Author's Note: I got done with this a day early so I decided to release it a day early. It focuses on Team JNPR and duels. There's a bit of the actual development of forming the harem itself but not as much, only a little. Ringo may seem overpowered in this, so I might as well come out with a tiny spoiler and say he's not on Pyrrha's level. I've been holding back on editing chapter eight so I might as well get to it. As usual enjoy the chapter.
razmire: Whenever I think mental hospital, the first thing that pops in my head is this game called Twisted Metal Black. It's a solitary, but everyone is insane in some way so it fits in. I don't recommend checking it out if you're disturbed by gorey stuff, it messed me up as a child playing it haha. As for Emerald, she pretty much a shoe in for the harem so yeah.
Titaniumfist3: Thanks! It's one of my favorite games to play so I thought it'd be nice to include it in the fanfic.
Blaze1992: Honestly, I don't know either, haha :P. This chapter is not as dark so it might better suit ya.
It was the following morning. It was the start of a new week. The weekend was over. All students were attending classes. All except Ringo and Blake.
After finding him last night, he hadn't said a word. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang brought him back to Beacon while Blake and Sun went to retrieve his more important items from the treehouse. That included his money, the clothes he bought, the television, and Silver Junior.
From the looks of it, anyone could figure out that Ringo hadn't slept a wink. He just laid there, staring at the wall.
Blake volunteered to be the one who looked after him. Given his mental state, they had to make sure he didn't do anything drastic while no one was there. Since she already missed a week of school, she was assigned a weeks worth of assignments. Ringo was also assigned the same assignments but Blake opted to do his work as an apology for not being there sooner.
Then two weeks passed and still no results. By now, Blake went back to attending classes. She had made up everything for her and Ringo. She was the one who forced Ringo to go to classes.
It worked for the most part. He was up at least. He didn't sleep in class either, so that was a plus. The only downside was that now he relied on Blake for everything.
Ringo only listened to Blake. She wasn't sure why he ignored Ruby, Weiss, and Yang, seeing how he was closer to them. She guessed it must have been something with them spending the week alone with each other, then the time she spent watching over him while the others were in class.
It was simple things at first. They read with each other, ate in their dorm, and paired up during classes. They usually spoke few words. Blake was secretly glad that she was on Ringo good side since he was actually talking to her. He didn't say much but it was something. He hadn't talked to the others at all.
Blake enjoyed it at first. It was nice to have a reading buddy. They sat right next to each other and shared a book. She discovered that they read at the same pace, so whenever she was finished with a page she went on to the next knowing that he was done too.
Having someone around who was as quiet as her was a nice change of pace. Then it went south real fast.
Her teammates, particularly Weiss, were miffed that Ringo only responded to Blake. Weiss often shot them jealous glares. They still spoke to her, but not as much as before. Blake rolled with it for a while, preferring Ringo's company.
Then it happened yesterday. It was on a relaxing Sunday evening. Team RRWBY were doing nothing in their dorm. Ruby was dozing off after having a sugar rush. Yang was asleep with her scroll on her face. Weiss was finishing up homework, being the only one other than Blake who actually did it.
Ringo and Blake sat on his bed, reading one of the novels that Blake grabbed from his treehouse. Ringo was having trouble holding his end of the book. Blake noticed that the book was shaking from his end and got fed up with it.
"What's wrong with… you?" Just as she said that, Ringo's back hit the bed. She was worried until she realized that he was just sleeping.
"Finally." Weiss closed her textbooks and got up. Blake placed a blanket over Ringo and stored the book in a safe place. She looked on as Weiss approached him.
Weiss got on the bed and laid down with Ringo. She wrapped her arms around his back and snuggled her face into his back tightly.
"What are you doing?" Blake asked.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" Weiss' response was muffled due to her face being pressed against his back.
"Stop it. He needs rest. What will he say when he wakes up to you with him?" Weiss continued to ignore Blake, much to her dismay. "Weiss, I'm being serious. Aren't you listening to m-"
"Why do you care?!" Weiss snapped. "You're not the one who likes him!" She buried her face back on Ringo's form.
Weiss' words made Blake flinch. She replayed them over and over, remembering every second she spent with Ringo. Her eyes widened in realization, but she quickly shook it off, believing it to be false.
'I don't like him. I just like him as a friend. I'm there for him. He only wants to be around me, so that justifies my case.' Blake stared at Ringo's face, identifying the exhaustion on it.
'I can't let Weiss ruin his recovery. It's partly my fault for thinking that there was no mental hospital. I could've saved him sooner and prevented all of this. Whatever happened in there messed him up.'
Blake blamed herself for what happened to Ringo. She was so sure that there wasn't a building. Even Sun, who was with her, didn't see one either. They must have gotten the directions wrong. It was the only logical answer she could think of. Now it was her responsibility to support him.
Blake would like to think she's been doing a great job. Ringo's grown attached to her. That meant it was working. It was her job to keep it that way. Even if it meant pushing the heiress away.
So Blake slipped in the covers with them.
While Weiss hogged his backside, Blake laid right next to his front. Of course, Weiss protested against this immediately.
"What are you doing!? This is my spot!" Weiss whispered in a hush tone, attempting to control her anger.
"Since you don't want to listen, I have to do this, Weiss," Blake said calmly.
"Weiss…" Ringo mumbled in his sleep. "Come here…" His arms dangled around Blake's waist to pull her in closer. He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead before resuming his light snoring.
"Hey! That was my kiss!" Weiss grew a little louder.
Blake froze. Her pupils dilated considerably as she was pressed further into Ringo's neck. Her heartbeat increased rapidly. An odd warm sensation spread through her chest. Her ears twitched, tickling Ringo's face.
"Blake! You had your fun. I'll stop if you do," Weiss pleaded. Unfortunately for her, Blake didn't pay her to mind. She remained in her spot. "Fine. Just for tonight." Weiss had no choice but to give in. It was Blake. She doubted she'd try anything anyway.
The following morning, which is today, Blake woke up early in order to escape his hold before the others noticed.
This was the downside. Because of how much time she was with Ringo, she slowly began to think of him as something more. It made her shudder just thinking about it. The last relationship she had was with Adam. Even if it was one sided, a silly crush at most. Blake admired Adam a lot. That was, until she saw who he truly was.
When Blake finished dressing in her uniform, she shook Weiss up. The heiress merely raised her head before returning back down.
"Ringo still hasn't forgiven you. You never apologized either. I believe it's best if you get up now," Blake insisted.
"That's just it. Today's the day I'll make it up to him. If you'll excuse me, I'm going to stay here longer." Weiss took over Blake's empty spot, enjoying getting the same treatment.
The cat was already out of the bag. Everyone on the team knew about their hidden romance. Weiss had no reason to be sneaky anymore. If anything, she had to make sure no one tried to steal Ringo from under her nose.
Blake's eyes narrowed at the heiress. Regardless, she left the dorm to go get some breakfast.
Weiss felt Ringo begin to stir. When he did open his eyes, he was met with Weiss' smiling face. She kissed him tenderly on the lips, moaning lightly when Ringo returned it.
'Wait a minute…' Ringo blinked, coming back to his senses. He backed out of the kiss and pressed his back on the wall. He glared at her, refusing to speak.
"Oh come on. Blake forgave me! Why won't you?" Weiss waited for him to give her an answer. He didn't. "You still think I'm unfaithful, right?" Ringo nodded. "I changed! I changed for you! I even made friends with Velvet!"
Ringo's eyes widened in surprise. Weiss noticed this, finding hope that he may forgive her.
"She taught me everything there is to the faunus life. I learned the error of my ways! I promise I won't ever discriminate faunus' and only hate the White Fang for who they are now. Please Ringo…" Her eyes moistened, expressing her eternal regret.
Ringo raised his hand, only lifting up a pinky.
"A pinky promise? How childish can you get?" Ringo's glare returned. "Fine. Fine. There." She wrapped her pinky around Ringo's, her promise now secure.
Ringo got up and headed for the bathroom. Weiss sat up and sighed.
"Right… I need to build your trust back," Weiss groaned, sprawling on the bed.
She didn't know why, but Ringo brought out a different side of her. The more affectionate side that greatly overcame her formal side. Her whole life, she developed a icy heart from the way her childhood shaped out to be. Her father neglected her, the White Fang terrorizing the people close to her, all these things led to Weiss being more cold towards strangers.
But with Ringo, he somehow found a way to get her to open her up. For that, she was grateful. She was grateful that she had someone who cared for her and vice versa. All that pent up emotion was gifted for Ringo. Weiss thought it was strange to feel this way, though she didn't complain. It was a good kind of feeling.
With that, Weiss got ready for the day.
Team RRWBY were in dueling class with Professor Goodwitch. Weiss had her usual battle clothing on. She stayed close to Ringo as class went on.
"To prepare for the upcoming Vytal Festival, each team will practice in the tournament's format," Professor Goodwitch announced. "That means team versus team, pair versus pair, and the classic two person duel. I already assigned the duels for today."
Professor Goodwitch listed off which teams will be facing each other. Then it came to Team RRWBY and JNPR left.
"Ren and Nora, you two will face against Blake and Yang." Nora squealed happily, hugging a neutral face Ren. Yang and Blake shared a fist pump.
Nora begged the headmaster for weeks to be transferred to their class. Ozpin finally gave in, taking into account that their team needed to be together if they wanted to get some practice for the festival done.
"Ruby." Ruby's face brightened. "You'll be up against Pyrrha." Her face fell dramatically while Pyrrha smiled.
"Awww! Not the invincible girl!" Ruby whined, amusing Pyrrha.
'Might as well get ready to watch their fights.' Ringo expected Professor Goodwitch to leave him out like she always did. He hadn't had a match since Cardin, and that was an entire month ago.
"Jaune." Jaune grinned, looking at Weiss. He knew that Goodwitch rarely called on Ringo too. His opponent was sure to be Weiss. This was his chance to get a few words in to her. "Your opponent is… Ringo."
"What!?" Both Ringo and Jaune shouted in unison. Jaune nearly fainted. Ringo appeared happy for the first time in a while.
"Ah. So he speaks again." Professor Goodwitch rolled her eyes. "Yes. Miss Schnee, I hope you don't mind sitting out for this."
"No ma'am!" Weiss was eager to watch Ringo back in action. If it meant giving up one day of training then so be it. Blake told her and the team that Ringo didn't want participate in the Vytal Festival. Getting into the spirit should change that.
"Good, because your match is up first, Mr. Yin, Mr. Arc," Professor Goodwitch beckoned them to the stage. Ringo headed for the stage. Jaune still hadn't moved, so Pyrrha and Ren assisted him to the stage.
'I need to let it all out. I was hoping for Ren. Jaune should be fine. I need to remember to hold back just a smidge.'
Ringo had his staff ready in his hands. He let out a few shots of electricity from the end of the staff, hitting the ceiling. Satisfied, Ringo sent Jaune a challenging smirk.
Jaune gulped. He shakily gripped his sword and shield, remembering all the tips he received from Pyrrha.
'O-okay. Pyrrha said that Ringo's main weakness is his hand to hand combat. If I can get close and attack relentlessly, then I can outmatch him.' Jaune went over his strategy in his head.
"You may begin… now!"
Ringo went in on Jaune with his staff at hand. This caught Jaune off guard, expecting him to use his lightning. He raised his shield in time, blocking his attack.
Ringo turned his whole body around and lowered himself to sweep Jaune's legs. Jaune fell on his back, taking in the blow as Ringo stomped his chest with both feet. Thanks to his armor, the pain was lessened.
Ringo tossed his staff in the air muck like a baton. The staff, aka Vinny, rotated multiple times, shooting bursts of electricity all over the stage.
Unlike his semblance, this electricity hurt… a lot. Jaune quickly regained his footing and managed to find a spot where there wasn't electricity.
"Is it…?" Jaune poked the electricity in front of him. "Youch!" He jumped, holding his hand to his chest.
"Really Jaune?" Pyrrha disapproved of his actions. She looked up at the hologram screen. Both of their aura levels remained the same, albeit Jaune's being a little lower but not by that much.
"Aren't you going to use your semblance on me?" Jaune questioned his opponent. Ringo thought about it, then shook his head. "Oh thank goodness!"
Jaune had no interest in becoming a shaking mess like Cardin. The electricity cleared up. Jaune got back motivation. He might actually get the win if it's up close battles that Ringo wanted.
That's what he did. Jaune sprinted towards Ringo, sword ready to strike. He struck at Ringo's shoulder blade, but ended up missing when he rolled out of the way. Jaune was too caught up in his momentum and staggered.
Ringo saw the opportunity and took it. He pushed his foot right on Jaune's right calf hard. Jaune let out a cry and dropped on one knee. Ringo leapfrogged over Jaune's back, hitting Jaune's jaw with his staff. Jaune was sent flying backward as a result.
"Yeah! You got this Ringoooo!" Ruby cheered on her teammate.
"No! Jaune, don't let him break your legs!" Nora cried out worriedly.
"I'm trying not too!" Jaune said.
"Remember what we did during training!" Pyrrha reminded him.
'During training? Oh! That's right! Look for an opening!' Jaune pretended to be hurt, laying down unresponsive. As planned, Ringo fell for it and went in to attack.
'Aaannd… now!' Jaune rolled his body behind Ringo. He flung his shield at Ringo's face when he turned to him, momentarily stunning him.
"Have this!" Jaune kicked his gut and then followed up by using his shield as a battering ram to put Ringo down.
Ringo's body skidded back. He got back up but was met by a flurry of attacks from Jaune. To his credit, Ringo kept up with him, blocking each attack with the middle of his staff. Since he had both hands on Vinny, using it as a shield in front of his chest, Jaune stomped on his shoe.
Ringo winced in pain. He did a backflip to distance himself from Jaune. He transformed Vinny into its dual wield pistol form and shot a couple of bolts of electricity at Jaune.
'Shit! I forgot to switch the bullets!' Ringo was hoping for actual bullets, instead receiving bullets of electricity. Jaune easily parried all the jolts with his sword.
"Should've used your semblance!" Jaune gave him no chance to change his bullets. He kicked away his guns, leaving Ringo weaponless.
"Wow! Jaune's really improving!" Yang complimented.
"He sure is," Pyrrha said with a proud face. "Plus, he and Ringo trained not too long ago too."
"They did?" Ren asked, not knowing this.
"Yes. I had to finish up a load of assignments so Ringo volunteered to coach him," Pyrrha replied, smiling.
"Aw what! He actually talked to you?" Yang became slightly annoyed when Pyrrha nodded. He was willing to talk to her but not his own teammates?
"We talk too." Blake added in, eyes focused on the duel.
"No fair!"
Meanwhile, Jaune believed that he had Ringo cornered. He checked his aura with his scroll. He was just above half. This proved to be his downfall.
When he looked up, Ringo was right in front of him. He poked him in the eye, causing Jaune to drop his scroll. Ringo punched Jaune's in the stomach and pinned his arm behind his back.
Ringo gave Jaune a taste of his own medicine by kicking Jaune's sword out of his hands. He flipped Jaune over, gaining his shield in the process.
When Jaune got back to his feet, Ringo threw his shield at Jaune's left calf again. With his opponent distracted, Ringo uppercutted his jaw, sending him high up in the air.
Ringo jumped to reach Jaune's body and had both feet on Jaune's left leg. The added forced drove Jaune down fast, his left leg being squashed under Ringo's weight.
"Gah!" Jaune clutched his injured left leg, already sustaining damages on his calf.
Ringo hurriedly retrieved his weapon and shifted back into its staff form. He slammed the bottom of it on the stage. A trail of electricity burst from the stage and went forward until it reached Jaune, electrocuting his down form.
The electricity made Jaune's body jump up. Ringo capitalized on this by shoving his staff onto his stomach, sending more volts of electrical into him.
Jaune's body laid on the ground twitching frequently. His blonde hair was standing all the way up. He muttered some random gibberish with a goofy smile on his face.
"Jaune's aura has dropped to red! This duel is over!" Professor Goodwitch ended the match, declaring Ringo as the victor.
"Yeah!" Ruby and Yang roared loudly at his victory. Weiss and Blake clapped politely.
Ringo walked over to Jaune and tapped his staff on him. The electricity around Jaune transferred back over to his staff. He hopped down the stage to join the others. His eyes locked on to Pyrrha's when they passed each other.
From Ruby's view, he whispered something to Pyrrha. Whatever it was made Pyrrha freeze. She cocked her head back and glared at the retreating victor.
"Blake, Yang, Lie Ren, and Nora, your match is next." Professor Goodwitch announced the next match.
"Good luck." Ringo patted Blake's shoulder. She nodded in response and went up the stage with Yang.
The battles throughout the day went by smoothly. It was a close one between Yang and Blake against Ren and Nora. Team RRWBY came out on top in the end, further cementing their winning streak.
That streak came to an end once Ruby and Pyrrha squared up. Pyrrha was able to dominate Ruby for most of the time. Ruby did have a little momentum going on towards the end. However, the results were in favor of Pyrrha anyway.
Lunch rolled around soon after. Team RRWBY were all present for lunch today. They sat with Team JNPR, discussing their battles.
"We totally kicked your butts. Two on one lead isn't so bad," Yang bragged, elated by the outcomes.
"Woo…" Ruby wasn't as happy as before. She ruined their winning streak. Granted, while it was against the invincible girl, it still stung.
Ringo ruffled her hair a bit, smiling warmly at his leader. Ruby couldn't help but return the gesture, feeling better that no one on the team minded the loss.
"Jaune had Ring boy cornered too!" Nora chimed in.
"Hey! Only I get to call him that!" Yang yelled. Nora whistled, avoiding her eye. Now she was going to stick with the name because it made Yang mad.
"That's because he never used his semblance," Weiss pointed out, hurting Jaune's pride.
"Jaune never used his either, Ice Queen!" Nora giggled, catching the tick mark appear on Weiss' forehead.
"Ice Queen?"
"That's the perfect nickname for you! Ice Queen!" Ruby joined Nora in teasing the heiress. "Your heart is as cold as ice!"
"No it is not! Doctor, back me up!" Weiss turned to Ringo for assistance. Luck wasn't on her side during this argument. Ringo was busy reading with Blake.
"The bookworms are together again!"
"When did Ringo start reading? I haven't seen him read any of the textbook reading in class," Ren said, ignoring Nora poking his sides obnoxiously.
"They've been at it since they returned from their little adventure. Every time I see those two together, they're always reading something," Yang answered. She got curious as to what they were reading.
"Yoinks!" Yang snatched the book from their hands. Rather than two pages filled with boring words, her eyes saw pictures and speech bubbles. "You're reading Camp Camp, the comic? And you were hiding it inside this book?"
Blake's cheeks tinged pink, embarrassed from being caught reading a comic. Ringo took the book and comic back and continued off reading from where he left off on.
"Ringo said it was a good read." Was all that Blake said.
"Ooh! I hope we do team battles tomorrow!" Ruby deflated. "But then someone has to sit out again…"
Ringo raised his hand up in the middle of his reading, volunteering to be the lone one out.
"In that case. I wanna face Ring boy!" Nora flicked a pea at his face.
"Huh? Why?" Jaune was confused. Nora never showed interest in Ringo. Why now?
"Out of everyone on that team, he's the easiest!" Nora dropped the bombshell, causing everyone's jaws to drop.
A dark aura surrounded Ringo. He gently put the comic book down and glared daggers at Nora. He was met with another pea to the face.
"Nora, you shouldn't make statements like that." Ren tried to ease the tension.
"But it's true!" Both Nora and Ringo stood up from their seats. "If you're not chicken, you'll accept my challenge."
The two spit on their hands and clasped them over the other. The others thought it was disgusting. Ringo and Nora believed it as a honorable agreement.
It was evening. While Yang, Ruby, and Blake were eating at the dining hall, Ringo and Weiss stayed back. Ringo called it an early night and fell asleep. Weiss did too, squeezing in tightly next to him. What surprised her the most was the goodnight kiss he gave her before he turned in.
'I have to remember to go pick up those ordered clothes for Ringo. I've been putting it off for weeks. It'll be a good way to get back on his good side.' Weiss thought, making arrangements on her scroll. 'Wait…'
On her list of reminders, on the very top was a reminder that Team JNPR were coming over… today. What's worse is that their voices were nearby.
'Oh no!' Weiss bounced up from the bed and rushed inside the bathroom. She didn't want anyone seeing her in her current state. Especially Pyrrha. The only reason she was like this was because she was about to sleep.
Ruby, Blake, Yang, and Team JNPR entered the dorm.
"Riiinnggooo! Wake up!" Ruby jumped on his bed repeatedly. She did her highest jump yet, landing with such force that it knocked Ringo off the bed.
Ringo woke up, rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He was none to pleased with the abrupt intrusion.
"Look! Our friends are here!" She gestured over to Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, and Ren. Ringo scowled, returning back to the solitude of his bed. He wrapped his whole body in his blanket, only leaving his face uncovered.
"I lost to this guy?" Jaune scratched his head. Right now, Ringo looked like a couch potato. Lazy, sleepy, and wanting to be left alone.
"Don't be so lazy. Get up," Blake ordered. Ringo eyes watered. His puppy dog eyes were no match for Blake. It made her eyes sharpen. He sighed in frustration, removing the blanket off of him.
"Wow. Think you can order him to go on another date with me?" Yang whispered.
"Absolutely not." Just then, Weiss came out of the bathroom in her usual attire. She had her hair back into a high ponytail and had light touch of makeup on.
"Great! Now that everyone's here, it's time to get down to business!" Ruby brought everyone in a circle. "Alright! Ringo! What should we do?"
Ringo's eyes turned into dots. He flicked Ruby's forehead with no remorse. He plopped back down on his bed and grabbed the remote.
"Ah! Excellent idea! We'll watch a movie!" Ruby sat at the edge of his bed and nabbed the remote from him. Ringo still had his hands on the remote and the two engaged in a tug-of-war for the remote.
"R-ringo! This is for our movie night!" Ruby protested.
"It's his television. Let him decide what to watch." Weiss covered for Ringo. Ruby reluctantly handed him back his remote.
Smirking from his victory, Ringo chose the movie they all were going to watch.
"Hi! My name is Milly Ninabeth! And this is Nifford, my big blue dog!" The opening of Nifford the Big Blue Dog came on. Just about every deadpanned at the grinning Ringo.
Nora gasped, "No way! You're a fan of Nifford the Big Blue Dog too!?" Ringo nodded, now sporting a hat with Nifford's face on it. "I have the same hat!" Nora wore her Nifford hat too.
"That hat cost more than you think," Ren sighed. Nora, Ringo, and Jaune were on the Nifford side. Everyone else was against it.
"Pick another show, doctor!" Weiss snapped. Ringo rolled his eyes, blatantly ignoring her.
"Ringo…" Blake persuaded him to change it just by saying his name. Weiss got jealous over this, but hid it since there was company over.
"Nifford, remembered when you were a puppy? One puppy! Two puppy!" The theme song for Nifford's Puppy Days played, making Ringo, Nora, and Jaune happy again.
"It's clear movie night won't happen," Yang grumbled. "Now what?"
Ruby had a box in her hands. "I have this board game-"
"No," Yang rejected the suggestion in a heartbeat.
"But it's really-"
"No. Everyone's going to fight." Ever since their first team meeting, Yang was wary of board games. It led to fights among friends, only sparing those who were winning.
"What's the game?" Pyrrha asked, clueless as to what Yang was hinting at.
"It's Pardon! The game with the colorful pawn-like pieces! Everyone should know what this game is all about!" Ruby beamed.
"Isn't that for four players though?"
"We can't all be perfect!" Ruby shouted at Jaune, who cowered back to his original spot. "Those of us that want to play sit here and those that want to watch… Nifford go over there."
Spying his favorite game, Ringo sat at the Pardon section in a blink of an eye.
"I'll sit out for this round." Ren went towards Nora. She squealed, finding Nifford the puppy cute. Jaune was also on the Nifford section, wearing a Nifford watch.
"I'm game." Pyrrha took the second spot.
"Me too." Yang stole the third spot, leaving Ruby and Weiss as the last ones.
"Clever distraction!" Ruby cried out, throwing Weiss' hairbrush in the trash can.
"Not this time!" Weiss tossed a yummy batch chocolate chip cookies to the side. Ruby's eyes sparkled. She transformed into her flat chibi form, floating in the air while following the scent.
"Smart," Yang chuckled. Weiss flicked her ponytail back, smirking.
"Everyone knows the rules?" Pyrrha quiered, earning head nods. "I'll pick the red pieces."
"Blue for me." Weiss grabbed her blue pieces.
"Yell-" Yang was about to claim the yellow pieces as hers until Ringo took them. "Woah, woah, woah! Those are my pieces! Yellow is literally my gist! Green is ugly!"
Ringo merely shrugged, angering his blonde teammate.
"Color doesn't matter. Let's start the game already." That's what they did. All their pawns were placed at the start circle. The cards were stacked in the middle. It was time to decide who went first.
They played rock paper scissors to decide. It was down to Ringo and Yang. Weiss was out first, meaning she was last and Pyrrha was third.
"Rock paper scissor… shoot!" Yang balled her fist, signaling rock as her choice. Ringo made a gun with his thumb and index finger, shooting Yang's rock.
"Gun's not in the game!" Yang seethed in fury. Ringo went for the first card on the top of the stack, not caring for the rules. He placed it on the board so everyone could see. It was a one, meaning he moved up one.
The process of picking cards went on for a few minutes. Ringo got a five. He moved five spaces, realizing that Pyrrha's red pawn was at the space he was supposed to land.
Ringo grinned. He extracted his arm all the way back, pawn in hand. He pushed Pyrrha's pawn, sending it flying to the far end of the room. His yellow pawn piece relaxed on the now unoccupied space.
"Pardon," Ringo said in a low voice, the smug grin not leaving his face. Pyrrha frowned. She got up to go recover her pawn.
Yang snickered along with Ringo. That's how the rest of the game went. Ringo only did it with Pyrrha. He gave gentle bumps to Weiss and Yang's pawns as they did to him. Pyrrha never got a chance to get him back.
Pyrrha let out a huff of annoyance. Not one of her pawns made it home yet. Ringo always made sure to get her before she made it to the safe zone. He even skipped his opportunity to get a pawn at home just so he could strike Pyrrha's pawn. When he pulled out a card with the word Pardon on it, he specifically went after Pyrrha.
'Please be a ten.' Pyrrha flipped the card over. It just so happened to be a ten. Her eyes lit up. Ringo's yellow pawn was on that space.
Feeling like a million bucks, Pyrrha grabbed hold of Ringo's innocent pawn.
"Pardon!" Pyrrha threw the yellow pawn out the open window, laughing at her success.
"What's your problem, Pyrrha? It's just a game," Yang said, shocking Pyrrha.
"I-I… but he-"
"We can't play without that pawn piece. You ruined the game." Yang frowned deeply. She was one pawn away from winning.
"You should learn to better control your anger. Why didn't you lightly bump his pawn like the rest of us?" Weiss sighed, bummed out.
"Hmph!" Ringo turned his back against her, nose high up in the air.
Pyrrha didn't take this kindly. "What's your deal today? You've been nothing but cruel to me. First the thing you said to me during sparring class, then having your hamster ransack my dinner, and now this. I haven't done anything to you."
The room went silent. Pyrrha looked ready to go off on Ringo. Ringo went to his desk and opened the single drawer. He pulled out an item and presented it to Pyrrha.
Pyrrha gasped softly. Her eyes glistened, a fire reflecting off of them. In Ringo's hand was a cupcake with one lit candle stuck on top of it. The candle was shaped into the number five.
"It's the anniversary of my first Mistral Regional Tournament win. I only told you once and you still remembered." Pyrrha couldn't contain the growing smile on her lips. "Is that why you were being so mean? So I would least expect this?"
Ringo nodded, a toothy grin plastered on his face. He handed the cupcake to Pyrrha that came along with a card.
Pyrrha read it aloud.
"Happy fifth anniversary of your first Mistral Regional Tournament win. Here's to another great year and good luck for the Vytal Festival Tournament. From, Ringo Yin… and Jaune Arc!" Pyrrha's mood brightened, not only did Ringo do such a kind act but so did Jaune.
"Jaune Arc?" Jaune himself was unaware of this. He didn't remember baking a cupcake or signing some card. Hell, he forgot today was the day she won her first Mistral Regional Tournament.
Ringo placed a finger on his lips, telling Jaune to play along with it. He got the memo and pretended that he was a part of this too.
"Oh yeah! How could I forgot one of your many accomplishments!" Jaune puffed his chest out with pride. "What happened, Ren and Nora? How could you two forget!? From your own teammate no less!"
Ren deadpanned, "What's the date of her second Mistral Regional Tournament win?"
Jaune's body stiffened. A nervous smile replaced his confident one. Pyrrha looked on hopefully.
"That doesn't matter right now. What does is her first win! Congrats again Pyrrha!" He dodged the question lamely. Nevertheless, he clapped for his teammate.
"Thank you, Jaune." Ringo whispered something in Pyrrha's ear. "Yes. You're right about that. Thank you too, Ringo."
"I never got a cupcake…" Yang murmured with a hint of jealousy in her voice.
While Pyrrha took a bite out of her cupcake, Ringo also had a box of Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes with a picture of Pyrrha on the front and a pen. He hoped that she'd autograph his box of cereal.
Pyrrha almost spit out her cupcake from laughter.
A few days have passed. Professor Goodwitch didn't grant Ringo and Nora's request until today. Ringo proudly won all of his duels, stretching his win streak to five. Yesterday, he was paired up with Yang against a random duo that neither of them knew. Needless to say, they easily came out on top.
It was around that time that Ringo began speaking to Yang and Ruby again. Weiss was the odd one out. Ringo still hadn't spoken to her, which worried the heiress.
His friendship with Blake grew. They now have full on conversations about the books that they read together, often sharing theories of what's to come.
"Miss Valkyrie, Mr. Yin. You two are up," Professor Goodwitch called them up.
"Finally!" Nora skipped her way to the stage. Blake wished Ringo good luck before he left too. The remaining members of Team RRWBY and JNPR gathered around to share their thoughts of the upcoming battle.
"I got my money on Ring boy. He's on fire!" Yang out her two cents in first.
"Nora's got this. She can't lose," Ren said, garnering some eyebrow raises. "Her semblance, you'll see what it's truly capable of."
"The duel starts now!"
Ringo backed up some as Nora stayed where she was at. He knew she had something up her sleeve. Why else did she consider him to be the easiest to battle?
'What are you up to, Nora?'
Ringo shifted Vinny into its gun form. He had a sneaky suspicion as to what she was up to. He just had to test it. He pointed one of his dual pistols at Nora, who spread her arms wide open.
'What the hell? She wants to get hit by my attacks? Damn, the cocky grin is pissing me off.' Ringo strategized his next move. Since his battle with Jaune, Ringo utilized his electrical bullets more often. If she wanted to get hit by the attack then that meant…
"No fucking way!" Ringo blurted out. "That is so unfair!" He tossed Vinny to the side, now knowing her true motives.
"You dropped something!" Ruby was concerned for her teammate. "Why did he toss his weapon away?"
"He's smarter than I thought." Ren nodded his head, impressed. He continued after seeing everyone's confused faces. "Nora's semblance allows her to produce and channel electrical energy into her muscles. It gives her enhanced strength," He explained calmly.
"What!?" Ruby, Yang, and Weiss were in a state of shock. Blake's eyes widened. Jaune and Pyrrha acted normal, already knowing this about their teammate.
"So he never had a chance?" Ruby's head dropped sadly. Ringo's main type of offense relied on electricity. Without it, he was a sitting duck.
"I wouldn't say that. He may surprise us." Ren didn't count Ringo out just yet. He could very well have a back up plan to take Nora down.
Nora feigned innocence. "What? Why'd you stop the attack?"
"You absorb freaking electricity, don't you?!"
"Maybe~" She giggled.
To her surprise, Ringo smirked. "That's quite unfortunate for me. Too bad my semblance doesn't actually cause physical harm."
"What?" Nora got her answer when Ringo lifted his left hand, going into Treatment Mode. The field of electricity covered the whole area in front of him. Her eyes went down, seeing the electricity. She readied herself to absorb the electricity.
Nora's semblance did just that, channeling his electricity to her own gain. However, the sudden scream caught everyone off guard.
"Hehe! I was right. That semblance doesn't protect you from mental harm! You absorbed my electricity that makes someone insane into your body. It doesn't matter if you gain strength. You can't hit anything if you aren't focused!"
Ren straightened up. His eyes were filled with worry, having rarely ever heard Nora scream. When she did, it was painful to hear.
"That electricity is in you. Better get rid of it before your Madness increases!" Ringo advised her. He charged forward, sliding his body down and sweeping her down with his feet.
'Ugh… this feeling…' Nora shook her head, dispelling any negative thoughts in her mind. 'I have to beat him down before I get worse!'
"Kachow!" With her fast speed, Nora grabbed him and tossed him to the air. Ringo recovered in the air and fired off a blast of Shock Therapy at the floor under her.
Nora gritted her teeth, feeling her sanity drop each time she was in contact with his semblance. Her body was sparking with pink electricity. She garnered so much strength from his electricity that she had to use it at some point to gain the upper hand.
"Take this!" Nora slammed her hammer, Magnhild, at the floor. The impact caused the whole stage to shake. Ringo lost his footing. He went flying backwards and burst through the wall, creating a Ringo sized hole.
The electricity on the floor lessened its range, allowing Nora to escape its clutches for a brief period of time.
Ringo slowly crawled out from the wall. He shakily stood back up, only for Nora to throw her hammer at him. This caused him to create another hole in the wall.
'I got him down. If I keep corners him then he can't charge up his electric mumbo jumbo!' Nora moved forward to reclaim Magnhild. Ringo tried to prevent from doing so by summoning a crack of Shock Therapy at her weapon.
Magnhild sucked up all the electricity, acting like a lightning rod of some sort.
"This is so stupid!" Ringo cried out, beyond frustrated. Everything he did, Nora could counter with ease. The only way he could see himself winning was to drive her insane. He of course, didn't want to resort to that, but it looked like he had no other choice.
The disadvantages of attempting to drive her insane was that she got stronger. One good hit could potentially throw his strategy right out the window.
'I want to win… I want to win! Win! Win!' Ringo felt himself start to lose control. His streak couldn't end like this, after he let Nora get away with calling him an easy opponent.
'We'll see who's an easy opponent.'
Nora jumped, her hammer coming down to smack Ringo's body. He stuck his hands out forward, creating a black circular aura barrier to block off Nora's attack. Nora's hammer smashed his aura shield, breaking it on impact due to its sheer force.
The force prompted the two to crash at each ends of the stage.
Ruby and Pyrrha compared scrolls to check on their aura. Nora was riding high on green while Ringo's was lingering at yellow.
"Screw this!" Ringo struggled to get up. His knees slumped down, nearly in defeat. He banged his fists on the ground, the electric field in front of him growing larger in height with each hit on the floor.
"The Doctor's not taking any precautions!" Ringo signature crazy grin came back.
"Doctor? You're not old enough to be one." Nora tilted her head in confusion.
"Silly girl." Ringo clenched his left fist. Nora noticed that he wasn't moving. Channeling the electricity from beneath her, she gathered plenty of strength to go in for her next move.
'Please watch out Nora.' Ren watched on, chastising her careless attacks.
Just as Nora neared in on Ringo, he raised his arms high up in the air. The electricity field rose all the way to the ceiling, now at its maximum potential. Magnhild hit Ringo spot on his shoulder.
"Ahhhh!" Nora let out her highest screech yet. She dropped her hammers and smothered her face onto the floor, arms above her head. Fresh tears leaked from her face. Her sniffles were loud enough for the front portion of students to hear.
"This better not be tier three, doctor." Weiss could only stand there and watch the scene unfold.
Nora's aura remained on green, regardless of her state. She hadn't received any physical harm from the exchange. Ringo's aura was at a low yellow, but relatively straying a good measure from red.
Ringo's eyes softened at the sight of his opponent crying. He sat in front of her, crossing his legs.
"Poor girl. So much pain… so much suffering. The doctor loves it~" The field in front of him never left, increasing Nora's Madness while she was unable to think properly.
"I hate seeing someone cry. It's a pathetic display of weakness!" Ringo sneered. She let out a pained wail, making Ringo laugh. "Dear me, tell me your strife! I'll wait."
Ringo just sat there, observing Nora's behavior. His body rocked back and forth, grinning madly.
"Miss Valkyrie, are you still able to compete?" Professor Goodwitch's voice surprised everyone.
"She is! She is!" Ringo replied to her.
"I wasn't asking you. I'll give you the count of ten to get up, Miss Valkyrie." Professor Goodwitch began counting to ten. Each second became harder to hear for Team JNPR. "Ten. Due to… mind issues, Miss Valkyrie is not fit to compete any more. Same goes to anyone who can't fight even when your aura isn't low. The winner is... Mr. Yin by technical knockout."
Team JNPR made a beeline to Nora, Ren being the one to comfort her. Ringo looked around the room. Everyone except his own team was either surprised, afraid, or angry at him. Nora was one of those girls who was always in an upbeat mood. Seeing her in a crying mess put everyone on edge.
'This is exactly like last year. No one likes the Doctor. They're scared of the Doctor. No one will beat the Doctor. He'll reign supreme. He'll reclaim his crown.'
Ringo raised six fingers, indicating his sixth win in a row. A few boos came his way. He gladly welcomed them, gesturing them to keep it up.
"What's wrong with him? Ringo's never been this mean before." Ruby frowned, disliking this side of Ringo.
"Seems like the Doctor is behind this," Weiss said, though Ruby and Weiss didn't quite understand it.
"No. This is not his work. It's Ringo's own doing," Blake revealed. "He snaps out of it whenever he passes out or when he sees someone cry."
"What's crying got to do with this?" Yang asked, clueless from everything that's been happening. Weiss' eyes sharpened, not pleased that Blake corrected her.
"It reminds Ringo of himself. He's been through more than he's told you. The act of crying is sentient enough for him to break out of his crazy persona," She explained, staring at Ringo behaving arrogantly.
Yang cracked her knuckles. "So we have to knock his ego down a notch? Got it."
"No. I believe there's someone more qualified to do it professionally." Blake directed their attention back to the stage.
Pyrrha had gotten into a heated one sided argument with Ringo. Ringo stood there smirking while Pyrrha was going on a huge rant on how he should've tone it down with Nora.
"Come to think of it, Pyrrha hasn't lost a match either," Yang hummed.
"The invincible girl," Ruby added in.
"I haven't heard of the last time she lost." Weiss contributed, bringing up one of the many accomplishments of Pyrrha Nikos.
Pyrrha pointed a finger onto Ringo's chest, too invested in her emotions. He slapped her finger away, now appearing annoyed with her.
"Enough you two!" Professor Goodwitch stopped the confrontation before it further escalated. "Might I remind you Miss Nikos, that Miss Valkyrie requested this match up. It is her own fault if things didn't go the way she wanted it to. Getting angry at Mr. Yin won't solve anything. He won, fair and square."
Pyrrha couldn't deny her claims. Ringo was the better fighter here. It didn't mean she had to like it though.
"Woah. Professor Goodwitch defended Ringo!" Yang's mouth went agape. Goodwitch defending Ringo was as rare as Ruby refusing a homemade cookie.
"Yes, professor…" Pyrrha bowed her head. "Then may I have a match against Ringo?"
Professor Goodwitch shook her head. "While I do trust you, I make the rules around here. Since you were against the outcome of this match up in the first place, I'm not taking anymore duel requests. You'll just have to wait until you two get matched up."
Ringo childishly stuck out his tongue before retreating quietly, brushing past by his team. He left the room, with no one stopping him.
Ringo was back in the dorm. Instead of going to sleep like he usually did, he worked on something hidden inside his desk. It was a secret project. Something so secret that anyone reading about his life couldn't know.
Thankfully, since Goodwitch's class was the last one for the day, it gave him plenty of time to work privately before the others came back.
"Silver Junior, c'mere for a sec." Ringo cupped his small hamster in his hands and placed him on his desk.
He tapped his weapon on top of Silver Junior's head. Nothing happened, resulting in nothing happening to the hamster.
"Rats. You were supposed to go a little crazy," Ringo muttered. Silver Junior's eyes widened. He let out a frightened squeak and jumped inside his pink hamster ball.
'Note to self, the Doctor needs a new test subject.' Ringo continued for another hour until he checked the time. The rest of the team were due to come from dinner at any time now.
With that in mind, Ringo hid his secret project back in his desk. He slipped under his covers, pretending to have been asleep the entire time.
The door opened and in came Ruby, Weiss, Blake, and Yang.
"See? He should be back to normal by the time he wakes up. Sleeping is like a hobby for him at this point." Yang plopped down on her bottom bunk, stretching her body. "That battle against Cardin was a breeze, but man am I tired!"
"You're one to talk. You sleep during class too," Weiss retorted, earning the stink eye from Yang.
"Aw. But I wanted Ringo to be awake. We were going to play Never Have I Ever together!" Ruby pouted, disappointed.
"Isn't that a kids game?" Blake inquired.
"No! It's a grown-up game!" Ruby defended. "We were supposed get to know each other more this way!"
"You know." Yang suddenly appeared beside her sister, nudging her shoulder. "If you really want to know him, then you should get on the bed with him~"
"What!? How would that help me?" Ruby wasn't sure where Yang was getting at. Yang's grin stretched even wider at her innocence.
"You shouldn't lead your sister on like that," Blake said, interrupting Yang before she began.
"Besides, there's only one person who belongs there," Weiss huffed.
"What do you mean by that?" Yang questioned the heiress, thinking of an answer.
"You'll see." Weiss went inside the bathroom, avoiding the conversation for now.
When nighttime approached, Weiss was all too comfortable in her rightful spot on top of Ringo. She made sure to fully enjoy herself, aware that Yang was giving her a death glare. She hugged him possessively, irritating the blonde more.
Having Weiss with him soothed down Ringo's nerves. He fully returned back to normal after having her in his arms for a going amount of time. Ringo wasn't willing to admit that he already had forgiven Weiss. In truth, he wanted to see where this goes and what measures she'd take to gain back his trust. Like a test of sorts.
That didn't mean he couldn't enjoy himself.
Ringo had both arms wrapped around her too. Their foreheads were pressed against each other. They stared into each others eyes, unconsciously closing the gap between their lips.
"Hey~" Yang came in from out of nowhere, laying on her side next to Ringo. The sudden intrusion was enough for Ringo and Weiss to lose their grip for a split second. That was all that Yang needed to push Weiss to the side.
"Yang?" Ringo was stunned that Yang was being more forward with him. He was used to having Weiss with him. Yang was a totally new experience.
"I thought you might've wanted 'better company' in your arms," Yang cooed. The moment she pressed herself on his left side, Ringo's face heated up considerably. He felt her rather large chest on him, inadvertently getting closer to Yang.
"First Blake, now you?!" Weiss hissed.
"Seriously? Blake's in the running too?"
"You're mad! Just leave us alone." Weiss hugged his right side, Yang on his left.
"No way. This is a really comfortable place. Maybe I should start sleeping here more often." She placed her head on the croon of his neck, smiling warmly.
"Ringo…" Weiss looked at him, desperately wanting Yang to go.
Ringo shrugged, not having any sort of solution for this. He reassured her by kissing her forehead. Weiss sighed, reluctantly accepting having Yang with them.
"Ahem." Yang cleared her throat, leaning her forehead closer. Ringo placed a kiss on her forehead too, satisfying Yang.
'I guess having two pretty girls with me isn't so bad.' Ringo pulled them two in closer. 'I didn't even know Blake was here at some point. I've been sleeping too much as of late.'
Ringo assumed his reasoning for sleeping so much was to make up for lost sleep time. It may have been deeper than that, but he really didn't feel like figuring it out.
His scroll beeped. It was unusual of this to happen so late at night. Ringo let go of Weiss in order to reach his scroll.
'Velvet?' Ringo opened his scroll to find out that it was Velvet who messaged him.
He read it carefully:
'We can't hold Coco back any longer. We're coming back on Sunday. She knows that we've been keeping her away from you. You have to talk to her. You can't avoid this any longer.'
Ringo dropped his scroll on the ground. His face paled. Only one thought came to his mind.
'Fuck.'
Second Author's Note: Next chapter will be mainly Team CFVY so that's something to look forward to. Then after that is Team RWBY and probably one more duel, I'm not too sure yet. Imma add the harem down here to keep y'all updated on it.
In the Harem: Weiss, Ruby, Yang, Blake, Velvet, Emerald, Coco, Penny.
Considerations: Winter, Raven, Neo, Ilia, and Nora.
I've thought about Pyrrha for a while now. I even added a lighthearted interaction between the two in this chapter. But I think I'll have her remain with Jaune. I've also thought about Nora. Someone mentioned her in the past and I still have her as a consideration, but a low one. I get easily swayed in if it's a majority so if you all want her in the harem then I'll add her. Otherwise, she's with Ren. I might of missed some, but that's all the girls that come off the top of my head. Any other suggestions are welcomed. That's all for now so stayed tuned.