Josuke sighed slightly as he leaned down to pick up the book that had once been the Enigma Boy, the pompadoured teen placing it in one of his dress suit's pockets for safe keeping before turning around to the others. "Ren, Penny… I'm guessing you two might need some fixing up?" Ren smiled slightly; of course this would have been the first thing on Josuke's mind as soon as he was broken out from having been paper a minute ago.
"My eyesight is already returning quite fine enough Josuke, thank you. As far as this scratch goes it really isn't much of anything…" A silence fell upon the end of Ren's sentence a she, Josuke and Koichi looked over to Penny, the girl's exposed wires and metallic bits sparking here and there as she just looked off to the side in her best attempt to avoid eye contact with any of the three young man.
"I… believe I might be in need of… fixing…" Penny's voice sounded flat, flatter than usual, as she spoke, knowing exactly where the eyes of the three young men were falling. She had meant what she had declared to Enigma and meant it well; even if it meant revealing herself as a machine, to her friends and… to herself, she would do it to keep them safe. However, she was under… well, few illusions. There was always the chance that these three would be like Ruby and that they'd find her appearance, rather than off putting, 'awesome' as Ruby would like to say.
However, a chanced glance over to Ren and Koichi with her green eyes showed that the two looked… mystified. Ren's confusion seemed to stem from a combination of doubt as to what he was seeing and some rather dubious expression that her own processors couldn't place. Which was better than what she could say about Koichi's look; the young boy looked like he was about to have an aneurysm as the look of reluctant amazement crossed his face. He had probably never heard of a robot before, much less imagined that one could be dressed up in the skin of a girl.
And Josuke. The boy she had just made friends with earlier this night. He was from The Frontier too, so he had just as little capacity for understanding what he was seeing as Koichi. Heck, the fact that she was able to be dragged into Enigma's semblance so easily was proof enough that, despite the fact she had Aura, she was just a thing and Josuke was a perceptive guy like that if reports about his strategic mind and intellect were to be believed. There'd be no way that he'd-
"Here Penny, let's get you patched up." Penny rotated her head to face Josuke as his hands were placed on her shoulder, the telltale golden glow of Crazy Diamond's fixing powers washing over her. While her systems at first had no idea what to make of the various moving bits again and, indeed, at first registered alarm at the forces acting on her body, soon enough various systems and backup systems that had been badly damaged by Enigma's shocking trap were coming back online. Her skin seemed to come back from the ashes where the burns had been too deep and even her dress, which she had thought was quite nice looking, was being patched up before her very eyes.
Penny blinked, somewhat lost, before she looked down to the side. Her friend was still fixing her up, even though she was clearly not even human. She at least owed him an explanation.
"JoJo… I do not quite know how to explain to you what I am. The reports from Ironwood and your own people about the state of technology in The Frontier leaves little for me to use as a basis of understanding for you. I'm sorry I didn't tell you about this before, but this is just-"
"Penny, you just saved myself and Koichi's lives at the risk of your own. I'm not about to hold it against you just because you had your own secrets you wanted to keep." Josuke's words were firm and direct as Penny's eyes narrowed a bit, drooping down as she looked at her shoes as they were fixed up.
"'At the risk of my own life'... for what little that might mean. I am not sure if you heard Enigma while you were inside the paper Josuke, but the only way his Stand worked without needed a sign of fear was if they were an object. I may have an Aura, but his Stand-"
"Stands are funny things Nora. You never know how they're going to work under certain, odd circumstances. Hell, we can't do much to ask him now, but the way it sounds like that Enigma only ever tested his Stand on people. For all we know he could've shoved birds, dogs and other animals in there without needing a sign of fear." Penny looked over to Josuke, a slightly amused smile coming to her face.
"That is a rather weak excuse, I believe most people would say, JoJo." At that the pompadoured teen just grinned as he looked up at Penny.
"Look… all I know is that I heard a girl give one of the coolest speeches about how she was going to risk everything she thought about herself and her own safety to save her friends. If that doesn't show your alive, then to Hell with it." Josuke finished fixing Penny up, but kept his hand extended to help pull her up off the ground. "I'll be honest Penny; I have no idea what the Hell you might actually be. You're more made of metal than even Stroheim or Joseph Joestar and yet you act very much like a living person. I'm not gonna lie, it's a bit weird… but where I'm from, we're brought up to be prepared for the weird and bizarre.
"There's just one thing I'm sure of right now; I gave you permission to call me JoJo and you just risked everything to save myself and Koichi. Far as I'm concerned, that's all I need to know about how alive you are." Green eyes opened up as Penny Polendina smiled up at Josuke. A glance to her side would've shown a still dubious look on Ren's face, the analytical and logical young man still not entirely sure what to make of Penny and a nervous look on Koichi who.
However, as Penny grasped her friend's hand and lifted herself up, more of her own volition than with his help, she found that she could stomach those kinds of looks in front of a good friend.
"JoJo… thank you." Penny gave a bit of an awkward shrug. "If my mechanisms were capable of crying, I think I might at this moment. But I can't be sure, because I've never done it before."
"Well, I guess this would be a good moment to cry? Maybe? I dunno, I mostly do it while not thinking about it… not that I cry often, mind you." Josuke blushed slightly as he scratched at his cheek, much to Penny's own amusement.
"... JoJo, Koichi, Ren? I'm… I'm sorry to ask this after having just revealed it, but might I ask that you keep this a secret? I am not yet ready for other people to know… the people who do already know were more accidents in the first place or were my creators and knew by virtue of knowing about my project." Penny's long-winded explanation cut Josuke and the others off a few times, before Josuke just shrugged.
"Like I said Penny, I'm not about to hold it against you for wanting to keep secrets. I'll keep quiet about this and I know for a fact that Koichi's good at keeping secrets." The grey haired young man looked over at Josuke as the pompadoured teen spoke, the unspoken significance of that sentence clearly registered in both of their eyes before Koichi nodded slowly.
"Yeah, definitely. I won't tell anyone Penny. We kind of weren't supposed to know like you said… and we only know because you took such a big risk for us. Least I can do." Everyone turned to Ren, the magenta eyed teen clearly still rolling this around in his head. Still, the group of three eyes on him caused him to just sigh, smile and shake his head.
"You're lucky it's me who's catching onto this and not Nora. You'd be in trouble there. But… I am quite capable of keeping a secret. I don't say much to begin with anyway." The, mostly, black haired teen stood up after a moment as he rubbed at his eyes one last time.
"I am quite sorry if this will cause either of you two discomfort… not just the secret keeping but also the knowing about what I am. I do appreciate the former though, truly." Koichi just nodded his head while Ren shrugged slightly.
"It is… odd to know that Atlas has been making such strides in developing artificial life. Odd and… something that I'm going to have to think on. Still, I do have to congratulate you Penny; of the many things I might've suspected that would have explained your behavior 'secretly a robot' didn't even register." Ren's usual tone didn't betray any intention in the phrase one way or the other, which seemed to slightly confuse Penny for a moment.
"... My processes say that I could have either taken that as a compliment or insult. JoJo, Koichi?"
"Take it as a compliment. It's fine, Ren can be a bit hard to read at times with that monotone of his." At that Penny just beamed brought as she gave a short bow to Ren.
"Oh! Thank you Ren, that is actually quite flattering of you to say!" The Mistrali teen just smiled lightly as he bowed his own head.
"Consider it nothing Penny."
"In the meantime." Josuke broke in, a slightly more serious look on his face. "Now that we're all free and fixed up, we'd best get back to the Dance Hall and make sure everyone's alright." Ren and Koichi nodded almost immediately as they sprinted off for the Dance Hall. Josuke was soon following behind them but not before Penny grabbed his sleeve to stop him for a moment.
"I do not mean to halt our process Josuke but there was… something I was vaguely aware of while I was in the paper that I thought I would ask you about?" To that Josuke just nodded as Penny's foot dug into the ground a bit. "You didn't hesitate when Enigma threatened to tear up my paper… it would've destroyed me and very likely my systems and that would be quite… quite hard to… to fix." Penny seemed to hesitate here and there as Josuke's nodding slowed considerably.
"I did not wish to put you on the spot in front of the others Josuke but… well… did you only not hesitate to approach Enigma because you were confident that Crazy Diamond could fix me? No matter what?"
'Were you confident that I wouldn't be considered dead to Crazy Diamond?'
That undertone sat just beneath the surface of Penny's question. Unspoken for the cheery tone that the two friends had set earlier in that conversation but easily read into the conversation nonetheless. Josuke couldn't bring people back from the dead. No matter what, Crazy DIamond couldn't fix a corpse so well that it'd reanimate. Once something died, it died and there was no bringing it back.
It made sense to ask; if Josuke was so sure of approaching Enigma, was the reason because he knew Penny 'couldn't die? Because there was no way she, as a 'thing', could be considered dead to Crazy Diamond?
That she didn't actually have a soul.
For a moment Josuke's face was unreadable as he looked down at Penny, his blue eyes just staring back into her green ones as the little red headed robot stood her ground. After several seconds Josuke just smiled and pat her on the shoulder, shaking her head.
"Course not Penny. Enigma was just a normal Stand User. There was no way he'd be able to act faster than Crazy Diamond. I wasn't confident that you could be fixed; I was confident that I'd easily be able to beat him down if he even tried anything." A wide, toothy grin filled Josuke expression as he pat Penny's shoulder reassuringly. Though the robot girl couldn't feel it, she understood by the gesture and Josuke's expression that he was reassuring her and that he did not appear to be lying. With those two things in mind a genuine smile returned to Penny's face as she nodded firmly.
"I am sorry for asking Josuke, but I just needed to know. Thank you for entertaining these concerns of mine. Now, let us make haste!" With that Penny darted off after Ren and Koichi, leaving Josuke behind as the teen stood still for a moment.
Josuke allowed himself a moment to drop his well-crafted poker face before he followed after his friends.
"Dammit… I can't believe this happened right from under my nose. I was so distracted with my men going silent at the CCT… I should've been where the threat was. This was so close to being a disaster…"
"You were where the threat was James. Don't beat yourself up over this."
James Ironwood crossed his arms as he looked out over the gathered children. Roll calls were being made again and again to ensure that everyone who had been present in the Dance Hall before Enigma and Red Hot Chili Pepper struck were still there. As people were pulled from paper and allowed a chance to stretch and breath fresh air, early signs pointed to the evening having been a resounding success; everyone had been accounted for. Enigma and Harvest hadn't gotten away with anyone and, despite Red Hot Chili Pepper's best efforts, no one had died.
"Oz, you can't just look at what nearly happened and say that I shouldn't have been here. Rose would've been-"
"Would have been dueling a very dire threat by herself, potentially to the death, if her testimony is anything to go by. She said you scared the intruder off Ironwood and, though she might not know it, you could have very well saved her life. You did your part James.. Or at least more of a part than I did." Ozpin smiled lightly as he shakily took a sip of his coffee, his nerves still jittering from Red Hot Chili Pepper's assault.
"You can't blame yourself; an Enemy Stand User decided to use his ambush to take you out first. But I was still up and ready to fight… there are Atlesian Students here Oz that depend on me and, more than that, I'm here to give the people a sense of safety and comfort. The idea that our enemies could strike us here and at those of us most vulnerable… that's a tremendous failure on my part." Ironwood shook his head as he spoke, Ozpin eyes blinked a couple times before he smiled.
"James, your concern for the wellbeing of those you place under you is admirable… very well. Let's say that it was both of our faults then. We should've been more careful and mindful of possible threats." Ironwood turned to argue further but seeing the look on Ozpin's face… well, he chuckled.
"That's all I'm getting out of you, isn't it Oz?"
"It is indeed James." The two turned back to the student body. "Jotaro has some interesting information on one of our assailants as well. We should consider this night a success in a way; our enemies hit us quite hard but came away with nothing and meanwhile we've managed to take away two of their own agent and get a lot of intel on a third. All things considered, tonight could have gone worse." James relented slightly as he reached a hand around to take a sip of his own coffee.
"... True enough. I just wish it hadn't come to this."
"That is something we can both agree on James… and something we will all talk about later in a more private setting." A nod of understanding was shared between the two Academy Headmasters as they watched their students find their friends or search out for others, silently keeping an eye on their charges.
"Once again I have to give kudos to your students and the Frontier children Oz. Along with Glynda, they pulled off quite the little miracle." Ozpin smiled at this as he took a long drink from his cup of coffee.
"Indeed… I think I feel more secure about the future each passing week, James."
As the two Headmasters spoke of better things, the various students were looking around for friends and teammates who had been pulled out of the paper. After having ensured that all of his own circle of friends were safe and sound Koichi had wandered off, promising to return as quickly as he could. He had made sure that all of his friends were okay and that they'd made it out fine…
It was probably silly to worry about Neopolitan… but he couldn't help it. No one had seen her after Enigma made the scene which would've meant that she got papered in the first assault. It was something that seemed so bizarre to Koichi; that Neopolitan, who he saw keep her cool when face to face with Angelo, had broken a sweat against RHCP's show. Had allowed Enigma to spot out a tell that gave him the power to paper her.
Perhaps she had her own tells that he couldn't see? Maybe she considered RHCP to be even more of an intense threat than Angelo, considering that his first act had been to, effectively, incapacitate Ozpin of all people? Whatever the answer, now that Koichi was sure his friends were alright he wanted to check in on his… dancing partner, he guessed.
Koichi scanned the room and immediately perked up when he spotted Cinder, Mercury and Emerald. Cinder seemed to be off to the side speaking with Emerald in hushed tones while Mercury stood off to the side, in between most people in the Dance Hall and his two teammates. As Koichi approached, Mercury looked over at the sound of his footfalls and grinned to himself as he stepped off from the pillar he was supporting himself on to get between Koichi and the other two.
"Hey there little man, what can I help you with?" Koichi glanced over to Cinder and Emerald as she two conversed, still unable to hear them, as Mercury snapped his fingers. "Sorry little guy, but Emerald's a bit… shaken up by this whole thing. Cinder's doing her best to get her back on her feet but right now she's really sensitive. Running bodyguard duty for the two of them while Cinder helps her out."
"Oh! Well that's nice of you! Sorry, I won't bother them then." Koichi understood completely the idea of feeling overwhelmed by the events. His time in the paper had been… unpleasant in a sense. He'd come out of it relatively okay, mostly because he was more angry at Enigma for what he'd done to everyone than he was scared by the end of it, but still, it wasn't an experience he would ever want to repeat. "I-I was just wondering if-"
"If I knew where Neo was, right?" Koichi nodded resolutely as Mercury grinned. "You know how she is little guy, independent as all Hell. Second she got out of the paper she was off like a rocket. Probably hanging out somewhere on campus considering they've closed the airbuses down for a bit to make sure no one gets out. I think I saw her heading out to the courtyard, maybe you can catch her there?" Koichi nodded appreciatively as Mercury directed him, the short young huntsman scurrying off as Mercury just grinned, shook his head and walked over to Cinder and Emerald.
"Your date was asking after you, ice cream." At that, Emerald turned her head over to Mercury with a frown, Cinder's mouth movements ceasing as she just continued to stare on straight ahead. If anyone had ever gotten too close, sound would've been thrown in to make the illusion more convincing…
But as it stood, Neopolitan had already split her focus between disguising herself as Emerald and making a simulacra of Cinder Fall. Adding more to it would give even her a headache. Neopolitan glared with Emerald's red eyes as Mercury just chuckled.
"Hey, don't get made at me for calling him your date. Pretty much everyone saw you dancing away with the little guy. I was just calling it like I saw it." Neo just rolled her eyes as she looked back over at Cinder, though her attempt to get back into the act faltered as Mercury's Scroll rang. Plucking it out of his pocket Mercury took a good look at it and, with a slight grin, looked back over to Neo. "Cinder and Emerald made it back to the dorm. Cinder's going to do what she can to patch Emerald up before we sneak her back out into the city tomorrow. We can do more for her with Roman's resources at our disposal than we can here with just myself and Cinder to patch her up." With that Mercury scratched at his chin. "Now… I'm pretty sure that if you were a good girl and hurried up and got myself, you and 'Cinder' here to our dorm then if you hurried you might be able to catch Koichi~"
It was funny in a way; despite them being two different people if it weren't for the fact that Mercury knew for a fact that this Emerald was just Neo with her semblance active, he would've swore he was talking to his actual partner. The glare and the annoyed huff was spot on as she stood up along with the simulacra of Cinder as they walked off in a group. The only thing that might've even remotely given away her identity was the… rush to her footsteps. A rush that Mercury noticed and was infinitely amused by.
While 'Cinder's Team' made to leave the Dance Hall to return to their dorms, the general remains of Team JoJo, RWBY, JNPR and SSSN gathered around. Most looked absolutely exhausted but all clearly felt accomplished; after everything they'd done that night, it was a well-earned feeling. Of course, not everyone was there; Pyrrha had almost immediately dipped out upon making sure Jaune was alright, the only thing keeping the blond Arc boy from following after her having been a note she had left in one of his dress pockets to meet her at the usual spot later. Blake had gone off with Shigechi to help smooth things over with Ironwood and Ozpin and to start writing up her letter to Menagerie and Yang, after having practically choked Ruby Rose in the tightest hug she had ever giving followed by the loudest, most embarrassing cries of 'I was so worried about you, how could you just wander off like that, don't you ever make me so worried again' the blonde had also disappeared.
"Swear to God those two really do just need to get over themselves and say it already…" Okuyasu muttered as he watched Ren continue to fidget with Nora, the girl's burn wounds and general battle damage fixed up by Crazy Diamond. However, this left her tremendously exhausted still, a state that few of her friends had ever seen her in. Judging by Ren's reaction, it wasn't one the girl fell into often.
Still, if Nora had any problem with Ren's attention, she certainly didn't seem to show it.
"They both probably have their reasons. Best to just let it happen." Jaune muttered slightly as Ruby and Weiss snorted derisively.
"Mmmhmmm, says the authority on dating who just let the girl he dressed up in… THAT attire for walk off." Jaune blushed heavily as he dusted his hands on his skirt, the pretty, pretty dress that he had worn before being papered still having been on.
"Yeah I really could've gone without seeing that again, but I guess no one gets what they want tonight…" Josuke muttered to himself as the group of friends chuckled amongst themselves.
"You're telling me. 'Stand Attack' is probably going to go down as one of the worst ways that a party can get interrupted from now on." Sun bemoaned slightly as his tail reached up to scratch his cheek. And, indeed, for most of those gathered the night had turned out far better than imagined… before the Stand Attack. While Josuke could've still given the whole night a pass, there was a distinct sense among the others that despite whatever expectations they might've had going in, what came out was pretty nice. Again, Stand Attack pushed to the side.
"Finally get a friggin' dance and then a Stand jumps out of nowhere to crash the party. My luck really does suck." Okuyasu groused as Weiss just shook her head.
"Probably for the best; the way you were dancing you were either going to kill me or force me to hurt you very, very badly." Okuyasu snorted slightly as he crossed his arms.
"Ah come off it Weiss, you were having fun." A small grin crossed Weiss Schnee's lips as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Perhaps… but you're definitely going to need to learn how to be a better dancer if that's ever going to happen again. I am NOT putting myself through that again." With that, a wide grin crossed Okuyasu's lips as the scarred teen tilted his head to the side.
"Oh? Are you offering Weiss Queen?"
"... So long as you cut down on the puns with Yang, yes, I'd be willing to offer." Weiss turned her back to Okuyasu. "... Tonight was fun, after all. More fun than I had thought to expect. Once again, thank you Okuyasu." With that, Weiss turned her head towards Ruby. "Now then Ruby… let's go find Yang and get back to our dorm… it's been a long, long day and I'd like to just lay down and rest." Ruby agreed quite enthusiastically as Weiss spoke.
"You're telling me…" The young girl sighed slightly as she stretched out her own back. As Weiss walked off, Neptune and Jaune could only watch after Weiss, the blond just turning his head over to Okuyasu.
"... I still don't understand how you, out of all three of us, managed to dance with Weiss. Neptune and I…" Okuyasu just grinned nice and wide as he stretched out his back.
"Yeah I really don't know what happened either." With that Okuyasu belted out a laugh as he walked off. "I'll meet you at the dorm later Josuke. While you and Koichi got to be cozy in that paper, some of us actually had to work to help save students. I'm turning in… if you see Koichi before he comes back to the dorm, tell him to find someplace else to take his girlfriend!" At that Okuyasu belted out a nice, loud bark of laughter as he walked away, a small grin on Josuke's face.
"Well he seems to be in high spirits. Guess he's earned it though." With that Josuke stretched out his back as he looked towards the others. "Anyway, Neptune, Jaune, Su-... huh, that's odd, Sun and Blake have gone walkabout." Neptune just shook his head as he grinned.
"Blake was pretty much wiped entirely. Only got one night's worth of good sleep so that's no surprise. Sun said he'd be a 'gentleman' and walk her back to her dorm. Weiss and Ruby'll probably run into them on their way back." Neptune sighed as he shook his head. "Man tonight was not my night… guess I really only have myself to blame for that though." Neptune yawned a bit as Jaune and Josuke nodded.
"Well… it's good that you're handling it so well Neptune." The blue haired young man just waved the two off with a smile.
"Come on. I turned her down for a pretty crap reason. No point in being bitter about your own mistake. Just gotta learn from it." Neptune walked up to Jaune and clapped him on the shoulder. "Speaking of Jaune-"
"Oh Jeez, yeah, I should get going. Later guys!" With a quick bolt Jaune immediately ran off, his skirt billowing in the wind as Josuke and Neptune watched him go.
"... Jaune, for the Love of The Brothers, CHANGE OUT OF THAT DRESS!" Josuke called after Jaune though if the blond knight had shown any sign of hearing him, he didn't show any of it as he sprinting out the dance hall's doors. "... I swear, you guys have managed to outweird anyone I know in The Frontier, and we aren't exactly a boring lot either." Neptune let out a bit of a laugh as the blue haired young man stretched himself out.
"Can't say that the feeling's not mutual Josuke… but given what all happened tonight, I think I'll go ahead and say that 'weird' in this case is very, very cool." Josuke grinned a bit as Neptune spoke. "Well I'll talk to you later Josuke, for right now, I think I've going to go back to my own dorms while the getting's good. The rest of the team is probably going to be wondering where the Hell Sun wandered off to… probably good to tell them that our dear leader is being a 'gentleman' right now." Neptune snorted a bit as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked off.
As Josuke watched as his various friends, teammates and allies wandered off the young pompadoured man just stretched his arms out above his head again. In all honesty, he wasn't that exhausted. Like Koichi, he'd spent most of the night inside a piece of paper, so he hadn't actually ended up doing much except taking one or two of RHCP's hits before being slipped into Enigma's trap. Honestly… he could go for a walk. So, shoving his hands into his pockets, Higashikata Josuke wandered off to do just that.
"Come on… not this again. Not after I spent so much time looking for her. Don't tell me that she's off and vanished back into… wherever the heck she hides." Koichi sighed slightly as he ran a hand through his hair, sitting on the fountain's edge in the courtyard. After a goodly amount of time spent looking where Mercury had directed him, the young man was left with little option but to assume that he had, once again, lost track of Neopolitan and that she had slinked back off into her usual pattern of behavior. Before tonight, this would've been perfectly fine; after all, it was the norm and sure, Koichi wanted to see her but… well, not seeing her and just communicating through pieces of paper had been fine.
But tonight? Tonight was a blast! He had a lot of fun, more than he would've ordinarily expected. Well, of course he didn't mean the turning into paper part, that was pretty crappy and put a pretty definite dead-end on the evening but before that? Jeez, it was a night and a half. Neo's calm, cool demeanor just lent her this air of cool and confidence that Koichi, even after his personal growth following Angelo, could only dream of attaining. Being around her, it felt like that aura of self-confidence and self-worth just kind of rubbed off on you. Being around her, knowing that she was letting you being around and just having fun? It… it made him feel more confident.
The dancing was great, the jokes… well, the jokes at his friend's expense weren't… okay some of them were pretty funny. Somewhere deep inside of him, some as of yet unexplored aspect of his soul, would even say they were hilarious. Something that'd say that he found that s-h-i-t greatly amusing. Sure he chided her to be a bit more polite but between her knowing look and his own internal amusement… they just let the night roll on.
The dancing was great too. A few slow dances and then a couple of fast ones before RHCP interrupted everything. She actually got along reasonably well with Okuyasu despite his teasing… or maybe because of it? She seemed entertained. And her friends thought she was nice enough and she seemed to be trying to put her best foot forward.
When Koichi had thought about just enjoying a dance with her or her company… this was kind of what he was hoping for. It was fun. He enjoyed himself. He felt good about it all..
And now he couldn't find her. Again. And that… yeah, that seriously bummed him out. He wanted to hang out more, to crack more jokes to just have fun. He… well, he guess it wasn't quite so complicated anymore.
Hirose Koichi had himself a little crush on his stalker.
That… that was fine. More than fine really.
Except for the part where she'd disappeared into thin air again. That had been less cool. As Koichi sighed as he placed his chin in his hand and thought about where else he could look, he felt a slight breeze tickle the hair by his ear. Brushing it again he felt something tap him on his shoulder. The grey haired young man turned his gaze around to look and finding nothing but the fountain water behind him just sighed and turned back forward.
Only to be greeted by a pair of green eyes.
"WAGH!" Koichi's arms flared out as the young man jumped back in his seat, his arms waving about as he tried to balance himself to no avail. Just as he was about to tip and fall back into the fountain water he saw Neopolitan silently chuckle as she reached out and grabbed him by the lapel of his dress suit, pulling him back to a more solid seat as she grinned smugly at him. "Neo! Hey! I've been looking for you." Koichi said with some excitement as he slip off the fountain and stood up straight, the short young man looking up to Neo as she mouthed a silent 'oh' before she tilted her head to the side, an amused grin on her face.
Koichi, having realized how unabashedly enthusiastic he had sounded at the moment, quickly blushed in embarrassment as he sought to reel it back in. He sheepishly scratched the back of his head as he averted his gaze, another silent chuckle forming on Neo's lips as she pressed a finger to Koichi's cheek and forced him to look back up at her. She tilted her head to the side a bit and Koichi just nodded, though still a bit embarrassed.
"R-Right… I was looking for you because I was a bit worried. I didn't hear the others talking about how you were anywhere near the fight so I knew you must've gotten papered. I just… I just wanted to check in." Neo smiled slightly as she nodded, pulling out her Scroll and quickly typing out a message as she did.
"The lightning Stand, Red Hot Chili Pepper everyone's calling it? Yeah, seeing it take out a famous huntsman like Ozpin gave me a bit of a spook. The paper guy must've caught me at the wrong moment and captured me."
Complete and utter bullshit of course and Neopolitan knew it. She had just used her semblance to disappear the moment the action went down like the plan said. Still, this was as good an excuse as any and she was fine with. Before she put her Scroll to the side, Neo bit her lip. It was a stupid question; he was right in front of her! He was perfectly okay! No injuries done and, if there were, Crazy Diamond would've fixed them…
"What about you little guy, you doing alright?" Still, despite her better reasoning, she couldn't help but ask. Seeing the little guy get papered… well, it was a bit of a spook. She hadn't expected to be so close to him when it happened and… well, watching his horrified expression as he was pulled into a piece of paper, unable to fight back… it wasn't a pretty sight.
"Huh? Oh! Yeah, I'm totally fine! Don't worry about me, my friends got me out before anything serious could happen! I'm glad you and your team are alright too! I heard about how spooked Emerald was so… well, wish her well for me?" Koichi offered in as polite a tone of voice as he could muster, to which Neo just responded with a nod. Honestly, Emerald would need WAY more than that to deal with the utter beatdown that she'd gotten from Jotaro…
A beatdown that Neo was not at all ashamed to admit she had enjoyed watching.
After Koichi said that the young man seemed to pause and blush against as he scratched at the back of his neck. To this, Neo just smugly smiled as she placed her hands on her hips, a look that clearly communicated 'Was that 'all' you wanted to check in on' delivered to the young guy.
"... No. I… look, Neo… I had a lot of fun tonight." Koichi admitted as he glanced up to Neopolitan's green eyes. "Like a lot of fun. More fun than I thought I'd have had before I found you here. I had a great time and.. I-I wouldn't… I mean, I'd like it if… I dunno… maybe we could do this again sometime? Maybe somewhere off campus?" Koichi's face got progressively more and more red as he said this, a wide smirk forming on Neo's face as she plucked away at her Scroll.
"Ooooh~ You mean like a date?" Neopolitan wished she had the ability to laugh as Koichi went wide eyed.
"I-I don't, I mean, it doesn't necessarily, I mean, I just… I thought it'd be fun and, and, and I'm shutting up now!"
Neopolitan shook her head slightly as she watched Koichi's display. Welp, this was the moment then. Koichi was going to die here in a few days and she'd had her fun. Now it was just time to let the guy down gently and, in a way she guessed, let herself down gently. After all, it'd be pretty cruel if she put the idea in his head that Koichi had anything to look forward to after his 'mission'. She'd played fast and loose with the rules tonight as it was and gone against Roman's request to not get near this guy and to just observe him. Neopolitan had her risky, rules-free fun with Hirose Koichi. Now it was time for her to get serious, do her job and just tell the little guy it wasn't going to happen. It'd spare him some stress and it'd spare her some disappointment…
…
Aaaaanytime now.
…
"Hanging out outside of campus huh? Well, that is one of my favorite things to do… alright Koichi. I'll take you up on your not-dates." The message was typed in quickly and almost as soon as Koichi had finished reading it, his face absolutely lit up like a festival tree. It was completely and utterly adorable...
But if anyone asked, that flutter in her chest was Neo's consummate disappointment in her ability to just do what she was supposed to do.
"Sounds great! We have those missions coming up and everyone's going to want to prepare for them so… how about after? Does that work for you?" A quick nod from Neopolitan and Koichi barely withheld the desire to hoop and holler. After he managed to calm himself down Koichi seemed stuck between reaching out to shake Neo's hand or give her a bow so the young man offered an odd mix of the two which had greatly amused Neopolitan. "Alright, well, I guess I'll let you get back to your team then Neo! I'll… I'll see you around!"
Neopolitan watched as Koichi ran off, waiting for the young man to be far, far out of line of sight. When he had crossed that point, she sighed wearily and ran a hand through her hair. Smooth Neo, very, very smooth. You had a simple request from Roman; don't get near Koichi. Then you had a self-made rule that, because of this Breach stuff, you weren't going to bother getting too close to him. What was the point? It'd just make his last moments sadder and it'd make the entire ordeal sad.
Two for two on breaking rules there. Ordinarily this would be something Neo would find amusing. However, at this moment, it was anything but amusing.
Still, she couldn't have helped herself. She shook her head as she set her face against her hand. She knew she was impulsive and knew that her interest in Koichi would be… weird. Now here she was, indulging in it. Hell, her heart actually 'fluttered' at the idea of hanging out with Koichi more.
Nothing about Neopolitan, assassin for Roman Torchwick, was supposed to friggin' flutter.
Just as Neopolitan was about to ream herself more, her Scroll rang. With an annoyed grimace as she expected Cinder or Mercury to be on the other end she popped it out and took a look. A slight grimace reached her face, one born more of some worry rather than annoyance, when she saw who the message was from; one of Roman's dummy phones.
"Cinder messaged me about tonight. She said you performed admirably and helped them get out of a tight spot. Good work Neo, knew recommending you go would do good." Honestly, Neopolitan sighed in relief. No sign of any annoyance or hint of knowledge about what else she did tonight. She could very well go without having to hear Roman be as disappointed in her as she-
"Mercury also tells me that you were dancing with Koichi tonight. I find that interesting."
She was going to fucking gut that loose lipped bastard, she swore. She waited for a few moments, hoping that just ignoring the message would leave Roman to just pass on sending her another. Said hopes were dashed when Roman sent a 'Well' message in the next few moments. With a weary sigh Neo typed in that yes, she had in fact danced with Koichi that evening.
"Fuck's sake Neo, I specifically asked if you wouldn't…" Neopolitan winced. She could deal with Cinder, the walking talking bitch incarnate, being upset with her. She could care less about Mercury or Emerald thinking little of her. And Koichi she'd kill if Roman asked.
But to have Roman, her… her dad be upset with her, that-
"Did you have fun?"
Neo blinked as the message popped up, her green eyes wide with curiosity as she looked at the message. Was this… was this a trap? Was he testing her? Well, if he was, he'd probably ask her again in person anyway… and if there was one thing Roman Torchwick was good at, it was reading people… even her.
The guy had a gift.
"Yeah. I had fun."
"Did he keep his hands to himself?"
Neopolitan couldn't help but snort as Roman asked, rolling her eyes as she typed a message to the affirmative. Now she knew he was messing-
"Did you two use a condom?"
Neopolitan very nearly tripped over her own two feet and fell into the fountain. Eyes wide with frustration and embarrassment she sent a barely comprehensible message back to Roman, whose texts consisted of just lines of laughing as she tried her best to strangle him through her Scroll.
"Haha… ha. Neo, you are who you are. You don't take directions well… except when it comes to your job. I pretty much expected you to ignore me the moment I let you go off to this stupid dance." Neopolitan winced a bit at this, before the next message popped up. "But I also knew you'd do your job no matter what and you'd do it well. That's just who you are; I can't depend on you to behave for shit but I can damn well expect you'll do your work. At this point, I'm fine with that. I'm glad you got to have some fun."
… It was an odd relationship Neopolitan and Roman Torchwick had.
Taken in at a young age when she had been left behind by the world, Roman Torchwick had turned a little mute girl into a killer, a machine of death and destruction who gladly partook in her work. She was ready to do whatever job he handed out and do it without remorse. It was who he had helped shape her into… it was an extremely fucked up relationship, that was for certain. Whoever her real parents might've been, they probably would've been disturbed to see what happened to her.
"... Thanks Roman."
But those assholes ditched her. Roman Torchwick took her in and took care of her.
As far as she was concerned, he was more parent to her than anyone else.
"No problem kid. Just be sure to get back once Beacon drops their security, alright?"
"Will do."
With that Neopolitan closed her Scroll and slipped it back into her pocket. A small smile now graced her lips as she wandered on back towards the dormitories of Beacon Academy.
Hey, like Roman said. She'd done her job well and had a little bit of fun while she was at it. Sure, maybe she made a couple missteps but… well, they were fun missteps.
Now she just had to remind herself that they'd be her last missteps.
She should've been with her friends and her team. She knew this on some level. Tonight was a big night and… well, she had been a big part of it. Even as she had slowly wandered her way over to the edge of her circle of friends so that she could slip out and clear her head, she could hear them.
'Yang did great tonight. She really beat the crud out of Red Hot Chili Pepper.'
'Yang really stood up and took command when things looked like they were falling apart. I was surprised.'
'I mean, she REALLY beat the tar out of Red Hot Chili Pepper.'
In truth, this should've been something that relaxed Yang Xiao Long. The three-way fight was everyone's moment, everyone had done their part to make sure that things went well. That she stepped up and helped push everyone to this victory when uncertainty had gripped them, when they had the ability to win but just not the will at that moment… this should've been a moment where Yang was patting herself on the back and just hanging out with her friends and celebrating.
But the truth was, Yang was stressed out to all Hell.
She had been so worried this entire time. The moment she'd stepped forward to take up a 'leader' mantle she could immediately feel the pressure on her. Any of her friends who died or they didn't rescue, anyone that she fucked up and cost their lives or livelihood… it was all on her. Her, Yang Xiao Long, the impetuous, hot blonde who preferred thinking with her fists in a fight than strategizing. That was just who she was; Hell, she had to try her hardest to not give in to temper or her desire to just pound the everloving shit out of her enemies the entire time. She had to put her hard headedness and tendency to lose her cool aside in order to ensure that everything would be fine…
To ensure…
"This is why mom left right? Because I'm bad?!" Ruby was still crying… even after Qrow had saved them, she was still crying… and she knew it was her fault...
Jeez… thirteen years later and she still remembered that little conversation. It was silly to hold herself by that memory, of course. Even her dad had cleared everything up… but, it wasn't the memory in particular. It was one note among many that spoke about who she was. Who Yang Xiao Long-
"Well, looks like I'm not the only one who needed a bit of a stroll to clear their head."
Lilac eyes turned to face the source of the voice, a smile twitched at the corners of her lips as Higashikata Josuke walked up from down the way. Yang had taken a seat at one of the benches around Beacon Academy while she cooled down and got her head back on straight and Josuke, without even asking, slid on the opposite end, giving her some space.
"Well howdy there JoJo. Wasn't expecting to see you out and about. Figured you'd be back with everyone else."
"Yeah well everyone else turned in and… well, considering I didn't do jackshit during most of the fight against Red Hot Chili Pepper or Enigma, I had some leftover energy to burn. Figured a walk might do it." Yang just chuckled a bit as she pushed some of her hair behind her head, a grimace forming on her lips.
"Fuck… forgot that Red Hot Chili Pepper torched some of this. I'm going to get the ends trimmed and everything. This is gonna suck."
"Man you did run off in a hurry." As Yang heard Josuke speak, a golden glow enveloped her. Soon enough her dress' tatters were being filled back in as burnt clumps from somewhere flew over, took back their form and fixed themselves. Her bruise, still visible through the mending fabric, turned from its dark purple and, in some spots, black to her normal unblemished skin and, most importantly to her, Yang's hair quickly filled back out, the burnt ends returning to life in a flourish.
"Jeez… guess I was so wrapped up with what was going on in my head that I forgot that old JoJo here can fix anything." Yang chortled as she tossed her hair around a bit, her mood already improving dramatically as Josuke just shrugged his shoulders.
"What can I say, aside from putting Enigma in his place that's my main contribution for the evening." The pompadoured teen joked as Yang nodded in agreement. The two remained in relative silence for a minute as they both looked up at the sky, each lost in their own thoughts about the evening.
"So… want to talk about what happened or something?" Yang asked with a slight grin. "Better take it up while I've still got the whole 'responsible leader thing' going for me Josuke, cause that'll be gone come tomorrow I can promise you." Josuke just shrugged as he scratched at his cheek.
"Frustration mostly. Enigma ended up having me by the balls for most of that fight by taking Koichi hostage and there wasn't much I could do. It's a pretty tremendous failure on my part as a leader of a team." Yang nodded in understanding.
"Eh, but it's not like there was much you could do about it. Sure, Enigma put you over a barrel but he did that to almost all of us. We just got caught with our pants down and we ended up paying for it a bit… thankfully none of it was permanent." Yang allowed herself a breath of relief as she nodded. "Really thankful for that one…" Josuke nodded in ready agreement but still his blue eyes narrowed a bit.
"Still, I'm not much one for just settling on excuses. I'd like to think of what I could've done better… Koichi and Okuyasu follow me because they feel like they can safely put their lives in my hands. I don't want to let them down for that." Yang nodded again as the blonde just leaned back in her seat.
"Not for nothing JoJo but aside from Ruby, there's probably not a whole lot of people our age… er, around our age that I'd stake my life on. You have the very great honor of being person number two." At that Josuke chortled.
"What, not gonna extend that honor to Jaune?" Josuke asked as Yang just chuckled.
"Look, the guy's coming up but… well, Jaune's still Vomit Boy to me. Not quite ready to stake my life on his decisions. Ruby's proven to be a solid leader and so have you, tonight's fumbles notwithstanding." Yang stretched her arms out as she placed them behind her head as Josuke just grinned a bit.
"By the way everyone was talking about it, sounds like most of them would be ready to put their lives in your hands at this point." If Josuke had expected a happy-go-lucky answer from Yang, he was quite surprised when her grin, instead, dipped a bit.
"If that's the case then… I dunno if that's such a good idea. The whole leader thing really isn't my deal." Yang answered honestly as she shrugged her shoulders while the pompadoured teen just blinked in some confusion, leaning forward so that his elbows rested on his knees.
"Could've fooled me with the way everyone was talking about it. They were singing your praises before you dipped out and Ruby couldn't have looked more ecstatic about how everyone was talking about her big sis. 'Hah, you all didn't think Yang could do something like this? Please, Yang's, like, the second most responsible person I know'." A snort of laughter escaped Yang's lips as Josuke pantomimed Ruby's tone of voice, Yang shaking her head slightly.
"Ruby's biased. You can't trust her and you certainly can't trust those lying ears when it comes to everyone else's words."
"Well… Hell, seems like it makes sense to me. You raised your baby sister from a young age, made sure she settled into Beacon… the way Weiss tells it you talked some serious sense into her during this… dock incident with the White Fang?" Yang seemed a bit surprised that Weiss would bring that up… huh, maybe she'd melted the old Ice Queen's heart a bit and let in some of that Yangy goodness. "With tonight it seems to me that you're just selling yourself short." Josuke leaned back in his seat as he spoke, Yang's gaze still staring out at the sky.
"... I can fake it pretty well. I can put on a real tough outside shell and speak with some authority. Tell you when you're being ridiculous about how you're treating a friend, push a decision that no one really wants to make. I can get you into an outfit you friggin' hate before giving you something you'll like and… yeah, even raise my kid sister when I'm barely older than she is. I'm good at faking the whole… responsible, well-meaning person thing. I can do it… but, well. I know me. I'm really not suited for it." With that, Yang shifted up off her seat as she looked out at the horizon.
"Yang Xiao Long has to try to keep her head in a fight and 'try' to keep up that kind of authority and force. Really, I'm a pretty simple girl JoJo; I wanna explore the world, see everything there is to see, make some money and, Hell, maybe have a few fights on the way. I don't really plan or strategize too well and I had to buckle down and force myself to not mess up with Red Hot Chili Pepper. Hell, I take joy rides on my bike pretty much every other weekend just to get away from Beacon Academy.
"Authority and leading folks? That doesn't hold any appeal for me, not in a power fantasy sort of way and not in a heroic sort of way like Ruby… I like the idea of freedom better. It's… it's just who I am. Who I really am." Yang turned her head over to Josuke with a grin, noting the thoughtful look on his face as she grinned at him. "Trust me, there's no better authority on who Yang Xiao Long is out there than me JoJo. That entire time in there just sealed the deal; I was a nervous wreck. I was so worried that entire time; whether people would die because I'd make a stupid, dumb decision, whether I was being reckless with everyone in splitting them up… how many of my friends and people I knew I'd have to say goodbye to tonight if I didn't pull this through. I'm not like you or Ruby; I can't operate with a cool head under command and make all these decisions like it comes natural."
"... So why did you?" The question didn't seem to be accusatory, Yang noted. In fact, that confused her a bit. The fact that it wasn't an accusation, that it wasn't Josuke scolding her about all this and that… it seemed like he was going somewhere. It was odd but Yang just shrugged.
"... It's like you said yourself JoJo. When there's people I care about that are in trouble or need me… I have no choice. I have to do something. Even if it seems like the worst option… I have to." Yang watched as Josuke stared after her for a moment, before a grin formed on his lips.
"You know what I think Yang?" The blonde tilted her head to the side a bit before Josuke nodded. "I think you aren't giving yourself enough credit." The earnest way that Josuke said that, the way his blue eyes shined a bit as he spoke, it made Yang chuckle as she ran a hand through her hair and shook her head.
"I don't know about that there JoJo. Sounds to me like you need some sleep to get that head on a bit straighter." With that Yang let out her own yawn as she turned away, giving a wave over her shoulder to Josuke. Higashikata Josuke watched after Yang as she departed, a thoughtful expression on his face as he turned back round to face the familiar sight of Remnant's shattered moon.
The very same shattered moon that one red haired tournament fighter looked up at from hers and Jaune's usual spot on the roof. There was an… odd sort of smile on Pyrrha Nikos' face. There was a lot of thought and turmoil running through it, certainly, yet at the same time there was sense of genuine happiness and accomplishment.
Everyone had made it out alive. Despite the best efforts of their enemies, no student or faculty member at Beacon died and none were taken captive. Not Neptune, not Koichi or Josuke, not any of their friends and… not Jaune.
She'd gotten quite angry. She supposed it was a bit of a delayed reaction at the time; seeing the boy you had basically confessed a crush to and then told to stay away from you before he walked up to you in a dress to tell you that you could work through this turned into paper, with the horrified expression that was plain to see on Jaune's face…
To say that was a complicated set of emotions right there would be a massive understatement, she was sure. Yet it was what it was; just as Jaune was trying to convince her that she didn't need to worry, that this was something they could work on as partners that… in his own words, it could be okay to be selfish, he was torn away. Torn away just as her own web of emotions were in turmoil.
She had gotten very angry and very scared all at once.
And yet, that particular cocktail of emotions hadn't caused her to run or back away. It hadn't become 'too much' for her… it hadn't become something she was scared to deal with. Quite the opposite; she was quite ready to 'deal' with it. Ready to tear apart as many Harvests as she had to get her hands or semblance on in order to get her friends back. In order to get back the people she cared about.
A slightly choked laugh escaped Pyrrha's lips as she combed a hand through her hair. It… it was almost funny, in a way. The very day she confesses to Jaune and tells him that she can't, in good conscience, try to be with him is the day a Stand Attack occurs that tests her. Tests her even more harshly than Toshikazu had. Test her to the point where her life and the lives of those she cared about were in danger.
She'd almost find it funny now, given that everyone survived, if not for the fact that the experience was not yet even an hour separate from her and those emotions still burned hot in her throat.
"Hey. Sorry it took me so long just… took a stop by the dorm." That same confused smile stretched itself even further across Pyrrha's lips as she turned her head to see Jaune. The young man was dressed in his casual attire, out of his dress but not either in his formal wear or his armor.
She still found the fact that he had Pumpkin Pete on the front of his hoodie amusing. Of if anyone outside of their team ever found out about it… well, Pyrrha was fairly good at keeping secrets at this point.
"I understand… though I do feel a bit disappointed." Jaune arched an eyebrow at this though Pyrrha quickly waved it off. "It's nothing Jaune, it's nothing… I figured that after everything you'd want to talk. In fact, I knew you would, especially once everyone filled you in on what happened." After a moment, a soft smile came across Jaune's face.
"Ah, pretty predictable, huh?" Pyrrha smiled warmly as she shrugged her shoulders.
"Sometimes… but other times, not so much. I honestly didn't expect you to actually put on a dress…"
"Hey, an Arc always keeps his word." Pyrrha couldn't help but chuckle at that as she nodded.
"I'll have to remember that as something that makes you predictable then, Jaune." The red haired young woman brushed a strand behind her ear as she spoke, the two just laughing slightly as the sounds of the night rang out around them.
"... So… things got pretty intense there."
"They certainly did." Pyrrha responded to Jaune's opening round with a knowing smile. She knew this was where he was going to go as soon as he heard about what happened, like she said. Heck, these very thoughts hadn't been far from her own mind these past few minutes.
"I heard you got pretty ticked with the enemies… gunned right for them, even taking a hit because you wanted to get me out of there." Pyrrha nodded again.
"I suppose so… seeing you disappear like that, right before my very eyes, into a trap like that… seeing how you reacted… it made me quite angry. More angry than scared and… I acted on that." A smile slid across Jaune's face as he scratched at the back of his head.
"Yeah, things got real and… well, you didn't run." Pyrrha chuckled.
"Straight to the point."
"Well you know me… I don't exactly have a way with words." Jaune offered with a slight shrug as a small twinkle shined in Pyrrha's green eyes.
"I wouldn't say that… you have your own way with words. What you said on the dance floor it… did shake me before the Stand Attack hit." Jaune perked up a bit at that, though Pyrrha just ruefully shook her head. "Still Jaune, I'd advise caution… a datapoint of one doesn't exactly give you a picture perfect idea."
"Pyr… it isn't just the one. Like I said, you've been so good to us, to everyone… and despite what you might think, those times weren't exactly easy either." Pyrrha… actually nodded slightly.
"I know… but… it doesn't help. Knowing what I did and the reasons I did them…"
"It's okay Pyr. Like I said, I can understand doing stuff for selfish reasons." And again, Pyrrha nodded. The entire time the two slowly approached one and other, step by precarious step.
"You do… I suppose it is easy to forget, seeing how far you've come Jaune that… you did also leave your own family behind to come to Beacon. Even if for good reasons-"
"Eventually good reasons. You aren't just gonna fluff me up so you can feel easier about knocking yourself down Pyr." Pyrrha chuckled slightly as she nodded her head… though this time there was a pause.
"Jaune… when I said I think you're a good, caring person who would give something your all… who trusts people and is so kind… I wasn't just fluffing you up then. It's what I think of as the truth… and… and I am worried that a person like me could hurt you. That… that does scare me." Pyrrha admitted as she raised her right hand to her left arm, rubbing it slightly as Jaune shrugged his shoulders.
"Well Pyrrha… even if that's true, even if you're right that it could be a mistake and I could end up miserable… well, that's my mistake to make too." He offered with as sincere a smile as one Jaune Arc could muster. "And… whatever's happened, whatever either of us have done that we might think of as stupid or stubborn or selfish… we can deal with it together. After all, we already do as partners." Pyrrha smiled gently as she nodded even as a red tint formed on her cheeks.
"... What I was admitting to Jaune was a little bit… well, it's big in a different way than being your partner as a huntress." And Jaune just nodded.
"Well… I jumped off of one cliff already here at Beacon. I think I've got a landing strategy for a second if you do."
…
Pyrrha couldn't help herself, she actually laughed out loud.
"Jaune… I, Gods, it really was so easy to pick out Toshikazu's Surface as fake. Your suave-"
"Can use some work, I know. I thought it sounded cool in my head… but then I immediately regretted how dorky is was." Jaune admitted with a fiercely red blush as Pyrrha's chuckled slowly died down. She smiled warmly at Jaune before she let loose a small breath.
"I know you're being sincere Jaune… and I want to trust you on this one. I want to trust that you'd be ready and that… you really think this is worth it." Before Jaune could speak, Pyrrha raised a finger. "You just have to do one thing to prove it to me."
"Name it, it's already done." Jaune spoke with the utmost seriousness as he stood up straight as Pyrrha nodded solemnly.
Pyrrha had just finished setting up her Scroll as she heard the door to hers and Jaune's spot creak open again, the red haired young woman grinning slightly as she turned to face Jaune.
"... Please explain why I jumped back into this when we go back to the dorm, okay? Ren and Nora were giving me looks…" Jaune spoke with a red blush as he walked back out onto the roof in his stylish, pretty, pretty pink dress, a wide grin on Pyrrha's face as she just nodded.
"I promise Jaune… I just… well, you know, you promised-"
"And an Arc never goes back on his word, I know." As he said this old familiar line, a smile slowly formed on Jaune Arc's face. "Now, if I'm not mistaken, I do believe neither of us got a chance to dance at the dance before everything kind of… exploded." Pyrrha nodded as she leaned down to tap the top of her Scroll, a song beginning to play as she turned back to face Jaune.
"I do believe you're right." Pyrrha walked forward towards Jaune, meeting the young man halfway across the little corner of the roof the two had claimed for themselves. With gentle, nervous motions the two got into a dancing position and, with two billowing skirts flapping in the breeze, began to dance.
"... This is the weirdest thing I've ever done."
"Same, same." Pyrrha admitted with an awkward laugh as Jaune looked down at her.
"If anyone ever asks about this story after the fact, we're telling them that I was wearing my strapping dress suit when we danced."
"Hmmm… I'll think about it. I think it says more that you would come up here in a dress. Gods know Cardin would've never stopped laughing." Before Jaune could respond Pyrrha leaned forward and rested her head against his chest, the blonde just taking it as a sign to shut his mouth as he danced with his partner.
For though the night was long and full of peril, these group of young heroes had managed to come away with a victory. Hard fought but complete, they each earned their time to rest, to relax and to be with their friends and companions… before the next threat would arise.
-To Be Continued- Hermit Purple (Act 1)
A/N: Relationships are a tricky thing to write in fiction, especially if you're doing a large number of them. We've discussed things like chemistry and differences in kind and a lot of this is apparent to see in this chapter; for some of the shipping we've set up, the glove slips on rather easily as it does for a lot of otherwise well-rounded individual. Getting into a place where you're loosely dating someone is quite easy for a lot of people, but maintaining or advancing said relationship is where things get bumpy. For other people the mere process of getting into that place is the difficult and almost insurmountable part, but once in things usually tend to even out…
Then you got the people who're secretly your enemies and things don't really get easy. Though I doubt that most of us have been in such a spot.
Course we're talking about the very early game here; really the only people who'd probably own up to 'dating' at this moment would be Koichi and Neo, and even then you'd have a hard time pinning either down on it for various reasons. There's a lot of shit to get through still and a lot of the shit is motivated and shaped by the personalities of those involved. Keeping things like this in mind'll hopefully pay benefits when we get back to these concepts and get ready to advance these particular arcs.
This chapter was a mini-cooldown chapter. We just had a big fight arc and we're about ready to set up for another pretty intense fight (and another after that, as is the want of these mini-climaxes building up to the big climax of this set of chapters) and taking a moment for the characters to just interact and cool their heels after this clusterfuck is good because then we, as an audience, get that chance to breath.
I didn't quite get the chance to get to the villains in depth this chapter, save for Neo and Roman, as it didn't quite flow right to get to their major character moments. That will definitely be in the next couple chapters though as we set up for the next major conflict. One that I'm sure a fair few of you are looking forward to thanks to the name of the next Arc.
Till then guys, have a great day and an excellent weekend.