Disclaimer: RWBY belongs to Rooster Teeth and Monty Oum.
Story is mine.
Reunion
She's escaped. From her team. From him.
A gust of air exhaled from her mouth. Weiss lowered the speed of her pace. Her breathing stabilized and her head finally processed the events that just happened. Everything was a blur. What was she doing again? Ah, running away. Where is she right now? From what her eyes tell, she's outside the building. Her head hurt, she needed to sit herself down.
A bench was near her and sat on it. Her eyes darted to the floor. Weiss couldn't quite grasp what just occurred. She had a casual gathering with her and Jaune's teammates. Then she got approached by fauna accusing her of being the cause of racism in the modern era when it's already been in Remnant for how many decades already. Goodwitch came in and resolved the situation temporarily. Then she just...ran.
"That was embarrassing." Groaning; Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose. "It had to happen in front of them as well..."
What she faced earlier was nothing new. People accused her of doing many heinous things. Even if she had no direct contribution to it. Even if her father was the one who had done many terrible acts in his time. Even if the Schnee family name had no connection to a specific crime. Her family name has been ingrained to the minds of the fauna where they judge anyone who has a connection to that name. Weiss knew that, yet her father didn't seem to care.
Not everyone knew about it, however, which was what she had been stressing over. She was sure Pyrrha had experienced her fair share of people disliking her, every famous person had it after all. It was the others she was worried about. Ruby and Yang, Nora and Ren, possibly Blake as well, don't know that she faces a situation like this on a regular basis. Especially Jaune, she'd hidden this side of her from him.
Speaking of Blake, what were they on about? I've never met that girl in my life, yet she knows something about Blake that we don't…
Her mind pondered over that girl's words. Judging from how she acted towards Blake, it's highly likely that she had some affiliation to their race. Which meant that Blake hid something from them, a secret she'd never share. Could Blake possibly be…?
"If it's true, then…"
"Then what?"
Her eyes shot up in surprise. Of course he'd chase her down. Even after she got out of his sight.
"Nothing, Jaune." Without saying a word; he took a seat right next to her. "I was just speculating about something."
"I see…"
Silence overtook the air between them. Jaune must've been in shock. It was inevitable that he'd see that side of her life, she couldn't hide it forever.
That doesn't make it any easier to discuss.
"I'm sorry." Weiss spoke, "That was an embarrassing sight to see. I should've handled the situation better and–"
"You have nothing to apologize for. You were just defending yourself anyways." The words used to comfort her did the opposite effect. "I know that you're not like that. You're a sweet and caring girl, she must've taken you for someone else."
Weiss sighed, "Jaune, this isn't the first time I've been into a situation like this…"
"What?"
"I never really told you when we were kids, did I? You know how we never left the manor as children? A primary reason for that is people harassing me. You saw it the day before and today."
"I know that people flock to you for signatures and stuff, but I never really knew that you get harassed. Why would anyone even do that? You haven't done anything to them anyways." Weiss could tell all too clearly the frustration in his voice.
"That's a result of my name."
"Your name, what's wrong with it?"
"I'm sorry for keeping you this long in the dark." She took a deep breath. "But my family name has always been rooted in controversy. It's gone through so much after my father had taken over. From political enemies to the general public having a negative opinion of us."
"What did the company do anyways?"
Weiss looked over the horizon, recalling the history of the company. "Long, complicated, and not worthy to dive deep into." This is a story for another day, Jaune. "To simplify, we've got a history with many factions such as the White Fang."
"That's good right? You guys are the good guys, fighting against the bad people."
"Not everything is black and white, Jaune…" If only it were that simple.
"Oh."
They broke into silence yet again. Weiss knew that Jaune would never judge her for what her family has done. Right? Would he? It's been years after all, who's to say he wouldn't? What if Jaune puts her into an even worse light than she had already put herself in?
Everything is such a mess.
Her heart raced. Not in a good way either. It isn't like when Jaune first showed up in front of her face, nor like when she had thought of the possibility of being in Beacon before they met. It wasn't glee she was experiencing.
"That sucks."
She couldn't help but smile a bit. Still just the way she remembered him. "It does indeed."
"I'm not gonna dig deep into your family, Weiss. But if you need any help, you can call me. Anything you need, I'll be there."
"You are my knight in shining armor, after all." She chuckled, "Again, I'm sorry you had to see that."
"And again, no worries. I understand, even if I don't know everything about it." Both of them met eyes; they then broke contact as soon as they built it. "Uhh, so it's been a while huh? We haven't gotten many chances to talk ever since the term started."
If she was being honest, she was strangely...afraid of him. They do talk, except it's never more than three sentences before it dissipates into nothingness. She was happy when she saw him and talked to him. Yet the strange feeling of fear mixed in with the abrupt occurrences that happen around the school tends to end the conversations early.
"I agree. This is a first that we've chat for a long period of time since we reconciled. It's...quite refreshing, I suppose."
Maybe she had been nervous. Nervous that he might've changed into an unrecognizable person. That even if he still retained the same face and personality, he's not the same person anymore.
Weiss knew that it was stupid to feel this way. She should probably drop it.
"Yeah, it's already been a week and I could probably count the times we spoke to one another in one hand." He chuckled, "So, Snow Angel. How have you been doing all these years?"
"I've been fine. Training mostly to prepare myself for Beacon." Finally, normal conversation; something peaceful for once. "I assume you've been doing the same the past few years as well?"
"I've barely passed the exams, at least that's for sure. I got my dad to give me some training before I got here." Jaune chuckled; his tone conveying the pride in his achievements. "All thanks to my training!"
So she was right, he didn't fake his transcripts. "Good, otherwise I would've given you a harsh scolding."
"Scolding? You would've given me twenty books on top of that!" He laughed.
"And I would've given you even more had you not read any of them." She gave a laugh of her own.
Once the initial phase of awkwardness had passed, Weiss found it easy to hold a conversation with Jaune. Both of them went and talked about their days, whether it'd be about something in their childhood or an event that occurred before Beacon. Simply chatting about anything and everything in the world, blocking out everything and anyone around them.
She missed times like these. In the years they were separated, nobody was there to talk to her. Just a bunch of words in a book and robots helping her train for her enrollment. This would've been fine when she was still a child with no friend, but experiencing Jaune, she felt nothing but lonely in the manor.
"I used to wish you'd rescue me like a knight as well…"
"What?"
Her eyes widened after she realized what she had said. She put a palm to cover her lips and faced away from him. Curse her traitorous mouth!
"It was nothing." Weiss could already feel her face heating up. Her body was playing games with her! "I was rambling about nothing."
"Oh, I see." Jaune hummed, "Oh right. I know we haven't been together a while now, but I have a favor to ask. You don't have to accept it though! But uhh, it'd be nice if you did."
"I've never turned you down on your offers, I'll be fine."
"Great!" He cleared his throat, "Well, remember when professor Goodwitch told us about the training rooms they had? I was thinking that maybe you can help train me. You told me back then that I wasn't really good with my technique and I was clumsy. I want to get better and so, I'm asking for help."
So he had the same idea as her, huh? Quite a coincidence. But it wouldn't be fun if she just said yes immediately.
"That's a shame." Weiss sighed, playing up her exasperation. "But it appears I don't have the time to entertain such wishes, Jaune. If only I had the time, or the motivation, to teach such lessons. Surely they will take plenty of time out of my schedule, will it not?"
"But I really need your help..." Jaune whimpered. Now she felt bad. "You're the one who knows me the most, Snow Angel! And you're the only person I know who fights with a sword like me. I'm a lost cause if I don't get any tips from you."
Weiss held back a smirk. So he's doing business with her. Business is her niche after all, she wouldn't go and do a favor without getting something in return. Of course, this was Jaune she was dealing with. She wouldn't go so far as to extort him of anything. Just a little thing to entertain her, that's all.
An idea just popped into her head, based on the dream she had just had last night.
"If my memory serves me right, we used to have a reward chart. Didn't we?"
Jaune's eyes lit up at the sudden mention. "Oh yeah! We did have that! I remember that."
"Do you also remember how you never finished the first objective I gave you?"
"Eheheh… eugh." Of course he remembers. "Ahah, what about the chart?"
Weiss rolled her eyes, but still continued nonetheless. "I was thinking about how we can use it not just for academic achievements, but also for general purposes. For example, you get a reward for any fight you succeed in."
"Man, this takes me back to the old days." He smiled, "So, what do I gotta do? Beat grimm? Study like crazy in class? What?"
"We'll both use the chart as a motivator for you to excel in your studies, as well as a reason for you to battle seriously."
"Huh? Battle seriously?"
"Let's be honest here. Would you hit me?" Weiss glared at him; Jaune nervously gulped his saliva and titled his head away. "Clearly not. I assume you'll be holding back if we're ever face to face on the battlefield."
Jaune went silent. Truth be told, if Weiss were to fight Jaune on the field she'd hold back to some extent herself. Even if Jaune were to have the same combat skill level she had, she knew that she could not go all out on him. She hoped it wouldn't come to a point where they have to fight each other till their last breath.
"Anyways," Weiss broke the silence, "Similar to what we did in our adolescence, I'll be rewarding you for every milestone you hit both in your studies and our training."
"Oh, okay." He nodded in slight agreement. "I know the studying thing is hitting certain percentages and stuff, but what do I do for when we train?"
"Same with your academic studies, by draining a percentage of my aura. If you manage to drain my aura with the training I provide you, I'll be sure to give proper compensation. Pumpkin Pete was your favorite, is it not?"
"Yeah, but it seems kinda lame getting cereal boxes for putting in hours of work..."
That does seem unfair, not to mention childish. Weiss racked her head for ideas. What can I give him that'll motivate him enough to not repeat the same mistake he did last time?
"Money?" Weiss suggested.
"It's kinda embarrassing asking for money from a friend. Even if you're stacked with it."
"How about dust?"
"That could work. But you'd have to call up some people to get you some right? It'd be too much of a hassle for you."
"Free coupons?"
"Wha?"
"Nevermind that last one." Drat, guess she'll have to give those sponsored coupons to somebody else then. "Clearly I'm not inciting much excitement from the offers I've been giving, so I'll leave it up to you to decide what you want from me."
Jaune went silent yet again. He must be thinking about what he wants. Weiss waited for his response. During this period, she had already started on outlining her ideas on how she can help Jaune improve his swordsmanship and how she can all fit this into her schedule. Since the rooms are only available to students on weekends, she'll have to cut down other activities to make time for him.
"I got it." Jaune spoke, "How about this? I get two different sets of prizes. One for my studies, the other for my combat training. You give me Pumpkin Pete merch like you promised if I get good marks on my studies. For me draining your aura, let's do a 'hang out session'!"
"You mean…" L-Like a date?!
"You know, just me and you. Walking around the mall and stuff. Doing stuff together, y'know?"
It's exactly like a date!
Weiss had to stare in the opposite direction, lest her rapidly reddening face shows itself to Jaune. Now she had to get serious when fighting him. Her heart was jumping in glee at the thought, but she's already imagining the embarrassment the two of them will face if they ever go on this so-called "hang out session".
Seriously, how much will he toy with her heart?
Weiss coughed. For some reason she found it hard to speak. "I-If that's what your conditions are, then do we agree to this mutual agreement?"
"You bet!" He reached out his hand. "Oh, we should shake hands to make it official!"
Weiss shook his hand, clasping his palms tight around hers. "Then may we seek benefits in this agreement we put ourselves in. I'm sure you won't repeat the same attitude you had as a child?"
"I promise to not run away from books this time." He smiled.
The bell rang, which meant that it was the end of lunchtime and the start of a new subject.
"We better get going." Jaune stood up from his seat; he stretched his arms and legs before offering another hand to Weiss. "Shall we, Snow Angel?"
The ends of her lips slightly curled at the gesture. "Then let us walk to the class together then."
She grabbed his hand and used it to pull herself up. Both of them start walking in the direction of the classrooms, they do have to speed up somewhat to make sure they don't end up tardy. If Weiss Schnee was anything, she was always on time.
"Hey Weiss?"
"Yes, Jaune?"
"I missed you."
Did you all miss me? It's been a year after all.
The king is back, baby! Okay, kinda egotistical to call myself a king, but you guys get the sentiment. It's already been a year since I've announced my departure from the writing gig, time flies by so fast doesn't it?
As for me, I've been going to school. I've been doing a lot of essays and script-making that reminded me of why I loved to write stories. I said in my announcement last time that I didn't find it fun anymore, but it seems like I found that fun in me again. So, it's great to be back.
Also, HAPPY 100K viewers! As of the time I'm writing, we just hit the 100k milestone! I'm really happy that this many people actually took the time out of their lives to read this story. We also got 540 faves and 801 follows which is insane to think about. Thank you guys for reading the story, and I hope that we can all enjoy the journey ahead of us.
Reviews are love. I would input a RWBY joke in there somewhere, but eh. The review can be a compliment, complaint, suggestion, and/or criticism.
Anyways, that's all for now and I will see you in the next one.
Crazyman out.
[Extra notes from me, you don't have to read this]
Going back to the bit about me finding fun in writing, I think I left because I had massive imposter syndrome during that time. It was so bad that it literally held me back from writing and getting the job done. But, while I think that it hasn't disappeared completely, I believe that it calmed down now.
So, I'm going into a new mindset from this chapter forward. Instead of just writing to make a "good story", I'm gonna be a lot less harsher to myself and just write because I enjoy it. It may not be good. It may not be liked by many. But I write it because I enjoy it. I'll try to make a sensible story, but also a story that I'll be happy with.
Thank you for your continuous support.