Chapter 8: First day of School

Taylor stirred, he remembered the sound of the door slamming open and sounds of someone shouting. Beyond that his memory was a blank. Taylor tried to get up, but the moment the thought entered his mind, pain racked his body. He didn't scream, but it was serious enough that it made Taylor grown and suck in his breath.

"He's coming to." Said a feminine voice. Taylor then felt his bed shake slightly. He barely managed to open his eyes. He saw RWBY and Penny leaning over his bed. They were all focused on him, looks of worry written on their faces. He also saw Ozpin and Goodwitch standing at the foot of his bed.

"How long have I been out?" Taylor asked, only half conscious.

"You passed out yesterday afternoon, and its roughly that same time today." Ozpin explained.

"As for what happened. You overextended your semblance." Glynda explained. "Your semblance seems to draw heavily on your arua and overall energy. Based on what your harem described, it seems like simple items are relatively safe, more complex items pose a serious health risk however."

"The medical staff says your body was put under considerable strain. You are lucky to not have sustained permanent damage." Penny said. She reached down and held his hand. Weiss and Ruby followed suit. Taylor wasn't sure why they were acting so friendly when they knew each other for such a short amount of time, but he was comforted by their affection.

"Did it work at least? Or did I nearly kill myself for nothing." Taylor asked as he tried to sit up.

Yang stopped him and pushed him back down into the bed. "Your need to stay in bed until at least tomorrow. And yes, you managed to make your weapon. I have to admit that thing looks cool."

"What does it do?" Ruby said with excitement.

"When we get out of here, I'll show you." Taylor chuckled as he anticipated the shocked looks on everyone's face when he showed it off. He immediately regretted laughing as his chest began to hurt again.

Glynda approached the head of Taylors bed. "For now, you should just rest, but there is one last thing we must discuss" Glynda then reached into a handbag Taylor just now noticed. She pulled a thick collar that clearly had some sort of electronic component.

"Wow, Hey now! That looks like a slave collar!" Taylor said. His body was still in pain, but he suddenly found the strength to move.

"Calm down Taylor!" Ruby said as she and the other girls pinned him to the bed. "You're going to hurt yourself."

"Stop being so dramatic." Glynda said coldly as she snapped the collar around his neck.

"GET THIS DAM THING OFF OF ME!" Taylor screamed, still thrashing in his bed. Then suddenly he spaced out. His mind becoming an absolute void. After a moment, Taylor regained his senses. The girls were still holding him down. Glynda stood there with her arms crossed. Ozpin was where he was before, and he was lowering his hand. Taylor opened his mouth to demand an explanation, but Ozpin cut him off.

"The Collar is merely a tracker and a medical monitor." Ozpin said.

"The medical monitor I could understand, but a Tracker Collar?! I've told you I don't have any place to go. You mean to keep me on a leash? Am I a prisoner here?" Taylor said, his blood boiling again.

"No, you are not Taylor but please think about your circumstances." Ozpin took in a breath as he pinched the bridge of his nose. "Men are rare and valuable enough as it is. You have been granted an incredible power. The number of people who have held it before you can be counted on one hand. Plus, your combat skills are underdeveloped. The collar is to deter kidnappers, and to help locate you just in case the worst comes to past.

"I understand the logic, I agree with it even. But a collar? Couldn't you accomplish something similar with a wristband or a clip-on badge?" Taylor asked, a hint of desperation in his voice.

"That point is not lost on me." Ozpin said as he glared at Glynda, who merely rolled her eyes in response. "I have people working on a more palpable option for you, but for now I'm afraid the collar will have to do."

Taylor sighed and went limp in his bed. Ozpin took that as his que to leave. Taylor heard him say something as they went out the door. He couldn't make out what, but judging by the tone, he guessed Ozpin was chastising Glynda. Taylor settled down into his bed. 'This is going to get out of hand' he thought.

One more day and two nights in the hospital and Taylor was released. He wasn't back to full strength, but he could move under his own power. He was released just in time for his first day of class. Currently he was eating breakfast with the girls in the cafeteria. He was focusing on his food, when he was nearly done Penny got the groups attention.

"Friends, we have a small issue." Penny said.

"What do you mean?" Taylor asked as he finished his last slice of toast.

"Well, usually a Male would have at least some of his harem with him during each class. But uhm…..." Penny said. She was scratching her chin, thinking about how to word it.

"I'm so uninteresting that we can barely pair me up with at least one of you during class, correct?" Taylor said as he finished his meal and wiped his mouth with his napkin.

"Taylor we've been over this." Ruby said, exhaustion heavy in her voice.

"I'm grateful you're all giving me a chance, that's not platitude it's the truth. But that doesn't change the fact that I only have the five of you where other guys have small armies around them." Taylor said, gesturing to the large groups composed of one man and multiple women.

"What's your point?" Yang said, leaning on the table.

"If my information is correct, there is still plenty of room in my…..harem" Saying 'my harem' didn't have the tingly feeling Taylor had hoped it would. "If the other girls are interested, where are they?"

Nobody got a chance to answer. The bell range overhead signaling that all the students needed to go to class.

Fast forward and Taylor was in combat class. He wouldn't be participating in any sparring match for a while since he was still recovering. Nevertheless, it was his most important class due to his lack of experience. The class was clearly going to be mostly sparing sessions, but Glynda began with a lecture. He wondered if that was for his benefit or if that's what she did normally.

He recognized a few faces in the class, mainly JNPR and CFVY. He said nothing however, as he wanted to hold his cards close. One thing did catch his attention. The teams where all female. All members were there, but all the male members were switched to female. At the moment it was fem-Jaune that had his attention.

She was fighting some other student Taylor didn't recognize. She fought with his, err, her signature sword and shield. She was clearly on a similar level to what male Jaune was in the anime. That being said, Taylor was fairly sure she could take him one on one.

Fem-Jaune won her match. It was hard fought and narrow, but she managed to win. Taylor kept staring at Jaune as she walked back to wear her team was sitting, near the ring next to one of the aisles. There was no elegant way to put it…...Fem-Jaune was THICC. Her chest was barely contained in her chest plate. Likewise, her jeans seemed to be just a bit too small for how much they were holding. He still felt like a creep staring at her, but his little head had won this battle.

He started at Fem-Jaune for a moment when she sat back down with her team. Something interesting happened just as Taylor was about to look away. Pyrrha did a small wave, just enough to get his attention. Her expression was not welcoming. Taylor quickly looked to the other members of JNPR. Fem-Jaune seemed to be oblivious. Nora and Fem-Ren however were staring at Taylor as well, with equally unwelcoming expressions. Pyrrha got his attention again. Now all the students were in their combat outfits, it was combat class after all. Pyrrha was sitting right next to the aisle. She moved her hand below the desk, to where only Taylor could see. She then used her magnetic powers to move her sword to her hand. She then gave Taylor a death glare.

Taylor gave a small and slow nod to Pyrrha, to let her know he understood her threat perfectly. Pyrrha expression didn't lighten, but she did put her sword away. Pyrrha, Nora, and Fem-Ren stared at him for a moment before turning back toward the ring. Taylor grabbed a random book from his bag and pretended to read it. He decided he would not look at anyone else for the rest of his time at beacon. Hopefully he could avoid a fight.

Ruby was with him in that class. She noticed something was off and tried to ask what was wrong. Taylor waved her off. He would explain but in the middle of class was not the place to do so.

Taylors strategy worked, at least for that day. Taylor looked at only two places during class. His notes and the board. He further enhanced his strategy by picking where he sat in class. He sat at the very front row. He couldn't get in trouble for staring at girls if all of said girls where behind him.

Yang, Blake, and Weiss were with him in his second, third, and final class of the day respectively. They caught on quickly that he was playing at something. He managed to dodge their questions by promising to explain when they got back to their dorms.

Speaking of which, their dorms were massive. It looked like a mini dorm in and of itself. Taylor guessed most guys gathered a large collection for girls, and this was to keep them all together. His group barely managed to fill up the single dorm room they were in. RWBY reconstructed their dorm room in record time. Currently they were adding a fifth bed for Penny. Looking around Taylor had a question.

"Uhm, where's my bed?" Taylor asked scratching his head.

"You're going to be sharing a bed with one of us each night." Weiss said. Her tone, stance, and expression made it clear she would not take no for an answer.

Blake came from his left and gently grabbed his wrist. "That is the reason you're here remember? And we all intend to fulfill that purpose." Suddenly, from behind him, a hand came down and grabbed his shoulder hard.

"Now, what was that weird behavior in class today?" Yang's voice came over Taylors shoulder. Her tone told him she had no patience for his shenanigans.

"OH, OH friends!" Penny suddenly shouted while bouncing up and down. Taylor let out a silent prayer to whatever power just pulled his ass out of the fire. "Nora just texted me, there's a party going on in the dorms soon."

"The first day of school party, right?" Ruby said, clearly excited.

"Doesn't a party sound nice?" Blake said. She and Yang tightened their grip on him.

"But I don't know anybody beyond you girls." Taylor said. He knew it was a weak defense, but it was all he had.

"Joan will be there." Ruby said in a suggestive sing-song voice.

"Who?" Taylor asked, blinking a few times.

"Joan, the knight looking girl you were staring at during combat class. She's the team leader of JNPR." Ruby said.

"Joan huh?" Yang said, "She's pretty cute. Pyrrha, Nora, and Renaya are pretty good looking too. Not as good looking as me and my team, but a close second." Yang wiggled her eyebrows at Taylor. At least Taylor now knew what Fem Jaune, and Ren were called in this world.

"Nora is the pink one, Renaya likes green, Pyrrha is the spartan girl." Ruby explained, although Taylor already knew that.

Taylor didn't smile. He remembered the events earlier today. He didn't want a repeat of how he met Blake and Yang. True neither of them had harmed Taylor, that was mainly due to Ruby's intervention. He wasn't sure if he would be so lucky a second time.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked. Her expression changed to seriousness.

"It's nothing." Taylor said.

"Clearly it's not, what is it?" Blake asked.

"Is it about JNPR?" Yang asked double teaming Taylor.

Taylor looked around for an escape. Unfortunately, the girls had encircled him. Yang and Blake put both hands on his arms to lock him in place.

"Taylor, tell us the truth right now." Ruby said. He hadn't heard her be threating before. He did not like it.

"…JNPR doesn't like me." Taylor said in defeat.

"What?!" Weiss said. The girls all stared at him.

"Joan's team caught me staring at her, and they didn't like it. Nora and Renaya gave me death glares. Pyrrha went as far as to flash her sword at me." Taylor explained. The girls all exchanged nervous glances.

"Taylor I'm sure there just cautious like me and Yang were." Blake said, trying to soothe his fears.

"I already had Ruby and Weiss with me when you two became aggressive. JNPR got angry with me just LOOKING at one of their members." Taylor said. The girls said nothing for a good while, they just looked between each other and tried to come up with a response.

"Taylor, could you give me and the girls a moment?" Yang said, breaking silence.

"Uhm…sure I guess." Taylor said. He was confused as he went to the corner of the room.

The girls were equally confused. Yang quickly gathered them around her in a huddle. They talked in whispers for nearly an hour, Taylor kept track of the time on his scroll. The only break seemed to be when they checked to make sure that Taylor couldn't hear them. Finally, the girls broke out for their huddle. Yang and Penny approached Taylor, while the rest of the group stayed back.

"You would rather stay here then go to the party, right?" Yang said.

"Yes, I think that would be best." Taylor said with a nod.

"Okay that's fine. Me and the other girls would like to go if that's alright." Yang said.

"You don't need my permission to go somewhere or to hang out with your friends." Taylor said. He was pretty sure he had already made this clear to the girls. He was wondering what Yang was getting at.

"I know, but all of us going out means you're gonna be here alone." Yang said.

"I could stay behind and keep Taylor company." Penny said, as if on que. Taylor was now convinced that they were planning something.

"…. okay" Taylor looked between the two girls. "Fine, alright. You girls go on ahead. I'll stay here and let Penny distract me." Taylor didn't hide the fact he was onto them.

Yang and Penny seemed unfazed by this. They simply nodded at him. RWBY gathered their things, did a bit of makeup, then left. They each gave him a hug before leaving. Taylor didn't mind the affection. Especially since there was quite a bit of 'padding' involved. A moment later, it was just Taylor and Penny. Penny gave Taylor a strange look. He just turned toward his desk, intending to do some studying. He just hoped he could handle whatever Penny had planned.

RWBY arrived at the party just after it started. The party just getting into full swing. Despite all the fun that was to be had, RWBY was on a mission. They wandered around, looking for their targets. Luckily, they wouldn't need to wait long.

"I see them, over there." Blake said, pointing off in the distance.

JNPR was sitting at a table. The Table was filled with food and booze, but JNPR hadn't managed to consume a notable portion quite yet. RWBY's approach to the table was not unnoticed.

"RWBY! Haven't seen you girls in a while." Nora exclaimed.

"Haven't seen you either, how have you all been?" Blake said her team sat down at the table.

"Same old struggles." Renaya said as she took a long sip of her drink.

"So, have you girls mated with the new guy yet?" Pyrrha said. An uncharacteristic annoyance in her voice.

"Now Pyrrha, it's not their fault we couldn't get a male. Don't take it out on them" Joan said.

"We've…. not actually 'done it yet" Ruby said, slightly embarrassed.

"Why not?" Nora asked, her brows furrowed.

"Would he prefer Joan for his first time at beacon? He was staring at her yesterday." Pyrrha said, an edge in her voice. Joan blushed a little as she recalled the story her team told her.

"Taylor thinks JNPR has declared themselves off limits." Blake said bluntly.

Pyrrha chocked on her drink after hearing that. The rest of JNPR were staring at Blake like deer in headlights.

"Could you be any more blunt Blake?" Weiss said, pinching the bridge of her nose.

"Is there really a way to sugarcoat this?" Blake retorted.

"Ack Hol-Hold on." Pyrrha managed to sputter out after finally clearing her throat. "What do you mean we've declared ourselves off limits?!" Pyrrha asked frantically.

"You recall when you caught him staring at Joan and the rest of your team glared at him and you flashed your sword at him?" Ruby asked sheepishly.

"I was just showing strength! You know how many guys take advantage of women?" Pyrrha said defensively.

"Taylor isn't like that." Yang said. "In fact, he's a little paranoid about girls being genuinely attracted to him."

"That's why he hasn't had sex with any of use yet. He's worried we don't actually like him." Weiss said.

"And unless we 'genuinely' want it, he doesn't think he has any right to even be around us." Ruby said. Her annoyance showing openly.

"So…. we've gone from guys who lay around with any girl they want, to a guy who refuses to lay with any woman because he doesn't think he should?" Nora asked.

"Pretty much." Weiss said.

The whole of JNPR sat there frozen for a moment. Long enough that Weiss got up and got drinks for her team while they waited for JNPR processed.

"So, why are you guys here?" Joan asked, breaking the silence

"I've got an idea." Yang said. "I'm not gonna lie, it's a long shot. But it's probably the best bet there is given the situation."

"What's your idea?" Joan asked immediately.

"You guys remember the old mating challenges?" Yang said. JNPR exchanged nervous glances amongst themselves.

"Ya but, so few women do it now adays. Were taught to seduce rather than force a guy into submission." Nora said.

"Fair, but Taylor is a special case. He's…...only got us at the moment. So there still plenty of room in his harem." Weiss explained.

"Taylor also has pretty weak fighting skills, so your almost guaranteed to win the challenge." Blake added. She immediately regrated her statement as her team glared daggers into her.

"Beating him into submission isn't an appealing option." Renaya said. JNPR nodded in agreement. Concern written all over their faces.

"That's not the plan here." Yang said. She shot Blake a dirty look before turning back to JNPR. "There is one thing Taylors said that I can't argue with." Both JNPR and RWBY looked at her confused.

"What do you mean?" Ruby asked.

"Despite the fact the Taylor clearly has space in his harem, only my team has even approached him." Yang said.

"And even then, it was Penny that introduced us." Ruby said. She had been thinking a lot about why Taylor was skeptical.

"The school only released information on him last minute." Reneya protested. "Most of us only learned he even existed when he stepped off the bullhead."

"Ya I know, that's what lead to me and him… distrusting each other." Yang said. She stared at the table, but she could feel JNPR's eyes staring at her.

"At least you didn't hold you weapon at his throat like Blake did." Weiss said.

"You did what?" Joan shouted. JNPR stared at Blake like she had just murdered a baby.

"Weiss! What the hell!?" Blake said. She tried to play it off, but Joan's shout had drawn the attention of several other party goers.

"Wait, so Taylor isn't attached to either Blake or Yang?" Pyrrha said in confusion.

"Admittedly he's not attached to anyone yet. We've not been together long. But he's most doubtful of Yang and Blake." Ruby said. Blake and Yang grimaced as they thought about it.

"I mean no offense, but can you really help us with Taylor when you don't really have a connection?" Renaya said.

"A fair point, but we do understand Taylors concerns." Weiss said.

"He's worried nobody like him because nobody is approaching him. His logic is, if they want me why aren't they approaching me?" Yang explained.

"The actual fight is irrelevant, the fact that you went out of your way to try and join his harem will show you have some level of attraction toward him." Weiss explained.

"Why set the challenge if you're not interested in him?" Ruby added. JNPR looked at each other for a moment

"What will your team be doing while we prepare?" Joan asked. Her calm demeanor had become a lot more serious.

"We'll be coordinating with Glynda to see how we can get Taylor out of his shell." Yang said. "Hopefully that will help when it's time for your Team to make its move."

"That sounds like a workable plan at least." Joan said. All of both teams relaxed in their chairs. Nobody spokes though, the silence eventually growing awkward.

"Soooo…. What now?" Nora asked

"Well, we did tell Taylor we'd be attending a party. Why not blow off a little steam?" Weiss suggested.

RWBY let out a collective laughed and joined JNPR in their festivities. The party would go down as one of the tamest ones in Beacon's history, but nevertheless RWBY and JNPR had a good time and a much-needed break. Though both teams were incredibly hung over the next morning.