Author's Notes: I would like to thank you all for your continued support and your patience with this story. I recognize that despite my best efforts some grammar problems are apparently prevalent throughout the story so… I guess if anyone wants to be my Beta then you can go ahead and PM me.
Chapter 9: The Rendezvous
As an A- rank Shinobi Jaune did not leave things to chance when it came to the safety of innocent civilians and especially those close to him. With that said, he had realized Blake was a Faunus the moment he laid eyes on her. He figured that she must have been trained outside of a combat school when he saw her aid in fighting the Nevermore and he figured out that she must have been affiliated with some form of organization through her interactions with her friends and her overall body language. He deduced that the organization is the White Fang due to the fact that she is a Faunus and there aren't many organizations who would train a Faunus as a spy just to have her hide that fact to blend in. It didn't seem to be worth it to him.
What he has yet to figure out is what her motives are for coming to Beacon, he told his concerns to Ozpin and he was as cryptic as ever but from what he could tell of the man, he already knew she was a Faunus when he accepted her into Beacon and that he shouldn't worry about it.
That didn't sit right with Jaune because while Ozpin was the hands off kind who would rather wait and see what would happen and hope that things work out. Jaune took a proactive approach; he'd rather avoid a problem depending on the situation than wait for it to occur then hope to overcome it.
Which is why he 'gave' her that note, asking her to meet him for a little chat in front of the statue at midnight when everyone else would be asleep. He wanted to nip this in the bud fast but Blake may be just as paranoid as he is. Or maybe she's afraid but honestly he didn't want to hurt her, that is, if she isn't a spy but her actions now are proving just that.
Blake arrived at the meeting place a good twenty minutes early to observe him. She would admit that she was now thoroughly wary of the blonde leader by now but she didn't know his intention with this rendezvous. She brought Gambol Shroud as a precaution, now she was more than certain he is...
"Blake" she was cut from her musings by a voice coming from behind her.
She reflexively brought Gambol Shroud's sheathe to bash against the unknown person. The person jumped back and Blake back flipped away and leveled Gambol's pistol form at...
"Jaune?" she stated before her eyes narrowed and her posture straightened.
Jaune as always had an aloof look but she could tell that he was serious, he had his hands in his pocket and he spoke in a casual manner.
"Geez Blake, it's midnight. Don't you think you're a little overdressed" he pointed to her.
Blake was wearing her combat gear whilst Jaune was in his sleeping wear from the first night of initiation. Blake ignored his comment and not once did she lower the aim of her pistol
"Why did you bring me out here?" she questioned heatedly, her golden eyes seemed to glow in the moonlight as her pupils became almost slits.
Jaune's posture straightened he folded his hands "do you mind not pointing that thing at me?"
When Blake remained unmoving he sighed and scratched the back of his head "alright fine" he leveled his eye at her "first of all that bow doesn't really do a good job of hiding the fact that you're a Faunus" he pointed to said bow and it twitched, "I rest my case."
Blake's eyes widened and she was about to reply when Jaune flickered out of existence before her. She didn't have time to react as he reappeared beside her, grabbed her outstretched arm and twisted it around her back, kicked her knee so she would kneel and brought a kunai to her throat. Gambol Shroud was dropped in the grapple.
"Second of all" he started harshly "I noticed that you had prior experience in espionage and there is only one organization I know that trains young Faunus in that sort of thing. Now I'm going to ask you a simple question and you're going to answer it and Blake" he pressed the knife to her throat, the cold steel made her flinch "it would be in your best interest not to lie to me. Do you understand?"
"..." she was silent and he twisted her arm a bit "argh!"
"Do you understand?"
"Yes!" she grunted.
"Good" he eased the pressure "now, are you a spy for the White Fang?"
Blake eyes widened in fear, sweat started forming on her brow "argh" he twisted her arm again to voice his displeasure at her hesitance to answer "no!"
Blake felt the knife at her neck pressed further to her throat to the point where it drew blood, Jaune's voice was calm "I said answer me truthfully, make no mistake I don't care if you're my teammate's sister's partner, if you're putting them in danger I. Will. End. You. Belladonna" he reaffirmed as the knife pressed further in, her Aura started healing the wound.
"Argh wait!" she all but begged and the knife pressure eased "I-I'm not a part of the Fang anymore, I ah, I defected."
There was a pause after she spoke those words until Jaune wordlessly let her go. The moment he did she used her Semblance to gain some distance, gasping for air while clutching at her neck until her Aura healed the small wound completely. She looked at Jaune, then at her weapon at his feet, she looked at him for a while, weighing the pros and cons of trying to get her weapon and fight him.
Ultimately she decided not to engage him and rose slowly while grasping her arm. Jaune looked at her questioningly before uttering one word "explain."
She nodded lightly before recounting her tale, how she was apart of the original White Fang, the peaceful one. How they changed after new leadership took over, how she didn't support it and ultimately left for Beacon in order to start over.
Jaune listened to her story and his hardened gaze softened with each passing minute. When she finished he had only one thing to say.
"Oh" he averted his gaze down to the side and scratched the back of his head sheepishly.
The gesture made Blake raise an eyebrow in confusion.
"I messed up didn't I?" he asked more to himself than her.
He stopped scratching his head to pick up her weapon, he observed it for a minute before looking at Blake, then the weapon.
He shook his head "why can't you people design your weapons simpler" he looked wearily at Blake "a Kodachi that can turn into an automatic pistol which can be used in conjunction with an attached ribbon to be used as a Kusarigama with a sheathe that can be used as a cleaver? This is more ridiculous than Ruby and Pyrrha's weapons"
Blake blinked "uh" she caught off guard by that.
He shook his head and approached her, she took a step back, he stopped and outstretched Gambol Shroud to her.
"I'm sorry alright, I thought you were a spy and I had to know" she looked at him skeptically "in my defense, you brought it on yourself when you pointed your..'gun' at me. I don't like guns and I really don't like when they're aimed in my direction."
She grabbed her weapon from him and attached the sheathe-cleaver to the magnetic plate on her back.
"Sorry" she said quietly
He waved it off "no, no it's..fine. You were a little suspicious, since you know, I kinda undermined your skills in stealth" she looked at him pointedly.
Yes he noticed that whenever he approached her she would jump a little in surprise. Well, not jump but he could see the sudden shock in her eyes when he caught her off guard. The funny thing was, that like her, he was conditioned to be stealthy at all times and him surprising her with his sudden appearance were mostly accidental.
"Sorry about that" he said with a sheepish smile.
Blake looked at him for a few moments and sighed tiredly before sheathing her weapon. She just couldn't figure it out, one moment he's so aloof that he looked like he couldn't possible be dangerous, then he showed his willingness to end her life and now he looks like a kid about to be scolded by his mother.
"Who are you really and what is your purpose here?" she asked.
Blake wanted to get to the point quickly, they'd already wasted enough time and she wanted to get some sleep.
"Well my real name is Jaune if you're thinking that I'm under an alias" he began in that same aloof manner "and I guess you could call me a..freelancer" he wanted to avoid using anything related to ninja.
"You're a mercenary" she stated bluntly.
He nodded 'I guess you could call most Shinobi mercenaries' he thought
"Who hired you?"
Jaune narrowed his eye "now that is something I will not answer Blake" he spoke in a tone that was resolute.
Blake nodded, she was overstepping her bounds with that question "okay then, can you at least tell me your purpose for coming here"
"I'm training to become a Huntsman" he replied bluntly and did she detect a hint of sarcasm?
Blake gave a look that said "really"
He shrugged "I might as well be, since my contract is up in four years" he stated
'Four years?' she questioned to herself 'why would anyone contract a mercenary for four years?'
"You still haven't answered my question" she reminded
"That is my purpose Blake, well at least one of them anyway" he paused to look at her "let's just say that my client and I have your best interest at heart. I won't cause any trouble or put anyone's lives in danger" if I can help it.
Blake frowned, that was too vague for her taste.
He cupped his chin "I know you defected already but you wouldn't happen to still be keeping tabs on the White Fang's activities would you?" he asked.
Her ears perked a little at this "no, why?"
"No reason, just curious" he dismissed and Blake nodded warily.
Unfortunately White Fang defectors don't tend to live long, it was half the reason why she came to Beacon. Despite her training she wouldn't last long by herself. Beacon was like a safe haven for her and it provided a chance for her to further her own goals.
He looked at her, his eye trailed over her form and suddenly he felt the need to ask a question he has been itching to ask every time he looked at her and Yang and Weiss and Ruby and... actually almost every other girl he's seen around the school.
"Blake...why do you dress like that?" he asked.
"..."
"..."
"Excuse me?"
"Well, it's just that you don't exactly look like you're going into combat. You look like you're going to a party" he finished.
Blake opened her mouth to speak but words wouldn't form, she looked down at her attire. Granted she really didn't look the part of a Huntress going to fight the menace known as Grimm. Honestly she didn't really give much thought to her attire, the White Fang didn't really care what she wore and she just stuck with it.
She could definitely see what he is referring to but right now there is nothing she can do about it, her attire provides flexibility and is light. She would have to put some kind of light protection under it but it would do for now.
Jaune was getting a little.. nervous? Is that what he's feeling? Asking a girl about why she dressed the way she did isn't something he's used to doing (or as ever done, at all), especially when he threatened said girl's life a few minutes ago.
"Er, you know what, just forget I even asked"
She nodded as well, having been thrown from her reverie.
He did a two finger salute "see you later" he waved lazily before vanishing in a swirl of leaves.
Blake blinked in mild shock but decided not to question it, she was too tired to, it's been a long night and she wants to sleep.
Pyrrha's eyes fluttered open, the first thing she noticed was that it was early and the sun was barely peaking over the horizon. She sat up in her bed, her crimson hair cascading down like a red waterfall. She looked around at her fellow teammates and was not surprised to find that Ruby and Weiss were still asleep, the latter being such a heavy sleeper that Ruby had to blow a whistle to wake her, that was an eventful first morning together.
She was also not surprised to find her partner absent, his bed already made. She looked at the time, it was a little after six and she can guess where he was. She sighed, her leader/partner was still an enigma to her yet somehow she couldn't help but think that Ruby knew more about him than either she or Weiss.
She looked to the sleeping reaper, her bed hanging from the ceiling…the champion still cannot fathom why she would want her bed hanging from the ceiling. Then again over by Team BYRN they have their beds stacked over each other using books of all things to make bunk beds. She shook her head and headed for the shower.
Meanwhile Jaune was sitting alone on the rooftop overlooking the school, he could see Ozpin's clock tower off in the distance. He was reading a book which had Kanji on it with a distinct 17- crossed out on the back. He was in his Beacon uniform his now signature medical patch over his left eye shut.
'Won't be long now' he thought.
Yes it won't be long until he starts his actual mission, investigating the Dust robberies and if need be take out anyone should they prove too much of a flight risk. He wanted to start making some contacts on the streets of Vale soon. Information is power after all and he'll need to alert his grandfather's Valean contact to his presence not to mention establishing new ones but first.
"Good morning Pyrrha" he said absentmindedly.
That was what the Mistralian champion was greeted to the moment she cracked open the door. Jaune was sitting on the edge of the roof, his feet hanging off the ledge, he didn't even look back but didn't need to. Pyrrha shouldn't be surprised really, almost every time she approached him he would always know and call her out. For a Hunter their Aura would be used as a means by which they could extend their awareness and the fact that he could sense her presence without one is a feat in and of itself, she often wondered just how much stronger he would be with Aura.
"Good morning Jaune" she replied with a smile as she approached and sat by his side.
Jaune regarded her with a smile and not a fake one just for formalities but a real genuine smile. It started ever since she asked where he went early in the morning, seeing no reason to lie he told her he goes to the roof to view the sunrise. Ever since then Pyrrha would come and keep him company, he didn't mind honestly, it was good to have company and he figured she would be lonely since they were the only ones who woke up this early.
Pyrrha liked having these early morning rendezvous with Jaune, granted it was quiet the first few days where she would sit at a reasonable distance away from him and remain silent while he read his book momentarily taking his eyes off of it to view the sunrise. Afterwards they would leave to wake up their two other teammates, they had an alarm clock but Weiss destroyed it some time ago in a hazy fit.
Recently though Jaune had started initiating small conversations with her, Pyrrha could tell that he was guarded around them like he didn't trust them or didn't trust them enough to have a casual conversation. That was fine, Pyrrha is naturally competitive and would overcome the wall he set up to keep others out and dismantle it brick-by-brick, they didn't call her a Champion for nothing.
Jaune could be called the ultimate puzzle she was trying to figure out case in point; she's seen him with that the first time she met and he's still reading it.
'Just what is he reading' she thought with a slightly narrowed eyes.
Obviously the book isn't meant for persons underage but for the life of her she couldn't figure out just what kind of genre it could be. There could be a number of reason why only adults should read it: for example it could be a horror novel, contain heavy violence or even be smut. At that thought she looked to Jaune's expression which was still aloof, she wouldn't picture him reading smut but he is a healthy young man..
"Is something wrong?" she heard him ask.
"Oh, I was just wondering what kind of book you were reading. You seem to be caught up in the story" she answered, her expression unwavering.
Jaune looked at her with an expression she was unused to, he looked, surprised?
Jaune blinked and glanced at the page "really?" he asked.
'Huh?'
"Y-yes, whenever you read that book you seem to be in your own little world" she answered a bit taken aback by his reaction. 'Did he really not know?'
In the honest truth Jaune didn't really know he would come off as that when he read his favorite story. In fact it was thanks to his Shinobi training that he was still coherent enough to at least have some semblance of what was going on around him when he read. He is just that hyper aware, just like how he noticed there was something bothering her even though he wasn't paying attention.
Now how would he explain what he was reading to her, it wasn't something one could just talk about with just anyone, the themes involved were….. mature to say the least.
"It's an adult comedy" he replied half truthfully.
"Really?" she said curiously "what is it about?"
"It's about the adventures of a protagonist who gets himself into different situations" she looked at him blankly "very funny and creative situations" he finished.
"Oh"
"…"
"…."
*Book snaps shut*
Jaune suddenly felt too awkward to even read it in her presence anymore besides the sun was rising. They did what they always did during this time, stay silent and watch. As expected, it was a grand spectacle and it turned the awkward silence into a comfortable on. It also gave Pyrrha enough time to think of something to change the subject.
"We have combat classes today" she asked hopefully.
To her dismay he answered with a dull "ah" followed by silence.
The redhead's smile slowly faltered at his lack of interest, it was like when she first started trying to get to know him, when he acted like he was the most boring person ever who wasn't interested in anything.
"We should go and wake up Weiss and Ruby" he stood and outstretched his hand for her to take.
Pyrrha blinked, this was the first time he did this and usually he was face deep in his book. She gingerly took his hand and he pulled her up easily enough. His hands were soft yet firm she noted as he almost effortlessly pulled her up and suddenly Pyrrha's smile returned. Both of them headed to wake their teammates in comfortable silence, the champion oblivious to her partner's pensive expression.
To Be Continued…
Author's Notes: For those that didn't know I think the title says it all about this chapter, I won't insult your intelligence by pointing it out. As always leave a review.
