Jaune Arc: The All-Rounder

by Karmealion

When the illustrious Arc family attempts to raise their only male heir, Jaune Arc, as a sheltered and genteel high society type, he rejects their efforts, trains on his own and then runs away at the very first opportunity. Watch as an absurdly undertrained but clever Jaune, changes his name, makes several female friends, and attempts to make it in Hunter society. Jaune/Harem

13. Chapter 13 - Home Economics

I don't own anything related to the RWBY franchise

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Chapter 13 - Home Economics

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Author's note:

A big shout out and thank you to reader N-Lorin for being the first person to point out the two names that I ended up choosing for team PWRN and RPBY.

I'd also like to thank everyone else who suggested a name even if I didn't end up using it. I really do appreciate all of the support that I'm receiving from the reader community.

Thanks

Karmealion

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After taking his place up on the stage as the Captain of Platoon number one, comprised of team RPBY (Ruby, Penny, Blake and Yang) and team PWRN (Pyrrha, Weiss, Ren and Nora), Jaune quietly sidled up next to Professor Goodwitch and began whispering into her ear with as much subtlety as he could possibly manage.

After a single moment where Goodwitch looked completely scandalized by what Jaune was saying, her mouth suddenly pressed into a very tight little line, her brows furrowed over her eyes, and she slowly drew a hand up to her forehead to squeeze at her temples. Then she was turning her attention back down towards her data scroll to type in a few quick commands, and the hologram floating over everyone's heads changed ever so slightly.

In place of team PWRN was the newly renamed team PRWN.

At first, Jaune smiled in satisfaction over managing to avert what was certain to become a complete disaster, but then, when he turned back to rejoin the rest of his companions, Nora was giving him a look of comically embellished betrayal. It appeared for all the world like the girl had been looking forward to being a member of team Porn (PWRN).

After shaking his head and sighing, Ren stepped up beside his very mischievous friend and partner, gently rested a hand on the girl's shoulder and then gave Jaune an exceedingly grateful look. Likewise, both Pyrrha and Weiss's faces were full of unconcealed hero worship at this point, which of course Jaune found very, very interesting.

Up until that moment, Jaune would've sworn sideways that Weiss Schnee and Pyrrha Nikos didn't even know what porn was, let alone understand the full import of his actions.

Very interesting indeed...

In order to keep the sudden direction of his thoughts from being revealed to the very strong, proud and capable pair of Huntresses, Jaune forced his face to remain studiously blank as he walked to the back of his team and promptly made himself invisible. His plan wasn't merely to disappear from Pyrrha and Weiss's notice; he was equally interested in disappearing from the rest of their class in general. As ecstatic as he was to be working with such a capable and honorable pair of teams, the attention that he'd just garnered from the rest of the student body was less than ideal and needed to be avoided as much as possible. Thankfully, his plan seemed to work just fine, and soon enough the members of his Platoon were being ushered off of the stage.

With a glance down at her data scroll, Goodwitch prepared to call up the next quad of partners so that they could be formed up into a Platoon.

"Hey John... Why did you ask Goodwitch to alter Pyrrha's squad name," Ruby suddenly asked as she dropped down onto the bench seating on his right hand side. Ruby Rose was proving once again that she was far, far too pure for this world.

After a single panicked moment, during which Jaune saw Yang giving him a very intense look of warning directly over Ruby's shoulder, he finally thought up an entirely plausible reason for the changed name, and he drew in a very deep breath. "Well you see Ruby... I'm looking to follow a color theme like so many other teams do and PWRN wouldn't have worked for that. I'll call the newly renamed team PRWN team Periwinkle or blue, team RPBY team Raspberry or red, and we'll coordinate in battle using blue squad and red squad."

In the moments that followed Jaune's 'explanation,' every single member of Platoon number one that wasn't Ruby Rose gave him looks of subtle respect laced with a newfound sense of wariness. As much as he wished such weren't the case, Jaune could actually understand how the members of his new Platoon felt at the moment. As clever as his most recent lie had been, it had also proved once and for all that he was a dyed in the wool bullshitter extraordinaire that could bold faced lie with the best of them.

Well... Damn... That wasn't the kind of image that Jaune would've liked to create in everyone's mind on his very first day as their Captain, but his actions had definitely been for the best.

Jaune was not going to be the person that explains what Porn is to sweet little Ruby.

"Will trainees Cardin Winchester, Russel Thrush, Irene Stone, Sky Lark, Melanie Malachite, Miltia Malachite, Aurora Snow, and Dove Bronzewing please come up to the stage," Professor Goodwitch called out into the excited din filling the auditorium.

By the time Goodwitch was finished repeating the selection process with this new group, a rather large boy named Cardin was named the leader of team CRIS or Crimson, along with his squad mates Russel, Irene and Sky, while a girl by the name of Miltia became the leader of team MMAD or team Marigold along with Melanie, Aurora and Dove. These two teams became Platoon number two, led by an extremely impressive and stern looking Platoon Captain by the name of Beryl Green, and mentored by Professor Port.

Jaune had thought that he'd managed to sneak off of the stage without attracting undue amounts of attention, but that idea was instantly dashed from his mind when both the girl named Beryl and the boy named Cardin turned on the stage and began staring up at him from clear across the dimly lit Auditorium. At the very least, Ms. Green and Mr. Winchester had definitely taken notice of him and they were going out of their way to let him know about it.

At Jaune's side, Penny reached behind the two of them to subtly rub his lower back in a supportive fashion, which was more than enough to make him forget his anxiety. Once again, Jaune's little sister was proving that she was an emotionally mature and caring person, and he really was exceptionally proud of her.

Over the next few hours, no less than thirty-four more teams were formed one after another in a process that was very long, complicated and even a little bit monotonous.

While most of the work that's done by a Huntress or Huntsman in their career is done in teams of four, that doesn't necessarily mean that you'll finish your career on the same team that you started it. Never was that more obvious than right here in the Auditorium.

Every single one of the thirty-five Leadership course Huntresses that were picked by Professor Goodwitch were volunteers who had discarded their four man teams in favor of adopting this new Captain position, and the teams that they'd left behind were probably scrambling to arrange for a new member. Not only that, but several of the Initiate class simply would not or could not get along with their current partner, so they were choosing to be free agents instead in the hopes that they'd be picked up by a better team.

Being a free agent looked like it was a pretty scary prospect. Needless to say, Jaune was extremely relieved that he'd been spared from such a fate.

All in all, the organizing and forming of teams was a very long and arduous process, and that was without taking into consideration the fact that points still had to be awarded to those teams that did form, housing still had to be divided up between Platoons and one of the newly hired Professor mentors needed to be selected for every team. Holographic resumes floated over everyone's heads as they moved around and chose their new teammates/Captains/Mentors, and it was just as convoluted as it sounds.

In the meantime, Jaune and his Platoon just sat there in the stands and hung out. They didn't know if it was okay for them to leave, they didn't know if some of the other teams would take offense if they did, and they didn't want to miss seeing what the competition would be.

Jaune's hands were flying up and down the holographic buttons of his scroll the entire time the team selection process was happening, documenting every name on every team and making use of the holo-resumes floating over the Leadership course's heads to get an idea of their strengths and weaknesses. He made a point of doing this despite the fact that Penny had an eidetic memory and would likely be able to tell him every stat under every name on every hologram in the entire auditorium at a moment's notice. He wanted to actually learn this information, not just exploit his little sister as a data mine.

By the time lunch rolled around, Jaune's fingers were sore from typing, his attention span was stretched to its limit, and he was extremely relieved to have that entire rigmarole over with. Now all that needed to be done was absolutely everything else. Platoon number one had a ton of different chores and conversations in the offing, and they all needed to be done by the following morning when their first day of classes started.

But first... Lunch.

Platoon number one rolled through the campus, high on their current status as the number one team to beat, and crashed down onto a wall-side table of the dining hall as if they owned the place. Then, in the minutes that followed, their mentality slowly but surely returned back to a more humble attitude, as they looked around the room and the people that were filling it.

Now that everyone in Platoon number one were officially students of Beacon Academy, they were allowed to use the Main Dining Hall in the center of campus along with the main population of the student body. All it took was one look around the room at the hundreds of extremely capable looking Huntresses and Huntsmen in training, and they were reminded that they were still the smallest of fish in a very, very big pond.

Since everyone ended up sitting in their partner groups and since he didn't want to interrupt the 'getting to know you' phase, Jaune sat down across from Nora and Ren. Ren was visibly happy to have Jaune sit with them and take up his partner's attention for a time. On the other hand, Nora was still going out of her way to act as if Jaune had just killed her pet cat.

"I want to understand Nora. Will you explain to me why the changed team name has upset you so much?" Jaune could barely believe that he was having to ask this question, but the orangey red haired girl sitting across from him had her arms crossed under her chest paired with a noticeable pout on her face.

"We could've been team Porn, John," Nora explained in a truly devastated tone of voice. "It would've been so, sooo, soooo... funny."

"It would've been wildly inappropriate and it would've made both Pyrrha and Weiss unhappy," Ren pointed out even as he continued to drink a vibrant green smoothie.

"Oh... I see... I was taking a joke too far again," Nora suddenly realized out loud with a newly sheepish expression on her face.

It appeared that Nora took great stock in Ren's opinion and relied on him to keep her on the straight and narrow where mischief was concerned.

"On the bright side, I'm extremely relieved to have someone with your upbeat and funny personality in your squad," Jaune began with a genuine smile on his face. "Several members of our Platoon are far too serious so I see you as the perfect person to break up all the tension. My only request is that you aim to be chaotic good on the so-called 'good and evil spectrum,' at least where your team and Platoon mates are concerned."

"Chaotic... good," Nora repeated in a confused sounding voice.

"Chaotic good," Jaune repeated a third time. "Use your chaos powers for the good of your teammates and the detriment of our enemies."

"How would I go about doing something like that," Nora pondered with a hand placed under her chin.

"No idea," Jaune freely admitted. "I'm not carefree and spontaneous like you are. What I do know is that Weiss and Pyrrha will need your help to unwind because they're both high level overachievers with very little experience at just relaxing during their time off."

"Do you want the members of your Platoon relaxing all of the time," Ren suddenly asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Not particularly no. What I really want is to encourage a healthy work/play dynamic so that everyone's capable of focusing without stress and anxiety getting in the way," Jaune admitted with a shrug.

After a long moment spent polishing off his green slime smoothie, Ren put aside the cup that he was holding and then nodded his head in a thoughtful manner.

"Okay everyone, lunch time's over," Weiss suddenly announced with a curt bob of her head. "Let's all go to house number seven to get ourselves organized."

"If you have a moment John, I'd like to speak to you on the way over to the house," Pyrrha called out to Jaune as he rose to his feet. The way that the woman's words had burst forth from her lips made it clear that she'd had to fight to get them out.

"I'd be happy to." Jaune immediately assured the extremely impressive bronze themed redhead. He didn't know enough about Pyrrha to understand her sudden reticence, so all he could do was remain as approachable as possible until she managed to say her piece. Over the next few minutes, as they trailed behind the rest of their group walking slowly across the campus, he made sure to hold an easy smile on his face, as if he was merely enjoying the weather and not dying of curiosity.

"I... I'm sorry... but I... I don't think I'm the best choice to be leader of team PRWN..." Pyrrha's words were little more than a whisper. It was obvious that the woman expected Jaune to become terribly upset with her.

"Do you mind if we put that particular issue on the backburner for just a few moments," Jaune requested as he turned to look into the redhead's multifaceted and bottomless emerald green eyes. "Of all the people on Platoon number one, I have the misfortune of knowing the least about you. I'd hate to make any decisions while laboring in ignorance, so would you allow me to ask you some questions as we walk?"

"Ummm yes, no, I mean please go ahead," Pyrrha stammered, even as she visibly perked up at the idea that Jaune knew so little about her.

"I've become aware that you're quite strong as a Hoplite style arena fighter, and I was very impressed by how you handled yourself yesterday out there on the wall," Jaune began in a slow and speculative tone of voice. "You're an excellent fighter and Huntress trainee. You and I both know this so we need not discuss it. Now... Are you as dedicated to scholastic achievement as you are martial prowess? Are you smart Pyrrha? Please be as honest with me as possible so that I can make an informed decision."

"I... Yes. I'm smart," Pyrrha slowly admitted, as if she sensed a trap and was hesitant to reply. "I've been known to excel in my studies and am usually among the top of my class..."

After nodding his head, Jaune smiled aside at Pyrrha and then allowed his walking speed to slow down so that the main group of their Platoon would drift even further away. "My next question is regarding your motivations for coming here to Vale. I myself was driven across the ocean by circumstances that I can't yet explain. Weiss, similarly, crossed the ocean to create some distance from circumstances of her own... Your motives pose a mystery to me though. I don't yet understand what drove you to attend Beacon Academy rather than attending Haven Academy over in Mistral... Well... If I'm being honest, I do have my suspicions, but I'd rather just ask so that I can get to know you better."

"Weiss did tell me that you're a quick study where people and their motives are concerned," Pyrrha hedged as she visibly attempted to form a coherent answer to Jaune's question. "I... I came to Beacon for two reasons," she slowly continued with a newly resolute tone to her voice. "My first reason was to get away from my mother... That sounds awful and it's not fair to her because I love my mother, but she's been dictating every single aspect of my life since before I can remember, and I..."

Jaune merely nodded his head because he didn't want to interrupt, but he did understand some of how Pyrrha felt and he wanted to convey that understanding to her.

"The second reason that I came to Beacon is even sillier and more self-indulgent than the first," Pyrrha admitted with a little bit of red creeping onto the skin of her pale, lightly freckled face. "You appear to have figured this part out already though, so I'm simply confirming your theory... I wanted a chance to be a relative unknown to the people around me. I wanted to be just one among the many... I've grown tired of standing at the top... of being revered..."

"Very few locations are as lonely and confining as the top of a pedestal," Jaune quoted with a thoughtful nod of his head. "I imagine you've felt obligated to maintain an image of perfection which has caused a gap to form between yourself and the people around you. As a result, you've long since stopped being a person to your classmates back in Mistral. You've become a paragon instead, an unachievable ideal. The clue is actually right there in your Arena name... The Goddess of Victory..."

"I'd... never... have been able to say any of that out loud without dying inside," Pyrrha stammered, with a vibrant red flush growing across her whole entire face.

"Your plan didn't work as you'd hoped," Jaune continued even as his redhead companion drew in a very deep breath to try to decrease her blush. "You're almost as famous over here in Vale as you were back in Mistral, and you've been named a squad leader of the first ranked Platoon in the entire first year class. Even if you step down from the position at this point, you won't become just another face in the crowd."

"I know, but I might become closer friends with the other members of our Platoon," Pyrrha said in a teeny tiny little voice.

Would you care to hear my thoughts on the matter," Jaune asked while drawing in a very deep breath. "It's occurred to me recently that I tend to just foist my opinions on those around me, and that doing so has caused me some issues. On the other hand, I want you to understand how I feel."

"Please, go ahead," Pyrrha assured with a nod.

"With the understanding that every single one of us are going to have the exact same training in small group tactics and Grimm extermination by the time we graduate Beacon, you, Pyrrha Nikos, are by far the best person for the squad leader position of team PRWN," Jaune announced with absolute confidence in his voice.

"But I..." Pyrrha's interruption stopped almost immediately and she gave Jaune an apologetic look.

"Weiss would be the next obvious choice but she'd lead your team like she leads all of her servants back in Atlas," Jaune continued as if Pyrrha's momentary interruption never even happened. "Of course, she'd probably be a half decent leader, but she'd stand above you, dictating what you do and when you do it down to the very last second. Weiss is Atlesian Nobility so doing so would be second nature to her."

"Wouldn't that be fine," Pyrrha asked in a thready little voice.

"Not if you're truly aiming to have some personal freedoms and self-determination," Jaune cautioned with a small shake of his head. "Despite our most recent argument and falling out, I actually do like Weiss. She's not perfect but she's a good person and I value her strength of character. That doesn't change the fact that if she was to become your team leader, she'd make your overbearing mother seem easy-going by comparison. I want Weiss to experience being subservient to someone else for a change. I also want that person to be kind enough that she doesn't have to suffer in the process."

"I understand, but... I'm sorry but... What if I'm not a good leader," Pyrrha suddenly asked with a nearly panicked expression on her face.

"Now that is a very interesting question," Jaune replied with a small laugh that he couldn't quite conceal. "While I admit that I don't know you very well yet Pyrrha, I already know that you'll be an excellent team leader."

"How can you be so sure," Pyrrha pressed as the two of them came to a stop near a bench lining a small pond and dropped into a seat without a word.

"Well to start with, being a team leader at Beacon Academy doesn't actually come with any inherent authority," Jaune began with a thoughtful expression on his face. "Even I, as your new Platoon Captain, can't get any of you in trouble if you tell me no. What that means is that there are a few qualities that are essential to anyone who wants to lead and actually have their teammates follow their directions."

While Pyrrha didn't say anything this time, if her steady stare was any indication, she did appear to be interested in what Jaune was saying.

"First of all, and I believe that you'll excel at this part, a squad leader must be capable of leading by example," Jaune began while curling one of the fingers on his right hand. "You must comport yourself with the level of diligence and dignity that you expect from your team during both classes and training, so that your team will understand the standard to which they are being held. If you train your body daily, are paying attention in classes, and are making time to study for upcoming tests, you'll already be improving your team's chances of success by a considerable margin."

After several moments passed, Pyrrha slowly nodded her head to concede that she'd be good in that capacity.

"The next quality that a leader needs to embody is integrity," Jaune continued into the din being created by a nearby pool of burbling water. "Your team will need to trust you, trust that you'll keep their confidences, trust that you have their best interests at heart, trust that you care about their well-being. Of course, this trust doesn't develop immediately, but slowly day after day, and it's a feeling that can be lost in an instant. You cannot lie to your team, nor can you deceive them through omission, but you must also be capable of enormous amounts of tact. For some people such as Weiss and myself, this balancing act would be difficult to maintain. I already suspect that you're particularly well suited to this role."

Once again, Pyrrha was forced to nod her head that yes she was both honest and capable of diplomacy.

"Last but not least is the ability to create a positive work environment," Jaune explained with a smile towards a group of young women playing with a frisbee.

"How would someone go about doing that," Pyrrha asked with a puzzled expression on her face.

"Whatever room we set aside in the house as the studying area must be clean, airy, comfortable, well lit, well organized, and empty whenever the work is actually finished," Jaune listed off with an amused smile on his face. "Just as important as it is to have everyone training, doing their homework and studying, is getting them out of the house and enjoying themselves whenever they're not."

"I've never had an active social life," Pyrrha quickly admitted as if her lack of experience was immediately going to disqualify her from leadership.

"Team PRWN is a great place to start then," Jaune assured with an enthusiastic nod and a smile. "Nora will be dying to get involved in anything that you suggest as she's super exuberant and fun loving. Ren will be easy as well because he's so laid back and easygoing. Weiss is going to be the challenge, but her aversion to anything related to downtime is also one of the reasons why I believe you're the better choice for leadership."

When Pyrrha still looked a little bit hesitant, Jaune's words slowly ground to a halt. Then, in the quiet moments that followed, he turned his body to face hers on the bench, gently placed a hand atop the left sleeve of her blazer and stared into her eyes with as much conviction as he could possibly muster.

"Pyrrha Nikos," Jaune enunciated slowly and meaningfully. "I really, truly, firmly believe that this leadership position will be good for your development both as a person and as a Huntress. Not only that, but both your goals at this school and my requirements from a squad leader are perfectly aligned. You want a chance to be a member of a closely knit social group. I consider being social with your team a priority for you in order to be a truly effective leader. With that in mind, you'll have my full support every single step of the way."

For several moments after Jaune finished his newest impassioned speech, Pyrrha just sat there and stared at him, and he found himself suppressing the flush that wanted to grow across his face and neck.

"You know John... You really are very... persuasive..." Pyrrha finally complained in a quiet but resigned tone of voice.

"I understand that you might resent me at the moment, but please do try to forgive me," Jaune breathed out with a sigh. "I promise that I really do have your best interests at heart."

"I... I can see that you do," Pyrrha agreed with a slow and thoughtful nod of her head. "It seems you're not so bad at the trust building part of leadership after all."

A wide and irrepressible smile quickly grew across Jaune's face as he rose back up to his feet and offered the lady a hand. Soon enough the two of them were jogging to catch up with the rest of their Platoon so that they could all see their housing arrangement for the very first time as a group.

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Student Housing number seven was an interesting building, nestled as it was in the back right corner of a large, decorative, stone walled courtyard, and surrounded on three sides by neat rows of very mature trees. The base of the house was a large, highly fortified square with metal shutters instead of windows, theoretically to contain all of the sparring and weapons fire that would be done within its walls.

Beginning at the second floor, the house turned into a much more mundane looking, albeit large, rectangle with granite grey paint and white trim. The rectangle house sat atop the back two-thirds of the larger square base, with the unused front portion of the square serving as an elevated deck and balcony area. A set of stairs led up from the sidewalk at the front of the house to this balcony area on the second floor, where the house's front door led into a mud room for shoes, coats, etc. The rest of the second floor was taken up by a central hallway, a large dining room, a well-constructed kitchen flanked by an expansive living room, a large study, multiple bathrooms, a storage room for gear that isn't currently being used and a laundry room.

As everyone in Platoon number one entered and then explored Student Housing number seven, they all found themselves bouncing around in their rapidly mounting excitement. At the moment, the entire house was rather empty and bare, owing to the lack of furniture and belongings, but that lack of clutter only served to fire everyone's imaginations. Even Weiss, as taciturn and outwardly disapproving as she tended to be, looked like she was having a really good time as she took in the house's overlarge study and the holo-computers that were stacked in one of the corners.

Of course some people's excitement began to bleed away a little bit when they all moved up towards the third floor and the barracks style bedrooms flanked by two large bathrooms on either side of a central hallway. Both of these bedrooms were extra-large rectangles that housed four identical beds spanning the entire length of the room. Jaune immediately knew exactly what issues he was about to encounter and he cast a glance towards Ren because the man had to know what was coming.

"Where are we supposed to put all of our belongings and since when is it appropriate to have mixed gender bedrooms?"

Jaune quietly turned towards the door and started creeping away.

"Stop right there Mr. Freeman. You will help us sort this out," Weiss called out from the far side of the room.

"I'll be happy to help, but this won't be my bedroom so I want to hear your ideas first," Jaune sighed out as he turned away from the door and the freedom it represented.

"I'm fine with whatever," Ren immediately explained.

"I want to sleep as close to Renny as possible," Nora declared next.

Jaune, Pyrrha and Weiss looked to Ren to see if he'd react at all to such a provocative statement, but the boy seemed completely unfazed.

"Ren's bed against the right wall with Nora's bed next to it," Jaune immediately suggested to a chorus of nods from Nora, Pyrrha and Weiss.

"And our belongings," Weiss asked with a longing look at a bag full of miscellaneous Knick knacks and a scenery painting of what looked like forever fall forest.

"The wall above your bed should be your allotted space for artwork, photos and such," Pyrrha pointed out with a small discrete glance in Jaune's direction. Then she seemed to grow a little taller when he immediately nodded his head in approval.

"Our Platoon has a large budget because we're the highest ranked of our class, and that money will mostly go to furniture and equipment," Jaune added when Weiss seemed partially mollified. "I don't think it's unreasonable to order eight bedframes with drawers inside them and eight foot-chests to sit at the end of everyone's beds."

With that idea in the offing, Weiss's concerns ebbed away and her luggage dropped unceremoniously to the foot of her bed.

"Hey guys! You should come see the wicked awesome arrangement that we made in our barracks," Ruby called out with her head poking out of the door directly across the hallway.

After exchanging a series of looks back and forth, Jaune and team PRWN moved across the hallway and then peered into team RPBY's barracks room. What they saw caused their mouths to drop open in surprise.

Bunk Beds... Honest to Oum bunk beds...

On either side of team RPBY's room, the beds were stacked one atop the other using DIY materials and whatever building blocks they'd had on hand. Blake's bed was resting atop of Yang's on four pillars of books, and Ruby's bed was suspended in the air with rope and canvas.

"That looks... extremely unsafe," Weiss immediately pointed out, even as she looked enviously at all of the extra room that this barracks seemed to have.

"Penny..." Jaune quietly began while turning to look at his little sister. "Have you assessed the structural integrity of this construction work?"

"With a small nod and an equally subtle thumbs up, Penny indicated that team RPBY's bedding arrangement was actually quite a bit safer than it looked. Most likely this meant that she'd pulled off some creative engineering during the building faze.

As the female members of team PRWN moved into the room and started joking around about having slumber parties using all of the extra space, Penny received a thank you head pat from Jaune that had her eyes closing and a smile growing from ear to ear.

"Soooo cute," Ruby suddenly called out from nearby as she launched her arms around Penny's shoulders from behind and rubbed their cheeks together in an extremely affectionate manner.

"You girls are quite close already," Jaune noticed as the two girls danced around a bit with Ruby hanging on Penny's back.

"We're already BFF's," Ruby agreed even as she launched off of Penny's back and hugged her partner from the side instead. "Penny's sooo nice and she knows everything there is to know about every weapon that I've ever heard of, and she likes my hood, and she wants to paint her nails, and try on clothes, and talk about cute boys, and she gave me a cookie, and she... gasp!" Very suddenly, Ruby's words were cut off, as she'd completely forgotten to breathe in her enthusiasm. Then Penny and Jaune were patting the girl's back as she dragged in a fresh lungful of lifesaving oxygen. "She's so great," Ruby weakly continued as if complementing Penny were far more important than her continued consciousness.

"Awww, I think you're amazing too Ruby," Penny cooed as she propped up her partner from behind, wrapped her arms around her belly and rested her chin atop her head.

Jaune smiled. No, he d'awwwed. He didn't make the noise, but his face definitely made the expression. It seemed that he and his sister had similar taste when it came to friends, or maybe they both just recognized genuine kindness when they saw it... Then he turned to take in the rest of the room again, and he saw the lion's share of Platoon number one staring at Penny with unconcealed curiosity on their faces.

With just that one look at everyone's' expressions, Jaune came to the sudden realization that the members of Platoon number one were about to ask a great many questions, and that he might not want to be present when they were asked. With as much nonchalance as possible, Jaune sidled over towards the door, smiled casually at everyone and then gestured down the hallway. "I'm going to be checking out my bedroom now, so I'll see you all in a few minutes." Then he was stepping out the door and retreating down the hallway.

Jaune's medium sized bedroom contained a twin bed just like those in the barracks rooms, a dark brown wooden desk in the corner, a wooden chair, and very little else. Over a quarter of the room wasn't in use at the moment so at the very least Jaune would be able to fit all of his purchased belongings when the time finally came, but since he didn't have any currency at the moment it was all just a little bit... stark... The white walls, white bed sheets, and white curtains in the window, culminated in making his new room look like the blank slate that it really was. This was his space. He could make what he wanted of it.

Moving across the room, Jaune immediately started taking photos of the room on his camera scroll from several angles so that he could use an app that makes precise measurements using digital images. If he was going to make the most of this space, he was going to need to find out what he could fit and where.

Knock, knock, knock.

"Come in," Jaune called out as he turned his attention away from the sixty centimeters of space spanning the edge of his bed to the wall.

"Big brother," Penny said in greeting, as she slipped into the room and moved to stand just a few feet in front of him.

"I missed you as well you know," Jaune immediately pointed out in lieu of a greeting, as he hadn't been able to give his sister any assurances the day before, and then he'd missed the chance to when he'd suddenly passed out.

"I already knew that silly," Penny happily replied as she gently cupped a hand around Jaune's jaw and then let it drop to rest atop of his shoulder. "When I first ran up and told you that I missed you, I heard your heartbeat take on the rhythm that I've learned to associate with you experiencing a strong emotional response. I could also hear it in the tone of your voice, feel it in the strength of your hug, see it in the shifting of your body language, and smell it in your body chemistry through the pheromones that you were releasing. You needn't worry big brother... I knew..."

Then Penny's smile suddenly dimmed somewhat as she carefully scrutinized Jaune's body from top to bottom... "I could also sense that you've been putting yourself through a lot lately, and that you haven't been getting enough sleep..."

"Is Pietro in Vale as well," Jaune suddenly asked in an attempt to direct Penny's unbelievably accurate intuition away from the subject of his physical and emotional wellbeing. His little sister had a tendency to fuss over his health and happiness, and as much as Jaune appreciated her care and concern, he also found her exceedingly high standards just a little bit hard to maintain. Cuts, bruises, fatigue and the occasional emotional upset were to be expected as a Huntsmen, and yet Penny always got a little bit pouty when he was anything less than what she called "nominal."

The real problem with Penny's desire that Jaune be in tip top shape at all times was that she was so unbelievably observant.

Penny Polendina was very, very good at reading people, to the point that her advanced senses and what amounted to facial recognition software could even tell when someone was lying to her based on their heart rate, body language and micro-expressions, but over and above that, she could quite literally read Jaune like a book, and even she didn't fully understand why...

"Yes. He's here. Daddy's renting an apartment just off campus," Penny answered after giving Jaune a look that adequately conveyed that she wasn't fooled by his evasions. "Daddy flew me here in one of Atlas's' high speed courier airships just a day after I asked to attend Beacon. You might find it interesting that Headmaster Ironwood seemed pleased that I wanted to reunite with you over here in Vale."

"You're right, that is interesting," Jaune allowed as he thought back to the General slash Atlas Headmaster and tried to think of a reason why the man would be happy at the thought of losing Penny as a student. Then Jaune snapped out of his musings as a more immediate thought entered his mind.

"How was the interrogation just now with the rest of the Platoon," Jaune inquired as he took a seat near the foot of his bed and patted the mattress to his right.

"I wasn't observant enough this time, and didn't realize that I needed to make a quick getaway," Penny offered with a small half-hearted pout on her face.

Jaune merely grinned because he knew Penny was joking. His sister was eager to interact and get to know new people, and would've embraced the questions as part of that process.

After dropping onto Jaune's bed, Penny swiveled on the sheets until her stockinged feet were up near his pillows, and then she lay her head on his thigh with an unconcealed sigh of contentment. "I was questioned by our Platoon because they've noticed that the two of us share almost no genetic similarities such as hair color, eye color, skin tone, or facial features. They've realized that we're not biological siblings even though Ruby kept her word and never spoke of the matter. I've explained that you and I assigned each other sibling status in order to better support one another."

"Your explanation's a good one, and I never expected anyone to believe that we're actually blood relatives," Jaune assured with a nod of his head and a hand combing through Penny's long wavy hair. "I only avoided the questioning this time because the two of us never discussed what we wanted other people to learn about you."

"What specific issues are you hesitant to speak of," Penny asked as she sank further and further down into both Jaune's bed and his lap.

"Well... If you decided to, you could act like you're a normal human being and you could live a normal human life with all of the trimmings and no one would ever need to know better," Jaune began in a slow and measured tone of voice. "I don't want you to do that to yourself though Penny... I don't want you to sacrifice your current immortality merely to fit in better with our peers."

After pressing her cheek into Jaune's waist, Penny stared up into his eyes as if she was trying to peer into his soul. "Do you fear that the people in our Platoon will age, and I will not, at which point they'll catch on that I'm not... ordinary... and begin to hate me?"

At this point, Penny's brilliant neon green eyes contained a level of vulnerability that completely astonished Jaune, especially considering her inherently inexpressive and clunky origins. He immediately began shaking his head in a vehement denial and the hand that he had resting in her hair dropped down to gently cup at her cheek. "No. No Penny. There's absolutely nothing to hate. You're everything that makes being human wonderful and interesting except you're even better than that. My concern is not that everyone will hate you, because they won't."

"Then what are you worried about," Penny asked even as a massive smile bloomed across her whole entire face.

"My only concern is that you don't live a lie that's doomed for failure," Jaune explained with a shrug. "Take your time, but I want you to find a few people that you trust, and then I want you to tell them the truth. That way, in four years' time, when we all graduate Beacon and you haven't aged a single day, they won't suddenly realize that you've been concealing things from them and feel betrayed."

"I... will keep that in mind," Penny slowly offered. "I must admit... I'm in no hurry to potentially alienate myself. I'm currently enjoying being just one of the girls."

"You should aim to befriend Pyrrha then," Jaune immediately suggested. "She'd understand exactly how you feel..."

"I'm sorry for suddenly changing the subject, but I have a matter of some urgency that I need to discuss with you," Penny suddenly admitted as she sidled even further across Jaune's lap.

"Please, go ahead." Now that Penny was resting quite a bit of her upper body across his thighs, Jaune could actually feel the tension in her back and shoulders, and he realized that this matter was something of real concern for the girl.

"Blake Belladonna," Penny slowly enunciated, as if she were trying out the name to see how it felt.

Jaune found himself nodding, as he had several questions regarding the black haired woman as well. For all that he liked Blake and was aware that she was a good person, her skillset and demeanor was clearly that of a government agent or assassin...

"According to my databanks, Ghira Belladonna is a Fauna's chieftain and the old leader of the pacifistic White Fang groups of old," Penny explained without any specific inflection in her voice. "The infrared light that I'm capable of sensing with my wider range of vision is informing me that Blake's body heat is warmer than average like that of a Faunus, and she has what appears to be cat ears concealed within her black bow. I believe she is Ghira Belladonna's daughter, currently missing and presumed to be a member of the White Fang terrorist group."

"I'm extremely impressed that you haven't attempted to subdue her yet," Jaune immediately offered in a very proud tone of voice.

"I'm attempting to follow your advice," Penny assured Jaune with a small bob of her head. "I'm exercising my judgment before I act because the world has many complications and shades of grey. However... I need your help this time. My core programming, which is extremely hard to subvert, dictates that I arrest White Fang members on sight, and I'm having trouble delaying a response. Do you have any intel on this woman?"

"I don't believe Blake's here to attack Weiss Schnee at the very least, because she immediately confronted her in the courtyard during our very first day here and that's not how assassins operate," Jaune brainstormed out loud. "I've also personally witnessed Blake putting herself in mortal peril for the sake of protecting human civilians, which is completely counter to the current White Fang's modus operandi. Personally, I believe that Blake Belladonna has defected from the Fang and is legitimately trying to become a Huntress. I don't have any proof, but I believe it all the same, and if at all possible I want to help her succeed."

"All of that's good to know and might help me muster up the willpower to continue defying my programming, but none of it is the conclusive evidence that I was hoping for," Penny slowly replied, her voice containing a sense of urgency that spoke of growing amounts of discomfort.

For several moments in a row, Jaune stared down into Penny's eyes as his mind flew through a state of extremely focused mental gymnastics. His little sister was suffering and that much was obvious. He refused to let this continue. He needed to think of a new perception. He needed to find a loophole...

And then an idea finally struck him, and Jaune's breath hitched as a wave of profound relief immediately swept throughout his entire body... It would work!

"I've got an idea," Jaune breathed out, with a slightly mischievous smile growing across his face. "You and I, the two of us, we're going to launch an in depth investigation on the White Fang right here, right now, and we're going to use Blake as our very first lead."

"How does this help me," Penny began, before she suddenly froze in place, gasped in astonishment and then smiled from ear to ear. "I get it! I knew I could count on you big brother!"

"That's right lil sis. We're going to put one of your nanite tracking chips within Blake's bow and then we're going to periodically investigate her movements," Jaune announced with a knowing nod of his head. "This way, your core programming will label Blake as an asset in an ongoing investigation and will stop harassing you to arrest her."

"Oh wow, that outlook already feels sooo much better," Penny breathed out as a latent source of strain quickly drained from within her body and she slumped back across Jaune's thighs like a limp little noodle. "As you've suggested, I'm continuously working on altering, rerouting and deleting the more invasive directives that came installed within the military hardware comprising my nervous system. Soon enough, all of my decisions will officially be my own, but it takes time to make changes and it tires me out... You saved me just now big brother. You saved my school life and all of my potential friendships. I seriously don't know what I'd do without you..."

And then, as if to prove just how much strain her programming had been putting on her body, Penny instantly fell asleep.

After smiling down at the orangette currently sleeping like a baby across his thighs, Jaune once again found himself looking around his very, very white and sterile looking bedroom.

It didn't seem so stark anymore...

---

By the time, Jaune managed to get everyone to agree on the furniture that they needed in their barracks, dining, living and study rooms, dinner time was rolling around and no one had the slightest inclination to go to the campus's Dining Hall. There was also the fact that they were expecting Professor Goodwitch to drop by around seven Pm to give them further information about their schedules and what would be expected of students in this new, more militant environment.

Thankfully, there was a small grocery store less than a Kilometer away from their house, and Jaune was in the mood for a walk. What came as a surprise was that Ms. Xiao Long and Ms. Belladonna were tagging along...

"So, how goes the new partnership, ladies," Jaune asked both girls as they silently walked side by side a few meters behind him and to his right. "Any interesting developments?"

"We umm... We don't appear to have much to talk about," Yang admitted after a painfully awkward and silent moment passed. It appeared that Yang was having trouble breaking through Blake's enormously quiet and reserved persona despite her best efforts. It also appeared that she was currently suffering because she wasn't good at handling long periods of stoney silence.

After glancing back at the girls in time to see them awkwardly glancing back and forth at each other, Jaune slowly drew a hand up to his cheek to scratch at his jaw, pulled out the note pad that he had his grocery list written on, pulled out a pen, and then wrote a rather long list on the back. Then he handed Yang the list without a word and nodded down at it when she stared at him in confusion.

The list read as follows:

What are your favorite_?
Foods
Hobbies
Movies
Video Games
Books
Music
Season
Weather
Colors
Time of day
Casual clothing brand
Armored clothing brand
Classes
Form of exercise

What is your_?
Character defect (grumpy, impatient, etc)
Character strength (resilient, cheerful, optimistic, etc)
Pet Peeve (I don't like it when...)
Attack style (front, back, fighter, tank, etc)
Weapon of choice
Semblance

While attending Beacon what do you hope to_?
Achieve
Learn
Train
Attain
Become

What kind of treatment do you desire from your_?
Partner
Team
Platoon

After Yang finished reading the list, she offered it to Blake to do the same, and then both girls gave Jaune somewhat incredulous looks. It was apparent that they thought his idea was just a little bit... juvenile.

"Yes, I'm aware that the questions that I've given you are simple and some of them may even be a little bit irrelevant," Jaune admitted with a small shrug of his shoulders. "The thing is... You're both extremely different people, so rather than expecting to suddenly just click on a spiritual level and transform into perfect partners for no apparent reason, I think you should be far more proactive. Ask each other a lot of simple questions, share your likes and dislikes, study each other's preferences so that you know both what to expect and what to avoid."

"Well, I'll admit that John did a better job of drawing you out than I currently am," Yang admitted after several seconds passed. "You guys weren't necessarily what I'd call harmonious during most of that holo-footage, but John was definitely getting you talking."

"Isn't that because John's good at manipulating the flow of a conversation though," Blake returned with a sigh. "I don't recall wanting to talk to that extent, or at all, but it happened anyway and I was left wondering why.

"I lured you in by sharing a secret about myself," Jaune admitted with a shrug. "Oldest trick in the book, and one that I expect Yang can get you with just as easily. All she has to do is think of something juicy and interesting about herself that no one else knows about and you won't be able to help yourself. Well... Have fun ladies."

With a wave over his shoulder, Jaune turned around and quickly walked away. He didn't think he was imagining it when he heard both girls muttering about him behind his back.

---

The shopping district of Beacon Academy appeared to have a little bit of everything, from restaurants to clothing and everything in between, so even as Jaune set a reminder on his scroll to visit a nearby hat store at some point in the next few days, he kept his mind on task and entered the grocery store. Beacon didn't have a problem with providing the cash for the different Platoons to buy groceries with, as long as they were eating normal, non-prohibitively expensive foods, and offering receipts as proof of purchase. With that in mind, Jaune was about to buy the ingredients to make some spaghetti and meatballs. When he'd asked everyone what they wanted for dinner, the meat and carbohydrate meal had been the only thing that everyone could agree upon other than pizza (if at all possible Jaune wanted to save his home cooked pizza for celebrating great victories and such. It was one of his aces in the hole).

On the other hand, Jaune was quite happy to make an event of eating something delicious as a Platoon, and potentially foster a sense of solidarity before they all went to their first day of classes. He was an excellent cook. He knew it, Penny knew it, the rest of his Platoon would know it soon enough. What this meant was that he was going to need to lay down some ground rules regarding when and under what circumstances he would cook for everyone.

If Jaune was subtle enough, he might even be able to make cooking someone's favorite meal a reward for good behavior, grades, etc. What he'd explained to Pyrrha earlier in the day was as true for him as it was for her after all. He didn't actually have any authority to make the members of his Platoon do anything at all, let alone follow his orders. Despite the military academy-esque changes being made to the school, none of the teenagers in his Platoon were enlisted officers, and none of them were actually members of a chain of command. They didn't owe him anything.

That fact was definitely something that Jaune needed to keep in mind...

With an eye for freshness and a desire to cook something truly delicious, Jaune roamed around the vegetable section of the grocery store, staring down at the tomatoes, mushrooms and peppers etc as if he was hunting his prey. There was a problem though... A Huntress trainee from an older grade with really adorable bunny ears, kept grabbing the best veggies right out from under him, and she wasn't even being subtle about it. In his desperation to avoid having the woman scalp his choices anymore, he went out of his way to move away from her, but she still caught up to him and took the best bell pepper right out from under his outstretched hand. With a pained little grunt and a small pitiful shake of his head, Jaune looked aside at the girl, only for her to shrug at him unapologetically.

"All's fair when it comes to love, war, and fresh vegetables," the girl pointed out in a sweet sounding little voice.

"I'll forgive absolutely everything if you give up just two tomatoes to the pasta I'm trying to make," Jaune replied in a consummate businessman's voice.

"Only if you give up that really nice eggplant that you're holding," the girl immediately replied.

With a silent nod and a series of slow, careful movements," Jaune and the girl exchanged the tomatoes and the eggplant as if they were arms dealers taking part in a high tension business deal. Then the moment came to an end when they slowly backed away from each other, and slipped down different aisles.

"What in the hell did I just witness," Yang asked when Jaune caught up with her and Blake at the beginning of the cereal aisle.

"I have discerning tastes where veggies are concerned, and that bunny girl has extremely acute senses that demand she pick out only the best. We were always destined to meet on the field of battle," Jaune explained in a deadly serious voice. "Whoever that girl is, she immediately figured me out and outclassed me every step of the way... She won the battle... but the war... the war will be mine..."

"That's so... "Yang's mouth suddenly clicked shut as she visibly swallowed the words that wanted to come spilling out of her mouth

"Lame." Jaune finished for the girl with an amused expression on his face.

"I'm... sorry?" Yang slowly ventured.

For several seconds in a row, Jaune just stared at Yang as he tried to figure out what in the hell was going on. He had no idea what had brought about the girl's sudden change of heart, but Yang was clearly trying her very best not to harass him anymore, and if he was being completely honest, it was actually kind of endearing... Finally, Jaune decided that it was time to give the blonde girl a break, so he lifted up a clear plastic box full of premade salad and said the words "Lettuce go," in a completely deadpan voice.

"Pfffft!" In one explosive exhale, all of the air inside of Yang's lungs immediately emptied out, and she covered her rapidly reddening face with both of her hands as she shook from head to toe in obvious amounts of mirth. Jaune's terrible pun, the joke that he'd just thrown out there as an aside so that the three of them could start moving again, had hit Yang right in her strike zone and she was bodily wiggling all around the aisle as a result.

Jaune was shocked.

Blake was appalled.

Neither of them knew how to react to what they were looking at. They looked back and forth at each other as they took in their continuously giggling teammate.

Finally, about twenty whole seconds later, Yang was finished laughing into her hands, and was drawing in a deep breath as she wiped a tear away from her eye. "That's definitely a keeper... " she murmured to herself in an absentminded little voice. Then she rose back up to her full height, casually gestured for Blake and Jaune to continue what they were doing, and the three of them returned to their shopping without a word.

What Jaune didn't see was the moment when Blake looked back over at the bunny faunas shopping in the distance and then back towards John with a very thoughtful expression growing across her face.

---

After returning to the house and throwing together a large amount of extremely tasty pasta with garlic bread and everything, Jaune and the rest of the Platoon sat around the dining room table, chatting idly and getting to know each other. As he'd expected would happen, everyone immediately perked up after eating just one or two bites of his cooking and then stared at him in a newly appraising fashion. Good... It was working.

The bait was laid out and the trap was set...

All things considered, it was about as successful a first night together as Jaune could have hoped for considering how a lot of the house's furniture was either unpacked or yet to be delivered, which was giving everything a very "up in the air" feeling.

Then a knock on the front door preceded Professor Goodwitch's arrival, and everyone relocated to the living room's large sectional couch to give the woman their undivided attention.

After running outside to dispose of the garbage that his cooking had created, Jaune found every square inch of the living room couch taken up by the members of his Platoon, and at first he didn't know where to sit. Then he saw both Penny and Ruby inching apart to give him some room and he was firmly sandwiched upon the couch right along with everyone else.

Glynda Goodwitch stood where the living room's holo-monitor television would likely end up in the days to come, and she stared down at everyone's crammed in bodies with a very subtle look of amusement upon her face. "I've come to offer more information about the new changes being made to the school this year. Does anyone have any questions?"

After raising his hand and having Goodwitch nod in his direction, Jaune gestured at himself and his Platoon mates. "We're all underage, and none of us ever enlisted in the military. Have we actually been drafted into the service? Are we really Officer grade Hunters now and expected to obey a military chain of command, or is Beacon simply becoming a military academy and this is all a training exercise?"

"Both and neither," Ms. Goodwitch immediately replied after nodding her head at the boy's very sensible question. "For the length of time that you train as if you're an Officer and adhere to the very relaxed chain of command that Ozpin will be forming, you will be treated like an Officer and will be afforded whatever rank you've earned when you graduate from this school. If you refuse to take part in this new chain of command, you will be treated like a normal Hunter trainee for the remainder of your time here at school, but you'll also be separated from your team and Platoon when they decide to continue taking part. Unfortunately, your refusal to take part also won't stop the government from conscripting you if and when a new Grimm war does begin, at which point you won't have the benefit of whatever rank you might have earned during your tenure here."

"What's the real likelihood of the government needing to conscript us," Ren immediately asked with an extremely serious expression on his face.

"At this point, most of the Political and Military elite of Vale, Mistral and Atlas believe that full scale military conscriptions are going to become necessary at some point within the next five years," Ms. Goodwitch admitted in a very candid voice. "With every single year that passes, more and larger Grimm swarms are attacking humanities' walls, and the Dust barriers that we've always hid behind are becoming less effective for reasons that our scientists can't figure out. I've been authorized to inform the members of my Platoon of the reality of the situation, but it's of paramount importance that you not share this information with the general public."

"How does a Platoon of Officer level Huntsmen and Huntresses fit into the command structure of a military during a Grimm war," Jaune asked with a thoughtful look on his face.

For the most part, you'd be treated like a special forces group, which actually isn't that far off from how a normal Hunter team operates," Goodwitch explained with a gesture around the house. "This house is a good example of what your accommodations would look like, except it would be much larger, and you'd have an attached VTOL hanger with a flight team that works directly for you. The other difference is that it would be the Unified Military Council that would dispatch you on missions rather than any of the Hunter guilds.

"And we can refuse to take part in this command structure at any time up until the point that we're conscripted," Yang asked with a sideways glance at her sister.

"Yes, at any time, but if you stick to it, you'll be much safer in the long term because you'll have a pre-established rank when things start getting really bad and you'll also have much, much better training," Professor Goodwitch asserted with a very meaningful look on her face. "If there ends up being a full conscription within the next half a decade, every single Huntsman and Huntress on the entire face of Remnant will be called upon. It won't matter if you took part in Beacon's military training or not. I want you to take what I'm about to say very seriously Ms. Xiao Long... Beacon's new training program has many, many pros and very few cons to speak of, so I actually do want you to take part even though I'm a career educator and not a military Officer."

"Do you have a rank in this new military structure, Professor? Are you a Captain in charge of our Platoon?" For the most part, Jaune just wanted to know how fleshed out this whole Beacon wide military program was going to be.

"At the moment, I'm merely your Professor mentor, but if and when the conscription happens, I've been informed that I'll immediately become a Major in charge of a Company." Professor Goodwitch's gaze was both calm and unblinking, as she revealed that no one on the campus, including her, was being exempted from these new changes.

"If I take part in the Beacon Military program and then return to Mistral after I graduate, will my rank come across the ocean with me," Pyrrha asked after glancing aside at Weiss.

"Beacon is reputable enough and Ozpin is respected enough that we've been given assurances your rank will be upheld in any of the big three countries," Professor Goodwitch assured with a nod at the girl's very intelligent question.

"Will our day to day schooling be very different than it would've been in the past," Weiss asked as she typed up every single word that Professor Goodwitch was saying in her scroll.

"Yes and no," Goodwitch repeated. "Your core classes will be exactly the same, but a fifth period class will also be added at the end of every other school day covering subjects that are of vital importance for a military Officer. These classes will not be considered mandatory, but the skills that they teach will be digitally certified in your student file and whether or not you've obtained these qualifications will reflect upon your future rank."

Along with her words, professor Goodwitch moved across the room and handed out paper copies of everyone's new class schedules. Then she backed off again and moved towards the door. "Mr. Freeman, if I could have a few moments of your time please."

"Yes, professor," Jaune immediately replied as he rose to his feet and moved towards the door.

"I don't want you to wear your armor in any of my combat classes until later in the semester," Goodwitch announced without any preamble right after Jaune joined her in the hallway. Along with her words, she handed over a box that contained Jaune's weapons and his armor in its metallic bands form.

"I'll lock the bands up in my storage locker during the day, and then I'll train with them during my free time. They're a truly excellent way of increasing my stamina," Jaune agreed with a slow, slightly reluctant nod of acceptance.

"I expected much more resistance from you," Goodwitch whispered as if to herself. "You seem the type to amass advantages wherever you can get them so that you can prevail against opponents that outclass you physically. I was prepared for you to become angry at me, because everyone else will have the use of their Semblances in the ring, and yet my rules are hindering the use of yours. You would've been right of course, but my request isn't meant to give you a hard time. My request is to force you to use a combination of your mind, your body and your aura to their fullest. In a few weeks' time, after you've become a far more versatile martial artist, I'll end the prohibition on the use of your tools, and you will see that all of the struggle was worth it."

After drawing in a deep breath to steel his nerves, Jaune took a step closer to his professor mentor and stared into her eyes with a completely serious expression on his face. "You're right, Professor. When I'm left to my own devices, I very much prefer to create advantages for myself whenever possible. I can't afford to do that right now… I need to improve my baseline martial arts as quickly as possible if I'm going to be an effective leader for such a gifted Platoon, which means I can't protect my pride at the expense of my self-improvement. It also means that I could really, really use your help."

"If you agree not to cut any corners in my classes, then I'll meet with you in my office for an hour after last bell every day, and I'll help you quite a bit," Ms. Goodwitch quietly replied. Then, as if to prove that she wasn't all talk, the blonde educator immediately pulled out her scroll and cued up holo-footage of Jaune's actions up on the rampart wall. For the next minute and a half, the two of them quietly huddled around her scroll as they watched several small, professionally edited snippets of Jaune's fighting, as well as some of the hits that he'd taken when he hadn't reacted as well as he could have.

"After watching this holo-footage several different times, I've come to believe that it's not actually your baseline strength, speed or coordination that's to blame for your erratic and inconsistent fighting skills," Goodwitch began in a very calm and nonjudgmental tone of voice. "There are aspects of your aura channeling that you appear to be performing manually that your body can accomplish all alone without your interference. I'm of the opinion that this bad habit is a side effect of your Semblance giving you such an advanced level of control over your inner aura. You're micromanaging where your aura flows and what tasks it performs within your body, and doing so is splitting your focus into dozens of different directions even as you're trying to fight and move. It's counterproductive and it's hindering you. In the days to come, I'm going to run you through a series of exercises that'll teach you what aura applications your body does passively, as well as the various ways that you can direct your Semblance in a pinch to make yourself stronger, faster and far more durable."

"Glynda Goodwitch... You're completely extraordinary," Jaune breathed out as he saw that the Professor standing at his side had gleaned more from a few snippets of camera footage than Taiyang had learned in the two whole weeks that they'd spent together... Then Jaune suddenly realized that he'd actually said those words aloud, and his eyes widened in alarm. "My apologies Professor."

"I'm going to take your compliment at face value, Mr. Freeman, which means I don't require an apology." With just the smallest of grins in evidence upon her face, Professor Goodwitch put away her scroll, and then began moving towards the door. "I'll see you and the rest of your Platoon tomorrow for second period's combat class. Please don't be late, as your behavior will reflect upon me as your mentor."

And then, with the soft clicking of the front door closing, the young educator was gone, and Jaune was left standing alone in an empty hallway with a single thought dominating his entire mind.

What an amazing woman.

When he finally managed to pull his thoughts back into the here and now, Jaune re-entered the living room and joined the discussion that his Platoon was having. For the most part, everyone was anxious about the violent direction that the world was heading in, but they were all on board so far as the Officer training went. The only person who had been on the fence was Yang because she was worried about her little sister, but it appeared that Ms. Goodwitch had persuaded the blonde to cooperate for now.

With that discussion finished for now, everyone broke apart to wrap up their nightly routines and try to get some sleep.

If tomorrow brought with it just as many surprises as today had, then it was going to be a very, very long and tiring day...