Windows 10 is a bitch to work with, life is a bitch, and so am I for letting the former two get in the way of fanfics. I don't own RWBY, and enjoy the story.
Jaune was having a pretty good day. He had agreed to hang out with both team RWBY, the members of his own team, JNPR, as well as Coco and Velvet earlier that week. It was now the weekend, and he was preparing to meet up with everyone else. He noticed Pyrrha was scowling at him, for whatever reason, but he didn't know why. He figured he would ask her what had made her vexed later that day.
Prior to starting out on their trip, they got breakfast at the cafeteria, so they wouldn't be hungry later. The members of team JNPR sat there, talking about their classes, and how Jaune was improving with his spars. As Jaune and Pyrrha were finishing their seconds, and Nora finishing an unknown number of pancake servings, Ren got up to acquire his own second helping. This was a rare occurrence for the quietest member of the team.
Halfway to his destination, a rollerblading faunus from Atlas pulled up next to him, started talking amicably with him as he made his way to the serving area. She continued as he headed back to where they were sitting, then departed from him when he was halfway to the table. This caught the attention of both Jaune and Pyrrha.
Jaune didn't think much of it, and turned his attention back to Nora's story, which was overexaggerated like usual. Pyrrha internally questioned what this development meant, but quickly returned to trying to get Jaune senpai to notice her.
Once they finished their meal, they headed back to their dorm, alongside team RWBY. They each entered their teams' dorms to collect what they needed for the trip. After completing said task, they all headed to the bullhead docks, and, after a short, vomit-less trip (thanks to some motion sickness medicine), they were in Vale for day filled with fun and relaxation.
The first stop during the day was to the weapon store. Ruby wanted to pick out parts for a mecha shift weapon she wanted to make for Jaune. Ruby had picked out some of the parts she thought would be useful in constructing him a weapon.
They then went to the dust store. They needed to pick up some specialized rounds for their various weapons, as well as some raw dust for experimentation in Professor Peach's class and some upcoming missions. Weiss had even assisted Jaune in picking out dust and checking the quality of it.
Their next stop was to head to lunch. They went to a place that specialized in seafood dishes. As they were sitting down, a small fight broke out amongst several of the girls for who would sit by Jaune. However, Jaune was oblivious to the commotion, as he was looking at the menu with Weiss and Nora (the only two not smitten with him).
After the battle had been decided by drawing straws, they had a meal, and Coco had been generous enough to pay for them. Velvet and Yang had very much enjoyed their time next to the favorite oblivious blond knight. The conversations started tense, but soon became comfortable, banter and enjoyment had by all.
They then went to pick up some weapon parts that Ruby wanted to buy to construct a new mecha shift weapon for Jaune. He really didn't know what he wanted in the way of a weapon (he was happy with Crocea Mors, but he wasn't willing to hurt Ruby by refusing, and he might prefer whatever she came up with). Ruby, however, had some ideas.
Lastly, they were walking to a bookstore/café/risqué photo store that Blake had suggested (no one thought about entering the photo section, except a certain kitty cat). After perusing the book collection, and making some purchases, they had all ordered and gotten seated (with Nora and Weiss sitting next to him to avoid further drama between the other girls) and started to converse about various topics. After a few minutes, a tall blonde woman with blue eyes entered the shop, intent on picking up a caffeinated pick-me-up. Upon seeing the gaggle of girls surrounding an oblivious knight, she turned heel and marched over to the table promptly. Said knight visibly shrank in his seat, looking as he hoped to disappear from the scene altogether.
"JAUNE ARC!" the woman yelled at the young man in the booth. Jaune visibly jumped in his seat, a look of terror apparent on the boy's face. As the woman approached the table, the budding Arc harem (and Nora) started to close in around him in what could only be described as a defensive formation. All except Coco.
The woman glared daggers at her fellow blond. "Do you have ANY idea of how upset we all were when you ran away! Poor Joan cried for days when you left! She even moved into your room! Then I get a call from one of my employees that you show up in my store, and promptly leave! Why did we not even get a call, young man?!" the tall woman roared at him.
Jaune answered her, though he somehow couldn't tear his eyes from the floor. "I am sorry, Vert. I have always wanted to be a huntsman, even though I was encouraged not to be. I should have called, but I couldn't stand the thought of making you guys even more upset, and I was afraid you would try to talk me into coming home" he told her, looking quite downcast.
The woman's eyes softened slightly at his admittance. "Jaune, I know you have always wanted to be a hunter, but you have to remember, you are mum and dad's only son. It is always difficult to lose a child, but it is even more so if that child is their only boy amongst nothing else but daughters", she told him. "We would have probably tried to get you to come back. However, I don't think mum or dad would, seeing how many good friends you seem to have" she remarked, as her eyes roved over the numerous girls that were surrounding him.
Several of them shifted uncomfortably. However, Nora took the opportunity to sling her arm around the blond in question's shoulder. "Yep! Jaune - Jaune is our fearless leader! He makes sure we eat properly, and get lots of rest, and he reminds me to do my homework, and he helps me with it when I have a problem and Ren can't help, my fearless leader helps me out!" she chirped to her leader's older sister.
"Aren't you the CEO and founder of Vert's? The high-end fashion for hunters and huntresses?" Coco asked her. The blonde women before her turned her head to address the young lady addressing her. "Could you do me a solid and help get Jaune into something a little more fashionable for combat? Under his armor, he wears a Pumpkin Pete hoodie. While comfort is important in a huntsman's getup, he could stand to have an upgrade in his combat attire" Coco told her.
Vert Arc walked over to the young fashionista, looking intimidatingly down at her. "What is your name, young lady?" she asked. "Coco. Coco Adele. I am a friend of your brother" she replied. "I think we will get along swimmingly" Vert stated, her features softening slightly. "I concur. While his Pumpkin Pete's hoodie might remind him of home, it certainly wouldn't hurt to have him in something a little more mobile, utilitarian, and fashionable" she finished. Jaune simply put his face into his palms, groaning about the impending shopping related doom that awaited him.
Vert sat down and talked with her estranged brother and his friends for a bit. Afterwards, Vert exchanged numbers with Coco and a few of the other girls, then persuaded (aka forced with the threat of death) Jaune to give her his number, and she parted ways, as Jaune and his eclectic gaggle of girls got up to return to Beacon.
When they returned to Beacon, they studied together in the library for a while, before heading to the dining hall for dinner. Afterwards, Jaune sparred with Pyrrha in their usual spot. After their training session, Pyrrha decided to breach the subject of his sisters.
"So, Jaune" Pyrrha hesitantly started "your sister is the founder of the Hunter fashion company Vert's? Why did you never tell me?" Jaune looked his best friend and partner in her eyes, as he formulated his response to her. "I didn't tell you all because while my family is important to me, I want to make my way in this world on my own merits. I want to become a huntsman to protect others, and to live up to my family's legacy" he stated.
"Besides, I know I will never be as good as Gris or Pourpre, my two sisters who became huntresses. They are two of the best huntresses I know" Jaune stated in a matter – of – fact manner.
"While your combat may not be as good as the rest of us, you excel in places we do not" Pyrrha told him. "Ruby may be quite competent in four-person teams of combat; you have shown you are capable of far more in the tactics and leadership class. Didn't you tell me your simulations defeated everyone else's in record time?" the Spartan asked, fully well knowing what the answer was.
"You are right, Pyrrha. Thank you for cheering me up. If there is anything, I can do for you, let me know" the stalwart knight told her. "You can invite me to dinner with your family sometime. I bet they would love it if you re-connected with them, and I would love to meet those who are most important in your life. After all, we are the best of friends, are we not?" she asked. "Sure thing. I will let you know when a good day for us to meet up would be. Then we can meet up with them" he replied.
Jaune proceeded to contact Vert. After talking to her for a bit, he conveyed that he would like her to contact some of the other members of his family, so that he could introduce some of them to Pyrrha. Jaune had considered having his entire team meet his family. However, he changed his outlook when he thought about how they might react to all the news about what was occurring at Beacon. It would be better to slowly acclimate them to the fact he was at a school for hunters and huntresses, rather than throw them into the situation completely.
The weekend had come and gone, and was relatively uneventful, except for the unexpected encounter with Jaune's sister. They proceeded to do their lessons, homework, and honing their skills through combat sparring and running simulations. It the day was Thursday, and the lessons were completed, along with their homework.
Pyrrha, Nora, and Weiss decided to go clothes shopping. Weiss invited both Pyrrha and Nora because that way, Jaune wouldn't monopolize her time, and because Pyrrha had both money and fashion sense, something that the members of her team lacked. She invited Nora to put Pyrrha more at ease, as Pyrrha was somewhat cool to her still. Jaune was invited to carry the bags, and because it would incentivize Pyrrha even more to partake of a shopping trip.
They went to all sorts of shops. Shops that sold dust, so that they could conduct experiments outside of Professor Peach's class, as well as for spars and field work. Shops that sold food items so that they could cook outside of classes. Shops that sold supplies for weapons maintenance. Of course, no shopping trip with young ladies was complete without a trip to the clothes store.
The last place they shopped was the pop media store. It had a plethora of comics, music discs, and games on sale. Pyrrha was checking out some classical/pop songs, and Nora was checking out her favorite pop bands from Mistral. Her favorite new band was Juvenile Steel, which had 3 girls who performed in gothic Lolita clothing.
Weiss was feeling very uncomfortable with the surrounding, as it brought back memories of her failed singing career. As she was nervously looking around, and trying incredibly hard not to be noticed, she caught Jaune looking at the more pop/classical section. She noticed he glanced at an album that was hers, then moved onto the section that Nora was in, listening to her ramble on about how much she loved this or that band, and how he would either love or hate said groups and performers.
In the end, they left the store with some more items than they came in with. Pyrrha purchased a new album from a newly trending heavy metal band, Nora purchased a few titles from Mistrali groups that were like Juvenile Steel, and Jaune had a few purchases as well. As Weiss left with them, the trip provided more questions than answers for the young Heiress.
They finished their shopping trip and headed back to Beacon in time for dinner at the cafeteria. The entire meal was an ordeal of several girls trying to get the oblivious blond to notice them, an heiress sitting notoriously quiet, as if in deep contemplation, and, surprisingly enough, a cat girl who was writing in a notebook, presumably for a class.
Towards the end of their dinner, a gentleman wearing an atlas school uniform walked up to the group, and handed Ren a book, mentioning that he had accidently left it with his teammate when they were hanging around town. This comment, of course, aroused suspicions from the group, none more so than Nora, but Ren explained that he had taken it upon himself to interact with the students from the other academies that had gathered for the Vytal festival. He explained that he still cared about Nora, but that it was healthy that they not be so dependent on the company of each other. Nora looked a bit vexed at the turn of events. However, she seemed to begrudgingly accept the wisdom in her best friends' advice.
Afterwards, they studied for their upcoming classes in the Library. They had even managed to do so with the least amount of tension and bickering amongst the females of the group. Blake had even contributed to the studying session, a rare for her. This immediately raised the suspicion of her partner, the blonde with the unbearable jokes. However, she would approach her catty roommate another time, as it was getting time for bed.
Friday had arrived at last. They had completed all their classes for the day, except for combat class with Professor Goodwitch. They were to spar with some of the new arrivals from the schools in the other kingdoms prior to the Vytal festival. The contestants were to be chosen at random via a lottery system.
The two contestants who were randomly chosen were Jaune and Brawnz, from Shade Academy. Both headed to the locker room, changed, then made their way back to the ring. Glenda went over the list of rules regarding the spars, and they began.
Brawnz closed in on Jaune quickly, trying to take out the stalwart knight in close quarters combat that was suited to the hand-to-hand combat he knew. Jaune took the bulk of the blows on his shield. Seeing he couldn't counter with a swing at that distance, and unable to escape his opponents speed, he switched to reverse grip on his sword, and delivered a bash onto the student from Vacuo's skull with the pommel of his weapon. He followed this up by switching to proper grip on his weapon and thrusted it towards the face of his opponent. This resulted in creating some distance between them, as the pugilist retreated.
Jaune followed up with a quick advance. He maneuvered his adversary in a way where he would be far more likely to be pushed into a ring out. Then he pressed an attack, slashing and thrusting his sword towards his opponent, and parrying and blocking all incoming blows. Once Brawnz realized his options for travel were limited, he was too late. He had lost quite a bit of his aura, and Jaune was still fresh in the fight. Still, he fought back like a wounded and cornered animal, attempting to turn the situation around. Jaune, however, pushed onward and secured a win via pushing his opponent into the red. They congratulated each other and went back to their seats.
May, the teammate of Jaune's opponent, was sitting next to Coco. She had watched the fight and was intrigued. Nobody had fought her leader back in such a manner. It was honestly kind of hot to her. "Hey" she said to Coco "who is that blond guy? He fought really well." Coco raised a perfectly contoured eyebrow at this remark. "Oh? His name is Jaune Arc. He is a first year, if I recall. Why did you want to know about him? Developing a bit of an interest?" she inquired. "N-no! I just wanted to learn more about him. He seems interesting, that's all" the young woman stammered. Coco didn't miss the rouge tint that graced the young lady's cheeks as she said this. "I can't let her get close to him. I have far too much competition already" the fashionista thought.
Thus, their week had concluded. After his sparring match with Pyrrha, Jaune went to the library to do some research for professor Peach's class. On his way there, He met with Velvet, and she accompanied him to the library. She helped him with some of the research, asking that he take her and her alone to town for a bit as a reward.
As they were leaving, they saw Ren walking towards the Atlas students' temporary dormitories, talking with a pink haired cat faunus. She was excitedly talking to him and had a very noticeable blush on her cheeks. This, of course, floored Jaune. He thought that while his quiet friend was interested in Nora, though they would regularly claim to be together but not "together – together." Mind now blown, he headed back to his dorm room.
