[#5]


After flying back to the Academy for the third time that day, Blake made a beeline for her dorm. Some final preparations were still in order for what was yet to come.

Carrying a plastic bag containing a few recently-bought books she acquired from the bookstore she had been meaning to go, she also brought along a 'gift' from Pietro. Something that should considerably help ease her nerves, amongst other things.

She played their conversation in her head one more time, just to be certain she got the gist of it.


"You already built one just for me?"

"Being an optimist has its perks sometimes." Said Doctor Polendina. "I know I said this before, but I greatly appreciate your help in testing out the Wrencons. A device like this will certainly help a lot of people in the near future. If you don't mind me asking, what made you change your mind?"

"Eh…" 'Because I'm going out on a date with a boy whose hairstyle may or may not be cursed beyond comprehension and I need something to stop me from daydreaming about kissing him under the moonlight.' "I mean, being a Huntress and helping people kind of goes hand to hand. What is one more good deed, right? Heh."

"Well, I can see your altruism truly reflects your choice of career." Commended Pietro as he handed her the case containing the Wrencons. "Here, have a look for yourself."

Blake had done just that, already noticing the alterations. Both pieces were now fully painted black with dark-purple accents on them. Their arcs seemed a bit larger, which implied they were now meant to be put on the back of her Faunus ears as opposed to her regular ones.

"I hope you don't mind the more 'personal' adjustments I've made. I can revert them back to the old models if you want."

"No, no, they're perfect." Blake examined the custom Wrencons more closely. "Should I start wearing them now, or…"

"I would recommend using them for a mission or two per day. They don't serve much purpose outside of combat situations. At least not in this current version."

"Noted. Anything else I should know?"

"Actually, there is." Pietro adjusted himself on the seat of his mechanical chair. "As a doctor and a man of science, I am obligated to warn you about handling it with great caution. It is still a prototype, after all."

"I thought you said they were safe to use."

"Oh, it is perfectly safe to use. Under the right conditions, of course." He coughed. "Like I said before, it is designed to boost your senses by emitting a signal to your neural receptors whenever it detects a mental impairment of any kind. But there is also this feature I should warn you about."

"And that would be…"

"With each consecutive activation of the Wrencons, it will substantially increase the potency of all subsequential sensorial boosts under a refresh period of about an hour. This key feature is meant to be a safety precaution, in case the user isn't able to pick up on the signal at first. But if you repeatedly put yourself under the same circumstance, the signal and sensorial effects will grow stronger and stronger. And the last thing we need is for you to suffer from a sensory overload at a critical moment."

She had waited for him to follow that up with a joke. It didn't come.

"…But aside from that, it is totally safe to use, right?"

"Oh, it won't make your brain leak through your earholes, that much I guarantee. But just to be on the safe side, I have already toned down the output frequency, since I know your Faunus senses are quite strong enough on their own. But if it does end up causing you any discomfort, feel free to take them off at any time."

"I see… I'll keep all of that in mind, thank you." She nodded.

"I should be the one thanking you. Take as much time as you need, your feedback will surely be useful in my research." Said Pietro. "Oh, and show that Jaune-fellow and his outrageous haircut that they're no match for your graceful wiles and cunning intellect!"


Okay, admittedly he hadn't really said that last line, but screw it. Blake felt like she was already going crazy by this point, so might as well start making things up. Was it really too much to ask for a confidence boost from someone that wasn't Nora?

With the Wrencons in her possession, all that was left was getting to her room for another sum of final touches before meeting up with Jaune later at the city of Atlas.

That first part obviously hadn't taken much long. Scroll met scanner and the door was open. Easy enough.

As opposed to what was behind said door.

A pair of well-known half-sisters stood side-by-side with crossed-arms in the middle of the room, both shooting accusatory glares at their feline partner who had just stepped inside.

"Hey Blake…" Yang spoke drily.

"Hi…" She set aside her bag of books by the door as it slid closed behind her.

"How are you doing?" Ruby asked, in the same tone as her sister.

"I'm doing great, thanks for asking." Blake played along. "How about you?"

"Oh, you know. The usual." Said Ruby. "Met up with Penny this morning, she told me her father had switched out her interface overnight because of an unknown error and was complaining that she now had to spend twenty minutes on prompt commands just to change her screensaver- WAIT, DON'T CHANGE THE SUBJECT!"

"We haven't even got to the subject portion of this conversation yet." Blake pointed out. "What are you up to, anyway?"

"Shoot! She's onto us." She whispered to Yang. "Quick, let's switch roles. I'll be bad-cop now."

"We're not even doing the 'good-cop bad-cop' thing." Said the blond. "And besides, I'm already bad-cop by default. I can't switch out from it even if I wanted to."

"Yeah, more like violent-cop by default, because your interrogation methods always boil down to breaking the interrogee's jawbone before you can't even get their first name!"

"Still more effective than offering the keys to their handcuffs in exchange for a 'password' you don't even know what it's for, like really, why did you even rope us into that job at the precinct- Aw to hell with it…" She turned to Blake. "You're going on a dinner date with Jaune!"

The bob-haired Huntress stared blank-faced at her teammates for a solid second before responding.

"No, I'm not."

"Damn it, we almost had her!" Ruby cursed.

"Hang on." Yang extended her hand. "Then what are you doing later tonight?"

"I'm meeting with Jaune later at the main city." She responded straightforwardly. "…For dinner at a restaurant."

"Ah-HA!" Ruby pointed at her. "So you admit it!"

"I'm not admitting to anything. He wanted to try this place out and invited me along. We're simply meeting up as friends."

"Uh-huh…" Remarked Yang. "Friends. Right. There's no such thing as going out to a restaurant as just friends."

"Yeah! It's against the law, or something!" Ruby exclaimed.

Blake rolled her eyes. "Okay, you two are being ridiculous. What would Weiss even say if she saw how you're both acting?"

"I don't know, you tell me." Weiss said.

Blake turned back to a cross-armed Weiss standing in the corner behind her, with the same accusatory glare as the others.

"Were you…" Blake pointed a finger at them. "Were you all just waiting for me to come back just to do this bit?"

"This ain't no bit." Said Yang. "You were going out with Jaune and you didn't even bother to tell us."

"I honestly didn't think it was that important?" She shrugged. "How did you even find out about- It was Nora, wasn't it?"

"The point being!" Their leader spoke out. "That you have been hanging out with him a lot lately."

"Ever since he got that new haircut, to be more precise." Stated Weiss. "If I didn't know any better, I could have sworn you're just as down bad for him as Yang is in that regard."

"Wha?! No!" Protested Yang. "No. I'm not into short-haired blond doofuses who slightly resemble my dad!"

"That was oddly specific." Ruby said.

"I don't have time for this." Blake walked past them into the opposite end of their room and sat in front of their vanity mirror.

She originally planned to put extra effort on her makeup just before her encounter with Jaune. But with all the commotion going on in her room, she settled for just reapplying her eyeliner.

"So, when is he coming to pick you over?" Weiss questioned.

"He isn't." She responded. "He had an assignment with Marrow this evening, so we agreed to meet later by the restaurant."

"Doesn't sound very romantic of him." Yang snarled.

"Well, obviously. Since this isn't meant to be a romantic-" Blake cut herself off and resumed with her eyeliner. "You know what? Nothing I say will convince you otherwise, so why bother? I'll just endure things out like always. By the time next week arrives, we'll have already moved on to the next big thing in our lives."

"We don't always do that." Said Ruby. "…Do we?"

"Who knows?" Shrugged Blake. "The timespan between our first mission at the mines and the day of the election in this Volume is rather vague. For all we know, we could have the time to star in a plot of a videogame. Or in a Nondescript Winter Holiday special."

Weiss harumphed. "…That is nice and all, but could you drop off the meta tangent for now? We are trying to do a scene here."

"Well, too bad. Because I was just leaving." Blake was done with her eyeliner and quickly stood up from her seat. "Wait, I almost forgot."

She proceeded to undo the zipper of her long white tailcoat before tossing it onto her bed.

That warranted Ruby's curiosity. "…You're meeting up with Jaune in just your bodysuit?"

"Less is more." She responded. "Or so I was told."

Yang chuckled. "Ooh, I see where this is going. Already planning on scoring tonight, ain't ya?"

Their resident Faunus let out one more disgruntled groan before setting course for the door.

Only to find two more newcomers as soon as it opened. Ren and Oscar stood side by side in the hallway, both with crossed arms as well.

"I don't want to hear it!" Blake threw her arms and walked past them, stomping off down the hallway.

"…What is with her?" Questioned Oscar as he clutched his arms. "Brrr. Were the hallways always this cold?"

"Since we were by ourselves, Oscar and I were wondering if you girls had any plans for tonight." Spoke Ren. "Have we walked in at a bad time?"

"Nothing like that. Blake's just grumpy because she won't admit she's going out on a date with Jaune." Ruby responded.

"They're dating now?" Asked Oscar. "Not that I have anything against it, but I never pegged them as being in a close relationship with each other. Best I can think of was their hug in Argus, but that's about it."

"I could go as far as claim to never even heard Blake saying Jaune's name before." Assessed Ren. "That being said, they have been taking missions together quite often in recent days. But even then, they could still be going out as just friends."

"Welp! There's only one way to find out." Yang clasped her hands. "Gentlemen, I think we all know what this calls for."

"Hm. Let me guess." Hummed Ren. "We are going to respect their boundaries and not pry into their personal lives by stalking them on their nightly trip all for the sake of petty teasing and blackmail material, which not only would it be an irredeemably unacceptable thing to do as friends, but our presence there would only serve to artificially increase the tension of an already bare-bones plot."

Everyone else just blankly stared at him. Including Oscar.

"…We're going to spy on them?"

"We're going to spy on them." Yang nodded for confirmation.

"Standard procedure." Ruby shrugged with both hands up.

"Fair enough." Ren ceded. He felt like arguing against such practice, but frankly, he had nothing better to do all night. "I will go get my camera." He left for his room.

"And by that, you mean your scroll?" Weiss inquired.

"No, no. He means a different one." Oscar explained.


"And here I thought you were gonna stand me up." Quipped Nora. "On top of standing your actual date up. For shame."

Blake huffed, the cold wind of Solitas brushing past her uncovered arms due to the lack of sleeves on her current attire. She had arrived just in time at their rendezvous point: A street corner in the middle of the massive metropolitan city that was Atlas, one block away from the restaurant. A large crowd could be seen forming a line right in front of the establishment.

From there she was able to make out the restaurant's sign hanging over the entrance, with the words 'Lune de Corail' written in a fancy manner over the drawn silhouette of the shattered moon.

"Remind me again why you thought it was a good idea to tell our friends about tonight?" Blake asked.

"Well, had to break the news to them eventually." Smirked Nora. "Besides, this is just a 'friendly dinner' between you two, so there's nothing to hide. And what's the worse they can do? Spy on you guys?"

"Yes! That's exactly what they'll do!" Exclaimed Blake. "You realize how inconvenient it'll be?"

"Oh, really? So you're saying they'll most likely disrupt your date and save you from embarrassing yourself in front of Jaune?"

"I'm saying they will-" She blinked. "…You thought of this?"

"I don't know. Maybe? Or maybe I'm just enacting my role as the dedicated token wildcard of our ragtag group of heroes. Hard to tell even for me."

Nora wasn't exactly being forthcoming with her reasoning, so Blake paid no mind. She instead focused on the night sky. Not that there was much to behold over that pitch black veil above her, thanks to the city's light pollution.

Why was she doing this again? Oh right, new Blake. Still, what was even the reason she felt so apprehensive about it? His haircut? Was that really it?

She began to consider other possibilities. Maybe there was more to it. Maybe her own subconscious was trying to communicate something to her. Perhaps giving Jaune a 'new coat of paint' revealed feelings for him that she wasn't aware before. Either that, or his hair had truly been possessed by an anomalous entity from the Great War. One theory felt more believable than the other, that's for certain.

And yet, she couldn't shake the feeling that she was going to a battle unprepared.

"Hey, chillout." Spoke Nora. "You don't have to do this alone, remember? Like I said, I'll be there for motivational support."

"…Huh. Yeah, I guess so." Said Blake. "Thanks again. I know we two don't exactly share many moments like this together, but it is nice that I can count on you."

"Damn straight, sister!" She patted Blake's back. "You totally got this in the bag, so no worries. Here's hoping he does actually get here in time- Oh look! There he is…"

Confused at her use of reticence, Blake looked over to the general direction Nora was facing. Just as he had promised, Jaune had arrived to their non-date, and he was… Oh.

"Hey, you made it!" Jaune waved his arm as he approached them, wearing his same outfit as usual. Sans the armor.

Blake slowly raised her own hand to wave back at him. "H-Heya…"

"Wassup, dude!" Nora spoke in her place. "I heard you and Blakey here had an arrangement tonight."

"Oh, hey Nora." He said. "Yeah, I got us reservations for that restaurant just over there. Everyone's talking about it back at the Academy."

"I heard some good things too." Nora poked Blake with her elbow. "She was telling me all about it. Isn't that right, girl?"

Blake's own words were suddenly failing on her. Apparently, the whole 'less is more' thing could also work against her in some capacity. Without his breastplate, Jaune's high-collared plain black shirt only made his hair stand out even more.

Forget going to a battle unprepared. She felt like she was about to take a test she hadn't even studied for. Which from experience was objectively worse.

"So, I asked Marrow to hold onto my armor for tonight." He explained. "Figured it wouldn't make much sense to bring it to a restaurant of all places."

"Really? That's… Just great." Blake mustered a small sentence out of pure contempt. As if she didn't have a reason to dislike dogs already.

He then addressed Nora. "Hey, uhm… I know you probably wanted to hang out a bit more, but I did book a table with only two seats-"

"Oh, no. I was right about to take my leave." Said Nora. "I'm just finishing talking with Blake anyway. Ya know, girl stuff."

"Ah, I can imagine." No, he couldn't. "I'll let you finish your chat while I save our spot at the line. Don't leave a guy hanging for too long."

"S-Sure. I'll be there in a minute." Blake said.

"Good!" He began to cross the street while finger-gunning at Blake. "Looking great, by the way. Bye Nora."

"Bye, have a good one! Ha, ha…" Nora's small laugh turned into a sharp wince. "…Yeah, you're screwed. He brought the big guns."

Blake scoffed. "Huh? What happened with you being my motivational support?"

"Fine, fine. If you still insist. Whatever happens in there, just remember to follow the plan."

"Got it." Blake was about to cross the street. "Wait, what plan?"

She ended up asking no one, since Nora had completely disappeared from the scene.

"How…?" She questioned it, not jealous of being outstealth'd by someone who clearly lacked subtlety in all fronts. Not at all.

Now that she was left alone, she finally pulled out from her pocket the case containing Pietro's invention. She gave one last thought about using the Wrencons in what was clearly not an intended scenario for such a sensitive device. It could easily do nothing at best and a headache at worst.

But now that she had been stripped of all her confidence and possibly her sanity, she decided to give it a shot. If only for a small sense of assurance.

"If there was any good time to start testing these, might as well be now." She muttered to herself before putting them on.


The wait in line was going smoothly so far. Granted, standing still amongst dozens of other people in a sidewalk wasn't the most riveting activity in the world, but she was glad to have made it this far.

"So… Long line, right?" Jaune said.

"Yeah."

That had been their entire conversation and Blake couldn't be happier for it. They have been preoccupying themselves with the scenery. It wasn't as breathtaking as visiting Atlas for the first time, but gosh darn it if the city itself didn't look gorgeous from within. Especially at night.

So many lights and tall buildings as far as their eyes could see. Blake began to wonder why she hadn't gotten around the main city as often as her friends did.

As for the Wrencons she worn, there wasn't much it could really be said. Both pieces were neatly camouflaged on her hair, so that wouldn't raise any questions. She expected it however to be emitting some strange sounds, like a sonar or something, but it really did nothing of the sort.

Did she forgot to turn them on? Neither piece had a switch or anything, so she assumed they were on at all times.

"Hmph!" Came an indignant voice from behind her, prompting Blake to investigate.

A fairly rotund lady with blond dyed hair avoided her glance just a second too late. Her overly dazzling red dress screamed "Yes I burn money for fun how could you tell?"

'What's with everyone here?' Blake thought. She couldn't help but to feel uncomfortable ever since she joined Jaune on that line.

The people on that line were mostly those stereotypical rich folks she heard plenty about it. Both young and old. There was the occasional Atlas student she was able to recognize, but they were the exception.

She often sensed grumbles and weird glares aimed at her from the people around. Even from a few passer byes on that same sidewalk.

Instinctively, she reached out for the top of her head to adjust her bow-

'Oh… Right.'

She had got rid of that thing when she had set sail to Menagerie all those months ago.

And there she stood. In the middle of the capital of 'All Things Discriminatory' with her Faunus traits completely exposed for all of Solitas to see.

That hadn't been much of a problem for her in Mistral, but it certainly was in Atlas. And for the sake of tonight, she had no choice but to sulk it up.

"I have nothing to be ashamed of." Blake chanted under her breath. She parted ways with her bow for one simple reason. To accept who she was instead of hiding herself in the shadows. Even more so now, seeing how she had her hair cut shorter precisely to emphasize her Faunus traits.

And because she wanted her hair to resemble a character from an old book she liked, but her point still stood.

"Bonsoir, Monsieur. 'Ow may I 'elp you tonight?"

Blake was slightly surprised by that heavily accented phrase. The restaurant's host stood by a mahogany stand while eyeing them with an impatient expression.

'Wait, it's our turn already?' They had reached the entrance sooner than she had anticipated.

"Hello, I have a reservation for two at eight fifteen." Responded Jaune. "Oh, right! The name's Jaune Arc."

The thinned mustached host let out a deadpanned "Hmm" before checking his book. All the while, he kept shooting quick but strange glares at her. Blake tensed for a moment until he had spoken again.

"Pardon me for a moment." The host left his stand and went inside the restaurant.

"Huh. What do you think it was that about?" Jaune asked.

Blake had a small hunch to what could it be. She opted to keep it to herself as she swallowed dry. "Maybe they're just double-checking to see if there were any problems with the reservation?"

The suspense was short-lived, for better or for worse. The host came right back within a minute of wait, clearing his throat before addressing Jaune.

"Apologies, Monsieur. Allow me to escort you and your pair to your rightful table at once."

With that out of the way, the two followed the well-dressed stuffy man into the restaurant.

'Really? No fancy foreign names for me?' Blake thought as she finally stepped inside the establishment. And the very next moment, her eyes grew wide as a pair of saucers.

She expected the restaurant to be fancy, but not like, Schnee fancy. The first thing that crossed her mind upon stepping in was that they entered an aquarium by mistake. She was having a hard time finding a wall that wasn't covered by a massive fish tank, with even a couple of smaller tanks stationed in-between the tables, closest to the costumers. All of those tanks contained various species from all around their world, from the Vacuan pufferfish, to a couple of Valean spotted eels, to a shoal of Mistrali salmon and even the mouth-watering Menagerian Thunnini. The very very large ones.

There were hundreds of different species on display. A few of which Blake was sure went extinct decades ago.

And that was but a part of the décor. There were of course the sea-themed ornaments all over the restaurant, large panoramic windows that gave plenty of view to the streets they were mere minutes ago, some blue turvy lights that simulated an underwater effect and an expensive chandelier above them that slightly resembled a sea coral.

The costumers, much like the ones at the line outside, consisted mostly of rich kids, business men and gold-diggers. All par for the course at this point. And as for the odd one out, Blake cruised through the restaurant while her cat ears attracted all sorts of undesirable attention from the locals.

More and more this felt like a bad idea turning worse. And she hasn't even sat yet.

Speaking of... "We have prepared your table, Monsieur." The host gestured to their table. "One of our finest waiters will be with you in a minute. Please make yourselves comfortable for the time being. Au revoir." He no longer stood around and went back to attend the line at entrance. Blake automatically took a seat before Jaune could even offer to pull a chair for her, because of course he would.

She also noticed a few things upon sitting at that square table. The silky blue tablecloth, the fancily written menus, the small crystal dolphin ornament at the center, the silverware that look to be made out of actual silver. But most noticeable, the table's location.

The host had guided them to the farthest corner of the restaurant, surrounded by other empty tables and away from the majority of other customers. Next to their table was also the bottom corner of one of the fish tanks mounted to the wall, whereas she could see a tiny angelfish continuously swimming against the glass.

"That's weird." Jaune had sat down. "I could've sworn I had booked a table closest to the windows."

Blake had a solid idea to what was going on. And as humiliating as it seemed, she was honestly glad they hadn't kicked them out of the restaurant to begin with. Probably because the staff couldn't afford to make a fuss in front of everyone.

"Say, I have been meaning to ask." She tried to change the subject. "How are you able to afford a reservation at a place like this? I know our salary is good, but like, not that good."

"Hm? You mean you didn't know?" He asked. "There this whole 'Incentive Program' thing they have here in Atlas. A lot of businesses here offer great discounts to all Huntsmen in the city. Students too. It's a partnership deal they have with the Academy that helps promote their business."

"That's the first I hear of." Although, it did explain why there were Atlas students dining there as well. She could spot a few fully-fledged Huntsmen eating too, if their standard Atlas uniforms were anything to go by. The restaurant's dress code was a lot less restrictive towards mankind's defenders, it seemed. "Still, wouldn't you mind if I helped out with the tab?"

"No need! Tonight's my treat." He happily announced. "What else are friends for, anyway? Aside for the haircuts, but I'd be repeating myself."

"Yeah… The haircuts." Blake reached for the menu closest to her and quickly covered her vision of him with it. She had made it to the most difficult and dreadful part yet: Sitting right across from Jaune.

Prior to this day, she had been able to meticulously avoid any lingering effects caused by those blond spikes of his by simply facing the other way whenever she partnered up with him. But now, she was practically forced to look at him for the entirety of tonight's dinner, with pretty much almost nothing to distract her easily susceptible eyes.

It was times like these where she missed that silly rabbit from his old hoodie. At the very least she would have something else to focus on.

"Oh, look." Said Jaune. "Our waiter is coming."

'Phew.' Blake phewed in her mind. Somehow. 'At least I'll have someone to momentarily take my mind off this.' She turned to greet the person who would be taking their orders-

'No… Hell no…'

"'Ello, my dears!" Nora Greeted. Disguised as a waiter. Their waiter.

Not only she was wearing the same uniform with bowtie and everything, but also sporting a thick rounded pair of glasses, a fake rubber nose and a fake brown mustache that didn't even match her bright orange hair.

"I'll be your servant for tonight! May I take your orders?"

Flabbergasted as humanly (faunusly?) possible, Blake faced over to Jaune. There was no conceivable way he would fall for-

"So… I'm looking at the options here, but none of them are really catching my eye." Spoke Jaune as he held the menu close to his face. "Do you have any recommendations, sir?"

Or this could be one of those fanfics where the author purposefully writes Jaune with room temperature IQ for plot convenience. She should've seen this coming.

"You're just in luck!" Mustached Nora said. "Our today's special, the Atlesian Sole Fillet Florentine, happens to be one of our best reviewed dishes. But in ze meantime, would you like to order any drinks while we set you guys for a splendid full course meal?"

"I'll take any soft drink you'll have. Thank you." Jaune was back at examining the menu.

Nora then looked over to Blake, prompting her to say something.

"Oh! Uhm… I'll have water, I guess?"

"Right on it! Do take your time choosing your meals, though. But if you allow me a suggestion…" Nora went closer to whisper something in Blake's ear. "Don't forget about our smooth-talk strategy from earlier. Buy yourself as much time as you can. I'll be here when you inevitably end up forgetting your middle name."

After those words of 'encouragement', waiter Nora saluted the couple. "I'll be back with ze appetizers! So long, ma petit chou-fleur!"

"…'Mkay." Blake muttered as she watched her friend skip away. She turned back to her 'date', watching as his eyes darted back and forth across the menu.

'Smooth-talk strategy. Pfft. Right…'

Even though she felt as if her sanity was gradually depleting as the seconds ticked by, she wasn't about to resort to seducing Jaune for the sake of keeping her mental faculties fully operational.

Seriously, the last thing she needed was for the two of them to become an item by the end of the night. Nora's whole strategy was completely counter-intuitive. Not that Blake had anything against him, mind you. Especially now that Jaune's current self was a far cry from the greenhorn he was at Beacon, having grown into a respectable leader and earning the title of Huntsman just like the rest of them, and while still fumbling with his technique, he more than made up for it with his impressive poise he had managed to develop over the course of last year which she could clearly see it all over his large frame compromised of nothing but toned muscles that constantly outlined themselves from under his shirt-

'You know what, maybe it wouldn't hurt to give Nora's idea a try.'

Now, what would be her approach? What would be the most effective way to charm the blonde across the table? She didn't know the first thing about playing a guitar.

'Wait, no. I'm going about this the wrong way.' She pondered over it. Then all of the sudden, it clicked for her. 'That's it!'

If there was one skill in particular that she possessed, something that absolutely triumphed her peers by a landslide on the subject of 'romancing', was the literary knowledge she had gained over the years thanks to her old books. Blake could claim in all of her shameless pride to have countless trashy romance novels under her belt. She practically knew all about the courting process firsthand as per detailed in those pages, which contained a plethora of different scenarios, both in and outside the battlefield.

And after a whole adolescence of extensive research on the matter, it would all finally culminate in one successful date tonight. Even though this wasn't a real date. Suffice to say, she had this in the bag.

'Here goes nothing.'

"So, uh…" She attempted to clear her throat, which caused her to cough. "Do you, eh- Do you come here often?"

Jaune lowered his menu. "Hm? Whazzat?"

Blake immediately hid herself behind her menu. The blonde for his turn thought he had misheard something and shrugged it off, unaware of his date's plight. Years of academy training wasted.

'I swear, this Haircut.'