Ayeee we're back. Sorry for the slight delay of updating. I had family come in and had a wedding to attend out of state, all in the same week. But hopefully I can get back in my groove and get back to updating.

Hope you guys are doing well and I hope you enjoy.

"Watch out!"

Ruby had been the first one thrown from the Rawhyde's back. It had flung her high into the air, enough to where she knew it would hurt when she landed. Crescent Rose was just out of reach and the odd way she was flung wasn't allowing her the chance to try. So she closed her eyes, grit her teeth, and hoped her aura would soften the impact.

"Ruby!" Came a shout and she hit something before arms were wrapped around her.

The little reaper knew it wasn't the ground. Whatever she hit wasn't as solid and as painful as the ground but there was definitely something solid to whatever it was.

She slowly opened her eyes and came to face red hair, a blue eye, and scarred face. He looked concerned and, when a gust of wind blew through to send his hair fluttering, she dared to call him cool.

A dusting of pink colored her cheeks and she tried to shrink in his arms. She hadn't been carried like this since she was a little girl but now, it held different feelings altogether. Feelings she was not accustomed to.

"Umm..."

And then he smiled at her and the attempt of words died on her lips. Her brain had started to practically melt as a sort of whining noise came out. Her eyes widened and her heart rate increased.

"Seems like you're alright," he said before turning away from her. Nooo, look at her again!

Then she heard the high pitched cry and knew that it was her partner now flying from the Grimm's back. It was confirmed by the wide eyed look that showed on the boy's face. Too bad she didn't have him to catch her as well.

"Pyrrha!" She heard him cry out before she felt weightless and caught again in thinner arms and a softer chest.

"How could you leave me!?" Weiss cried out as she tumbled through the air.

"Oh yeah, like it was my choice to be flung from its back..." Ruby muttered with folded arms. She then turned to her fellow redhead who looked back at her. "You can put me down now."

"Oh, sorry!" Pyrrha replied before setting the smaller girl down.

It was at the same time that Jaune leapt into the air and caught heiress with ease. She was just as small and lithe as he remembered. And when she too realized that she hadn't hit the ground, she opened her eyes to reveal those same glacial blues. Albeit, this time, she was without the scar over her left eye.

Did that mean Jacques wasn't in power? Could that mean Weiss wasn't as high strung as she had been in his time?

"What are you doing!?" She immediately began squirming, trying to free herself. She shoved her hands into his face and chest, her legs flailing as she did so. "Put me down, you fool!"

Nope, still the same old Weiss.

He decided to set her down and that was when a screech reminded him of the immediate threat that was on their backs.

The group turned to see Blake and Yang dodging more attacks of the Deathstalker and losing ground as they raced for the temple. The Rawhyde also took the opportunity to release a roar of its own. Having finally thrown its riders from its back, the beast turned back to the humans, focusing in on Ruby.

"Uh oh..." She squeaked. The Rawhyde charged, bellowing loudly as it moved towards the reaper.

There wasn't even a chance for it to get ten feet before Jaune shoulder tackled it into the trunk of a tree. He was glowing brightly and his eyes were narrowed dangerously at the beast.

"Juan!" Pyrrha cried out, moving to him.

"Whoa..." Ruby muttered. Weiss looked equally as surprised as her. Both of them had now seen it.

"Nora! Light it up!" Jaune ordered.

"Aye aye!" Came the reply from behind Ruby. The small teen watched as several grenades were launched over her head and slammed into the recovering Grimm. It cried out in pain as the dust canisters lit up in explosions of pink.

"Pyrrha, Ren, keep its attention!" Then he turned to her. "Ruby, you and Weiss go and help your sister!"

That broke her from her shock and she looked back to see her sister still struggling with the Deathstalker. She was avoiding the attacks and returning fire when she could but neither her or Blake were even scratching the carapace.

"But what about-."

"Don't worry about us. Go!" He said with an authority unexpected of someone his age. She moved to Weiss, who had also started to move from his tone.

Once they were gone, Jaune turned back to focus on the battle. Ren continued to distract the beast but it was unfazed as the bullets practically bounced off its tough hide. However, whenever it grew close, Nora fired two or three shots to give Ren enough space and start the song and dance anew. Pyrrha fired her own shots to garner its attention and would join Ren in slicing at it a few times as well before retreating. The slices were shallow and did nothing to slow the beast down but his annoyance was starting to show as it roared and swung more violently.

The beast turned on the Myrmidon as she came in for a few more strikes and lifted its heavy paw. Pyrrha rose her shield to try and block the attack but an arrow sailed between the two. It was a Dust formed arrow, purple in color.

It sunk into the ground by the Rawhyde's other paw before exploding, creating a momentary vacuum of gravity. The shift dragged the beast's paw under itself and, with its loss of stability, it fell forward and the attack towards the redhead sailed above her head. Pyrrha looked back to see Jaune already moving past her, shifting Pridwen back to its shield form.

"Stay focused, attack while it's down!" He ordered. "Pin it to the ground!"

The Rawhyde tried to stand but Ren had already understood the knight's words and moved back in, infusing her hands with aura. It took two precise hits to its joints and it was back on the ground.

Jaune leapt over its head and with a roar, and strengthening of his Semblance, he drove Excalibur into one of the beast's massive paws. It cried out in pain but he ignored it in favor of rolling back to the other side. Pyrrha was already there, slicing it several times before spinning backwards and bashing her shield into its joint and kicking its paw outwards. The knight slammed the bottom of Pridwen, after switching it to its sheath form, into the Rawhyde's other paw immediately.

"Nora!" He shouted.

"On it!" The ginger was above his head within the second, Magnhild over her head. She released a manic laugh as she slammed down onto the top of the mechashift shield, nailing it down and through the paw.

Another cry was released.

"Ren!"

The martial artist rushed up its backside before flipping over its front, hooking Stormflower on the back of its skull mask and pulling its head down in a thunderous slam before rolling away.

"Pyrrha!"

The redhead was on top of it as the call was given. She spun her spear expertly before driving it into the back of the beast's neck. It bit flesh but did not dig much deeper. Her eyes widened.

The Rawhyde opened its mouth and a bright glow of red and orange could be seen building up at the back of its throat. It thrashed and wisps of fire escaped between its barred teeth. Jaune's eyes widened and he spun on his heel, moving to Nora and Ren who were directly behind him.

Of all things, he didn't expect fire breathing.

"Nora, up!" He shouted, tackling Ren to the ground.

The energetic girl picked up on it and used his back as a springboard, pushing him to the ground as she jumped over. The flames came seconds after, washing over Jaune's back as he covered his bro as best he could. The heat was unbelievably hot and he could feel his aura straining to protect him against it.

Nora, in the meantime, saw the giant makeshift nail in the form of Pyrrha's spear.

"Heads up!" She shouted out.

The warrior looked up and saw the flying blur of pink, hammer ready to hit home. Pyrrha, with practiced ease, worked her way up and over the polearm and twisted her body to land a dropkick on top of the Rawhyde's head, pushing its head back into the ground and stopping the flames, giving Nora the perfect look at her target.

The attack hit home and the spear was driven through the back of its head and out its chest. Pyrrha backflipped off of it, nailing her landing, while Nora pushed off the body and landed on her rear almost comically.

Jaune lifted himself up and turned back over his shoulder to see the carnage left behind. It wasn't much, as the Grimm had already begun to disintegrate, but with how deep Miló had been nailed into the ground, Jaune couldn't front that this Nora was beyond stronger than his. And by the way she was currently laughing, was much more dangerous.

Then he smelled the burning and looked back to see his jacket had caught fire. He tore the jacket off and tossed it away, watching as the fire continued to spread across the jacket he had spent a decent amount of money on. The material must have been extremely flammable as the flames spread quickly, ruining the jacket beyond anything salvageable.

"Darn... Well, that's the last time I go for fashion over practicality," he muttered.

"Uh... Juan?"

Jaune remembered where he was and looked down to notice the compromising position he and Ren had been placed in. When he went to pull his best bro down, the redheaded teen had somehow wound up between his bros legs, Ren's legs propped over his thighs, and one of his hands had been placed on his bros' very smooth and flat stomach.

"Ah, sorry, I had moved on instinct," Jaune replied, standing up immediately. The knight offered a hand and, with a flushed face, Ren accepted it. The martial artist didn't even make eye contact as Jaune pulled him up. There was even a bit of color to his cheeks, once again, proving a weird reaction. But it was a bit of an embarrassing position for two dudes to be in. Heck, his old self would have probably been flustered by it too if it hadn't been Yang's idea to have weekly wrestling spars to keep everyone's hand to hand up to snuff.

"Ren, you dirty girl~." Nora teased, rejoining her childhood friend's side as Jaune moved away.

The pink on the martial artist's cheeks darkened, eyes slowly moving to the young man's admittedly wide back. "It wasn't like that!"

"Mmmm~?" The smirk on the shorter girl's face made it obvious she didn't believe her.

Jaune, in the meantime, pulled Excalibur and Pridwen from their places and returned the latter to his back, Excalibur lifted to rest over his shoulder. He turned back to Pyrrha who had yet to stop looking over him the second he separated from Ren, paying close attention to his back where the fire from his jacket had started.

"No marks, right?" He asked, glancing at her from over his shoulder.

His fellow redhead looked up at him. "It is still a little difficult to believe. You have aura and you know how to fight the Grimm. Not even a burn from where your jacket was caught." She stood straight up and sighed a bit, eyes falling to the ground. "I was always taught to protect men and protect those who couldn't protect themselves. At some point, I became obsessed with getting stronger so that I could and I guess you could say I had come to hate seeing men hurt. Then you showed up and... well, you reminded me of someone. Someone who had been very close to me. Someone who had gotten hurt because of me. So, I'm sorry if I've been weird or have creeped you out."

Jaune blinked twice before his lips pulled into a sympathetic yet warming smile. "Hey, I told you not to apologize for that, remember? It's very kind of you, Pyrrha, for why you do what you do. And I'm sorry about that person from your past but I promise you won't have to worry about me. I'll be sure to pull my own weight and watch your back from here on out. Then, well, maybe it'll be me protecting you one day."

He turned away to hide his own embarrassment just before he could see the red that painted the Myrmidon's face. She covered her face with both hands and tried to still the increasing rate of her heart.

How scandalous for a man to flirt so openly with her!

Jaune chose to focus on Team RWBY, who looked to be wrapping up their own battle across the ruins. He watched as they started to get their rhythm as a team, something he could say he had done well with his team. Rather than kill the Grimm on his own, he opted for working with his team and to start building their bonds and trust amongst one another. Something, if he remembered correctly, took Team RWBY much longer than his.

Weiss had laid down one of her time dilation glyphs, Ruby standing in the center of it. At the same time, the heiress also summoned a massive sheet of ice under the Deathstalker, causing it to lose its balance and fall onto its stomach. A familiar ribbon followed after wrapped around the tip of the stinger as Blake leapt over the arachnid and pulled the tail back. And, with a primal shout, a blur of yellow came from above and with the wrack of her shotgun gauntlets, delivered a powerful blow that destroyed the stinger into several massive shards.

The Deathstalker released a massive cry of pain and went to try and stand again. Ruby was ready, her body glowing bright red before she took off in a massive burst of speed. Using the sheet of ice, she slid under the Grimm's body and spun, using Crescent Rose to increase her speed with each shot fired. The result; each and every leg of the Deathstalker severed and it slammed into the ground as Ruby slid to the other side.

It was still alive, however, it's claws thrashing, trying to find perch somewhere. It moved about, spinning itself back and forth as it cried out, trying to find something to crush, thrash, or break in half. Ruby leapt over one of the claws, using her Semblance to dance in its face before firing a shot, throwing her away as it slammed its claws down on where she had been.

Weiss stood behind her, focusing on a massive glyph over the Grimm's head. A massive spike of ice came forth and, just above that, Yang looked down on it, massive grin on her face.

The heiress released the massive chunk of ice and it started to fall. The brawler fired two shots to pick up speed before using one to start spinning. She continued to fire to increase her spin, growing closer to the spike, the spike growing closer to its target. And, with another primal shout, she gave one devastating punch that drove the ice shard through the Grimm's carapace.

There was only a final, long and agonizing shriek before the eyes dulled and the arachnid finally died.

Yang flipped over to her sister and the heiress with Blake not too far behind.

"Woohoo!" She cheered, throwing her hands in the air. "Now that was one hell of an initiation!"

"If you mean idiotic and completely unnecessary, then I concur," Weiss argued, folding her arms.

"Oh, come on, it wasn't that bad." Ruby shrugged.

"It was that bad! You were the one who thought it would be a good idea to ride a Rawhyde in the slim hope it would take us to the relics!"

"Heh, I mean, it did get us here..." Ruby scratched a lone cheek, sweat sliding down her brow.

"It was her idea to look for the relics in a cave with clear warning signs of a Deathstalker inside," Blake added, jabbing a thumb towards Yang.

"Blake! You tattle!" The blonde feigned offense. "I was merely looking to liven things up!"

"Well, no harm no foul, right," Jaune spoke up as he walked to them. The four girls turned to him with varying questioning looks. "The Grimm are dead and no longer a threat to anyone. Better we have handled them ourselves than risk someone else getting hurt or killed."

"Wait, aren't you the new young teacher or something? What're you doing out here and fighting?" Yang asked, folding her arms behind her head.

"I was wondering the same thing," Ruby added on. Weiss and Blake looked to agree.

"Oh, guess I should explain myself," Jaune replied with a shrug. "I'm actually not a teacher. Name's Juan and I'll be your classmate for the next four years."

Four eyes shot open.

"What!?"

He smiled and rubbed the back of his head. "Please be gentle."

-XOXOX-

"Simone Megistus, Lyone Arcadia, Vella Moisia, and Ragora Cinarum," Salem announced as the four stepped forward.

"The four of you obtained the Black Bishop pieces. You four shall be known as Team Silver (SLVR) led by Simone Megistus."

The crowd clapped politely, a few cheers sounding off. The team once again nodded before moving off the stage with the other newly formed teams.

"Blake Belladonna, Ruby Rose, Weiss Schnee, and Yang Branwen." The four took the places of the original. Jaune, behind them off stage, narrowed his eyes as he looked at the blonde girl. He would speak to Salem about that later, curious about her taking her mother's name.

"The four of you obtained the White Knight pieces. You shall be known as Team Ruby (RWBY) led by Ruby Rose." The crowd cheered and clapped a little louder.

The newly appointed leader looked surprised by the announcement. Her sister clobbered her in a massive hug, exclaiming her excitement for the little sister. Weiss seemed as surprised and upset as she initially was and Blake... She was Blake. But she seemed accepting so there were no complaints.

"Are you ready?" Pyrrha asked from his left side. A place she hadn't left since they killed the Rawhyde.

Jaune gave a helpless shrug and smile. "Only as ready as I'll ever be."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," Nora replied dismissively.

Ren gave a head nod. It wasn't much but Jaune had learned to read his bro and know he meant it as his full support. A true brother to the end, attractive looks be damned!

"And finally, Pyrrha Nikos, Lie Ren, Nora Valkyrie..," The three girls stepped out first. "And, lastly, for the first time in all of Remnant's history. I introduce the first male student of Beacon Academy and final member; Jaune White!"

The boy stepped out, met by absolute silence. The audience was hushed, there were great amounts of confusion and surprise, but they were momentarily ignored. Jaune didn't notice nor care of the crowd's reaction as he stormed out to the center stage. He moved past the teachers, moved past Team RWBY, and past his own team, marching until he was directly in front of Salem and in her face.

"Are you serious?" He whisper shouted.

"What? Jaune isn't a super unique enough name that would arouse suspicion if it was leaked. You only needed to change your last name and you'd have been fine," Salem replied easily. "Besides, Juan is stupid."

"Then why have me think so hard on changing it in the first place!? I was so conflicted between Juan and Felipe only to now learn it wasn't necessary!?" Jaune looked at her incredulously.

"Yup!" She admitted, popping the P. "Both those names are terrible, by the way."

"Why not tell me that from the get go!?"

"I like messing with you," she said with the most dastardly of smiles. Jaune actually took a surprised step back.

"Jaune White, everyone!" Salem motioned to him with the biggest shit eating grin he had ever seen.

The shock that had been placed on everyone within the room had also finally decided to be lifted. Claps began to sound, cheers began to shake the very foundations, and the auditorium practically exploded. Several women went to move forward but were held at bay by one Glynda Goodwitch and one or two still tried only to be physically held in place by the disciplinarian's Semblance. It wasn't until Salem spoke again that finally brought some form of order to the room that looked on the border of a riot.

"The four of you took hold of the White Rook pieces," she spoke, turning back to the team. "You shall be known as Team Juniper (JNPR). Led by Jaune White."

Pyrrha stepped forward, pulling at the young man's sleeve. He turned back and Pyrrha was looking him directly in the eyes. What he would have normally expected would have been this hurt expression, or anger, or betrayal. What he faced was this blank and unreadable expression that was far more gut punching.

"So your name is Jaune? Not Juan?"

"..." His jaw clenched.

"Oh, maybe it was supposed to be a secret spy name," Nora said, trying to provide some unknown aid.

"That's highly unlikely, Nora," Ren answered, turning an eye to him. It looked normal to anyone who didn't know the stoic teen but Jaune could see the sharpness behind it. He could feel the thorns in that monotone. "However, I would like to know his answer."

"..." He held his tongue.

"Did you lie to us, Jaune?" Pyrrha allowed a little emotion to seep into her voice. "Did you not think of us to be trustworthy with knowing even your own name?"

Jaune wanted to wring Salem's neck but found the urge moot at this point. How was he supposed to respond here without causing bigger problems? He couldn't conflict what Salem had said as she had just announced it to the entire school. Well, he could but it would take longer to convince an entire school than how she had made a liar out of him to seven girls. But he couldn't accept that he lied either. The bonds he had just started to forge would come into question and be taken with a grain of salt in everything he did from here on out.

One could possibly forgive but one would never forget.

Still, he had to say something. Anything! Silence would be as good as accepting that he was a liar.

Which he still was, of that he knew. It was already bad enough he was lying for his own selfishness. But he didn't want to reveal the lie because then they wouldn't trust him and it could potentially bring more of his lies to light.

Oh crap, they are still staring! Say something!

"I apologize, Miss Nikos, for I told him to keep his name a secret." The goddess and his saving grace had taken the form of Miss Goodwitch and the Deputy Headmistress moved to stand next to Jaune. He could cry tears of joy for this woman and promised to be her best student. "It was a simple precaution until he was properly accepted into the school. You must know better than anyone how crafty the news can be when scouring for any leaks of prospects of the academy. Especially in Mister White's case."

The trio looked to mull over the answer before visibly perking up as they seemed to accept it.

"Ah, yes, I see what you mean," Pyrrha responded.

You do!? Jaune couldn't believe his luck and relief filled his entire being. He held it back though and maintained a straight face.

"So it was for a sneaky reason! Does that mean Jaune-Jaune could actually be a spy!?" Nora exclaimed.

"Still not possible, Nora," Ren shot down, rubbing the ginger girl's head affectionately. "However, I will apologize to you, Jaune. I had already doubted you before hearing your answer and, for that, I am sorry."

The young man immediately waved a hand back and forth dismissively and chuckled. "No, it's okay. I am sorry to have had to lie to you all about my name. I just hope we can still get along and work as a team."

"Of course!" Nora was the first to accept. She moved over to him and jumped on his back, wrapping her arms over his shoulders. "But I demand piggybacks as payment!"

Jaune chuckled a bit. "Sure, Nora."

"Ah..." Pyrrha went to say something but the words died before they found traction.

"I will say, this will be quite unique having the only male in school on our team," Ren noted, moving to stand by the knight.

"Oh yeah!" Nora seemed to have realized that fact as well. "Fearless Leader, you can use the bathroom to change! Don't worry, we won't peek. Right, Ren~?"

The girl in question coughed into her fist and turned away, cheeks turning a rosy shade. "I wouldn't think of it. I am not as shameless as you, Nora..."

"Hmmmm~?" Jaune could hear the smugness and didn't even need to see her face. "What about you, Pyrrha?"

"Eh?" Four sets of eyes turned to her. The young warrior had been used to attention but, for some reason, this particular situation made her feel a bit bashful and timid. And whether it was the nature of the question or of who was asking wasn't clear either. "Uhh... I wouldn't think of it, Jaune."

"I trust you, Pyr," he replied, giving her that same cheerful smile.

The Myrmidon couldn't tell why but seeing that smile... it made her heart just race. How could he smile so brightly, so joyously at her? She felt so warm inside just seeing how happy she made him, doing nothing in particular to earn such a wonderful expression. She really needed to calm her heart before it popped!

"Yeah, see Jaune-Jaune, we won't be lewd!"

"I would certainly hope not," Glynda finally chimed in. "The last thing I need to hear is that any of my students are harassing Mister White due to his special circumstances. He is the first male Huntsman in history and has chosen to attend our prestigious academy of the four kingdoms. He will have proper accommodations made for him and I will not have him thinking of Beacon Academy as a place filled with young women who cannot control their hormones."

"If I may oblige-"

"Shut it, Peter!"

"Right, shutting up now."

"And that goes for all of the young women here today! You are to be on your best behavior as the future defenders of humanity and I shall accept nothing less. Have I made myself clear?"

There were a few agreements that had been lost in the sea of murmuring. Crop slapped against flesh and the most arctic of glares had washed across the student body. The unanimous "yes ma'am" that followed was deafening.

"Good."

"I'm sure this will be one interesting year, eh, Glyndy?"

"Selina, I will put you through a wall..."

"Right, shutting up now."

Alrighty, that wraps up that chapter.

First thing, I am a tad rusty with fight scenes with monsters so spare me a bit of slack till I can find a groove. As for this chapter, it was still a lot of fun to write and I am finally excited to get into the Beacon shenanigans now that the reveal has finally been given.

And as for Juan, yes, it was meant to piss you off simply because I liked messing with you. It's like Akame Ga Kill levels of asshole where they let you get attached to someone only to screw you over. Only this time it was to upset you then reveal the prank. Jaune's already got a few of his changes reverted very similar to how he introduced himself to us in the first two volumes. He wants to impress and tries to hard and fails miserably. And only once the pieces of his true self shine through do his friends react positively to him. Ehhhh, big brain plays, even though sometimes I believe I got a walnut upstairs. I'll let you guys decide.

As for the serious veteran Huntsman Jaune everyone is dying to see, he had a brief appearance but I'm definitely excited to finally delve into him as we reach Beacon. So, yeah.

Now, for the tallying update. This is from the last I checked, properly, and there are still more numbers to count. But this is what I have as of now.

Ruby - 3

Yang - 1

Pyrrha - 18

Harem - 39

Weiss - 4

Glynda - 2

Cinder - 2

Salem - 5

Port - 1

Harem has come out to play and it intends to win. Which I can't be mad at. However, I will put out that the harem will be small if it does win and will have its own proper voting system to decide. I'm not going to go crazy because even with there already being a proper explanation to why Jaune can have a harem in this world, it's still one man and even with Arc genes, homie can only handle so much.

Oh, and for whoever voted Port... nice. Cause its funny when Port is already beating out Blake, Ren, and Nora.