[#1]
"…This won't do." Said Blake as she stared at her own reflection in the bathroom mirror. A hand carefully brushing down on her long, luscious black hair from top to bottom.
Despite the hectic reception she and her friends have faced upon arriving in Atlas, they were still able to talk things over with the General himself. And just like that, they were granted their very first official mission: Clearing out the abandoned Dust mines in the outskirts of Mantle.
She and her friends were also issued some brand-new equipment. And while she found the abundancy of belts and zippers on their new clothes to be a bit overkill, she was grateful to Pietro for fixing the blade of Gambol Shroud.
But now she was facing a conundrum. An inquiry of sorts, that surpassed both Leaving the White Fang and Throwing away her bow.
What was she going to do with her hair?
She huffed. This wasn't exactly something she had been planning, nor something she wanted to do until that very night. Still, this was the perfect opportunity to reinvent herself after everything she'd been through in Anima.
However, she couldn't braid it like Weiss or just let it grow like Yang, as she didn't feel like competing with either of them. Hell, even Ruby was going for a different look, almost resembling her uncle in a way.
In her books, haircuts were always a big deal for major characters. It was a symbolic and powerful way to represent change, either during or at the end of their respective arcs.
That… And because her fighting style required a lot of jumps and flips for her to pull off, and her hair was starting to get in the way of that.
With another decisive huff, she picked up a pair of scissors. Just a snip would be enough to get her started. But it quickly dawned on her. When was the last time she cut off her hair?
Blake's memory went as far as her childhood days at her house in Menagerie. Her mother always being the one to cut off her hair for as long as she remembered.
She opted to withdraw the scissors before she made a mess out of herself. Now what? Their first official mission was tomorrow in the morning. She couldn't just leave the Academy this late at night and go to a hair stylist.
"Heh." She snickered. That would be such an old-Blake thing to do: Sneaking away to do something all by herself.
But alas, she was the new, revamped Blake now. And she knew just the thing that would help her cement that fact.
Picking up her brand-new Atlesian scroll, she contacted someone for assistance.
"Hello? Blake?" Jaune knocked on the door of Blake's own room. They all had been given provisory dorms before Ironwood could provide bigger ones for each team.
Just as he was about to knock a second time, the door automatically slid open, revealing a waiting Blake in tow. "Come in."
He followed her inside the room without any complications, the metallic door closing behind him upon entering.
"So… I got your message." He waved his scroll. "You wanted help cutting your hair?"
Blake knew in hindsight that sending a straightforward and cohesive message to him was miles better than texting him some vague invitation to her room, especially this close to curfew. The provided context would spare them both from embarrassment.
"Yes." She nodded. "I'm not bothering you, am I? I know we have an important assignment tomorrow."
"Not at all! I finished packing my new gear just before leaving. I figured the others were busy as well, so that's why I came here to help."
"Actually, you were my first choice." She corrected him.
"…Wait, I was?"
"Uh… Yeah?" She shrugged. "Why? Did you expect me to sort out between all our friends and choose you by method of elimination? You're the one who's always bragging about having a lot of sisters."
"Well, not exactly bragging as much as complaining…" He blinked. "Yeah, I see your point."
"And besides," She rubbed her forearm. "I was kind of hoping to make a surprise for the other girls..."
"Oh! Why didn't you say so?" Jaune happily skidded to her bed and put down a small case. He opened it, revealing a haircutting kit with various utensils, including but not limited to: A custom-made hair scissors, a hair apron and a spray bottle.
"Spared no expenses?" She questioned.
"You'd be surprised how much one of these helps when you're out camping for an extensive amount of time. Even if you just need a little trimming once in a while." He explained. "But just to be sure, are you okay with me cutting off your hair?"
She already went through that question even before calling him in. Both their teams have been fighting alongside one-another for as long she could think of. Taking that into account, she did in fact trust him whenever they were out there on the field. So, it made sense that she would trust him with something more trivial.
"Well, you do seem to know what you're doing." Said Blake. "I mean, it can't be worse than cutting it myself."
"Heh. I hear ya." He went through his case one more time before grabbing some gel. "I'm glad to be of service either way. Shall we?"
She went ahead and sat on a chair in front of a vanity mirror she had prepared beforehand.
"Alrigthy then." Jaune walked up to her back, covering her torso with the apron and tying it around her neck. He grabbed his scissors and snipped the air all confident-like. "You want me to straighten it a bit, or do you have any preferences?"
Now, Blake did have something in mind. It wasn't fancy or anything, but she felt like trying it out. Only problem was, she didn't know the name for the cut she wanted. So then, she swallowed a little bit of pride and grabbed her scroll.
"This is going to sound silly, but…" She typed something on the device before lending it to Jaune.
He squinted his eyes at the small holographic screen. The page Blake had searched depicted many pictures and drawings of a pirate woman with short black hair.
"Are these… Fan arts?" He asked.
"It's a character from an old book I like." She responded. That had been the only source of reference she could think of.
"I can see that. I take you want your hair to look like hers." He scrolled down for more pictures. "She seems nice?"
"I wouldn't exactly say 'nice'. She's a former pirate who escapes from her dead-end past and joins an official crew at the behest of a notorious Captain, who also happens to own a chair in the Council." Blake trailed on. "She's a short-tempered, cold-blooded gunslinger with alcoholic tendencies, although her attitude mostly serves to hide her kind nature. And together with other three new crew-members, they set sail on a dangerous counter-espionage campaign across the-"
Her speech was interrupted as Jaune accidentally let out a chuckle.
"…What's so funny?" She inquired.
"Sorry! Sorry." He blurted. "It's just… It's funny watching you geeking out like that. It's not something I see every day, you know."
Normally, she would've groaned over that response. She didn't like the assumption that she was a stone-faced woman with no hobbies. But she decided to let that slide. This was the new-Blake, after all.
"It's fine." She shrugged off. "So, about the hair…"
"Right!" He checked her scroll. "Well, obviously taking the pirate hat out of the equation, I see you want a bob-styled haircut."
"I had forgotten the name for it. That's the one." She let out a snicker over the fact she had to resort to one of her books just to recall a haircut name. "Can you make this one?"
"You're kidding? That's beginner stuff." Jaune boasted. "This one time, Saphron forced me to cut one for her just an hour before her second date with Terra."
"Is that so?" She indulged him, straightening on her chair. "Why don't you show me how easy it is then?"
"Yeah... Consider it done..." He said, his voice droning out for some reason.
Blake heard the sound of scissors flickering open as the blonde began to gather a few strands of her hair with his fingers. A couple seconds went by until she noticed he was taking a long time just to make the first cut.
"…Is everything okay?" Blake questioned.
Jaune took a breather. "…Could you do me a favor?"
Blake responded solely by turning her head at him and raising an eyebrow.
"Since we're at it…" He spoke. "Could you also cut off my hair?"
She stared, confused by the request. "Come again?"
"You heard me. See this?" Jaune demonstrated by flicking his fringe, which caused a bang of hair to fall on his eyes. "This sure isn't getting any easier to deal with."
"You want to me cut off your hair because you're having trouble with your fringe?"
"It's more than that, really." He readjusted his fringe. "Pretty much everyone is having a 'do-over', and… Well, I also feel like turning a page here."
"Really now?" She questioned. "I was under the impression you preferred to keep your hair longer. Ruby even told me you wanted to make a pony-tail."
"I-I told her it's a Warrior's Wolf tail-!" He interrupted himself with a sigh. "In any case, I don't see that happening anytime soon. And now that we're finally in Atlas, I feel like having a fresh new start. Emphasis on 'fresh'."
Blake immediately sympathized with his idea. And now more than ever, they could bond over something she never thought they would share: Brand-new haircuts!
However, she still felt like clearing something out. "Before I agree to that, I should warn you that I'm not particularly skilled when it comes to cutting someone's hair."
"I don't mind." He responded. "Still beats having to cut it on my own, like you said. Doesn't really matter how much I know, cutting it myself is still a crapshoot. I rather have you doing it."
"Fine. Don't say I never warned you." She accepted his request. "Do you also happen to have a preference?"
Jaune put a hand on his chin. "Hmm… You know what? Surprise me! I don't mind if you cut it really short, so long it's functional."
"Right. I'll think about it while I'm getting my hair cut." She pointed at it. "Speaking of which."
"Oh! Got it." Jaune went back to his primary task. "This won't take too long, I promise."
Finally hearing the first few snips from his scissor, Blake could feel as a couple of strands of her long hair were cut loose. Taking the time to relax, she pondered over what she was going to do once it was her turn to cut Jaune's hair. She didn't know many hairstyles for men, let alone the names for each one.
The only feasible source for haircuts she had in mind were ultimately her books, just like the one she was getting at the moment. Maybe there was something in those romance novels she could work with. Jaune's hair was fairly big, so she had a lot of room for experimentation.
Inside her head, she went over the many different designs of hairs from a gallery of characters, ranging from protagonists, antagonists, love interests, all accompanied by supplemental material from other sources…
Then an idea came to mind. An idea not necessarily supported by her best intentions at heart.
Jaune was willing to accept any haircut she was bound to make. So why not take some liberties with her creative freedom?
"Hmm..." She hummed in an almost malicious manner. She had been struck with inspiration.
Jaune's scissors stopped. "You said something?"
"Uh…" The Faunus undid her suspicious smile, already thinking of an excuse. "Please, be careful with the ears. They do blend in with the hair, after all."
"Oh. Sure thing! No need to worry about it." He went back at snipping.
Sighing with relief, she made herself comfortable on her chair while patiently waiting for him to finish. Soon, she would have the means to mold that blond mane of his into a fruit of her own skittish vision.
Blake awkwardly smiled as Yang jumped on her with a surprise selfie session.
Their day was going great so far. Both teams, along with the Ace-Ops, were able to liberate the mines from a dangerous Geist haunting the area.
Things only got better after that, such as her team confronting Jacques, getting the Amity Colosseum up and running, and Ironwood being so kind to grant everyone their own official Huntsmen licenses. Oh, and the cake was great too!
And most notably, Blake made a great impression on her teammates with her new haircut. Going as far as turning Yang of all people into an awkward mess just from looks alone.
She made a mental note to recommend Jaune's services in the foreseeable future. Speaking of…
"Hey, have you seen Jaune's new do?" Yang pointed out, whistling playfully. "Man, the guy really went all out, huh?"
"Yeah, I've seen it too." Blake nonchalantly agreed.
Standing near the bleachers of the Amity arena, she observed as Jaune attempted to fend off a hungry Nora from stealing his cake. His short, spiky and trimmed hair on full display for everyone to see.
"I guess it suits him?" Said Weiss, putting down her plate on the table near them. "Although, I wonder what led him to choose such a drastically different style."
"Oh, c'mon. He's practically a hunk now." Said Yang. "You're not even gonna admit the new hair looks good on him?"
"Haven't you already said the same thing about Blake?" She retorted. "Is it me, or do you suddenly have a thing for short haired people?"
"N-No, I don't." Opposed Yang, looking back and forth between Blake and Weiss. "Pfft! Where did you get that idea?"
While Yang was trying to cover up for her newfound thrill and failing, Blake kept her eyes on Jaune. Mainly just appreciating her work.
Despite having never cut someone's hair before, she really didn't do a bad job! Everyone seemed to have taken a liking for his new look. Jaune himself even had greatly complimented her work the previous night. Who knew her skills with sharp weapons easily translated to operating a simple pair of scissors?
With that being said, there was still one small detail regarding her choice of haircut for him.
For you see… She had taken inspiration from her all-time favorite series. A saga filled with twists and turns, famously renowned for its action, romance and drama, albeit commonly frowned upon by commoners such as her teammates due to its category of literature. The not-safe-for-work kind.
What was the name again? 'Samurais of Abstinence'? Oh well.
On that note, Jaune's haircut was actually inspired by one of the characters from those books. Specifically, a warrior of the highest order, portrayed as a dashing individual forever loyal to the province.
He was a prominent figure, responsible for keeping the order around the land, and on occasion, sharing many, er… 'scenes' with other characters. Most commonly with the female lead.
And his most notable feature as you probably have guessed was his goldish, spike-ish short hair, which was constantly said to be by far his most attractive trait in the books.
Back in the day, Blake had seen many pieces of art as well as some discussions online. A lot of fans questioned the appeal of said haircut and in many instances mocked the choice of the author, going as far as accusing the character to be an insert with banana hair.
And after all this time, Blake finally had the opportunity to see what that damned haircut would really look like in person, with Jaune being the perfect candidate for her experiment. She had used his hair kit to the fullest as well as some references she found on her scroll. The results really spoke for themselves.
And now that she could get a good look at it, she could say with total certainty that Jaune's haircut looked… Fine?
"Blake?"
Not that it was bad or anything, she had really done an exceptional job recreating the hairstyle from the books. It's just that it didn't really look particularly attractive to her.
"Blake?"
It even reminded her of Sun in some aspects. With both being blond and all. And now that she thought about it, it also didn't look that much different when comparing with some of the other short-haired boys from Beacon-
"Blake!" Weiss exclaimed, snapping her fingers in front of her face.
"Huh? What? What is it?" Blake blinked several times and shook her head a little. She then noticed how the rest of their friends were all standing by some holographic mission-board near the stadium's exit. "What happened?"
"If I were to guess, I'd say you were staring at Jaune for at least twelve paragraphs." Yang responded.
"And is that drool on your cheek?" Weiss commented.
Blake's right hand went up as she wiped some drool from the corner of her mouth. 'What was I doing again?'
"I-I wasn't staring at anyone." She protested. "I think I just spaced out for a little. That Geist must have taken a toll on me or something."
"If you say so. Just be sure to get some rest later." Said Yang. "Come on, let's see what jobs they're offering."
Blake followed her teammates towards the board, watching as Specialist Marrow kept explaining the instructions to everyone. She decided to forget the last few minutes for her sanity's sake.
…And maybe avoid looking directly at Jaune for now, just to be sure. But eh. This was probably a one-time thing, anyway.
Approximately one week had gone by since they got their licenses. And for the first time in what felt like an eternity, things couldn't be more peaceful.
Well, as peaceful as a Huntsmen routine could be, but to Blake it was the most peaceful she had ever felt in a very long time.
No White-Fang, no Ozpin, no relics, no Maidens, no gods, no Salem, none of that nonsense. Just your run of the mill Grimm encounters, no strings attached.
Early that morning, she and Ruby had fought off a herd of Manticores near the city's cargo trains. And with that taken care of, the duo found themselves returning to the streets of Mantle.
"You're not coming back to the Academy?" Blake asked her leader whilst the two crossed the road onto the next sidewalk.
"I promised Penny I would be helping her and Clover with transporting some Dust shipment to Amity." Said Ruby. "If everything goes right, we should be done by evening. What about you? Got any more jobs?"
"Actually, I've been meaning to take a break." She responded. "We've been working almost non-stop for about a week now. So I guess I'll be taking the rest of the day off."
"I see. More power to ya!" She happily nodded. "Oh! By the way, could you say hi to Jaune for me? He should be around the neighborhood."
Blake stopped walking. "Wait, is he in Mantle?"
"Yeah!" She confirmed. "I think his shift ends in an hour or so."
Right, she almost forgot. Jaune had been effectively duped by Marrow into taking a job escorting children to the local public school. Not exactly the most thrilling start to his Huntsman career.
"If I happen to stumble on him, then sure." Said Blake. "Then again, it's very unlikely I'll be able to talk to him during his shift."
"Eh, probably. He takes his job very seriously from what I heard." Shrugged Ruby. "Anyway, I'm off. I'll catch up with you later."
Blake had to cover her eyes from a bunch of rose petals as Ruby took off with her Semblance, leaving the Faunus alone in the middle of Mantle.
She highly considered heading to the nearest bullhead-stop and just returning to Atlas. But… She couldn't help but to think she had been ignoring Jaune for some reason. They never really did spoke again since that day at the colosseum.
'Maybe I can take a detour near the elementary school.' She thought. 'It wouldn't hurt to just say hi, I guess.'
From that point on, Blake traversed the city's streets in the off chance she found Jaune. Mantle, at least during the day, wasn't such a terrible place like she made it up to be when she first got there. The city had its particular charm, despite quite literally being overshadowed by Atlas.
On her way, she spotted those same two guys from their first night in Mantle right across the street. The elitist guy with glasses and his friend, the one with the purple beanie. Just the two of them hanging out at some random porch, probably chatting about how Atlas was the greatest Kingdom in all of the universe or something…
They did seem to show up a lot, apparently.
She kept walking at a steady pace, already planning on spending the rest of her day reading at the comfort of her dorm. Her thoughts eventually got interrupted as soon as she rounded the corner.
Blake came across a small crowd of women, all standing by the sidewalk just across the elementary school. They were loudly whispering, exchanging some rather provocative remarks at someone's expense.
"Those jeans sure fit him nicely. Specially around 'those' parts."
"Look at his size. Does he even need all that padding? …Or the shirt, for that matter?"
"That's nothing. Have you seen that haircut?"
"You think he's single?"
Okay…? Either one of the Achieve-Men members were in town or- Wait, did she just say haircut?
Blake took a few steps closer just to see what they were gawking at. Her suspicions were quickly proven right.
"At ease, soldiers. We're here." Jaune was seen guiding at least half-dozen children towards the school's entrance. "Single line, everyone. Don't bunch up."
Blake could only do so much as stare at her friend as the children obediently followed his lead. Her assessment over the scene before her? "…Huh."
"I know, right?" One of the children's mothers, a blond lady wearing a red coat, responded her. "Who would've thought Atlas would send such a high-demand Huntsman to our aid? Just look at how he treats the kids."
"I mean… I suppose he was always good with children?" Spoke Blake, recalling how he even had a nephew back in Argus.
"You know him?" The mother asked.
"…Yeah, he's one my friends. We all just got here last week."
"Oh, then you must be the Huntsmen who dealt with the latest breach. Huge thanks, by the way." She thanked her. "And here was I thinking Ironwood had been neglecting us. To think he would go to such lengths to recruit Huntsmen from far-away Kingdoms in the middle of an embargo. How nice of him!"
Blake didn't know what was worse. The fact that the lady didn't know they illegally crossed the border on a stolen airship, or that the individual who had come up with that idea was right across the street with her kid.
"By the way, has he been eating well?" She asked again. "Has he been enjoying the casseroles I made him?"
"Uh…" Blake attempted to formulate a proper response. "Yeah! He did mention he was eating properly lately. He wanted to let you know he appreciates the sentiment."
The mother squealed. "How wonderful! You know if he's free this afternoon?"
"…I beg your pardon?" The Faunus felt conflicted, as she didn't want to dwell on Jaune's personal life.
"Oh, sorry! Is he already seeing someone?" She quickly apologized. "Oh gods, it's you, isn't it?"
"I-I…" That whole conversation was rapidly getting off the rails. If only something so conveniently cliché could interrupt it.
"Job's done!" Jaune eagerly exclaimed as he crossed the street towards them, having finished his job according to the scroll he carried.
'Hooray for cheap romcom logic.' Blake sighed.
"Alright, ma'ams. The little guys have been safely delivered." Jaune approached the mothers. "That concludes our business for today."
"Oh, does it now?" One of the mothers wearing a purple jacket said, in a rather suggestive manner from Blake's understanding and Jaune's lack thereof. "We could also use some escorting back to our homes."
"Sorry, I would love to, but I do have some stuff to do up there." He pointed at Atlas.
Blake noticed the disappointed smiles of each of those women. Probably wishing they were said 'stuff'.
They all bid their goodbyes before going their separate ways, whereas the short-haired Huntress just kept looking intently at her colleague. His hair still standing tall even after working all morning, the blond aesthetic highlighting his face in the midst of the city's bleak colors, drawing her vision to his deep blue-
"Blake?" Jaune asked.
-eyes. 'What?' Blake slightly shook her head in order to address her friend. "Hey, Jaune."
"Hey, nice seeing you. What brings you here?"
"Oh, that?" She responded. "Ruby and I just got finished with a mission, and she asked me to come by and say 'hi' to you."
"Well, that's very kind of her. Thanks for carrying out her message."
"No problem." Said Blake. "I also wanted to come and say hi too. Personally."
"Oh." He nodded with a smile. "I see."
"So yeah… Hi." She waved at him. To which he waved back.
…
Blake could've sworn she saw one of the kids at the school's entrance make a barf expression at her. 'Yeah, I would love to see you try excelling at basic social interaction, twerp.'
"Anyway," She continued. "I was just about to return to Atlas."
"Hey, I was about to say the same thing." Jaune said. "Well! Since none of us have anything better to do, we might as well go back together, right?"
"Sounds good!" She responded in an upbeat tone.
"Great!" He said before… Lending his arm? "Please allow this humble liege to escort your eloquence back to her rightful abode."
"Pfft!" That sudden display earned a chortle from Blake. "What was that?"
"Uh…" His expression fell. "Too much?"
"No! no. That was- Heh! That was a very good impression. Are you practicing one of your old techniques on me?" She teased. 'I'm sure Weiss would be feeling nostalgic if she was in my shoes.'
"It's not like that! I was just… Sorry." He apologized. "I just thought it'd be funny if I… You know what? Never mind."
She simply nodded, leading to them both walking side-by-side throughout the sidewalk.
"It's okay. Sun used to do that all the time just for laughs, remember?" Blake stated. At this point, she was just glad to not be the 'awkward-one' of the duo. And besides, she didn't mind the idea of Jaune suddenly courting her.
'…Wait.'
The flight back to the Academy went surprisingly swift. Especially since Blake was expecting someone to be holding the contents of their stomach during the whole thing.
"Not to sound intrusive, but what did ever happen to… You know, your condition?" Blake asked about his motion sickness as they both descended from the bullhead's ramp. Didn't he have a nickname entirely dedicated to that?
"About that…" He explained. "A while ago, I found out I could use my Aura to mitigate any symptoms of nausea during flights like these. Like last week when we departed from Argus. Or back when we were deployed to the mines."
"I guess that makes sense." She did a double check. "Wait, no- It doesn't. How does that even work?"
Jaune simply shrugged. "Eh. How do magnets work? They just do, don't they?"
Blake decided to drop the subject. She wasn't about to argue consistency this early in the morning.
"So, about your job… What is it like?" She fired the first question that came to mind as they walked towards the Academy's gate.
"It's actually very fulfilling if I'm being honest." He responded. "I mean, sure, it's not as important as, like say, hunting giant Grimm out of town. But it's the little things, you know?"
"You don't say?" She said with a soft smile. "Weren't you nervous when you first started out?"
"Heh. Try Terrified." He emphasized. "There is always this consensus that children can be very cruel when they sense weakness. But as it turns out, they see me as an authority figure. Like, I know I'm a 'Team-Leader' and all, but still..."
"I think you fill that role quite nicely." Blake complimented him.
Jaune nervously avoided eye contact with her. "You're just saying that."
"I mean it. Children at that age do need a role-model, after all." She chuckled. "Their mothers seem to agree."
"Yeah, don't let me get started on them." Said Jaune. "They're nice and all, and the casseroles are good too, but they can be really overwhelming at times."
"…I see." Blake had seen firsthand how they spoke of him in secrecy. She still wasn't exactly sure how she felt about it.
Having already entered the main building of the Academy, the two made their way across the main hall. Students from various years around every corner.
"But hey! At least I got this thing!" He then proudly pulled out some object in his possession.
"…It's a stop-sign." Blake pointed out.
"Pretty cool, huh? Marrow said I could keep it."
"Yeah… Really cool." She sarcastically responded. "It certainly gives your sword a run for its money."
While Jaune was busy feeling offended on the behalf of a red hexagon on a stick, Blake noticed how some of the students were giggling. Girls around her age and even older, all stealing glances of the young-man beside her.
"Ha, ha." He deadpanned. "Ah, Blake. If only you knew the great deal of reign this little ancient device holds. You'd understand if you had the power over Atlesian traffic laws in your hands."
"Heh, right." She resumed her attention back to him. "Just don't let all that power go to your head."
"No promises!" He chuckled as he holstered the sign. "Jokes aside, I appreciate getting to hang out with you. It's been a while, really."
"I'm glad about it too." She responded with a meek smile. "What else are friends for, anyway?"
"Cutting each other's hair, for one." Jaune laughed some more until his expression turned into a more inquisitive one. "Speaking of… What was exactly the cut you gave me again?"
Blake froze mid-step, her eyes momentarily changing into two black voids and her Faunus ears turning frigid.
"…Wha- Why do you ask?" She attempted to naturally ask him without arousing too much suspicion.
"It's just that I've been getting a lot of compliments and questions about my hair, and I usually respond that I cut short or something. I was wondering if you knew the name for it."
"Uhh…" She went back and forth inside her own head trying to come up with a convincing excuse. "I saw in a magazine once! I-I think it was Vacuan…"
He stared back, slightly taken aback from her response.
"Oh! That explains it." The blonde then proceeded to check the time on his scroll. "Crap, I should be going now! I have a training session with Vine scheduled in, well, two minutes ago. Bye Blake, be seeing you!"
The Huntress watched as Jaune powerwalked away, consequently leaving a trail of ogling students in his wake.
Blake kept wondering with a hand on her hip. Something was definitely off about him.
"It's totally the haircut…"
Facing the source of that ominous and credits-rolling phrase, Blake found Nora casually leaning cross-armed by a column.
"That's… One theory?" Blake offered.
"So you've noticed too." Said Nora. "He's been getting quite the attention these days."
Blake wore a bored expression and returned a shrug. "Good for him? Also, were you tail-tagging us?"
"No more than I had to." She responded. "Now, what is it that you know about fearless-leader's hair that somehow factors into this?"
"I don't know what you are talking about." She lied. "His hair looks different now. So what? Is it any of our business what he gets up to?"
Nora shook her head in an almost uncharacteristically manner.
"You're not seeing the bigger picture." She adverted. "And with how things are going, I'm afraid it's only a matter of time."
"…For what?" Blake inclined her head, raising her palm in a confused gesture.
Nora's only response was a sideways peace-sign, followed by a crowd of students walking in front of her. She completely disappeared by the time they passed by.
Blake incredulously blinked at such feat, but she decided to chalk that up to one of Nora's antics.
"Okay, then…" Finally left alone, she went towards the main stairway to her team's dorm room. Some reading would suffice to calm her nerves. There was no reason for her to lose any sleep over this.
'It's just a haircut.'
If I had a nickel every time I wrote an April-Fools pairing story, I would have two nickels, which isn't a lot but… Yeah, you get the point.
And yeah, I still firmly believe RWBY doesn't count as Anime. Especially now that there is an actual Anime based on the source material. I will die on this hill!