Oh, look, the chapter is ready. And I actually got lost playing Adventure Story (cute little platform game) for two hours today. I can't get past level 19, dammit, but that does not matter. Anyway... what can I say, on with the chapter, right?

Ruby woke up slowly.

If she had to be honest, despite her speed and general energy, she had never been a morning person. An early riser… maybe, occasionally, if she had no other choice. But never a morning person. Ironically, coffee made the situation worse in the morning. No, what she needed in the morning was milk. She opened her eyes and glanced at the nightstand without even thinking that she wasn't home any more, and that Yang hadn't brought her some milk to wake her up.

A glass of milk.

She blinked and drank it without complaints, not knowing why it was there but happy it was. Then she looked around and mentally took note of her first morning of her second life. Put like that it was really cool, but hell if it didn't shake her. She had died. She had tried to do some good and died. Just like that. And not even in an epic fight for the protection of the innocents, she died breaking her neck against a wall, vainly trying to stop Vale's most wanted. A stupid wall, that's what had killed her.

Huddling up into a ball on the bed, Ruby sighed. She had really died, uh? Yang had sent a message to their father and he was coming down as soon as he could, that meant she would probably see him before classes. Alas, that was not what worried her. She had hurt them by dying. Hadn't Jaune brought her back, she would've died for real and no amount of prayers would've worked. She had just been lucky Jaune had unlocked his Semblance and it had turned out to be that resurrection-like thing. She was alive for mere luck.

Luck was something she knew very well. She had always been lucky. It wasn't the kind of luck Yang cursed whenever Ruby landed a hit on her. It was… at the same time subtler and more obvious. She been lucky to have Uncle Qrow personally teach her how to fight while most Hunters in training had to go to school. She had been horrible before he started to teach her, using what little free time he had away from missions. And she had been lucky the man had also managed to get her some high-quality metal for Crescent Rose, again something not everyone could afford.

Most people worked hard for skills. Their percentage was around ninety percent work and ten percent luck. Hers was more of a fifty fifty. Even her Semblance had been a lucky revelation: everyone knew that the faster the fighter is, the better it is. Although she wasn't really sure if that had been luck or her personality to have shaped her Semblance.

But that last event… It was like all the luck in the world had converged on her. She had been reckless and had gotten herself killed. Not even a week later, she was back because a boy she didn't even know existed had discovered an unheard-of-before Semblance that had brought her back. And again, said boy had used his Semblance on her because he just so happened to live across the corridor from Yang and thus could hear her cries, and his previous Avatar wanted to die and jumped to the chance. All it had costed her had been Crescent Rose, and even if she loved the weapon dearly, she knew it was a miserable price to pay for a second shot at life.

For the first time in both her lives, she wondered if her Semblance was really speed, or if it was luck.

"Penny for your thoughts?" She jumped as a voice tore her from her musing. Glancing up, she tilted her head at the sight she was met with. Jaune was standing there in his uniform. But why was Jaune there? Wasn't she home? No, she wasn't, but then who had put the milk on the nightstand? "Something's on your mind?"

"Why are you here?" she asked without thinking.

He blinked. "Well, this is kind of my team's dorm…" he explained, rubbing the back of his head awkwardly. "Aunt Glynda said you would sleep on our dorm, remember?"

Aided by the milk and Jaune's words, her memory finally rebooted. "Oh, yes I do. I was just… thinking." She looked around for the other blonde. "Where is Yang?"

The previous evening, there had been a lot of arguing on Weiss's part about the beds. Yang hadn't wanted to just leave Ruby alone, at least not on her first day there, and thus JWVL's dorm had become pretty cramped. Jaune had taken the floor with no problems, offering for Ruby and Yang to take his bed. But Yang, much to Ruby's embarrassment, had refused because… apparently, Ruby was a fierce cuddler. Jaune had laughed it off and taken out more blankets and pillows for her, saying he knew what she meant since he had sisters as well. But now that she looked around, she couldn't see the blonde girl anywhere.

Jaune reassured her with a shrug. "Dunno. She prepared a glass of milk for you, forbade Nora to drink it, and left. I think she went to call her father again, this time about my 'adoption' into the Rose Xiao Long family. My team went with her." He rolled his eyes and sat down on the bed beside her. "But, my question still stands. Is there something on your mind?"

Ruby gave him a one-shoulder shrug. "Kind of. Just thinking that… I've been lucky you unlocked your Semblance when you did."

"Eh, kind of," nodded the boy, making her sigh. "I mean sure, it was lucky. But maybe it wasn't. Do you really believe in luck?"

"Well, yeah… and that was just lucky…" she argued. "I mean, I got resurrected by someone I didn't even know just because you kind of knew my sister. If that's not luck I don't know what it is…"

"Eh, luck is something people use to cover everything they don't think of. My mother had a saying about luck and bad luck: 'When you look into it, it disappears. When you don't look at it, it comes back'." He tried to imitate his mother's voice and failed miserably, but at least she chuckled a little. At his expenses, but it was better than melancholic. "If you don't look into it and just dismiss it as luck, well then of course it exists. But if you look into it, then it's just a series of cause-effect processes."

"But what-"

"It wasn't luck. Why did I end up meeting Yang? Because our teams returned one after the other from Initiation, and thus we got consecutive numbers for our dorms. Why did I have such a Semblance? Well, that's harder because we don't know much about it. But if we follow the personality rule then it makes sense." He gestured as he spoke, although Ruby couldn't quite relate the gestures to the words. "Why did I unlock it a week ago? Well, Aunt Glynda says that a Semblance is active ever since you unlock your Aura, but you just have to discover what it does. In my case, my Semblance 'activated' by resurrecting one of my ancestors. Again, I haven't mentioned luck…"

"But for all those events to happen…" began Ruby, but he pushed a pair of dice into her hands. "Er… what?"

"Throw them. Dice are the very symbol of luck so let me demolish your belief about dice." She shrugged and threw the dice. A three and a five were her results. Not bad, if she had to be honest. Then Jaune picked them up and threw them. "Six and five," he said, and true to his words the dice landed with those faces turning up. He threw them again. "Five and five. Four and three. One and one. One and six. I can do this all day, if you want. Six and four. Six and six." He predicted one last time before he moved the dice aside and into a drawer. "So, am I lucky?"

"How did you do that?" exclaimed Ruby. "Can you teach me?!"

Jaune chuckled. "I played lots and lots of games with my family. They stopped playing with me after I learned how to cheat the die throwing. But that's not the point. What you saw was skill, and minute details no one ever looks into." He held out an empty hand and mimicked the throwing of a die. "How you move your hand, how much strength you put into it, how close you are to the landing surface… eh, I could mention all the irregularities on the surface of the die or of the landing spot, but that would be too long." He smirked at her. "Am I a wizard? Nah. It's just that luck doesn't exist. People use that word to describe everything they can't think an explanation of. Either luck, or magic. Magic… eh, I'm not too sure, my family has always believed in fairies and legends, but luck? Nah. So your resurrection was not luck, just a series of cause-effect processes you don't know about."

Ruby giggled at his antics, her fears a little toned down. "You know Jaune, you should try the career of comedian, you'd do great."

"Please, this guy here is no joke!" he countered, jabbing a finger into his chest. "I'll let you know that I'm gonna become a great Huntsman!"

"Oh, yes, and when you can't defeat a Grimm you'll challenge it at dice, and cheat your way out of it," she shot back with a grin.

He shrugged. "You use what you can," he replied before sobering up. "So, feeling up to go down to the airship docks to greet your-"

"RUBY!"

Only Ruby's incredibly fast reflexes saved him from being trampled by the blond man who had just ran through the door, followed by a man with black hair and red eyes. The girl pushed him off the bed just as the first man entered his personal space, sending him tumbling to the ground. Then had sacrificed herself for him. Immediately, the two men took hold of her, one checking her over while the other tried to suffocate her in a hug.

Jaune smiled as he left the room, heedless to Ruby's pleas for help, leaving the little Rose to her family reunion. But just as he walked through the Ruby's-father-shaped hole in the door, he was met with lilac eyes, whose owner was determined to do one thing.

"Ah no, Jauney, you're part of the family now, remember?" Yang Xiao Long grinned. "It's time for a family reunion. I'm pretty sure Dad already has the documents ready for the adoption."

Jaune Arc -soon to be Arc Rose Xiao Long- sighed as he turned to meet his fate.

/-/

"Look, it's her."

"I've heard she's not even an Avatar, she's just a student who sneaked in to attend Beacon."

"Besides, what kind of Semblance would create a person?"

"That's not a person, idiot, that's an object."

"But the Professor said she acts and thinks like a human…"

"Please, that's a thing the guy created with his Semblance."

"She seems a bit down, can she even feel emotions?"

"She is kinda cute, maybe I could give her a shot."

"I've heard Yang Xiao Long treats her as a sister, better not to mess with her."

Ruby sighed at the umpteenth far-too-loud whisper. Embarrassing, offensive, curious, or just plain-out hostile comments had been whispered around since the moment she had entered the cafeteria for breakfast, together with 'her' team and her sister's team. She quietly walked back to her new friends' table and sat down between Jaune and Sky, their teams having mixed up a little, trying to go as unnoticed as he could. Her father and uncle had gone to meet Ozpin to discuss for what to do. Qrow had almost fainted at seeing the two of them having dichromatic eyes.

"You okay, Red?" Sky asked, looking down at her. She stiffened a little at the nickname, but then she sighed and nodded. "Hey, just you wait: if no one of us makes a fuss, they'll forget about you in no time. That's just how gossip work."

"Even with something as extraordinary as our situation?" asked Ren. "Goodwitch should've said that Ruby was just an outside addition to our team and not mentioned Jaune's Semblance…"

"That could've worked, but Ruby's death is official. Ruby Crimson Rose, age fifteen, officially died five days ago at nine thirty-seven pm. If she suddenly joined the Academy, there would be questions," explained Weiss, knowledgeable as usual. "Although taking care of those would've been easier. They chose this route because Beacon couldn't afford to mess up news about death. Or did not want to. Or…"

"No, that's not the point," sighed Jaune. "I talked with Auntie Glynda yesterday, after the announcement. This is not the whole plan. They will mess up the news and 'accept' Ruby into Beacon, but it'll take them time. Until then, they have to lie about her presence here."

"That won't work," scoffed Weiss. "The students…"

"Think Weiss, not everyone is as smart as you are. The students here are still just teens." Jaune vaguely gestured to the whole cafeteria. "If you tell them about this secret plan they were a part of after it's all over, they'll be all smug and content to have been part of a secret plan. We would too. IT would make them feel important. It's the same method I use when I need my sisters to do something, it works on almost everyone…"

"I refuse to believe Beacon's students would be so immature and childish," Weiss sniffed imperiously. "They might be teens but they have a responsibility, and they are trained to become warriors. The future protectors of-"

Splat.

"Whoops, sorry, wrong object. I was aiming for the trash can."

Ruby shrank even more, trying to disappear into her seat, as something splattered on the back of her head, her expression dejected and defeated. Jaune and Sky grabbed some kitchen towels and began to clean her hair, neck and hood from the eggs -cooked sunny-side up and thus hard to clean off-, while Yang growled and stood up to deal with whoever had thrown the egg.

A big guy with burnt hair was laughing alongside his team, who patted his back. Sky narrowed his eyes and stood up as well, following Yang as the two made their way over to the team. Taking the chance, Ruby quickly evaded the others' gazes and bolted out of the cafeteria with the feeble excuse of having to wash her hair and hood to remove the eggs. Jaune tried to stop her, but she was gone from the hall before he had even stood up completely.

"Go after her." He turned to Blake, who was glaring daggers at the team of idiots. "Your fighting skills are not needed here, but you do have sisters, so it would be better if you went after her. Besides, she obviously ran to your dorm, not ours."

Jaune blinked. That had to be the first time Blake even spoke to him, but he had more important matters to take care of. For example a redhead girl who had just ran out of the cafeteria. He glanced one more time at Yang and Sky, who were animatedly arguing with the boys of that team, before running out of the hall.

Meanwhile, Yang was very tempted to cave in the smug prick's moronic face. Maybe he would look better after it. His smug expression didn't help at all. "Do we have a problem, Winchester?" she asked, seething.

"No, as far as I'm aware," he sneered at her before bursting out laughing at his 'clever' comeback. Oum, he was one of those types. She already disliked him more. "Do we have a problem?"

"You just threw eggs at Ruby!" she exclaimed slamming a hand on the table. "I'd say we do."

"What? I just wanted to throw away those eggs," he replied. "I aimed wrong and they hit the wrong object. Is that a crime?"

Yang's growl told him he had said the wrong thing. With a mighty snarl, she grabbed his head and smashed it into the table so hard it broke in half and closed on him, sending food everywhere.

The three idiots jumped to their feet, scared and alarmed by her rage, and one of them jumped up right on time, receiving a kick in the face from Sky. Despite not being the best fighter of his team, the boy did know how to fight. Backed up by Yang, the duo was enough to send the others running. They didn't even retrieve their two downed comrades, instead leaving them to the duo's mercy.

Looking back to their table, Yang sighed as she saw that Ruby, Jaune and Blake had disappeared.

/-/

"I-I just need to w-wash my hair and hood," Ruby insisted. "You c-can go back in the cafeteria w-with the others."

Jaune raised an eyebrow at her. Having only older sisters didn't mean he didn't know how to handle a younger one. And at the moment he could clearly see that Ruby was not fine, and that he had to remain. "Eh, I can always help you with that," he shrugged. "It's not like I have much to do anyway. Today's Sunday, no classes, and I could just get to know you better since apparently, you're my new sister."

Ruby didn't look up and continued to wash her hair in the sink. "Jaune-"

"Plus, you know, I was thinking that if you ever needed someone to talk with, or to, I could volunteer. It's been a while since I had my last sibling talk," he added, grabbing a shampoo bottle and pouring some into his own hands before soaping up Ruby's hair. She yelped at the unforeseen action, but didn't make any movements to remove his hands. He seemed to have experience. "Like, we could talk about getting you a new weapon, don't you think? I'm sorry for your last one but hey, you get to design it all over again so yay, right?"

"Jaune, i-it's not necessary…"

"Come on, I haven't done someone's hair in ages. Allow your new big brother a bit of entertainment. Look, I'm almost done. No, wait, it'd be kinda hard for you to look." He rinsed her hair and grabbed a towel, rubbing it on her head. In a way, she felt really like a wet puppy being dried by the owner, the pictured completed by her small pout. After a while, he ditched the towel and took out an electric drier. "Here you are, as if nothing ever happened. Now let's wash your hood, okay?"

Ruby sighed. Apparently he wasn't gonna let her go that easily. The two of them washed the eggs off her hood, and then they left it to dry in the bathroom while the two of them waited in the dorm. Ruby climbed on a bed, Ren's if she was right, and just sat there, trying to ignore the elephant in the room. Unfortunately, Jaune did not want to follow her lead.

"So, indirect approach doesn't work with you, let's try direct," he proclaimed, sitting down beside her and creating a larger depression on the mattress. "We both know perfectly well why I am here, why you are here, and what I'd like you to talk about." She didn't reply. "I have seven sisters, Ruby, don't you dare think you can outlast me on the silence treatment."

"Seven?"

"Ciel, Cometé, Amor, Stella, Luna, Rouge and Verity," he listed off without missing a beat. "But let's not change topic, okay? I know you are still hurt by what happened in the cafeteria, but you cannot allow that to get to you, okay?"

"It's just… why? What have I done to them?" she asked. "They don't even know me…"

"People do not need to know you in order for them to hate you," a voice said from the door. Both teens jumped as Blake entered the room. "To them, you're just different, and that's enough. Some are curious, but most are hostile. The people fear the unknown, and a Hunter's reaction to fear is usually aggressiveness. They did that just because they could, and because you unsettled them. They couldn't make head or tails of you, and so went for their default response… hostility."

"But why?"

"We live in a world full of soulless monsters, Ruby. When you don't know something, reacting hostilely could save your life. But you're right, such behaviour should not be encouraged nor accepted." The girl walked up to them and sat on the bed on the other side of Ruby. "The Faunus are the best example I could ever give you. Like humanity, Faunuskind has some despicable individuals. But their differences make them unknown for the people, and those few individuals end up making the people react hostilely to all Faunus."

"But I have nothing against Faunus…" began the redhead, but Blake stopped her.

"You mightn't, but you are not most people. I won't go into detail, but let me tell you: there is a reason if the White Fang has formed. They are not just murder-happy Faunus with a knack for terrorism. Quite the opposite, they are normal people tired of discrimination. And yet most of them never did anything wrong. Their only crime was not being understood by humanity." Blake waved at her. "You are even less understood. For all they know you are the first non-human, non-Faunus being with Aura, personality and capable of thought. You're something new, unheard of, and unknown. Again, none of these is liked by the people."

"Then why don't they try to know me?" Ruby asked naively.

"If all people thought like you, Ruby, Remnant would be at peace," sighed the older girl. "The people are… complicated. But returning to our topic, I wanted to know one thing." Yellow met silver and blue. "I may not have known your sister for long but she beat up those guys immediately after they threw those eggs, she's there for you when you need her. So why flee?"

Ruby shrank a bit. "I…"

"Victim behaviour," Jaune supplied helpfully. "My sister Amor studies psychology and she taught me a little of it. When you're victim of some stuff, even the nasty ones, you freeze. Even though you could actually do something you freeze. I don't really know, but it's psychological."

"That's not exactly what I meant, Jaune," replied Blake. "Why flee when you had your friends right there? You had your army. Those four punks are probably, as Yang would say, 'scared shitless' by now. Why did you run?"

"Still victim behaviour," interrupted Jaune. "She feels like no one would help her or that she should do it by her-"

"Jaune, please, shut your mouth," ordered Blake, covering his mouth with her hand. "You have people you can rely on, Ruby. I know this was just the first sign of bullism but believe me: it will continue. Now that the wood has been ignited, there's no snuffing it out, only waiting for the fire to die down. But if you are on your own, it'll take much longer." Her eyes narrowed. "Especially if you don't fight back."

"It was nothing, just some eggs," Ruby tried to minimize, but the black-haired girl was having none of that.

"Today is just some eggs, tomorrow is just some shoving, next week will be just hits and before you know, things have degenerated and you're going back to your dorm with bruises every night," she remarked. "Look at what happened to the Faunus. They reacted in two ways. One, what the White Fang is doing: aggressive fighting back. Two, what that rabbit Faunus is doing when Cardin pulls her ears: nothing. You take it and look down at your feet. That's what happens when you are oppressed. There's not in-between. But, it's up to you if you want to fight back or look down. Just remember that you do have people to help you."

"I can just tell Auntie Glynda to set them up against fourth years in Combat Class," offered Jaune. They deadpanned at him. "What? It's just a suggestion!"

"You and your illegal ways aside," Blake snorted, amused, as she returned to look at Ruby. "You should really come back in the cafeteria. Breakfast's not over yet. Show those idiots it'll take much more to really hurt you. And if they try…" Her grin turned vicious unexpectedly, the normally introverted girl's eyes now sparkling with malice. "Sky, Yang and I will be more than enough beat the discrimination out of their systems."

"And I can make sure no one of us gets in trouble," smirked Jaune. Once again they looked at him. "Er… nephew of Professor Goodwitch, remember?"

"Oum must be smiling upon us. We can 'kick some butts' and not get in trouble," Blake drawled, rolling her eyes. "Well, since you're Auntie's Little Knight, why don't you go tell her about what those four imbeciles did?"

"Why don't we all go?" He slightly elbowed Ruby in the ribs. "With Ruby's adorableness here, she's gonna crumble faster than a sandcastle."

The three of them headed back to the cafeteria, their hearts a little lighter. When they entered, Ruby found out she had two more bodyguards. Yang and Sky joined the group and now they were walking in a rhombus. Yang was at the lead, scowling at everyone and everything. On Ruby's left there was Sky, and on her right Jaune. Behind everyone walked Blake, much less emotive now that she was in the open, but there nonetheless.

They were stopped by four people.

One of them, apparently the leader, stepped forwards. He had cured brown hair and faded green eyes. He was around as tall as Blake. Behind him there were two wolf Faunus twin, both with topaz-blond hair and brown eyes, both slightly taller than their leader. And behind them there was a boy with short black hair and orange eyes, slightly taller than Ruby herself. Yang glared at them, but the leader stepped forth nonetheless. "Forgive me, I'd like to speak with Ruby Rose," he said.

Yang readied a punch, but Ruby beat her to it. She stepped out from the middle of the rhombus and looked at the boy. "Er… here I am! Er… hi?"

"My name is Arthur Rìgh, leader of Team ARTR." He gestured to the other three, who waved slightly. "These are Rachele Spearing, Trayor Mordree and Ryne Spearing. We wanted to tell you, Ms Rose, that we support you."

"What?"

"We've noticed how you've been mistreated by the other students, and we wanted you to know that we aren't like that. Whenever you'll need help, just call us. Our Scroll numbers are on the database." He then dropped the formal tone and smiled. "But anyway, our dorm's the second door on the right from the start of the dorm building. Almost first dorm you see. Come knock if you need."

The four farewelled them and walked away, leaving a surprised Ruby and a smug-looking Jaune behind. The boy elbowed her in the ribs. "What did I tell you, Ruby? You do have friends and allies."

"I… guess so…"

Aww, that's so nice. Eheh, you thought big bad Khor would've put everyone against poor little Ruby, eh? Well, of course not. Team ARTR is a good team.

They are a reference to King Arthur. The leader's name (Arthur Rìgh) means Arthur King in... I think Scottish. I made these OCs a long time ago... Then we have Rachele and Ryne Spearing (Lancelot), their last name is what matters. And then we have Trayor Mordree (Traitor Mordred). But Trayor is not a bad guy, just a little Blake-like.

Also, Sky is turning out to be a much better person. Maybe he only has issues with Faunus? Yikes, he's on a team with Blake...

And finally... o.0 Jaune gambles and cheats at dice... that was unforeseen, uh? Honestly, I didn't know what I was writing, either, but then I liked the explanation about luck and I decided to keep it. Besides, it's not like he'll save the world with that skill of his, right?

Next chapter: Teary Problems. A match in Combat Class. Jaune Arc Rose Xiao Long vs Vero Tear. That damn asshole!? He's still here!? Damn, you must think. And this time I'm not even offing him! Really, what a shame. Plus there will also be team fractures. Teams shatter and people... to be honest, aren't worried.

EDIT: Vero Tear is an OC of mine, not an SI, just an OC. You can see him as one of the "villains" in Trail of Blood, and he appears in A Darker Shade of Gold Ch6 "Skipping School". He also appears in a short Omake in The Grimm of Beacon (the story is currently on hiatus). I understand that some of you might not have read my darker works, so I've just added this edit. Have a nice day.

Until next time,

Khor Evik Vlakhavlakh