You know, when Yang agreed to help Vomit Boy try and get ready for asking out Weiss, she never figured she would actually go as far as she did.

Granted, she promised that she'd help him, but it didn't mean that she had to spend ridiculous hours of the night awake to do it. She spent five days studying up on what it meant to go on a date, how to prepare for one, what to look out for, opportune times, the works. All so that she could test Vomit Boy and his ability to adapt to a quick and decisive strike.

Yang had to be honest, she was not expecting the amount of garbage advice that there was. 'Take your significant other on a romantic walk on the beach! Oh, take them to get some ice cream! And make sure to be especially affectionate!' It made Yang sick to her stomach. Getting with someone wasn't as simple as walking on the beach, getting some ice cream, and giving a peck on the cheek.

No, a date was about shifting dynamics, about controlling the ebb and flow of the evening! It was about submitting your wonderful date to an evening of your design! To- wait, no, Yang was remembering that wrong. She remembered reading some kind of article that had to do with sharing interests.

But that wasn't quite as fun now, was it?

Still, she guessed it made sense. After all, what better way of getting someone to like you than by sharing those deep and intimate things about yourself? Of course, it wasn't like she was going to pick at her charge's brain like that. She told Vomit Boy that she'd help, so she wasn't going to play around with this. Well, that, and he promised to spar with her more, so there was that.

Either way, it didn't really matter why she did it, all that mattered was that she did it at all. So, she put together a plan. It was a good one too, if she could say so herself. See, Yang wasn't one of those scared pansies that was afraid of getting right into the thick of things, so if she was going to figure out what made Vomit Boy tick, she needed to get him thrown into the depths of dating.

She slapped together a couple of locations, put herself in the middle of as many of them as she could, and she waited. Of course, not before sending Vomit Boy an abrupt text, telling him to meet her at this comfy little coffee shop she found. Oh. and to dress nice too. It wasn't like she wanted to see what funny get-up he'd walk up with or anything.

Okay, so maybe she wanted to have a little fun with him, sue her.

So, she waited, lounging around a coffee shop in the middle of the commercial district, sipping at her dark cup of coffee as she waited for her fellow blond to pop out of whatever hole he was hiding in. He'd show up eventually, of that she was sure. Then again, it wasn't like she gave him a whole lot of room to prepare, so maybe he was just busy?

Either way, she had time to kill. If he didn't show up in an hour, she'd just take a walk for herself and see what the city had to if he did, it was a date. Simple as.

Well, not a literal date, but still.

The blonde girl stuffed her cup of coffee back against her face, if only to mask the burning sensation in her cheeks. It was just a practice date anyway, so there was nothing to worry about. All she had to do was focus on the smell of coffee, the allure of its caffeinated siren song.

"Dammit," she muttered, her brows scrunching together. "Vomit Boy better show up soon. I'm not going to be the only one embarrassed here." Yang wasn't so prideful that she couldn't admit when she was a little flustered. It's just… there was so much prepwork that went into actually getting all of those places together, and then there was figuring out prices-

She forced out a sigh, letting the cool afternoon wind brush against her golden locks. If she wasn't so busy trying to help Vomit Boy try and get ready to be date-worthy, she'd have probably found a place to take a nap. A quiet spot on campus, preferably in the shade of a big tree, and somewhere to kick off her boots and relax.

"Man, that reminds me. I need to go looking in the forest for a place to relax." Yang mumbled. Just somewhere to get away to, a place where no one could bother her. She used to use the gym as her getaway, but people just wouldn't leave her alone. Of course, there was always the dorm, but why would she ever want to just stay inside all day?

As Yang sat at her open table, she let herself get sucked deeper into her thoughts. A place for her to get away from all the loud noises, a place to get away from all the annoying people, but with enough noise to remind her that she'd never be alone. That nature would always be hovering close by, whether it be through bugs or wildlife.

A place just like home.

She couldn't keep the smile off her face as she slowly peeled open her eyes, bringing her cup of coffee to her lips, her brows furrowed. A quiet boy with blond hair, blue eyes, and a shaky smile sat across from her. To her surprise, he wasn't dressed in anything she'd ever seen him wear. A plaid shirt, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, a white undershirt, and dark jeans to match his shoes.

But Yang was hardly worried about his sense of style, different as it was.

The blonde girl blinked as she brought her cup away from her mouth, staring at her classmate. "When did you..?" She asked, trying to ignore the mini heart attack his sudden appearance gave her. "Have I got to put a cowbell on you?"

Jaune smiled as he brought a hand to the back of his head, quietly chuckling. "Sounds like someone doesn't like a healthy surprise." He tried his best to sound easygoing, but his words fell out of his mouth like a mashed puree. Lumpy and jumbled up. "I just got here a minute ago. I saw you sitting at the table, so I figured I'd come and say hi. But then you looked so comfy, so… figured I'd just wait instead?"

Yang curled her lip inwards, she wasn't sure if she liked the thoughtfulness or if she found it a little weird. She got to experience a pleasant thought, but that paired itself with Jaune just kind of sitting there and watching her. She'd have to make a mental note of that.

"Right." She muttered, sipping from her cup of coffee, letting the warmth of the caffeinated drink soothe her. "Well, make yourself known a little next time, alright? Don't wanna let you sit there all by your lonesome." Yang wasn't sure what it was, but she just couldn't get her energy up.

There was just this weird, heavy feeling sitting on her shoulders. It was normally so easy to just put one foot in front of the other, so why was it so hard today?

Jaune only laughed, fiddling with his hands as he set them on top of the table. "Right. Well, what did you call me out here for?" He asked. There were a lot of things he needed to do around the dorm, and as nice as it was to get called out for something, he really didn't have the time for it today. He was stuck with dorm cleaning duty, along with studying, quickly followed by physical training with Nora for a bit, and then ending the day with some practice sparring with Pyrrha.

Jaune watched as the lilac-eyed girl sighed, setting her cup of coffee down on the table in front of her. "Look, Vomit Boy, I'm gonna be really honest with you for a second. I brought you out here because I want to test you. I'm not going to tell you what I'm testing, but I am going to tell you that I'm getting mixed results right now." The blond boy blinked. What? How? He only just got there! What could he have possibly messed up?

Yang watched as her fellow blond's shoulders slumped forward, letting out a breath. "How am I supposed to pass a test I didn't even study for?" A quiet laugh followed soon after. She wasn't sure if it was because he thought it was funny, or if he was just giving up. "Can you even tell me why I'm giving mixed results?"

The boxer let out a hum as she brought a hand to her chin? Could she? After all, as abrupt as it was, this was supposed to be a learning experience. Not just for Vomit Boy, but for her too. Not that she was ever going to tell anyone that.

Yang shrugged her shoulders. "Well, if you've got any questions, now's the time."

That's a relief. Jaune thought. Well, he supposed he should just get straight to the point then, shouldn't he?

"What are we doing?" He asked. It was forward, to the point, and presented just how much confusion he was actually feeling. Sure, he knew he was being tested, but he didn't know what the test was, how it was being graded, and what he was supposed to even expect! "Like, don't get the wrong idea, I'm really glad that you're helping me with this. Really, I am! It's just… you couldn't have been a bit more transparent about this?"

Yang rolled her eyes, a smile coming over her face as she swished her coffee in her cup in circles. "Hold your horses, Vomit Boy, I know what I'm doing. Trust me, this method has never failed to get the intended result. Just let Coach run you through the ringer for a bit." If she was going to get Jaune into both fighting and dating shape, she had to think about this a little differently. For the next few hours, Jaune was not just her friend, but her work. "If it seemingly doesn't work, then that'll be the first."

Granted, that was because she'd never done this before. But she kept that to herself.

Jaune couldn't keep himself from quirking a brow. "...Coach?" He asked. What was she supposed to be coaching him on? He'd understand if she said that a few nights ago in the training room, but what was she coaching him on now? How to be awkward at a coffee shop? Because if so, he was doing just fine on his own.

A smug smile came over her face as she took another sip from her coffee. "Yup!" She said, popping the p. "If you want my help, you're gonna do as I say- within reason, of course. Not like I'm going to make you do anything crazy." Her shoulders loosening up as each word managed to flow a little more naturally.

Jaune knew that smile, loath as he did to admit it. It was the same kind of smile Saph would put on whenever she had an idea, typically one about a joke at his expense. "I hope so, for my sake." He started, leaning back into his chair as he felt the cool breeze brush against his cheek. "Because if I've got to do anything too embarrassing, I think I'll just drop this part of our little program." He wouldn't say what the limit was, because that would just draw a line in the proverbial sand. Jaune wasn't about to set himself up for failure.

Lilac eyes rolled as Yang set her coffee aside. "Oh, calm down, you big baby. I already said I'm not going to make you do anything crazy. As a matter of fact, you're the one holding the reins today." She said, not failing to notice how his head tilted and his brows furrowed. "That's right, Champ, today's your day. You're going to show me how you'd treat a lady with no plan at all."

Yang watched as his blue eyes blinked, gears and cogs spinning behind those dark blue orbs. "Oh!" He suddenly shouted, slamming hands together. "I know what this is! This is you testing how well I do with thinking on the fly, isn't it? Because if that's what this is, then I'm pretty sure I've got this in the bag." A wide smile on his face as he stared into her eyes.

As nice as it was to see some confidence from tall, blond, and dorky, there was a question lingering in her mind. "Oh? What makes you so sure of yourself?" She asked.

A quiet chuckle slipped from Jaune's lips, a touch of heat touching at his face. "Well, uh, I've had a lot of time to think about what I'd do if I managed to get Weiss to go out with me. So I've got a lot of ideas that I think she'd like." And maybe that was a little sad, but that just went to show how much he wanted to make it work, right?

This time, it was Yang's turn to laugh. It was honestly kind of funny how excited Jaune was. It almost reminded her of a puppy. "Hate to break it to you, Champ, but that's not how things are going to roll." A mile wide smile on her face.

"And why's that?" He shot back, quirking a brow.

"Because you're not here to take out Weiss." She started, leaning back in her seat, crossing one leg over the other. "You're here to treat me." Jaune was right about one thing. She wanted to test how well he did with on the fly thinking. But what Jaune wanted to use wasn't on the fly. He thought long and hard about Weiss and what she'd like.

Yang had to hazard a guess that he'd never done that for her.

Jaune was quick to slam his head against the table in front of him, its legs rattling from the impact as a groan slipped from his lips. "Well, there goes like half of my ideas." He mumbled.

Yang didn't wait to let out a laugh, a wide grin on her face. "Oh come on, this is for you to pick stuff on the fly. It'll be fun!" She quipped, reaching over the table to pat her fellow blond on the shoulder. "Now, do you wanna start going places, or do you wanna burn sunlight making googly eyes at your 'date?'"

A second ticked by, then two, then three, only for Jaune to let out a sigh. Yang watched as he picked his head up, a red mark very obviously displayed on his forehead. "Okay, time to buck up, I guess." He muttered. It was a little lacking in enthusiasm, but Yang liked the effort. "Have you got any preferences?"

Jaune watched as the buxom blonde held her hands up in surrender. "Nope. Like I said, today is about you showing me what you think a good time is. So, how about we be split? Because I'm dying to see what you'll show me today." The swordsman blinked for a moment as her words settled on his brain. That wasn't some really deep euphemism, was it?

He shook his head. Probably not.

So, the blond boy stood up, smoothing out the wrinkles in his shirt. "Alright, then let's get going." He said, staring out at the rest of the plaza. So many choices, so many paths, and he knew just about nothing for all them. So, he'd do what he always did when he was lost. "Eeny, meeny, miny, you." He muttered, pointing towards the different streets that led away from the plaza.

Yang, for her part, only laughed again. "I'm amazed by your doctrine. Maybe I should be taking notes?" She joked.

"Shut up, you." He snipped back, smiling at her as he stared from the corner of his eye. "Now, come on already." His words shot out as he grabbed one of her hands, pulling her to her feet.

Yang blinked as she felt his hand wrap around hers, his fingers touching against the back of her hand. A sliver of heat touched at her ears as she followed behind Vomit Boy, holding onto her coffee as if it were her only lifeline. Daring today, wasn't he? Grabbing onto a girl's hand so suddenly. She jotted that one down in her mental notes.

Yang wasn't sure how long she followed behind her fellow blond, watching as he stared at the different shops and attractions that littered the streets. The cobblestone road beneath her feet clacked against her boots as she mindlessly followed behind Vomit Boy, the only thing she could focus on being her hand.

It was distracting to say the least. It was warm, comforting even. But it was also unexpected, something she wasn't looking for. So she fell into this weird limbo, wanting to let go, all the while wanting to hold on.

She'd never held a boy's hand before, come to think of it.

The blonde boxer shook her head violently as she forced the thought away. So what if she never held a guy's hand before? She was a badass huntress-in-training, a hobbyist bike mechanic, and boxer since the age of seven! A little hand-holding wasn't going to kill her. Even if it was a little premarital.

Either way! Yang focused on all the little shops and stores. There were bakeries and pastry shops, flower stores, she was pretty she even saw a decent jewelry spot. Granted, none of those were really her thing, but she imagined that a more… girly girl would like this kind of walk. But still, she was surprised that Jaune didn't think to stop.

No, instead he just kept walking, his hand around hers as his eyes scanned what felt like the entire commercial district. Part of her wondered just what was going through his head. Just what was he hoping to do?

Meanwhile, in Jaune's head, he was more busy trying to find something interesting. A bakery? Too basic. A jewelry store? Too pricey. A guitar shop? Fun as it would be, he didn't think Yang would be into it. An arcade? …Maybe some other time, but not today.

If Jaune was going to pass this test, he needed to blow her expectations out of the water! He was out with something to prove, to prove that if he could knock the socks off of the biggest party girl in Beacon. If he could show Yang a good time, then Weiss was all but in the bag! …Not literally, but still.

So, he kept looking. Looking for something exciting and fresh, all the while not being too nerdy, if only to keep up with Yang. As much as many of his classmates wanted to believe, Jaune wasn't dense. At least, not so much as to be unaware of his friends' interests. This wasn't just about him strutting his stuff, but it was about making sure that Yang had a blast.

More stores and buildings passed him by. A boxing gym, a museum, a rock-climbing gym, all of them sounding fun, but it wouldn't be enough. This was supposed to be a mock date, not a hang out trip. Though, Jaune was doing more than his fair share of jotting these places down in his head.

A part of him almost wanted to give up. That is, until he saw it.

Along the waterways that passed through the canals, a moderately large building sat just within view. The Vale City Aquarium. A chance to see new things, something interesting, maybe cheap, and most of all, not nerdy.

Jaune smiled to himself as he looked over his shoulder, staring back at Yang. "Hey, here's a thought. How about a visit to the aquarium? You ever been?" He asked.

Yang slowly blinked as she stared back at the blond boy's eyes, shaking herself out of the trance that was hand holding. "Oh, uh, not really. I remember dad always wanted to take me, but we never got a chance." If it wasn't school work or training for Yang, it was grading papers and completing contracts for dad.

She watched as Jaune's smile widened. "Awesome, that means we'll both be able to see it for the first time." A laugh soon followed after his words. "You know, I always wondered what kinds of fish there were outside of the rivers. Do you think any of them will look scary?"

Yang giggled, holding her half-empty coffee cup to her mouth to hide her smile. "Fish? Scary?" Her brows rose with each word. "We're supposed to be Hunters-in-training, Vomit Boy. It's not like fish are going to be too scary." They were supposed to be learning how to fight Grimm, how scary could some normal fish be.

Jaune, for his part, only shrugged his shoulders, subconsciously keeping a gentle grasp of Yang's hand. "Hey, you never know, right? I mean, think about it, we know more about craters on a broken moon than we do about the deep oceans. There could always be some kind of scary eldritch horror hiding under the ocean."

His fellow blond only rolled her eyes as he pulled her along, leading her towards the aquarium. "My bet's on giant prehistoric lizards." She snipped, smiling brightly as she followed after him. "Either that, or equally prehistoric sharks."

Yang listened as Vomit Boy snickered, feeling his hand grips hers tighter, if only for a moment. "I dunno, I think I've got a pretty good hand on Fish People. You know, like in that one horror novel." He started, snapping as he stared up at the sky. "Man, which one was it? Shadow Above Pubsmouth?" He wasn't really well versed in Howard Aimermetier's work, but he liked eldritch horror.

Yang only snorted. "Dude, you lost me. I'm way out of touch with books." If anything, she was sure Blake would easily pick up this part of a conversation. But her? No way.

They snipped jokes back and forth as they slowly closed the gap between themselves and the aquarium. They even shot jokes as they were walking into the aquarium after having paid, along with tossing out Yang's coffee. The light from the afternoon sun was blotted out by the darkness of the building. There were just enough lights to illuminate a path for them to walk along, but most of the light came from the tanks.

Well, to call them tanks would be like calling Ember Celica a pair of boxing gloves. The tanks were big enough to take up massive portions of the walls, sometimes even climbing as far enough as to just nearly touch the ceiling in height.

The bright blue from the tanks illuminated the entrance as the pair of blonds walked along the tanks, silently marveling at the aquatic life. Yang had never seen so many different kinds of fish before, and that wasn't even getting into the things that weren't fish. There were even different kinds of crabs. Some of them were short and stumpy, and others were tall and thin with equally long pincers.

Yang couldn't find the words to describe what she was feeling. She was giddy and excited from all the neat little things she could see, but she also felt a little embarrassed. Something about sharing something so neat with someone she hardly knew. It wasn't intimate or anything, just two people sharing a cool moment, but it still felt weird.

So, Yang tried to find ways to make it not weird.

She pointed to the closest weird thing she could, which just so happened to be this weird no-finned fish. "Woah, take a look at that thing. It almost looks like it's got a rudder on its back." Yang said, hardly trying to conceal her laughter.

Jaune snorted as he watched Yang saunter up to the tank, leaning close to get a better look. "I think those are called seahorses, Yang." He sarcastically responded. "And I'm pretty sure that thing you called a rudder is a fin. I'm not sure though, I'll have to check back in with you on that."

Yang rolled her eyes as she focused on staring at the now named seahorses. "Oh yeah? Well, first off, why are they called seahorses if they've got no legs? Checkmate." She shot back, smiling smugly to herself. "And second off, if you keep that attitude up, it's gonna be fin for you soon."

She heard a chuckle slip from Jaune's lips as she stared at the fish. "Hah, that's clever. I like that." What? Yang blinked as she stared at the tank, watching the little seahorse go about its business. There's no way she heard that right. "You know, fin, like the end, and fin, like a fish fin. That's funny." She heard him mumble.

Yang couldn't keep the smile from her face as she stood up, looking over her shoulder. "Really? You actually liked that joke?" Staring at the blond boy through wide eyes. "Because honestly, I think that was one of my weaker ones." She could've done way better if she had more material to work with.

Jaune's brows rose as he stared at Yang, watching as she stepped closer with a wide smile on her face. "I mean, I thought it was funny. Super obvious, but still." Of course, it probably didn't help that his family had a horrible sense of humor.

He felt Yang's hand wrap around one of his own, her lilac eyes twinkling with mirth. "Vomit Boy, I'm gonna be honest with you for just a second. You know exactly what a girl wants to hear." Jaune swallowed a lump that formed in his throat, staring down at the buxom boxer. "That's a few points just for you." She said, taking one of her hands and patting him on the chest.

Jaune cleared his throat, staring away from her for a moment. "Well, I guess living with seven sisters has its upsides every once and a while." Whenever his sisters, or God forbid, his mother, wanted to hear something, he just let them hear it. It didn't matter if it was true, because survival came first.

Yang laughed. "Yeah, I bet having that many sisters would- excuse me, what?" She cut herself off, the ecstasy of someone liking her jokes being blindsided by the information that was just dumped on her. "Y-you have how many sisters?"

A hand came to rest on the back of Jaune's neck. "Oh, you know, just a casual seven sisters. Nothing crazy."

A look of horror came over Yang's face as she stared up at her fellow blond, her brows tightly knitted together with her mouth agape. "Your folks must've been busy, huh?" The words slipped out of her mouth faster than she could think. "Uh, sorry."

To her surprise, she only heard Jaune laugh. "No, you're alright. I'm more than well aware at how, uh, active my folks can be. But honestly, it's not about how often they do it." How could it not? What, did they just keep breaking condoms or something?

Yang snickered as she placed a hand on her hip, quirking a brow at the taller boy. "What, does your dad have a problem with being verile?" She asked, an obvious touch of sarcasm bleeding into her voice.

"It's genetic." He simply responded, shrugging his shoulders.

Yang blinked. What was that supposed to mean? No, seriously, what was that supposed to mean? Was she in danger?

Yang took a step backwards. "Um, no offense bro, but I don't wanna catch pregnancy from you." Yeah, okay, she knew it sounded like a disease when she said it like that, and she knew that wasn't how it worked, but it was true. She didn't know just how, uh, genetic it really was. "Don't want you to breathe on me funny just to have a new set of problems in eight to nine months."

Jaune deadpanned. "Oh, ha ha, very funny." He said, his voice droning monotonously. "Besides, I'm pretty sure pregnancies don't work that way."

"Still don't wanna take any chances, Vomit Boy. You know how these things go." Yang joked, shrugging her shoulders.

"That's not my name, you know?" He snipped, curling a brow. He pukes on someone's shoes one time and he's stuck with the name forever! "For all the talk of my folks having an issue breeding like rabbits, at least they gave me a name."

Yang only snickered, rolling her eyes. "Aw, don't worry Champ, once you replace the boots you puked on, I'm sure we'll work something out." She said, closing the gap and wrapping an arm around his shoulders. "Say, do you think they've got sharks around here?"

She watched as her taller charge looked down at her, letting out a sigh. "Maybe? I dunno." He mumbled. Oh come on, was he really getting all huffy with her now? After a tiny joke?

The blonde girl only shook her head, her eyes scanning over the potential routes through the aquarium. It wasn't too much, just two paths to pick from. So, she figured she'd take a book out of dear Vomit Boy's book.

"Eeny, meeny, miny, you." Point at each path before finally letting her finger settle. "Right it is!" She said, smiling as she dragged her fellow blond along. Who would've thought that something so simple could break indecision?

Jaune, being dragged along, let a small smile tug at his lips. "Look at that, you really were taking notes." He joked, trying his hardest not to pay too much attention to Yang's arm around his shoulders. Or the softness that he felt against his side. "And here I thought I was the only one learning anything."

Yang blew raspberries ahead of herself as she patted his chest with her free hand. "I'm allowed to learn a few things. Besides, this whole trip is something new, it'd be wrong to not learn a thing or two." Being in an aquarium was so different than she imagined. Yang figured that it'd be more boring, that it'd just be a bunch of dumb fish swimming around in a tank.

But instead, there were jokes, laughs, a few weird things, and just a good time.

As he was dragged through the aquarium, walking through a fairly lit tunnel surrounded by glass, Jaune watched as fish swam through their enclosures. Some were big, some were, some colorful and pretty, and others dull and ugly. But all of it culminated into something beautiful. It was like walking along the ocean floor near the coast.

Jaune tore his eyes from the glass to look at Yang, a small smile plastered onto her face. It was a far cry from the manic grins and teasing smiles he'd seen on her before. It was reserved, quiet even, if sights could make sound. Her lilac eyes trailed all over the glass, slowly climbing until she was staring at the glass ceiling.

"Woah." She whispered, watching as a giant creature swam inches above the glass. It had a white underside, small fins on the side, massive gills, and an equally long tail. Soon enough, came down along the side of the glass, trailing alongside her and Jaune as she stared at it, watching as it stared back. "It's actually a shark."

Jaune listened as a quiet giggle slipped from her lips, a smile pasting itself to his mouth as he stared at the shark. "Hey, what do you know, maybe eeny, meeny, miny, mo is onto something?" He quipped, watching as Yang's eyes lit up.

She tore her eyes from the massive creature to look up at her fellow blond. "Hey, Champ, can we take a picture?" Yang asked, smiling up at him. "There's not a chance I'm letting this one pass up."

The blond boy curled a brow. "Huh? Oh, sure, why not?" He said, fishing his scroll from his pocket as he ducked out from under Yang's arm, only to feel it coil right back around him. "What are you doing?" His brows knitted together as he stared down at her.

Yang rolled her eyes for what felt like the umpteenth time today. "I meant together, dummy." She clarified, poking his ribs with her right hand. "Unless you're afraid of getting your picture taken? Don't worry, I get it, it's hard to be confident with that mop of hair."

She heard Jaune chuckle as he stared down at her, his brows rising high despite how narrow his eyes were. "Oh, we're not going anywhere near that conversation. Besides, I'm photogenic." Oh sure you are. She thought.

With the scroll in his hand, he flicked over to his camera app, holding the scroll out in front of them. Though, every angle just didn't click. If he held it too high, Yang didn't look very flattering. Too low, and it emphasized a certain pair of features on Yang. If he held it directly ahead, it looked bad.

So, he settled for something else.

"Here, you take it." He said, passing the scroll off to Yang's free hand.

A smug smile came to Yang's face as she stared at Jaune from the corner of her eye. "Aw, what happened to being photogenic? Are we camera shy?" An obvious teasing tone filled her voice.

To her surprise, she watched as Jaune scratched the side of his cheek, staring away from her. "Just figured it'd be more flattering if you took it." He said, leaving Yang only to blink. Well, that totally backfired on her. Instead of getting him all embarrassed, he gave her a compliment.

Yang cleared her throat, ignoring the heat dusting her cheeks. "Well, a feminine touch couldn't hurt." She said, trying not to let the compliment affect her too much. Yang was the subject of a lot of compliments, mostly about her looks. But never before had she been subject to a compliment that had no basis for existing.

Holding the camera up and slightly to the right was a decent enough angle for her. The light wasn't flaring up the camera, they were both in frame, and a certain little shark was swimming around behind them. Well, 'little' being relative. So, she smiled up at the camera. "Say cheese." A last minute awkward smile came over the blond boy's face as the camera snapped, the shark slowly swimming by as the picture came to life.

Bringing the scroll down from its previous height, Yang tapped on the gallery, staring at the picture. Her wide smile, along with Vomit Boy's dorky grin, paired with the fact that their faces were a little red, made for a pretty good picture. It was comfy.

Jaune blinked as he stared down at the picture. "Hey, that's… a really good picture." He mumbled. Was that really him in the picture? He looked awkward. So out of place. And meanwhile, there Yang was, smiling bright as the day was long. She was confident, and he wasn't.

Yang stared at the photo for a little longer, nodding mindlessly. The lighting from the tank, the smiles on our faces, the touch of red on Vomit Boy's cheeks, oh man, it's even got the shark staring at the camera. She thought, blankly staring.

"It's perfect." The words tumbled from her mouth.

Before she could so much as pretend to feel embarrassed, he felt a hand rest on her shoulder, shaking her lightly. "Okay, I let you take one photo, and all of a sudden you take a perfect picture?" Yang heard the blond boy laugh soon after. "Man, I've heard of ego, but that's ridiculous."

Yang did what felt natural, elbowing the taller boy in the ribs as she frowned. "Hey, it's not my fault that putting us in the same frame makes for a good picture, alright?" She snipped back. "Besides, that's a bit of a first for me."

She watched as a brow climbed his face. What, was it so weird that she's never taken a photo? "Wait, really?" He asked, a look of disbelief clinging to his face. "You mean to tell me that you've never taken a picture with someone?"

The blonde girl flicked the scroll shut before pressing it into his chest. "I've taken pictures with my family, if that's what you mean. I've just never had to be the one with the camera." Why? Was that lame of her or something? It better not have been. "Why do you ask?"

Jaune took the scroll from her hand, watching as her hand fell to her side as he pocketed his scroll. "Um, because you're a natural at it?" He figured she could've taken a class or something for it, you know? Or maybe she was just used to taking photos for family reunions. "Figured you must've practiced."

Yang closed her eyes, doing her best to ignore yet another kind-hearted compliment. "Ease up on the compliments, Champ. Nice as they are, I'm getting a little overwhelmed here." An insult, a joke, something, anything, she just needed the weird weight on her chest to go away. "Save 'em for Weiss, tough guy."

The blond boy, for his part, tilted his head. "How? They're totally normal things to say, aren't they?" He thought they were normal, at least. Not like he was trying to get anywhere with them.

Yang sighed, her shoulders slumping as she dragged a hand down her face. "Then why is it that you couldn't use these on Weiss if they're so normal? You'd have probably gotten further with them than with your corny pickup lines." Seriously, was the guy just trying to make a fool out of her? So far, he was doing fine. So fine, in fact, it was actually kind of scary.

He picked an affordable and fun place, wasn't acting too awkward, and had her in a place between always laughing, smiling, and occasionally embarrassed at all times. So, that begged the question. What the hell?

Jaune stuck a hand to the back of his head, awkwardly chuckling to himself. "Well, uh… it's different with Weiss, I guess." Being around Weiss always made him feel tense, like his every move was being judged and recorded. "She's just so Weiss, if you get what I mean. So out of my league that I feel like normal just won't work."

Yang let out a hum as she wrapped an arm around the boy, pulling him along as she started walking through the hall. "Well, that's tricky." She muttered, using her free hand to tap her chin. "So, what? You just get really nervous being around Weiss?"

She watched as the blond boy's brows furrowed, his eyes flicking back and forth for a moment. "Huh? I mean, a little, I guess. About as nervous as anyone would get talking to their crush." Wow, that narrowed everything down just so much now, didn't it? How was she supposed to know what that even meant?

Yang let out another sigh as she rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Okay, let's just take this one step at a time. You just need a little bit of confidence, and I'm not talking about puffing your chest out and talking the talk. I mean the real deal." It sounded like Vomit Boy- er, Champ needed a pick-me-up for his confidence, and there was only one way he was going to get that.

Jaune let out a quiet 'uh' as he stared down at Yang, making sure to focus on her eyes. "So… does that mean more training?" He asked, a shaky smile on his lips.

Yang only nodded. "Yup." She said, popping the p as she nudged the boy's ribs. "But, before we do one of these again, I think you owe me a decent spar some time." Not just because he left her struggling with her embarrassment, but because she needed to blow off steam soon.

She heard the boy let out a sigh. "Alright, I guess I'll reserve a training room for us soon. When are you free?" Well color her surprised, she didn't think he'd take up to it so quickly.

Instead of answering directly, Yang posed a question to her fellow blond. "What are you, a masochist?" She asked.

"What?" He quickly snipped back, glaring down at her.

"Hey, no judgment from me. I just didn't think you'd be so ready to get your butt kicked so soon." She casually replied, shrugging her shoulders. "But hey, I like the enthusiasm."

Jaune hummed, rolling his eyes. "Yeah, well, we'll see who's getting their butt kicked. I'm sure after a while of training, you're gonna be flat on the floor gasping for air." He may not have been the fastest fighter, or the hardest hitter, but he knew for sure that attrition was his game. He could outlast just about anyone if he played his cards right.

Meanwhile, Yang paused, her body on auto-pilot as she walked through the hall. Flat on the mat, gasping for air, tired… Her face went red like a tomato as she stared up at him through furrowed brows, her heart pumping loudly against her chest as adrenaline coursed through her body. "You're gonna what?" An obvious desperation leaked into her voice. She really hoped she was misinterpreting what he meant.

The blond boy curled a brow at the response. "I'm gonna beat you in a spar. Why? You scared I'm actually gonna beat you?" There's no way she was, right? She could still mop the floor with him, so he didn't know why she would be.

Yang let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, pressing a hand to her chest. "Oh man, you scared me there for a second. When you said on the floor and gasping, I thought you meant something else." Her mouth speaking her mind, not bothering to slap on a filter. "I promised I'd help you get ready to date Weiss, never said I'd do all that."

Jaune blinked. What was so bad about being on the floor and gasping? He let the thought mull over, one second passed, then two, then finally three. His face went bright red, a heavy wave of heat clamping onto his cheeks. "Oh! No, no, no, that was a total miscommunication. I don't want to- I mean, it'd be- no. I'm sorry." He settled with that. He was so stupid.

The blonde girl only nodded. "No, that one's on me. I jumped the gun." She muttered, letting her arm slink away from the blond boy's shoulders, stepping away from his as they walked. "Do you wanna just… go back to the dorms? I think this is a good spot to end." Yeah, nothing was going to top the absolute awkwardness that she brought on herself.

Jaune only nodded. "Yeah, I think that's for the best." After all that, and the horrible mental images that he was getting, he needed a cold shower.

It didn't take long for either of them to walk back out the tunnel, rushing to get to the exit. A little bit of fresh air would do wonders for both of them, they thought. It didn't nearly as much as either of them hoped, but it helped.

The walk back to Beacon was almost entirely silent, the only thing breaking the silence being the odd car or person on the street. Jaune was too busy fighting the mental images scarring his mind, and Yang was too busy wanting to slam her head into a brick wall for even thinking that Jaune would be so forward.

They were both being hormonal teenagers.

By the time they got back to the campus, it was already the middle of the afternoon. It would only be a few more hours before dusk would rear its head around. They'd spent the entire afternoon together, and neither of them had anything to show for it but extreme embarrassment.

So, when they got to their dorm rooms, it was to no surprise that they both stood there awkwardly.

Maybe it was on account of the fact that Jaune was still battling the worst parts of his mind, but he couldn't bear to look Yang in the face. "Well, uh, here we are." He said, staring at the floor beneath him.

"Yup." She said, staring further down the hall, if only not to look at her fellow blond.

Jaune tried to swallow the ball that was stuck in his throat, but it just wouldn't go away. The only way forward was to push past it. "Right, well, aside from that last part, how'd I do?"

Yang sighed, rubbing both of her hands against her face. "Better than I thought you would, honestly." She shot back, a lingering warmth still touching at her cheeks. "A couple more of those and I think you'll be in a good spot to actually start making moves. Just promise not to practice those on me, would you?" She didn't know if her heart could handle it.

A tease she might be, but teasing was as far as she went.

Jaune couldn't stop himself from laughing, if only to stave off whatever thoughts were jumbling up in his mind. You know, the kind of thoughts that forced him to think of Yang, tired, sweaty, gasping for air against a mat- That.

"Yes, Coach." He mumbled, holding a hand up as another hand rested on his heart. "Arc's honor."

The blonde girl laughed, tapping him on the shoulder with a closed fist. "Great. Well, give me a call whenever you want to spar." She said, walking towards her door before grasping her door knob. "Be seeing you." She turned the knob before stumbling into her room, closing the door behind her.

Leaning against her door, Yang could faintly hear the sound of another door opening before clicking shut. Knowing that, she flopped to her floor, groaning loudly.

"That went so much worse than I thought it would." She was a mess, her chest kinda hurt, her face was warm, she felt sick. Did she catch pregnancy or something? She hoped not. Worse still, she was nowhere near done with him.

"Maybe this was a mistake?" She muttered.

Oh well, it was too late to back out now.


Oh, okay, that's cool. Guess y'all guys are just gonna get the first chapter to 200 and some odd follows within the span of less than three weeks.

Why? Why would you do this to me?

Oh well, whatever, guess I'll have to work ahead of time on this one for a bit more. Anyway, thanks for reading this one, and hopefully I don't see an equally large spike of follows over the span of the next few weeks. I mean, I wouldn't complain too much, but it'd certainly be a shock.

But aside from all that, I do have some things I want to throw into the wind before I start wrapping this shit up. I've got a few folks that I want to give some public thanks to, on account of being around to shoot the shit and help with documents every once and a while.

Thanks to ElectricGlock (whom you should totally read on FFN) for sitting down every now and then whenever I want some input and thoughts on shit, thanks to my buddy Luz for running the Discord that we all chill on, some thanks to my buddy Golden for being my bud, and… I guess thanks to the folks that bothered reading after my very sudden burnout and hiatus over several projects.

Anyway, yeah, I'm done. Guess I'll go work on a different document now. Ciao, and buenas noches.

Next Update: November 6th.