Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or any of its franchise.

A helpful guide incase you get confused:
"Dialogue."
'Thoughts. Who's POV is this under anyways?'
[Semblances]

-x-

Chapter 15 - The Book Club is Accepting Assassins Now

"Thanks for coming with me, Velvet." I smiled at my company for the day.

Velvet's rabbit ears twitched atop her head, and a rosy hue began to cover her face. Part of me wondered if maybe that her attraction to me, but I knew that Velvet was out of my league. I shouldn't get my hopes up.

"N- no, no, I should be thanking you, Jaune. I have been stuck in Beacon training, so it's nice to go out into Vale… Besides," she looked left and right as if Coco would jump out of any corner. "Coco and the guys were unusually protective around me at the academy. It's honestly annoying."

"Ah, I understand where you're coming from." I said, remembering the times the twins had made sure I was okay. Even during the most recent mission last night, they were insufferably stifling in their bodyguard jobs. Miltia had searched my entire body to make sure I wasn't injured after we made our clean getaway.

Velvet looked at me for a bit, tilting her head and letting her ears flop to one side. "You do?"

"Y- yeah, for my uh, job! They're making sure I don't make mistakes, you know?"

"They do that for ice cream stands nowadays?" Velvet asked, and I began to sweat at how much attention she was putting on my face. Her eyes were roving over it as if I was hiding another scar.

To be honest, I felt that she was too perceptive for her own good. I chalked it up to her partial photographic memory.

I hid my grimace as I thought up any excuse. "W- well, I got another job. The ice cream stand wasn't making enough money to support my expenses."

Velvet's eyes narrowed a bit. "I see."

'Hopefully she bought that…' I thought, feeling the pulse of an Aura behind us. 'And then there's the stalkers, too.'

Velvet had originally asked if I knew any bookstores in Vale for her textbooks, and I was all for a bit of rest after a whole night of craziness. I had thought Yatsuhashi and their whole team would join us, too. However, they had all canceled at the last minute, leaving Velvet and I to go check out Tuskon's bookstore by ourselves.

And as stoked as I was to hang out with a pretty girl, I should have figured something was going on.

I took a peek over my shoulder, looking at the alleyway across the street. There was a particularly interesting trash can by the exit to the sideway from the darker than normal alleyway, but it seemed like normal city imagery. However, I knew there were three Auras hiding inside that alleyway. Specifically, the Auras of Velvet's team being hidden with Coco's Semblance.

'Of course, they've got to make sure hormonal Jaune keeps to himself with their pretty friend. Why didn't they just come? Save all of the trouble.' I sighed internally, turning back to a cluelessly smiling Velvet. She had been humming to herself, fingering the camera that hung on her neck while taking pictures of random portions of the city.

"So," I started, watching as Velvet snapped her attention to me. "How are classes at Beacon? I've read a bit online from what other people say, but firsthand experience is probably more reliable."

"Oh, that's what he wanted to ask…" Velvet whispered, and I saw the tips of her ears droop a little. "Well, classes are… boring, I guess. I don't think combat classes are the easiest because some people seem to try and pick on me, and I don't really like… confrontation."

"Right, I guess it's-" My teeth clicked as I shut my mouth to stop myself from talking.

I felt a bit of sweat run down my brown as I remembered her Faunus heritage. After the war eighty years ago, Faunus rights were much better than they would had been, but there was still a bit of discrimination around. It was getting better, though.

Still, there were enough people still prejudiced against Faunus that the White Fang were clearly a thing. And I just realized that I was probably asking Velvet about how many times she was discriminated against in Beacon. I hadn't explicitly said it yet, but the question was lingering there if I continued my queries about Beacon.

'Great, foot meet mouth. Good going, Jaune.' I mentally slapped myself, feeling conscious about how Coco's Aura was flaring somewhere behind us. Yatsuhashi and Fox were there as well, and I felt their Auras holding back Coco's.

They were definitely holding her back from killing me. I silently thanked them, and turned back to Velvet. She looked at me as I gestured to her camera.

"So, I'm guessing you like photography?" Not the best conversation starter, but Velvet seemed to appreciate the change in topics.

The Faunus smiled at me. "A bit. What gave it away?"

"Oh, you know," I waved, letting out a sigh as I felt Coco's Aura calm down. It felt like her anger was assuaged, if barely. "One of my sisters is really into collages and stuff, so I was forced to know all the best spots to take good pictures."

Went unsaid was the fact that I used that knowledge to know where the best spots for a stakeout were. Though, I guess it was one of the little things that I hadn't realized I used during my forays into the underbelly of Vale.

Velvet giggled a bit at what I said, and I struggled to find where the joke was. "Maybe you can take me to these spots sometime. Though, you never told me you about your sisters; I never had any siblings, so I wouldn't know what its like."

"Well, they're a handful." I said, smiling. "I've got seven of them; two younger and five older." Velvet covered her mouth with her hand and said something under her breath about rabbits and if they ran with the family. "Yeah, the older ones always wanted to dote on me, and forced me to learn whatever they were interested in. Dancing, photography, fashion, movies and makeup to list a few."

"Makeup?"

I winced, feeling a bit embarrassed about that one. It had just slipped out when I was mentioning all of the ones I used recently. "Y- yeah, they taught me a bit about makeup…"

Velvet perked up a bit, and I could tell based on her twitching ears that she was interested. "I have to see how good you are now, Jaune. Coco won't let you live it down if you're bad."

"Can you just not tell her?" I asked, knowing that Coco had definitely been listening in. However, I had hoped that Coco would pretend she wasn't, so Velvet wouldn't find out that they were following us.

"Nope. Now, tell me about your younger sisters. You mentioned the older ones, so I'm interested in the rest."

I sighed, feeling Velvet was more pushy today. Was it because she thought we were alone? "Well, Sapphire and Amethyst are the youngest of our family, and they're quite the hellions. They're twins and I think they just enjoy annoying everyone except me. Which ends with me having to take care of them most of the time, and honestly they just seem to dislike everyone else."

"That doesn't seem… fun." Velvet frowned.

"They're young, so I guess they get a pass." I waved, not really taking what Velvet said seriously. Everyone had said that the actions of my younger sisters was something unnatural, and they had evidence of the twins doing things like biting babysitters or scratching at their teachers. "Right, over there is Tuskon's place."

Velvet and I crossed over to Tuskon's little shop built into the side of a building. The blinds were gone, allowing the large glass windows to show the massive collection of books inside the small, rectangular store. Opposite from the door, Tuskon was standing behind his counter while looking at something on his Scroll. He was so engrossed in what was on the screen that he didn't even notice the two of us enter the store even when the bell rang above us.

I chose to not distract him, and looked around for textbooks. However, I found a familiar black-haired Faunus standing in one corner of the store. Blake was right where sunlight was shining through the windows, stretching while reading a book.

"Hey Blake," I approached her, smiling at remembering her name. Velvet was pulsing her Aura for a second for some reason.

Blake looked up, her amber eyes flashing for a second. Her gaze looked behind me to Velvet, and there seemed to be a message passed between them because Blake just nodded silently. "I'm sorry, but who are you?"

"Ah, haha, you know uh, I was the guy that was here around a week or so ago." I laughed awkwardly. Velvet seemed to be smiling, though. "Its Jaune… the um, Tuskon's number one-"

"Jaune!" Tuskon cut into my fumbling sentences, and I thankfully took his distraction. "My number one customer, in name only. Where've you been?"

I blushed at the 'number one customer' name. Why had I even suggested it? This was obviously a detriment to me. "Hey Tuskon. How's it going?"

"Business has been slow, you know." The man waved, smiling awkwardly. He was making a gesture as if there was nothing more he could do about the issue. "What brings you here with your girlfriend?"

"Ah, we're not dating. I'm just helping her get some textbooks for her classes." I said quickly, looking at Velvet to make sure she wasn't too put off by the association. There were plenty of guys who didn't know how to differentiate between girls liking them, and girls simply being nice. Me, an obviously suave guy, knew how to tell.

Blake shut her book closed, patting Velvet on the shoulder for some reason. "I can help her find them." She turned with the Faunus, and I flinched as she glared at me. "You should just talk to Tuskon."

I blinked. "What just happened?"

"It's your problem." Tuskon said, barely holding himself back from laughing. "So, is she from a school around here? I don't think I've heard of any academies that haven't started yet."

"Well, she's from Beacon if that changes anything." I shrugged. "Maybe they do it differently there?"

Tuskon shook his head. "Kid, they have a library… Anyways, Beacon, huh?" He looked me up and down. "You didn't have a Huntsman-in-Training's license last time you came in here. Its not what I thought you'd do when I sent you out last time, but Beacon students do know a thing or two about Aura."

"Ah, I guess this looks bad, but can we forget about that?"

"Fine," Tuskon hummed, drawing my eyes to his still illuminated Scroll. I looked to see that there was a headline about a major series of arrests with the help of some unknown vigilante group. "I'd like to still think of you as the nice kid who came into my shop, and your friend is really giving you good points, but I have to know how you can go from completely clueless to someone like…" he tapped on the screen, pointing at some article about explosions in the docks. "This."

"I uh," I felt my tongue constrict in my mouth. Tuskon wasn't the first person to recognize me, but I was beginning to wonder what the point in wearing a mask was if everyone could just divine my identity so easily. Why were the comic books lying to me! "How'd you figure it out?"

I tried to shrink into myself as Tuskon stared hard at me. And while I had a brief thought about forcing his silence, I relented to the fact that he was just an ordinary bookshop owner.

Tuskon finally sighed, closing the articles on his Scroll. "I guess I'm the last person to start grilling you over your life decisions… Look, Jaune, I like you and all, so I'll try to ignore the fact that you're some super Huntsman or some insane prodigy. To tell you the truth, I found out when they showed the news segment with Lisa Lavender. It wasn't hard to match your hair and body shape with the weird blonde asking about Aura. I guess I just wasn't expecting you to charge at the Reds like some suicidal idiot."

I laughed awkwardly, taking glances at Velvet and Blake in the corner of the store. They had thankfully not reacted to anything that was being said, so I could only hope that Tuskon had kept his voice quiet enough that they hadn't heard anything. If anything, the two Faunus seemed to be more engrossed in reading a book about ninjas.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm keeping this information to myself." Tuskon said, making me breathe a sigh of relief at his words.

"Thank gods…"

"However, I just want to know two things." Tuskon looked over to the two in the corner and leaned in to whisper. "At the docks, was it true there were White Fang there? There's only been some rumors on the CCT, but considering you're… you, I thought you'd know."

I blinked at the question. If it bought Tuskon's silence, I was willing to do quite a number of things. However, this was a simple issue. Had it been Roman or some other criminal, I probably would have tried to think harder about why they wanted the information. Instead, I just nodded.

The genial shopkeeper leaned back, and I felt that he was suddenly more mysterious than I first assumed. Something about my admission had seemed to set off a number of emotions inside the man.

"Is there something wrong?" I asked.

Tuskon sighed, shaking his head as more of a reflex than an answer. "Don't worry about it. I'm just having a bit of an identity crisis; it'll go away in a bit. Though, I don't suppose you'd mind telling me why you're going out at night to get into trouble?"

"Ah, that's your other question?" I laughed awkwardly, scratching the back of my head. "I've been asked that a lot lately, huh… Well, I just want to help people. It doesn't matter who they are so long as they need it."

Whatever answer Tuskon had been readying himself for, mine had seemed to floor the man. He turned away from me for a second, and I caught him wiping a smile off his face. When he faced me again, I found Tuskon grinning at me.

"Got to say, Jaune, I don't think I would be able to hear something like that in real life. Have you been reading those fairytales I gave you a bit too much?"

I coughed into my hands. "Please stop. I get enough of that from one of my friends after she realized I like hero stories."

Tuskon was smiling now. "I can see that." Then, he seemed to think of something before reaching into his pocket to pull out a piece of paper with a number on it. "Here, this is my number; call me if you need any information. I'll make sure you're not going to get in trouble with the wrong group."

I looked at the paper suddenly in my hands, and then I gazed back at the smiling man. He still didn't have a hint of Aura in my senses. However, I felt there was something wrong with how he worded that. It sounded more like how an information dealer would talk to clients.

My eyes narrowed at him. Tuskon didn't seem like that bad of a guy, but I had been screwed over by the last guy who pieced together my identity. It was why my mask had been modified to change as many things about my features and voice to separate myself from Jaune Arc.

Tuskon seemed to feel my hostility and raised his hands a little bit as if to surrender. "No hard feelings! I promise I'll help you, and I'll make sure to keep your identity a secret."

I nodded at his words. They were reasonable, and if anything, Tuskon seemed sincere. However, as I straightened my spine, the man understood that I was a bit taller than him. My eyes looked straight into his, and he flinched as I tapped the countertop.

I was silent long enough that the threat was heard clearly. He seemed to understand that I was recognized as some insane Huntsman who could fight on par with the Reds. It was a bit of a misconception, but it was a mask that was pretty useful at the moment as no one wanted a piece of the guy who wanted a piece of the Reds.

After all, I had learned the last time I had been meek; if I let others walk over me, then I'd be used like Junior and Roman wanted. The further my vigilante persona was from Jaune, the less my family could be implicated. Of course, Tuskon was just an unfortunate mistake I made when designing my costume.

Now, I needed to get a wig and something to obscure my body shape more.

Tuskon swallowed a bit loudly, and flinched again as I smiled. "I won't ask you about your background, Tuskon. Let's keep this relationship as friendly as possible. Okay?"

"R- right," he paused. "Y- you certainly have changed, Jaune…"

I hummed, looking as Velvet had finally put down the ninja book and had been looking over the textbooks. "So, can I buy those Aura booklets now?"

Tuskon stared at me as I meekly refused to meet his eyes while hiding the embarrassment from my face. Was it shameless of me to bring it up again after silently threatening him? Probably. Would that stop me? Actually, yes it would. Melanie and Miltia might take this as a sign that I wanted Aura, and I only wanted them to cross reference with the information I knew.

No other reason, of course.

"Um, I can probably get a forged license if you need one…" I stopped to think about that. "Actually, I'm just asking as a 'what if,' but do you know how much those cost?"

Tuskon sighed, shaking his head. The smile was back on his face. "Who am I kidding. I'm glad there's some things about you that never change."

-x-

The shopping trip with Velvet ended up being much longer than I had planned. After we had gotten her textbooks I had assumed she would have gone back to Beacon, but apparently she missed the dinner back there, leading the two of us to get food at a marketplace in central Vale.

With the Reds constantly pressuring the Union, central Vale was probably the safest place around. They had plenty of shopfronts and police monitoring the areas to make sure that no one attacked the monorail stations that central Vale had access to. All the other regions were either secretly controlled by some gang or were the proverbial 'execution grounds' that Roman talked about.

I had specifically paid attention to the people talking about the masked vigilantes running around Vale, and there was a feeling like butterflies were in my stomach as I overheard someone proclaiming we were heroes for cleaning up Vale's underbelly. Of course, I knew that the twins and Neo probably could care less, but they had only joined because of me.

Velvet seemed to catch my good mood, dragging the two of us through central Vale's illuminated streets fit with vendors at every corner. Still, as good a time as it was, I had kept a closer tab on the Auras around us. Coco and the rest of Velvet's team had left us a while ago, but that didn't mean I stopped using my Aura sense.

As if to prove my worries correct, about halfway through our excursion, I found Arie's Semblance and Aura lingering around one of the monorail stations. There were other Auras around other stations, but they were ones I had assumed belonged to some Union members. As such, I wondered if they were trying to hunt down the Red's member or it was the other way around.

In any case, I chose to steer Velvet away from all of them. Central Vale had too many civilians nearby, and starting a fight without my equipment was basically asking Arie to beat me like a drum. I just hoped whatever they were planning here didn't implicate the innocents.

Despite that little hiccup, Velvet ended up having a great time while I had half my thoughts monitoring the movements of twenty different Aura users. Luckily, she grew tired enough to retire for the night.

It was odd how the last Bullhead back to Beacon had left just as we arrived, though.

Which brought me to my second nerve wracking event of the night: Velvet suggested that she could stay at my place. It was an innocent little suggestion, really. She'd save money from not needing to rent a room at some hotel somewhere, and we could also go to those picturesque spots I had told her about earlier. Except, of course, the main problem of a guy and a pretty girl… alone… all night.

Okay, perhaps I was overthinking this, but my own thoughts weren't helping at all. Do you blame me? I didn't even have a female friend till I arrived at Vale, and now I have… actually, now that I think about it, aren't most of my friends female? Odd.

So, with my thoughts thoroughly focused on not saying anything weird, Velvet and I arrived back at my place. It was why I hadn't been paying too much attention to the Auras inside my senses. A lapse in my concentration that I noticed as soon as my hand went to the door of my apartment.

Instantly, I noticed several Auras inside my apartment were pulsing as they had probably detected me too. All of which I knew by heart.

Panicked, I turned back to a confused Velvet. "I think I lost my keys. Let's go get you the hotel; I'm pretty sure there's a cheap place nearby."

"Is something wrong, Jaune?" Velvet frowned, staring hard at my door. Why was she so perceptive?! "Is there someone home?"

"Nope. No on-"

"Hey Jaune, don't think I didn't hear you trying to unlock the door." My apartment opened, and a frowning Melanie was glaring at me. She huffed a piece of her hair away from the dark bags under her eyes, and my eyes found the several… paint stains covering her clothes and skin. "You bastard, why didn't you tell me your sisters were damn gremlins?"

"Um," Velvet was staring at my teammate, and Melanie eyed the Faunus.

"Who's she?" they both asked.

"I- I can ex-" I started again, feeling a lump form in my throat. Interacting with my family would save me from the awkward situation with Velvet. However, I hadn't expected them to be here yet.

"Is that Jaune at the door?" A head full of long, blue hair peeked over Melanie's shoulder. Eyes as blue as my own stared into mine, and my mom gracefully squeezed past the white-themed twin.

Slim, yet still powerful arms swept me up into a hug. I felt my spine screaming in protest as it tightened to near lethal levels; though, I knew quite well that she could do lethal with just a bit more force. And maybe Aura, now that I figured out what the warmth inside her finally was.

I rose off the ground, and I found Velvet was stifling a laugh behind me as my feet desperately tried to reach the solid floor. My mom was shorter than me, so the whole situation was a little comical.

As if just noticing Velvet, my mom carefully set me down before smoothing out the creases in her sundress and smiled at Velvet. "Oh, you must be Neo."

Velvet blinked. "Who?"

"Jaune's girlfriend. Where else would he be all day if not with his girlfriend?"

Velvet blushed a bit, but hurriedly waved her hands in front of her face. "I'm not Neo."

The conversation hit me like a ton of bricks. Honestly, I had totally forgotten about telling my mom I had 'broken up' with the mythical girlfriend I had created one night. With the whole situation with the Reds and the gangs of Vale going on, I had given priority to what I considered more time sensitive. Really, I felt this whole situation was my own punishment somehow.

I suddenly felt like asking Arie to bring the Reds and attack me right now wasn't too much of a mercy.

Melanie had crossed her arms in the doorway, scowling at me like normal. However, I wondered why she looked mad about this whole situation now. Velvet was still blushing, and I worried more of what my mom was doing to pay my Faunus friend attention.

Of course, if there was any defining trait of Aqua Arc, it would be nosy.

"Jaune had told me Neo was his girlfriend about a week ago. Oh," she brought her hand out and shook Velvet's with a smile. "I forgot to introduce myself, I'm Jaune's mother. It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Ah um, I'm Velvet. We're uh," Velvet looked at me as if I had a card with what words she could say. I must have looked pretty panicked because Velvet finally lost most of the red from her face. "We're not dating, if that's what you were going to ask."

"But you were out for the whole day." My mom pressed.

Velvet blushed again. "...we were."

"And you two came back to Jaune's apartment. Alone."

"...yes?"

Melanie's foot began to tap the floor in what I knew was her form of annoyance. I was spared from her bladed heels digging into my floorings as she had the decency to wear fuzzy slippers instead of her heels. Still, I was wondering what was causing her to act like this.

"Really, you're the worst." Melanie stated, and I caught the hints of a smile beginning to form on her lips. It hit me that she was enjoying me squirm. "What would innocent Neo say about you cheating on her? It would really pierce her heart."

'More like the opposite of who's heart is getting pierced! Maybe multiple times!' I screamed mentally.

Velvet and my mom were now looking at me, too. "I didn't know you had a girlfriend, Jaune." Velvet said with a tone that sounded more like an accusation.

My mom narrowed her eyes. Don't believe her, mom! "Jaune… when we let you go to Vale, I had thought you wanted to get ahead in your studies. You're lucky your co-workers, Melanie and Miltia, are here to cook you a nice meal after a full day of playing around with a pretty girl."

"I- I can explain."

"Relax Aqua," A deep voice rumbled from inside my apartment, and my attention snapped towards the source. I had already known he was there, but hearing him speak had always triggered something in me. "Let him speak."

Everyone seemed to quiet down as the man stood to his full height. He was easily a head and shoulder above my own impressive height, and I felt that Yatsuhashi was definitely shorter than him. Then there were the muscles on him. I had always likened him to an Ursa in size, but even then, I still felt that the Ursa would be more preferable.

"Jaune," he smiled easy. A smile full of pearly white teeth set in a jaw that could have been chiseled from stone. There was a bit of stubble on his face; blonde bristles that stuck out from his chin and massive neck and emphasized the buzz cut atop his head. Eyes are red as blood continued burning holes through me. "You look like you've been doing well for yourself."

I paused as he looked at the whole mess of a situation. Where I had probably tried to piece together an argument, apology and explanation all in one, he had just got up and ended everything easily. That was his style, after all.

No one, and I mean no one, ignored Alexander Arc.

Even when he had told me that my dreams were impossible.

"Ah, hi dad."

-x-

Oh hello, family drama. Remember when I talked about it, and have been hinting at it. Well, its about to happen and I'll try to keep it less angsty. Instead, realize that Vale will probably become a warzone before Jaune can overcome his daddy issues. Like always, I'm trying to include bits and pieces for future plot here and there. Its mainly for myself when I go back and read it, but if you find some and realize it, then that's just another plus.

Now, let me say that, while there were big flags being raised, that was mainly for my enjoyment as well. Jaune and Velvet might get together, but so could any other girl that I want to pair him up with. It'll be whoever I end up writing with him the most. Or, someone who has pretty good chemistry with him. Right now though, romance is not even close.

As always, Enjoy!