A/N: I don't actually know anything about cheerleading either, but in my defense Jaune is not a very good cheerleader. Enjoy!
Pyrrha is going to get out of here. She'll turn straight and have a normal life and make her parents proud. She lives in a blur of cooking and cleaning and the activities proper for her gender, and she does well because she always has. Pyrrha Nikos is perfect, and Pyrrha Nikos does not fail.
Pyrrha ignores the others' rebellion and laziness and failure. She wakes up before the expected hour every morning, irons her blouse and pins her hair into a perfect bun. Opens up in each therapy session as best she can, while the others laugh or make up excuses or simply ignore questions. Scrubs at dishes and windowsills until her hands develop blisters, bakes perfect cakes and smacks Ruby's hand when she tries to steal frosting. She is better than this.
She befriends Weiss in particular, since the heiress is under even more pressure than she is. Weiss understands what Pyrrha has to do. They scowl and return to their work when someone makes a joke, ignore the rumors and whispers. They are going to win.
Pyrrha is too perfect to fall.
There's a family therapy session scheduled. Pyrrha's parents show up, because their only child's wellbeing is of utmost concern to them. They fuss about if she's had enough to eat and is healing well, and they hug her but carefully. The usual.
Weiss's face falls when a small, rotund man with eyes that change color in the light tells her that her father didn't have the time for the meeting, but she hugs him anyway and says it's good to see anyone from home. He offers her a letter, from her sister, who Weiss has mentioned more than once as almost perfect, and Weiss pushes it into her pocket without looking at it.
Nora's parents are the sort of middle class who take out a second mortgage on their house to get a Ferrari they'll never drive except when everyone can see them. They are conspicuous, to say the least, and Pyrrha shouldn't be making assumptions based on their tacky, alligator-skin accessories and cheap fur coats. She really shouldn't.
Nobody looks remotely excited for family therapy. Parents sit gingerly on the awful chairs that Pyrrha's used to and doesn't mind, because if she minded every little thing she'd be insane by now. Pyrrha's parents clear their throats and shift, but don't say a word.
"We'll begin with progress reports. Pyrrha Nikos has been doing exceptionally well in gender reconditioning, but we have yet to find the root of her psychological issues."
Pyrrha's mother glares at her.
"Really? I expected better from you. Surely that's the simple part, to find out why you're – confused."
"I've been trying my best," Pyrrha says apologetically. "I just don't know the root cause, but at least I'm well on my way to being cured."
"You're not," James says bluntly. "Without a sufficient root cause, gender reconditioning can only do so much. We're not miracle workers. Jaune Arc, disappointing progress on all fronts."
Jaune slouches further down in his chair and grins apologetically.
"Well, at least I know my root. That's a step in the right direction, even if I'm sort of a failure at everything else. Maybe I'm just bad at football, and fixing cars, and fishing, and chopping wood, and – okay, I'm going to stop since this is just making me look worse."
Jaune's mother wrings her hands in despair. Literally. Pyrrha always assumed that it was just a figure of speech.
"I know we should have been more careful when he was growing up, but he had seven sisters, and of course he looked up to them. I thought it was harmless fun when he'd play with their toys, or let them dress him up, but now I've ended up with a son who's a – a cheerleader!" She breaks down in sobs.
Taiyang, Ruby and Yang's father, proffers a handkerchief.
"Look on the bright side," he says. "Maybe your son – Jaune, right? – will turn out to be straight, just with a few odd hobbies. He doesn't need to be gay to do cheerleading."
"That's rather bold talk from a single father," Pyrrha's mother snaps. "Then again, certain parents are just – less willing to work for their children's wellbeing than others. Certain people who wouldn't care if their children were insolent or lazy or failures, as long as they turned out straight."
Yang jumps to her feet and is hastily grabbed and pinned back into her chair by Taiyang and Ruby. She gives everyone present a look of pure venom, but doesn't say a word.
The visit is over as soon as it begins. Most parents leave quickly, without making small talk, giving quick tentative hugs and making vague promises.
"No college if you fail," Pyrrha's mother hisses. Pyrrha ignores that, because she is going to succeed, and hugs her mother dutifully. Her mother pats her back, then quickly pulls away. Her face is turned up, more than usual. She looks disgusted, the way she always does when the president talks about pulling out of a war ("what about American children and their safety?"), or when she sees a homeless person ("As if jobs are hard to find. They're nothing but lazy."), or every time there's a headline about women's rights ("More of those man-hating lesbians.").
Pyrrha is going to make her proud. Pyrrha is going to be the best, no matter what.
They have the rest of the day off. Pyrrha sits comfortably on the porch steps, far enough away from the chatter and laughter of the others that she can concentrate on her etiquette handbook.
She's nodding over table settings and matching napkin rings when Jaune shows up on the lawn, Ruby and Penny in tow. They start chanting and shouting, waving red-and-white pompoms.
Good heavens, the three of them are irrepressible.
"Okay, the first thing we need is a cheer. Anyone have any ideas?"
Penny begins.
"One, two, three, four, soon you won't be gay any more! Five, six, seven, eight, um –"
"God is good, God is straight!" Ruby chimes in, before doubling over laughing.
"Okay, that's great! Now let's work on a routine that fits."
Their routines are sloppy and incomplete, and they keep getting distracted by Jaune's miserable attempts at cartwheels. By any objective standard, they're awful cheerleaders.
But they're so irrepressibly happy. Jaune is in his element, for once, and Penny is really smiling, not just pasting on a too-familiar fake grin.
Jaune grins and waves at her, before jogging over.
"Hey, Pyrrha. Want to join us? We need someone strong for the lift."
And she would say no, but Jaune looks like a kicked puppy whenever she makes her excuses to leave him, so she accepts.
She watches Ruby soar, shrieking, thin legs flailing, and for once in her life Pyrrha Nikos is happy.