Chapter 28 Interview with the Huntress part 1
It was the usual routine for team RWBY to always head to their room and start on their homework, so they can make way for their free time. Things such as playing video games, getting ready for the next day in class, or in Blake's case reading books that aren't allowed in Beacon's library and in the hands people younger than her.
Yet, the one person who seemed to not feel at home was a young heiress who was using her own personal compact mirror. Double checking her hair to make sure it was just right and her make up to make sure she didn't make any mistakes.
Why is she going to such length to make her appearance even more beautiful? It was simple really, she was taught at home to make sure she looked her best when on the spotlight for everyone to see. So, out of instinct, Weiss Schnee made sure to look her appearance as the reporter sent from the Bugle will be arriving to interview her and possibly be the deciding factor of if she will stay in Beacon or not.
"Need to make sure to brush my hair again," She whispered to herself as she saw a few strands starting to fray. "Can't give off a bad impression."
Moving her mirror to see if she can spot any other discrepancies, the small mirror did its job at showing her what she needed to fix as well as her teammates. Said team who weren't doing the same preparations as the young heiress.
Two of which were playing some awful fighting game while the only Faunus in the team was lounging on her bed reading some book. None of them even trying to get themselves ready for what's to come. Really, the only thing they did change however was getting out of their Beacon uniforms and into their casual clothing.
"Are you guys not getting ready for the interview?" She asked, not even sure how these three can be so relaxed at this time. "We're being questioned by a someone who works for the Bugle. A company that's spreads the daily events that inform everyone in Vale of what's going on. People who have some bad opinions of us as well as Huntsmen as a whole."
"Are you forgetting who's coming here, Weiss?" Asked the blonde Huntress, not taking her eyes off the game she was playing with her little sister. "It's Jaune, the guy Ruby saved from getting robbed, remember? He's not some random old guy with a stick up his rear, he just got promoted from a guy taking pictures of interesting people to a guy writing about interesting people!"
"I don't think he'll be worried about how we look, Weiss." Ruby assured her partner. "I think he'll understand that we didn't have enough time to clean up. We always have sparring matches with Ms. Goodwitch, so maybe he won't mind if we a little bit dirty."
"Ruby's right, you know," Yang turned around just enough to have look over her shoulder. "Besides, are you really going to such lengths to make yourself look hot to Jaune? I feel like the one who should be really getting ready is you, Ruby."
"Yeah, what my sis- whatawhat!" Ruby lost her train of thought and looked at her sister in surprise. "No! Stop saying stuff like that!"
"To late!" Using this as a good opportunity, Yang won the round and raised her arms in the air to cheer for her victory. "Woohoo! I win!"
"You cheater!" In anger, the youngest of the team grabbed a nearby pillow from one of the beds and threw it at Yang.
Seeing the feather bag coming, Yang wasted no time to move her body to avoid the hit. What she didn't account for was the person behind her getting a face full of feathers.
"Oof!" Weiss was so focused on her looks, that she didn't notice the pillow contacting the back of her head, causing her to drop her mirror and ruining her perfect hair.
"Oops…" Ruby's eyes were wide open as she saw Weiss getting smacked by the pillow that was intended for Yang. "Sorry, Weiss."
Growling in frustration, the White-haired teen was about to say something to the two siblings when she heard a scroll ring out.
Looking at her bed, Weiss thought that it was coming from her own, thinking that it might be Mr. Obadiah or Whitley calling her, but it was not making no sound whatsoever.
"Hello?" Attention now laid on their fourth teammate, the three girls stayed quiet as Blake answered her scroll. "Jaune?"
"Jaune?" Ruby said in surprise, not sure when Blake gave her contact number to the young man. "When did Jaune get her number?"
"Ooh~!" Yang, not wanting to pass this up, placed a hand over her smirk as she looked between her partner and her baby sister. "Looks like someone else's hand is caught in the cookie jar~! What you going to do about, Ruby?"
"Stop it, Yang." The scythe wielder glared at the close combat fighter but couldn't hold it due to the rising heat coming from her cheeks. "Why do you always do that when I try to make friends?"
"I don't do that, Ruby. Just the ones that are perfect for you to date." Yang clarified her reasons and then laughed when Ruby groaned from embarrassment.
As both Ruby and Yang settled their argument, Blake continued her conversation with Jaune.
"We're heading our way to our room now, but where are you specifically?" Blake asked.
"Blake," Weiss wipered to the cat Faunus. "Why are you lying? We're already in our room."
"You wanted time, right? Well, I'm giving you time." Blake told Weiss and then went back to taking on her scroll.
"Group of news crews?" Pondering on what Jaune told her, the blonde hero on the other line of the call waited for a reply from Blake. "Looks like you just entered the place where we started our initiation, Jaune. We're already at our room, but we have some friends that are still there who are close to us."
What she didn't tell Weiss was that Blake also wanted time to put away her books. She was fine to talk with Jaune since she knows him well enough to not bend her words to his benefit. However, she still wasn't sure if it would be appropriate to have her literature books scattered around to have some boy see it as the first thing when entering the room.
"I don't think it'll hurt if you do. We always hang around them, so they already know why you're here."
Not saying a word about what Blake was telling the blonde reporter, Weiss turned her head and used her arms to signal the siblings to stop bickering. The heiress wanted to make sure she can hear the book enthusiast's conversation better without the background noise of Yang and Ruby.
Giving her teammates a flat look at just how bluntly they were looking at her with no effort to hide it, Blake started to lower her voice to make them unable to hear her.
"They know about Roman working with the White Fang, but I kept the information about you working with Spider-Man a secret all to myself." She eased his worried mind.
Glancing back at her friends to see them cupping their ears to hear better, the secret Faunus rolled her eyes and ignored them.
"I'm glad they didn't," She said truthfully. "If we decided to call them for backup, I'm sure it would have made things worse. They're good friends, very loyal and trustworthy, but they have their own problems to deal with and we don't want it to be worse for them."
Able to hear some of Blake's low voice, Weiss looked at Blake in a questioning manner as to why she's telling Jaune about Pyrrha and her team.
Especially Pyrrha, she has enough on her plate with other reporters getting in her team's way in Beacon, so Weiss didn't understand Blake's reasoning as to why she was telling this to Jaune.
"I suppose so," She chuckled, apparently something funny Jaune said that made Blake crack a smile. "Either way, I'll message them to meet you in the front, you just make your way and wait for them."
Ending her call with that last statement, Blake searched through her contacts, found the number to one of her classmates, and texted the message regarding Jaune's visit.
Task being done, Blake was about to read the page where she stopped at when it donned on her at how quiet the room was. Moving her eyes to her team, she could see them giving her a surprised look, as if Blake suddenly grew a second head or something.
"What's wrong?" Blake asked.
The first to break the silence was Blake's partner, who's face lit up like it was her birthday.
"Blake~!" Yang moved the upper half of her body side to side in happiness. "Was that a smile and a laugh just a couple of seconds ago? That was caused by a boy no less? You have got to spill the beans on this, right now! No arguments give us our daily dose of teen romance!"
"Excuse me?" The feline huntress lost what Yang was talking about. "I was just talking to Jaune. He's here and needs help getting over to our room. All I did was txt Ren about him, why are you so giddy?"
"It's not my fault I get to see you smile and laugh at the same time!" The brawler couldn't help but laugh at her own amusement. "Especially when it's with a boy! A boy that isn't Sun!"
Hearing about another blonde young man made the Faunus slam her book and gave Yang the stink eye.
"I'm not into that guy, Yang."
"Doesn't mean Sun isn't interested in you!" Yang tossed her head back and laughed even louder. "Seriously, the guy hovers around you whenever he spots you from, like, across the school yard! He's cool and all, but man, will Sun be surprised when he sees you actually giving more attention to Jaune."
"He doesn't even go to this school!" Blake argued. "We barely see him outside of Beacon, we only see him at his jobs working none stop. If you ask me, I think the only one here who sees him more often is Ruby!"
"Whaaat!" Caught off guard by the sudden shift in target. Ruby glanced at both her sister and Blake with nervousness getting harder and harder for her to hide with how red her face was getting. "T-that isn't true at all!"
"You met him the day before, right?" Yang asked her little sister.
"Well, yeah!" Ruby told truthfully. "But, it was in a bad time! He was getting robbed by Roman's thugs!"
"That makes it even more interesting!" The blonde huntress gushed at the fantasy she was imagining in her mins. "Saving someone on the very first day you meet will totally make you look more appealing to him! I'm sure he thinks you're a bad ass warrior who takes no flak from anyone!"
"Are you sure your delusions are your own and not about Ruby?" Weiss decided to cut in on this conversation. Hoping that she can stop this pointless gossip and get back to getting her hair back to peak condition. "I fear that your projecting a bit too much of yourself on Ruby. Or is your hair absorbing more than just chemicals from your very questionable brand of shampoo and conditioner?"
"Hey!" The lavender eyed teen raised a finger at that shot about her hair. "Just because my hair products aren't as fancy, or knowable, and also hard to find in legitimate stores, doesn't mean it can't get these luscious locks nice and full!"
To prove her point, Yang whipped her head to the side to let her long locks flutter in the air.
"Pwaapoof!" Too bad for Weiss, Yang's hair was long enough to smack the Schnee and caused her to spit out whatever toxins Yang placed in her hair. "You did that on purpose!"
"Hey, pretty sure you would do the same with your hair." The older sister of Ruby snorted. "Though, I'm pretty sure whoever gets hit by your hair will feel like they're getting lashed by a whip!"
Unable to take anymore insults about her looks, Weiss was about scream her obscenities to Yang, only to be stopped by her partner.
"Please stop," Ruby begged. "Trust me when I say this, but you will not win when it comes to Yang and her hair. Trust me, a girl in Signal challenged Yang into who has the better hair and the next day that girl left Signal with a beanie covering her head."
"What, she cut off her hair to be short or something?" Weiss questioned.
"I didn't say she had short hair, Weiss." Ruby had a haunted look on her face. "That, or it could be the fact that one of the students in Yang's class might have spat out a gum wad that landed in that girls' hair. I also heard about her parents moving to a different kingdom, so that really explains why she never came back to Signal"
"Really, Ruby?" Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose at how easily she believed in her partner's ridiculous story. "Look, can we just drop the hair thing and get back to what really matters?"
"Your right, Weiss," Yang changed from teasing to serious. "What we need to discuss is that fact that Jaune has both Blake's and my sister's number."
Snapping the book shut loud enough to surprise the rest of the team, Blake's eyes shifted from side to side at what Yang just said.
"I-I gave my number to Jaune when we tried to look for Blake during the rally." Ruby, her cheeks start to go red explained. "That's why I gave it to him, Yang."
"Huh-uh." The elder sister didn't sound convinced. "Say that I do believe you, sis. That still doesn't help the fact that Blake gave away her number, to Jaune I might add!"
"Yang," Blake let out a frustrated sigh. "What's the big deal? I gave Jaune my number because he needed help finding this place. I gave it to him when we were all leaving out of that café with Stane and Whitley's little brother."
Raising her eye brow to show she wasn't buying it, she decided it was time to explain her own reason Blake gave out her number to a guy like Jaune.
"Of course, Blake, it makes so much sense that you, the girl who practically invented social ineptitude, would willing be the one to give out your personal number to someone your barley know." Yang nodded her head at Blake's explanation.
"Unless you're totally crushing on that someone!" Before Yang squealed with delight at Blake's attempt to get a boy. "The first time I saw him, I thought he was like some wall flower with bad social skills. Which makes it so cute to imagine my sister hooking up with him!"
Hearing that her older sister would say something like that would have made Ruby shout that all of it was complete nonsense.
"Wha- yo- guh!" Too bad for her, the red hooded Huntress couldn't speak in words since her brain was overworked with how Yang could be so blunt.
"He's seems nice, works, smart, and is totally not full on masculinity compared to other boys. A text book definition of a good boyfriend! I thought it was cute that my sis was finally getting interested in boys. Honestly, I was afraid that she would be too obsessed with weapons."
"Now though," She looked at both her sister and Blake. "It turned into those comedic love triangles with all three of the people being totally oblivious to social ques! It's like watching those old love comedies Dad and Uncle would watch from time to time!"
As Yang was laughing, Weiss moved on from pinching the bridge of her nose to rubbing both sides of her temples.
"I can't believe that this got out of hand so quickly. I just wanted us to get ready and look presentable, so we can give off a good start at our interview." Said the heiress to the SDC.
Yang, still laughing from the newly formed love triangle, was placed bat to reality when Weiss started talking to her.
"Why are you laughing? Shouldn't you be worried about Ruby and Blake taking an interest in Jaune?"
"It's not like that." Ruby explained.
"I'm not interested in Jaune!" Blake explained.
Taking in some air, Yang wiped a lone tear from her eye and looked at Weiss with a smile still on the blonde girl's face.
"That is true, however, I have seen Jaune enough times to know that he is far too clueless and too much of a boy scout to toy with the emotions of a girl. Especially since those emotions are tied to girls who are training to kill monsters."
"Can you please drop it, Yang?" Blake finally had enough of the teasing. "I'm not into Jaune like that, so Ruby can have all the time in Remnant to get him."
"He's my friend!" Finally, Ruby was able to make a sentence after she got over her relapse of judgment. "Very normal to have a guy as a friend! Nothing suspicious about it, so stop assuming things, please!"
"Don't worry, Ruby," Yang reached over and gave Ruby a pat on the head. "It's hard to admit your first crush, but I'm pretty sure it'll be harder for you since Jaune is just as socially awkward like you."
"Stop talking!" Ruby wailed while she beat her fists on to Yang's back to stop her older sister from talking anymore nonsense.
"Real mature, Yang." Blake spoke as Ruby continued to do her best to stop Yang from laughing at her embarrassment. "I swear, if you open your big mouth to Sun about Jaune!"
How they acted from doing mundane things to complete chaos in just moments was but a normal thing for team RWBY. Weiss knew that this would happen, well, not the part with Blake and Ruby, but she at least got used to how her team functions.
"Ok, all of you," Weiss took a deep breath. "STOP!"
Screaming to gain her team's attention, Weiss gave each one a look of disapproval.
"Geeze, Ice Queen," Yang stuck a pinkie finger in her ear. "I hate to see the poor sop marrying you some day."
"No kidding." The only Faunus in the room grumbled, rubbing her feline ears so the ringing would stop.
"Hhm-mh." Ruby made a sound in her throat to agree, since she was too busy cupping her ears to hear anything else.
"Too bad, you guys need to focus on what's about to happen." Weiss talked in a stern tone to show that she means business. "We have to look like we're taking this seriously. Just because Jaune is our friend, doesn't mean we shouldn't act professionally. We're training to become full-fledged Huntsmen, if Jaune sees us acting like we usually are then he'll see that we're not taking this as a serious matter."
"I thought he was going to interview us in a natural environment of a Huntsmen in training?" Yang pointed out. "Doesn't that mean we should be acting like we usually are everyday?"
"That's true, but you must realize that when Jaune publishes his article, people might not like what they read. Don't forget, Jaune may be a friend, but he's a reporter too, which means he's going to take his job more seriously."
Feeling that ringing going silent, Blake hopped off of her bed, placed her book back into her bookshelf and faced her teammates.
"Weiss does have a point. Didn't Jaune say that he's working multiple jobs, Ruby?"
"Well, yes," The shortest girl in the group scratched the bottom of her chin with a finger. "He works at that dust store, the diner, and also the Bugle."
"Three," Blake said the amount of jobs Jaune has for a 17-year-old teenager. "Don't forget he's also the same age as us, so that means he also balances all of that while doing school work."
"You see what I'm getting at?" Weiss brought back the topic to herself. "Jaune will make sure he'll take his job as professionally as possible. That means we do the same, we can't assume that we can just shirk this off and think that Jaune will be ok with that. He wants to help us, but he can't just write stuff that we do daily. It might just cause the image of Huntsmen to diminish even further!"
Seeing it on Weiss's point of view, Yang, Ruby, and Blake looked at each other and to their room after their little skirmish.
Even though Weiss's part of the room is neatly clean and organized, the rest of the room was not. Beds not made, books in different places, and other small messes that was left scattered made a clear sign that this place needs cleaning.
"Ever heard that first impressions are everything? If we can at least clean this place up and start acting properly for at least this first day, then slowly we can ease back into our own lifestyle." The Heiress to the SDC threw out that idea to try and convince her team to agree.
Seeing that she had a point, the rest of the team agreed and pitched in to clean up their mess before Jaune and the rest of their friends show up.
"We're here!" Screamed Nora as she barged right in to catch team RWBY in the middle of cleaning up their room.
Too bad for them, they were so caught up in their little argument, that it gave enough time for Pyrrha and her team to arrive with team RWBY's reporter.
"Wow!" Nora gasped. "This place looks way cleaner then the last time we were here!"
"We just started." Weiss said, dropping a random sock back on the floor and shaking her head.
"I know, that's why I said it was cleaner than before!"
Having all the key players in one place, Jaune had one thing on his mind right now.
'I'm in a girl's room.' The idea that he was now in a room that isn't his sisters made Jaune look around to see the team's personal quarters. 'They have make shift bunk beds. That's so cool, but how do these hold their weight? Not that I'm saying their fat, but some of the beds are being held by books, rope, and sheets.'
Still eyeing everything in the room, the leader of team RWBY used that opportunity of Jaune's misplaced focused and talked to her fellow team leader.
"Thanks for helping Jaune find the way over here, Pyrrha. I know it was sudden, but we really appreciate it." Ruby thanked her.
"No, it's no problem at all, Ruby." She gave her usual kind smile to Ruby. "If it means helping your team get those slanderous words people are saying about you four to stop, then I'm happy to help."
While both Ruby and Pyrrha were talking, the rest of their teams soon did the same, with the only exception being Blake standing behind Jaune still looking around their room.
"I'm not sure finding our room to be fascinating to be somewhat innocent curiosity or just plain creepiness." Blake bluntly told Jaune what she thought he was doing.
Stopping to register what she said, Jaune felt embarrassment filling his cheeks at what she was implying before turning around to face her.
"Please don't say stuff you don't mean, Blake." Jaune wined, not wanting her to tell the rest of her friends that Jaune was some weirdo. "I just, you know, trying to understand how you guys, Huntsmen-in-training I mean, try to make this place seem homier. Yeah, that's my explanation."
Snorting at his terrible reason, Blake just turned her head and saw that her team was still talking to the other group of students.
"I'm sure they already told you their names, Jaune. I hope you didn't run into any other complications other than getting lost."
'I got greeted by a flash bang.' Jaune wanted to tell her that but thought that it was better to keep it to himself. "I was kind of confused at where to go, but I'm happy to see more of your friends. What about you guys? I hope today was more progressive with you guys."
"Well, as you can see," Blake pointed at areas in the room that were somewhat disorganized. "We've thought it was a good idea to try and clean our room before you showed up. Weiss thought that it was always good to make a good impression on the first day."
"We met before I was assigned to do this." The Blonde boy said to Blake. "I understand if you guys are busy with school work, and it's not like I'm going to criticize you guys on stuff like this, I'm also new to the whole reporter thing."
"Well, one of us in the room is a veteran to media," Blake and Jaune both looked back at Weiss who was talking to Pyrrha and Ruby. "Kind of feels really pointless now for her to even try and get this place clean now that you're here."
"I'm not really tidy myself, Blake, I usually get reminded once in a while to clean my room by my Aunt."
Jaune was also thinking about why he always gets reminded to clean his room. Cause every time he gets back from his nightly rounds in the city, Jaune comes back too tired to clean his room.
"So, I'm here, you guys are here, you want to get started?" The young reporter asked the assembled students. "Since I'm writing an article that will help lessen the burden of Vale's Huntsmen community regarding the dangers happening in Vale. Including that whole incident at the highway, but I don't think you guys to be reminded about that."
Taking a breath to collect his thoughts, Jaune looked at each Huntsmen that was accepted into Beacon.
"I want to try and get to know you guys and help me understand how Huntsmen aren't really different from the people you protect. Now, I asked if Ren, Nora, and Pyrrha if they want to be a part of this and they accepted. But, since I'm mainly assigned to team RWBY, I'll start with any one of you girls or all at once if you're up for it."
"Phrasing." Yang whispered, only to get an elbow to the ribs by her partner.
"I think it's only right if our team leader goes first," Rubbing the spot where Blake pushed her elbow into Yang, the youngest one in the room gave her older sister a look of murder for putting her into the spotlight. "It's only natural to let her go first. She's younger, got into Beacon way earlier than other students, and is out leader so the rest of us will just wait outside for you guys to start. Have fun!"
"Wait, I thought I should go fi-" Before Weiss can complain, Yang was the first one to push her out of the door.
"No one likes a kill joy, Weiss" Was all Yang said as both were out of the room.
[First interview: Ruby Rose]
Now, having only just Jaune and Ruby by themselves in the room made the team leader start seeing her partner's wise words come true.
'Maybe I should've listened to Weiss's idea on cleaning myself up before talking to Jaune.' Looking down at what she was wearing, Ruby Rose started to feel self-conscious of what Jaune might be thinking about. 'I wore this outfit when I was sparring in Ms. Goodwitch's class, should I have worn something different? Now that I think about it, I wore this outfit every time I met with Jaune!'
"Ok, Ruby," Snapping out of her dilemma from Jaune interrupting her think, the young Huntress switched her focus on Jaune. Who was pulling out a pencil, a notepad, and his camera out of his backpack. "This is new for both of us, so I don't want you to feel pressured on thinking too hard on answering some questions."
"Ok, Jaune," The crimson hooded Huntress looked to the only desk in the room that also came with a chair. "You want to take a seat? I can just sit on my bed or my sister's bed and we can start then."
"It's fine, Ruby, you use the chair, I'll just lean on the desk." Jaune suggested.
Moving their conversation somewhere better, Ruby took her place on the seat while Jaune was leaning on the desk. If both didn't notice by now, the distance between the two teens was just one step away, yet it seemed that both didn't seem to mind much.
"Let's start this off with just asking how your day was?" He asked as he scribbled something on his notepad.
"Pretty normal if you ask me," She shrugged her shoulders, not really having anything to complain about how today was. "Just had regular class, sparring, and the occasional na- studying, studying with one of our professors."
"Sparring?" That seemed to peak Jaune's interest. "Can you explain more about that? I didn't know you guys can fight one another."
"Well, we wouldn't be good Huntsmen if we didn't know how to fight more than just Grimm." Ruby lifted her finger to count how many times she was called into the center ring from their professor. "I was called out more often to spar with some of my classmates, something to do with how I'm the only one who skipped a grade or two."
"She called you out just because you were good enough to jump ahead of your education?" Jaune sounded somewhat mad at how Ruby's teacher would do that to just her.
"No, no, no!" The flustered young girl waved her arms to get rid of the misunderstanding she caused. "It wasn't just that! Professor Goodwitch was hard on me the most in the beginning of the semester because she doesn't pick favorites. It was also because that some of the other students didn't really think it was fair that I was able to be in Beacon this early."
"Ahh, I see," The blonde boy written down more of his thoughts on what Ruby was telling him. "Just your run of the mill jealous students. Did they at least stop after some time, or are they still giving you a hard time? If this is getting personal, you can tell me to stop."
"It's alright, I'm ok with answering. After I won by beating the other students, they stopped seeing me as some brat with a huge ego and started to respect me for being skilled enough to be part of Beacon."
"I'm glad they stopped thinking like that towards you, Ruby. I'm even more happy they didn't resort to just be jerks and bully you."
"It was really a rough ride in first semester," She said truthfully. "Aside from other classmates thinking I shouldn't be in Beacon, I was also having a hard time being a team leader to girls who are older than me."
"Yet you still retain the title and have been doing great ever since." The blonde reporter said his piece while also writing what he said down on paper. "Wow, Ruby, I got to say, but you're really amazing."
"Woah," Heat began to rise in Ruby's face. "I don't think I'm all that, Jaune. That's how people thought I was in the beginning of this year, thinking I was conceited because I got in way sooner than others. I'm normal, yeah, just normal... normal knees."
"What was that?"
"Nothing!"
"No, Ruby, you've told me that you struggle to be a good team leader as well as trying to make sure you don't let other people make you feel like you don't belong here. That right there, makes you great. They have a word for that: Underdog and people love an underdog."
"They do?"
"A girl as young as you, transferred to a school with students who are older than you, and being a leader of three other Huntresses makes you great in my book."
"Jaune," She felt like the room started to get a little too hot. "I'm just a normal girl… normal."
"Yeah, you are normal, Ruby. So am I and that's why I'm making sure I'll write this article showing that Huntsmen are normal people too. This is great, thank you for telling me about your first semester, Ruby."
"It's nothing really."
"Maybe, but I like it, not just about being a reporter, but also just talking to you. You usually see me when I'm at work and that's usually my coincidence, so, in a way, being a reporter is a good excuse to hang with you guys."
"Geez, Jaune." Ruby couldn't help but crack a smile and punched Juane's arm in a friendly gesture. "You don't have to think like that! I gave you may number, even if we can't hang out sometimes doesn't mean we can't call each other."
"True," Finishing up on what he was writing on, Jaune looked at his scroll he placed on the desk to check the time. "Wow, we've been talking for that long? It felt short! I think this is a good stopping point for us, do you mind if you can see of one of your other team members wants to go next?"
"Sure, let me go see!" Lifting herself off the seat, Ruby left to room to get the next person.
Having a moment to himself, the secret hero slumped his shoulders to express his current emotion of being sad.
"Ruby really does deserve to be here." Looking back to what he written down, Jaune couldn't help but snort at some of the side comments he written down. "Much more than I do."
Things like: 'Cool', 'Awesome', 'Not the place for you', and 'She's braver then you' were written whenever he heard more about her time in Beacon.
'Man, I suck. Just before coming here I was complaining about my issues, yet Ruby deals with this place 24/7. I really need to stop pitying myself.'
The sound of the door opening gave Jaune the time to register that another student of Beacon entered, shaking him out of his funk and back to his job.
"Ok," He put on his smile to the next person getting interviewed. "Let's start on your side of Beacon life, shall we?"
[Second Interview: Yang Xiao Long]
To say the difference between the two siblings was like comparing Jaune to his school bully, Flash Thompson.
Both may be blonde and tall, but that's where the similarities stop from there. Jaune is smart compared to Flash's average grades, with a minor exemption being P.E. While Flash Thompson is the most popular senior in Midtown High, Jaune is the most unnoticeable student that some even forget his name. Another thing that sets them apart is that Thompson is a bully and Jaune is the nerd who gets picked on by him every chance Flash can get.
Which is even more weirder knowing that Jaune gets bullied by Flash, who is also his biggest fan when he's Spider-Man.
That is how weird it was to Jaune when he finally had the chance to fully examine Yang, Ruby's older sister.
With Ruby, she was shorter and cute that made Jaune always happy to see her and her infectious attitude.
For Yang, it just made Jaune confused and embarrassed, like if he tried to speak in front of her he would think he made an idiot out of himself.
Ruby was also like him when it came to being kind of a dweeb, always having a hard time expressing his emotion in the right way and feeling self-conscious when being around others.
Yet for Yang, she just had this cool and confident aura around her that if she wasn't a Huntress and applied at his school, Yang would be crowned prom queen with no opposers for four years straight!
And, if Jaune was being honest, even with Ruby's great figure, she couldn't possibly hold a candle to her older, more mature sister.
Plus, her boobs are just freaking fantastic.
'Stay calm, Jaune.' The young reporter looked down at his notes, trying not to look up. 'Just cross your legs and everything will be fine.'
Doing as his brain told him to, the secret hero placed his right leg over his left. Feeling somewhat in control of himself, Jaune looked back up and made sure to stay right up to eye level with Yang.
Immediately, Jaune switched legs even though he hasn't spoken a single question to her yet.
'Crap! She's hot~! Why does this school not have any ugly students! This just proves that all super models, at some point in their life, tried to be huntsmen! Just think of her as someone else, maybe a relative, like a sister.'
Thinking thoughts of Yang being another sister in his already large family, soon donned to him that he didn't really have to think that hard.
'Huh, taking a closer look, she would definitely fit in with my sisters. Thank god, I thought I would have to resort to imagining her in her underwe- actually forget that part and just focus!'
"Well, Yang, I know we haven't spoken much from the short moments we met, but I hope we can start by doing this little one on one talk."
"Sure thing," Said Yang, sitting on the chair in reverse so she can rest her arms on the back rest of the chair. "I never gotten this type of attention before, but I guess I have to get used to it when I become big and famous when this article gets out, right?"
"Yup, I guess your right about that." He didn't nod his head, only just voiced his answer, all to make sure he kept his focus on just staring at her face.
Too afraid that if he did nod his head, then his eyes will involuntary look at something that he'll probably never forget, or when Yang finally wears a something thicker to hide those sweater puppies.
"I think your being too optimistic here, Yang." He tilted his head and gave her a nervous smile. "I just got promoted and I'm already feeling pretty pressured to make sure I don't write something stupid."
"You're the one writing about what we say, reporter boy, so does that mean people will think the paper is stupid because we say something stupid?"
'Ok, that wasn't what I meant! Quickly, divert the damage! Divert, divert!'
"Pf-wa-Well, hold on, Yang. That wasn't what I mean, you girls are completely intelligent, especially you! All those tales about blondes and thinking, totally wrong!"
"Huh-uh," Yang just smiled at her fellow blonde who was starting to sweat. "And what else?"
"That you your smarts match your looks and that people are idiots if they don't think so."
"Keep going."
"You remind me of my sisters, all seven of them, and there successful!"
"Getting be-wait, you have seven sisters!?"
"Plus, I think your more than just che-" Jaune was fast enough to catch what he was about to say and decided to answer Yang's question rather than spit out another complement. "My seven sisters? Yeah, I'm not bluffing, got seven and half of them are either on missions and some are with their own families."
"Oh, so you also have a family of Huntsmen, huh?" She asked, now more interested in asking about his life rather than the other way around.
"I think I should be the one asking the questions, Yang." Jaune smirked at this sudden role reversal, but deep inside he could feel his stomach twist at having someone asking a sensitive topic. "Though to be fair, half of my family are huntsmen while the rest just go to school or is living in a different kingdom."
Yang made a long-whistled sound to express how much she was impressed at how large Jaune's family was.
"Bet your mom wanted to make your dad get a vasectomy after the eighth one, am I right?"
"Uh," Suddenly, childhood memories of wondering why mom needed his dad so often started to make sense. "I'm not sure she would go that far, but my dad learned the value of protection."
Idea forming in his head after talking about his family, Jaune tied in a topic with family involving Yang and Ruby.
"Speaking about family, how does it feel to have your little sister here in Beacon? She told me she got accepted two years ahead of other students. Must be proud of her, even more so with her being team leader during her freshman year."
"Proud? Nah. I've known she would be good at being a Huntress ever since she was leaving other kids from our old school in the dust! She's a natural at this, she truly belongs here and I'm glad Beacon saw her potential to be here."
Caught off guard at how Yang was casual and teasing to supportive and serious involving her younger sister. Jaune couldn't help but project his own problems with his sisters and how they supported him in his dreams of being a Huntsman.
Writing something down a bit too fast, the young hero looked down at what he wrote then flipped to another clean sheet.
"Guess 'proud' is an understatement. I also agree with you about Ruby belonging here. It just shows you that those who push themselves to be something greater gets more out of things in life."
"Yup," Yang involuntarily lifted her arms and folded them behind her head as she tilted the chair, so the back legs would be the only thing on the ground. "Bet she didn't tell you this, but when she was at the police station, the headmaster of Beacon came and talked to her."
"Hmm-mm." Was the only thing Jaune said as he written down more words on his pad. Yang also didn't notice that Jaune squeezed his legs a third time, only this time he squeezed his legs much tighter than before. "Was then when she also saw Spider-Man?"
"Can't really remember if I'm being honest. I was dealing with some of my own business before I caught word about why Ruby was with the police." Yang shook her head and suddenly laughed at something she just remembered. "Speaking about Spider-Man, have you looked at my sister's side of the room?"
"Woah!" Jaune's writing hand went out of control as soon as he heard Yang ask him if he looked at Ruby's bed side yet. "I don't believe I have, no. Heh, heh, heh…. That's just a trick question, right?"
"Oh my- Just look for yourself, doofus!"
Moving his eyes to somewhere other then Yang-
'Thank you, god.'
Jaune spotted some snippets of news pictures that was from the Bugle. How he knows this is because the pictures on Ruby's wall are his own, about Spider-Man, A.K.A: himself!
"Ruby always wanted to help people, ever since I could remember." The long-haired blonde set the chair back on its four legs and looked back to Ruby's bed. "Seeing that web head for the first time just made her ideas of helping other even more permanent. But, I think the most positive thing she also encountered was you."
"Really?"
"Oh yeah, I know this is sudden and your supposed to be interviewing me, but I just want to let you know something. Even though she's going to be a great Huntress, she's still young and has insecurities. She may look all happy and excited, but I know when she's faking it. So, it's nice to see she's able to make friends that aren't from Beacon, that isn't part of this world, especially since she didn't need my help."
Looking at the small section of Spider-Man pictures, the hero seemed to have enough at looking at himself on the wall and turned back at who he was interviewing.
For some reason, Jaune didn't feel like crossing his legs anymore.
"You know, I think your right about not needing to know more about you, Yang. You already shown me enough to know that Huntsmen do more than just fight Grimm and protect the people."
"Oh really? Please, tell me what you think of me?" Yang gave Jaune a friendly smile as a sign of challenge.
"It's really simple, they protect families, their own most importantly. Even though both of you are training to be people who fight monsters daily, your leader is still your little sister and you'd fight twice as hard to make sure it stays that way."
Dropping her smirk, the brawler stayed quiet for a short moment, then let out a short laugh.
"Well, look at you. Looks like you not so bad at doing this after all. Maybe next time, instead of being a reporter, you might just try being a counselor."
"Oh, Pffff!" Jaune just swatted that idea as soon as it left Yang's mouth. "It'll be a million years before I get a job as some councilor. They'd be a total idiot to hire a guy like me to fill that role."
"Maybe, but hey," She shrugged her shoulders and got off the chair. "It could happen. I think now is a good time to stop, wouldn't want to make Ruby think somethings going between us. I'll get the next one, you just sit tight."
"Thanks, Yang." Smiling in appreciation, Jaune waited her yang to leave the room, before going back a page to read what comments he had when talking with Yang.
"Note to self," He read out loud his thoughts. "Wear baggier pants."
[Third interviewer: Blake Bellode- Ballad- FFFFU]
"Shoot," Jaune messed up the spelling and erased her last name. "How do you spell your last name?"
"…" The quietest one in the team walked in to expect Jaune to start greeting her, but rather she sees the boy having a hard time with her last name. "You serious right now?"
"I'm sorry, but I literally forgot! Do you have two 'L's or one 'L'?"
"Two." She raised two fingers just to make sure Jaune knew numbers as well.
"Thanks," He scribbled down her name, stopped, and looked back up to her. "Do you ha-"
"B-E-L-L-A-D-O-N-N-A." The cat Faunus just decided it was better to just spell it for him.
"Thank you," Without complaining, Jaune just written down what she said and started his third interview. "Ok, so let's start this off with how you feel about Bea-"
"I saw there was some recent activity among the Grimm, mostly around the Emerald Forest. Was Spider-Man involved with that or what about the gun fight that happened just hours before that?"
"Or ask something completely left field, Blake, sure why not." To make it even more convincing that she was now in control of the conversation, Jaune stuck his hand out that had his pencil and pad. "Here, take it, no, I'm not mad. Matter of fact, would you also like to ask me my social or my blood type too? My relationship also? Well, don't worry I can tell you it isn't complicated."
"Jaune," Feeling like she already had enough of his ranting, Blake simply rested one hand over his. "I'm sorry that I asked that so soon."
"Apology accepted, Blake." He couldn't keep his façade for long and dropped his from for a smile. "Ok, I know you've probably wanted to ask me questions involving our friend, so let's ask each other stuff and we answer back, deal?"
"Ok, Jaune." Blake nodded her head. "My day at Beacon feels out of place, like I don't belong. I'm sure you know the reason why."
"The secret of who you really are, right?"
"Yes, now my turn."
"Whoa, whoa!" Jaune wasn't prepared to get this far so soon. "Let me write some stuff down."
"You can do that while listening to my questions. The news said that there was a shootout involving some stolen items. When the police arrived, they were already stopped by Spider-Man, but what about the forest?"
'Knew some people would notice some noise out there.' He thought, still remembering the loud explosion that sent Iron Man and him hurdling to the ground.
"There was an explosion. Ok, let's back up here, what do you know about the people who got arrested?"
"Nothing much," She said truthfully. "All I know is from the small news videos and snap shots they showed-on TV and on newspapers. After that, we didn't get much more of them. Who were the people that got arrested in Vale?"
"Some people who were trying to steal from another group of bad people. Anyway, do you see other students, one's who are Faunus that feel the same too?" He knew it seemed like a very sensitive topic to ask someone who defected from the White Fang, but he felt like he needed to know.
Stopping to ponder Jaune's question, Blake bit her bottom lip to think of an answer that best describes what she feels.
"There brave, more so then me, especially one girl who is a second year. She can't hide who she is like me and she gets bullied, by a couple of first years no less. Yet, every time I see her just take it and remain passive, makes me have conflicted feelings."
Noticing that she just opened a bit more then she wanted, Blake shook her head and narrowed her eyes at the only one in front of her.
"Why was there an explosion at the forest?"
Scribbling down his thoughts on what Blake told him, Jaune finished his last sentence and answered her next question.
"Those guys were part of a group that came from Atlas, that was trying to steal some stuff. Spider-Man tracked down their lair, did his usual quips, they had a self-destruct switch, escaped, and left Spider-Man to pick up the pieces. You know, really typical villain stuff, I mean, what type of rich organization can just destroy a base like it was normal day at work?!"
"Can we get back on topic, Jaune? Please?"
"That's considered your next question, so I can ask you two now. Also, yes, we can get back on topic." The male blonde danced in his mind at seeing Blake glare at him. "How is your team, are you guys working well together?"
"We're fine," She didn't hesitate on answering. "We're actually the best team of the first years, well, minus Pyrrha's team. Guess fighting bad guys while also maintaining teenage life goes well together when you have friends who share it with you."
'Not arguing with that.' Jaune couldn't help but imagine Whitley thinking the same too.
"So, after seeing both Faunus and human students being in the same school, as well as having a very close nit team, will you ever decide to drop that bow?"
A twitch came from her so called 'bow', giving Jaune a visible sign that Blake might not want to.
"Not yet, Jaune. Even though I'm sure you see bullying as a common thing in your school, I'm still trying to find my own answer to what I see in Beacon. Human and Faunus can work together, it's just that our pettiness and shallow nature as teens prevent us from seeing that working together is a better alternative then dying by the claws of the Grimm."
'Is she cursing teenage youth? Does she have a mind of a middle age woman who still regrets not enjoying her time when she was younger?'
Her second pair of ears twitching more profusely, the ex-White Fang member instinctively reached on top of her head to stroke her feline ears.
"Is that why more Grimm were starting to appear in the forest?" Blake asked, no having a turn at asking for some answers.
"The base Spider-Man infiltrated also had a large room where they stored Grimm."
Her back became straight when she heard why the sudden increase in Grimm activity.
"Why?" Was all she asked.
Dropping the questions he wanted to write for the article, the spider halfling decided to just answer rather then write.
"He doesn't know why they captured the Grimm, but since the base was destroyed most of them were set free. Spider-Man even told me he thought he wouldn't make it out alive with so many Grimm chasing after him."
The teens were left silent, obviously the weight of what Jaune said made both think of what might have happened if Spider-Man didn't make it.
'Thank you, Iron Man.' Jaune sent a silent thank you to his new friend. 'Hope I can repay the kindness someday, but for now…'
"We've made a decent amount of time today, Blake. If you can, will you please send in the next one. I'm sure it's about time I start talking to Weiss. That's one of the reasons I'm here in the first place, no offence."
Agreeing that their talk should end today, Blake got up from where she was sitting and headed straight to the door. Just when she was halfway through the door, she looked back at Jaune with one more question that was bugging her.
"Did he also decided to play music when fighting those guys in Vale? Cause some people told their side of the story that they heard loud music playing right where the shootout happened."
Not looking at her as he written some more words into the interview he had with her, Jaune casually walked to the door.
"Oh, yeah, that wasn't him. It was another superhero from Atlas, calls himself 'Iron Man'. They did a hero team up to fight the bad guys, the usual hero spin offs."
"I see, well I-" Walking out of the room, Blake had to stop talking when her mind finally caught up to what Jaune said to her. "Did you just say, 'Another superhero'? Jaune, what ar-"
"Next please! Thank you, Blake!" Closing the door behind her, Jaune walked back to the desk and written his final remark about Blake.
"Man, this is taking more time than I thought." Taking out his scroll he could see it was already past 6 o clock. "Well, just four more left and one of them is the person I really need to understand."
Hearing the door being opened, the spider Faunus looked to see the next person entering.
"Hello, Ms. Schnee," Jaune greeted her in a professional manner. "Please, sit down and get comfortable."
"Of course," Weiss, ever the trained lady, made the effort to stay as cool and professional even though the area they were in was her team's room. "So, what would you like to know?"
Ok, so I don't really have much to say for my A/N since I have been writing this chapter on and off for some time due to my work. You see, my boss just assigned me to do some training for a month starting February and I have been getting ready for it. This training will be my focus for next month, so I will not be publishing any chapter until March roles in. Most of you probably wonder why I left off at Weiss, which I can tell you now is due to me wanting to make a cliff hanger. That's right, I'm paranoid to believe most of you guys will forget about this story and the only way for some of you to remember is if I make sure I put it at where things start to get interesting. HA! HA! HAA!
Still, I wanted to at least have this month getting two chapters published, so I will still write the upcoming chapters, but they will be far and few since work comes first. And we all know that work also comes with responsibilities.
Either way, I like to thank my Beta, ahsoei, for helping me fix some mistakes in this chapter. Don't forget to check his work too, but make sure to like, Fav, and comment on what you guys think of this chapter. thank you!
OH! Before I forget! I know most of you know about Iron Man and how he's part of my story, but I won't be making a story about him. Rather, someone else will! An author going by Nacoma23 has uploaded the first chapter of Whitley becoming Iron Man! Here's the link for you all to check his first story! Make sure to give him your support! Thank you!
Link: s/13190467/1/The-Invincible-Whitley-Schnee
