." Ren clears his throat.

"Yes Ren?" Nora turns her head to her childhood friend.

"We still need the permission of the kitchen staff to make the pancakes." He drinks the green tea the nice cafeteria lady brewed for him.

"Oh yeah. They have to! We won free pancakes courtesy of you." Nora jumps off the table and wraps her right arm around Ren like a Christian side hug.

Weiss scoffs and continues to file her nails. She feels for Ren, she really does. Trapped between two sugar demons, can't be fun. She'd rather have the boring Professor Port teach her everyday than to deal with the antics of Ruby and Nora. At least it was better than dealing with the pun-loving older sister of Ruby's.

"Hey little sis, heard you were having a contest. You win?" Yang walks up to their table. Weiss hides her forehead in the palm of her hands. Speak of the devil and she shall appear.

"Nooooo... I lost." Ruby rests her head against the table, stream of tears watering the plants growing in the cracks on the concrete.

"Cheer up Ruby, I'll take you to that new candy shop in Downtown Vale." Yang rests her chin on Ruby's right shoulder. "What do you say?"

"But..." Ruby wants the cookies Ren makes. He's an amazing baker.

"That's enough." Yang smirks and pokes her fingers into Ruby's sides. Little Red jumps straight up and hides behind Weiss.

"No poking! It's against the rules!" Ruby's voice squeaks.

"You're not my team leader Rubes, you can't ban me from doing anything!" Yang slowly creeps toward her little sister. Ruby isn't crying anymore.

"But your team leader is my friend! I can get him to ban stomach pokes!" Ruby blows a raspberry. Jaune walks by the table and heads toward coffee machines, eyes half closed and right hand rubbing right eye on repeat.

"Hey Jaune! Ruby wants you to ban something. Just letting you know now, I have pictures of the club. No bans." Yang yells after her yawning leader. He throws a middle finger with his left hand without looking behind. Yang laughs, her leader is too adorable. She needed to get resident bookworm with him already. Anyone with a brain could see it.

"Hey! Don't flip off my sister! It's very rude!" Ruby activates her Semblances to tackle the boy within two seconds. For a split second, she swears she saw pure, unguarded hatred before changing into a tired yawn.

"Get off me Ruby, I need my coffee." He just lies there. No attempt to get her off her. Ruby knows that Jaune knows that she's stronger.

"Apologize." Ruby pokes Jaune's cheeks.

"No." He lies there, watching as a crowd gathers around.

"Get off him Ruby. I deserve the flipping off." Yang grins as she ruffles Ruby's hair.

"No! Jaune Arc! I CHALLENGE YOU!" Ruby snaps her pointer finger a centimeter away from his face. "TO A BATTLE!" Jaune shoves Ruby off of him.

"No. I have no interest in dying." Jaune winces as he clutches his right abdomen. He slowly gets up as his Aura flairs to heal the bruising. He hears a slurping noise behind him.

"That's an excellent idea Ms Rose. You'll get extra credit if you accept Mr Arc." Ozpin sips his coffee with the corner of his lips tugging upwards. Jaune stares at the silver-haired man, as if trying to read an academic journal drowned in fifty dollar words.

"Yes of course Professor..." Jaune grinds his teeth. "It's not like I like living anyway..." He mutters under his breath.


Author Note: So yeah, I'm thinking this story is mainly character driven. Of course the plot of this story is Jaune's eventual choice(s) and the fallout of said choice(s). Whatever they may be because at this point only I know where everything is headed. If this all seems too fast or too slow, remember it's because I focus on the characters. If they change their mind too fast or too slow, it's about keeping in character. The Jaune in this story was never really completely evil or even good for that matter. The best example of Jaune's character is someone who lies to himself and is honest with others. Even if that honesty is submerged in deception. He IS the weak and bullied child. He's not the "Chessmaster" because he says so. It's only a name he took upon himself. And part of the story is painfully making him aware of how outclassed he is. He is the King in Chess but we all know how useless they are in the actual game. He thinks himself the player, when he is merely a pawn. A pawn to what? His desire to be... wanted.

Who is Jaune Arc in this story? A person who doesn't know who he is and he's willing to let others define his identity for him. For now, Roman and Gris define it. But that will change. And change brings pain, a lot of it.

But Jaune isn't the only one faced with choices. Think of Jaune as the one who pushes the boulder down a cliff. He's not the only one affected by all of this.