Disclaimer:This is a work of fan fiction using characters and/or scenes from the show RWBY, which is trademarked by Rooster Teeth, and the video game Persona 3, which is trademarked by Atlus. I do not, in anyway, claim ownership over the characters, the world, the story, or any other aspect belonging to either one. This story should not be, in any way, considered canon. This story is written strictly for entertainment and not for profit.

Warning: This story will exhibit slight differences in character behavior since I will be taking the liberty to fill in blank points in the pasts of various characters. As such, expect that many characters will not behave exactly as their canon selves. I will attempt to keep their core personalities intact, but slight changes will be unavoidable.


Looks like FF had a couple problems with the reviews last week… again. I'm pretty sure this was a problem that popped up years ago. Multiple times. Can't remember how it was resolved and what happened afterwards but I guess there's not much I can do about it.

Don't know if having just six reviews for the last chapter is a result of those problems and the other reviews never showed up. If this was it then hopefully they show up... at some point.

Buuuut… if the lack of reviews is not because of the system then I guess I've started getting too big a head and I'll need to work harder on this chapter. XD

Anyway, busted system or no, lack of feedback or no, it's not gonna stop me from writing. I'm not one of those who write solely for popularity, numbers (reviews, followers and favorites), and whatnot, though admittedly having a large following and plenty of feedback is good motivation XD. I started writing for fun and that's how it's gonna be.

Anyway, without further ado, here's the next chapter of the Arc Arc.

Hehe, I really, REALLY, have no idea why but saying that out loud always makes me giggle.

Arc Arc. Arc Arc. Arc Arc. Arc Arc. XD


Chapter 9 – The Hero's(?) Training

October 12, XX13

"So you're Jaune's teammates?"

The beautiful blonde who they learned was Jaune's oldest sister, Scarlett Arc, sat on her brother's bed, her legs crossed at the thighs. Leaning against the foot of the bed was her weapon, what seemed to be a longsword of sorts – Junpei had never been knowledgeable about weapons after all – with a revolver for a hilt. It looked fairly simple but Junpei had learned over the past few weeks not to judge certain things too quickly.

Pyrrha and Chidori sat on the former's bed, facing the older woman, while Junpei pulled up a chair to sit by the foot of said bed. Jaune was seated beside his sister looking strangely worried and… afraid, if Junpei was reading his expression right.

The blonde boy hadn't shared much about each sister so Junpei was unsure why he would react that way. Perhaps she was one of those older sisters who liked tormenting her younger brother?

"Yup, that's us. I'm Junpei, the team's leader." He gestured to the two girls on the bed beside him. "Beside me's Chidori, my partner, and over there is-"

"Pyrrha Nikos," finished Scarlett, smiling pleasantly all the while. "Mistral's Invincible Girl and four-time winner of the Mistral Regional Championships. You'd be hard-pressed to find someone who hasn't at least heard of her in our line of work." Much to her surprise, Junpei raised his hand with a knowing grin, followed soon after by Chidori. "Wait, really?"

"Hehe, yeah. My friends and I are from way, way east, off the coast of Mistral. Heck, we pretty much thought our island was all there was," explained the team leader, sticking to the cover story they had long since established. "Didn't know all this was waiting for us if we'd bothered to explore a bit."

"If you kids came from an island that far from the mainland then I guess that's to be expected. Despite how few of them there are, the aquatic Grimm are far more dangerous, even if only because of the danger of fighting over the sea. One bad hit on the boat and you're sunk, literally." Junpei hadn't really considered that – he knew there were Grimm living in the sea but it's not as if he had read that far ahead of the class that he knew how to deal with them – but it was good to know if they were ever near the sea. "So what brought you kids all the way here? Not to presume anything, but wouldn't it make more sense to stick closer to home? Haven Academy may not be as prestigious as Beacon but it's still on of the four major Huntsman Academies."

"Well…" Scarlett's smile slipped a bit at Junpei's uncomfortable tone. "Let's… let's just say that we've got nowhere to go back to."

"Ah." There wasn't much else for her to say after hearing that. "I'm sorry to hear that."

"Don't worry about it," he replied with a wave of his hand. "That was eight months ago. We've had more than enough time to get over it." There was no need to mention they'd only really dealt with it last weekend. "As for why here, Beacon was what Elizabeth-san recommended so it's where we came." He shrugged. "Anyway, what brings you here? Not that I'm kicking you out or anything but it's a little late for a visit don't you think?"

In response, Scarlett laughed and wrapped an arm around Jaune's neck, pulling him in close and eliciting a cry of surprise from the boy as he found his head locked in place with his check pressed up against the side of her chest. "Well, why wouldn't I visit? I mean, it's not like it's been over a month since anybody in the family, or even anybody from our hometown of Domremy last saw him, let alone heard from him."

The smile on her face began to turn predatory as her laughter sounded less amused and more… dark, matching the darkening expression on her face. "It's not as if he disappeared in the middle of the night all of a sudden and stole the family heirloom on his way out." She tightened her hold on his neck as Jaune tried to wiggle his way out of the hold. "And it's not like he most likely faked his transcripts for a chance to take the Initiation Exam to get into Beacon, the most prestigious and most selective Huntsman Academy in all the four kingdoms, since he didn't even attend a combat school."

By now, Junpei, Chidori, and Pyrrha's eyes were wide open, their jaws agape, as their eyes went back and forth between the now snarling Scarlett and the pale, struggling Jaune under her arms. "By the way, did he ever mention that he never had his Aura awakened? I'm not really sure how he got it unlocked but it had to have only happened between leaving home and coming to Beacon."

"That… that was me, actually."

All eyes turned to the red-haired Mistralian as she meekly raised up her hand, bowing her head in embarrassment at the attention.

"Pyrrha?" breathed out Junpei, shocked at the admission. "Did you… Did you know?"

"What? N-No!" Pyrrha denied Junpei's assumption, shaking her head violently. "I mean… I found out during the Initiation that he didn't have Aura so I unlocked it for him since I was worried he would get hurt." Scarlett gave her an appraising look at her words. "But I wasn't aware that he had used false transcripts," she added quickly. "Had I known then I-"

"Hey, hey, calm down Pyrrha, no one's blaming you for anything," said Junpei, though he inwardly wondered what she would have done if she had discovered that little fact during the Initiation.

Dormant Aura? Easily fixed. For all they knew he could have been someone who had been raised on the streets and wanted to try his luck at Beacon, which would explain the Aura problem. But false school records? That was another thing entirely.

Beside her, Chidori took one of Pyrrha's hands in her own. "Junpei-kun is right. We were just wondering whether or not you knew. You don't have to worry."

"They're right you know, you're hardly at fault here. My brother, on the other hand," Scarlett tightened her hold on Jaune just a little bit more, practically strangling him with her toned arms. "Well Jauney?" Her tone was sugary sweet, and her smile was as innocent as could be, but her eyes told a different story. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"C-Can't… breathe…"

The blonde woman rolled her eyes and released Jaune. He pulled away quickly, dramatically taking in large mouthfuls of air while rubbing his neck. "Honestly Jaune. I barely even tried holding you down. Even Hazel could have gotten out of that. You remember Hazel, right? Your only younger sister who, by the way, is pretty much top of her class and is looking to get into Beacon next year after she graduates. I'm sure she would have been thrilled to see you here next year. That is, if you suddenly decide not to come home between school years." The sarcasm was impossible to ignore.

"I'm surprised you can swing around Crocea Mors when you're this weak," she added with a scoff. "That thing may be sturdy but it's anything but light. I'd know. I remember trying to play with it way back then."

"I…" Jaune coughed to clear his throat, still rubbing his neck. "I-I can explain."

"That's what I'm here for." All cheer and humor was gone from her tone, genuine or otherwise, replaced by a seriousness that she had yet to display to the trio. "So start talking. What the FUCK," the other three jumped while Jaune winced at Scarlett's unexpected cursing, "Made you think it was a good idea to do all this shit?"

While his three teammates were still recovering from Scarlett's less than ideal language, Jaune looked away in shame but remained silent. His sister continued to glare at him with a deep scowl, her arms crossed in front of her chest. When clearly no answer would be forthcoming, she clicked her tongue. "The hell? You had the balls to not only run away from home, but also steal Crocea Mors, our family heirloom might I remind you, and even send in fake transcripts to get into the school, but now you don't even have a fraction of the guts to explain why?!"

When her provocations failed to elicit a response, she shut her eyes and huffed. "And here I thought you'd actually grown up and grown a pair. Looks like you're still the same crybaby you always were." She rose from the bed, grabbed her weapon, slung the strap over her shoulder, and began walking towards the door, much to the surprise of the entire team.

"S-Scarlett?"

Jaune's older sister paused with her hand on the doorknob, half-turning to face Team JACN. "Sunday."

"Sunday?" he parroted in question form, wondering what she meant by that.

"I'll be back on Sunday with whoever else from the family who can make it," she said, causing Jaune's eyes to shoot wide open. "Then we're taking you home."

"Y-You can't!"

"THE HELL WE CAN'T!" yelled Scarlett, letting go of the doorknob and spinning around to pin her brother in place with a volcanic glare. Again, Jaune's teammates jumped while he winced and huddled down. Clearly it was not his first time being exposed to this side of the eldest Arc sibling. "You wanna know how I found out you were here?" Without waiting for an answer, she stomped back to the foot of Jaune's bed and looked down at him over the bridge of her nose. "I was in Vale for some business and I decided to come here for a visit. While walking around, I meet Glynda and the first thing she asks me after greeting each other is, 'Are you here to visit your brother?'"

Everyone saw Jaune's face pale even further at the implication behind Scarlett's words. But much to their surprise, she shook her head. "Neither she nor Ozpin know. At least, if they didn't already. I barely managed to keep up a straight face when I heard you were here. No, I just told her that I wanted to see how you were doing in class but asked her not to let you know just yet."

"After she hooked up my Scroll to the combat area's security feeds, she let me into one of the nearby supply rooms where I watched the fights on my Scroll. She was supposed to call you and your partner for a fight after a few others went ahead." Then her voice and expression softened somewhat at her last statement. "Imagine my surprise to see you volunteering for the first fight."

Then it was gone. "Now imagine my fucking disappointment at that absolutely pathetic display you put up." Jaune bowed his head even more.

Pyrrha tried to speak up in defense of her partner but Scarlett immediately turned on her with a glare telling her to shut up. The redhead found herself obeying, freezing in a half-standing position before slowly, mechanically, sitting back down and closing her mouth as the elder Arc sibling turned her attention back to the younger.

"When she told me you were one of the lowest ranking students, I thought that it was because everyone else was just that far ahead of you since you barely had any training when you were younger, never mind not going to a combat school. I couldn't have been more wrong." She sighed, full of disappointment and anger. "You've been here over a month. If you'd actually been taking all this seriously, if you'd been training hard with your team outside of class to be the best you could be, if you'd been paying attention to every fight, every lesson, and actually learned even the slightest thing from it then you wouldn't have made all those stupid mistakes you did."

"Even a month should have been enough to know what you did was stupid. Charging ahead of your partner? Allowing your opponents to split you up that far apart? Losing your weapon?" Jaune winced at every fault that was pointed out and huddled down even further, his head almost sinking into his hooded sweater. "Pyrrha might be able to get away with that given how skilled she is, but you? A dropout? The last time you even held a sword before all this shit was over five years ago, before you dropped out of Remorra Academy. At best you've only been using Crocea Mors since you took it."

Unexpectedly, she turned to her brother's teammates with a face that said that she had just thought of something. "Can I at least assume you've been teaching him how to fight outside of class?" While her question was aimed at all three of them, her gaze kept switching between Junpei and Pyrrha. The former was the team leader after all, he had to have noticed Jaune's lack of skill, and Pyrrha was her brother's partner.

Though Junpei was the leader, Pyrrha spoke up first, deciding that as Jaune's partner the responsibility fell to her first before to Junpei. "W-We have." She couldn't help the slight stutter that entered her voice. Scarlett was a different sort from the usual kind of people she dealt with. More straightforward, less afraid of speaking her mind, vulgar though her choice of words may be at times. "Though it usually takes several reminders before-"

"Before he does something without being reminded." Pyrrha was surprised that Scarlett knew exactly what she was going to saw. And she nodded with a barely audible 'yes'. The blonde woman sighed. "Then next time you train, even if it was just the day after, he needs to be reminded again several times, though less than the day before. When you try to teach him something new, the previous lesson starts to slip. And trying to remind him of both lessons simply ends with him completely unlearning both. Am I right?"

"Y-Yes." Pyrrha's response was breathy and full of disbelief, but her sharp mind quickly pieced together just how it was the older woman knew. "It's how it was before, wasn't it? It's why he dropped out of combat school. He didn't have any talent for combat, any potential." Out of the corner of her eyes, she could see Jaune wince at her choice of words.

Scarlett's nod was, contrary to her previous actions, filled with regret. And her tone as she spoke was much the same. "That's right. At first we thought it was because dad wasn't the right teacher for him. So when we came home after another year at Beacon, Gwen and I started teaching him since we were the only other two who've had training with a sword. Then after a few weeks with nothing to show for it, dad decided to call in a few favors from some friends of his, thinking maybe they'd have better luck."

"Better bad luck from the sound of it," quipped Junpei, earning an elbow to the gut from his girlfriend.

But the elder Arc just nodded, a faint, though tired, grin on her lips. "Pretty much, yes. So we decided to give him a break from the training. He kept up with some of the basic exercises to keep in shape, enough that he wouldn't be behind on physical conditioning when he finally enters a combat school. A few years later, when he was old enough, dad enrolled him in Remorra, thinking that people with actual experience teaching kids would be able to draw out what potential he had."

"And you know how that ended." Those were Jaune's first words since Scarlett began explaining. "A dropout barely a month in."

Neither Jaune, nor Scarlett, nor the rest of his team said anything afterwards. Jaune had nothing to add, Scarlett had shared everything she felt was relevant, and the rest of Team JACN did not know what to say given the mood.

Eventually, Scarlett broke the silence with a sigh. "Look Jaune," she began, her tone softer than any other time since her arrival. "Since you haven't said anything, I can't even begin to imagine why you'd suddenly want to come to Beacon, even going so far as doing everything you did. But no matter your reason, I can't, in good conscience, let you stay if what happened today was you 'taking things seriously'." Jaune winced at the reminder of his words in Combat class earlier.

The older woman walked back to the door and twisted the doorknob. She paused and glanced over her shoulder, looking straight into her only brother's eyes with a look of regret. "Like I said earlier, you've got until Sunday to take care of whatever business you have. That's how long it'll take me to finish my business in Vale, go back home, let everyone know, and get back with whoever can come. But knowing them and considering the news, they'll all find some way to come regardless of where they are or what they're doing."

"I won't tell the Headmaster, or Glynda, or anyone else outside the family what you did. But since you got yourself into this, it's gonna be up to you how you're gonna explain why you're leaving." Jaune's head dropped again, already imagining what would happen in the future. "Tell them the truth, make up some story, or maybe just disappear altogether again like you did when you came here, I don't care. But whatever happens from this point on, it's all on your head."

Then, she turned to the rest of Team JACN. "I'm sorry that our first meeting had to go like this. I hope the next time will be more… pleasant. Can't really say it'll be better given the circumstance. Again, sorry. And it was nice meeting you all, short as it was." And without another word, she pulled the door open, crossed the threshold, and shut the door behind her.

For a while, nobody dared to speak or even move, as though afraid that either one would invite even more misfortune and ill news. But when it was clear that nothing else was going to happen, Junpei rose from the chair and moved it back under the table. Then he went over to the wardrobe they bought that first week and grabbed his leather jacket out of it.

"Junpei-kun?"

The goateed teen stopped just as he reached the door, and turned around to face the rest of his team. "I'm gonna go clear my head for a while."

"It's almost curfew."

"Don't worry. I'll just be up on the roof." He opened the door and stepped through. Just before he shut the door, he pushed it open and addressed his blonde teammate. "Jaune?" He waited until apprehensive blue eyes met his tired gray ones. "For what it's worth, I'm not mad or anything. Wish you trusted us enough to tell us, but that's pretty much in the past now. Your sister's right though. Whatever happens from here is all on you. It always was." Without waiting for a response, he turned and left, shutting the door behind him.

By the time he returned to the room, nearly two hours later, the lights were already off and all three members of his team were fast asleep.


October 13, XX13

Breakfast was a quiet and somber affair for the members of Team JACN as a result of the previous night's events. And though nobody else was aware of said event, everyone was keen enough to pick up that something had happened last night.

Junpei sat with his head cradled in his hands and his elbows resting on the table, his breakfast sitting half-finished in front of him. Pyrrha was eating at an incredibly slow pace, casting worried looks at her partner every two seconds. Her partner, on the other hand, hadn't even bothered to get anything to eat, simply sitting there with tired, sleepless eyes directed down at the table. Only Chidori acted normal, though she would still look upon the others with concern.

"Is… everything alright Junpei?" Yukari asked hesitantly. Inwardly, she was thankful that Yang was still in her Unarmed Combat class. By now the blonde would have made some sort of joke to try and break the ice.

She was also thankful that Junpei had thought to warn her that Yang was quite fond of puns. Jokes were one thing but puns? She could only imaging what would have happened if Yang didn't have someone keeping that little hobby in check while in Mitsuru's presence.

Junpei sighed and raised his head, allowing Yukari to see the tired look on his face. "Not really, no. Some stuff happened last night and… well…" He sent a discreet glance at the boy seated across from him, wondering whether he should even ask if it was alright to tell the others.

"It's fine." Junpei blinked, wondering if he heard that right. "Doesn't really matter if you tell them now. I mean… they're gonna find out on Sunday anyway. Might as well just get it over with."

For a moment, he just kept staring at the top of Jaune's head, the boy still gazing straight down with what was no doubt a dejected look on his face. He felt like he should be making sure that it was what Jaune really wanted and not simply because he felt he was being pressured into telling.

Then again, perhaps it was better this way. They were all friends after all. They all deserved to know the truth. Junpei took a deep breath to prepare himself. But before relaying the previous night's events to the group, he made them all promise that they would not tell anybody else, no matter who it was, and refused to begin until they all gave their word. Then, and only then, did he tell his tale, making sure to keep his voice down and reminding them again to keep quiet about it.

By the end of the tale, most of them were looking at the blonde boy with either pity or sympathy, along with sadness for his predicament, not that the blonde could see any of it. There was, however, one exception.

"Of all the stupid, idiotic things you've done, enrolling into Beacon with-"

"Hey!" Junpei yelled at the white-haired girl who had begun to berate his teammate, stopping her mid-sentence. "First of all, keep it down. Second, his sister already told him off so save it. Third, what's done is done so there's no point getting all mad. Besides, it's not like it's got anything to do with you. This is Jaune's problem, not yours."

Weiss let out a gasp as though she'd been insulted. "Excuse me? This… charlatan is in this school and you expect me to remain silent? As his team leader you should have brought the matter to the Headmaster the moment you found out! The fact that he's still here is a sign of your substandard leadership!"

Yukari's eyes flared with anger at Weiss words and condescending tone. "Hey! Why don't you just-"

"And what the hell would you know about being a leader?" Junpei's cold response cut off Yukari before she could even begin to berate the Schnee heiress. "Even if you're not a team leader I don't see you acting like one. All you do is go around complaining whenever you don't like something. Hell, don't think I haven't seen you trying to boss Ruby around now and then."

Again, Yukari was grateful that Yang wasn't present. That little revelation, which even Weiss had been smart enough to keep hidden from the blonde, would have caused the biggest fight in all of history had she heard it.

The heiress huffed. "Don't forget, I am the heiress to the Schnee Dust Company. One day, I'll be leading the company and I'll make it even better than it already is. As for Ruby, she should be honored that I'm taking the time to correct her shortcomings."

"Being leader one day doesn't mean you are one here and now." Junpei countered with a scowl. "All I see is a whiny little princess who bitches whenever she doesn't get what she wants."

Weiss looked taken aback by Junpei's choice of words. And all around them, people began muttering at Junpei's bold statement. "Wh-Wha… How… How dare you?! I do not b… b…"

At her hesitance to even speak such a word, Junpei grinned darkly. "The word, is 'bitch'," he said, enjoying the way her face began to change color. "Just in case you didn't know, it's spelled W-E-I-S-S."

Weiss's face turned red, almost puce, at Junpei's words, her teeth clenched so tightly the others were worried they may crack soon. Just as she took a deep breath and opened her mouth to retort, someone else found it necessary to interrupt.

"ENOUGH!"

Both teens turned to Mitsuru, whose face had tightened into a frown. Glancing around, they noticed that everyone in their group, as well as those close enough to hear, had been watching them. Some had shocked looks on their faces and others seemed to be cheering one of them on for some reason. A few looked uncomfortable, wishing they weren't there to witness such a scene.

Junpei turned away, ashamed that he had let his emotions get the better of him. "Sorry senpai," he muttered, just barely audible to everyone else's ears. He had attempted to keep things quiet, to avoid drawing unnecessary attention. And instead, he became the reason why they drew attention. The only consolation was that Jaune's secret was still kept within their group.

Weiss calmed down but huffed once more as she turned back to Junpei. "As you should be. Do you really think that-"

Once again, the Schnee found herself interrupted. But this time, the source was completely unexpected. "I meant, the both of you."

"Wh… Mi-Mitsuru?" Had it been any other time, Yukari would have burst out laughing at the completely dumbfounded look on Weiss's face as she tried to come to terms with the fact that she was the one getting scolded. "But… he-"

"I know what he said." The red-haired young woman cut in once more, sending the white-haired girl a stern look that caused her to recoil in shock. "But you are not blameless in this. First, Junpei shared Jaune's secret with us under the condition that we keep it to ourselves, a condition you verbally agreed to in front of everyone here. And yet you were about to break your word not even a minute later."

"But he-"

"Second." The word was spoken sharply but calmly, a warning that she would not appreciate being interrupted once more. "Junpei is correct in that this situation ultimately has nothing to do with us. The problem is Jaune's to deal with, and his alone."

She paused briefly to consider her next words, aware that the other students were now listening in. "Whether he explains his actions or not, or chooses some other course of action, it will be his decision in the end. And no matter what we say or do, the final choice lies with him. There is also the fact that the situation now is a result of his past actions. Only he, and he alone, is responsible for the consequences of such."

"That's why I-"

"IF!" The increase in volume and sharpness of Mitsuru's interruption caused all of them to jump, the coldness of her tone only adding to the apprehension and fear they now felt. "You intend to get involved in any way, then you had best be prepared to face the consequences of your actions, be they good or bad."

Remembering one detail that Junpei had related, Mitsuru lowered her voice before continuing to avoid being overheard as much as possible. "Do not forget that his sister has already taken and will take further action, and that she has chosen to withhold the information from even the Headmaster. Unless you believe you know better, or that you have the authority that surpasses that of a family member, then I suggest you keep your hands clean of this matter. I do not doubt for one moment that she, and even her family, will be unhappy with any outside interference regardless of intent."

Mitsuru half-thought that Weiss would attempt to speak once more so was relieved that the girl did not attempt to test the limits of her patience further. "And finally, it is not your place to decide whether Junpei is fit to be leader of his team or not. You are free to believe he is unfit, that is your opinion and yours alone. But that is all that it is, your opinion. The only people who can decide if he is the best choice to lead are the Headmaster, and Junpei's own team."

Weiss continued to stare at Mitsuru with dumbfounded shock, unable to believe what was happening. Junpei was just as shocked for the same reason.

Aigis looked hesitant for some reason, uncertain. Yukari was still fuming but held herself back, no sense throwing more oil into the fire especially now that Mitsuru had doused it with a mountain of ice. Chidori's eyes had widened a hint but was otherwise the same. Nora looked lost and uncomfortable as her gaze constantly shifted between Mitsuru, Jaune, and Weiss with uncertainty. Blake had a strange look in her eyes as she watched Weiss. Pyrrha shared her team leader's shock, but was also unsure of what to think. And Jaune…

Jaune was certain he was the most surprised of them all. He hadn't expected Mitsuru to defend him like that. Granted, she hadn't actually said that he should stay, or that his actions were right, but she had more or less sided with Junpei, who had done his best to minimize the damage.

Given how strict she was, he had expected her to be one of the first to condemn him for his actions, to start calling out for his expulsion. After all, her family had once owned a school. Surely she would have no tolerance for his actions, right?

The uncomfortable silence was broken when Junpei rose from his seat, the rustling of his uniform as he stood the only sound they could hear.

"Junpei-kun?"

He had already turned to leave but stopped at Chidori's voice. "I'm gonna go cool my head a bit," he said without turning. He had taken two steps when he paused and seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Hey, Jaune?" The blonde boy looked up from the table, though Junpei didn't turn to meet his gaze. "I know it's not much but… don't worry, alright? Whatever happens, we've got your back." Without waiting for a response, the dark-haired teen walked away, slinging his school satchel over his shoulder.

When Akihiko, Fuuka, Ken, Yang, and Ren arrived at the dining hall from their Unarmed Combat class, only Mitsuru was there to meet them, having remained behind to explain the situation.


Needless to say that, given the events of the past twenty-four hours, nobody from JACN was in the proper state of mind to learn. Save, that is, for Chidori. The other three teams weren't unaffected, but both Mitsuru's and Junpei's words that it was all ultimately up to Jaune took off much of the weight from their shoulders. Still, that did not mean they were not worried for the blonde or the team as a whole.

All, that is, with the exception of Weiss.

The first years were already in their Social Studies class with Professor Giollah, the second class of the day discounting Unarmed Combat, but she still could not shake the events that took place during breakfast out of her mind. Or, one event in particular. 'She scolded me,' she constantly repeated in her head. 'She scolded me. She scolded me. Me!'

To her, that event was far more appalling than the fact that Jaune Arc had gotten into Beacon Adacemy using falsified school records. More than the fact that the others seem to be siding with Junpei and his desire to keep things secret.

Why? Why had Mitsuru done that? Surely informing the Headmaster of such a disgraceful deception taking place under his own nose was the right thing to do. She was just doing what was right, wasn't she? So why was she stopping her?

Mitsuru had always struck her as a strict, law and rule-abiding person. She tolerated no excuses – often displayed during their training sessions – and though she was far more tolerant and patient when dealing with others' shortcomings and failings, Weiss had simply seen that as a show of maturity and emotional control, something she knew she was still lacking by how quick she was to anger at times.

But with what just happened, she was beginning to doubt some of what she had believed regarding the red-haired young woman. Surely even her tolerance would be tested by Jaune's duplicity, and her patience similarly tested by Junpei's defense of such. And there was no mistaking Junpei's actions. Not once did he denounce the blonde's action nor had he, explicitly at least, stopped referring to or treating him as his teammate and friend.

And yet she was simply going to let it be? Simply go along with whatever decision the unrefined cap-wearing team leader made?

Inconceivable. Completely, utterly, and absolutely inconceivable.

Has Mitsuru's time with SEES, her friends – though Weiss still couldn't believe that such a person could be friends with some of the more uncultured members of the group – dragged her down to their level? They had been working together for roughly a year-and-a-half now if memory served, a few years more in Akihiko's case. More than enough time to change a person.

Or had she always been that kind of person? Had Weiss simply misjudged Mitsuru, and even SEES as a whole, during their first few meetings? It was certainly possible.

Besides the redhead's actions and bearing the day before the Initiation, the fact that she was an heiress, albeit a former one, had most likely caused her to see Mitsuru as the ideal she wanted to become based on her own personal judgement. Yes, perhaps that was where she went wrong.

It was like a newly born lion cub opening its eyes for the first time and seeing a fierce tiger, mistaking it for its parent simply because of a few physical similarities. Though similar, they were ultimately two different species. In their case, just because both were raised as the heiress to their respective families did not mean that their way of life was the same.

Thinking back, Mitsuru had called that one deceased young man – Shinjiro Aragaki if she remembered right – a friend, despite the fact that he had been little more than a hoodlum prior to and even during and after his time in SEES. What right-minded person would consort with such people? Acquiring his aid was one thing, but befriending such a man?

Weiss resisted the urge to nibble on the end of her pen, a habit that she had long since gotten rid of. At least, she thought she did. The situation must be more stressful than she thought if her body was slowly falling back on habits she had not done in nearly a decade.

Glancing to her left as discreetly as she could, she frowned. Junpei barely looked like he was paying attention to Professor Giollah's lecture on the Kingdom of Vale's economy and how it had changed in recent times, a follow-up to the previous week's lectures on the political changes. Even now, especially now, she could not fathom how he had become the leader.

His performance in his academic classes was just a tiny sliver above the class average. His combat ability, without his Persona, was just slightly higher than that, although it was dropping slightly. Slowly, but ever so surely. Chidori had far better grades in class though her combat scores were lower. And the less said about Jaune's performance in either case the better.

Pyrrha, on the other hand, lived up to her reputation as both Sanctum's top graduate and the Invincible Girl. Near the top of their class in academics, topped only by four others which included Mitsuru and Weiss, and tied for the top in combat – Aigis's victories really shouldn't count due to her being an android.

Among the four members of JACN, she was clearly the most capable in every aspect. So why did the Headmaster choose that dunce Junpei to lead them?

Given the other options on Team KYBT, Mitsuru was clearly the best choice on her team despite Weiss's recent misgivings. On Team ANKR, Akihiko was a decent choice as a leader as the only option was Ren, who tended to blend into the background too much for her to see him as a good leader. Aigis… Weiss could grudgingly admit that, from a tactical standpoint at least, placing a living computer at the helm was an excellent idea. She did not like the fact that she answered to a machine, but there was no denying the android's observational and analytical abilities, a powerful asset in any combat situation.

So again, why? Why Junpei? Why choose him over someone as clearly accomplished and distinguished as Pyrrha? It was like having a first-year student lead a team of soldiers into battle while placing the ranking officer under his command as well.

Weiss held back a growl at her thoughts, pulling her eyes away from the buzz-cut-haired teen. Instead, she glanced to her right where Mitsuru was, as expected, listening intently to the lecture while occasionally taking notes. She may be having doubts, but she still respected the redhead greatly.

Her musings were cut short by the ringing of the bell, signaling the end of the class. As had been drilled into them by half their teachers, nobody made a move to stand just yet, though they all began to pack away their things.

Professor Giollah's deep, rumbling voice rang out across the room, easily drowning out the voices of a few chattering students. "Alright, we'll continue this discussion on Thursday so I expect you all to read ahead. Expect me to call on each of you at least once to see if you did. Anyone who fails to answer gets double the homework on that day. Dismissed."

Faunus or not, Weiss could find little fault with their teacher. He knew his subject well and knew how to teach. And given the topics they covered, he had also expected them to keep up with recent news, local and intercontinental. He had, on more than one occasion, required essays with topics derived from recent events to make sure they kept up with that long-term assignment.

Still, that didn't mean she wouldn't keep an eye on him, or any of the other faunus in the school for that matter. And while not a faunus, she had also been observing Aigis, though the observation time dedicated to the android had increased recently.

Not long after their call, Winter had gotten permission from her superiors and had set up Weiss with three contacts within the Atlesian military. One was an engineer, another was a programmer, and another was an Aura specialist. She had spoken with each of them at length at least twice each, explaining her situation – in the same way she explained things to Winter of course – and learning from them in turn.

It was a little difficult balancing her academics – which were surprisingly more challenging than she had expected despite her already high expectations from Beacon Academy – with her extracurricular lessons and readings on androids and AI, but she was determined if nothing else. And now, she was using what little she had learned to try and understand Aigis's programming better.

The blonde android was speaking with Mitsuru about something. In response, Mitsuru turned to her team and said something to them just as Aigis did the same with Ruby and Fuuka. Then together, the blonde and the redhead left the room while the members of their respective teams waited for the rest of their friends to get ready.

She briefly debated chasing after the departing pair but the fact that the two were separating from the group clearly meant it was a private affair. With a sigh, she rose from her seat and made her way down to her partner. She may not be able to bear witness to their conversation, but there was more than one way to gather information.


"So what was it you wanted to speak about Aigis?"

Both Mitsuru and Aigis were inside the Field Medicine classroom, as could be seen by various medical supplies that Doctor Blackthorne brought in the day before for the class to familiarize themselves with before they used them for practice.

Mitsuru found it a bit strange that Aigis wanted to speak in private. The ASW had rarely needed to do so in the past regardless of the topic. In a similar vein, the girl lacked the shame that came with discussing certain topics – one of which was the human body and certain… aspects of it, along with any related topics – so the red-haired young woman doubted it was of that nature.

But looking at her now, Aigis seemed distracted, almost conflicted, by something.

"I… I wanted to apologize." Mitsuru blinked. That had certainly come out of nowhere. "This morning I… I was unsure of what the proper course of action was. Between Junpei-san and Weiss that is."

The bemusement faded from the redhead's face and was replaced by a soft smile of understanding. "What were you uncertain of, exactly?"

"I…" Aigis hesitated, searching for the right words to convey her distress. "Junpei-san may not have explicitly mentioned it, but I believe he felt that Jaune's actions were… justified in some way. And yet, there is truth in Weiss's words that, as Jaune's leader, Junpei-san should have acted according to the rules and reported the infraction to the proper authority."

"Junpei-san is not wrong for defending his friend, and for choosing to respect the decision of his friend's sister. But Weiss is not wrong as well for wishing to uphold the rules that govern this school." The blonde paused again, looking down at her gloved hands. "There is also the matter of whom I should have sided with. Junpei-san is my friend, but Weiss is my teammate. Neither were wrong, but... it did not feel correct to side with one against the other. Yet it did not make me feel any better just watching them argue. I found myself conflicted. Unable to decide which of them is right, or which course of actions was correct."

She had already suspected it even before Aigis explained, but now Mitsuru smiled, knowing the exact problem that the artificial girl was facing. "That, Aigis, is the burden of leadership, of responsibility, and of life as a whole." Aigis looked up from her hands, her face reflecting her confusion. "You know by now that every person has a different way of seeing things, and that even people who have been friends for the longest of times may still find themselves on opposite sides of certain lines."

"Yes," Aigis responded with a nod. "Despite their friendship, Akihiko-san and Shinjiro-san were often at odds with the way the other did things."

"That's a perfect example actually. The difference here is that Akihiko and Shinjiro were childhood friends. They knew each other well enough that they could work through their differences. Sometimes their methods were… violent, but for them it was simply another way they used to settle matters. Junpei and Weiss, on the other hand, are simply acquaintances."

"And thus are unable to resolve their differences so easily as they lack the bond shared by Akihiko-san and Shinjiro-san."

Mitsuru confirmed her words with a nod. "Correct. Moreover, the two of them see the situation in vastly different ways. Junpei is, as you've noted, more concerned for his friend's wellbeing. Weiss is more concerned with upholding the rules and, possibly, the school's reputation. Which one is right, you ask? The answer, is that they are both right."

"Both?" Aigis looked surprised. "But how?"

"The perfect example here would be SEES… and Strega." Surprise was soon mixed by confusion as the blonde wondered why Mitsuru would bring them up now. "Strega, and even… Ikutsuki, believed that death was a form of salvation. That humanity was not a race worth saving. Their belief stemmed from their own past experiences. Their belief is an anathema to us in SEES, who still believe that there is hope that humanity can be saved and is worth saving."

"While complete opposites, neither side is completely wrong." Aigis still looked understandably confused. Perhaps even more so now. After all, why would Mitsuru, of all people, defend such a belief? "Strega had seen and experienced one of the worst sides of humanity, the willingness to do anything and everything to achieve one's goal, even if it meant throwing away the lives of other humans in the process or using them for one's own purpose. We, on the other hand, were aware of such atrocities and yet it is because we have lived in a way that we can see and have seen what such drive can do when tempered with morality that we can continue to believe in the future of humanity."

"We are but the sum of our experiences, of our pasts. Neither the members of Strega nor the members of SEES chose which family to be born into, which people they would meet, or what events would happen to them. Perhaps in another world, I may very well have been one of those children experimented upon due to my early summoning of Persona." Aigis looked aghast at that possibility, and she knew that yes, had things been different it would have been possible that such a thing would come to pass. "But I was not, and thus I came to be on this side of that particular conflict."

"I… I believe I understand," Aigis responded slowly, trying to process Mitsuru's words and correlating it with the current situation. "Weiss and Junpei-san have had different experiences, and thus have different perspective and value different things."

"That is a simplified way of seeing it but yes, Aigis, that is essentially correct." She could see Aigis mulling over her words, but could also see that there was something else that was bothering her. Thinking back to the blonde's earlier words, Mitsuru could only think of one reason that may be causing her troubles. "You also mentioned that you were concerned about whether to side with Junpei, as your friend, or Weiss, as your teammate. But unfortunately, this is one matter where I cannot advise you."

Aigis wondered why Mitsuru was smiling when such was her response. "Am I… lacking in some way?" she asked with a small, sad frown. "Is there something I must learn before you can properly advise me?"

And still, Mitsuru's smile remained on her face. "It's not that Aigis. It's simply that you're already at that point where advising you would be more harmful than beneficial to you."

"Harmful?"

The redhead nodded. "My opinion on this matter is mine, and mine alone. Just as Weiss's opinion on Junpei's abilities as a leader is hers alone. As such, your opinion, whether to side with Junpei, with Weiss, or to take up a different side altogether, is yours and only yours. If I were to tell you what to believe in, then it would not be your belief but mine. And following a belief that is not your own will only lead to ruin."

"So I must discover the answer on my own then." Mitsuru nodded, her smile faded and grew sad at seeing Aigis's disappointment. "I see."

"The best advice I can give you is to take your time and carefully consider your own position on this, and any future matters," she told the blonde. "This is simply another trial every living being must face as they grow and experience more of the world. You are no different. We will be by your side the entire time, but this time, as well as many other occasions in the future, only you can make the decision. Just as you made the decision to 'live'."

She saw how her words sparked a small fire in Aigis's eyes. She was still confused, undecided, but that was alright. Her path was a difficult one and she had already stumbled many time along the way but here she was, still standing. And even if she fell, Mitsuru was confident that she would stand again and again. And if she were unable to rise, then she would have SEES and their new friends to help her stand.

Come hell or high water, they would stand together and, should it come to pass, fall together.


"So you two in?"

From the very top row, far from anyone else watching the fights down in the combat area, both Akihiko and Fuuka looked at Junpei with serious but conflicted looks. His proposal was… controversial to say the least and may very well put them into conflict with the opposing party. His reasoning, however, was solid.

"If it goes the way you think then yeah, I'm in," Akihiko stated firmly, locking eyes with Junpei.

Beside him, Fuuka nodded her assent. "I don't know if this is right, Junpei-kun, but it also wouldn't feel right to leave things as they are."

Junpei allowed a tired smile to appear on his face. "Thanks guys. My brain's been running since last night trying to think of… well, something. This is pretty much the best I could come up with." He sighed. "I was thinking about asking Mitsuru-senpai for advice but… it just didn't feel right."

Akihiko shot him a grin. "She'd have told you the same thing even if you did. About it not being right, I mean. This is something you should try solving on your own. Nothing wrong with asking for help like you did just now, but everything about it has to come from you and not us."

"Yeah, I get that." Junpei winced as one of the boys down in the combat area took a solid hit, sending him flying back and smashing into the hard-light wall before he fell into the out of bounds area, ending the match. He was glad that the other students were just that afraid of Goodwitch that they held back against SEES for fear of hurting them more than necessary. Any of them would have been seriously, if not fatally, injured taking a hit that powerful. "Anyway, I'll let you guys know tonight how things go. At best we'll start tomorrow morning."

Just then, Fuuka and Aigis were called on to fight. Understandably, most of the other students were excited to see the match. Not only was it the first doubles match of the Untouchable Girl, but her partner was also the only other person to last more than five minutes against the Invincible Girl, despite her failure at the end.

Once Fuuka left to join her partner for the match, Akihiko turned to Junpei with a serious look on his face. "You do know that this could backfire horribly if you've misread the situation, right? Don't forget, I said that you might be right, not that I'm absolutely certain."

Junpei, in response, sighed heavily and bent over his knees, resting his forearms on his legs. "Yeah, I know. Still, I've gotta try. But I'm pretty sure I'm right about this. You always did tell me to trust my gut in a fight."

The silver-haired boxer rolled his eyes in response. "Only you would see that situation as a kind of fight." But despite his words, there was a faint grin on his lips.

His attention was now on the fight, wondering what strategy Aigis and Fuuka would employ. Or rather, what strategy their opponents would employ. He was fairly certain he knew how things would play out though. And sure enough, the moment the fight began, Aigis went in for the kill, targeting the better fighter immediately while Fuuka held off the other one long enough for Aigis to come to her aid. Holding true to her reputation, Aigis eliminated both their opponents without getting hit within the first five minutes of the fight.

Akihiko shook his head. Their opponents would have stood a better chance taking on Aigis two-on-one while letting their Aura take the brunt of Fuuka's attack. After all, they only needed to land a single blow and Aigis would have been out of the game, leaving Fuuka to fend for herself. True, Aigis was still capable enough to handle perhaps even a full team without getting hit, but it was better than going one-on-one.

Still, Akihiko had to admit that Fuuka was doing better now that she was able to fight against a larger variety of opponents. Her only failing was her lack of physical ability. But beyond that, there was little that could pierce her defenses, as shown by how she had held off the Invincible Girl for nearly fifteen minutes.

If she continued to progress the way she did, then Akihiko had no doubt that very few people would ever be able to overcome Fuuka's defenses.


"Hey Yukari."

The brown-haired archer looked up from her Scroll where she was doing some research for Professor Giollah's class. He had shown that he had no problems asking questions not in the books but directly related to the topic so she wanted to be prepared for his next class. She would have used one of the computers but the couch was far more comfortable than a wooden chair and her Scroll could expand to a large enough screen that she wasn't squinting to read the text displayed.

Approaching her were two upperclassmen she had gotten to know over the past few weeks since that incident in the dining hall with Cardin and his team.

One was Velvet Scarlatina, the brown-haired rabbit faunus whom Cardin had been bullying and, arguably, the reason why Yukari got involved in the first place. Not that she would ever regret doing so. The rabbit faunus – and for her peace of mind she was doing everything she could to not even think of her as a bunny girl – was dressed in her usual brown jacket, a long-sleeved one that only covered the upper-half of her torso, with a black, slightly translucent undershirt covering the rest of her torso, and brown pants. Over her pant legs were black leggings with wide, gold-colored steel bands with a similar material over her toes and around her ankle.

The other, the one who had called out to her, was Coco Adel, Velvet's teammate and leader of Team CFVY. She was wearing a long-sleeved brown top, a shade lighter than Velvet's, with a black waist cincher over it, and black trousers tucked into black leather boots with high heels and multiple buckles. But what stood out was the quality of her clothing. As Yukari had learned not long after meeting her, fashion was a very serious subject for the girl. Her black beret atop short brown hair, that one wavy lock of hair that was artfully dyed to gradually fade into a light caramel color as it neared the tip, and wide-rimmed sunglasses, despite being indoors, could certainly attest to that.

"Hey Coco, hey Velvet," she greeted with a smile, nodding to her two upperclassmen as they approached her. "What brings you here?"

"What?" asked Coco, playfully looking insulted by Yukari's question. "Can't we hang out with a friend?"

"To hang out huh?" the archer responded with a skeptical look. "I'll have to let Fox and Yatsuhashi know that they can get you into the library if they call it 'hanging out'." Velvet giggled at the reversal and Coco threw her hands up in mock defeat before laughing. Quietly of course, considering they were in the library. "Seriously though, what's up? I didn't think I'd ever see you here in the library after those stories I heard from Fox."

"Two things actually," said Coco as she and the brown-haired rabbit faunus settled down on the seats across Yukari. "First, what was that about this morning?"

The smile faded from Yukari's face immediately after hearing that question. "Oh, that," she responded with a sigh, collapsing her Scroll and placing it in her pocket as she leaned back into the soft seat. "Just Weiss being a spoiled little princess again over something that didn't even have anything to do with her."

"Princess Schnee huh?" The fashionista nodded with a small frown. "Can't really say I think much of her, or her family. Or even her company for that matter."

"That issue with faunus labor I'm guessing." Again, the second-year team leader nodded, and Yukari could imagine her glancing at Velvet behind those sunglasses of hers. "Yeah, well, I'm starting to think Weiss is the same, given how she looks at the faunus in school. But she hasn't really said or done anything bad just yet so I'm trying not to judge her too soon."

There was still that other thing she noticed but since she had even less evidence of what it might be about, she withheld the information. Moreover, that second problem was something best kept to themselves for the moment.

"As for what she was getting all worked up about, that's something more to do with Junpei's team. It's also pretty personal so I really can't say more," she said with a slightly apologetic look.

Coco just waved away the unspoken apology as she leaned back into the sofa, searching for the most comfortable position she could find. "It's fine. It's not like I was looking for something to gossip about or anything. I leave that kind of stuff to Team KRMM and their blabbermouth of a leader. Anyway, the other thing I wanted to ask was if your team was interested in training with ours now and then."

Yukari blinked, not having expected that invitation. "Us? Why us?" she asked with a bit of confusion mixed into her shock. "I mean, we're just first-years. Wouldn't it be better to train with other second-years?"

"For one thing, it gets pretty boring fighting the same people over and over and over again," came the nonchalant response, but the confident grin on her face ruined the tone. "Don't get me wrong, the other teams are pretty strong too, but when you know who can do what and how they fight, it gets pretty repetitive unless someone pulls out a new trick. So I was thinking we'd see what the first-years we got this year can do."

"I don't know." Yukari didn't bother to hide the hesitance in her tone. She was also doubtful of Coco's real motivations. The girl may be able to hide it well enough, but the uneasy look on Velvet's face told Yukari that there was more to the story than the fashionista was telling her.

It was highly unlikely that Coco had any malicious intentions towards her team, but Yukari had long since come to hate going into a situation blind or even just half-blind. While the situation now was far from going into a fight against an Arcana Shadow, it didn't mean she had to like it.

"Let me talk to Mitsuru-senpai about it," she finally said after considering the offer. "She is the team's leader after all and I can't make the decision for everyone." And hopefully, she could catch Velvet alone to ask her about this. She had nothing against the girl but compared to Fox or Yatsuhashi – Yukari still sometimes had trouble not laughing at the name – it would be easier to get answers from the timid faunus.

Not that she enjoyed things like that, but even without pressuring the girl she was still the most likely to give up the answer if Yukari asked while Coco wasn't there. Not unless it was a secret of some sort of course, Velvet was quite close to her team and wouldn't give away something like that even when pressed. Yukari didn't think it was that big a thing though so Velvet would probably let her know if Yukari explained that not knowing made her uneasy.

"That's fine." Coco smiled and nodded in acceptance, still leaning into the couch and looking as self-assured as ever. "You can bring your other friends too if you want. Might make things a little more fun that way."

The next hour passed with Coco trying, once again, to convince Yukari to go shopping with her to expand her wardrobe, Coco trying to get Yukari to help her convince Velvet to go shopping for a new wardrobe, and even asking Yukari if she had her eye on anyone in particular in the school. Still, as tiresome as Coco's persistence was, Yukari would admit to herself that she enjoyed the time she spent with the fashionista.

The week following their first meeting hadn't been the best since Yukari had been both wound up by Cardin's actions, and grieving for the death of her friend, her mother, her classmates, and everyone else she knew. Coco had, after that first meeting, approached her nearly every day, alternately trying to invite her out as thanks for standing up for Velvet, and trying to find out what was bothering Yukari. The latter once almost ended with Coco ready to assault Cardin when she thought that the boy had shifted his focus to Yukari.

Last Monday, when Coco approached her again, the first thing Yukari did was apologize for her previous behavior. At first, Coco just waved it off like she did with a lot of things. Then Yukari explained the reason for her behavior, which included the reason why she and the others had come to Beacon in the first place. Needless to say, Coco had her own apologies to give for being so insistent, but she did say that she still would have done the same things, if only to take Yukari's mind off the more serious matters. She just would have been less insensitive about it.

They didn't meet every day, but when they met, Yukari sometimes felt she was back in Gekkoukan, with friends who knew nothing about the Dark Hour and Shadows and were more concerned about exams, annoying teachers, and relationships. Similarly, Coco knew little of the true burden weighing on Yukari's heart and, asides from that first week, the two often spoke about mostly inconsequential things, sometimes while sharing a small snack in the dining hall or with the second-year's team.

It was moments like those, moments like the one now, that reminded Yukari of why they, or she in this case, chose to continue fighting even when they were no longer the only ones capable of doing so. It was moments like this that would keep her going until the very end of their journey. And it was the prospect of even more moments of a similar nature that made her even more determined to see that journey through until the very end.


The first time Junpei had seen the academy's training halls, back when they first decided to test out the room two weeks after they arrived at the school, he had openly stated that he had expected something far more advanced, technologically speaking.

On the floor in the middle of the room was a large white circle similar in size to the platform in the Combat classroom, along with a large white square that marked off most of the room. Possibly used to simulate a ring-out area.

The floor according to Fuuka's observations via Juno, was made of wood that was far thicker, heavier, and denser than normal, enough that most bladed weapons would probably get stuck in the wood if someone tried attacking the floor. Though blunt or concussive weapons, like Nora's Magnhild, would probably cause quite a bit of damage.

Off to the side was a haptic terminal which would allow them to access a variety of training regimens or settings to create their own training area. The white square marked off the area where the hard-light wall was set to appear, similar to the one in the Combat classroom.

The very basic setting would activate the wall which, interestingly enough, also included a door that would allow entry to those who registered their Scrolls via the terminal, letting the computer know who would be participating in the training as well as connecting them to the Aura sensors. It also served to prevent people not part of the exercise from running into the training area since all participants had to register their Scrolls prior to beginning the training session.

There was a marksmanship setup, which brought out holographic targets that could be set to be stationary or mobile. The targets would then light up where the projectile passed through it. It also assigned a score based on how close it was to the center.

There was evasion training, which brought out hard-light firearms that would fire on those taking part in the exercise. The machine would also cover their bodies in a holographic outline, which would turn red in the location they were struck. It could be set to end either when they were hit a set number of times, or even just once, or after a set amount of time has passed.

There were many various settings, even a pseudo indoor area, which created opaque hard-light walls to create hallways and rooms. Of course, that particular training setup was only available in the larger training rooms underground. Those rooms were at least three times the size of the normal ones and needed to be reserved ahead of time since there only being two of them.

SEES, of course, encountered one little problem the first time they used the rooms. Due to their lack of Aura, the computers had assumed they were drained of Aura and did not allow them to train. They had to speak with Professor Goodwitch, who brought up the matter with the Headmaster, who then had to program them into the system to have special permission.

He, of course, sent the members of SEES a message, stating that he was trusting them to be careful during their training since they would be unsupervised and were, thus, responsible should any of them be hurt. Having a small infirmary in the same building was helpful but not even they could reattach one's head if it were cut off due to their carelessness. It was a… morbid way of reminding them to be careful but it drove home the point.

The door to one such training room slid open as two people walked in not long after dinner. Junpei had to drag Jaune towards the training halls, literally so at the beginning since the blonde wanted to just go straight to bed. Now that they were there, Jaune turned to his team leader with that same tired, defeated look on his face.

"So why are we here?" he asked listlessly. "If you wanted privacy I don't think we needed to come this far."

But instead of answering, Junpei walked over to the side of the room where several benches were lined up against the wall. He sat down on one of them and patted the spot beside him, inviting the blonde to sit down. Once he did, Junpei asked him a question he hadn't expected. "Why'd you come to Beacon?"

"Huh?"

"Why'd you come to Beacon?" repeated Junpei, looking directly ahead into the empty room. He waited patiently, waiting for Jaune to answer, even if all he was going to say was that he didn't want to tell Junpei his reasons. But after a few moments of silence, Junpei sighed. "If you don't wanna answer that's fine. But… there's one thing I want you to answer and we're not leaving this room until you answer it." He turned to face his teammate and gave him the most serious look he could muster. "Do you really want to leave?"

"To… leave?"

"Do you really wanna go home, after coming this far?" reiterated the older teen. "Or are you just gonna head back home after everything you did to get here?"

In response, Jaune sighed, sounding as though he had just given up on everything. "You heard Scarlett. She'll be back this Sunday to take me back home. Besides, I don't deserve to be here."

"And why the hell not? You worked your ass off to get this far didn't you?"

"Work?" Jaune laughed derisively. Though whether he was mocking Junpei or possibly even himself, not even Jaune could be certain. "What work? Doctoring my sister's old transcripts and passing them off as mine? Stealing Crocea Mors from my family? Or maybe you're talking about how I barely did anything during the initiation. Oh yeah, it was pretty hard letting Pyrrha pin me to a tree so I didn't die when I hit the ground. Or maybe stumbling into that cave with the Death Stalker and being sent flying was harder than I thought. Can't forget how I nearly pissed my pants seeing all that Grimm at the end and barely did anything to help asides from not getting killed."

If Junpei bothered or disturbed by Jaune's slowly deteriorating composure and his open mocking of his own actions, he didn't show it. Instead, he continued to listen even as Jaune stood and began pacing in front of him.

"Or… Or maybe you mean in class where I barely know anything. Yeah, it's pretty hard being stupid isn't it?" Jaune had a small scowl on his face, though his tone remained openly scornful. "Not to mention how I'm the best in Combat class at being beaten. Oh yeah, definitely can't forget that. Victory's assured if Jaune's your opponent."

"And what else? Oh right, it's pretty hard work having the Invincible Girl as my partner. All I gotta do is let her fight and we win. I could just sit back and get beaten up while I wait for her to come rescue me. Yeah," he said, turning to face Junpei with his lips practically a snarl. "It's definitely hard being the damsel-in-distress."

But Junpei remained unperturbed, his firm, serious gaze looking directly into Jaune's angry expression. "That all you gotta say?"

"OF COURSE NOT!" Jaune's sudden, unexpected shout caused Junpei to lean in surprise, his back hitting the wall, but his expression remained calm, though dour. "You think I like this?! Do you think I came here just to be laughed at?"

"Do you know what it's like to be the only kid of a famous Huntsman who can't fight?" Jaune's expression was angry, and his fists were clenched tight by his sides. "My father, my grandfather, my great-grandfather, and probably every single ancestor I have were all warriors. Heroes! And look at me! The only son of Aurelian Arc and I can't even put up a decent fight to save my life."

"You wanna know why I came here?" He was beginning to calm down, his anger slowly bleeding away to be replaced by something else. "I wanted… I wanted to be a hero. I'm tired of being the damsel-in-distress. I'm sick of being the one who ran away while everybody else fought and risked their lives. I'm fed up with being pushed around just because I can't put up a fight." Jaune's voice cracked. He was holding back but Junpei could see just how weak his hold on his emotions was.

Scarlett's arrival, her revelation of Jaune's secrets, and her decision to pull him out of the school, willingly or not, have all done a great job of damaging the wall. Junpei's words did nothing to patch it up. Instead, they only served to cause further damage.

"And now there's no point. I'll never know whether I could have been a hero or not." Jaune hung his head and his arms fell limp by his sides. To Junpei, it looked like a puppet held up by just one uncut string. "By next week I'll be back to my old life. Back to being the guy who needed his younger sister to save him from the bullies."

His tirade over, Jaune stumbled his way back to the bench before finally collapsing onto the seat, burying his face in his hands and leaning on his knees. He wasn't quite at the point where the tears would start flowing, but he was close. It was only sheer willpower that kept him from breaking down completely in front of his soon-to-be former team leader.

"You know," Junpei began, speaking just as calmly as he was earlier. "You never answered my question."

"H-Huh?" Jaune looked up from his hands to turn and face the other teen, confusion written all over his face. "Wh-What question?"

"I asked if you really wanted to leave." Junpei shrugged carelessly, as though it wasn't really important to him beyond getting an answer.

"What does it matter?" The blonde teen leaned back and slumped against the wall, banging his head lightly against it. "No matter what I do, or what I say, Scarlett and the rest of my family are gonna drag me back either way. Besides, Weiss'll probably get me kicked out even if I manage to convince my family to let me stay."

"Dude, forget that!" The cap-wearing teen's words were sharp, almost harsh, instantly drawing Jaune's attention again. "I didn't ask what they wanted. I asked what you wanted. Forget what Weiss wants, forget what Scarlett wants, hell, forget what your parents what and even what the rest of us want. Forget all that and tell me what. The hell. YOU want."

Junpei punctuated his words by jabbing his finger against Jaune's breastplate, which he hadn't cared to take off after their Combat class. The dull, lightly echoed thud of flesh against metal rang loudly in his ears as he stared into Junpei's stern gray eyes, eyes that never looked away, eyes that demanded an answer.

"I…"

What did he want? Of course he wanted to be a hero but… was that really a realistic dream? His father, his sisters, his teachers, and even the accomplished Huntsmen his father knew have all noted his lack of talent in combat, the near absence of any potential whatsoever. What little he had was squandered by his inability to retain their teachings past a single training session.

But did he really just want to go home? To go back to that life where the people around him had to protect him from the smallest of threats? Where even his sister, his little sister at that, had to stand up for him?

"I…"

In Beacon, being able to fight was the norm. Back home, in that little town of Domremy, being average was the norm. His family was one of the very few exceptions. Yet neither in Beacon nor in Domremy did he fit the mold. He couldn't fight very well, or at all. Yet he was far from simply average. An average person wasn't pushed around by just about everybody, even those younger than him. The average person certainly didn't need to have his sisters, both older and younger, acting like his bodyguards or, worse, his babysitters even at his age.

Which did he pick? Which life did he want to live? Or better yet, which path had less heartaches and disappointments?

He opened his mouth to speak, then slowly shut it. He opened it again, then shut it once more. Twice more he repeated this, trying to speak, to say anything. But twice more the words failed to come.

Beside him, Junpei let out a resigned sighed and rose from the bench. "I'm going back." He said without fanfare. Jaune followed him with his eyes as he began walking towards the door. "I'll only wait until tonight for your answer. If you don't have one then, well… you're on your own. Can't exactly do anything for you if you don't even know what you want."

Before Jaune could ask what he meant, Junpei had already left the room, the door sliding shut behind him just as the blonde rose from the bench, Junpei's name half-uttered before his voice faded.

With a sigh much like the one Junpei had let out, he collapsed onto the bench once more. Twisting around, he place a foot up on the bench while the other lay outstretched over one end. Then easing himself onto his back, he lay down on the bench until he was facing the ceiling.

"Great."


October 14, XX13

Early the next morning, Blake was making her way to the Emerald Forest, where their next Stealth and Reconnaissance class was taking place. She wondered just what Professor Peach had in store for them that day. Would the students be the ones hiding? Or would they be the ones searching?

It had surprised Blake and Ren when they found out, after receiving their revised schedules after the first week of class, that Professor Peach, the tiny, child-like, pink-haired, Geography teacher, would also be teaching their Stealth class. Their first class had been even more of a surprise. One that none of them will ever forget, and one that had her past students laughing as they watched.

The thirty or so students who had signed up for the class had gathered in one of the classrooms as instructed the day before by Professor Peach via Scroll. Then just before the class was scheduled to start, a sleepy and extremely cranky student came into the room.

Her black hair was completely bedraggled, her blue eyes were surrounded by dark circles, and her uniform hadn't even been put on properly. Two buttons on her blouse were misaligned, the vest was missing, the ribbon was simply hanging around her neck, her blazer was half tucked into her skirt and was also inside-out, her socks were completely mismatched – one was black, which was most likely what she meant to wear, and the other was thick and red, possibly what she had worn to bed the previous night – and she had worn sneakers, one of which was still only halfway laced while the other didn't even have laces.

One of the fourth-year students had gone up to her to make sure she was alright, while everybody else approached also voicing their concerns. The girl reacted almost violently, ranting and raving about how teachers shouldn't be using students as messengers, especially so early in the morning, just because they needed a little extra credit to make up for a low grade the previous year.

Once they had calmed her down, just enough that she stopped ranting about Professor Peach's wake-up call and the unfairness of the situation, she brought out her Scroll, shoved it into some random person's hands, sat down on the nearest seat, laid her head down on the desk, and promptly went to sleep.

They had decided to leave the poor girl alone, feeling sorry for the girl and more than a little annoyed that their teacher had a hidden, inconsiderate, and almost power-tripping side to her. The one who had been handed the Scroll read the message out loud to the entire class.

"You have until 7:45 AM to find me. The rules are simple. I am still on campus. My hiding place is within 50 feet of at least one building. I will remain where I am hidden and will not move from my current location unless my life is threatened for any reason. I do not have an accomplice who will lie about my location. Whoever finds me is exempt from one month of homework, including the first and second-year Geography classes with me, and will also receive a 500 Lien gift certificate for any one shop of their choice within the City of Vale."

"Everyone is to search, and, should you fail to find me, everyone is to return to the classroom by 7:50 AM. Anyone who lazes about in the classroom or elsewhere instead of searching and anyone who returns late will receive a penalty. I may be in hiding but I will know if you attempt to do so. At 7:55 AM I will leave my hiding place and meet you all in the classroom. That is all. Happy hunting."

Needless to say, everyone scrambled as soon as they had the full message. Some had formed teams, though no more than three or four since the prize would then be severely reduced in value once divided, but most had gone off on their own. Ren and Blake had teamed up and began searching the school with the others.

For nearly two hours the thirty plus students ran wildly around the campus, searching every nook and cranny, opening every single door they could open and entering every accessible room, and even getting permission from various staff members to search through staff-only areas. Some had even returned to search the classroom, making sure that their teacher had not hidden herself in the room prior to their arrival that morning.

After about an hour, more and more students were waking and began wandering the school as well. Some had even taken the time to watch the spectacle. Those who were searching often had to reassure their fellow schoolmates that there was no emergency and that it was, strange as it was, part of their class.

When time finally ran out, they all returned to the classroom, disappointed and a little discouraged by their failure. They all took their seats in the room, the upper years making sure that nobody disturbed the still sleeping student, though they resolved to wake her if she failed to do so by the time the class ended.

Just before their teacher was scheduled to return, the slumbering girl woke up. And after apologizing for her rude behavior, she rose from her seat, walked to the front of the class with a huge smile on her face – looking nothing at all like the sleep-deprived student that had walked in earlier – and pulled off her wig to reveal pink hair just as the clock on the wall struck 7:55 AM.

Needless to say, there were a lot of gaping mouths and wide-eyed looks of shock and disbelief at Professor Peach's grand reveal. Before they had recovered, their teacher had also removed her contact lenses, revealing her violet eyes, and had fixed up the uniform she was wearing to make herself more presentable. The sight of her in a school uniform, however, caused a variety of reactions from both the male and female students of the class for a variety of reasons.

Blake shook her head and smiled wryly at the memory. That had been the beginning of a very interesting series of classes. Afterwards, she had given them homework in the form of an essay detailing why they failed to find her and why she managed to hide successfully. Then she explained how their class that evening would be held. The same exercise would be done but this time, they would be the ones hiding.

The rules were similar but were tweaked slightly.

She would be in the staff room by seven that night, right after she ate dinner, and would remain there until nine, when their evening Stealth class would officially begin. In that two-hour period, or even before that if they so wished, they could hide anywhere they wanted provided they remained within fifty feet of any building, meaning they could not hide in the forest but they could hide outdoors if they wanted to. They could not have an accomplice from outside the class, but those within the class could lie and misdirect her as necessary to increase someone else's chances of remaining hidden. Once nine o'clock came, they were to remain in place and would not be allowed to switch hiding places any more.

She would have the same amount of time, one hour and forty-five minutes, to search for all thirty-three students. Afterwards, she would proceed to the classroom within the next five minutes and wait there. After another five minutes, they would leave their hiding places and join her in the classroom. The prize? A 500 Lien gift certificate to each student she failed to find.

Everyone tried their best. Everyone pulled off every trick they could think of. Hiding in obvious but overlooked places, using costumes and disguises to make themselves harder to spot, sneaking into unauthorized areas, and even going so far as to sneak into the staff room and hiding there before Professor Peach went in.

Yet each and every one of them failed completely and utterly. Not only had she found them before the first hour had passed, but she had also called out their names and hiding places before she spotted them visually. Some had tried to remain silent, hoping it had been a bluff, but she would then expose their hiding places to show that, no, it was not a bluff.

Similar to that morning, she had assigned them all another essay to write. This time, they were to write about why they failed to hide and how they think she managed to find them.

After that, the Stealth and Recon class became Blake's favorite out of all her classes. Every meeting after those two exercises had focused on their essays and the theories behind stealth and recon, comparing their experiences with theory. Though the diminutive and mischievous teacher had yet to explain how she found them all in such a short amount of time, much to the class's annoyance.

With more than thirty of them, it meant she had spent less than two minutes per student. Given that they had hidden all over the school – indoors, outdoors, within the walls, floors and ceilings, inside furniture, the highest point of Beacon Tower they could reach, and someone had even hidden inside the elevator shaft of Beacon Tower – and avoided hiding near a classmate, it also meant she scoured practically the entire school in less than an hour all on her own.

Any misgivings they had about the pink-haired teacher disappeared after that unbelievable display.

As Blake walked through the forest path leading to the cliffs where the class was scheduled to meet, her sensitive hearing picked up the sound of steel clashing against steel a little ways to the side. It was rare that someone was awake this early to train, especially combat training. Akihiko and Pyrrha only woke up early to exercise rather than to train.

'It's still early and I have a little time.' Curiosity taking over, Blake decided to follow the sounds.

The sharp ringing and rasping of steel striking and sliding off one another grew progressively louder as she approached. The sound of two male voices, grunting and groaning also reached her ears after a certain point. Then came the sound of rustling grass and leaves caused by their movements. More than once, she heard someone falling to the ground but the fighting did not stop there. Either the attacker was relentless, or the one who had fallen over was determined to keep fighting.

She slowed her movements just as the clearing came into view. No need to surprise them, or be surprised if their fight drew close before she had time to react. As she moved around the trees and shrubs in the way, she held in a breath of surprise at what she saw.

There, bearing down on a downed fighter near the opposite end of the clearing, was Junpei. He was wearing a sleeveless black shirt and jeans, sweat pouring down his face as he ground his sword against another. Casting her gaze down, she stifled a gasp when she saw who his opponent was. Lying on his back, his sword held parallel to the ground in front of him and blocking Junpei's katana using the flat of his blade, was none other than Jaune.

Seeing that he wouldn't be able to overpower Jaune, not with one of his hands pushing against the opposite side of Crocea Mors, Junpei quickly pulled back his sword, raised his foot, and stomped down. The foot made contact with his abdomen, just above his belt, causing his to curl forward and gasp out as the air was driven from his lungs. "Don't just lie there like an idiot!" Junpei followed up by kicking Jaune's unprotected side, causing his to go rolling away.

"Get up!" Junpei snarled, walking after the blonde with his sword in hand.

Jaune attempted to comply but could only push himself onto his knees, right hand wrapped around his abdomen, cradling the area where he had been stomped on and kicked. His sword lay on the ground next to him while his left hand, the shield strapped to his arm, helped keep him steady. And despite the pitiful sight, Junpei continued to approach.

Blake didn't know what was going on, but she knew what she had to do. "Sto-" A hand clamped down on her wrist before she could even take a single step out into the clearing and pulled her back into the forest. "Wha-"

"Sshhhh!" The shushing sound did its job of silencing the black-haired faunus, though mostly because of how unexpected it was. That and the fact that it was Akihiko who had grabbed and shushed her. Next to him, watching the one-sided beat down, was Fuuka.

"Wha-" Her attempt to speak was silenced once more by a stern look accompanied by a finger rising up in front of the boxer's lips. Taking the hint, she nodded and lowered her voice. "What's going on? Why is he doing this? I thought he wasn't mad at Jaune."

Rather than answer, Akihiko jerked his head away from the fight before walking off, careful to avoid making too much noise. Blake hesitated to leave, especially when Junpei's blade met Jaune's shield, followed by a swift kick that struck Jaune's shin. But seeing Fuuka, of all people, watching the fight without a peep was slightly reassuring. She was not one to allow such things, not without good reason. A very, very good reason.

And so, reluctant though she might be, she slowly followed Akihiko, making significantly less noise than the older teen. Once they were a fair distance away, she opened her mouth to ask but was interrupted once again – that was beginning to get very annoying – this time by a raised hand.

"I can't really answer all your questions, not yet," he said, cutting her off. "All I can say is that Junpei tried thinking of a way to help Jaune and this is what he came up with."

"What? Beating him half to death?" Blake spat out, unable to believe that the carefree and laidback teen had thought of such a thing.

"Jaune asked for this," he responded with bared teeth. "And I mean that literally." Her doubt must have shown since Akihiko sighed. "Look, all you need to know right now is that Junpei spoke with Jaune last night. I made him promise, at least, to warn Jaune that the help he was going to get was going to be hard and painful, and that we weren't going to let him back out once he started. I honestly have my doubts as to whether this plan of his will work as he expects, but I trust Junpei. And I know he won't intentionally do anything that will make the situation worse."

"And beating him up like that will make things better?"

"If Jaune's situation is what Junpei thinks it is then yes, it might."

"Might?" The disbelief in her tone couldn't have been more obvious or more present. "You're betting everything on something that isn't even certain?"

"Nothing in life is ever certain," was the boxer's calm response. "Not until it comes to pass. You can stack the odds in your favor but even at the best of times there's that one in a million chance of getting screwed over." He held one hand out slightly to the left, the palms facing up, then mirrored it with his right hand when he spoke again. "Just as there's a one in a million chance of something good happening when the odds are against you."

"But how is beating up Jaune going to help?" Blake sounded almost desperate, as though it was her life that was on the line and not Jaune's future. "He's not the best fighter and beating down on him like that is just going to make him feel worse."

But much to her dismay, Akihiko just shrugged. "Junpei said this was the best way to help him."

"And you believe him?" she asked, wide-eyed and slack-jawed. "Why? Why would you let him do something like that? You just said you didn't think it might even work."

Ignoring the look she was giving him, he nodded with a serious expression. "Like Jaune's sister said, everything that happens from here on out is all on Jaune. Junpei's aware that getting involved may get him caught in the crossfire, but he offered his help all the same. He let Jaune know he was willing to help, he warned Jaune that his help would be tough and painful, and then he let Jaune decide if he still wanted help. Jaune accepted."

"As for why Junpei decided to get involved, that's for him to share, not me." Akihiko made to rejoin Fuuka but paused after a few steps and turned his body halfway to face Blake. "I'll tell you this much though. Junpei has no idea how to be a leader. Unlike me and Mitsuru, he's never had to lead other people, whether a hundred, ten, or even just one, never mind three. All this is new to him."

"But even though he isn't mentally ready, his heart is in the right place. He's doing all this because this is the only thing he could think of to help Jaune both as a team leader and as a friend. You asked me why I would let him do this even though I'm not confident it'll work. The answer's simple. Even though we have our doubts, sometimes the best we can do," he began as he turned back towards where the sound of fighting was coming from and walked away, "Is trust in our friends."


"Hey Jaune, don't forget we're training again later. We'll be using the training rooms this time."

The blonde resisted the urge to shudder at Junpei's reminder as he ate his lunch, Pyrrha giving him a comforting pat on the back even as she continue to help him sort through his notes from their Grimm Studies class. The beat down he received that morning at the hands of his team leader was certainly not what he was expecting when he woke up that morning. And it was certainly not what one would normally consider training.

Unfortunately, he couldn't back out even if he wanted to. Junpei had made that abundantly clear the previous night when Jaune had given him his answer.


October 13, XX13

"I want to stay."

"Could you say that again? I couldn't really hear anything."

Jaune swallowed the lump in his throat as he kept his eyes locked onto Junpei's as they spoke in the dorm. The latter was sitting at one of the desks, studying with Chidori as they did every night. Sitting at a desk behind him, Pyrrha had stopped writing her essay as she looked up and listened to her partner.

"I… I said I want… I want to stay." He tried to raise his voice despite his nervousness. "I want to stay here at Beacon," he repeated, louder this time. Even though Junpei was sitting down while he was standing up, he still felt so tiny under his leader's stern gaze.

"You sure about that? I mean, you already look like you're having trouble keeping up with classes, not to mention the fact that you can't fight."

He winced at the reminder but was also confused as to why he was bringing that up now. Not even half-an-hour ago it almost seemed like Junpei wanted him to stay. Now it almost sounded like he was trying to drive him away.

"Junpei." Pyrrha spoke hesitantly but Jaune could almost see the confused look on his partner's face. "Why are you-"

"Hey, come on Pyrrha, you know it's rude to interrupt when two people are talking." Junpei's words were said with a small grin, with a hint of amusement in his tone, but Jaune felt as though there was something more to his sudden interruption of Pyrrha's words. "So what's it gonna be Jaune? You still planning on trying to stay?"

A strange glint appeared in Junpei's eyes at that moment, making him look almost… sinister. "Never mind what you've gotta do to keep your grades up, you've got your sister to deal with too. And whoever else comes along this Sunday. How the hell're you planning on convincing 'em to let you stay?"

"I…"

Again, what little progress he made by being able to admit what he wanted was shot down by a simply question that he should have already considered. Two of them for that matter. His continued studies at Beacon, including his combat training, and the matter of his family coming to pick him up.

"I… well…"

He saw Junpei shoot a meaningful look at something past Jaune. It didn't take a genius to figure out that Pyrrha was about to do something again, speak on his behalf perhaps? Or maybe just try to give him some support?

That didn't matter now, however. Junpei was still waiting for an answer. And if it was anything like in the training room, he wouldn't wait long. For all he knew this might even be the last chance Junpei was going to give him. After all, everyone else had long given up on him. The fact that Junpei had given him more than one was more than a lot of others had given him.

"I… I don't…"

And then it happened. Junpei sighed, just like he did earlier. And just like he did whenever he was about to leave for one reason or another. He was either going to stand up and walk out the door, to get some fresh air or whatever he could come up with to avoid outright saying that he was giving up on him, or he was going to tell him straight up that he should just give up as well.

When Junpei opened his mouth to speak, Jaune spat out the first thing that came to mind, afraid of whatever his team leader was about to say. "I DON'T KNOW!"

The trio in the room with him jumped in surprise, caught off guard by the sudden exclamation from the normally calm blonde. The volume, the sheer emotion in his voice, was far beyond what Junpei had witnessed earlier in the training room.

"I DON'T KNOW WHAT I'M GOING TO DO!" The blonde began to stomp around the room, his hand cradling sides of his head as he raged about. All prior hesitation was gone now that the he had opened the floodgates to his emotions. That small crack had burst wide open in the face of pressure. "I DON'T KNOW HOW THE HELL I'M GOING TO STAY HERE OR IF I CAN EVEN LAST HALF A YEAR, NEVER MIND FOUR! I HAVE NO IDEA HOW I'M GOING TO DEAL WITH MY FAMILY OR EVEN WHAT I'M GOING TO DO IF OZPIN FINDS OUT!"

Jaune took a deep shuddering breath as he came to a stop at the foot of his bed with his back facing his team. "I just…" his shaky breath came out in gasps as he struggled with himself. "All my life I've been dreaming of this… Of becoming a Huntsman, a hero, like my family before me. I know… I know I'll… probably be the worst hero ever but… I can't… I can't imagine doing anything else."

"And I'm tired. I'm tired of just sitting back thinking things will get better. I've always been pushed around because I was weak. I kept telling myself it'll pass, that people will get tired of pushing me around if I just left it alone. But then…" He paused as a memory flashed through his mind. Dozens upon dozens jeering at his predicament, looking down upon him for his weakness, laughing at the pathetic person that he was. An endless sea of derision and scorn cascading down to drown him.

He bent forward and stretched out both arms, each hand landing on a separate bedpost to hold himself up as he bowed his head down in defeat. "But I don't know what I'm going to do. I barely know anything since I never went to a combat school, I can barely fight, there's no way I can convince my family to let me stay and even if I do, there's no way I can stay in Beacon if people find out what I did to get in."

"No matter how I look at it, there's no way I'll be able to stay at Beacon, let alone make it through four years."

"Jaune…" Pyrrha rose from her seat, ready to approach her partner to comfort him when Junpei cut in.

"What if I told you there might be a way you can do all that?"

Jaune spun around so fast he was surprised he didn't give himself whiplash. But when he did, he was met with a grimly grinning Junpei. The only word that slipped past his lips was a very articulate and dignified, "Huh?"

"You can do all that if you want," said Junpei, leaning forward in his seat and locking gazes with Jaune's hopeful eyes. Across the room, Pyrrha was also looking at her leader with an equally hopeful gaze. "You might just be able to stay."

"I'll do it!" The Mistralian turned to face her partner.

"It'll be pretty hard you know." Then back to her team leader.

"I don't care!"

"You'll be wishing you were dead."

"Anything's better than where I am now!"

"If you agree I won't let you back out, no matter what you say, no matter how much you beg… no matter how much you bleed."

Jaune swallowed at that last word and hesitated for just a brief moment before screwing up his face in determination. "I… I don't care. I don't care how much it hurts, how hard it is, or even if I bleed so much I'm an inch from death."

"Look Junpei I…" The blonde shut his eyes, his head tilted back, and took a deep breath. He slowly let it out and opened his eyes, looking pleadingly at his team leader. "I've got nothing to lose anymore. If I just sit back and do nothing I'll just end up back home at the end of the week. Back where I have less than nothing. Just another guy with impossible dreams." His hands, slightly trembling and half-curled into fists, rose up in front of him and his eyes moved down to look at them. "If… If whatever you've got planned works then… then maybe I'll finally, finally, have a chance to be the hero I've always wanted to be. And even if it fails, even if I do end up going home in the end, then at least for once in my life I can say I tried my best, did everything I could instead of just giving up like I did every other time."

"So please." He shut his eyes and bowed his head as low as he could. "Please, let me do this."

That was it. That was all he could do. All that was left was to see if Junpei was still willing to give him that chance, if his words were enough to convince Junpei of his own determination.

His breath was caught in his throat when he heard another sigh from the only other male in the room, followed by the chair's legs scraping against the floor. Footsteps echoed loudly in his ears, all other sounds fading away as he felt his team leader's approach along with whatever judgment he had in store. He flinched when a hand came down on his shoulder…

and squeezed lightly, much like his father did when encouraging him after his past failures.

"We'll start tomorrow."


October 14, XX13

Prior to starting, Junpei had reminded him that the training would be extremely harsh and unforgiving and even required a promise from Jaune, stating that he would do exactly as he was instructed no matter what it was. Considering he would only have to go through with it for a few days before his family arrived, he gave his word. Once he did, his new training routine began.

And what a hellish routine it was.

Repeatedly getting beaten down into the ground, getting constantly yelled at for every little mistake, fighting until his Aura was just a handful of blows from being depleted – not just getting pushed into the red zone but outright depleted – fighting Fuuka and attempting to get through her impenetrable defense while his Aura recovered, and then fighting Junpei once more the moment his Aura was roughly half full. That was what Junpei considered training.

He was only allowed to rest after an hour, and even then only for a few minutes. They gave him some water and a small packet of crackers to help keep him going, but they hadn't even allowed him to sit down to rest. Akihiko mainly watched, but during those short breaks he would speak with Junpei and Fuuka outside his hearing range.

And all that was just the start of what Junpei said was the first part of his new training routine. They had started before the sun had even come up, joining Akihiko on his morning workout, then searched for a clearing in the nearby forest for the combat training where Fuuka joined them. They stopped a little before eight, giving them time to wash up and eat breakfast before the first class of the day.

During the one hour break between Grimm Studies and Local Geography, Pyrrha tutored Jaune while they ate lunch as a team, their team eating separately from the others so minimize distractions. And after their class with Professor Peach, Pyrrha once again sat down with Jaune to go over the lesson. Combat class proceeded normally, thankfully without him getting called for a fight, followed by another tutoring session during dinner.

He watched as Junpei left the dining hall, accompanied by Akihiko and Fuuka, to prepare for their evening training session. Junpei had yet to explain how the training was supposed to work. Whenever he asked, he would either tell Jaune to trust him or, if they were in the middle of training, yell at him to pay attention right before knocking him flat on his ass or back.

"Jaune, are you alright?"

The blonde resisted the urge to sigh at those words. Pyrrha had been asking him that question all day, along with trying to get him to divulge the details of his training. Despite being the strongest fighter on the team, Junpei had opted to use her intellect rather than her physical prowess. He had even gone as far as explicitly prohibiting her from taking part in Jaune's combat training, using his position as team leader to do so.

Needless to say, Pyrrha had not taken it very well. But when Junpei threatened to rescind his offer to help Jaune, even blonde boy had turned to his partner and asked her to let Junpei handle it. Chidori was of little help to her fellow redhead, simply stating that she trusted Junpei, something the Mistralian should have expected.

She gave in to her leader's demands, but had not given up her cause. Whenever the two of them were alone, she did her best to try and convince him to at least let her know what sort of training they were doing. But, apparently having expected it, Junpei had warned him ahead of time and also warned him that he really would stop the training if he let Pyrrha know what they were doing. And so he had to convince Pyrrha multiple times to leave it alone. Which, given that she was going to try again, was not very successful.

"I'm fine Pyrrha," he said with what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "Just… tired, and thinking of what we're gonna be doing later."

"Jaune, he's not going to find out if you tell me." He had been wondering how long it would be before she used that line on him. "I'm just concerned. You looked really tired this morning and I'm worried that he may be pushing you too hard."

"Pyrrha I…" he hesitated, wondering if what he was about to do would be considered telling her what they were doing. "I… don't even understand what he's trying to do with this training. He says it'll help, and even Fuuka and Akihiko said so. I'm just… There's really not much I can do but believe that it will."

His partner looked down thoughtfully. She was still clearly worried but slightly placated by that little bit of information he had shared. Now he could only hope that he hadn't given too much away that the training would end. As much as it hurt, and damn did it hurt, it was his only option if he wanted any chance of remaining at Beacon.

Glancing at his Scroll, he noted the time and sighed. 'Back to hell in thirty minutes.'


He was wrong. So, so very wrong.

Their morning session hadn't been hell. It was just a warm-up.

Not long after dinner, he had proceeded to the training hall, looking up the room that Junpei had told him to be at. Inside, he was met by Junpei, Akihiko, and Fuuka, much like that morning.

Very much like that morning, he fought against either Junpei or Fuuka, the two Persona-users switching whenever Jaune's Aura dropped or recovered. Unlike that morning, Akihiko and Fuuka would switch and he would find himself completely unprepared to deal with an opponent who dodged more than he blocked.

A part of him was worried that he might hurt the boxer due to his lack of armor. Or even Junpei and Fuuka, despite the latter's shields. The more tired he grew, the more effort he had to exert to swing Crocea Mors. And the more effort he exerted, the less he was able to hold back to ensure he didn't hurt them too badly. Then again, why was he worrying about hurting them? He had to worry about being good enough to hit them in the first place before he worried about hurting them.

Instead of a half-hour warm up and a two-hour training session, he had also gotten four straight hours of training. Much like that morning, they gave him a few minutes to rest every hour, along with a bottle of water and some crackers to munch on, but no more than that. And again, he had been made to rest on his feet rather than on the benches or even on the floor.

Jaune collapsed onto his bed, hair still damp from his shower but now dressed in his one piece nightie, the sight of which still sent Junpei into a snickering fit even after more than a month of seeing it just about every night. Because warm and comfy or not, "No sane teenager would be caught dead wearing something like that outside their own home." At least, according to Junpei. Pyrrha's comment that it was… cute… wasn't very reassuring for some reason. Especially not when her lip had twitched when she had said that.

Only the lamp on the bedside table between his and Pyrrha's beds provided a source of light in the otherwise dark room. Chidori was already sleeping, had been even before they returned from their training, while Pyrrha had waited for their return.

Right now it was just the two of them since Junpei had just stepped into the bathroom for his own shower. None of them were really comfortable with the thought of showering with someone else, so they always had to take turns.

"Jaune, are you alright?"

Just like the last half-dozen times she asked, the blonde held in a sigh and did his best to give her a reassuring smile. "Tired, just like last time, but I'll live." He was grateful that they never completely depleted his Aura, even though they brought it dangerously close. He may be battered and beaten at the end of each session, but never bruised or cut, the sight of which might have sent his partner running for a doctor, possibly with him on her back.

Neither one said anything after that, for which he was relieved even though he knew she was far from feeling the same. Both knew the conversation would end the exact same way as it had the last few times, but that didn't mean both were happy about it.

Jaune wanted to tell her, to ease her worries by no longer keeping it a secret. But finding out what was happening would only cause her more worries. Then again, she wouldn't have to worry since letting her know would end the training.

Damned if he did, damned if he didn't, and just plain damned regardless.

The best he could do was survive the training and hope that Junpei's plan, whatever it was, worked. That way, he could at least say that hiding it hadn't been for nothing.


October 16, XX13

Two days later saw the beginning of Jaune's second stage of training. Jaune and Junpei left Team JACN's dorm room before the sun was up, joined by Akihiko and, later Fuuka, just as they did the last two days. Then it was back to business as usual, with Junpei viciously attacking and Jaune frantically defending. All the while, Junpei was shouting the blonde's failings whenever he managed to overcome the blonde's defenses.

"Just 'cuz you can't see me from behind your shield doesn't mean I can't see you!"

"Now your left's open you idiot!"

"It's not fighting dirty if there aren't any rules!"

Being a Friday, the first-year students only had Combat class in the afternoon, thus allowing the quartet to train nearly the whole day. Akihiko and Fuuka had to attend their Unarmed Combat class that morning so Junpei had to alternately play the attacker and defender by himself for the first two hours of training. After breakfast, however, it was back to the usual.

Only this time, they added a new twist to his training. Fuuka deflected another slash from Crocea Mors, violently knocking the sword aside and throwing its wielder off-balance. This, in turn, opened him up to an attack from Junpei, his katana sheath striking at the junction where Jaune's neck and shoulder met, draining another portion of his waning Aura and bringing it close to depletion.

The final change in their training, and the one that scared Jaune the most when he was told, was that they would no longer stop just because his Aura got too low. As Junpei had explained, "The Grimm won't care just 'cuz your Aura's down and out. So you shouldn't either. Aura or not, you get up and fight."

Combined with the new combat arrangement, Jaune's hell took on a completely different level as he began the most painful training session yet. Even now, he knew his Aura was dangerously close to running out. Fuuka most likely knew it too but she said nothing and continued to defend herself even as Junpei repeatedly attacked him.

Just as their training was nearing the one-hour limit, Fuuka called out to Akihiko. "Senpai, she's here. She's coming from the direction of the school."

Akihiko nodded. Fuuka didn't say who 'she' was but the boxer knew even without being told. He had expected the Mistralian would try to find out what was going on with Jaune sooner or later. Though to be honest, he had expected her to try sooner given what he's seen of her. Either way, she was here now. Without another word, he turned and left to intercept the redhead just as Junpei's Scroll rang out, followed by its owner calling for a quick break for Jaune.

He had only been walking about a minute before he met the redhead, who looked surprised to see him approach. Her worries and concerns were written on every inch of her body and he could see the way she tensed at his approach. Despite her surprise, she obviously knew why he was there, as evidenced by the frown on her face.

"Let me pass." The frown on her face grew worried as she thought about what Jaune must be doing at that moment. "Please," she added, sounding close to pleading.

He understood how she felt, but he couldn't let her interfere. Not with what he had seen of her during their group training sessions. "I can't."

"Why not?" Anger seeped into her tone and her frown melted into a scowl. "Jaune is my partner."

"And Junpei's your team leader," was the calm, almost blasé, counter that came.

"I'm simply worried about him."

"Knowing what's happening won't make you worry less."

"He looked ready to collapse after each session the past two days."

"He won't be able to stay if he doesn't put the proper work in."

Each one of Akihiko's seemingly uncaring responses lit a pyre of anger within Pyrrha. By the end, she looked about ready to erupt in rage while the boxer was just as calm as ever. "How is working him to death going to help him?! He barely made it into his bed before he fell asleep last night!"

"How is getting mad going to help him?"

"You…" Pyrrha took a deep, calming breath, forcing down the anger welling up within her. The neutral expression Akihiko was sporting wasn't helping, but after a few deep breaths, she finally managed to calm down. "What is going on? What… What kind of training are you doing? And why not let me help? He's my partner!"

Akihiko gazed into her eyes for a moment, searching for something she couldn't be sure of, before he sighed with a stern look. "If I show you, can you promise not to interfere?" His sudden capitulation surprised Pyrrha, having expected him to put up more of a fight. "Can you promise to keep the fact that you know a secret? Can you trust that we know what we're doing? That Junpei knows what he is doing?"

She wasn't sure why he needed her to make those promises. She suspected it was because she would most likely not like what she was going to hear and see, but she still held onto that little bit of hope that it wasn't as bad as she was thinking, that perhaps Akihiko and Junpei were simply overestimating her possible reaction to a simple matter.

Still, she gave her word that she would not interfere, that she would trust that they knew what they were doing. When that was done, Akihiko nodded and said, "Wait here and keep your Scroll ready. I'll give you a call to let you see the fight." Before he turned, he gave her another stern look. "If you have any complaints, or anything at all to say, I'll hear you out afterwards when I get back to you. If you come and interfere then Jaune's as good as gone."

She didn't really know how to feel about his warning but didn't have much time to think about it as a call came through to her Scroll. When she answered the call, she nearly dropped the Scroll at the sight that greeted her.

She didn't know when it happened, but she found herself sitting on the ground and leaning against a tree with her Scroll in her hands, the sounds of combat booming out of the speakers in the otherwise silent forest.

She watched, nearly numb with disbelief, as Junpei repeatedly struck Jaune, who was focusing solely on attacking Fuuka for some reason. She could hear Junpei shouting but she ignored it as she focused on her partner. His movements were sluggish, his guard was weak, his stance was completely unstable, and she could see his sweat falling down his face like rain.

And yet Junpei kept attacking. And Jaune kept fighting. His shield rose up, stopping the katana sheath from striking his head, but the impact caused him to stumble. Junpei followed-up by ramming the shield with his shoulder. Already off-balance, Jaune couldn't withstand the assault and fell over, falling onto his back with a grunt.

Pyrrha gasped when Junpei launched a kick aimed at Jaune's undefended side, reminding her of the fight in Combat class the other day. Weak as it was, the blonde raised his shield arm to intercept the attack. The black-clad teen shifted the kick at the last minute, planting the sole of his shoe on the shield and giving it a hard shove.

She mentally applauded Jaune for managing to brace himself against their leader's latest move, the shield barely moving as he hardened his arm and struggled to rise. Junpei swiped his sheath sideways, aiming right at the blonde's head. But Jaune rolled away at the last moment, landing on one knee and ready to push himself up. Junpei chased after him, but, to Pyrrha's surprise, her partner leapt away and re-engaged Fuuka, striking repeatedly and futilely with his sword.

Why? It made absolutely no sense to her. From what she could see, Fuuka wasn't attacking and was focused solely on defense, playing to her strength. In such a situation the best choice was to take out the more pressing threat first, namely Junpei. Sure even Jaune knew that. So why? 'Why is he ignoring Junpei?'

Again and again, he attacked Fuuka, trying and failing to break through a defense that even Pyrrha found challenging to overcome. And all the while he struggled to defend himself against Junpei's relentless assault. After watching the same, repetitive scene for about half-an-hour, the feed was cut.

The fight was still playing in her mind's eye when Akihiko returned. All she could do was look up at him and ask, "Why?"


Jaune proceeded to shower after returning to their dorm room after their morning training session. While Junpei was awaiting his turn, Pyrrha entered the room and approached him with a stern expression.

"I want to help."


And that's the end of this chapter. It's several thousand shorter than my average, but I felt that this was a good place to end this chapter. No sense making things drag on too much.

Jaune's secret is out and Junpei's got him in a weird training regimen along with Akihiko and Fuuka. But why are they beating him up? Why is Pyrrha not involved? What will the Arc family have to say about it? Will the training work? Will Jaune get to stay in Beacon? Will he be taken home despite his last minute efforts? Why am I asking all these questions when I know the answer? Why am I still asking questions?

Anyway, look forward to the next chapter as the Arc Arc comes to an end. Or will it? Either way, look forward to seeing the fruits of Jaune's training.

As always, I'm looking forward to seeing what everybody thinks about the chapter. So tell me what you think please. Like it? Love it? Hate it? Despise it? Let me know and hopefully I can make the next chapter even better.

Until next time everyone. Gonna go wait for RWBY Volume 4 now. WOOOOHOOOOOO!