Chapter 18: Friends... or Something More?

Beacon Academy

Jaune didn't give much thought to the days that passed. They came and went; many things happened during those days. Training, learning, bonding, and other odd and end things. Some days were good, some days were bad, but most days were filled with something to do, even during the weekends. Overall, life here at Beacon Academy was different from his home life, but it was good for him.

Perhaps the most significant changes were the bonds that existed between his teammates. He wasn't sure about the exact specifics, but for one reason or another, the girls were slowly coming to an understanding. They weren't friends, not right now at any rate. They didn't hold casual conversations for long. They might have an occasional topic or two that they could discuss at length, but they weren't comfortable enough around each other to be getting really close. Regardless, it was progress.

As for Jaune's relationship with Blake, it was complicated to say the least. Naturally, both of them starting over came with some hesitation. He didn't want to admit it, but deep down, he was cautious, far more so than he was when he first met her. It wasn't in his nature to be pessimistic, yet it would be impossible for him to ignore that side after events transpired the way they did.

However, that hesitation only showed when they were alone. When they were with Yang and Pyrrha, they all spoke in a similar fashion prior to the fight with the Goliath. They cracked jokes, they were smart asses, they insulted each other, and tried to get on each others' nerves. Behind closed doors, the two of them were far more quiet and far more serious.

There was no denying that their trust was being rebuilt. They trained with each other, spoke privately about matters that concerned only them, and shared many quiet moments with each other. These moments were important for the two of them and neither seemed willing to give up having them. It was simply unfortunate that said trust was built upon a foundation that was anything but positive.

Jaune had hope that it could become something much better. He didn't want their friendship or whatever they had to be overshadowed by his near-death experience, but he could only control what he said and did. The other half was up to Blake and at times, he wasn't sure what to make of her. While he did appreciate her trust, he was beginning to wonder if perhaps she was trusting him a little too much.

Maybe it was just that things seemed to shift so dramatically that it was getting to him. It wasn't all that long ago that the faunus girl was very combative and very defensive. Maybe all of this was just in his head and he was overthinking things again.

Besides, right now wasn't the time to be thinking about that. It was supposed to be a normal weekend off with the team in the City of Vale.

"Yo, bossman." Yang waved a hand over his eyes. "You good?"

"Yeah, just… thinking." Jaune's answer was lame. "What were we doing?"

"Still cruising along." Yang swept her blonde hair out of his eyesight. "Looking sexy as hell."

Jaune looked her up and down. "You're referring to yourself, right?"

"I'm talking about all of us!" Yang gestured to the team. "I mean, come on, it's got to be a rule to be attractive to be on this team."

Pyrrha blushed at the indirect compliment. "I don't know about that."

"Pyrrha, don't even bother being humble." Blake shook her head. "You're a model and we all know it."

"Now that we're talking about it, I guess that is true." Jaune appeared to have a revelation. "But me? Attractive?"

"Dude, do you not realize how popular you are at school?" Yang grinned at him. "Like I said before, three smoking babes, one guy. People are going to ask questions. Plus, we all like you to a degree or another, so there's that."

"And people, like, sense that kind of thing?" Jaune asked skeptically.

"Um, yes." Yang answered as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I know that you're socially awkward, but you can't tell me that you don't know a thing or two about reading between the lines."

"I mean, I guess." Jaune just shook his head. "Blake, what do you think?"

The faunus girl in question merely gave his arm a squeeze.

"See?" Yang nodded in approval. "I bet Pyrrha will say the exact same thing."

"Jaune is our leader." Pyrrha said. "And he's very friendly, which is enough for me."

"There you go." Yang shrugged. "Plus, you're not too bad-looking yourself."

"Um, thanks?" Jaune didn't believe her, but knew better than to counter a compliment. "I guess."

"Anytime, bossman." Yang gave him a light punch. "So getting back on topic, the Vytal Festival."

"There will be competitors from all four of the huntsmen academies." Pyrrha swung her head around to take a look at the civilians doing their own preparations. "A chance to find worthy competitors and to showcase the efforts of all the academies."

"Basically, it's advertising for the schools." Blake commented with a bit of a scoff. "We show off, the kingdoms get to show each other who's producing the better fighters."

"Kind of pointless, though." Jaune frowned in confusion. "I mean, Beacon Academy's the best of the four, right?"

"Beacon Academy is the current reigning champion of the Vytal Festival." Pyrrha corrected her team leader. "And our academy possesses the most wins in the entire history of the tournament. Mistral and Atlas are tied in the number of wins. Vacuo has the least wins."

"Hence why we're scouting the competition." Jaune immediately concluded. "Sounds about right."

"Didn't we already go through this?" Blake gave her partner a look of worry. "Before we left?"

"We probably did, but sometimes, I have this habit of nodding my head and pretending like I know what you guys mean." Jaune looked off to the side, hoping not to look anyone in the ear in his embarrassment. "Not all the time, but when something doesn't make sense."

Pyrrha adopted a queer look. "And you do this how often?"

"Enough." Jaune answered as vaguely as possible. "I learn best when I do, so terms that mean nothing when they're said get meaning once the related action or whatever happens."

"So a doer, not a thinker." Yang hooked an arm over her fellow blonde. "I hear ya, bossman!"

"Yang, we're making a scene." Blake approached from Jaune's other side, a scowl on her face. "Restraint, please."

The girl with lilac eyes returned the scowl. "Like I need advice on how to control myself in a social setting from a loner."

"I am not a loner." The raven-haired girl denied immediately. "I just… like quiet places more than crowds."

"Loner." Yang repeated her earlier comment. "Straight up."

Blake turned her head to the side with a barely concealed annoyed expression. "Shut up, you bimbo."

"You say something?" Yang didn't appear ticked off, merely amused. "Why don't you say it to my face."

"I said you're a bimbo." Blake was feeling extra courageous today.

"Oh, cat's got some fangs." Yang disengaged from Jaune to get closer to the faunus girl. "Or maybe they're just dull fangs."

"Both of you, shut up." Jaune used his arms to push them away from each other. "Remember, teammates here?"

"I'm fine." Blake appeared to fight herself for a moment. "I'm just not used to being outside like this."

"Then… we'll fix that." Yang switched tones fast. "It's actually not as hard as you think. You just have to psych yourself up to do it."

The two of them were genuinely trying to make an effort to get along. It made the team leader smile a bit. The brawler and ninja began moving at their own pace, leaving the knight and spartan.

"They seem to have much better synergy than in previous weeks." Pyrrha commented. "Was this your doing?"

"Nope." Jaune denied. "Sure, I might have to remind them about our team sometimes, but they made the choice and the effort. It's on them whether or not this works and if it does, how well it works."

"In that case, they're doing a remarkable job." Pyrrha too was smiling. "I was honestly worried about the future of the team, but it's good that things have turned out this way."

"As long as they can work together, nothing else matters." And that was Jaune's honest opinion. "It would be nice if they became friends, but that's not necessarily the goal."

"I too hope they become friends." Pyrrha mirrored his words.

"We'd better catch up with them." The blonde motioned in front of them. "Teammates and all that."

"Yes, of course." The redhead nodded. "On your lead."

With all the things going on with his team, he had to wonder how well Ruby and her team were faring.

RWBY - - - RWBY

Blake really wasn't a social person as she had said herself many times. Yes, she wanted friends and she really did want to learn how to perform better in social settings, but at the end of the day, she was still an introvert. She simply felt at her best when in a quiet setting by herself or with a single person.

And these days, she was spending almost none of her time alone if she could help it. True, she was still somewhat on probation, but Jaune hadn't told her explicitly that she was off. Thus, she spent most of her time with her partner and he was proving to be the sort of company that she enjoyed.

When they weren't training, they were simply learning how to be friends. Both of them had a lot to learn in terms of making friends. Through their mutual inexperience, the two of them had built a new relationship. At times, it was at the expense of the faunus girl's relationship with her remaining two teammates.

Blake sounded judgemental whenever she reasoned why that was the case. Yang was naturally confident and outgoing, a true extrovert in every sense of the word. Pyrrha was shy and a bit uncertain at times, but her fame and recognition ultimately overshadowed any social inadequacies she might have. Simply put, the raven-haired girl couldn't really relate to the brawler and the spartan, hence why she spent far less time with them than she did with Jaune.

But the ninja knew better than to assume that her partner would always be there for her. Now she and Yang were together and there wasn't looking to be any opportunities to split up or go back to the other half of their team.

A part of the cat faunus had her defenses up. She had grown used to some form of hostility between herself and the brawler. The fact that their interactions were less thorny and more casual didn't make her any less wary. If anything, she was even more on-guard now than ever before.

Still, Blake wasn't confident enough to voice such things. She merely allowed herself to be led by the hand to whatever destination they were going to. It was what it was and in the end, she always had Jaune to go back to. She could endure for a few hours.

When had she become so reliant upon Jaune? Not since Adam had she ever felt such a strong attachment to anyone. Honestly, she didn't expect to find another person close to her so easily and not so soon after abandoning the White Fang.

Was she ready to accept this intimate friendship?

What if it became something more?

Could she handle that?

How would it affect her going forward?

Blake felt her arm stop being pulled on and she raised her eyes to meet a pair of lilac ones giving her the once-over. She instantly remembered where she was and quickly prepared herself for the onslaught of words.

Then came Yang's unexpected words. "You okay?"

Blake took a moment to process before answering. "Um, yeah, sure."

"Good, wouldn't want you to be all mopy all the time." Yang smiled a true smile. "No point in life without living it up."

Blake didn't understand this uncharacteristic positivity, thus feeling the need to question it. "Why are you being nice to me?"

"Isn't that the thing to do?" Yang counterred with her own question. "Be nice to people, that is."

"...yeah." Blake still wasn't sure where all of this was going. "But since when have we been on nice terms?"

Yang sighed. "Now, I guess. No time like the present to get over the drama and move on, am I right?"

The rather tired expression on the blonde's face made the raven-haired girl lower her defenses considerably. Although she didn't say it, she could share the sentiment quite well; the ninja didn't want to always be at odds with the brawler. If this was an extension of friendship, it was better not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

If only Blake was that trusting that easily. "I'm sorry if I sound like an ungrateful bitch, but… I think I'm going to need to adjust to this slowly."

"Well, given our history, kind of understandable." Yang nodded her head. "You do you, no one's stopping you."

"Just like that?" Blake questioned. "That's all you need to hear?"

"At this point, I've got no excuses left." Yang shrugged with a small laugh. "Contrary to my usual behavior, I can be reasonable once I've simmered down."

Blake felt her ears hidden by her bow deflate a bit. "Sorry… for being judgemental."

"Don't worry about it." Yang again played off the apology. "That's pretty much everyone's initial judgement of me."

"I was expecting… something else." Blake admitted. "Not sure what, though."

"We've heard all about your backstory, not much left to say." Yang put her hands in her pockets. "I ain't enough of a bitch to be kicking a dead horse."

Blake supposed that was good. "Thank you… I think."

Yang was quiet for a moment before letting out a loud laugh. "You really overthink everything, don't you?"

"Sorry." Blake said the first thing that popped into mind.

"Why are you apologizing to me?" Yang took a moment to recover. "You didn't do anything."

"Sor… it's just a natural reaction." Blake corrected herself. "I'll work on it."

"That'll work." Yang seemed satisfied with that answer. "So, here we are, checking out Vale in preparation for the Vytal Festival!"

"It's bigger than I imagined." Blake had to admit that the effort going into everything was impressive. "I knew it was big, but not this big."

"We'd better enjoy it while it lasts." Yang was in the lead. "We're only going to compete in the Vytal Tournament twice, as freshmen and as juniors."

"Yeah." Blake nodded. "I guess so."

Truthfully, the faunus girl hadn't given a great deal of thought to the most important event of Remnant. She never thought she was going to participate in it, at least not as a huntress in training.

"I remember going to one of these when Ruby and I were little." Yang smiled as she began to recall a memory. "I saw students fighting for their academies and that's kind of what sold me on this whole huntress shindig. It looked fun and exciting and it would probably give me a thrill or two."

"...and now?" Blake looked at the back of the blonde's head. "Was it everything you wanted?"

"Not really. Honestly, it's kind of disappointing." Yang sighed while clapping her hands together. "It's actually amazing how much training we do. I thought we'd be out doing more hands-on learning and training, not the classroom snooze fest."

"I can relate to that." Blake now felt a bit more comfortable in the conversation. "I imagined us being more active and less sitting around."

"But hey, for all the shitty things about this gig, it could be worse." Yang shrugged her shoulders. "I mean, look at it this way: as long as we don't royally screw up, we're going to get a job that will guarantee us a paycheck."

"Mhm." Blake could get behind that.

"Hey, you!" A man's voice somewhere nearby shouted. "STOP!"

All of a sudden, there was a big commotion as people started to gaze in the direction of where it was all coming from. The two huntresses in training too shifted their eyes in order to get a better idea about what was going on.

"GET THAT FAUNUS!"

Blake felt torn about investigating. "Should we…"

"It's not our business." Yang said firmly. "No point in jumping to conclusions."

A part of the faunus girl felt compelled to check it out. Something bad could be happening to one of her own kind, but she was also wise enough to recognize that if she did get involved, she would be alone this time.

But before she could make a decision, an individual came running past them. He had blue eyes and blonde hair, but most distinctive with his monkey tail, signifying him as a faunus. Just as he passed by them, he met eyes with Blake and sent a wink her way.

A moment later, some authorities ran by them in pursuit.

"See, what'd I tell you?" Yang patted the ninja on the shoulder. "They've got it handled. Besides, that guy looked like he could handle himself. Probably a student from one of the academies most likely. He'll be fine."

Based on what the two of them had seen, it didn't look like anything severe was going on. Plus, what the brawler was saying made sense. It was that time of year and other academies were indeed sending students in preparation for the Vytal Festival.

Blake took a breath in, then out.

"You good?" Yang asked.

"I'm good." Blake nodded her head.

"Then let's go." Yang pointed behind her. "I think there's some stuff to check out here."

RWBY - - - RWBY

The rest of the day had been relatively uneventful, the team reunited and they spent time going through the various shops and venues. If something caught their interest, they looked into it further, but for the most part, they stuck to browsing. It might not have been the most interesting day, but it was something.

As the sun began to dip down and the area around them turned a bright orange, they felt ready to go back to Beacon. There really wasn't much else to do. The supposed competition that was supposed to be coming was small. Probably only a few students from the other academies were here and so far, it wasn't much to look at. Most students would probably start showing up next semester.

Once they got back, they ate a meal from the cafeteria, got some training time in, and did a little bit of homework. By the time they were done, it was dark outside and it was getting closer to lights out. Still, they had at least a couple of hours before they would all turn in for the night. Tonight in particular, none of them felt exhausted or otherwise fatigued. If anything, they were all sort of restless.

Jaune sat at his desk, leaning into the back of his chair, staring off into space, thinking about nothing in particular. His left hand rested on the desk, a pencil twirling between his fingers. He wasn't even writing anything, merely grabbing the writing utensil in an effort to occupy his mind.

Pyrrha sat on her bed, her posture perfectly straight, inspecting her weapon for any sort of malfunction or otherwise uncleanliness. This was a daily routine for her and somehow, she always found a new spot that she had forgotten to clean. Then again, her weapon would always be ready for combat practice, so no one stopped her.

Blake sat on Jaune's desk, using her arms for back support while kicking her legs in the air lightly. She had tried to pick up a book to read, but she wasn't feeling it today. Her mind was too unfocused to process the story. Next to her team leader, she felt herself calm down and enjoying the relative silence of the dorm room.

Yang laid on her bed, playing with her hair and humming a tune to herself. Usually, she would be the one to be making a more lighthearted or rambunctious atmosphere. Today was not one of those days; she seemed content to be off in her own little world, whatever that looked like. Especially where her hair was concerned, nobody pried.

The minutes ticked by as each of them simply basked in the serenity of their shared living space. The only sounds were the occasional movement from one of them or their quiet breathing. That and Pyrrha's weapon as the parts shifted together.

It would remain like that until one of them decided to talk out of the blue.

"Is it just me or are we, you know… off?" Jaune asked.

"It's not just you." Yang answered first. "It feels like… something was supposed to happen today, but it didn't."

"That's oddly specific." Blake commented.

Yang shifted her head to look at the faunus. "You don't feel the same."

"I didn't say that." Blake's golden eyes met the blonde's lilac ones. "I just found it odd that you're being so specific."

"Pyrrha." Jaune looked to his remaining female teammate. "How do you feel?"

"How do I feel?" Pyrrha appeared confused. "The same way that all of you do, I suppose."

"Weird." Jaune released a breath he'd been holding.

Yang laid on her side, now looking at her team leader. "Lien for your thoughts, boss?"

"Not much to say." Jaune shrugged his shoulders. "I just get the feeling that we missed something important."

Blake shifted her gaze to him. "Such as?"

"I don't know." The knight regarded his partner with an annoyed expression. "It was just a day. Nothing exciting happened and my imagination isn't exactly working wonders right now."

The ninja held her hands up. "Sorry."

"Don't worry about it." Jaune placed a hand on his forehead. "Must've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed or something."

Pyrrha then offered her own opinion. "Perhaps we were expecting more excitement from today, but didn't receive it."

"Could be." Jaune could agree with that idea. "But it's not like there was much to expect in the first place. The real fun's during the festival."

"Oh, I think I got an idea." Yang leaped up from her bed. "Maybe we were gonna get involved with a student from, like, Atlas. She was going to be weird and bubbly, maybe with green eyes and carrot-colored hair."

Blake looked perplexed. "Where did you come up with that?"

"Just came to me." Yang now realized that she sounded strange. "Sounded like something that could happen."

"Yeah, meeting students, but a student with that exact description?" Jaune scoffed. "Not likely."

"I'm just saying." Yang sounded frustrated that her head was rejected so quickly. "It could happen."

"'Could' is the key word there." Blake intoned. "But it didn't, so it's just a theoretical possibility, and a statically low one at that."

"Ugh, you guys sound like Professor Oobleck." Yang groaned loudly. "Stop."

Pyrrha put her weapon to the side of her bed. "I believe it's Doctor Oobleck, actually."

"Pyrrha, please." Yang fell face-first on her bed. "Not now."

Pyrrha appeared sheepish. "I'm sorry."

"Well, we're not lacking spirit." Jaune said mostly to himself. "That's a start."

A few seconds of silence reigned between the four of them. The conversation had been awkward from the start.

Then a new one began.

"You think we'll stay the top team in our year?" Blake moved closer to her partner. "RWRN is not too far behind us."

Jaune ran a hand through his hair. "Honestly, I wasn't even expecting to be the top-rated team. The fact that we are kind of stresses me out, but now that we're there, I kind of don't want to lose that position. For once, I feel like I'm actually accomplishing something."

"You're only figuring that out now?" Yang eyed up her leader. "I'll have you know that I pegged you from the day we first teamed up."

"Agreed." Pyrrha chimed in. "It's clear that you have natural talent as a leader. You were made to do this."

"And you're probably going to make an even better leader with time and effort." Blake also added her own two lien. "I don't doubt that you'll go far."

Hearing the compliments from his teammates, Jaune found himself blushing a bit. "Well, you know, I just did my thing."

"Aw, look at him. He's so adorable." Yang grinned widely. "Just look at him."

"Shut up." Jaune turned away, attempting to control his initial reaction. "I don't blush."

The blonde bombshell merely laughed, but she offered no further words. Her laugh became infectious as everyone began to express some form of amusement in one way or another. Pyrrha quietly stifled her own laugh while Blake grinned while shaking her head. They all knew that he wasn't the outgoing sort, but he was making significant progress and it showed in his growing comfort in casual conversation.

"Ignore her, Jaune." Blake patted him on the shoulder, then gave Yang a look of frustration. "She's just really good at ruining the mood."

"And I'll keep doing it because it's SO much fun." Yang seemed only emboldened. "And what's up with the guardian angel thing, Blake? You really do LIKE your partner."

Blake seemed conflicted for a moment on how to respond, but she managed to find her voice. "... I would hope so. He's my partner and my friend."

"Hmm." Yang put a hand to her chin to mimic a thoughtful pose. "I wonder about that…"

To her credit, the ninja girl merely frowned, although the emotions behind it weren't completely clear for her to understand. The insinuation that the brawler had issued wasn't lost on her and it wasn't hard to understand where it was coming from.

Blake and Jaune had grown close very quickly, far too quickly under normal circumstances. To an outsider without intimate knowledge of their brief history, the two of them were something much more than teammates and partners. Even close friendship wasn't the complete description of their relationship.

But romance?

Similarly, Jaune caught onto what he thought to be an undertone implying something deeper, but he couldn't say what exactly it was. He was more of a literal person and it didn't help that girls loved to play these types of games.

"Hmmmmm." As if their silence was an answer she was seeking, Yang gave one last knowing look before fetching her scroll.

Pyrrha looked between her partner and the other two members of her team. It wasn't exactly clear what she was searching for.

RWBY - - - RWBY

"Thought I'd find you here." Blake opened the door to the roof.

Jaune shifted his head, but otherwise didn't move from his seated position on the edge of the roof. "You need some quiet time?"

"Please stay." Blake said quickly. "I actually like it when you're here… just us two."

"Alright." Jaune accepted this answer. "Whatever you say."

She helped herself to the ledge as well, taking a seat with a meter of distance between him.

Jaune leaned back on his arms. "You and Yang get along today?"

"Yeah, we did." Blake nodded, hugging her legs to her chest. "She's actually a lot nicer to me than usual."

Jaune smiled. "Guess that means she's found a way to like you. That's good. It took you guys a minute, but you got there."

"Yeah." A minute of silence followed before Blake's next question. "But I still prefer your company more."

"Well, I would hope so." Jaune laughed lightly. "I am your partner and team leader."

Blake frowned. "That's… not exactly what I meant?"

"Then what did you mean?" Jaune asked her in earnest.

Her head turned to look at the ground which was many stories below them. Her face appeared deep in contemplation. He remained silent, waiting for her answer. For a time, her expression was still.

Then, she appeared to come to her own conclusion. With a deep breath in and out, she quickly slid over to his side, removing almost all but a few inches of space between them. Although he made no move, he felt an odd feeling in his chest.

Then he asked. "What's going on?"

"I'm just confirming something for myself." She hummed, her expression soft. "Something to give me peace of mind."

Jaune frowned at her vague wording. "Anything I should know about?"

"Well… that depends on how you respond next." Blake gave him a serious look. "And how I react too."

He could only look further confused. "What does that mean?"

"Just… please bear with me." Blake sighed with a shake in her voice. "I need to do this."

Jaune felt he should question her more, but before he could, his partner took action.

She had quietly slipped her hand into his, but she didn't merely hold his hand. Her fingers quickly intertwined with his own and then firmly grasped onto him. She was not about to let go, that was for sure.

He first felt her warm hand, then looked down to confirm it.

Once he did, he felt his heart racing.

He froze momentarily, his mind seized with… something he had never felt before.

What was he supposed to do?

"Jaune?"

That was his name.

"Jaune, look at me."

His eyes snapped from their joined hands to her eyes.

Her golden eyes.

They looked strangely mesmerizing.

"You okay?" Blake was now very close to him.

Jaune struggled with the question for a moment. "Um, yeah… I'm… good."

Her eyes were full of concern and something else. Nobody had ever looked at him with such intensity before.

He felt his own grip on her hand tighten as well.

His response prompted a shift in her features. Her smile grew and she appeared far more relaxed.

Something about this silence between them felt precious.

Gold.

Sapphire.

So I figure it's time to ramp up the intensity of Jaune and Blake's relationship. I want it and you guys do too I'm assuming, so there's no sense in delaying the inevitable.

One of my reviews has commented that the story has begun losing a bit of focus on Blake and Jaune and to that, I agree. This story is about their relationship, so I'm going to rededicate my focus to them. Other characters will be featured if their involvement furthers the budding romance between our main couple.

And I'm so sorry for the delay. The Army has been keeping me busy and it's only going to get busier. I've got some major things going on, so sporadic updates will have to be the norm until I can get things settled.

Oh, and if any of my future story ideas interest you, be sure to check out my profile page for their summaries and the vote with the pole.

Thoughts on this chapter? Reviews and feedback are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

"Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive."

Dalai Lama