[Courtyard of Beacon Academy]
{Ruby's perspective}
"You two remember the plan?" I asked Jaune and Pyrrha.
They nodded in unison as they hid behind the statue as Rose walked out and noticed me pretty much right away. "What do you want pipsqueak?" She asked coldly.
I gave out a nervous laugh. I'm not usually the confrontational type but I have to be for now. "There's um… something in the garden that I think you should check out. A rose that blooms once a year." I hope she buys it, I've never been good at lying.
She seems interested. "Ok, I'll go see it."
"Great! Follow me!" I said as I led her to Beacon's garden. Here's hoping Moon pulled through.
{Aaron/Moon's perspective}
"Hurry your sorry ass up!" I yelled to Justin
"Yeah yeah, where are we going anyway?" He asked.
I shrugged "you'll see." I said as slyly as possible.
Ruby's plan I don't think will work. But she was being so adorable that I can't resist. I need to learn how to resist that. Anyway her plan is this: Get Jocelyn and Justin in the school's garden and get them to reminisce on old times. The problem is that I have no idea how she thinks this will help in any way. But I'll wait and see.
"This is the garden…" Justin noted.
I turned around "Yes, now wait here, I'll be back." I then went and hid behind a rose bush. I then saw Ruby give me a subtle hand gesture that I know was my signal.
She then darted away using her semblance to get to me "Everything is set. Yang has the music ready." Ruby whispered to me.
I sighed "So mind telling me why you think this will work?"
She shrugged "They had a romantic moment in Sanctum right? This will make them wanna talk about it."
I shook my head "You are so innocent."
I then heard shouting and I looked back to see that they were arguing. The outcome I pretty much expected.
Guys the music won't start Yang told us over the intercoms.
"So get it to work!" I whispered.
Oh yeah let me just hit it until it works then huh? Yang said frustrated.
Guys now is not the time to be arguing. Look Achilles is leaving! Blake informed.
I looked at Ruby and shook my head "I told you this wouldn't work."
She chuckled nervously "Sorry… I thought it would."
Well I've got an idea. It'll have to wait until tomorrow. I'll text you guys the details. Jaune said.
"Wait you're here? Where are you?" I asked.
He sighed Look at the scarecrow...
Ruby and I looked at the scarecrow. I was wondering why it had blonde hair. "Why?" I asked
I thought it would be a good idea. He admitted.
I sighed exasperatedly as Pyrrha said I did try to tell him it wouldn't be a good idea.
"Well…" I said "We'll try Jaune's plan tomorrow. And if that doesn't work we'll go with mine and Yang's plan the next day."
Hey can someone help me down? Jaune asked. I can get myself in but I can't get myself out…
I facepalmed "Have your girlfriend help you. I'm hitting the school's gym." I then got up as Rose left the garden.
Honestly I have no idea what got them this way. They were singing Fighter by… Well Justin said it was a duet by Keith Urban and Carrie Underwood. But that's besides the point. My point is they were fine in the Emerald Forest before Jocelyn suggested we fight that Nevermore. So I need to learn what made her break it off with him. In the meantime though I need to let off some steam…
[Beacon's Gym the same day]
Ok the last person I expected to be here was Justin.
Yatsuhashi accompanies me here, mostly because he's an absolute mountain of a man. No that has nothing to do with me being shorter than the average man, shut up Justin.
Well anyway I approached Justin who was doing pull-ups. "Hey dude! Whatcha doing here?"
He didn't respond.
I noticed he had one of those workout earbuds. You know those ones that hook around the ear? Yeah those, which means he's listening to his songs. Probably Devil Trigger or something judging with how loud he's blasting it.
Anyway I tapped his leg and he finally realized I was there. He dropped from the pull up bar and held one finger up. Oh and I forgot to mention he's wearing a black wife beater and his black jeans. He put his scroll away and asked me "Hey, how's it going?"
I shrugged "Meh thing's could be better. I never expected you to be here though."
He shrugged back "Yang dragged me here. Said it was a good way to 'let out my frustrations' and it has helped a little." He explained.
I crossed my arms "I said the same thing I hope you realize."
He nodded "Yeah but back home I couldn't find time to go to one. Besides all of the nearby ones were expensive. Because, y'know... California."
I rolled my eyes "Whatever you say dude." I looked around to see if I could spot Yang.
"Don't bother, she's in the weight lifting area." Justin said nonchalantly.
I turned back to him "And you didn't join her?" I asked.
He gave me a nervous chuckle "... last time I did, she basically made me try to deadlift something similar to the weight of an M1 Abrams… it almost tore my arms apart man…" he explained.
"Well then… remind me not to let her spot me then…" I whispered. "Here why don't I spot you on the bench? How much weight do you want?"
"Let's start with 60 pounds." He said as we approached the weight area.
Sure enough there's Yang, making me feel less like a man since she's lifting thousands of pounds on her shoulders. Her outfit isn't doing me any favors either, a yellow sports bra with her emblem on it, shorts, and with her hair in a ponytail.
Justin hit my shoulder "Quit staring, it's not enough that all of the other men here are staring as well." He said like a defensive dad.
I could barely hold back my laughter "I know you see yourself as their dad, but I didn't think you meant it literally."
He rolled his eyes that had turned red. "Just help me set this up." He said exasperatedly.
And so I helped him get the bar to 60 pounds. And spotted him as he worked his arms.
I'll admit I didn't think his noodle arms could lift it. But I guess he's been working out here too.
So that begs the question. "So you've been coming here and didn't tell me?"
As he lifted it back up he said "Oddly enough we have different schedules of classes, so I'll admit, it slipped my mind to tell you."
I nodded "Fair enough."
"How's team CFVY?" He asked me as he kept his workout up.
I shrugged "Well Coco and Velvet have been hanging out a lot more with Rose, they tell me she basically never talks about you anymore so they're worried about your relationship."
He nodded "Continue."
"Fox has been his normal self." I continued.
"Your teammate Fox or our friend Fox?" he asked.
"Haha…" I said as I shook my head "my teammate Fox. And Yatsu is over there."
He then set the bar back on the rest. "Yeah I saw him out of my peripheral vision. I didn't really see you since-." He said before I cut him off
"Don't you dare say it!" I leveled a finger at his face.
He chose his next words carefully "... You were pretty much on the other side of him." He finished.
"Damn right" I said in a subtly threatening way. I may be shorter than average, but that does not mean he can make short jokes with me.
Anyway I'm getting off track. "Well I'm heading back to my dorm to shower." He said as he picked his things up. "Hey," I started "We'll need to talk about… 'that' soon." I reminded him.
He nodded somberly "We will. For now I need to shower."
I patted his shoulder "Alright, go shower then. Give Weiss a show while you're at it." I joked.
He rolled his eyes with an annoyed sigh as he left.
[The Next Day after Class]
Jaune and Pyrrha were waiting for me on the other end of a hallway. "So did you tell him?" Jaune asked.
I nodded. "Yeah, though I'm not sure what the plan here is because no one updated me last night."
Jaune shrugged "Look we were rather busy with training. Plus Rose hasn't exactly been cooperative lately."
I nodded "Fair, so tell me then, what is the plan this time?"
He gave me a smirk "Why the most classic of all love tropes. The woman falling into the man's arms." He said so sure of himself.
Pyrrha and I just looked at him in stunned silence.
"How do you think that'll work?" I asked the dense blonde.
He shrugged at me "It works in the movies."
I facepalmed "You guys are overthinking things greatly." I mumbled.
"Here she comes" Jaune whispered as Pyrrha readied her semblance.
Justin and Jocelyn were walking towards each other when Pyrrha managed to manipulate something on Jocelyn's clothing to pull her into Justin's arms.
He then caught her in a suave way. Meaning he caught her with one arm and had a smirk across his face.
He then stupidly said "Careful darlin' I think you're falling for me again."
Jaune had to restrain me from taking out Judas Priest and shooting him in the goddamn face for that pun.
Which was ultimately not needed since she punched him straight across face and then kicked him into the wall next to them.
She then picked up her stuff and walked away with a scoff. I kind of feel bad for him, but he also deserved it for that pun.
I then turned to Jaune "Alright, tomorrow we go with whatever RWBY planned. Got it?"
He and Pyrrha nodded in unison "See ya tomorrow then." Jaune said.
[Next day in training room]
{You ain't ready- Skillet 0:40- 1:19}
"Is this the best you got?" I yelled to Justin.
He laughed as he stood back up "I'm just warming up!" He slashed at me in which I redirected it using Judas Priest's blade.
I then countered with the partner blade with a stab.
He dodged it flawlessly but you see… I was planning on that.
I slammed that blade into his gut sending him skidding with his metal boots scraping the ground towards an opposite wall.
He stopped with the help of his blade. He then sheathed it to take out his guns Kronos and Rhea.
He ran the opposite direction of me as I took out the guns on my weapons and we fired at each other.
I swear I heard a couple wiz past me as the rest hit the other bullets.
He then closed the distance and unsheathed his blade, then went in for an overhead swing in one fluid motion.
I went to block it but at the last second he switched where he would slash from and went for a diagonal cut from his opposite side.
I'll admit, that was a good move, but not good enough. I managed to block the incoming attack and counter with my right and held my blade at his neck.
We both seemed out of breath.
He chuckled "Alright, we'll call it a draw." He said with a horrible take on a British accent.
I'm sorry for any Brits trying to comprehend an American trying and failing to copy it.
But I couldn't help but laugh and shake my head, "Of course you reference Monty Python."
He shrugged "Hey you find it as funny as I do." He retorted.
I nodded in agreement "Fine that's fair I suppose."
We then sheathed our weapons to go get our water bottles. "You're getting better every day man." I noted.
He shrugged "Well it helps that we're not limited by Earth's gravity and reality." He commented.
I nodded in agreement "yeah, honestly this reality is much better than the one we were in anyway, won't really have to worry about a pedophile running the country."
Justin shook his head "Look I know you have a resentment to the democrats, but I'm willing to give him a chance."
I looked at him confused "how are you always willing to give people the benefit of the doubt?"
He shrugged as he took a gulp from his Hydro flask that managed to make it here. Though it seems dented to all hell. I'll ask him when we have the time. "Well, the way I see it is this: The past should not define us, we should focus on the here and now."
Wow, he is one of the most optimistic people I've met. "Well you're one in a million of people who think that."
He shrugged and went back to chugging his water. I should change the subject, time for plan C of Operation Vermilion Quartz "Hey so there's this restaurant that has reservations for those who won a contest. I got one but I don't really like the selection there so I was thinking of handing it off to you."
He raised an eyebrow at me as he closed the lid of his Hydro flask "But it's your prize, why give it to me?"
I shrugged "because I know you can eat a four course meal in a day."
He nodded "Fair, Weiss has put me on a diet that I despise."
I tilted my head in question "You? On a diet?"
He sighed agitatedly "She thinks it will help with my swordsmanship. But the way I see it, I'm pretty much starving myself."
I then handed him my reservation slip "Well go on and cheat on your diet."
He took it and headed for the door "I will, see you later!" He yelled.
"Yeah see ya!" I yelled back.
I waited until he was out the door.
As soon as he was out of sight, I teleported away. A neat thing I discovered about my semblance is that I have the option to teleport directly to people that I know well. I so far have one for Justin, one for Rose, one for Fox, and one for Neo. Take a wild guess which one I teleported to.
…
I'll wait…
…
Ok have you made your guess? If it was Neo your answer was correct! You don't get a prize though. Sorry, Justin's budget won't allow it.
Well anyway, she was waiting for me with her arms crossed with her weapon on her left hand. "Hey Neo, sorry for the wait. Had to give Achilles a good thrashing before I got here."
She smiled at that and signed Can I poison their food?
I shook my head "No you cannot do that."
She pouted at me But why? She signed.
"Because he is my friend and we are trying to make him happy with his fiance again" I explained to her for the fifth time today.
She glared at me.
"Oh don't give me that look. He's still my friend." I argued.
She rolled her eyes and kissed my cheek.
She then skipped away… While also giving me a good view of dat ass.
… And I distracted myself again didn't I? Fuck!
Well in any case, I better head inside and see how everyone is doing. So I did, I went inside and Yang waved to me with her disguise on. She had a large hat, sunglasses, and a grey trench coat with a newspaper right in front of her face.
Blake looked like an elegant lady with a floral black dress and a hat to hide her kitty ears. I sat next to Yang and whispered "Is she here yet?"
She nodded "Right by the window on the street side. What about Achilles?"
"Oh he's coming. Just wait a few minutes." I told her.
I noticed she was wearing Groucho Marx glasses and was about to scold her for her choice of a disguise, I saw Justin walking to the entrance.
I hid behind Yang's newspaper hoping he didn't notice. He then walked over to the seat that was unoccupied with Jocelyn.
I managed to overhear their conversation and it seemed pleasant-ish at first.
Jocelyn greeted "Oh, hi there you skinny white boy."
He chuckled and sat down "Hello to you too shopaholic-who-doesn't-know-how-to-save-money." he fired back.
Ouch that was ice cold even for him. "So whatcha doing here? Did you win this contest too?" Justin asked.
I managed to get a glimpse of her face, it was full of confusion. "What Contest?" She asked.
Justin then held up his reservation ticket. "Um the one to claim these seats. Duh."
She continued to look confused "Ruby just led me here and told me to wait."
I looked at Yang with a raised eyebrow.
She shrugged as if to say 'she's never been a good liar.'
Well after all of that went down. Them discussing whatever they were discussing. Their food arrived and then their dessert, both of which were delivered by Jaune dressed as a waiter with a stupid mustache that doesn't even match his hair color.
Anyway that's not important. What is important is this conversation after they had their dessert.
Justin started it by saying "You know honey, it's kinda stupid the way we've been fighting."
Jocelyn just gave him a look.
I honestly don't know how to describe it. She then said "yeah, I'll admit it's rather childish to be fighting like that after that time in the Emerald Forest."
Justin then took her hand and gave the back end of it a kiss. He then asked "So does that mean there's an us again?"
She nodded and said "Yes, there's an us again."
I swear everyone in the restaurant cheered. Including me, not gonna lie.
To which Justin looked around while turtling himself into his seat as Joce looked around confused.
She then noticed Yang, Blake, and I "Did you guys plan this?" She asked us.
I shrugged "Well, I and some others planned this whole evening out. He had no idea."
She then looked at Justin "So that's where you got the idea about this 'contest'." She confirmed with her arms crossed.
Justin chuckled nervously. "Well, how was I supposed to know there wasn't any actual contest?"
"Well look on the bright side dude." I started "At least you now won't be a lonely bastard again."
"Haha…" He laughed quietly while trying to hide himself out of the public area.
[Team RWBY + A's room]
{Justin/Achilles' perspective}
Well that was certainly a surprise. Having my team, JNPR, Aaron and Fox apparently plotting to get me and Rose back together behind my back.
Even if I pretty much knew what was happening for the last three days. "So y'all planned out everything behind my back?" I asked.
Weiss shrugged "We wanted you to be happy. And you seem happier being with her despite what happened."
Yang then added "Plus you were becoming all mopey during the last few weeks of classes we had."
Ruby then walked out of the bathroom in her pj's "And we all care about you. You're family to us, whether you like it or not."
I chuckled "I appreciate you guys going out of your way to help me with my relationship."
"One thing though." Weiss said "She told you to keep the ring around your neck. Why do you suppose that is?"
I shrugged "I guess she didn't want to lose it. Or she doesn't want her 'boss' to see it. I don't know."
"And there's the other thing. Her 'boss'. Shouldn't we be concerned since Neopolitan basically told us she and Rose worked together?"
I shrugged at Blake. "Honestly if she wanted to kill me, she would have done it long before now. So I don't think there's much to worry about."
[Meanwhile at the dorm Cinder and co occupy]
Cinder looked at the matchups of the VYTAL festival with her wicked grin "Well I believe we have some good news. Our targets of interest are all in the tournament." She told her entourage.
Emerald smiled at Cinder "Good, so who are we up against?"
She scrolled through "Looks like team CRDL is going to be our first match. Rose, would you kindly fill us in on what their tactics are?"
Rose rolled her eyes "You're not my boss. I'm only helping you because our interests align. So stop ordering me around."
"Excuse me?" Emerald said as she got up
"Oh boy here we go…" Mercury groaned while he rolled his eyes.
Emerald marched right up to Rose "You should be thankful she brought you into this group in the first place! I oughta-"
"Quiet!" Cinder hushed forcing Emerald to back down. "Rose, I was only asking politely. It wasn't an order."
Rose nodded as she stood up from her lean against the wall "I'll tell ya, under one condition."
Cinder, in no position to negotiate otherwise, agreed "Of course, what is the condition?"
Author's note
Thank you for reading. I have noticed some people love the relationship dynamic for me and my fiance. So I figured I should dedicate one chapter to getting our relationship back. Hope it lived up to expectations! As always, support Roosterteeth and the series we all love though all of the legal means.
