Beta/Creative Assistant: Jefardi

Cover Art: Natzo

Spectrum

CFVY

"You are surprisingly talented at this." Yatsuhashi complimented, to which Jaune gave only a small grunt in reply. He wasn't trying to be rude or anything, it was just taking all of his concentration to focus on the gridded board in front of him.

Finally he placed his hand on one of the wedge-shaped pieces and scooted it forward. "My sister taught me to play." He leaned back in his chair and finally brought his eyes up to meet Yatsuhashi, who had quirked an eyebrow inquisitively.

"That is equally surprising. Not many people have heard of this game. It came from my home country, which is a rather small island off the coast of Vacuo. My people tend to be rather… isolated, so things rarely get exported." Yatsuhashi casually moved a piece as he talked and once more it became Jaune's turn.

Jaune had to fight the urge to give an irritated sigh. Despite Yatsuhashi's claim that he was talented, Jaune was only remotely keeping up because he was putting a lot of thought into each move, something the older man didn't seem to need to bother with, proving the true gap in talent between them. "Violet's sword, Ostrum Tempus, is a katana. She believed that to truly understand her weapon, it was imperative that she learned about the culture it came from. So she picked up a bunch of things, Shogi being one of them."

He used to love playing this game with her too. Not that he ever won. However, he had gotten pretty decent by playing with her so much. Not that any of their other sisters would. All it took was one brutal thrashing from Violet for the rest of them to quit for good. Jaune honestly thought he would never play the game again. He especially didn't expect to be playing it again here in Beacon's library against an upperclassman. Or… would it be more accurately to call him a friend?

He wasn't sure what to quantify his relationship to Yatsuhashi as. In fact, he wasn't sure what to call anyone here. He thought for sure Yatsuhashi must have saw him as some kind of burden, especially after he spent the better part of their last conversation breaking down in front of him. Yet the large eastern man had approached him almost familiarly, offering to teach him to play a game.

"Well I am thankful that she did. It has been several years since I have played a game against someone that actually knows the rules. Velvet sometimes tries to humor me with a game, but it is not very often." Again, Yatsuhashi said all of this with a big smile that Jaune couldn't help but return. Maybe he was thinking about this too hard? Calling him a friend sounded right… and nice. To have a friend of the same gender.

He relaxed a little and began thinking about his next move. "What even made you want to play with me?"

"I thought it would be a good chance to discuss strategy with one another, for when we next go for the swords." Jaune supposed that made sense. Eventually they were going to have to track down more swords, and if they wanted to avoid another repeat of the last two times he had gone into battle against them, they were going to need to get organized. "I must admit though, I am kind of curious about this Ostrum Tempus."

"O-oh?" Jaune's hand paused just over the piece he had been about to move.

"Hmm." The bigger man nodded. "You claim the sword is a katana. And your sister studied my culture to master it. However, is it not odd that a katana was given a name such as Ostrum Tempus?" Ah, Jaune understood now. It was true, to most people, the naming conventions for the swords didn't make sense. The Sacred blades were inspired by weapons from every corner of Remnant, but all their names shared a single convention.

"I don't think the names we call the swords now were what the creator intended for them." Jaune answered as he finally moved his piece. "The swords were named a while after their creation, usually for the deeds they performed in battle. Those names had little bearing on the origin of the weapon or their culture."

"So do you not think the creator had chosen something perhaps more fitting for them?" Once again Yatsuhashi made his move with little thought, seemingly more involved in their conversation than the game.

"Very little is known about Noir Arc from what Rouge and I have been able to gather." Jaune simply shrugged, but then he remembered something that the swords had said the other night. "Although I don't think the swords are too pleased with the names my ancestors made up for them. They didn't sound too thrilled by whatever they were called before that either. Instead they prefer to use my sisters' names."

"Viridis Teresa did mention as much while we faced her. She was much different than the Olivia I remember." At this, Jaune once again paused. Yatsuhashi… knew his older sister? He supposed it shouldn't have been too surprising. They would have attended Beacon with one another for two years after all. What he was implying though was that he knew her a little more personally than that.

"She used to tutor us." He suddenly continued, answering Jaune's unasked questions. "I in particular spent quite a bit of time with her as we both wield rather large swords. However, in all the time the two of us spent together… she never made any mention of you."

Jaune gave another small grunt and averted his eyes back to the Shogi board. "That's not particularly surprising. Many of my sisters didn't really talk about me outside of the house." Which was probably why everyone was so damn surprised whenever they found out there was a brother in their family.

"I was just curious if you knew the reasoning for that." One of Yatsuhashi's hands gently rested on Jaune's shoulder. "I did not mean any offense. I am simply trying to understand you and your family a little better. Perhaps for the same reason your sister tried to understand her sword?"

Jaune have a small sigh as he shook his head. "It's fine… I know you didn't mean anything by it." He gave a brief pause as he considered his next words. "My sisters… they care about me. I know they do. Some of them had weird ways of showing it, but that's just how they are. I think though, there might be a small part inside all of them that was ashamed."

"..." Yatsuhashi didn't say anything to interrupt, but Jaune could tell he shifted uncomfortably at the words that left his mouth.

"...You know about my hands now. When I was a child, my father etched these glyphs onto them with a dagger. All for the sake of protecting the Seven Sacred Arc Swords, of which all seven of my sisters were now wielders of. This wasn't explicitly any of their faults, but the fact that even one of them was chosen meant that a new glyph bearer was going to have to be branded. As the only one not compatible with one of the swords, it wound up being me." Only now he knew it hadn't been the sword's choice he wasn't chosen.

"It sounds to me… like you all had your demons." He certainly had that right.

"Yeah." Jaune agreed with a mirthful chuckle. "But we also had one another. So I think it balanced out pretty well." At least they did until those swords took over. And that was why he was positive, if they had any chance of overcoming this, they all needed to be together again.

Yatsuhashi opened his mouth to respond but a sudden ringing interrupted their conversation. It took both of them several seconds to reason that it was Yatsuhashi's scroll that was going off and the large man fumbled for the device. It was actually amazing he was able to navigate the tiny display at all with his massive fingers but somehow he managed to answer the call, bringing it up to his ear. "Vel-"

"Yatsu! Where are you?" Velvet's hysteric call caused the large man to lean his ear away from the device and flinch in pain. Her cry had been so loud Jaune had no problem hearing it from here.

Gingerly, Yatsuhashi brought his ear back to the device. "I am with Jaune in the library. What's wrong?"

"Coco… Coco's awake! And she's gone to see Fox!" Several emotions flashed across Yatsuhashi's face in the span of under a second. The predominating one though was without a doubt fear.

"Turn the tracking on your Scroll on and stay with her. I will be with you as soon as I can." Yatsuhashi hung up as soon as he said that. As calmly as he possibly could he bowed deeply to Jaune. "I apologize, but I must put an early end to our game this time."

"I'll go with you." If he thought he was surprised by how assertively he said those words, it was nothing compared to the look of brief shock on Yatsuhashi's face. Jaune really felt he should be there though. He didn't know what Yatsuhashi planned to tell Coco. If he had any intention of sharing the truth though, than Jaune wanted to be there so he could make sure she knew it wasn't her fault. He doubted she wanted to hear anything from him at all, but that couldn't deter him now.

Yatsuhashi gave a quick nod. "I would appreciate that. Let us hurry." He turned to the door and began to hurry out the library. Jaune was quickly behind him, sparing one last glance back at the board game they were leaving behind. He still wasn't really sure if it was right to call Yatsuhashi a friend or not, but right now he did know he wanted to be there for him, and offer help in whatever way he could.

Even if it was only for being a shoulder to lean on.

When Velvet said that Coco was going to see Fox, Yatsuhashi knew that could actually only mean one thing.

Fox… was no longer here. And he didn't mean that spiritually, as in he wasn't among the living, but that he physically was no longer here. Almost immediately after being declared as deceased, his body would have been shipped off of Beacon grounds and to his family, for them to decide what to do with it.

So in other words, there was nothing left at Beacon for Coco to see. Which in and of itself might be a blessing. If she saw his body, there would be no denying the truth. That it was her gun that had killed him. As far as she knew right now, it must have been Olivia that split him in half. If he was being honest… he still hadn't come to a decision on whether or not it should remain that way. He hadn't even told Velvet the truth.

For now he wanted to keep it a secret, but he wasn't sure if that was something he could hide forever. Coco was a strong, independant woman, but even he didn't know what that knowledge would do to her. If Coco one day did find out the truth though… and she knew he had been hiding it from her the whole time… it was that very possibility that scared Yatsuhashi the most.

It was wrong to want to tell her for that reason and that reason alone, but he really believed that his team might be able to come back from the truth, but not if they discovered he had been lying to them.

He shook this train of thought loose. He would just have to trust his gut when the time came to make a choice. Which was possibly closer than he wanted to admit. He and Jaune were nearing the cliffs leading to the Emerald Forest.

Located just past those cliffs, was a gated fence. And behind that worn down, rusted fence, was a graveyard of sorts. There were no actual bodies buried at Beacon. The bodies were always sent back to the family of the deceased, just like what had been done with Fox. However, that didn't mean the dead were forgotten. Sure, they were marked in the system, but that felt a little hollow, a less personal way to remember their fallen brothers and sisters.

So there was a sizable plot of land dedicated specifically to all those who had died while attending the prestigious Beacon Academy. The ground was always well maintained, the grass mowed short, the leaves raked to the sides, and the small stone plaques on the ground always seemed to glow, as if someone polished each and every one without missing a day.

Yatsuhashi wished that he could say a majority of the plaques remained blank… but that wasn't the case. Beacon had been a Hunter-training institution for many generations now. And over the generations, many had failed to graduate, instead perishing midway through their training. Some died during Beacon's unusual Initiation. Others passed away on their first mission against the Grimm. A few students couldn't handle the pressure and committed suicide. There were even those that failed the Graduation Exam, getting killed just shy of the finish line.

Every single one of those were remembered the same way, no matter how long or short your time at Beacon, your name was marked on a perfectly indistinguishable plaque from the rest. No one plaque was more grandiose or less than the others. Because regardless of what reason you were gone, that was just it. Death was the ultimate equalizer.

Kneeled in front of one of the thousands of plaques, still dressed in Beacon's infirmary gown, was his team leader. Velvet stood just behind her, hand hovering hesitantly over her back and ears twitching occasionally. Tears streamed down both their eyes and he knew they had found the one with the name that indisputably spit the truth in their face: Fox Alistair, now joined all the many others that came before him.

He slowed to a stop as he approached them, and could only silently stare at the name himself. This was the first time he had come out here since hearing the news. It had probably been marked the very morning after, but he had been avoiding coming to see it. The fact that his friend was gone… it was just already too real, but somehow seeing this only hammered in that truth even harder. His heart twist all over again as if he was just hearing the news for the first time.

Fox had been with them on so many missions. They had so many near misses throughout their time together. Yet every time they came out alive, sometimes a little worse for wear, but alive. Their missions had taken them all over the world, encountering all kinds of horrible Grimm, and unspeakable horrors. Only for him to die only several miles away from where they slept together, ate together, trained together, lived together. In the middle of the street, shot down by his own teammate.

A teammate who now wept over his marker, where only his name signified he had ever even been here. His name and their broken spirits. He had seen Coco before on rough mornings. She by nature wasn't a morning person, at least not until she had her coffee. But he had never seen her look like this.

Even in her sleepwear, Coco embodied style and glamour. Yet all of that usual flashiness was missing, and instead she was reduced to the girl knelt on the ground in front of him, whose hands were practically tearing at the grass in front of the plaque. Brown hair was matted and disheveled from days spent on the hospital bed, the area around her normally concealed eyes were red and inflamed.

"Yatsu…" Coco's cracked voice was the first indication that she had any idea he had even been here. Despite himself, he straightened up as she called out to him and her eyes turned to look up into his, almost pleadingly, desperate for answers. "...I gotta know the truth, Yatsu."

Those words pierced him right through the heart. The truth… did she…?

"I could have sworn for a moment, just a moment-" Coco continued, her voice wavering, completely unlike anything he had ever heard from her "-that in the mirror of that claymore… I could see Fox standing there. And it looked like it was my bullets tearing him apart, and his blood spraying everywhere." Velvet gasped.

Yatsuhashi's mouth was dry. Before he could formulate a response, Coco continued. "That's impossible though… right? Fox had been cut in half. I watched as Olivia cut him in half. The image I saw of myself shooting Fox… that was the illusion, right? Please Yatsu, tell me that was the illusion. I swear, if you say Fox died when Olivia cut him in half, I'll believe it. I just need… I need to know for sure."

Of course that was an illusion! There was no way it was your gun that killed Fox! Why would you even for a second believe that!?

Those were the words he wanted to shout at her. Those were the words he almost shouted at her. His mouth was opened wide and a breath of air that was supposed to be just those words escaped, before coming to a choking stop.

Coco just told him she would believe anything he told her. If he said those words, she wouldn't question him. They could go their lives without ever having to believe she killed their teammate, their friend. She would never have to bear that guilt. It was a no-brainer, that was the right choice. He would bear that secret forever, and keep his team safe.

So then… why couldn't he just say it?

He collapsed down to his knees, the force from the impact shaking the ground enough to stumble the other three. He grit his teeth together and squeezed his eyes shut, fingers burrowing into the dirt.

He had to tell her it wasn't her fault. He had to tell her that. It felt like his mind was tearing itself apart trying to accept this. Fox wasn't killed by Coco. Fox was not killed by Coco. "Yatsu!" She called to him desperately, over the ringing inside his head that he hadn't even realized was there.

Then all at once, it went quiet. The pulsing pain in his head subsided and the feeling of dirt underneath his fingernails vanished as he focused in on only one thing. The small, but gentle hand that now rested on his shoulder. He lifted his head and tilted it to look slightly behind him, right into Jaune's blue eyes.

There was no judgement in them. They didn't tell him to make a choice of any kind, or try to impart some kind of silent wisdom onto him. No, instead those blue eyes only offered him unconditional support, regardless of what decision he made, those eyes told him that it would be the right one.

And it was in that moment, Yatsuhashi knew there was only one right choice.

He turned back to Coco, his shoulders naturally straightening as he did. "What you saw in the mirror… was not the illusion."

Coco's eyes stared into his, almost not reacting at all to his words right away. Instead it was Velvet that spoke first. "Yatsu! Tell her that isn't true! Coco didn't… it wasn't Coco's fault!"

"I never said Coco was at fault." He quickly amended, glancing away from his leader to look at the rabbit Faunus. "Viridis Teresa deceived us all. She is to blame." Velvet bit her lower lip and he could tell she was fighting desperately with this news. He hadn't wanted to believe it at first either. He still didn't.

"...You all need to go." For just a second, Yatsuhashi thought he imagined those words. They had been spoken so quietly, it almost sounded like the wind had blown them from somewhere far away. He turned back to Coco, who had averted her eyes to the ground, brown hair obscuring them.

"Coco…" Velvet's ear twitched, her enhanced hearing likely having caught those words better than he had.

"I said leave." Coco repeated louder this time, a certain fierceness to her voice that hadn't been present before.

Yatsuhashi's brow furrowed. "We can't-"

"Get the fuck away from me! Get out!" Coco screamed so loudly Velvet shrieked and jumped backwards. Yatsuhashi recoiled as if being slapped, stumbling up to his feet. His mouth opened and closed, unsure of what to say. "Didn't you fucking hear me!? Get outta here!" Even as Coco shrieked these words, her eyes wouldn't leave the ground.

Velvet's ears curled and once more tears began to stream down her eyes. He knew he couldn't let her be near their leader anymore. This was the right decision, he knew it had to be. That meant Coco was going to need time to come to terms first though. He quickly stepped around the crouching girl and wrapped an arm around his partner, beginning to lead her away.

He didn't realize the fourth person there hadn't followed him until it was too late. "This is all my fault." Jaune's voice reached his ears and he spun around to see the blonde had crouched down in front of Coco. His fists were gripped tightly, and jaw locked in firm determination. "I should have been able to break Olivia's sword the other night. I even had the chance at one point, but I passed it up. Because of that, you had to fight her, and Fox was killed."

Jaune said these words with such assurance, as if he truly believed them himself. He wasn't saying it to comfort Coco, it was more like he was simply stating the facts for her to hear. "...Are you telling me to take my anger out on you?" For the first time since hearing the truth, Coco looked up, and the fiery light in her eyes frightened Yatsuhashi.

"If it means you won't have to take it out on my sister, that's fine." Yatsuhashi should have moved before he even said those words. After they had passed Jaune's mouth, it was too late to stop what happened next.

Crack

He hadn't even seen Coco move. One second her arms were at her sides, the next and one fist was extended and Jaune was sent sprawling backwards. His lip was swollen and bleeding, her punch having pushed past his Aura, and his eyes were unfocused, yet somehow he managed to struggle back up to his knees.

Which was as far as he got.

Crack

This time Yatsuhashi saw it as Coco swung at Jaune's face with all her might. "Is this what you wanted!?" She screamed and climbed over his body, grabbing him by the shirt and lifting him up. "Do you think beating you up is going to make me feel better?" She slammed him back against the ground.

"Do you think it's going to make me forget about what I did to Fox?" She lifted him up again.

"I'm not one of your sisters that needs to be protected! You don't have to try and play your stupid blame game with me." And once more slammed the back of his head against the dirt.

"Coco!" Yatsuhashi's voice overlapped with Velvet's as they sprinted forward together. They each wrapped an arm around an elbow and pulled her up, prying her grip from Jaune's shirt.

"Get off of me!" She shrieked and flailed, freeing herself from their grip. "I thought I told you guys to get out of here already."

"Coco please…" Velvet tried to plead with her silently but she wouldn't listen, turning away from them.

"Take him with you this time. Before I shoot him too." She stalked over the the marker with Fox's name and plopped once more in front of it.

"Jaune…" Yatsuhashi placed one hand beneath the blonde's back and gently lifted him up.

"P-please don't be mad at Coco. She can be violent sometimes… but she usually doesn't just punch people like that." Velvet gripped her hands together and kept glancing between the two of them.

Jaune gave a small chortle and wiped the blood away from his chin with the back of his hand. "Don't worry about it. I admit though, none of my sisters ever punched me like that. She packs a wallop."

"Why… did you do that?" Yatsuhashi didn't understand. They just had to give her time. She didn't need to blow off steam like that. Did he really think she was going to try and take it out on his sister?

Jaune simply shrugged. "I'm not really sure." His balance finally stabled and Yatsuhashi slowly pulled away, hovering over him incase he fell forward at any given moment. The three of them began to walk away, leaving Coco to stare at Fox's name. "Maybe it's just because… before now, Coco has only been a stranger to me."

Yatsuhashi shook his head. "People normally do not try to get strangers to punch them."

"Not unless you're trying to become their friend."

"That… doesn't make sense." Velvet's ears twitched in confusion, of which Yatsuhashi fully shared.

Jaune gave a small chuckle, and the two older teens shared a concerned look. Had Coco knocked his head around a little too much? "It really doesn't, does it? I guess I was just thinking about something my mom used to tell me is all."

"...And that is?" They passed outside the gate, officially leaving the cemetery behind them.

"Strangers are simply friends you haven't met yet."

Chapter End

The omake was inspired by a chat I had with greyshinobi1

Omake 17

Big Sister

"Jaune, come back!" Olivia gave a small start as she heard the front door burst open, quickly followed by Joan's yell for her twin.

"Just leave me alone already!" Jaune hollered back and she heard the two of them as they maneuvered throughout the house, making their way to their shared bedroom.

"Those guys were just being stupid! You don't need to listen to anything those jerks say!" Joan tried to reason with him, but what exactly had happened remained a mystery to Olivia.

Jaune's only response was the slamming of a door, almost surely the one to their room. Several seconds later and she heard Joan repeated beating on it. "Jaune! Come on…"

With a tired sigh, Olivia snapped shut the book she had been reading and climbed to her feet. If something was bothering Jaune badly enough that he was even locking out his own twin, it must have been serious. It was better she got involved know, or the next person Joan was likely to get would be Violet. And knowing her, she would kick the door down to get to him if she had to.

"Joan, what happened?" Olivia called quietly as she turned the corner of the hallway. Her younger sisters blonde hair whipped wildly as she spun around frantically. She glanced between her and the door several times before hurriedly making her way over.

"Jaune and I went to play baseball with the other boys in the village." She started in a hushed voice, occasionally glancing back at her room. "I thought it was going fine until it was Jaune's turn to bat… he couldn't even properly grip it because of his hands. He insisted anyways but I think the shock from the ball hitting the bat was too much."

"Are Jaune's hands okay?" Joan shook her head at the question.

"He won't let me look at them. He dropped the bat when the ball made contact and started crying. The other boys… it was like they didn't even care. They started picking on him and calling him a crybaby." Olivia watched as Joan's own hands clenched tightly and her blue eyes light up in anger.

Olivia quickly placed a hand on her shoulder. "Listen to me, Joan. Whatever it is you're thinking of doing, don't."

"But those guys-"

"Are a bunch of jerks. But getting back at them isn't going to make Jaune feel better, okay? And what do you think those boys are going to say when Jaune's sister has to be the one to stick up for him?" Joan's eyes widened slightly as she realized the implications of her words. Like it or not, retaliating against those brats now would only make things even more difficult for Jaune later.

"I wish those jerks would pick on me instead. That way I could beat them up without worrying about it." Joan twisted her heel angrily on the ground.

Olivia gave a small laugh and began stroking her hair, gently patting at the stray strands and putting them back in place. "You might one day have bullies of your own. And when you do, you'll be able to beat them up to your heart's content. If you even want to."

"Why wouldn't I want to?" Joan tilted her head in confusion.

"Who knows? You'll just have to wait and find out." Olivia dusted off her shoulder before slipping past. "Now go take a bath. You're covered in dirt. I'll talk to Jaune."

"..." Joan gave a small pout, clearly not wanting to leave her brother while he was still upset. Sometimes though, it was their closeness that kept them from being able to help one another. With great reluctance she began to step backwards and away from her room.

Olivia gave a couple small taps on the door. "Jaune… can you open up for me? Please." She didn't even understand why any of their doors had locks on them.

"If I don't, are you going to pick the lock?" Jaune asked between loud sniffs, clearly trying to fight back his tears.

"I've already got my pin handy." Oliva fiddled with the small hairpin she kept beneath her band. To her relief, she heard Jaune shuffle for the door and it unlock a moment later. It didn't swing open so she pushed it inwards herself, just as Jaune made it back to his bed.

The wraps that usually covered his hands were haphazardly scattered across the floor and she had to fight every urge to begin wrapping them up and placing them away neatly. Instead, she managed to contain herself as she walked over to where Jaune sat, pulling up the desk chair so she could sit opposite him.

"You feeling okay?" She of course knew the answer to that question. Jaune was anything but okay. Not only were the injuries on his hands aggravated, but his pride had been wounded also. Perhaps he knew her question was rhetorical, because he didn't give her an answer.

He had already pulled out a special jar of lotion made specifically for the scars on his hands, but the lid remained unopened, and she doubted it was because he didn't want to open it. Both hands were trembling badly, the skin around his scars red and pulsing, inflamed from the shock of something so simple as hitting a baseball.

"Here, let me get that for you." Olivia picked up the jar and twisted off the cap. Just before she could stick her fingers into the ointment though, Jaune finally spoke up.

"Aren't you going to complain about how gross or unsanitary that is?"

Olivia gave a small grin. "Ordinarily I might, but my little brother needs my help, so I'll let it slide." And without hesitation stuck her hand into the cool, viscous lotion. She beckoned Jaune to bring one of his hands closer to her.

"...You're not going to ask about what happened?" He gingerly held his hand out towards her.

"Nope." He gave a sharp flinch as she pressed a glob of the cool lotion against the back of his hand and began to smear it around, making sure to spread it evenly and gently, so not to agitate his scars further. Almost immediately after that flinch though and he relaxed as the lotion undoubtedly dulled the pain.

For several moments neither of them said anything as she worked. Instead of pressing him for any kind of information though, she just waited quietly, patiently, the whole time soothingly stroking his hands as she applied the ointment that already seemed to be working.

"...I'm never really sure what you think of my hands." Jaune suddenly blurted out, causing her to quirk an eyebrow curiously. "Like… I hate showing them to people. Dad always used to say people would think they're cool, but that's not the reaction I get at all. Most people can't even look at them. I figured with just how you are… you wouldn't like looking at them either."

What those kids said today must have really got under his skin, if he was going so far as to say all this to her. Olivia gave a small hum as she switched hands. "I suppose I understand why you would think that… I can be a bit insufferable with my tendencies. I like things clean, and organized. I hate clutter and dirt." It wasn't wrong to say she let those things dominate her personality most of the time. "Your hands… are a part of who you are, Jaune. And I like who you are. Even when you come home covered in filth."

"..." Jaune didn't say anything to that, but she could see the smallest ghost of a smile now. She finished rubbing the ointment and he flexed his fingers, the shaking for the most part having subsided.

"Take it easy with your hands for awhile now, okay?" He nodded several times as she sealed the jar and placed it once more on the counter. As she got up and turned to leave, she felt a small tug at the edge of her dress.

"Thank you…" Jaune mumbled, practically inaudible.

She couldn't help but smile as she bent over and placed a small kiss on the top of his forehead. "Anytime, little brother."