Spectacles
(Alright, were here, the penultimate chapter before the final chapter to this week! I hope you're ready everyone!)
(Well with that said, Enjoy! RWBY is owned by Monty Oum and Rooster Teeth!)
Key List:
"Normal Speech" / 'Normal thought'
"Phone Speech"
*Action effect!*
"Angered / Demonic" Speech / 'Angered / Demonic' Thought
Chapter 9: Nora
Ah, Friday! The day before the weekend, the day where anxiety is at its finest and excitement is at its highest! For everyone, this day is the best one out of the whole week, but for some...
"Seriously, how did this happen?!"
...it can be quite the burden.
Currently, we find a rather crossed-looking Lie Ren, who was packing a large bag at the moment, close to swearing harder than a sailor while Jaune was passing him different items.
The answer as to why? Easy.
"I don't know, Stormflower just up and exploded during combat practice!" Ren yelled angrily as he held the broken remains of his weapon, which literally were in pieces.
"Ok, Ok! But what are you going to do now?" Jaune asked as he looked to Ren for an answer, to which Ren replied in a mysterious way.
"I must go to where they were first born, and acquire the tools of the ancients that were used to craft them!" Ren said seriously as an odd stage light seemed to shine down on him.
"And by that, you mean 'go home and get your repair kit before the teachers find out'?" Jaune said in a dull voice as a depressed aura covered Ren's form.
"Yes, thats what I mean..." He said dully, clearly upset at losing his mojo, before looking towards Jaune with a serious expression. "But first I need you to do me a favor."
Jaune quirked up an eyebrow at that, but nodded nonetheless. "Sure, but it'd have to be in my bounds."
"I need you to watch over Nora today," Ren said in a serious manner as he stared at his leader.
...
"What?"
"I need you...to watch over...Nora...for the rest of the day," Ren stated slowly while Jaune continued to stare blankly at him.
"Oh, well that doesn't seem too bad, all I need to do watch over -WHAT ARE YOU HIGH?!" Jaune abruptly shouted, though Ren didn't seem all too effected, and promptly began to panic.
After about three whole minutes, Ren was about to continue, but decided to calm Jaune down first.
"BE QUIET!"
Jaune then stopped and stood stock still while Ren continued.
"Now as I said, I need you to watch Nora since I won't be back for the rest of the day. This won't be difficult, but it will be aggravating considering you haven't had to deal with her behavior before, so I'll give you a few tips when dealing with her, alright?"
Jaune thought for a second, clearly still unsure about it, but eventually nodded.
"Alright, the first thing is this: Sugar. You know full well that Nora is almost as scary as Ruby when she gets her hands on sugar, so watch her carefully for how much she eats."
"The second thing; Her temper. You may be one of the few people I know who might be able to handle her if she gets angry, and trust me when I say this: You. Cannot. Let. Her. Get. Angry!"
"However, the third and final thing I must warn you about; Her happiness. She is a relatively joyful person, but again, watch out for her temper. As long as you can keep her happy and far from anyone if she has Magnhild out, then you may just survive."
Jaune kept nodding at each bit of information but suddenly spoke up. "Wait, you mention I might be able to handle her if she gets angry, what does that mean exactly? What happens when she DOES get angry?"
Ren stopped for a moment as he looked out the window forlornly, remembering back to his early years.
"Its...strange. She doesn't just change her attitude but...she becomes a completely different person all together. I've only seen it once, but that was all I needed to see before I made a promise, and that was to never, ever let her get mad like that ever again."
As Ren turned to look at Jaune, his expression softened. "As for your second question, well...aside from myself, the only other people to have calmed her down was her parents, but the reason why you might have a chance is because, while she might not have known you for as long as she's known me, she trusts you completely."
Jaune looked surprised but couldn't help but feel happy that his team trusts him so much. Taking a look at the clock, Jaune noticed that classes would begin in ten minutes so he grabbed his things and made his way to the door.
"Before you go," Ren said as Jaune looked back, "If it comes down to a point that she gets close to losing it, by any means necessary, calm her down."
With a determined nod, Jaune left the room.
As Ren grabbed his things and opened the window to climb out, he couldn't help but hope that his friend could do this, otherwise, all hell would break loose.
"I hope he can handle her..." Ren muttered before he climbed out the window and began to run as fast as he could to get to his house, which would take up the whole day.
~With Jaune~
'I hope I can handle her...' Jaune thought with a gulp as he proceeded towards the mess hall.
(AN: Ok, can someone tell me what they call it? A cafeteria? A Mess hall? What the hell is it called?)
After a few minutes of walking, Jaune eventually reached the Mess hall. As he entered, he couldn't help but shiver as the mental imagery Ren had left behind was not settling him in the least.
Deciding to get one priority out of the way, Jaune went and got breakfast, which consisted of eggs and bacon, and made his to his friend's table.
As he sat down, he noted the others seemed to be in a light argument on which weapons were the best, to which Ruby seemed to be on a hot streak, while Pyrrha, Velvet and Nora were simply listening in.
However, it didn't take long before Nora noticed his Partners absence.
"Jaune, where's Renny?" Nora asked innocently as the others noticed he was gone as well, so Jaune decided to answer.
"Uh, Well it appears Ren had ended up breaking something of his so he had to go and get it fixed, so he won't be attending classes today," Nora's smile faltered a bit, so Jaune quickly added, "But he asked me to watch over you for the rest of the day while he was gone."
She stopped for a second, and immediately after began grinning almost maniacally as Pyrrha and everyone around her began to scoot away except for Jaune, who was petrified at the moment as a sense of dread began to surround him.
"Yay! This is gonna be so much fun!" Nora cheered excitedly as she scooted close towards Jaune, making him worry more as he attempted to continue eating. For the most part, breakfast was going along swimmingly giving the exception that Nora's close proximity was beginning to annoy the others. Isn't jealousy a cruel mistress?
After some time the bell finally rang and the teams began to make their way out of the Mess Hall and to their next classes. But for poor Jaune, this was going to be the first of many trials he would face today.
"This way, Jauney!" Nora said happily as she pretty much dragged Jaune with her, who was getting a few looks of sympathy from other students while some girls had looks of jealousy. Weird.
~5 minutes later~
After some time, Jaune and Nora reached their first class and soon sat down. A few students looked at them confusedly, as they figured it would be Ren as always, before turning away as the teacher entered.
However, when the teacher Jaune was in the room and not Ren, he seemed to understand the situation completely as he continued to teach class.
As Jaune paid attention to the lesson, since he wanted to leave Ren some notes when he gets back from his 'journey', he couldn't help but let out a tiny squeak as he soon felt something wrap around his arm.
Two somethings, to be exact.
Turning a shaky eye to his right, he was soon at a loss for words as Nora was currently clutching his arm at the moment. And where it was between...the best he could do to describe it was 'pillow heaven'.
Nora giggled quietly, clearly enjoying Jaune's reaction, and simply snuggled herself comfortably next to him.
For Jaune, he was only processing one thing in his head as he tried to stay focused as well as calm the massive blush that was forming on his face.
'You better be DAMN thankful I owed you this favor, Ren!'
~40 LONG minutes later~
The class finally came to an end, thank the heavens, and Jaune was about ready to move onto the next class as fast as he could. Sadly, fate, like always, is on her period and is constantly screwing others over.
And today, Jaune was her target.
"Jauney! Thats not the right way, our next class is this way!" Nora said happily as she clutched Jaune's arm again before pulling Jaune the other way. Jaune, for the most, was merely happy that he was doing so well for the most part, but he just hoped that things could stay that way for awhile.
...yeeeeaaaah, good luck with that Arc.
For the next five minutes, Jaune was dragged around by Nora until they reached their next class, which just so happened to be Professor Port's class.
Taking a seat in Ren's spot, he couldn't help but sigh as he realized that today was going to be a long one, since the classes were practically taking forever. Glancing around, he was happy to see Pyrrha, Velvet, Ruby, and Blake enter the classroom. Signaling them over, they soon sat down next to him and Nora.
Leaning over, Pyrrha whispered. "So how are you holding up?" He was thankful she at least understood, and whispered back. "Fine, but she's been acting so...different. You have the same class as her, does she do anything whenever Ren's around?"
She thought for a second before responding. "Yeah, she's usually jotting down notes alongside Ren, and would often follow Ren's lead whenever doing an assignment. What did she do in first period?"
Jaune blushed slightly, but decided to answer. "She seemed to be...clingy, and very affectionate, have we ever seen her act like this?"
Pyrrha didn't show it, but was internally seething at what Nora was doing and wished she was the one in her place, but brushed that thought away for later. "No, but if anyone knows, it'd have to be Ren. Maybe you should call him later on when you get the chance."
Jaune nodded at the idea before turning his attention back to the front of the room as Professor Port came into the room, but was actually interested in the thought, where IS Ren right now?
~With Ren~
"Damn you, traffic!" Ren screamed silently as he was riding in a large bus, which was sadly caught in a major traffic jam.
~Back with Jaune~
After class had started, Jaune had managed to write down a few different notes for Ren but was now dealing with a new issue at the moment. What issue? Well, it has something to do with a certain hammer-wielding girl who just so happens to have found a comfortable seat on his person.
Yeah, apparently Nora had managed to silently get out of her seat, climb onto Jaune's lap, and not be noticed whatsoever until Professor Port had called on Nora for an answer to his question.
When everyone around them realized where she was sitting, they were either looking at the scene in complete confusion, or in certain girls terms, utter jealousy.
Jaune, however, was now doing a wonderful impersonation of a cherry as he could barely move, and he dared not move considering what could happen.
Taking a chance, Jaune tried to get Nora off him.
"U-Um, Nora, c-can you please get off my lap?" He asked silently, hoping she'd say yes.
"Nope~!" She whispered in a sing-song voice.
Jaune slumped a tad but decided to take another approach.
"But I need to take notes, and I can't if your on my lap like this," Jaune whispered again, hoping this would work.
"Don't worry, I'm taking them for you!" She whispered cheerfully, showing him a paper with the notes copied onto it, but what disturbed Jaune was the fact that the notes were well-written.
Its not that Nora's handwriting was bad, but she would always draw some sort of doodle or add in little side notes, but it was just a normal set of notes!
...
...Something is REALLY wrong here!
Jaune decided to give up for now and wait for when the class ended so he could contact Ren, because something is going on, and it is NOT good!
Nora giggled quietly, but on the inside, her thoughts were quite...scary.
'Don't worry Jauney, by the end of today, you'll be all...mine!'
Jaune felt a shiver go down his spine as his fear was starting to grow, and he didn't know why...not yet at least.
~2 class periods later~
Jaune had gone through a scary two hours and was now determined to get answers, so when the end of fourth period occurred and everyone was heading to lunch, he had slipped away with an excuse to going to Ozpin's office and went straight to the restroom for some privacy.
Pulling out his scroll, he dialed in Ren's number and called, hoping he'd answer. After a few seconds, Ren picked up.
"Hello?"
"Ren, Oh thank Oum you picked up! Listen, somethings weird has been going on."
"Your telling me, I've been stuck in this damn traffic jam for three hours now! And I'm still a few hours away from my house!"
"Yeah, that sucks, listen! Nora's been acting strange, and not the usual strange!"
"Well, what's she doing?"
"She's being more affectionate, she's clinging to me, hell in Port's class she was taking my notes for me!"
"...Jaune, what was her handwriting like on the notes?"
"Neat and cursive, and she didn't even doodle or anything!"
Ren didn't respond at first, but after a minute he spoke.
"Jaune, do you remember when you asked me what I meant by, 'she becomes a completely different person'?"
Jaune grew confused at this but answered him still.
"Yeah, I did, why?"
"Jaune, what I'm about to tell you is to never be mentioned to anyone else, understand?"
"...Of course."
"Alright...several years ago, Me and Nora had gone to signal together since we lived close to it, but at some point Nora met someone. He wasn't much, but he seemed like a considerate person, and after a few small meetings Nora had begun to develop a crush on him."
"This wasn't an issue, of course, but there was something I was never told of until it was too late. You see Jaune, the Valkyrie family has been known for their strength and skills for years, but most don't know, is that the female half of the family bear a terrifying quality. And that...is their overprotective nature."
"When a Valkyrie woman falls for a man, they gain an almost disturbing amount of protective nature towards them, to the point of near obsession. This, thankfully, only lasts until they either date or marry."
"However, if the man they fall for rejects them, they will go on a rampage because of their hurt feelings. I sadly learned this when the boy that Nora like rejected her, and soon found his legs...broken."
"Broken? She actually broke his legs?!" Jaune asked hysterically.
"Yes. Oddly enough, she only threatens to do that if the person they like is being threatened."
Jaune stopped for a second as a memory popped up, replaying the reactions his teammates had when they learned that Jaune was being bullied. And Nora's response stood out the most.
"Ren...Nora had suggested we break Cardin's legs when she heard that I was being bullied, do you think...?"
"She did that for a reason? Yes, I did. At first I thought it was because she was angry her leader was getting picked on, but after what you told me once you called, I think you know what that means, don't you?"
Jaune stopped for a second as his thoughts began to process all of his interactions with her, her response when he showed up on monday, and-
'...OH DEAR OUM, I'M SUCH A FREAKING RETARD!'
"She likes me too, doesn't she?" Jaune asked dryly while Ren began to laugh hysterically. This lasted another thirty seconds before he began to calm down, and spoke in a winded voice.
"Like? Its pretty much love by this point, man! But, I guess thats just the least of your worries considering your other admirers. But, there isn't any need for worry at the moment, she's very well in the overprotective stage, so unless she decides to announce her feelings towards you, you'll be fine! And once I get back tonight, I'll take her off your hands and thats that!"
Jaune was still worried, but nodded just the same as he decided to end the call here. "Alright Ren, I'll take your word for it; see you when you get back, alright?"
"Sure, see - ARE YOU KIDDING, THEY JUST THREW UP ANOTHER RED LIGHT! FU-" Call ended~
Jaune blinked as he noticed the call had stopped and deadpanned when he saw he was low on battery. Looking at the clock, he sighed as he left the restroom and made his way to the Mess Hall, still wondering how things were gonna work out for him.
Elsewhere, however, another person with the exact issue was calmly assessing the situation.
~With Professor Ozpin~
"Headmaster, I'm not sure fleeing the country is going to really help you right now," Professor Oobleck said with a sweatdrop as Ozpin was hurriedly packing his things into different suitcases while wearing...a disguise?
"Of course it will! If I take an airship, I'll just need to hide out long enough for them to lose my trail, then come back in the guise of a new Headmaster!" Ozpin spouted crazily as he continued to pack his things.
The reason as to why he was going nuts right was because he wanted to try out a brand new brand of coffee that had the same amount of caffeine as a total of 20 cups...yeah.
~At the end of the day~
The rest of the day had run its course as Jaune had pretty much spent a LOT of time around Nora, and had come to understanding many things. One of them being that he needs to remember to beat his dad with a hammer for his horrible advice.
As he, Nora, and Pyrrha, who was still irked about Nora's closeness with him, finished their last class they returned to their dorm room.
Going inside, Jaune's body soon began to shut down as Jaune approached his bed and ultimately collapsed. Pyrrha would have as well, but after giving it some thought she decided a nice shower is what she needed.
Gathering her clothes and a towel, she entered the restroom.
The room was quiet as both Jaune and Nora didn't say anything, but before sleep embrace Jaune, Nora decided to speak.
"Jauney?"
"Hmm?" Jaune mumbled as he turned to her.
"Thank you for spending the day with me, I know I probably embarrassed you a bit during some of our classes, so...thank you for putting up with me." Nora had a sincere smile on her while Jaune stared at her for a moment before a smile adorned his face.
"Its alright Nora, it was a bit weird but it was fun nonetheless," Jaune said truthfully and was surprised to see Nora blush, which he couldn't help but admit looked cute.
"W-Well, in that case, would you like to do that again some time?" Nora questioned with a hopeful gleam in her eyes as Jaune stared at her for a moment.
Deciding to bite the bullet, Jaune nodded. "Sure, I'd love to."
In a flash, Nora's face brightened up in joy as she soon scooped Jaune up from his bed and pulled him into a powerful hug. Even though she's this old, it appears some words can still trigger amazing reactions, don't they?
"Thank you Jauney!" Nora said happily before she decided to do something bold and leaned upward before planting a searing kiss on his lips.
Jaune, who didn't expect that to happen, soon found his brain shutdown once again as once the kiss ended he began to sputter incoherently.
Nora giggled at his response before skipping out the door to go grab some sweets from the Mess Hall. Jaune was now alone in the room, but was brought back when he heard a knocking at the window.
Going over, he soon opened it up and was surprised to see Ren crawl through, looking heavily winded. "What happened to you?" Jaune questioned as he helped Ren up.
"I decided to run the rest of the way using my Aura, and got to my house about 2 hours later. Then after fixing up Stormflower I hopped on an Airship heading for here," Ren stated before turning to Jaune and noticed his ragged look, "What happened to you?"
Jaune didn't say anything, but decided to say one thing before falling onto his bed to sleep.
"Girls."
And with that, he was out like a light.
(And done! Alright, this chapter took a little bit longer than expected in terms of how many words, but I got it done! However, next chapter the first week ends with our last member of the main group: Glynda Goodwitch! After her chapter, there will be a transition chapter before the Omake chapters begin, so be ready for that!)
(If you like it, tell me in the reviews and or follow and favorite in order to keep up! See you next time, Ja Ne!"