If you get hurt, hurt em back. If you get killed... walk it off.

"You've got to be joking..."

He didn't want to believe it.

"I assure you, I am not." The look on her face also said that she wasn't.

"I'm not taking this." He held it out to her.

She lifted a brow. "Is it not enough? That was no more than an opening price. I can always go higher."

"No! That is not what I mean," Jaune said with narrowed eyes. "I am not for sale. You can not just buy someone!"

"Oh please," she rolled her eyes. "Everyone has a price."

"What I want has nothing to do with money."

"Oh?" She seemed surprised. "Then what is it? It cannot be fame, you'll have plenty of that as word continues to spread. Is it something more? Power? Revenge? Pleasure?"

"No, no, and no!" He sighed, slightly annoyed. "I don't want any of that."

"Then what?" She demanded, folding her arms.

He looked at her, glaring through his tightly narrowed eyes. Why was she so persistent? The old Weiss wouldn't have given him the time of day. Now, this one was trying to buy him. And, to make matters worse, it was after Doctor Oobleck's revelation.

It couldn't be. She wasn't that shallow, right?

"Why do you care so much, Weiss? What do you stand to gain by trying to own me?" He asked, genuinely confused.

Own. He used that word purposely. He needed to know if that was what she was truly after or if this was her Weiss-like way of trying to make friends or gain favor.

He remembered the time he had pined for Weiss's affection. She had denied him at every possible turn, not even wanting to be friends for the longest of time. She assumed it was because he was trying to gain something from her. She thought he had been like the suitors before him who had only wanted her for her family's money or power. Or, in some disgusting cases, to say they slept with the SDC heiress. That revelation did bring out a dark side that made him want to see heads roll. But all of them were brutally denied, some like him, some far worse.

It took three years for them to finally talk things out and air the truth. Something both were extremely appreciative of. Weiss understood his intentions were not so crude and he understood why she had responded to him the way she had. Plus, he couldn't deny, when he looked back and remembered, how cringey and weird he was with his vast number of attempts at wooing her. But they had made up and definitely could say they were friends. Nothing more. And he had become content with that.

This was a completely different scenario, however. The roles had been reversed and the situation was relatively the same but different due to the fact he was the one approached.

Jaune didn't want to repeat what placed a wedge between him and Weiss when they first met. He had been more than open to simply starting as friends, crush or not. If this was Weiss's weird Atlesian way of befriending him, he did not want to mess it up and possibly reintroduce the wedge that had hindered their relationship for three whole years.

"You are the only man on Remnant to have an aura," she answered bluntly. "The Schnee's have always strived to be the best and you," she pointed a sharp finger at him. "Are the best of the best. So, it is within my right to claim you as mine because Weiss Schnee does not accept less."

He blinked once. Twice. Once again, it was another statement void of tact. He felt a little upset, no that was a lie, he was extremely upset. He knew Weiss was a very intelligent woman and knew that she had a way with words when it came to getting what she wanted. Even when she spoke to Pyrrha at initiation, she spoke to her as an equal, a potential partner. So for her to turn around and be so blunt towards him and say such things about the situation as if he was no more than an item, he knew her current viewpoint of him was not equal.

Jaune wasn't angry at her though.

Well, not completely angry. He was a itty-bitty, teensy-weensy bit mad at her.

However, not fully as that would be getting angry only at the surface. His true anger was pointed at her parents and Atlas as a whole. More specifically, the standards in place that Salem told him about before the opening ceremony since he would be dealing with girls of all the kingdoms.

In Weiss's, and many other girls' cases, their natures of talking to him were due to their upbringings.

Vale was the only one truly striving to create equality between the genders and it was something only starting a few generations ago. Mistral simply saw men as delicate flowers and, if they weren't protected, they were plucked and sold for disgusting reasons. Vacuo, he didn't know about Vacuo. And then Atlas and Mantle... they saw men as subservient to women. The men were made slaves to the royals and nobles, whether manual labor or sexual satisfaction, and were bound by the very dark laws in place. They couldn't work independently outside of borderline slave work, couldn't walk the streets without an escort at all times, and upon their fourteenth birthday boys were of legal age to be bought by the rich nobles. Parents of low-income households desperate enough would sell their own children to the rich for money or security. He even knew of the few gangs that would kidnap kids and sell them to the most disgusting of nobles. There was even one law that included the wearing of a collar upon being bound to a mistress.

Jaune knew it all and, while knowing of the possibility of Atlesian women approaching him, had not expected one of them to be Weiss.

However, it was because he knew of all of that that it was because of those laws and upbringing that led the heiress down this crude path.

Still, he had to take several deep breaths to calm himself because the sheer thought of Atlas or any of those nobles made him want to bury the city in the sea like Salem had. So, to avoid redirecting that anger on her, he chose to remind himself that it wasn't her fault. It was mostly Salem's because that damn woman and her drunken screw up.

"Listen Weiss," he started, breaking the long silence. Jaune moved forward and grabbed her hand. He placed the crumbled check into it and helped her close her fingers. "While I am a little honored, this isn't the way to go about it. I don't want your money, your fame, or your body. If you want to go out with me, get to know me first. I may be a guy with aura but I'm still just a guy. You should understand that better than anyone, right?"

And with that, he turned and walked away from her. It was the easiest way of letting her down. He was gentle but also made it clear that what she learned from Atlas would not work here. Plus, he didn't get angry or flat out deny her like she had him.

Better steps to create a better friendship between them.

Weiss, on the other hand, did not see it that way.

"He denied me..?" She whispered to herself. "He denied me..? He denied me!" Jaune was already out of earshot but it didn't matter. Her fist tightened on the check and a look of absolute rage overtook her features. "That manservant does not get to deny Weiss Schnee!"

A team of students stepped out of the cafeteria, laughing at a joke one of them said. Weiss spun on them with the fury of a tundra and they clamped their mouths shut instantly. She continued to glare, even as they shuffled past her, unrelenting until they rounded the corner in a hurry.

The heiress looked down at her hand, the check left an absolute mess in her fist. "I'll make you mine. I'll make you mine and then I'll break you until you're begging for me. This I swear, Jaune White."

-XOXOX-

"Welcome to Combat Class. I am your instructor, Glynda Goodwitch."

Jaune sat down with his team, Team RWBY joining the opposite of them. He had rejoined them outside and, not too long after, Weiss joined hers. Nothing about their talk was brought up and he would make sure it stayed that way. Jaune wouldn't speak of it because his team would potentially, no, they would definitely think the worst of her and that would put a massive wedge between their teams.

He looked over at his sister team, more specifically Weiss, to see that her attention was on the Goodwitch. She didn't seem all that upset so either she was good at hiding her emotions or he had actually done a good job of handling the situation. There may or may not have been a swell of pride that he hadn't ruined his and Weiss's potential future friendship but he hoped she understood that he wasn't right for her. And, hopefully, as she got to know him, she realized she deserved a man who could actually love her.

He had once but that was a time ago.

"For today, we will have one match. This shall dictate how battles are performed in class and how your performances shall be judged after the battle has concluded."

If Jaune remembered correctly, it had been him and Cardin for the first match. He had been extremely arrogant and desperate to show off some kind of skill to his team and Weiss that he had volunteered without hesitation. Cardin was the second one to be called upon and, well, the rest is history.

It was a time ago and the "fights" in here were definitely child's play compared to the war he fought out in the Grimmlands. The likes of Tyrian and Cinder made a match against even Pyrrha look like kid's fighting with wooden sticks. His fellow students seemed riled up and excited, however, for the chance to show off their skills against their peers. Yang seemed the most excited for RWBY and Nora was jostling Ren and proclaiming her desire to break someone's legs.

He, on the other hand, had no such desires at all, knowing he was far beyond most of their levels. And that wasn't his arrogance again. No, it was the cold hard truth. It was for the best that he did not fight in here and he knew that Glynda would adhere to his request to keep him from fighting his fellow classmates.

"Jaune White!"

Or maybe the world wanted to keep screwing with him.

The boy lifted his head to see the professor looking at him. He hoped he heard wrong but the other students giving him their undivided attention proved that theory false.

"Would you care to assist me in the demonstration?" Goodwitch asked.

He fought the urge to facepalm, knowing a certain Headmistress was definitely involved in this decision somehow.

"As you say, ma'am." And he stood and moved to change.

It didn't take long before he stepped out, making sure his cuirass was properly strapped and his long hair was tied back.

After the incident in Emerald Forest, he deemed his outfit unfit for any battles involving elemental attacks. Something he should have taken into account was men's clothing. More specifically that all of men's clothing had not been specially enhanced for Huntsman based duties. There were no special threads or protection against the elements of Dust or Grimm-based attacks and, while the outfit was stylish and cool, did not help him in his coming occupation as a Huntsman.

In other words, a poor investment. Something happening with a lot of his pre-preparations. Next thing he knew, his disguise would be revealed or Excalibur might break.

...

There was no wood to knock on. Crap.

Getting back on track, he found himself dressed back in his old Pumpkin Pete's hoodie and jeans. It was lucky he found the same boots he wore in Atlas in the store and made that just-in-case purchase.

The outfit would simply have to do until he could sneak into Vale and find some kind of Huntsman branded clothing for guys. And, on the very dim bright side, he was at least able to keep the steel plated gloves over his old ones.

"I bet I can get it in one," he whispered to Glynda as he joined her side.

"I do apologize for this."

There was a sharp exhale similar to a chuckle. "I don't blame you. Not like I did a good job staying under the radar in Port and Oobleck's classes anyway."

"Yes, I heard of your stellar standings in both professors' eyes. If it were my own choice, I would have adhered to your request."

"Would you believe I was an under average student in both classes," he joked. "But what changed? Salem tell you otherwise?"

"No, you were actually requested by your demonstration partner," she informed with an irritated expression.

He raised a brow. "Requested? Who requested to spar with me?"

"That would be me, my love~," a sultry voice joined in.

Jaune gritted his teeth and clenched his fist. Of course it had to be her. It always had to be her. To be a constant thorn in his side even in another world.

"Cinder, you're late," Glynda spoke up as she began to tap away at her tablet.

"I got lost on the path of life," the younger woman answered nonchalantly.

Glynda hummed a sarcastic "mhmm" but made no further comment. Jaune, in the meantime, glared at the dark haired woman across from him with a fury beyond even the gods. Just seeing her face brought back the dark memories and the smirk that never changed always reminded him of the people he couldn't save.

Jaune turned towards the stand where his team sat. Ren was as monotone as usual, Nora was waving a massive JNPR flag, and Pyrrha met his eyes with deep care for him. He eased him just a little seeing that their bond was already rapidly growing for her to be so invested in him. But at the same time, it was to make sure that their relationship could continue to grow that he would destroy Cinder in this battle.

He would not hold back.

"Well, if you're both ready, shall we get started?"

Cinder winked at him. "Be gentle, it's my first time in a while."

"We'll see about that," he returned.

As the two moved to their places in the arena, Glynda turned to address the students once more.

"Just as a reminder, this fight is only until the opponent's aura falls into the red zone or is knocked out of the ring. Anything short of a killing blow is allowed. Are there any questions?"

None.

She turned back to the fighters. "Begin!"

Before the word had even fully left Goodwitch's lips, Jaune pulled Pridwen and fired off several ice arrows. Cinder smirked, dodging several and slicing the last one in half. Her eyes widened slightly when Jaune appeared in front of her, Excalibur held up in a double-handed overhead. She dodged to the right, spinning with Midnight ready to counter. The claymore's pommel met her elbow and stopped the move dead before Jaune dug his shoulder into her chest, shoving her back. He then returned Pridwen to its shield form and continued with a shield bash, throwing her back further.

When Cinder hit the ground, she immediately rolled back just before a heavy blade came from above, slamming down onto where she had been.

Jaune shifted his body, dropping his sword as Cinder returned, jabbing Midnight forward in a thrust. She made several attempts to cut him but he read each one with practiced ease. She wasn't as fast as she was when using the Maiden's powers and she wasn't trying as hard, underestimating him severely. He understood there was no killing intent coming from her but if he wanted her to take him as an actual threat, if she truly was planning something, he would be sure to push her to the edge.

When she came in for an overhead strike of her own, he grabbed one of the twin blades, allowing his aura to take the damage, before he pulled her forward. She tried to strike with the other but he ducked the strike, spinning her around in almost as if dancing before brutally chopping down on her wrist, forcing the blade out. He finished the spin and then gave her another shoulder tackle, then a second. He kicked one of her legs out from under her before shifting her arm to rest on his shoulder, spun himself, and hip tossed her over him and onto the ground. Hard.

The murmuring, which had been steadily building since the fight began, increased in intensity. Seeing Jaune, a "student", take on one who was considered a professor, and practically dominate the match, it was not something one would see everyday. He, of course, heard none of it as his eyes were on his opponent. His anger was nowhere near satiated as he retrieved Excalibur. There was no amount of pain that he could put her through that would ever bring back the people she killed. There was no amount of suffering that could ever comfort those who lost people to her selfish desires. There was no relief for him if he killed her now. But there would be satisfaction knowing that this Cinder would not dare attempt to take what he loves if he beat her down.

Whatever she had planned, he would ensure she thought twice if she knew he would be waiting for her to show her colors.

"You better start taking this seriously," he told her with an ice cold tone. Glynda might have been proud. "Stop holding back or I will beat you, professor."

Cinder lifted herself from the floor. The smirk was gone and there was genuine surprise in her eyes. She looked at him, her purple eyeliner slightly smudged and a few strands of hair were out of place. It was obvious that he had caught her off guard. She expected a fight against a first year student, one who had yet to experience being a Huntsman. Even Pyrrha, the prodigy that she was, couldn't have done what he had against Cinder. Then again, he wasn't a first year student, nor a "normal" Huntsman. He was a warrior who survived the Grimmlands, fighting the most horrific of creatures, and took on the greatest terrorists of Remnants entire history.

Cinder lifted herself up, dusting off her dress, before a hungry grin took its place on her lips. "You want me to get serious, hmm? Don't disappoint a girl when she gives you her all."

Jaune's eyes never left her as he moved over, picked up, and tossed Midnight back to the woman. The second her grip tightened on the blade, a heavy weight slammed into her back, staggering her forward. She couldn't tell what it was as her eyes stayed fixed on the now charging knight. He went for a double handed cleave which she immediately dodged, slipping into his right guard. She sliced at his hip but noticed the purple hue of his swords pommel and dodged just as his shield came flying into his hand. Her grin widened as he looked back at her, his one blue eye darkened like a dangerous sea storm.

Jaune threw a shield bash backwards but she disengaged from him just before. She took note of the gravity Dust that had been infused in the sword and the shield, meaning that even with one, he could recover the other. She couldn't help being impressed by the weapon, even enjoying the fact he also used a bow much similar to her.

The boy's cold blue eyes met her burning embers. She couldn't help the excitement she was currently feeling as she faced down a worthy opponent for her. Her heart was racing, the adrenaline was pumping, and the mystery of what he would do next invigorated her for more to come. He glared at her with such hate, despite her lack of knowledge why, and it sent shocks that made her slightly jittery to continue the bout.

Midnight began to glow bright amber as her Semblance ignited them, a buried passion resurfacing. His eyes only narrowed more and he lifted his sword, ready to engage her once more. Her grin grew until it was a wide smile of primal excitement as she awaited his next move.

Jaune moved faster than before, Cinder ready this time, and they clashed, the ringing strikes of metal upon metal blending together in a single resonant chime. Jaune blocked one strike with Pridwen and returned with Excalibur only to have it met with a sword and parried away. The heat caused sparks to fly as the pair met each other's attacks. Even as Jaune broke the stalemate with a flying knee, Cinder had read it and dodged before returning with both blades. He coated Excalibur in a sheath of ice before meeting the searing hot blades. The explosion of steam covered the arena, blinding everyone in the room.

Jaune couldn't see but neither could Cinder. Several arrows came surging through the steam, many missing but few coming very close to home. He dodged before grabbing one out of the air, it coming very close to his eye. It was searing hot, obviously having been enhanced by the Dust in her dress. He crushed it in his grip, shattering it like glass, before turning back as a few more soared through. He tried to figure out why she was shooting blindly but the answer soon came when the ground beneath him started to heat up.

Explosions of heated ground started to explode upward, carving a path straight towards him. He jumped to his right, avoiding the explosion of the flooring where he had just been standing. Another rain of arrows came and another trail of exploding terrain appeared beneath him.

Stabbing Excalibur into the ground, he held his shield with both hands and gave a mighty heave that created a gust of wind strong enough to remove the remains of steam.

The second Cinder was revealed, Pridwen went first, launched after transforming to its sheath form, as a makeshift spear. Cinder dodged to the right. Excalibur went immediately after, closer to home but not quite. The professor just dodged it but, in that moment of removing her eyes from him, he covered the distance with a boosted aura charge.

Cinder reeled from the elbow that was driven into her collarbone. Jaune wrapped one of her arms under his before he drew back and sent a left hook directly into her gut. She was lifted off the ground by a couple of inches but he held her close to him. Another punch met her side and another in the solar plexus.

Aura, while a defense against most attacks, did not stop one from feeling the pain of it. And she felt the empowered blow, much stronger than any attack he had done before. And, with her weapon in its bow form, she couldn't quite counter the attack.

The following slam also carried more power, a crater forming under her as she was thrown into the ground. The young professor's vision flashed momentarily as Jaune mounted her and slugged her in the jaw. She lifted her hands to protect against the onslaught of punches and elbows that he attempted to rain down on her. When the knight tried to bring down a haymaker, she twisted herself to the side, the attack landing beside her. Cinder lifted herself up, deflecting the next punch that was coming and placed her hand against his breastplate. His eyes widened and leapt off of her before her Semblance could activate.

Cinder rolled back to her feet and placed a hand to the floor. She grabbed Midnight and with perfect timing, propelled herself towards him. She fired off two blasts of heated gravel, forcing the knight on the back foot as he moved left and right to avoid both. She was on him in the same second and sliced at his shoulder.

The young woman's grin didn't last long as she noticed he didn't even flinch from the attack. It struck him and yet he did not show any signs of pain. And was he glowing?

The returning blow landed in her solar plexus. She dropped her to her knees immediately, her hands reaching out to grab the hem of his hoodie. She held on, adrenaline still flowing through her, thrills still pulsating through the pain. Her aura flashed but she didn't care.

Oh yeah, she was in pain. She had forgotten how pain truly felt. Not since her last match against Glynda had she truly been hurt by such heavy blows. Aura did its best to mitigate it but there were few who knew how to still make it hurt.

This, however, was a different kind of pain. It was a liberating kind of pain. One that made her feel alive again. She knew she picked right when choosing to face this boy, no, this man. To be able to absolutely crush her in the most sadistic of ways, it brought excitement to the life of the Huntress. Something beyond the boredom of teaching these brats. And she'd be damned if she was going to allow it to stop now.

When she looked up, the cold glare of the young man met her. A shiver like none other ran up her spine as those pools of blue stared daggers into her eyes. Her heart was still pounding and the ringing in her ears echoed, deafening the former thoughts she may have had. No students, no Glynda, just him. Just this fight. Just this man.

"It's over, Cinder..." He growled. It was low, dark, and sent another sensual shock up the spine.

"...I want your babies..." She muttered out.

"And that is the mat- CINDER!"

Alright, this chapter took a little longer than usual. And that's because I had both these scenes going many, many different ways. There's Jaune going off on Weiss, Weiss being way more aggressive, someone interrupting the two. Then there's the fights. I had Weiss challenging him, Lyone challenging him, even Weiss versus Lyone. But, hey, plan never meets the enemy.

And then there's Cinder. If it wasn't clear, she's not all bad. Even she's changed.

Alright, pairing polls.

Ruby - 3

Yang - 1

Pyrrha - 19

Harem - 46

Weiss - 4

Glynda - 3

Cinder - 2

Salem - 7

Port - 1

Oobleck - 1

Blake - 1

So yeah, not a lot of changes. Very minor. Probably missed a few votes but trying to keep it accurate.