If Weiss Schnee could use a single word to describe her current situation, it would be pain.
Of course Dr. Oobleck had to assign a project on the Great War; a 1500 word essay from each student based on an aspect of that war. In the blink of an eye, he had placed a single card in front of each student which housed the topic of said essay. Weiss glanced down at her card.
'Hmph, easy. I'm almost insulted Dr. Oobleck assigned me such a mundane topic.' Weiss thought.
Vale's insistence on the inclusion of the arts and self-expression. She herself had come from a kingdom of high love for art of all backgrounds. Weiss is, without question, one of the few students who are well versed on such topics. Her tutors had insisted on her being knowledgeable in all areas if she was to become the new head of the Schnee Dust Company. A fact her father, Jacques Schnee, had agreed with to the highest degree. He himself loved art and self-expression…or so he would say. It was no secret he had an oil painting portrait of a younger Jacques hanging above his desk in his manor office. The self-expression aspect however Weiss would disagree with in private.
This, however, is not the pain Weiss was enduring. No sir, not one bit. The pain only arrived when the good Dr. had explained the essay would be due at the end of the semester and that there was a partnered presentation on the topic involved. No matter, she was sure her partner, Ruby Rose, would perform exceptionally. After all, they had come far since day one at Beacon Academy.
Her hopes on the short speedster were quickly crushed in an instant with Ooblecks' next phrase.
"Your partner's name has been printed on the rear of your cards. I do hope you will all strive to get along. After all, it is due next week Tuesday. But rejoice, however! The headmaster has so kindly allowed you a half day next Monday. I advise you all to use it well." Oobleck teased.
Ruby was understandably heartbroken of course, her heart break quickly clearing when she flipped her card and was partnered with their team-mate Blake Belladonna. No matter, their partnership would prove beneficial. Weiss would not stand for her partner and leader failing. Her sigh of relief could be audibly heard when she witnessed poor Lie Ren being partnered with her…rambunctious team-mateYang Xiao Long. Her disappointment was visible when Pyrrha Nikos had been swooped up by her sloth-loving team-mate Nora Valkyrie…
Wait just a minute…
There was a pattern, she was 100% sure of it. Weiss quickly scanned the room, every team had one pair that was partnered with someone other than their actual partner. Ruby had Blake, Pyrrha had Nora, and Cardin Winchester had Dove Bronzewing. But each team had swapped members with a team they were close to. Which only meant one thing, Weiss reluctantly turned her card over.
This, ladies and gentlemen, is the source of pain Weiss has currently been feeling. The human form of her migraines, the existential dread she felt each day she laid eyes on him. Would he attempt to 'woo' her again with that infernal guitar? She would guess that yes, he would. She, however, vowed silently to castrate the boy if he dared. Weiss glared across the tables to see him sat next to his partner, the irritation clearly growing on her face. He looked back in what can only be described as relief and slight fear. Relief in not being partnered with Cardin, for instance. Fear in relation to her growing annoyance.
She glanced back down to her card, praying she had misread it. Alas, she had not. She needed to come to terms with it. If she could at all.
Jaune Arc, the card read.
######
Weiss had insisted to Jaune they start the next day to rejuvenate their minds. She had explained they needed to be properly rested to tackle such a task. A lie she had perfected in saying. In reality, Weiss could not bear the headache he would inevitably cause should they start the same day. A reasoning she provided her team-mates once they had all returned to their dorm for the day. Her team-mates, however, had reacted differently.
Ruby was more forthcoming about her coldness to the boy. She insisted that Weiss was making him out to be worse than he was. She was his best friend after all. Male, that is. Female best friend would always belong to Weiss.
Blake was impartial, she had witnessed Jaunes' attempts at wooing the Heiress. She herself could understand the headache of boys. Especially in relation to Sun Wukong, the source of most of her headaches. Although she would not admit it, she didn't mind the headache sometimes.
Then there was Yang. Who was surprisingly agreeing and disagreeing with her? She couldn't believe it; the GALL of her! What did she know, all Yang had said was he comes on a little strong (pausing lightly to snigger at the use of 'comes on'). But she mentioned that he was harmless and was fairly efficient at schoolwork, making note of how he had done double the essays for one Cardin Winchester at a point.
'Fine! I will allow myself to be partnered with that dolt. He had better make use of his talents.' Weiss concluded.
In the dorm opposite however, Jaune was understandably freaking the fuck out. How could he possibly be partnered with Weiss! The woman who he had a major crush on, the woman who was as beautiful as a snowflake, a woman who wouldn't settle for anything less than perfect, a woman would most likely run him through with her rapier Myrtenatser for even thinking these things. Reasonings that he had also provided his team. His team's reactions were varied incredibly similar to the likes of team RWBY.
Pyrrha had started by saying that their partnership would be beneficial, Weiss was incredibly smart and talented in academics (as if he needed to be told that, he knew!). She mentioned it would give him a chance to get closer with her, however he couldn't quite tell if she was being sincere. Something lacked in her eyes as she spoke the words, he was sure of it.
Ren had been mostly silent for his turn. He slowly walked up and laid a hand on his shoulder. A sense of calm immediately washed over Jaune, as if any and all negativities had been expelled from him. He looked back at Ren quizzically, he had merely nodded to him as if saying it was all going to be fine. He could swear Ren lacked any colour in their interaction, maybe Jaune needed to drink more water?
Nora was, by far, the most enthusiastic on the team. Her booming voice and authority instructed him to just ask her out again! Please, as if he hadn't already tried. Didn't she remember him walking back into their dorm carrying his guitar, rejected again after having the door slammed in his face twice?
'Alright Jaune, it's gonna be great…NO! Fantastic, even! Nothing could possibly go wrong!' Jaune beamed.
A horrible vibrating sound interrupted them as they all turned to face Jaune's bedside table. His scroll began dancing across the wood in relation to the unknown caller. Jaune moved carefully between his team-mates and friends to grab the scroll from the table. He lightly pushed the yellow diamond to open the scroll to see who his mystery caller was. Jaune's eyes scanned the caller I.D. and grinned happily. He accepted the call and was greeted with what he could only describe as a black void of nothing.
"Saphron! Hey, what's up?" Jaune greeted.
"Close, but no. Just your sister-in-law." The woman replied, coming into frame
"Oh, hey Terra. What's going on? Drop your scroll again?" Jaune replied mischievously.
Terra sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her signature red rimmed glasses were pushed back up her nose.
"You break your scroll one time and the Arc duo holds it over your head." Terra said dejectedly.
Jaune laughed and sat down on the bed, forgetting his team was even present. He squinted lightly and took in Terra's surroundings.
"Are you video calling and driving?" Jaune deadpanned.
"Close, but no once again. Pulled over at a diner in Argus, Saph wanted to grab some food before we boarded." Terra grinned.
Jaune was puzzled slightly. One, Terra obviously dropped her scroll again there's no mistaking that. Two, boarding?
"You guys going on a trip somewhere?" Jaune questioned.
Terra went to open her mouth to respond but then narrowed her eyes at her brother-in-law. Obviously annoyed.
"Don't tell me you forgot about us coming?" Terra asked.
Oh.
Oh no.
Jaune's eyes widened before he sighed deeply. Saph had mentioned they were coming to visit later in the school year. Of course, being him, Jaune forgot. Again. Much like how he forgot to pick up Terra from work that one time.
"What! No…of course I didn't forget." Jaune grinned sheepishly
Silence.
"Okay yeah I forgot, I'm sorry." Jaune admitted.
"That's what I thought," Terra chuckled, "Gods, you are just like your sister in every conceivable way. Literally a male Saphron."
"I think you mean Saphron is a female me." Jaune deadpanned.
"Yeah, sure thing, whatever you say little bro." Terra laughed.
Jaune heard the sound of a door opening and watched Saphron place his nephew Adrian back into his car seat. He smiled warmly at the sight of his nephew, he never thought he would miss him as much as he did since he left Argus.
"Hey there sensei, how long till you get here?" Jaune greeted.
Saphron grinned wildly and quickly buckled Adrian in before scooting over to the passenger door to leap in.
"Well, well, well. We meet again my young apprentice. And apparently, it'll take longer than your ride over to Vale. Y'know, vehicle carrier and all that." Saphron replied.
Jaune smiled warmly at the sight of his family. Ever since…the day everything changed, Saph and Terra had taken him in all those years ago. It's funny, he thought of himself as so small at 12 years old. A young kid suddenly thrust into the care of his older (and only) sister and her wife (girlfriend at the time) in Argus. He remembered the days at the gym his sister would take him to so they could train together. Saph was just freshly out of Beacon herself, only graduating a year prior to their new living arrangements.
"Ah damn, we're gonna be late. We should get there by Sunday at the latest," Terra replied, "That'll give you a couple days to think of a proper apology for forgetting us again. We'll stop in Haven for the ni-"
"WAIT YOU FORGOT!?" Saphron all but yelled.
"Ah hah okay wow is that the time uh gotta go love you bye!" Jaune quickly said.
He moved swiftly over to the end call button before throwing the scroll back onto the side table. A light cough brought him out of his thoughts as he looked up to see his whole team, bar Ren who had mysteriously disappeared. Probably creating more of those horrible herbal smoothies again.
"So…" Pyrrha began.
"WHEN DO WE GET TO MEET YOUR SISTER!?" Nora questioned.
By the brothers, kill him now.
######
Jaune had to admit, the past day of working with Weiss had been going fine.
Not perfect, mind you. Weiss had clearly shown annoyance with him when he asked if they should research an interesting topic to present. Her tone of voice was clearly agitated as she reminded him about the topic on their cards. He had apologized sheepishly in an attempt to smooth things over.
'Great work dumbass, now she's already annoyed with you.' Jaune chastised himself.
Their slight hiccup had only been that however, the duo effortlessly scanned through the library to attain any form of media that would relate to their topic. Jaune pushed towards the art history books to the surprise of Weiss. It was the one thing she had not thought of. However, as soon as the moment had come it had passed as she decided she merely forgot the art history books in relation to her annoyance with the boy.
Their allocated 1-hour break (thanks to the careful planning of Weiss) allowed the pair to retreat to the cafeteria to fuel up on food and refreshments. Being a Saturday, the kitchen was abandoned which allowed the students to use the facilities without interruption. Jaune took the initiative to brew the pair a coffee so well made it put Coco Adel to shame. A thought Weiss had come to after taking her first sip. Speaking of…
Jaune had volunteered to brew more coffee the next day. It was odd, he got another call from Saphron the night before saying they were catching a late flight due to a mix-up with their booking. They left at 11PM on Saturday, yet here was at 11AM on Sunday wondering where they were. His sister had called earlier while he was showering. He called her back of course, no answer. He texted, no response. Even going as far to call Terra's phone. The laugh that escaped his lips as it went straight to voicemail confirmed his suspicions of her broken scroll. Jaune fished the scroll from his pocket to check for any missed calls or messages but was met with an empty notification list. Sighing, he collapsed the scroll and placed it back into his pants pocket before gently grasping the coffee mugs to make his trek back to the library.
Jaune shifted his neck to both sides in an attempt to relieve the pressure. Soft cracks echoed from his neck to his relief as he kept walking back across campus. His eyes softly scanned the surrounding area. The grass was as green as Pyrrha's eyes, obviously well cared for by the groundskeeper. Jaune hummed at the gentle breeze the blew through his hair, a welcome cooling in the slowly increasing heat of the day. He grimaced slightly as he rolled his shoulders, maybe he shouldn't have worn his armour today. But he knew if Saph caught him without it she'd beat the lesson of being prepared back into him.
'Stupid Saphron and her stupid rules, what do you know you're basically retired looking after Adrian…dick.' Jaune thought with a light chuckle.
The door for the main building opened in front of Jaune as two third years walked through. He recognized them from around campus but for the life of him he couldn't remember the girls' names. The shorter one with red hair hung back to keep the door open for Jaune as she noticed the mugs in his hands. He smiled and offered his thanks as the students parted ways.
He moved carefully through the library as to not spill the coffee anywhere that would cause an outrage. He spotted Weiss near the middle of the central tables where he had left her, noticeably with more books as she copied notes from the several in front of her. He moved behind her to reach over and place the mug in front of her, the coffee still steaming. She took it graciously before he sat opposite her. They both took a sip before sighing in content, placing the mug on the table.
"Thank you, Jaune. I'm not sure how you managed it, but this tastes exactly like home." Weiss admitted.
"Oh, it's no problem. I was designated coffee maker back home so I've kind of got the hang of it." Jaune grinned.
Weiss offered a small smile. Jaune couldn't help but smile himself.
"Well, seeing as though we are partners for the foreseeable future…I suggest we should take a break and talk about ourselves." Weiss stated.
"Oh, uh, sure. What did you want to know?" Jaune asked.
Weiss pondered for a moment.
"What is your family like?" Weiss questioned.
Jaune's smile faltered for a moment as the question struck him. He opened his mouth as if to answer but found himself lost for words. He thought about it, wondering if his answer would ruin the mood of the day.
"Well, uh, my family was-." Jaune began.
The loud ringtone from Jaune's scroll made him jump slightly. Relief quickly flooded his blood as he found himself distracted from the question. He could tell Weiss was slightly miffed but understanding about the situation.
'Perhaps his father has called?' Weiss wondered.
Jaune quickly retrieved the scroll from his pocket and opened it. His brow furrowed in confusion at the caller I.D. as it was a number he didn't recognize. Weiss took notice at his reaction and became slightly concerned. Perhaps his father did call after all.
He read over the number once more, it held the area code for Vale alright, but he had no known contacts in Vale. It was probably his sister calling from a pay-scroll or something. Terra must have dropped Saph's scroll, it's the only explanation. He accepted the call and brought the scroll up to his right ear.
"Hi, this is Jaune." He answered.
He could hear the sounds of mass talking in the background. As if the caller was in a crowded area. More than likely a pay-scroll.
"Hello, this is Vale General Hospital. Am I speaking with Jaune Arc?" A male voice responded.
"Uh, yeah this is he. Is there something wrong?" Jaune asked, concerned.
He heard the small sigh from the other end of the call. His heart beat quickened, somethings happened. But what? Maybe Adrian had an allergic reaction and was rushed to the hospital? Maybe that's why they're calling from the hospital scrolls, Terra definitely dropped Saph's scroll…right?
"Sir, we took in victims of a car crash several minutes ago. The Argus identification of Terra Cotta-Arc was routed through our servers and it labelled you as an emergency contact," The man said, "The other passengers held no identification, we cannot say for certain who they are. A blonde woman and a toddler, in critical condition I'm afraid."
Jaune stared blankly into space. Critical condition and two unidentified passengers. It was obvious who they were. He could feel his heartbeat quicken as his left hand started to shake. His breathing paced up slightly. He needed to go.
"I'm on my way." Jaune struggled out.