So, I misspoke recently when I said 16 chapters. Only 15 planned. Seems short to me, but that's only because In RWBY's Shadow was a monster. Oh well.


"You sure this is a good idea?" Honey asked as she looked over the profile of their next male applicant.

"Absolutely," Randi answered. Honey had a little trouble accepting that, given who the guy was. Or, more accurately, who he was partnered with.

Lie Ren creating a profile had been a bit of a surprise. As much as Nora claimed they weren't together-together, the whole school knew she had staked her claim on the quiet boy. Even in his profile picture, Honey could see Nora lurking in the background.

"How can you be so sure?" Angering Nora sounded like a terrifyingly terrible plan. She rather preferred keeping her legs unbroken.

"He told me himself," Randi answered, halfheartedly swiping through a few female profiles as she spoke. "He said Jaune and Pyrrha had been encouraging both him and Nora to go out on dates. Nora seemed thrilled at the idea, so Ren figured he'd have us help arrange something."

Yet again, a first-year at Beacon proved oblivious. And I thought Lilly was blind, not to mention Jaune. At least they'd finally figured things out. Or…well, their not-so-secret admirers had finally made it obvious. It sounded like the rest of Team JNPR were trying to open Ren's eyes to his desperately waiting partner, but the boy apparently missed it.

Still, we know better. "So, should I go ahead and make a reservation for Ren and Nora?" Honey pulled out her scroll, thumb hovering over the speed dial for Clemens.

"What makes you think we're sending him with Nora?"

It took Honey a few seconds to pick her jaw off the floor. "What?! You want us to match him with someone else?" Randi's overconfidence had gotten her into trouble before, but this was downright suicidal! Honey was having none of that. "Nope! I'm out. For the record, all of this is on you."

"Fair enough," Randi shrugged, seemingly unbothered by her impending doom. "Hm. Now who to pair with a cute, thoughtful, single guy like Ren?"

"Might I once again recommend Nora?"

"You already backed out," Randi reminded her. "If Nora hasn't made her move, then as far as I'm concerned, she has no right to complain if he goes out with someone else. Besides, she doesn't have a profile, so I couldn't match them even if I wanted to." Which she clearly didn't, for some odd reason. Randi seemed unusually stubborn on enforcing their unspoken rules this time around.

As Randi continued her rapid-fire denials of potential matches on her scroll, Honey couldn't help but wonder who would make a good match for Ren. Lilly's friend Dew seems nice enough. Honey didn't know much about her, but she could envision the two getting along. Then again, if Nora was any indication of his taste in women, maybe Neon from Team FNKI was a better bet.

Admittedly, there was one pairing she'd prefer, if not for the danger it posed to herself. Still, there was no denying she found the boy attractive. She could still recall their brief chat after their spar at the beginning of the year. He'd been so polite, offering encouragement and proving a true gentleman even in victory. If it wasn't for the eventual hurricane of Nora's wrath that would follow, Honey would be more than happy to volunteer herself.

"Well, I think that'll do it." Randi tilted her scroll away before Honey could see the chosen girl. "I thought you were out."

"I am," Honey insisted, "but that doesn't mean I'm not curious. Is it someone I know?"

"You could say that." Randi looked far too satisfied with her selection. "Anyways, can you keep an eye on things tonight? Maybe take another look at Blake's profile?" While their faunus friend's satisfaction continued to elude them, Randi always helped set up a few dates in the evening. It wasn't like her to miss out on working ahead.

The dots connected easily enough. "Randi, no."

"Randi, yes."

"You can't!" Honey's eyes shot to their door, half-expecting a wild-eyed Nora to burst through at any moment. "What about N–"

"Don't worry so much," Randi said as she headed for the closet. "I'm a big girl, Honey. I can take care of myself. Now, what to wear?"

/- - - - - - - - - -/

"Let's see here. Olive…Luri, is it?"

"That's what they call me," Sun's scroll answered. Well, the soft voice on the other end of the call answered. Neptune rolled his eyes at Sun's opening, but per their agreement, remained silent. Sun had planned to insist he stay to hear the truth, but Neptune beat him to it, insisting he didn't want Sun being too harsh with his girlfriend.

"So you say," Sun replied, unwilling to give any ground. Days of junior detectiving had prepared him for this moment. "So I hear you've been sick lately. Too sick to meet my partner for lunch."

"Yeah," she conveniently coughed. "I'm getting sick of being sick."

Sure you are. "Yet you still ate lunch every day…"

"My teammates brought me food from the cafeteria. Trust me, I'd much rather spend my lunches with Neptune than cooped up in my room." Neptune blushed at the comment, but Sun wasn't falling for it.

"If you say so. But what about all the training? If you're too sick for lunch, then how come you're still training so much?" Rest and relaxation seemed a far better solution.

"Blame my leader for that one," Olive grumbled. "She seems to think I just need to tough it out."

"But not at lunch?"

"No reason to risk spreading it to everyone else. My team already shares a room with me, so if they were gonna catch it, they'd already be sick."

Sun hated to admit her excuse checked out, but that didn't mean she was in the clear. Olive may have survived his initial questioning, but he wouldn't be swayed so easily. "Alright, Miss Luri. Now, since it's just the two of us," Sun shot a meaningful look to Neptune, "why don't you just admit you've been playing my partner this whole time?"

"I've been doing what now?"

"Please," Sun scoffed, knowing better than to fall for her feigned ignorance. Time for bad cop to take her down. "We both know you aren't who you say you are. You can't hide the truth from me! I'm this close to cracking the case wide open, so why don't you save us all the trouble and just come clean?" Sun's junior detective skills told him he had her on the ropes. All he had to do now was seal the deal. "Tell you what. You tell me the truth, and I won't tell Neptune. You can let him down easy and we can all walk away from this."

And the best part was, he'd never need to tell Neptune. She'd tell him herself, unaware that Neptune would hear every word straight from her. His intricate web of deception had her snared with no way out.

"Neptune's there, isn't he?"

"W-what? N-no. Definitely not." Crap! Our cover's blown. Time to break out the good cop. "It's just me. You can talk to me. Go on. Just tell me what you did. I'm sure we'll all feel better afterwards."

"You've got me on speaker, Sun."

"No I don't," Sun lied, fumbling with his scroll to deactivate the feature.

"Hi, Neptune."

"Hey, Olive."

"Hey! We had a deal," Sun reminded his partner, before realizing he'd just blown the entire operation. "Well played, Olive. I should've known better than to underestimate a master trickster like yourself."

"High praise coming from a junior detective extraordinaire." Heh, you know it. Wait, no! She's messing with your head…my head! Gah! "I'm not as evil as you keep making me out to be, Sun."

Sun desperately needed to turn things around. Back to bad cop. Back to bad cop! "Enough games, Luri. Tell us who you really are!"

"My name's Ol–"

"What team are you on?"

"W-well…that is–" She's losing it. Keep pushing!

"Where are you even from?"

"I'm from Vacuo, b-but–"

"Gotcha!" Sun triumphantly proclaimed. "Sage and Scarlet did some digging. There's no one from Shade named Olive. In fact, there's only one team with an O in its name, and it's not you!"

The line went silent as Sun basked in his victory. Neptune looked deflated from the big reveal, but he'd recover in time. Better he know the truth.

After a few seconds, Olive's voice finally broke the silence. "What do you want?"

"I want the truth!

"You can't han–" Olive's voice rose before cutting off with a labored sigh. "Fine. You want to know why I've missed all our lunches? Why we haven't had a chance to meet yet?" Olive took a deep breath. "I…wasn't sick."

"Aha!"

"I just…wasn't ready yet."

"Why not?" Neptune asked, once again ignoring their rules. Partner's too close to this one.

"You seem like such a great guy" Olive insisted. "Why would someone as cool as you want to spend time with me?"

"Are you kidding me, Olive? You're amazing!"

"Really?"

"Yeah. I mean, you're funny, like the same stuff I do…if anything, I'm the lucky one."

"Aw, that's sweet," Olive cooed. "If you're still willing, maybe we could take another shot at lunch sometime?"

"You mean it?"

"Absolutely." Neptune lit up at the promise. "I'm sorry for putting it off so long. I think it's time we finally met. Just the two of us."

"Awesome! How about next Thursday?"

"Make it Wednesday," Olive countered, sounding somewhat eager. "It'll be nice to finally get some time together."

"Definitely. See you then, Olive!"

"Bye, Neptune."

"See, I told you she was the real deal," Neptune boasted as he put the scroll away. A meaningful cough reminded him the scroll belonged to Sun.

"That remains to be seen," Sun cautioned. This wasn't the first time Olive had promised to meet. "Why next week, though. Couldn't you just meet tomorrow?" The sooner the better. One of them needed to be proven wrong.

"Dude, you heard her. She's been nervous about meeting all this time. I didn't want to rush her." Neptune glanced around the room. "Plus…I'm pretty nervous, too. I'll panic if it's so sudden."

"You're such a nerd."

"Intellectual, okay?" Neptune corrected. "Thank you."

"Whatever, nerd," Sun laughed, giving Neptune a playful shove. "Well, at least we'll finally find out who this mystery girl of yours is. Just…promise me one thing."

"What?"

"If she bails this time, can you admit something's up with her?" Sun hoped it wouldn't happen, but given Olive's track record…

"She won't."

"If you say so." Sun let it go for now, but if Olive bailing yet again wasn't proof enough, he'd have Sage and Scarlet questioning every student on campus to find the girl who broke his friend's heart.

/- - - - - - - - - -/

"Good evening, sir. Do you have a reservation?"

Ren's analytical eyes swept over the young host before him. He couldn't have been much older than a student. Maybe in his mid-twenties. "Yes. Lie Ren." As the young man checked some list on his podium, Ren quickly added, "It may be under Ren. I'm supposed to be meeting someone for a…date."

Ren gulped at the word, still a little nervous at the idea. He'd never been on a real date before. Sure, there'd been that one girl two years ago that asked him out, but she'd stood him up at the last second. Ren didn't even get a chance to see her after that, since Nora decided it would be best if they moved on.

Such was life when you're always on the move. Putting down roots was never really an option.

"Ah, here it is," the host announced. "Your date hasn't arrived yet. Would you like to be shown to your table?"

"Thank you, but I'll wait here, if that's alright." Ren bowed respectfully as he stepped to the side. Although he had no experience dating, the gentlemanly thing to do would be to wait for his date at the door. He didn't know who he would be dining with, but figured they'd have to come through here regardless. If the sight of a Huntress student around his age didn't give the girl away, then surely the host would clue him in.

Speaking of which…

"By any chance, could you tell me the name of the young lady I'm meeting tonight?" Ren wasn't sure he'd know the name, but it couldn't hurt to ask. He'd been trying to guess all afternoon.

"I'm sorry, sir," the host apologized, looking like he genuinely wished he could help, "but I was given explicit instructions not to say. I'm sure she'll be here soon, though."

In other words, he knew, but wouldn't share. Ren wished Lilly was nearby. A quick glance at the boy's list would likely answer his burning curiosity.

Agreeing to go on a date had been a big deal for him. Jaune and Pyrrha seemed so happy together and wanted the same for him and Nora. Of course, any guy who showed interest in his partner would have to go through him, first. Ren always felt like Nora's big brother in such matters. Part of the reason he'd agreed to go to the dance with Nora had been to protect her from having to go alone. He still couldn't believe no one had asked her. They might only be friends, but Ren wasn't blind. Nora was a very attractive young woman. He just hoped she'd be careful when she started dating, given how kind, caring, and trusting his partner could be.

Maybe I should talk to Randi about that. After seeing how well things had worked out for his teammates, as well as a long list of other students, he figured he could trust Beacons of Love to find him a good match. He hadn't told his team yet – such matters are private – but he figured he'd try them out before recommending it to Nora. He trusted Randi to properly vet any guy interested in his lifelong friend, but it couldn't hurt to be certain. Maybe they could run their ideas by him before arranging anything for her.

"There you are!" a very recognizable voice cheerfully exclaimed, drawing his attention to the entrance. Smiling brightly in the same dress she wore to the dance – fitting, given he was wearing the same suit from that night – stood his very excited friend. It took him a minute to realize what was happening, s he'd never really considered her as his potential date.

"Nora?"

"Well, duh, sillyhead!" Nora confidently strode forward, hooking his arm as she made her way to the host's podium. "Lie Ren and his date are ready to be seated."

The host smiled as he looked up, but seemed confused as he looked over the pair. "But–"

"I said," Nora emphasized the word forcefully, "we'd like to be seated for our date."

Ren could only follow along as his surprise date dragged him to their table. Absentmindedly, he surrendered his coat to the host when asked before the young man scurried away.

"What are the odds we'd get paired, eh, partner?" Nora asked, looking not a bit surprised.

/- - - - - - - - - -/

Morado scurried back to his podium, fearful of the absolute force of nature who kept track of him until he was out of sight once more. I though Miss Asmer said she'd be dining with him tonight. He'd met the tall, faunus girl several times and could say with absolute certainty that the crazed woman he'd just seated was not her.

A quick recheck of his notes for the evening showed Randi Asmer, not the terrifying girl Ren had called Nora. Must've been a mistake. Maybe he misheard over the scroll. Or maybe Randi misspoke. Either way, he carefully drew a line through her name and replaced it with Nora before heading for the coat closet.

The door swung open silently, proving his supervisor had indeed taken care of the annoying squeak as promised. It took him only a second to neatly place the jacket on a hanger. He stepped forward to place the garment in its temporary spot, but his foot struck something solid on the floor, causing him to stumble.

"Sorry," he apologized to the girl on the closet floor before stepping back to close the door. He froze at the realization that having a young woman tied up in the coat closet was not a normal occurrence. "Oh my word! Are you okay?"

The gagged faunus before him tried to answer, but all that came out was a muffled mess of sounds. Morado recognized her easily enough. His hand shot out to untie her.

A steely grip snared his shoulder and pulled him back up. His face turned to meet the frightening gaze of Nora, who stood far too close for comfort. With an evil grin, she slid a small stack of lien into his shirt pocket. "Give her another hour," she coldly instructed, her vice grip tightening on his shoulder to let him know she wasn't merely suggesting it.

"O-of course," Morado agreed, fearing for his own safety. Randi squirmed for a moment, but went deathly still as Nora turned her attention downward.

"Oh, and Randi," Nora's threatening gaze suddenly softened, as if speaking to a friend. "Thanks again for setting this up for us. You're the best."

With that, Nora shut the door, aiming Morado back at his podium before merrily skipping back to her table.


Surely no one thought Nora would let someone steal Ren away from her. Even Randi doesn't stand a chance against an enraged Nora. She really should've known better.

Meanwhile, Sun and Neptune's storyline is closing in on its resolution. Olive has finally committed to meeting Neptune. Is Sun right? Is something about Olive wrong? Find out in a few weeks (others will feature in the meantime).

For those that missed it, there's some quick references this week. The RWBY and RWBY Chibi quotes are simple enough, but I really enjoyed referencing A Few Good Men. Such an iconic scene. Need to buy a copy of that movie and watch it soon (love those kind of movies). Until then, the YouTube clip of the epic monologue will have to suffice.

Appreciate the support you guys have given me along the way. Hope I can brighten a few days with my jokes. Always love hearing from you guys. Curious what you guys think will happen with Olive and Neptune, especially.