A/N: I noticed a few spelling mishaps here and there, like me mixing up am with pm, my bad.
The morning sunshine slowly went over Jaune's eyes. Slowly waking up he could feel minor pain in his body. The smell of ice cream was all Jaune could tell, the taste of blood still lingering in his mouth. Getting up, he could feel his body groaning. He slowly walked to the bathroom surprised that his body was near 100%. Looking in the mirror he could see that all his bruises were gone, his leg didn't even have a limp in it. Man, aura sure is amazing.
Looking at the room, he was reminded just how much a mess this place was. If his mother saw it, she would throw him in the biggest pile with a broom and yell, "Clean it up by dinner!" Leaving the room he noticed, or well saw the lack of Neo. A little note was on the coffee table, Had a small job to do, once I get back we're heading back to training. A sigh left as he looked at the note, even if the training isn't as brutal as yesterday, who knows what Jaune will be reduced to… Think positive god damn it.
"Alright! We're gonna have a nice meal and a quick clean!" Even though it might seem like a chore, Jaune felt somewhat at home when he cleaned so it wouldn't be that bad. But first breakfast! Opening the fridge he saw new ingredients, did Neo go shopping? The thought barely went through his mind when he saw Pumpkin Pete's Marshmallow Flakes, a cereal brand he loved when he was a kid. Grabbing a bowl, spoon, milk, and said cereal, he ate a whole bowl within a minute. For some odd reason he was extra hungry today, feeling how the cereal wouldn't fill him, he went and checked what else was in the kitchen.
Finally deciding what he wanted, he took out thick cut bacon and eggs to make a classic style breakfast. Frying the bacon it quickly browned and turned somewhat crispy, he then put it on some paper towels to get rid of some of the grease. Then using the leftover bacon fat, he fried the eggs like usual sunny side up. A little salt and pepper, and boom the quick meal was done. The bacon was juicy and had a sweet crust on it while the eggs were cooked perfectly with the yolk just barely taking form. He finished it off with a glass of milk. He finally felt somewhat full.
Now that breakfast is over, I should do a little bit of cleaning. Of course when he thought this, it was mostly directed to the bedroom. The room was a mess as usual, garbage piles here and there, thrown away clothes, honestly Jaune was still in shock at how much of a mess it was. Though it was a mess, it didn't bother him too much. It could be worse, like when he had to do the family laundry…
Firstly he picked up any garbage he could find, most of them being something related to ice cream. The amount of ice cream related garbage filled a whole garbage bag which shocked Jaune to his core, just how much ice cream does that little girl eat?
Finished with the garbage he went and tidied up the room, making the bed, trying and somewhat failing at getting rid of ice cream stains, and nervously handling Neo's clothes. Seriously what am I supposed to do? Am I even allowed to touch this? Jaune didn't have any bad ideas when it came to Neo's clothes, he really just wanted to clean the room and it was hard with a huge pile of thrown around clothes. Half of his reason was that he needed to clean up and the other half reminded him of what she did when she got mad. After a good debate he finally led to the conclusion that he would treat it as if Neo was his own sister, that way he can go through without a worry… He hoped.
The clothes themselves weren't actually dirty, most of it was just thrown around, probably due to her panic over her scroll. So Jaune did what any normal brother would do with his sisters clothes, fold them and leave anything that would be too touchy touchy alone. Luckily for Jaune, the clothes were solely shirts and pants, most of which were just the same looking clothes. Does she really only wear one outfit? Even Jaune, who was infamous in his family for sticking to one type of clothes was worried about Neo's pick of clothing.
Looking at the clock, he saw it was almost 1 PM and Neo wasn't back. He didn't exactly like Neo, especially how she let Henry beat the ever loving shit out of Jaune, but he couldn't bring himself to hate her. Maybe something bad happened? She said it was a job and if she works for Roman then that has to mean something…. Right? Speaking of which, she is supposed to be his bodyguard so that means she is capable of fighting, but can her little self really beat up a guy like Henry? The image made him laugh, but for some reason he had no doubt about it once he thought about it.
An hour passed of him just relaxing, it seems Neo might actually not come… I hope she's ok… He knew he shouldn't worry about her, she didn't seem to care much for him but he still always cared about people he knew. It didn't help that he knew she was a part of some sort of crime so she must be doing something dangerous… Though Jaune didn't like criminals, he couldn't complain about them since he became an accomplice of one, hell he's living in a criminal's safe house.
The door opened and Jaune looked behind him, there Neo stood. She walked in throwing her umbrella… Parasol? Either way on the chair. Jaune could clearly see some blood on the parasol… Just what did she do?
A sigh came out of Neo as she went into the bedroom, surprised to see it cleaned and her clothes folded on the bed. She quickly looks over at Jaune with a confused look.
"I had nothing to do so I thought about cleaning up… Sorry for touching your clothes but they were everywhere." Jaune rubbed the back of his head while looking down at the floor, only having one glance to see her face. Jaune wasn't fully sure what her face meant but it mostly show confusion rather than anger, so that was a good thing at least.
Neo then walked into the room, closing the door. What felt like hours were only minutes with Jaune anxious to see how she reacts when she sees everything he did in there. Will she be creeped out? Angry? What? He imagined Henry's beatings again and could feel a cold sweat form. Eventually she came out, her clothes the same just less dirty. Walking out her face seemed neutral. Jaune couldn't tell if he should be happy or scared but all he could do was wait to see how his training is today as they both walk out of the apartment and head to the same construction zone.
Henry was definitely less hard on Jaune, his personality was actually quite nice, with him acting more friendly. It kinda made Jaune think that the Henry before was an act to scare Jaune, who knows?
"Listen kid, you keep guarding your upper body but you leave your legs wide open, if I wanted to I could just dash and slash your leg off. Of course your aura is huge so I doubt most monsters would be able to get through it. But if you ever go against someone who can break through that aura of yours, you'll be done for." This was yet another lecture that Henry gave whenever he beat down Jaune. "And another thing, stop hiding behind your shield, you got great defense already so you can take a few hits, try to go on the offensive for once." Even with all the lecturing, Jaune still had problems with putting Henry's advice to practice. He was too used to being on the defensive so the idea of attacking was difficult for him. But this time he would do something different, he has to, he is sick of getting beat by Henry.
They both got into their stance, ready for another match. The difference is that Jaune went strictly to offense, lunging towards Henry with his shield, trying to bash him with it. Henry in response dodged by leaping back, using his sword to parry the slash that Jaune tried to implement in his two part attack. He was wide open again and Henry thrust his sword straight towards his chest. Jaune was expecting this though, redirecting his shield to hit Henry's sword and using an overhead swing. Finally! I'm gonna get a hit! That happiness was abolished when Henry just kicked his shield, sending him flying once again.
"Oh come on! You got too much strength!" Jaune spat the blood in his mouth and looked at Henry straight in the eyes.
"You're gonna be fighting monsters with strength far greater than mine. You're stance was weak which made it easy for me to just kick you away. Though your attack this time was pretty good, better than your usual attacks." Jaune couldn't figure out if that was real praised but he was glad that he was improving somehow. He looked over at Neo who was watching the whole thing with a blank face, she really doesn't care. A sigh came over Jaune as he readied his sword for another duel.
It had been 3 hours of practice that day, with Jaune getting beaten to a pulp once again, though not as bad as before. For instance, he could actually walk. His stomach growled loud as he followed Neo, noticing it she went and headed towards the same chain diner.
The doors opened with a cling from the bell and LeTasha greeting them with another bright smile. "Now what can I get yall? The usual? Oh deary me, what happened to you?" The second her eyes had opened after the greeting she saw Jaune with his beaten face.
"Oh nothing to big, I was training and things got a little rough." LeTasha gave a worrying smile and looked over at Neo. She gave a smile and thumbs up which somehow made LeTasha seem less worried.
"Ok… Well yall can holla me anytime you need something. I'll get your food ready and an ice pack for you Jaune." All he could do was smile at the kindness that LeTasha always seemed to give, she really is kind.
Their food laid out in front of them, Neo with her random sundae and Jaune with his sandwich. They silently ate as usual, with barely much conversation going on. Jaune having a bit of trouble eating as he had one hand on his forehead with a bag of ice.
Once done with the quick meal, they headed towards the apartment. Neo seeming to be in a good mood and Jaune just happy he was able to improve during his training.
The apartment felt stuffy once they entered it, Jaune went and opened a window while Neo headed towards the bedroom, closing the door like usual. I hope she doesn't make a mess again. Then Jaune heard a buzz come from his scroll, Hey, just wanted to say good job at entertaining me today. Was more interesting when Henry let up on you. Goodnight. The message was simple yet made Jaune a little happy in a weird way. Like his work was acknowledged even though all he did was get kicked around and sometimes failing at an attack. Maybe he might actually become a proper hunter? The thought made Jaune happy to the core of his heart as he laid on the couch, watching cartoons until he fell asleep.
A/N: Wow, I'm honestly surprised I did another chapter in 3 hours… I don't know if that shows my ambition or my lack of talent. Either way here is another chapter out of nowhere.