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.


VOLUME FOUR! WOOHOO!

The first episode/chapter should be available to the non-members about now so hopefully I don't spoil anything here. But just in case, I'll keep spoilers to a minimum if I intend to bring up the latest episode for any reason. Like now.

I've also seen Episode 2 already but, for the sake of the non-members who can't watch it until next week, I'll keep quiet about it and won't mention even a single hint. Though I'll answer the questions if you're willing to have it spoiled. Not sure why you'd wanna do that though. It's much more awesome to watch the actual thing. XD

And on another note, I got another anonymous review that pretty much told me I lost a reader. With no shortage of inappropriate words and the like, they told me that I'm taking Weiss's bitchiness too far, that she wasn't that bad in canon. I doubt they'll be here to read my response but I wanted to share my reasons for portraying her as such.

This might get a little ranty (okay, more than a little) so feel free to skip if my insight and opinion on Weiss doesn't really interest you and you just wanna read about it in the story itself.

What little we know about Weiss's life prior to the start of canon (and before any Volume 4 episodes) can be summed up as such. Weiss and her father are not on very good terms. The White Fang's militant actions affected her childhood and home life negatively, thus leading to a hatred for the WF and a severe dislike for the faunus as a whole. She idolizes Winter. She disagrees with the path her father took the SDC to and wants to take it down a better path (I'm assuming she's felt this way even before her change of heart).

I know I missed a few things, but that's pretty much everything major about her past that's been revealed. Nothing about her mother is mentioned. Nothing is said about why Weiss, the younger sibling, is the heiress instead of Winter, the elder sister and first born (though Winter joining the military might have something to do with this). If the position of heiress was passed onto her at some point, how did she feel about it? Did it affect how she was raised? How was she raised? What kind of home-life did she have beyond what was already revealed?

There's a gaping hole in her canon history and speculation can only go so far. But even through speculation, I'm of the firm opinion that someone like Weiss would not have changed as easily as she did in canon. Some say she is a tsundere, nice underneath all that ice, but I disagree. She was a snobby, semi-pampered princess who became a tsundere.

Not once, prior to her saving Ruby from the Death Stalker, did she show a nice side. Ruby knocks down her luggage, she demands answers uncaring that Ruby might have been hurt from the fall. Ruby tries to apologize, she insults Ruby. Ruby causes an explosion, she is understandably angry but she remains condescending. Blake recognizes her, she preens from the attention. Blake gives her opinion on the SDC, she gets mad. Again.

She holds a grudge, as shown when she brings up the Dust incident when she sees Ruby again. The noise is getting in the way of her beauty rest so she complains, loudly and rudely, uncaring that she, herself, is now a cause of that same problem. She approaches Pyrrha with the intent to use her fame and ability to further her own reputation. She has an overinflated opinion of herself, calling herself the 'smartest girl in class', and treats everyone, with very few exceptions, as though they were beneath her in every way. She is not willing to admit her mistakes, pushing the blame on others when possible.

And even after saving Ruby – which, in some ways, could be seen as protecting her own interests in that she would fail if her partner died – she showed little change afterwards. I honestly cannot see how that one talk with Port was enough to get her to accept Ruby as the team leader. I honestly expected her to support Ruby while secretly planning to either undermine her authority, making Ruby a puppet leader of sorts, or to blatantly outshine Ruby in every manner to prove that she is more deserving of leader.

I've said it before but I'll say it again now just to be clear. I like Weiss. I really do. What I did not like was how quickly she changed. Even her opinion of Blake had changed too quickly to be believable had it happened in real life. Blake is a faunus, difficult to accept but she did not act like a criminal so acceptable. Blake used to be White Fang, she isn't a member anymore so it doesn't matter? Really?

Weiss is more the type to grill Blake on what she did while in the WF, to try to find out if Blake ever took part in any operation that killed her family members and, consequently, made her life hell. And even if Blake claims not to have taken part in any, or even if she could prove it, I can see Weiss holding her past against her for a decent amount of time, keeping an eye on Blake for even the slightest hint that she may be lying about leaving the WF.

So seeing Weiss change so swiftly in canon seemed like a waste. Not only could there have been more drama and team bonding as Team RWBY tried to help Weiss through her issues, but it seemed like a waste to come up with that kind of character only to change it so soon. It made me feel like they themselves didn't like how Weiss came out and decided to hasten the changes so they wouldn't have to portray her in that manner anymore.

Obviously I wouldn't know if Monty, may he rest in peace, or the people at RT felt that way, but that is the impression it gives me.

So the events surrounding Weiss in this story is simply my way of showing a more realistic change of heart from the typical spoiled princess to the lovable tsundere we all know and… well… love.

I know that quite a few of you love how you are able to hate Weiss's character, but hopefully that one reviewer is the only one who hated it enough that they chose not to continue reading.

Anyway, I doubt it's the last time I'll get a review like that, especially from the cowards who can't even use an actual account (or log-out when they review to avoid receiving a response from the author of the story they reviewed), but it's why I moderate the anonymous reviews and all that. I don't mind bad reviews, they're a valid opinion, but when they aren't constructive and are submitted anonymously to avoid having to talk about it and such they're nothing more than an eyesore.

Still, I'm sure everyone's had enough of my incessant babbling and just want to know how Junpei plans on keeping Jaune in Beacon. So here's the next chapter. Cookie to whoever picks up on the little joke in the chapter title WITHOUT using having to search online for it.

Quick warning, there'll be quite a few OCs appearing here, as you might expect, so prepare yourselves.


Chapter 10 – The Hero(?) of Domremy

February 19, XX13

Junpei raised his sword just in time to block a slash from his opponent's blade, but was unable to react to the follow-up attack that came not long after. He bit down a curse as a light spray of blood burst from his forearm. The cut had been intentionally shallow, enough to let him know he had made a mistake but not enough to make him pay dearly.

"The first attack is almost always a feint or a set-up," called out the mechanical voice of his opponent even as his sword flew towards Junpei once more. Again, the attack was blocked. And when the second one came, the cap-wearing teen managed to pull back just enough that the tip of the blade just barely grazed his arm. "Better, but not good enough!"

"I'm gonna hit you if it's the last thing I do!"

Junpei knocked aside another attack and lunged, thrusting his katana towards his opponent's abdomen. But despite his foe's considerable size, he was incredibly swift and nimble. It certainly didn't help that his opponent could fly with just a thought. His katana missed completely, not even managing to snag his opponent's clothing. Now completely open, his foe's sword flew through the air and cut into the side of his neck, stopping just as it drew a single drop of blood.

The teen froze, both to avoid further injury and also because he had lost the fight. When the sword was pulled away from his neck, he relaxed and sheathed his blade as he faced his opponent.

"That was a good attempt, Junpei-kun. Had I been human then you might have won with that move. Or injured me at the very least."

"Yeah, well, if Elizabeth-san's stories are true then the people out there aren't exactly normal humans anymore." He paused, considering his words, before amending them. "Well, normal by what we're used to anyway. Guess having a Persona ain't that special anymore, huh Ryoji-kun?"

The echoing, mechanical chuckle from the large form of Thanatos sounded forced and emotionless, but Junpei appreciated the effort all the same. "Perhaps. But from what we've been told, your Personas are still unique. And even if they are no longer as special as they once were, I don't believe you would exchange it for this… Semblance."

"Hehe. Yeah, you got that right."

While Ryoji Mochizuki was still present mentally, the former exchange student had long lost that which made him human. It was only due to his presence within Minato that he was able to gain a temporary human form. And with that physical form came everything else associated with humans. With the passing of time, that small shred of humanity had long since faded. He retained his memories of those times, but Thanatos could not play the part of Ryoji Mochizuki any more than he could regain a human form.

He was Death. He was the thirteenth Arcana Shadow. He was the Harbinger of the Fall. He was the Avatar of Nyx. He was many things. But he was not, could not be, Ryoji Mochizuki.

But he tried. For the sake of the one who had given his life for the world, he tried. He spoke as he once did, flirty and full of humor. But his words were discordant with his terrifying form. He joked around as he once did, making light of every situation. But his mechanical voice and near monotonous tone failed to convey his amusement. Had he still been human he would have undoubtedly been sulking at his failure. But he felt nothing but acceptance at his inevitable failure.

But the bonds he had formed were still there. Countless years have passed for him, but for SEES it had been as though they had fallen asleep a single night only to reawaken in an unfamiliar land.

He and Fuuka had never been close, merely acquainted with one another through mutual friends. Yukari was his classmate, one whom he had flirted with on many occasions in the past. Junpei was his friend, one with whom he had spent much of his time with during his time as a human. Next to Minato, he was the one with whom he shared the strongest bond with.

A bond that had survived despite everything they had been through.

His human guise had been shed in exchange for his true form. His human allegiance had been discarded as he returned to his mother's side. His friendships were cast aside so that he may fulfill his purpose.

And yet…

And yet despite all that not even the members of SEES he had not known very well, had treated him any differently. Some were wary, which was understandable, but none of them had treated him like an enemy. They spoke with him like they would with another human, albeit one with vast knowledge regarding Shadows.

Only Aigis was different. Then again, was it really different? Even as Ryoji Mochizuki she had been wary of him, knowing, on some instinctual level, that he had been the Shadow that she had been sent to hunt down. The Shadow that she had failed to destroy and was, thus, forced to seal away. No, it wasn't different at all. Whether as Death or as Ryoji Mochizuki, she had recognized him as a threat. She still recognizes him as a threat. And strange as it was, it brought him a measure of comfort that her treatment of him hadn't changed.

Perhaps it was as Yukari had said the day they reawakened, "Besides, it's not like friends don't fight from time to time."

"Yo, Ryoji-kun, you still there?" Thanatos glanced down at Junpei, belatedly realizing that his wounds had already healed. "You look like you're trying to find out the meaning of life or something."

"I don't need to try. I already do." His flat tone and inability to express emotions via facial expressions ruined the joke but Junpei grinned nonetheless. "I'm merely considering your training and how it's progressed these past weeks."

At that, even the ever-carefree Junpei had to sigh. "I know, I know, I'm thinking too much." He sat down on the grass before releasing all tension in his body, allowing gravity to pull him back and down to the ground on his back. "It's just… different, y'know? When I'm fighting Shadows I just need my Persona. My sword's pretty much just there for the smaller ones but it's almost useless when it comes to the really big ones. Never really needed to know how to use it asides from 'pointy end goes away from me'."

"I suppose that's an apt way to put it." Thanatos floated back down to the ground to Junpei's right side. He set his sword down to his right and sat on the ground, much like a human would. One leg was stretched out in front of him while the other was bent, one arm resting on the upraised knee, his right hand supporting his weight.

Junpei found it a strange sight, but as with all of Thanatos's attempts at acting human, Junpei appreciated it.

"And now I've gotta learn since it's not just Shadows we might end up fighting, what with criminals having Aura and Semblance like any other dude out there." Junpei sighed, interlacing his fingers behind his head as he stared up at the sky. "Can't just swing my sword around anymore. Gotta be smart about it now and think about what I'm doing instead of just trying to hit something hard enough to bring it down."

"And yet thinking too much is precisely your problem," summarized Thanatos. "Regardless of who it was that was training you, the end result is the same. It is not that you are incapable, simply that it is not something you are suited for."

"Then maybe you shouldn't think." The new voice surprised Junpei, but Thanatos had already sensed their arrival long before they came within hearing range. Akihiko took a seat next to Junpei, ignoring the curious look he was receiving at his strange comment. "There's this training method I remember my coach used. It's… not really something that's supposed to be used on its own but I think it'll help with your problem."

"Seriously? Why bring it up now though?"

"Like I said, it's not really supposed to be used on its own," repeated the boxer. "It's a training method that's used to help train your instincts, nothing more. It won't teach you a fighting style or anything like that. And it wouldn't really solve the problem but… but I think it might help you get started on solving it."

Junpei gave it a little thought before shrugging and grinning. "Why not? What have I got to lose?"


October 17, XX13

Akihiko and Fuuka watched from the sidelines as Jaune battled against Pyrrha. Unlike yesterday, when Akihiko and Fuuka were unable to attend the morning training, this time Junpei was in Leadership class and, thus, could not be present for the training session.

Still, Pyrrha was a more than adequate replacement. In fact, having her help out was the best outcome there could have been after the boxer had spoken to her the day before. Especially after she just left without a word after hearing his explanation.

In truth, it could have gone either way. She could have refused to listen and simply marched in and stopped the training, deeming it too harsh, perhaps even brutal. Given her combat prowess none of them would have been able to stop her had she chosen that path. Or she could have walked away, distancing herself from the training. But that would have also widened the gap between her, and Junpei and Jaune. While the damage might have healed in time, it was not something they could afford anytime soon considering they were still a somewhat newly-formed team.

Choosing to help? Even when she clearly had misgivings about the training? That had Akihiko sighing in relief when he had heard about it.

Pyrrha smashed her shield against Jaune's, her other hand braced against the back of the shield, knocking him away and off-balance before following it up with several shots from Miló's rifle form, the barrel peeking out through the small semi-circular opening on the side of Akouó. The shots were absorbed by his Aura but the force behind them knocked him further off-balance. So when Pyrrha rushed in with her xiphos, the blonde was unable to defend himself and was struck down. Seeing her partner fall, Pyrrha hesitated for a brief moment.

"Hey! Keep going!"

The redhead shifted her gaze to the source of the shout, Akihiko. But in that brief moment, Jaune had rolled to his feet and launched himself forward, his sword already pulled back and ready to strike. Her shield rose on instinct, deflecting the blow upwards even as she spun in the same direction, her blade coming around to strike his exposed right side.

The attack lifted him off his feet. Briefly, but enough to send him flying. The moment he touched the ground, his unintended flight turned into a roll and transitioning into a crouch, however clumsy his movements might have been. Yet despite his clumsiness, his shield rose up just as bullets fired from her rifle reached him.

She rushed him just as the bullets struck, closing the gap in the time it took him to defend. Jaune could see her coming, just over the top of the shield, but he couldn't move away in time. He was down on one knee, having braced himself for whatever attack came. It was just chance that she chose to attack from afar rather than rush him sooner. Had she done so, his defensive posture would have been able to withstand the swift follow-up.

But since she had seen him put up that defense, she was more than ready to counter it. Raising Akouó, she rammed her shield against his once more. This time, he managed to withstand the attack, holding his ground and maintaining his balance. Unfortunately, he had forgotten one piece of advice that Akihiko had been yelling at him since the day before.

"The first attack's rarely the real one!"

By the time Akihiko's words reached Jaune's ears, Pyrrha had already begun to enact her plan. She had purposely crashed into the upper half of Jaune's shield, hitting it as high up as she could. With Jaune taking the lower position and her the higher, it came as no surprise to the spectators when the blonde angled the shield higher in response, unknowingly playing to his partner's plan.

Just as Crocea Mors's shield angled upwards, Akouó was pushed downwards. And with it, Pyrrha was able to lean forward just a little bit more. With her momentum from the charge, she kicked off the ground, twisting her body and flipping over her partner. Her shield slid across Jaune's as she launched herself over him, pushing her shield down against his to pin him in place.

Once she cleared the space above him, she brought her legs around to land in a crouch with her back to her partner's. With Miló in its spear form, she slashed as she twisted around, Jaune frantically doing the same as he realized that she had gotten behind him. As they moved, her confident, green eyes met shocked blue ones just before the attack struck his side, just beneath his raised left arm still holding his shield aloft. He grunted and crumpled, the power behind the blow coupled with his surprise enough to incapacitate him with pain.

Remembering Akihiko's recent reminder, Pyrrha reared back and prepared to press the offensive only to halt when the silver-haired boxer clapped his hands loudly, signaling the end of another hour of combat. "Two minutes Jaune, you know the drill."

Indeed he did. Despite the pain from Pyrrha's last attack, Jaune struggled to his feet and made his way over to Fuuka, who was already holding a bottle of water and some crackers. They still had another round to go before they broke up for breakfast. Meanwhile, Akihiko pulled Pyrrha to the side.

"Alright, he's doing well so far but you'll need to step it up," he said to her after making sure Jaune was out of earshot. "Hit harder, move faster, and make your plans less obvious from this point on, but make that transition slowly so he doesn't pick up on the changes. Push him hard and don't let up for even a second. And stop hesitating just because he falls or gets hit. If this training is going to work you can't give him time to recover no matter how bad it may be for him."

"I understand." In truth, she really didn't. Not completely at least. Akihiko's words from the day before made a lot of sense. But he himself admitted that it was purely theoretical, that neither he nor Junpei could guarantee the result even if the method was successful.

Her thoughts must have shown as Akihiko frowned a bit and shook his head. "I know how you feel, and as I said yesterday, that's why I told Junpei not to let you help. I understand that you're worried for him, that you care about his wellbeing, but that's not what he needs right now. Not for his training. I know I haven't explained why it has to be that way, but for now trust me when I say it's better you don't. I can explain after all the training, but until then just push him hard and keep the pressure up the entire time."

The boxer sighed and looked sideways to where Jaune was finished off his snack. "Originally it was going to be you and Junpei helping him out." That admission earned him wide eyes and a raised eyebrow. He hadn't told her when they spoke yesterday after all. "I didn't even want to be involved beyond giving Junpei advice and helping him plan Jaune's training routine. But Junpei was right when he told me that he wouldn't be able to pull off on his own."

"The basis of this training method he came up with started with how I trained him months ago. He might have devised this training routine eventually, but as it is he didn't really have the time, not when the deadline was in less than a week. Even Fuuka wasn't supposed to get involved beyond keeping an eye on Jaune's physical condition but since we're already helping Junpei we may as well make use of Fuuka's talents to help."

"You mean using her defensive abilities to train his offensive ones?" She received a grunt in response. Pyrrha got the feeling there was more to it than just that, but she didn't really have any way of knowing. "Still… Is pushing him this hard really going to work? He's improving but he's still far from what he should have been had he graduated from a proper combat school."

"Our goal right now isn't to get him to catch up in terms of combat ability." Seeing the suddenly doubtful and inquisitive look on Pyrrha's face, Akihiko just shook his head. "Don't think about it for now. Focus on the training and, if everything works out the way we expect it to, he'll be ready for tomorrow when his family gets here."

The redhead looked like she had something to say but Akihiko had already turned away and shouted for Jaune to get ready. Shaking her head, she allowed Miló and Akouó to fly into her waiting hands using her Semblance. Despite all her doubts, on thing Akihiko told her yesterday had been echoing in her head since he spoke them. "Sometimes all we can do, is believe."


It was a little past noon when Weiss stepped out of Beacon tower, having just finished speaking with the specialists her sister had enlisted to teach her.

So far, her independent studies into robotics and the programming associated with it have been going well. She was fairly confident that, provided she had the proper materials and equipment, she could create a basic robot with minimal aid. It would, of course, be controlled remotely rather than acting semi-independently, but that was still a step in the right direction.

She was no closer to understanding how someone could have programmed an android like Aigis, let alone how she was capable of using a Persona, their version of Semblance, but she knew it was only a matter of time.

She had even managed to speak with Winter for several minutes. Her elder sister had, as expected, noticed her agitation and questioned her about it. Seeing no real reason to hide it – it's not as if there was anyone there to stop her – she related the tale of how Jaune had entered Beacon via unscrupulous means, and how her team and those she had become closely acquainted with over the past month had essentially agreed to leave the matter alone.

The response she received was… unexpected to some degree. While Winter had more or less praised her desire to see the school's rules upheld, she did admonish her, however lightly, with regards to the fact that the matter had already been settled by the blonde's own family.

"While the outcome may not have been to your liking, you should take care not to overstep your bounds. Your friend, Mitsuru, was correct on that regard," Winter said to her. "While it is shameful that the boy's sister had made the decision not to inform the proper authorities, in some ways she made the correct decision. Not only would it force the boy to face the consequences of his actions, it will also allow his family to save face by not publicizing the event. The Arc family may not be as famous as they were compared to when the Great War came to an end, but they are still fairly well-known, even outside the Kingdom of Vale."

"And even if he were to admit to his fault, it would fall to him, and possibly the school's administration, whether or not his actions will be publicized and affect the rest of his family. Letting him know that it is his actions that will determine such things can be seen as a suitable punishment in some ways. As things stand, it is not a matter I believe you should be concerned with. Especially since things shall be resolved by the morrow."

Winter's words mollified her somewhat, but it was what she said afterwards that gave Weiss pause. "I am, however, concerned by what you said with regards to your new acquaintances. There is nothing wrong with defending one's friends. But it is another matter entirely when they continue to defend someone who is clearly guilty of wrongdoing. Take care that you are not influenced by such ways of thinking. Minimize contact with such people and, if necessary cut all ties beyond that of schoolmates or even teammates. After all, you need not be friends in order to fight together."

She certainly had a point, one that Weiss, herself, had already considered. The people she had become acquainted with over the past few weeks were, ultimately, of little consequence in the long run, save for a few.

The first was Mitsuru. Intelligent and highly capable in every regard, she would be a fool not to befriend the young woman. While they clearly had some differences in opinion, it was not something that couldn't be fixed in time. Surely, the only reason she had defended her friends was because that was what they were, friends. As Winter had told her just now, there was nothing wrong with defending one's friends.

After all, the main reason why they had come together as a group was because of their similar powers and circumstances. And it was understandable why she would be hesitant to break those ties now. They were all she had left after losing everything, the only ones left from her past. As such, they were the only people she could truly rely on in this new world.

Again, that could be fixed given time. Weiss would simply have to show her that there were other, better, people she could rely on now. People who were more knowledgeable, more reliable, more capable, and also more understanding of her highborn status.

Weiss scoffed at that last one. Despite calling themselves Mitsuru's 'friends', they seemed to be treating her more like a commoner than the noblewoman she truly was. After taking some time to sort through her thoughts the past few days, it became abundantly clear why she and Mitsuru had different views on certain things. While some were simply differences in personal opinion, the other more important differences were clearly a result of having her opinions contaminated by her friends.

No, they weren't her friends. Merely people who had used her for her status back when she had it. And though she could no longer claim to be heiress to anything, they probably still found entertainment in bringing her down to their level now that she had to rely upon them. Probably even the idea that she, an heiress, had to rely on lowborn people like them was more than enough to entertain them behind closed doors.

In time she would fix that. She would help Mitsuru return to where she truly belongs, help her open her eyes to the deception of her so-called friends. And hopefully, doing so would get the older redhead to join her when she graduated, returning to Atlas to raise the SDC to greater heights.

It was unlikely, though, as someone like Mitsuru would undoubtedly have ambitions of her own. But if the possibility was there then she would take the opportunity to see if she could obtain it. And if not, then at least she could secure Mitsuru as a future ally. Whatever the Japanese girl's goal was for the future, Weiss was certain she could make use of it to further her own plans for the future. She would, of course, return the favor. Someone like Mitsuru was more than deserving of being her equal after all.

Asides from Mitsuru, there were only three other people of note that she would need to associate with on a regular basis.

The first was, of course, her own partner, Ruby Rose. Despite everything, the two of them worked surprisingly well enough together. The younger girl could certainly stand to focus more on her studies than her weapon, but she was a decent student especially when one considered that she was behind them by two years in terms of age, training, and studies. Fuuka often needed to teach the girl, but that she could keep up was a miracle in itself in Weiss's eyes.

She doubted the girl would have anything to offer her once they graduated from Beacon, but for the moment she would need to maintain a decent working relationship with the girl. All bets were off the moment they graduated, however.

The second was her teammate, Fuuka Yamagishi. Fuuka was – leaving aside the fact that she treated Aigis as though she were human – alright in Weiss's eyes. She was a fairly decent student, though the fact that she was skilled when it came to computers and electronics showed that she was quite intelligent in her own right. She was a poor combatant when on the offensive but, as shown by her match with Pyrrha, her defensive abilities were top notch, hindered only by her own physical shortcomings. She was soft-spoken, which suited Weiss just fine as it meant the teal-haired girl was not likely to argue against her.

While not a high priority, she would certainly like to see if she could tempt Fuuka to accompany her back to Atlas. Her knowledge of Aigis's inner workings would certainly be a boon for Weiss's homeland, especially if she could eventually reverse engineer how Aigis was capable of using a Persona, a Semblace.

The third, and the one Weiss was not looking forward to associating with the most, was, of course, her team leader, Ai-

"Weiss?"

She did not scream. She most definitely did not scream. Or yelp. Or make any sound that would indicate her surprise. She managed to tighten her throat before a single note could come out. Besides, she was a Schnee. Schnees did not scream. Especially not in surprise. Better yet, Schnees weren't surprised… or scared. They were simply caught off-guard. That's all.

"Y-Yes?" She cursed in her head when she heard her own words, hearing the very slight stutter that came out. And when she finally noticed who it was that had sca… caught her off-guard, she had to clench her jaw shut – discreetly of course – to avoid cursing out loud.

"Are you alright?"

Speak of the devil. Weiss couldn't believe her luck. Even though she no longer needed to associate with many of her new acquaintances, that did not mean she would be able to avoid them. Not only were they her classmates in all her core classes, but her teammates were also friends with them.

But sadly, there was one person whom she wanted to avoid the most but, again, sadly, would be unable to. At all. Aigis Arisato. Her team leader. An android. An android that everyone treated as a human. A majority of those people did not know the truth, of course, but even so, that did not mean she liked seeing it happen.

"Why do you ask?" she asked in return, crossing her arms and raising her chin up just a little bit more. "Does it look as if I'm not alright?"

"You were about to walk into this lamppost," Aigis stated plainly, her finger point at something in front of Weiss.

When she looked away from the blonde, she found that, much to her embarrassment and consternation, the lamppost in question was a mere foot away from her face. Had Aigis not called her attention then there was little doubt she would have embarrassed herself much more by actually walking into it face-first. But as grateful as she was, one little thing like that did not change anything.

"And?" she asked, turning her nose up at the android. "Did you really think I hadn't noticed? Or did you think a Huntress-in-training can't pay attention to her surroundings even when she isn't looking?"

"N-No… I…" The wince accompanied by a look of shame that crossed Aigis's face gave Weiss a tiny taste of sadistic pleasure, enjoying just how the blonde she had briefly looked up to was quick to bow down in a sense.

Would it have been better had they never been told? Or if the full truth hadn't been disclosed that day? The Schnee heiress immediately discarded that thought. No. Living in ignorance would not have changed anything. In fact, it would have been much worse if she had to follow Aigis's lead only to later discover that she wasn't human, or even a living being, at all.

Such a thing would mean that she was unable to see through her deception. And that would mean that her abilities, both as a future Huntress and as the future CEO of the Schnee Dust Company, were sorely lacking. After all, if she couldn't see beyond the façade presented by one living with her, how much more would she fail when faced with board members, business partners, and the like?

With the way things had gone, she could at least claim to not have had the time to properly observe her prior to learning the secret first-hand. She had only been in the presence of the mechanical girl four times before learning her secret after all. The incident shortly after disembarking from the airships, in the clearing prior to the initiation, during the initiation itself, and in the amphitheater while awaiting the announcement of the teams.

And she had hardly been in any position to give her more than a brief examination during those times. That, or she had been too preoccupied with more important matters.

"Well, whatever." She wasn't in any mood to deal with Aigis at the moment. Or at any time really. Best reserve her patience for the times when she absolutely needed to deal with her and just avoid her any other time. Weiss sighed inwardly at that. And she would have to do that for the next four years. Wonderful.

"Have I…" The heiress nearly bit her tongue trying to hold in what she wanted to say, and even had to hold in the growl that threatened to make itself known, when Aigis spoke again in that same hesitant tone. "Have I done something to anger you, Weiss?"

"Yes," was what she wanted to say. But for more than one reason, she had to keep that answer to herself for now. Instead, she turned to the blonde with a flat gaze and said, "Of course not. I simply received some ill news from home. I assure you, it has nothing at all to do with you."

There. That should be enough to get Aigis to leave her al-

"Are you certain?" asked Aigis, completely unaware of even a hint of Weiss's true feelings. "I have… noticed that you often avoid being in my presence. And when we are in close proximity of one another, you refrain from interacting with me in any way."

This… thing was going to burn out all her patience for an entire year if she kept that up. 'If she's so Dust-damned observant then why can't she understand that I want nothing to do with her?!' Again, Weiss stamped down on such thoughts before they could make themselves be known outwardly, whether verbally or through her actions.

"I prefer to keep any relationships I form within the school at a professional level, even within our own team" she responded, her face and her posture the picture perfect image of calm and collected. "Unless it has something to do with the team then I prefer to keep to myself. Asides from our studies, I do have other matters I need to attend to."

There. Given how overly polite Aigis tended to be, she shouldn't bother ques-

"Weiss I-"

"Oh, there you are Aigis."

Weiss would have sighed heavily in relief and started thanking whatever being was responsible for the intervention if it wouldn't have been completely out of character for her. Instead, she settled for making a mental note to treat Fuuka to something nice sometime in the near future. Not that she would let the girl know why she was doing it of course.

"Fuuka-san." Aigis greeted her friend with a nod, transferring her attention from Weiss. "Did you need something?"

Fuuka nodded towards Weiss. It was a simple greeting and enough for the heiress. By the look on Fuuka's face, her reason for seeking out Aigis must be fairly important. "I was looking over the data from the full scan we did a month ago and I came across something strange." She held out her Scroll, the green corners stretching as far as they could to expand the screen to maximum size. "Here it is."

Standing on the opposite side of the screen, Weiss could make out countless lines of what could very well be a programming code, or at least something to that effect. The girl's small fingers were pointing to specific line and the heiress could see Aigis's crystal blue eyes following the finger. Slowly, the code – though calling it a report or such might be more accurate given that it was the result of a scan – scrolled upwards, the words moving and changing faster than Weiss could follow due to seeing it in reverse.

She could see Aigis's brow furrow in thought even as the rest of her face expressed confusion. Fuuka looked hopeful but was also a little worried that the android was just as confused. Eventually, Aigis looked away from the screen. "Could you send a copy of the results to my Scroll? I will need time to analyze what you showed me and to determine what it is and whether or not it is something we will need to worry about."

"Alright Aigis." Fuuka went about transferring the data even as she continued to speak. "By the way, Ruby was looking for you earlier when we had lunch. She said she wanted to talk to you about your weapons and possibly modifying them, if not replacing them outright."

Fuuka shut her Scroll, the transfer complete, even Aigis was opening hers. "I see. Did she say where she would be?"

Weiss slipped away quietly as the two Persona-users discussed other matters. She didn't really want to remain there any longer than she had to lest she end up drawing Aigis's attention to her once more. Clearly she would have to rethink her behavior around the blonde. Maybe getting a little closer, on the pretense of working better as a team, would work. The essay they were assigned to work on for their Leadership class sounded like a good starting point.

Hm… Maybe if she sped up her independent studies she could offer to help Aigis and Fuuka with their recent problem. It would certainly help her own goal if she had a copy of any part of Aigis's programming, even if it wasn't the part she was after.

Regardless, she just hoped the mechanical girl didn't question her behavior again. At least, not before she could properly prepare a believable story beyond a simple desire to keep their relationship professional.


The sun had long since sank beneath the clouds and the earth and, as had become tradition every Tuesday and Saturday night, every member of SEES converged on the dormitory's roof to pass the time. And as was the norm due to their Tactics class, Mitsuru, Akihiko, and Junpei were missing from the group. Their teammates had also opted to join them for a variety of reasons.

Yang had, upon remembering Yukari explaining that they met every Saturday night, joined them along with a more reluctant Blake. Nora had literally dragged Ren along when Ken left the room. Ruby received a message from Yang, inviting her up to the roof, and had tried to get Weiss to join but failed.

And finally, Chidori had invited Jaune so that he would not have to be alone in JACN's dorm room due to Pyrrha also attending the Tactics class. Jaune wanted nothing more than to die in his sleep after spending a total of ten brutal hours of training that day but Junpei red-haired girlfriend was very insistent.

And so there he was, leaning against the low, knee-high wall at the edge of the roof – why even bother putting up a wall like that if it would do nothing to stop people from falling over the edge? – and trying very hard to put the training out of his mind. Two two-hour sessions in the morning, each one followed by a one-hour break for breakfast and lunch, and then six straight hours of his usual training. They had, thankfully given him a half-hour break after the first three hours, rather than the usual two-minute break he got after every hour, along with a heavier snack, or a light meal depending on how you looked at it, to make up for it.

But still, he had spent almost double the amount of time training today than he did the previous days. And even so, he still hadn't improved. AT ALL!

He wanted to just curl up and die at the thought of that. Junpei had taken a lot of time to train him. Not train WITH him, but train him. And Akihiko and Fuuka had done the same. All three of them had gotten up at least two hours before they usually did, with the exception of Akihiko, to train him in the mornings. They rushed in between classes and meals to do their homework so that they could spend the evening after dinner to continue his training.

Yesterday, Friday, they had spent their free morning training him again rather than relaxing. And even today, they spent nearly the entire time the sun was up training him instead of doing anything else. Torturous and brutal as it was to train for that long, he was equally grateful and guilty.

Not to mention, Pyrrha had decided to help train him during today's sessions due to Junpei's absence in the morning. But, as grateful as he was for the added help from someone so skilled and incredible, it only added to his guilt that he had wasted her time as well.

A part of him, despite his entire body being stiff and achy, wanted to train well into the night, desperate to become even just the slightest bit better, for even the smallest bit of improvement. If he could show his family that he could learn, that he was improving, even if it was incredibly slow compared to everyone else, then they might just let him stay. After all, if he still had nothing to show, even after four days of intense and unforgiving training, then it would mean the end of his dreams.

And yet when he tried to convince Junpei and Akihiko to let him train that night, they brought up two very good points.

The first was that they didn't know when his family would arrive. Junpei had even joked that, considering how long he had been missing, they might even arrive right after dinner. Jaune knew he was just playing around, but he knew his face had gone pale at that thought. Either way, he would need to properly rest to ensure he was in the best possible condition to show off his – to Jaune at least – non-existent improvement.

The second was much simpler. Junpei, Akihiko, AND Pyrrha all had Tactics class that evening, right after dinner. Fuuka couldn't conduct the training all on her own and training on his own would be pointless since he might end up unknowingly undoing what they had built up, not that Jaune knew just what they had built up in him.

And so with nothing to do, he went over what little homework he had left unfinished, aided by Chidori, before heading for bed. Or at least trying to. Before he knew it, she had grabbed him by the wrist and half-dragged him up to the roof, telling him that he needed to relax otherwise he wouldn't be able to rest even if he went to sleep.

That didn't even make any sense to him. How was it possible not to rest while sleeping? Sleeping was resting wasn't it?

Jaune's attention was pulled from his thoughts when the door to the stairwell opened, letting the four missing people enter. A bark rang across the roof as Koromaru ran towards Akihiko, followed a split-second later by a soft whimper from the blonde's right that caught him by surprise.

'Oh right, Blake.'

The black-haired girl had settled down a short distance away to his right not long after she and Yang arrived, a book in her hands. The reason she had chosen that spot was because it was close enough to the group that Yang wouldn't nag her to come closer but far enough from the main group where Koromaru was.

"You doin' alright there, Jaune?"

Junpei had walked up to him with his usual carefree smile, still dressed in the Beacon Academy uniform. The somewhat formal-looking uniform still looked strange on Junpei, even after seeing him wear if for over a month, especially given his buzz-cut and goatee. The older boy crouched and turned, sitting beside the blonde and leaning on the low barricade.

"I'm fine just…"

Jaune didn't really need to say it. Both of them knew what was coming tomorrow. Strangely, Junpei didn't look the least bit worried when they last spoke during dinner. And even now, with Jaune bringing it up, he still didn't look even the slightest bit concerned.

His words simply confirmed it. "Well, try not to worry too much. You won't be able to get any sleep otherwise. And you're gonna want to be in top form tomorrow."

The blonde sighed. "Top form huh?" He leaned back and directed his gaze at the slightly cloudy night sky. "Hey, be honest. Am I really ready? For tomorrow? I mean, you haven't even explained how I'm gonna prove to my family that I'm good enough to stay here."

"It's a surprise," said Junpei as though it were the simplest thing in the world. "And trust me, you're ready. Tomorrow will be like always. Just trust me and Akihiko-senpai and we'll get you through the day. After that, well, it's all you. I doubt we'll keep using this training, at this level at least. You'd collapse in another couple of days if we made it a regular thing, even leaving off Sundays."

Jaune chuckled. He certainly couldn't deny that. He had been able to get out of bed on his own the first two days, just barely for the second one, but Junpei had to wake him up after that. Even though he got a solid seven hours of rest each night, he still woke up feeling more than a little tired. Every single day that went by left him more and more exhausted, even at the start of the day. It had taken all his willpower just to get out of bed that morning plus a lot of help from Junpei and Pyrrha.

Maybe they could cut it down to one session a day? That would certainly help him improve. He still couldn't see any improvements, but if Junpei said they were there then all he could do was trust his team leader. At least they wouldn't need to rush it by training so much everyday if his family lets him stay.

That thought had him sighing again. He really couldn't afford to get his hopes up too much. Junpei and Akihiko might be more positive with regards to his chances, but he was still on the opposite side of the spectrum.

"Anyway, you best get some sleep," Junpei said to him, unaware of his downward facing thoughts. "Don't worry about waking up early in the morning. Just be up for breakfast. Can't really afford to miss that."

He laughed and voiced his agreement, rising to his feet and dusting off the seat of his pants. Nobody else was leaving just yet, but if there was any other day that was more important than tomorrow, it most likely hadn't come yet. He would need every second of sleep he could get given what was happening tomorrow. He may not really know what Junpei had in store for dealing with the Arc family, but Jaune could only trust in him right now.

He had trusted Junpei and Akihiko this far. He could trust them for another day, at the very least.


October 18, XX13

Despite Junpei's words, Jaune found himself awake far earlier than he needed to be. He had tried shutting his eyes to return to sleep, but all traces of sleepiness fled almost as soon as he woke up. His body had probably gotten used to waking up early and now, the one time he had slept past that usual wake-up time, his body was telling him to get up as though he were late for something.

Unable to sleep, Jaune rose from his bed, gathered a clean set of clothes, and stepped into the bathroom, intent on getting an early start. When he stepped out of the bathroom later, dressed in jeans and a red shirt, he was met by a similarly awake Pyrrha.

"O-oh. Uh… Good… Good morning, Pyrrha," he greeted awkwardly, surprised to see her awake. But more than that, the sight that greeted him was not one he was accustomed to seeing. Not when it came to the Mistralian.

The sight that greeted his now wide-open eyes was that of a Pyrrha who, at the same time, was not Pyrrha. Messy 'just woke up' red hair, bright emerald green eyes half-hidden beneath sleepy, droopy eyelids, and an equally half-asleep expression on her face. Her clothes, expensive looking red pajamas, were ruffled and in slight disarray from use. The top button had come off sometime during the night and exposed just a little bit more than she was baring the previous night.

His ears, on the other hand, were met with a half-groan half-grunt response that could have been 'Good morning'. Then again, with the way she walked past him and into the bathroom without even glancing at him, almost shoving him out of the way actually, it could have been 'Get the hell out of the way' for all he knew.

Still, he paused and glanced at the door to the bathroom, half-turned towards it. Pyrrha was usually so impeccably dressed, always presentable no matter what. She always took a minute or so to check over her uniform in the mirror before leaving for class, making sure that not a single thread was out of place. He could only assume she did the same in the girl's locker rooms when she got dressed for Combat class or the other way around.

So seeing her like that had been quite… different, to say the least. She looked… dare he say, or even think, it… cute.

She was a beautiful girl, he wouldn't deny that but neither would he say it to her face. After all, Weiss had pointed it out to him the day of the Initiation. Pyrrha was famous, even beyond the borders of Mistral, known far and wide for her martial prowess and had been for several years now. And while she would be the first to admit that she was far from the level of an actual Huntress, anybody could see that she was leagues above anyone else close to her age.

Only Aigis could match her prodigious skill in class but, as Aigis herself had stated, she was built specifically for combat, unlike Pyrrha who worked hard to attain that level of skill. That, and her 'mind' was literally a computer that analyzed anything combat related and almost immediately integrates the newly acquired knowledge into her system.

He, on the other hand, was a nobody. No, he was worse than that. People knew him, but for all the wrong reasons. A weakling, a coward, a pushover, and, recently, a faker and cheat.

While his new friends have certainly been supportive of him, cheering him on after they heard that Junpei and Akihiko were putting him through special training, he knew that at least one of them, asides from Weiss, probably had a significantly lower opinion of him now that his secret was out. He appreciated them not saying it out loud, but he knew it was there.

Junpei, Akihiko, and Fuuka were confident that his training would be enough. He was not. And when he ultimately failed, those friendships would fade, and possibly even turn against him, just like all the others in the past. He wouldn't blame them for it. Who would want to be friends with a loser anyway? Certainly not his classmates in the past. So why would things be different now?

Surprisingly, what hurt the most was Pyrrha's reaction that night when Scarlett revealed his duplicity.

"But I wasn't aware that he had used false transcripts. Had I known, then I-"

He was a little annoyed that Junpei had interrupted Pyrrha at that point to calm her down. Had she known, then what? What would she have done had she learned the truth that day in the Emerald Forest? Would she have dragged him back to the cliff to report him to Ozpin? Would she have abandoned him then and there to look for a different, more trustworthy partner? Perhaps she would have remained his partner, only to protect him the entire time just as everybody else did.

He laughed bitterly. How pathetic was he that he would have preferred to be dragged back to face the Headmaster, possibly facing criminal charges, rather than be protected, babied, once again.

The sound of a doorknob turning shook him out of his thoughts, and he turned just in time to see Pyrrha take a step out of the bathroom. His hand rose to wave and his mouth opened, ready to greet her once more, only for his hand to freeze, his jaw to drop open completely, and his eyes to bulge out in shock.

Similarly, Pyrrha had frozen in place, eyes just as wide in shock. One hand was still on the doorknob while the other was holding up a towel. Or rather, the towel. The one wrapped around her body. The one that did little to hide her curves. The one that covered her otherwise naked body. That towel.

"Uh…" His partner's face went from shocked to 'so red he couldn't tell her face from her hair' so quickly that she could have been that way from the beginning. "… Good morning?"

That seemed to snap her out of her shock as she suddenly darted into the bathroom, a hasty, high-pitched, panicky, and clearly embarrassed "I'm sorry," reached his ears just as the door to the bathroom slammed shut.

Jaune winced at the loud sound and glanced at his other two teammates only to sigh in relief. Somehow, the two of them remained asleep despite the noise. 'Thank the Dust for that. Wouldn't know how I'm gonna explain that they woke up because I saw…'

His brain froze again at that thought, his traitorous mind bringing up the image that he had seen just seconds ago. Pyrrha, stepping out of the bathroom, wearing a towel. And only a towel. A damp towel at that. A damp towel that clung to her body. To every. Single. Curve.

Jaune shook his head violently, trying to literally shake the image out of his mind's eye. 'Come on Jaune, think of something else. Anything.' He looked down, focusing on his bare feet. 'Okay, still need to put on socks and my shoes. And my bel-' When he transferred his gaze to his waist where his belt would have been, his eyes caught sight of his shirt. His red shirt. Red.

Again, that same image from earlier appeared in his mind's eye. Only this time, the center of his focus was Pyrrha's head. Specifically her hair. Red, much like his shirt. It was far different from what he was used to seeing. Pyrrha always kept her hair tied into a ponytail to keep it from getting into her face too much when she fought. And even outside of Combat class, her hair was styled in that same manner.

Seeing it the way he did, loose and actually reaching past her waist now that it was let down, was a novel sight. The way some of it clung to her face, while others hung over her shoulders and down the front, some of it even swaying into view around her sides... That was not a sight he was going to forget anytime soon. And thinking back just a little bit further, to when he had stepped out of the bathroom, he could recall that her hair had also been down then. Messy and sticking out in various places due to having just woken up, but loose all the same.

Jaune could feel his face heating up already. Again, he shook his head from side to side as quickly as he could to erase the image. He had something important to do in a few hours. Now was not the time to be thinking about Pyrrha. Especially not of her having just woken up. Or damp and wearing only a towel. Or maybe even-

"J-Jaune?"

He suddenly jumped back with a yelp, eliciting a short, stifled scream from Pyrrha when he did so. Both of them leapt away from one another, similarly surprised expressions on their faces. Both had a hand on their chest, as though trying to keep their hearts from bursting out. Thankfully, for Jaune anyway, Pyrrha was now fully clothed and was most definitely not clad in a towel.

Just as his thoughts earlier had noted, Pyrrha was dressed impeccably as always. Despite her simple choice of clothing – simple for her at least – Pyrrha looked far more mature than others their age. Her choice of a plain white long-sleeved white blouse and black slacks made him think that she was just a suit jacket – and maybe a tie of some sort – away from looking like an office lady.

"S-Sorry, Pyrrha," he stuttered out, though he wasn't entirely sure if he was apologizing for startling her or for seeing her wearing nothing but a towel. Both perhaps. He really couldn't be sure if he was honestly sorry about the latter. "I uh… I didn't mean to-"

"I-It's okay Jaune," came her similarly stuttering response. "I shouldn't have startled you like that."

And now he also wasn't sure what was 'okay' for her. Most likely the fact that he startled her. No way she'd be fine being seen in just a towel after all.

"N-no, it's fine. I should have been more paying attention." He tried his best to smile, to put her more at east, but he could feel the tension in his face and he was certain that it would affect his smile. "Can't exactly meet my family while I'm distracted and all that."

"N-no, I suppose not."

And cue the awkward silence. As well as the awkward 'look towards the other person then look away when they do the same thing' game. He couldn't look at her without superimposing one of two images over her existing form. And while he couldn't be sure, he was fairly certain that she couldn't look at him remembering what had happened just now.

"You know," someone said, sounding very amused. Turning to the source, both teens blushed a deep red, but also began to worry, when they were greeted by Junpei's knowing grin. "I'd usually say something like 'get a room' but then I remembered that this is your room. And I definitely don't wanna see what you two get up to in private. But I guess Chidori and I could step out for a while if that's what you want."

Both Jaune and Pyrrha began to splutter and babble incoherently as Junpei laughed out loud, only to be silenced and knocked off his bed by a pillow from Chidori, who shook her head at her boyfriend's immaturity despite the faint blush on her cheeks that accompanied a small grin of amusement.


Despite their eventful start, the rest of the day was more subdued for Team JACN and their friends. Junpei, Akihiko, and Pyrrha were doing their best to keep Jaune's spirits up, who grew more worried with every passing moment. It was, on some level, amusing to watch as Jaune came up with more and more unbelievable scenarios that could happen when his family arrived while the other three tried to disprove the possibility.

It was a little after breakfast – though they had decided to remain in the dining hall for a while longer – when Jaune received a message on his Scroll. Everyone watched as he hesitantly, almost fearfully, pulled the Scroll out of his pocket and read the message. His face grew pale as he did, enough that the others began to worry that something had gone very wrong.

"Jaune?" Pyrrha leaned forward from her spot beside her partner to allow her to look him in the face, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Is… something wrong?"

Her blonde partner nodded shakily. He opened his mouth, shut it, swallowed – quite loudly at that – then opened his mouth once more to speak. "Scarlett just got on an airship in Vale coming this way. With my family." Before they could ask why he reacted that way to something he had already expected, he spoke again, his voice strained and notably fearful. "My whole family."

That… was definitely not what they had expected. Some, or maybe most, was expected since all but two members of the family were Huntresses, with his father being the sole Huntsman of course. To have all of them arrive was either a great coincidence with regards to their jobs and personal schedules, or a sign of just how worried, or angry, they were over their son/brother's actions.

Jaune had, over the past few days, told them more about his family.

His father was Aurelian Arc, a well-known Huntsman who continued to carry on the legacy of Jacques Arc, one of many heroes during the Great War eighty years ago. He was, however, not one to rest on his family's laurels as proven by building a sterling reputation for himself as a man who boasted a 100% team survival rate no matter the mission. A stern but caring man who prioritized his family above all else.

His mother, Sephiria Arc, was even more famous than his father. A member of a team that once won the Vytal Festival two consecutive times, the first their second year, and then again during their fourth and final year at Haven Academy. While not necessarily stronger than Aurelian, Sephiria was incredibly skilled with a blade, far more than any other sword-wielding Huntsman or Huntress in recent times, and certainly skilled enough that her weapon of choice was a plain, if somewhat ornate-looking, cutlass without a firearm of any sort.

Together, they were considered Domremy's local heroes due to having protected the town multiple times in the past. Sephiria also held the distinction of having trained the town's militia. While they would never be on par with a Huntsman, or even a trainee, they were formidable enough with the town's meager defenses that they could hold off a small pack of younger Grimm long enough for help to arrive.

Scarlett was, as he had told them before, the oldest of the eight Arc siblings. She was, quite possibly, the pride of the family, having graduated from Beacon with near perfect grades as well as a near perfect combat record in class. And although it was not as grand an achievement as her father's, her Aura had never once been depleted on a mission.

Gwendolyn Arc, often shortened to Gwen, was the second oldest and was also the strongest of them all in terms of combat. While she was not the most academically gifted, having just barely passed Beacon's written exams – both the entrance and final exams – she was one of the few in Beacon's eighty-year history to hold an undefeated win streak in Combat class throughout all four years. She was no combat prodigy and lost her fair share of fights during training, but she worked incredibly hard to forge, sharpen, and hone her skills, putting in more work in a day than most students did in a week.

Sable Arc, on the other hand, was Gwen's opposite. She was only slightly above average in combat but more than made up for it with her superior intellect. Her name was also known in Beacon as the only person to have scored a perfect score on every single written exam, including that of the elective classes she was not officially part of. When asked why she took those exams even though it wasn't necessary, she responded saying that it was simply to prove that she could.

Melanie and Viola Arc were next in line. Jaune had described them as the 'Rebel Twins'. Of the first five siblings, they were the only ones to not attend Beacon Academy. Instead, they travelled all the way to Atlas to attend the Academy there. And while there, they caused all manners of trouble, pushing the boundaries of each and every rule in the book. Literally. And right after graduation, the two of them simply disappeared from the school, slipping away before they could be 'recruited' into the Atlesian army.

None of what they did were against the rules so Atlas could do nothing with regards to the twins. Even their parents, during conversations with the academy's staff, and even the Headmaster at times, would point out that neither one broke any rules and thus could not be punished in any way. And so came and went two of Atlas Academy's best and worst students of all time.

The sixth Arc sibling, Arianna, broke the mold the previous five had set in more ways than one. For one thing she was tall. Taller than anyone else in the family. Soft-spoken, demure, skilled in all manner of housework, and a pacifist, Arianna couldn't be farther from being a Huntress even if she tried.

Though Jaune made sure to point out one thing to them all. Despite her nature, Arianna was naturally gifted in the ways of combat. While she would never start a fight, she was capable enough to defend herself even against her other siblings. Their parents had once speculated that she was a combat prodigy, but had no way of proving it due to her own inherent nature.

And finally, Hazel Arc, the youngest of the Arc siblings and Jaune's only younger sister. As Scarlett had already mentioned, she was at the top of her year in Remorra Academy and was set to graduate by the end of the next school year. She was also aiming to get into Beacon, studying hard to keep her grades up. What set her apart from her siblings was her seeming inability to miss when using her weapon's rifle form. As long as the target was within her weapon's range, she could hit any given part of the target without fail.

After hearing all that, nobody could deny that every single member of his family was exceptionally skilled and/or gifted. All, that is, save for Jaune. And now, all of them were present to bring him back home.

"Well, let's get going then."

Jaune couldn't help but stare as Junpei and Akihiko rose from their seats, not looking the least bit worried even after being told that his entire family was present rather than just a few.

Seeing his face, Junpei just chuckled. "Hey, we've told you, right? You've got this. Besides, you haven't even heard how you're gonna prove that you belong here."

Akihiko grinned and gave him a solid pat on the back. One that nearly sent his face on a collision course with his half-eaten breakfast. "Believe me, you're ready. All you have to do is show up and follow Junpei's lead. He'll set everything else up. After that, you just need to let your family know your decision and then show them that you have what it takes."

It wasn't much, but the encouragement of his two trainers was enough to steady his legs. Though with the way his hands were still shaking, Jaune wasn't sure he'd be able to hold Crocea Mors properly. "Y-Yeah, you're right." He took a deep breath and let it out all at once. "Let's go."

He couldn't quite hide his anxiety from them, but Junpei and Akihiko shared a knowing grin as they, along with everyone else, followed the blonde boy and his partner out of the dining hall.


"JAUNE!"

The arrival of the Arc family was signaled by a projectile flying straight for Jaune. Unfortunately, he had been caught completely unprepared. His abdomen was struck dead center and he was launched off his feet, landing on his back a few feet away.

"You're alright! You're alright!"

The brown-topped projectile turned out to be one of his siblings, Hazel if they weren't mistaken. Given that the two closest to him in age were only a year older and younger, and considering Arianna was supposed to be the tallest in the family, it was a safe bet that it was Hazel, the youngest of the eight.

Her arms were wrapped around Jaune and her face was mashed up against his breastplate. It was sure to be uncomfortable, but her concern for her brother must have been stronger than any discomfort she felt.

On his part, Jaune was returning the embrace. One arm was wrapped around Hazel's back despite the large, rectangular block of steel that was her weapon, while the other was softly stroking her head. They could see his lips moving, quietly muttering soft reassurances even as tears began to well up from Hazel's closed eyes.

"Didn't expect to see this many of you here."

The statement, spoken by a familiar voice, came from behind them. Turning around, they saw eight people coming up the stone path, all but two bearing blonde hair that varied slightly in shade.

The sole male was undoubtedly Aurelian Arc. It was clear, at least, where Jaune got his looks from, seeing as the man looked like an older, buffer, tougher Jaune with but a few differences. He had short and neat dark blonde hair, almost a light brown in color, and a bit of stubble on his chin, with a more mature face due to his age. The man was slightly taller than Jaune, who stood at an even six feet in height, and had a larger build. His choice of clothing was fairly simple, consisting mainly of a white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up past his elbows, a brown vest over it, and loose but sturdy-looking black pants tucked into brown boots.

Next to Aurelian was his wife, Sephiria Arc, hinted by the way his arm was wrapped around her waist. She was a fairly tall woman with long, wavy, ash-blonde hair and pale blue eyes. Her face was incredibly youthful, to the point that Junpei looked back and forth between her and Scarlett, trying to make sense of the fact that Sephiria looked younger than her own daughter. She had a stern countenance that was accentuated by her clothing, an ankle length, light purple, double-breasted suit jacket with gold accents and shoulder pads over a dark purple dress shirt with a white neck tie, dark purple suit pants, and black dress shoes.

Next in line was the one that had spoken and one that a few of them had already met. Scarlett. Much like last time, she wore a sleeveless turtleneck top and cargo pants tucked into black boots. Her weapon was sheathed at her hip this time, unlike last time where the blade and its sheath were hanging across her back.

Assuming that they were lined up according to age, the next one had to be Gwendolyn. She was almost as tall as Jaune and had short, unruly, pale blonde hair. But what drew their attention the most was her body. Scarlett's bare arms showed off toned muscles. Gwen boasted a far more muscular frame, on par with, perhaps even surpassing, that of Aurelian's, stretching an ordinary t-shirt to its limits. The shorts she wore did little to hide their view of her legs, which were as well built as the rest of her body.

All in all, it was a fitting image for someone Jaune described as one who worked harder than all others. Though the round glasses she wore stood in stark contrast to the rest of her appearance.

Sable, contradicting the meaning of her name, was a pale-skinned young woman with shoulder-length dark brown hair and a wiry frame. Her attention was constantly shifting between her brother and sister on the ground, and the extremely thick, hardbound book in her hands. The maroon suit jacket and pants, along with a white dress shirt and loose, red necktie completed the image of an intellectual.

That is, if it wasn't for the large object on her back that was wrapped in cloth to hide its identity. It was very likely her weapon. Though what the weapon was, none of them could even imagine. It was easily larger than the young woman carrying it, yet she showed no strain or difficulty bearing its not insignificant weight.

The twins stood out just as Jaune said they would. Chin-length hair that was straight and neat on one side and styled messily and spikily on the other, with each twin mirroring the other. One had blue-dyed hair on the messy side and red on the neat side, while the opposite held true for the other twin. Their choice of clothing also reflected their family-appointed title of 'Rebel Twins'. It was reminiscent of Chidori's clothing, that of a gothic Lolita style, but with much more in the way of leather, and metal studs and spikes, a strange mix of soft and harsh.

And finally, standing at the end of the line was quite possibly the tallest person they had ever met. Even Yukari would admit that the girl before her was probably as tall as Yatsuhashi Daichi from Team CFVY, whom she had gotten acquainted with a few weeks prior after defending Velvet from Cardin.

Arianna Arc stood close to seven feet in height, towering over her siblings and parents. But more than her height, the way she composed herself also stood out. While the rest of her family had the air of warriors and carried themselves as such – even Sable was clearly alert despite giving the book in her hands most of her attention – Arianna, alone, did not.

With long, straight hair that shone like a river of gold, unblemished white skin that made even the white sundress she wore look dark in comparison, and a womanly body that oozed femininity from every pore, it was difficult to believe that the young woman before them was only eighteen, just a year older than Jaune.

More than one girl found herself examining Arianna's body and glancing down at her own with obvious disappointment and envy. Even Yang had to concede defeat despite her usual confidence in her own body.

"You all here to say goodbye?" asked Scarlett, taking in the sight of four full teams. She hadn't thought that Jaune, her timid, near spineless brother, would make this many friends, let alone be willing to reveal his secret. Though there was still the possibility that he hadn't told them the details of his departure, so she would have to remember not to say anything until she was certain. He may have acted stupidly, but there was no point in shaming him in front of more outside of his team.

Junpei shrugged. "Meh, somethin' like that." There was something about the mysterious grin on his face that worried Scarlett, but she couldn't say for certain why. "But y'know, I didn't think all of you would be here." At the looks he received, he quickly held his hands up in a placating manner. "Not saying it's a bad thing, just unexpected is all. Nobody can say you guys don't care for him after seeing this."

"I suppose you could put it like that." Her response was simple, mainly to hide her wariness and how her instincts were screaming at her that something was wrong.

Scarlett glanced around discreetly, even as Junpei introduced himself and his team to her family. Of the fifteen people that had gathered to see her brother off, she could see two distinct groups.

Half of them, which included Pyrrha Nikos, her brother's partner, were nervous, possibly even worried, about something. And the way they kept glancing at Jaune then to her family and back told her that it had something to do with Jaune's impending departure.

The other half looked mostly unconcerned. It wasn't that the situation had nothing to do with them. They wouldn't have shown up if it didn't, after all. No, it was more like they weren't concerned about whatever the other half was worrying over. Or at least, not to the same level. Junpei and Chidori were notably among this group.

Another thing of note was that the members of the second group, with the exception of the girl she recognized as Weiss Schnee, all had one more thing in common. A pistol. It wasn't much, but the fact that eight people carried the exact same weapon was a curious thing. Scarlett couldn't be sure if it was something important to the current situation, but it most certainly had something to do with the way their group behaved towards the situation.

"We've heard the story from my daughter," Scarlett heard her mother say, her tone as stern as it normally was when she was dealing with something serious. Though judging by what she could see, Junpei was more or less unaffected by it. In her eyes, that already put him above most people his age. Few people could lock eyes with her mother when she was like this, especially when her family was concerned. "But I would like to hear your thoughts on the matter. Especially you, Miss Nikos. I suspect it hasn't been easy having to deal with having my son on your team or as your partner, given his… shortcomings."

"Oh no," Pyrrha began, waving her hands in front of her. "It hasn't been that difficult at all. Jaune is-"

"A bit, yeah." Junpei's sudden interjection caught the redhead by surprise, and she turned to her team leader with a bit of horror on her face. In response, Junpei just shrugged. "What? They're his family. I'm pretty sure they know him better than we do. No point trying to uh… what's the word? Sugaring?"

Flesh met flesh and a quiet chorus of giggles and chuckles reached Scarlett's ears. Looking towards the rest of the group, she saw a girl with chin-length brown hair shaking her head while palming her face. Then dropping her hand, she turned to Junpei with a look of exasperation. "It's 'sugarcoating', Stupei."

The nickname elicited some giggles from the twins and Gwen didn't bother to restrain her loud, roaring laughter. Junpei just took it in stride, most likely used to having that nickname used despite the insult. "Hey, give me a break Yukaricchi. You know I'm no good with stuff like that. 'Sides, you know what I meant so it couldn't have been that bad."

The girl didn't even deign to grace that with a response, groaning and throwing her hands up in surrender, much to everyone else's amusement. Clearly the girl and Junpei were good friends despite the girl's form of address towards the other.

"Well, I certainly appreciate the honesty," said Sephiria, her expression unchanging even as she nodded to Junpei. There was no indication, however, of how she felt about Pyrrha attempting to sugarcoat the situation but Scarlett knew her mother well enough. While she didn't like it, she definitely recognized that Pyrrha was trying not to get her partner into any more trouble, which she also appreciated. Despite her stern demeanor, she was his mother after all.

At that moment, Jaune finally managed to extricate himself from his predicament and rejoined them, though Hazel still had her arms wrapped around her brother's waist as though afraid he would run off again. Not that there was any chance of that with six full-fledged Huntresses and one future Huntress present who would hunt him down in an instant while the sole Huntsman watched and laughed in amusement.

"Jaune," began Sephiria, looking her only son up and down and taking in his current state. "It's good to see you've been taking care of yourself, regardless of everything else."

"H-hi mom," he muttered, looking away from her soft, but still stern, gaze.

Gwen scoffed and stepped forward, wrapping a single, muscular arm around Jaune's neck and pulling him in, his height advantage useless against her determination and strength. "'Hi mom'? That's it? Come on Jauney, it hasn't exactly been that long since you left, so don't tell me you've already forgotten us."

"H-Hi… Gwen…" he squeaked out, his arms flailing around as he tried to get away from his sister's unbreakable hold.

Sable sighed and shut the book she was reading, walking up to her siblings. "You never change, do you?" she asked with a grin, kneeling down and pinching her brother's cheek playfully. "Yup, those cheeks are still as soft as they look after all this time."

"Really?" The twins asked at the same time before rushing forward and joining their older sister in pinching Jaune's supposedly soft cheeks.

"Oh wow you're-" One of them began with a laugh.

"-right. He's still-" continued the other, picking up the statement without a pause.

"-nice and soft-"

"-and pinchable."

"It's like he never left," finished the twins.

The words flowed smoothly between them. And since their voices were exactly alike, it was as though it was only one person was speaking rather than two separate people. Then again, they were twins. They may very well think of themselves as one person or something along those lines.

Arianna just giggled, watching her siblings play with one another. "It's good to see you again, Jaune." Her voice was soft, almost melodic, once again highlighting how different she was from her siblings. Her family for that matter.

"Little… help…" Jaune gasped out, doing his best but failing to escape from his predicament.

Junpei just laughed and approached. For a moment, Scarlett wondered what he would do, if he really would attempt to help Jaune out. Instead, he knelt down next to Jaune but did nothing to stop the cheek-pinching and head-locking. "Come on," he said chidingly. "They haven't seen you since you left. Why not enjoy it before we get to all the serious stuff?" He placed a hand on Jaune's head and messed up his hair with a laugh as he rose and stepped back, ignoring Jaune's pleas.

Again, something in her called out that something strange was going on. But for the moment, she set it aside as she watched Jaune relax just that tiny little bit. He clearly wasn't enjoying it situation, but he eventually stopped fighting against it and let his four older siblings play around with him. He must definitely trust his team leader more than she expected if a few words like that was enough to get him to surrender. He usually kept fighting until they let him go.

Off to the side, both Aurelian and Sephiria took note of the same thing. Regardless of how long it had been, it was surprising to see Jaune trust someone outside their family that much. Especially given what he had been through prior to his departure for Beacon. And the fact that so many had come to say their farewells made the situation that much more saddening.

It was unfortunate but they would have to take him away from his new friends. After what Scarlett had told them, there was no way they could let him remain in Beacon despite his dream. A month may not have been a long time, but a month with next to no development was clearly a sign that he wasn't meant to be a Huntsman.

Hopefully, he would understand their reasons in time, even if it took years.


Eventually, playtime came to an end, and a serious air descended upon them all. Jaune stood with his team in front of his family, the other three teams standing off to the side seeing as his departure wasn't their concern as much as it was everyone else's.

Aurelian spoke for his family, deep, blue eyes gazing directly into his son's own. "I'm sorry it had to be this way son," he said, voice full of remorse but with a hard undertone. "But Scarlett told us what happened during your match in class. Considering that, we can't let you stay. Not if you being beaten down that badly is you being serious."

"We do understand why you did it," continued Sephiria, her eyes notably softer than it had been earlier. "But you have to understand that the life of a Huntsman is nothing like a fairy tale. Death is a very real possibility, even as a trainee. Or I should say, especially as a trainee. If your skills are not up to the task then we may very well be sending you, possibly even your entire team, to an early grave."

"Please, Jaune." Arianna stepped forward just a bit. "We're just worried about you. I know that this has always been your dream. That being a Huntsman is the only thing you've ever wanted to be." A nostalgic smile graced her face. "I still remember playing as children. You, me, Hazel, we'd always run around, pretending. You and Hazel would argue over who got to play the Huntsman or Huntress and who would play the Grimm."

"And you'd always be the damsel-in-distress," finished Jaune, a similar smile gracing his, and even Hazel's, lips. The rest of their family smiled as well, remembering those times. "Yeah, I still remember."

The smiles only lasted a short moment before the seriousness of the situation returned. "Come on," said Gwen, a soft smile on her face. "No point wasting time. I'll even carry your bags for you. How's that sound?"

Bags.

Suddenly, Scarlett's eyes shot open as she started looking around, much to her family's confusion. After a while, her eyes settled on Jaune, hard and accusing. "Jaune." Her tone matched her gaze perfectly. "Where are you belongings?"

Everyone else suddenly started looking around and noticed the truth in Scarlett's words. Jaune's bags were nowhere to be found. In addition, they began to notice other small inconsistencies that had slipped their attention.

One was that Jaune was wearing his armor and had Crocea Mors at his side. The latter wasn't that strange, but why would he be wearing his armor if all he was going to do was return home?

Another was his team's expressions. Never mind Chidori, who had remained nearly expressionless the entire time, but neither Pyrrha nor Junpei looked at all concerned that their teammate was leaving. Pyrrha was worried, yes, but she didn't have the look of someone about to say goodbye. On that point, Scarlett remembered Junpei's earlier response to her question. He had never explicitly stated that they were there to say farewell to Jaune. A grin was still on his face, but this one looked quite grim, as though something were about to happen.

"Jaune," she repeated, bearing down on him even more with her presence. "What is going on?"

The blonde was pale and looked close to panicking. He glanced over his shoulder to where his team stood a short distance behind him. The grim smile on the team leader's face didn't fade, but he nodded firmly at Jaune, Pyrrha doing the same a moment later but with a hesitant expression on her face. And then, surprisingly, Chidori smiled. It was small, and gentle, but it was there nonetheless. And like the rest of their team, she nodded, showing her support for whatever it was her brother was about to do.

She had her suspicions, but she would rather not make any assumptions just yet.

Then Jaune turned to the side, where the rest of his friends were. Scarlett followed his gaze. Most of them looked unsure or unconcerned. Only two stood out. A fairly tall silver-haired boy and a short, teal-haired girl. Both were looking in Jaune's direction with smiles. The girl's was, like Chidori's, gentle and supportive. The boy's was more confident, cocky even. But both gave her brother slow, firm nods, lending their support to whatever it was he was planning to do.

And when Jaune finally turned back to face his family, all of them were taken aback by the firm look on his face. "Sorry," he said, his words not quite matching his expression. "But I… I'm staying."

Her family's reaction was about as expected. Hazel and the twins were the most outspoken, calling Jaune stupid and all other manner of names. Gwen and Sable were frowning deeply. Arianna looked deeply worried, her hands wringing around one another in worry. When Scarlett turned to her parents, she found worry, disappointment, and… intrigue?

Meeting her gaze, Aurelian nodded. As the one who had found Jaune and spoken to him, she had a better understanding of the current situation, however slight that advantage was. For now, he was deferring to her to handle things. And she was going to make sure that Jaune understood that returning home was non-negotiable. Even if she had to knock him out and drag him back home by his legs.

"Do you really think we'd let you?" she asked, raising her voice to be heard over her younger siblings' shouts. It also had the effect of getting them to keep quiet. She placed a hand on the hilt of her weapon, Fang, and glared menacingly at her only brother. "Should I remind you what made me decide to take you home in the first place?"

Her brother paled considerably, which was what she was after. But she didn't expect what came next.

"Maybe you should."

The unexpected response, and even the unexpected source, had her blinking for a few seconds before the shifted her gaze up to the cap-wearing teen behind her brother. "What?"

"I mean, Jaune's a pretty stubborn guy after all," he said flippantly, seemingly not caring that Jaune had turned to him with a look of someone who had just been betrayed. Considering his words, it may as well have been betrayal. "He probably won't go back until you beat the idea into him."

"J-J-Junpei! What are-"

"Besides," continued Junpei as though Jaune hadn't spoken. "It might give him a chance to show off the results of the special training he's been doing since you left."

Scarlett ignored her brother's remarks and focused on his team leader. His words had caught her attention. And judging by the grin on his face, he knew it and was expecting it. "Special training?" she repeated with a frown, followed by a scoff. "Does he really think a few days of training, no matter how 'special' it was, will be enough to change my mind? For that matter, why even bother training him? You already know that better people have tried and failed. His time here has clearly shown that his aptitude hasn't changed at all."

If Junpei was surprised that she had figured out his role in things then he didn't show it. Or perhaps it didn't really matter if she figured it out. "Yeah, well, I doubt any training he's done before is anything like what we put him through. Why not give him a chance to show off a bit? I mean, if you're that sure that nothing's changed then you don't really lose anything, right? Don't you wanna give him one last chance to swing that sword of his? Doesn't sound like he'll get to do it again anytime soon. Or ever."

He was baiting her. He wasn't even trying to hide it. In fact, he seemed to be doing his best to make it even more obvious that he was. So why was it working?

It didn't take much time for her to figure it out. He was challenging her. He was challenging her opinion of her own brother, calling her judgment into question. And by the Dust it was working. If there was one thing she could never stand, it was someone questioning her when it came to her family.

But… She took a deep breath and slowly let it out. She couldn't afford to let her pride get in the way. She was here to bring her brother home, nothing else. Regardless of what his team leader had to say, he was, ultimately, an outsider in this matter.

"I'll forgive you, just this once," she ground out, glaring at Junpei the entire time. "But I suggest you hold your tongue. You may be his team leader, but considering Jaune's actions, this is, first and foremost, a family matter and has nothing to do with you or your friends."

Instead of responding to her, he turned to face his friends. "Hey Aigis." A girl with short blonde hair turned to face him, cocking her head to the side. "Didn't Ozpin say in our Leadership class that the leader's gotta take responsibility for his team or something like that?"

The blonde nodded and said, "I believe his exact words were, 'More often than not, a leader must bear the consequences of his subordinate's actions. For should they act poorly, then it is a reflection of his abilities as a leader. Furthermore, a leader must then act to correct such shortcomings, whether by correcting his actions, or that of his subordinates'.'"

"Yeah right, that." Turning back to Scarlett, Junpei gave the woman a solemn grin. "Jaune wasn't on my team when he ran from home, or when he cheated his way into Beacon. But he was put on my team after initiation. I'm not exactly the best leader out there. Heck, I've never been a leader, and then I had a ton of stuff to deal with after coming here. But that doesn't mean I couldn't have tried harder."

"I knew something was wrong," he admitted, never once looking away but showing remorse and shame. "I knew something was wrong when I could beat him in a fight. Hell, even Chidori beat him and she's not exactly that good." His hand gestured to the redhead beside him, though she didn't react. "But I didn't really think about it. Just told myself that he got into Beacon and left it alone. Even when he kept getting beat in class, I just told myself that he'll learn, that Pyrrha could help him better since she's the best fighter on the team. That was my mistake."

"That may be so," interrupted Scarlett, stopping Junpei from speaking any further. "But as you said, he wasn't on your team when he made the mistake of coming here in the first place. And you could hardly be faulted for your actions. Believing that he is capable because of his presence at Beacon is hardly a mistake." She pressed on, knocking away each and every one of his arguments. "And admitting that someone is more suited to a role, that someone is your better despite them being your subordinate, is a mark of a good leader. There is nothing wrong with recognizing and acknowledging your own shortcomings."

"Maybe. But I didn't really do anything after I did, did I?" Scarlett had to concede that point to him. "Just 'cuz Pyrrha was already training him doesn't mean I couldn't have done anything else. Maybe I stepped in too late. I definitely should have done something before you came along, but hey, that's what this school is here for, right? So we can learn and all that. And that includes me learning how to be a better leader, and Jaune learning to be a better fighter."

Even though he admitted he wasn't the best leader, she had to admit that he was better than many other first-year leaders during her time. Few, at that age, were capable of looking at themselves and honestly admit their shortcomings, especially to a stranger. At the very least, she could respect that. However…

Scarlett sighed. "Had I never discovered that he was here," she began, her gaze and tone softening, "And had he revealed his secret to you of his own accord, then perhaps you might have been able to change things. But as I said the night I came to visit, I cannot, in good conscience, allow him to stay. Not with the skills he has."

"Then let me prove it."


Jaune couldn't believe his ears as Junpei continued to defend him. Why? Why would he say that? Why would he do that? As much as he appreciated everything they've done for him, there was just no way that keeping him on the team was for the best.

He was the weakest member on the team. He was the one who dragged his team down during training. And HE was the one who would end up breaking the team with his departure. And yet there was Junpei, talking as though every mistake Jaune had committed since passing the initiation was his fault, his responsibility.

He didn't even know what would happen to Junpei, Pyrrha and Chidori if he left. Would they remain a team despite having only three members? Or would having an incomplete team mean they would be forced to leave the school as well?

So many possibilities ran through his mind but so few of them, if any, would end well for them. He may not have been the smartest on the team, or even in their group of friends, but he wasn't stupid. There was a reason for the four-man team that every Huntsman Academy used.

Having a partner meant someone was never alone, that they would have someone they could count on at all times. Sometimes the partner was not ideal, but that didn't change the fact that they had one. If their partner fell behind, they, too, would suffer the consequences. Under those conditions, even the most selfish, most self-centered person would have a reason to help their partner. Or at least ensure they did well enough in class.

Being placed on a team with another pair served two main purposes.

One was simply to increase their overall combat potential. Quantity was a quality of its own given the right circumstances, and having four people fighting against the Grimm was definitely better than just two.

The other was to add diversity to a team. Even if every member of the team used the exact same weapon, or fought in the exact same manner, surely they, as individuals, would have different things to offer. And added diversity meant that there was a broader range of problems that they, as a team, could solve both in and out of a classroom.

If he was taken out of the equation, then the remaining members of Team JACN would face a whole host of problems. Not the least was that in a fight, one person could only protect one other person. Having four people on a team meant that each pair could watch out for each other. Removing one would mean that one person did not have someone to watch their backs since the other two would be watching each other's.

Could he really leave them knowing they faced such an uncertain future? But then, Junpei's plan, now that he had revealed it, was absolutely ridiculous. He expected him, the failure, to fight his eldest sister? What would such a fight accomplish beyond getting him beaten to a pulp by someone so far ahead of him that he couldn't even see her back?

Jaune opened his mouth, ready to tell Junpei to stop, to just let his family take him home. But before he could, he found himself thinking of something else. What did Akihiko think of the situation? Surely he had known of Junpei's plan, right?

Though it wouldn't change anything, his curiosity got the better of him. He turned to the side where Akihiko was, and froze in shock. Akihiko was looking at him. Directly in the eyes. As though he had been waiting for Jaune to look his way.

They stared at one another for what seemed like hours. Akihiko offered him no words, nor did his expression shift from the neutral one that was already there. He simply nodded at him. Nodded, as though to say, 'It's up to you.'

Beside him, Fuuka did the same when Jaune's eyes traveled over to her, nodding with a small smile that told him she would respect whatever decision he made, would support him regardless of which path he took. Overcome by curiosity, he glanced at the rest of his friends.

A few of them – Blake and Weiss – neither said nor did anything, simply meeting his gaze. Though Weiss turned away with a huff not long after. The rest… The rest surprised him.

Over the past few days, some of them had offered encouragement, telling him that everything would be alright, that Junpei and Akihiko could get him ready. Nora had even offered to help him fight off his entire family if they had to. And now, those same people were sending their encouragement through their eyes, knowing that now was not the time for them to be heard. 'Ruby… Yang… Ren… Nora…'

Then he turned to SEES. Their gazes reflected a message much like Akihiko's and Fuuka's. The four other members of SEES were just watching him, waiting to see what he would decide. And he knew… somehow he knew that they would not hold it against him even if he decided to return home. Perhaps it was because of what Mitsuru had said that day they learned of his secret. "And no matter what we say or do, the final choice lies with him."

SEES deferred to Mitsuru when it came to a lot of things. Was that the case now? Were they remaining neutral simply because that was her stance?

'No,' was the answer he came to only a second later. Each of them had proven that, while Mitsuru was the leader of SEES, they did not blindly follow her. Nor did Mitsuru expect such blind and absolute obedience simply because of her station.

Akihiko, Fuuka, and Junpei were prime examples of this. Despite her words, they chose to help him. Junpei might be able to get away with claiming to be the team leader, but neither Fuuka nor Akihiko had that excuse. And it wasn't as though they had hidden it from her. Mitsuru knew, that first day, that they were training him. And beyond a curious look, she gave no other indication of her feelings on the matter.

'No,' his mind repeated. 'It's not Mitsuru. It's them.'

And thinking back to Junpei's words, and listening to his words now, he knew he was right. Not once did he force his opinion on the matter. He poked and prodded, but he waited patiently for Jaune to come to an answer on his own. Not once did Junpei push the training on him, having constantly sought reassurance that it was what he wanted. At most, he might have tried to scare him away by repeatedly telling him that the training would be harsh. 'And wasn't that an understatement.'

"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 want and even what the rest of us want. Forget all that and tell me what. The hell. YOU want."

What do you want?

He would never forget those words. He would never forget how they constantly reverberated in his head that night as he thought of his answer to Junpei's question. If he were being honest, it was the first time in years that someone had asked him that question with such honesty.

His parents and sisters often asked him that while he was growing up. But after his disastrous training failures, he had never been asked in the same way again. There was always that tone in their voice that hoped he had given up on being a Huntsman. That hoped he would choose another path. A safer path.

He didn't blame them. He couldn't blame them. They were just worried for him after all. He understood, more than they probably realized. But understanding didn't make it any less painful to know that he would not have their support should he push the issue.

And now he didn't have just one person asking him what he wanted. Only Junpei had given voice to the question on their minds, but, looking at the people who had become his friends over the past month-and-a-half, he could feel that they were all asking- No, telling him the exact same thing. Tell us what you want. Tell your family what you want.

He knew. He knew with absolute certainty that no judgment would come before his answer. And, perhaps, not ever. He didn't know how he knew. He just did.

And for that, he would forever be grateful. More than their friendship, more than their help, more than the training, more than their endless patience for a loser like him. Their unconditional acceptance of him, failures and all, was the one thing that meant more to him than anything else they had offered him these past six weeks since he met them all.

And he would be damned if he repaid all that with cowardice. Not when it was them who gave him the chance to finally pursue his dream.

"But as I said the night I came to visit, I cannot, in good conscience, allow him to stay. Not with the skills he has."

"Then let me prove it."

The words were out of his mouth before he realized it. But he didn't care.

Scarlett was right. Whatever happened from this point on would all be on his head.

Mitsuru was right. No matter what they said and did, the final choice lies with him. And only he could take responsibility for his actions, past, present, and future.

And Junpei was right. Forget what Weiss wanted. Forget what Scarlett wanted. Forget what his parents wanted. And forget what even his friend wanted. Right here, right now, what mattered most was what he wanted. Not them. HIM!

"Jaune… what are-"

"Fight me," he ground out, his hands clenching tightly by his side. He saw the surprise in his sister's eyes at his declaration and pushed. "Fight me and I'll prove that I have what it takes. And if I win, you let me stay. If I lose, I go home."


Dozens of eyes grew wide at Jaune's unexpected declaration, Scarlett especially. Had her brother lost his mind? Challenging her, a full-fledged Huntress not only ten years his senior but also with six years of post-graduation experience, to a fight? And he expected to win? What madness was this?

Looking around, she took in the faces of his friends. All of them looked just as surprised as she did so clearly none of them knew abo- Wait. There, the silver-haired boy near the center of the group. He wasn't as surprised as the others. Glancing at her brother's teammates, she saw that neither was Junpei. Did they have something to do with this?

"Well?" asked Jaune, before Scarlett could even consider questioning the two. "Come on. I'll even promise never to bring it up again if I lose."

He was serious then. Never before had he made such a promise. Whenever they told him to stop considering being a Huntsman he would just respond with a nod, or a half-hearted answer, never stating outright that he would stop. For him to make a promise now, of all times, meant that he was seriously putting his dream on the line. Jaune was many things, but he had never intentionally broken a promise. He wouldn't start now.

"You're serious then." She felt the need to state that out loud, her heart sinking when he nodded, his face devoid of uncertainty or doubt. Scarlett sighed, long and slow. "If that's what you want, then fine. But," she added quickly when Jaune made to speak. "You won't be fighting me." She turned her head to look over her shoulder before he could question her. "Hazel, come here."

Had she not turned around, she might have caught the brief expression of shock on Jaune's face. But by the time the youngest Arc sibling stood by her side and she turned back, Jaune had schooled his features once more. "It would be unfair for you if I were to be your opponent. Hazel is the only one out of all of us, save for Arianna, without any real combat experience outside of school. Moreover, she plans to attend Beacon next year. She should be roughly on the same level as your classmates. Show me that you can stand alongside such people and maybe, just maybe, I'll let you stay."

"Fine," Jaune spat out without hesitation, drawing Crocea Mors from its sheath and strapping the shield to his left arm.

Seeing this, Junpei quickly herded his team over to where the others were waiting, reassuring Pyrrha that her partner will be fine. Similarly, Jaune's family followed. Despite none of them wanting to see a fight between siblings, they all understood that Jaune would not back down. That he was just that determined to remain at Beacon. Whether he had what it took or not, however, remained to be seen.

Hazel glanced up at her eldest sister with some hesitation but, after receiving a nod from Scarlett before she went to join the rest of their family, she reached behind her and took her weapon into her hands. Given the resemblance to her own weapon's travel form, as well as her own personal interest in weapons, it was Ruby who paid the most attention.

Hazel held the weapon by the grip near one end that ran parallel to the weapon, and then triggered its transformation. The first thing that appeared was the barrel of a gun – which made sense considering the girl was known for her marksmanship – with a blade attached to the underside. It extended from the top. And extended. And extended some more.

As the barrel and the blade extended, the rest of the weapon unfolded. Various parts flew open while others folded in, metal sliding against metal and locking into place. It barely took two seconds for the weapon to complete its transformation.

In Hazel's hand was a weapon that looked to be a cross between a rifle and a large, wide, single-edged blade. The blade and the barrel seemed to be a singular piece and made up half the length of the entire weapon, though the barrel was clearly longer as it connected to the other half of the weapon as well. The very end of the blade was shaped into a grip with a hollowed out portion to allow her fingers to slip into.

Her hand was wrapped around the hilt, which made up the upper part of a hollow shoulder stock. Just above her hand, almost perpendicular to the hilt but angled towards the back, was the rifle's grip and trigger, making it easy to switch her grip on the weapon, thus switching between blade and rifle. Ruby's sharp eyes, however, noted what could possibly be a second trigger just above her thumb, making it possible to fire the rifle with her thumb while wielding her weapon as a blade.

The length of the barrel, the large scope situated on top, and the fact that Hazel was known for her marksmanship pointed to the rifle being that of the sniper variety. But then, Hazel reached into the large pouch strapped to the small of her back and pulled out a large drum magazine, placing it in the empty space between the two grips. At that moment, everybody not aware of the facts began to deduce that it wasn't merely an ordinary sniper rifle. The fact that she undoubtedly had several more magazines like it inside her pouch only supported that theory.

Snipers would not need to carry that many bullets unless they were planning to kill hundreds, if not thousands. And even then, there was no need to have all those bullets in one magazine. No. Only someone who fired large numbers of bullets in a fight would need to carry such a large supply. And if she was as good as Jaune said she was, then the blonde boy was in for a difficult fight, special training or no.

And yet, Jaune showed no signs of worry. He simply stood there, shield raised in front of him, left foot in front, knees slightly bent, and Crocea Mors angled towards the ground and slightly forward. He, after all, had prior knowledge of Hazel's weapon. And while that did little to help him since he knew next to nothing about her fighting style, it was enough that he wasn't shocked by the weapon's appearance.

"Jaune," Hazel called out to him, still looking hesitant despite agreeing to fight him. "We… we don't have to do this. Let's just go home. Please."

Her older brother's expression remained stern but softened a bit at her words. But what little hope she held onto that she could convince her brother not to fight was utterly crushed by his next words. "Yes, we do. And you know what?" His expression hardened once more, causing Hazel to freeze when she saw a hint of anger enter his eyes. "I'm glad you're my opponent."

Faster than she, or any of her siblings expected, Jaune dashed forward with a yell, leading with his shield and his sword ready to strike. Hazel took a second too long to gather her wits. By the time she did, Jaune was only a single step away from bringing her within his attack range. Fortunately, he was already within hers.

She tightened her grip on her blade, Rugitus Leo, and slashed sideways, aiming at the upper portion of Crocea Mors's shield. She didn't use her full strength. Against Jaune, it was unnecessary. But the moment her blade made contact with the shield, she knew something was wrong.

Rather than striking it, her blade slid off the shield as it was angled upwards, causing her to overextend as her attack was deflected to the side. The next thing she saw, was the shield coming right at her. Her thumb flicked upwards, hooking onto the second trigger just above it, and pulled it back. The recoil from the shot that fired brought Rugitus Leo between her and the shield, stopping Jaune's charge in its tracks.

Still, Jaune was taller than her by at least a half foot and, combined with his weight advantage, sent her sliding back. She lowered her blade to take in what just happened, but he didn't give her the opportunity. He closed the distance with a leap and swung Crocea Mors down at her head. Reacting on instinct, she swung upwards, intercepting the considerably smaller blade before it could reach her.

The strength behind Jaune's blow was stronger than she expected, easily within the average level of her classmates at Remorra, but still not up to her level. Before he could pull his sword back, she shoved him away, using more power than she did earlier.

As expected, he was thrown back with little difficulty. What was not expected, however, was how he turned his impromptu flight into a roll. And for the third time since the fight began less than a minute ago, she stopped to stare at her brother's unexpected actions just a little too long. Already, he was on his feet and was running towards her. It was only thanks to the distance he had flown that she was able to prepare a proper defense.

But still, even as she locked blades with Jaune once more, the question that she had been asking since the start of the fight continued to run through her mind. How did he become so capable in such a short time?


Unbeknownst to Hazel, the rest of her family were, unsurprisingly, asking themselves the same question. Aurelian and Sephiria were now watching with raised eyebrows, intrigued by their son's sudden burst of ability. Gwen and Sable could only stare in shock, both having difficulty coming to terms with the fact that Jaune was actually fighting Hazel and managing to hold his own. The twins were speaking excitedly, wondering whether Jaune's unexpected ability would be enough. Arianna, while surprised as well, was mostly worried about the two siblings closest to her in age and, thus, the two she shared the strongest bonds with.

But there was one who was far more confused by the sudden change than the others. Scarlett, who had seen first-hand Jaune's skills less than a week ago, was having trouble believing that Jaune had gone from 'can't swing a sword properly' to 'barely passable' in just a few days. His movements weren't as sharp as they should be at his age, but it was a significant, almost miraculous, improvement over what she saw the last time.

And then there was his defensive skills. Hazel was undoubtedly faster than Jaune. Even with the weight of her weapon far surpassing his, she was strong enough that her swings were faster than his despite using only one hand to wield the massive weapon, never mind just being plain stronger. And yet Jaune had successfully, even if not skillfully, defended against all her attacks so far. He had even deflected several attacks in a way that opened up Hazel's defenses for a counterattack.

Not that he could take advantage of those openings of course. Even with his improvements, he still lacked the combat experience that Hazel had. She recovered from each failed attack with ease born of experience and practice, putting a stop to any counterattack he attempted to make. She hadn't landed a hit on anything other than his sword or shield, but despite Jaune's mindless offensive, Hazel held the upper hand. Even falling to the ground was enough to drain one's Aura.

But still, there was no way he could have improved this much in the five days since she last saw him. Not with his poor aptitude for combat.

Left with no other option, she turned to someone who might have the answers.

Looking at the other group standing to her family's left, Scarlett noted that, much like her family, many of them were surprised by her only brother's improvements. Only a handful, however, were not. A red-haired girl standing near the back looked on impassively, while the teal-haired girl and the silver-haired boy whom Jaune had turned to earlier were also unsurprised, though the latter had a small grin on his face.

And of course, Jaune's team.

The red-haired girl, Chidori, had a blank expression on her face so Scarlett couldn't be certain what she was thinking. Pyrrha was, like the others, unsurprised but was clearly worried. Junpei, on the other hand, looked a bit excited and… relieved? That was certainly a strange expression to have considering how confident he was earlier that Jaune would convince her just by showing off his skills.

"Junpei." Hearing his name being called, he, as well as the rest of the group, turned to her. Her family would no doubt be listening as well while watching the fight. "What kind of training did you give Jaune?" she asked, not in the mood to beat around the bush.

But rather than answer the question, he grinned and said, "Maybe we should watch first. I'm pretty excited to see how Jaune does."

The grin hadn't been entirely real. She could see a sliver of worry in his eyes as he turned back to the fight. "You're worried about something." It wasn't a question. And her accusation proved true when he flinched just a little bit. "Not confident about your training anymore?"

"Well…" he began, facing her with a sheepish grin. "I wasn't exactly expecting him to fight someone else. I actually thought you'd fight him yourself."

"Oh?" That was interesting. It wasn't hard to put together the pieces. "It sounds as if you were training him specifically to fight me." She shook her head in amusement when he grimaced at her words. "You do know how unfair that would have been, right? For me to fight him, I mean."

"Yeah, well…"

"Junpei was counting on the fact that you would want to personally prove to Jaune why he wasn't fit to stay at Beacon." The silver-haired boy stepped closer as he spoke, turning to face her and bowing his head slightly in greeting. "I'm Akihiko Sanada. I was one of those who helped Junpei train Jaune over the week."

"Really? And what stake do you have in this?" she asked him. "I can understand Junpei wanting to help a teammate and friend, but what about you? Is Jaune that close a friend to you?"

Akihiko shook his head in response. "We're friends, but not that close. As for why I helped, it's mainly because the training method we used is the same one I put Junpei through several months ago. I knew the training better than Junpei so at the very least, I had to be present to make sure it was being done right."

"And what was the training?" Scarlett asked again, blonde eyebrows furrowing slightly. "As I said, Junpei made it sound as if the training Jaune went through was specifically tailored to prepare him for fighting me, which would be impossible since neither of you know how I fight."

"It's not so much your style as it was your weapon." He nodded down at the weapon at her hip. "Weapons, regardless of style or length, will always have similarities in how they are used. The way Junpei described your weapon, it was clearly meant to cut rather than to stab."

"And so you trained him to fight against a sword-user. Specifically, swords meant to cut using slashing motions." That certainly made more sense than being trained to fight her, specifically. And glancing back to the fight, she could see the fruits of her brother's training.

Now that she knew what to look for, she could see how Jaune watched Hazel's Rugitus Leo, angling his shield properly to prepare for the coming blow. He didn't always see the attack coming or react the proper way, either overcompensating or undercompensating for something. Most likely, that 'something' was the length of Rugitus Leo. And perhaps the weight as well.

As Akihiko had said, they were used similarly but not exactly the same. Pyrrha's xiphos was shorter than Hazel's blade-rifle and significantly lighter as well, and even the katana she had seen Junpei holding the other day in class was shorter than Rugitus Leo.

So not only the length, but even the weight of the weapon was most likely throwing off Jaune's timing and more. Had it been her, then perhaps Jaune's defenses would seem more impressive since her Fang was between Junpei and Pyrrha's blades in length. That didn't account for the sheer difference in skill, of course. But she could appreciate just how far his skills have improved.

She had other questions for her brother's two trainers, of course, but seeing Hazel switch her grip on her weapon, she knew that the fight was about to get even more interesting.


Jaune leapt back and to the side to avoid the upward vertical slash from Hazel, knowing that he wouldn't have been able to defend against it properly with his weapons and his current level of strength. Pyrrha had shown him that. Despite weighing more than her, she had sent him flying with the same attack when he had tried to block it one time.

He dashed back in, attacking with Crocea Mors once he got within range. The fight was far different from when he was training with Junpei or Pyrrha.

Junpei's attacks were simple and straight forward, similar enough to Hazel's style, but he could be quite cunning when he needed to be. But Junpei also lacked Hazel's strength. His attacks were weaker and slower. Even if they weren't, his weapon wasn't as heavy either. Jaune could feel Rugitus Leo's weight whenever he blocked an attack, or whenever his younger sister blocked one of his own attacks.

Pyrrha was faster and stronger than Junpei, than even Hazel. But her xiphos was shorter, making her attacks faster, and her shield allowed her to defend while also attacking, much like him. She was also far more experienced. Combat tactics came naturally to her as she outmaneuvered him each and every time they fought. Hazel hadn't done anything of the sort yet, resorting to simple and basic attacks.

But as simple as they were, they were fast and powerful. Frankly, he was surprised he was able to react quickly enough to defend himself most of the time. But even so, he didn't have any opportunity to plan a counterattack since she pushed on before he could come up with one. And even when he somehow managed to push her back, he still didn't have time to think of his next move before she was attacking again, closing the gap far too fast for comfort.

It was those moments of indecision that cost him as they also marked the times when he could get knocked around as her blade struck his hastily raised defenses. After that, it would take a while before he could solidify his defenses enough that he could lash out with Crocea Mors once or twice. As curious as he was as to how he was defending himself so well, he didn't really have time to stop and think. The moment he did, Hazel always came in to take advantage of his distraction.

For now, he was holding his own, just barely maintaining a stalemate. He was on the losing end, but it was better than losing outright. But that wouldn't last long. And seeing Hazel transfer her grip from the sword hilt to the rifle grip, he knew the game had changed.

He raised his shield and hid behind it just as Hazel began to fire. Yet as expected of her, each and every shot struck his shield head-on. After as he could tell, not a single bullet had missed, even if they didn't hit him directly.

He could still remember her explaining the concept of her weapon to their older siblings and, later on after its creation and subsequent testing, explaining how she had modified it beyond the initial planning stages.

Having both blade and barrel deployed at the same time meant she would not have to switch between two separate forms when the combat range changed. The barrel length, the overall design, and choice of rifle parts took advantage of her skill in marksmanship, maximizing her effective range and her weapon's accuracy.

The length was a problem in some ways since she was, is, and most likely will be the shortest of all eight siblings. But she more than made up for it by training with Gwen whenever the latter was home to build up her own strength, allowing her to wield a weapon that was nearly as tall as she was with just one hand. Without that disadvantage, the length of the weapon allowed her to keep her opponents at a proper distance. Since few melee weapons had an effective engagement range as long as, or longer than, hers.

And that included Crocea Mors.

But the main problem was simply the fact that her weapon doubled as a rifle. Not only did he lack a ranged combat option, but Hazel's rate of fire was quite high despite it being a semi-automatic rifle, if he remembered the term right. He might not remember or even understand how Rugitus Leo worked, but he knew that she could fire a lot of bullets in a short amount of time, and was the best marksman in the family.

And right now, that was preventing him from getting too close. He didn't know why she didn't try shooting his legs, Dust knows she could have hit him dozens of times where his shield couldn't protect him, but he was grateful for that. He wasn't entirely certain but he knew his Aura was down a bit from getting knocked around earlier. He didn't need her draining the rest of it just by shooting at his legs.

Hopefully she wouldn't change her mind anytime soon.

Getting his sword ready, he charged forward, staying behind his shield the entire time. He peeked out from behind the shield as he ran, having learned the hard way that not seeing your opponent was a good way to get outmaneuvered and blindsided.

It turned out to be a good thing that he did since he was closer than he had expected. And almost as soon as he closed the distance, the shooting stopped and Hazel leapt to the side with a spin. Despite still holding the rifle's grip, the spin added enough momentum to her swing that the impact when the blade crashed into Jaune's shield was heavy enough to knock him down.

Just as he was rising to his feet, Hazel switched her grip and swung at his undefended flank. The massive blade landed the first real blow of the fight, smashing into his right side and sending him flying. Hazel was quick to follow up, aiming at him once more and firing off one bullet after another.

Even mid-flight, he felt each and every shot hit his torso. And even when he hit the ground and tumbled away, the shots kept coming and struck his back and front, further draining his Aura. She must have landed over a dozen shots by the time he regained control and got to his knees, his shield braced in front of him.

Then all of a sudden, she was right there next to him, Rugitus Leo already singing through the air towards his unprotected back. There was a grim look on her face, telling him that she didn't really want to do this, but she was just as determined to win the fight, to prove that he should just return home with them.

But he had something to prove as well.

He spun to the left, towards the blade, raising his shield and angling it up. He saw the surprise cross Hazel's face when he did. She probably hadn't expected him to react so quickly. And to be honest, he hadn't either. His body had already begun to move long before he even considered it. The blade was already sliding off the shield and his arm had already begun to swing Crocea Mors by the time the thought crossed his mind.

Again, his blow failed to land. Hazel fired once, using the recoil to aid her leap. The tip of his blade caught her shirt, making a small cut just below her sternum. If she noticed, she didn't care about it nor did she pay it any mind. But while he was considering his next move, she came around again and smashed her blade into his sternum.

The blow hadn't been strong, but it was enough to knock him off-balance. She followed-up with a vicious kick to his chin that sent him stumbling back, then a leg sweep that took his out from under him. Before he could roll away, her blade came down on him hard.

His right arm reacted first, bringing his weapon up to block the blow with the flat side of the blade. His left hand quickly followed to reinforce his defense. But with his back on the ground and Hazel literally bearing down on him, his arms quickly began to tremble from the effort of holding her off while Hazel barely looked like she was trying.

He could hear Pyrrha shouting at him, trying to encourage him. Ruby and Yang as well. He was grateful for that. Unfortunately it didn't really help his current situation.

"Please Jaune," Hazel pleaded, her hesitant blue eyes meeting his. "Just give up. Let's just go home. Barely any of your old classmates are even in town anymore. You don't… You don't have to be afraid or ashamed of what happened. You don't have to-"

One moment she was facing her brother on the ground. Next, blue skies and lazily drifting clouds filled her vision and her back had a dull ache that felt like she had just fallen down. 'What…?'

"My classmates?" She couldn't see Jaune, but she could hear the rustling of grass and clothing nearby. "You think this is about them?"

She pushed herself up to her feet, seeing Jaune doing the same in front of her. But something about him was different now. He was… angry. The small spark of anger she had seen earlier had grown. Not an ember, not a blaze, not even an inferno. No. That tiny, insignificant spark had now become the very flames of hell.

To Hazel, the Jaune, her kind, caring, and admittedly wimpy older brother, looked like a demon, a monster like the Grimm but of a different vein. Never before had she seen anyone so angry, so completely and utterly enraged. To make things worse, not only was she somehow the cause, but she was also the recipient of his anger.

"A-Aren't th-they-" she began to stutter out before she was interrupted.

"The people at school pushed me around and bullied me!" His tone was harsh, and his gestures were wild as he continued to shout. "But nobody cared after the first year that it went on. Sure they bullied me and made fun of me, but if I kept my head down they didn't bother coming after me anymore unless they were bored! Graduation was the last day I would have had to go through any of that! AND YOU MADE IT WORSE"

"M-Me?" Hazel's blue eyes shot open at the accusation. Not in indignation, but in disbelief. "B-but… I…"

"You what?! Saved me?!" Hazel, along with nearly all the spectators, flinched at the raw anger in his tone and in his expression. The look on his face, so filled with rage, was unlike any they had ever seen on the normally timid and goofy boy. "Getting bombed by paint balloons during my graduation wouldn't have been embarrassing for long. People would only laugh for a day or two and maybe, JUST MAYBE, feel sorry for me if that happened. But what you did?"

"Do you have any idea what people were saying after that?! 'Look, there he is. The boy who was saved by his little sister.' My LITTLE sister. Even the three people I thought were my friends wouldn't stop laughing at me! They didn't even want to be seen with me after that!" Hazel hunched down and looked away, starting to realize just why Jaune was so angry. "Bad enough that I'm the only one in the family who can't fight. Bad enough that Arianna had to stand up to my bullies in my place and that she could fight better than I ever could. Bad enough that I had to go through six years of all that and not be able to do anything about it. But being saved by my little sister? How humiliating is that?!"

"Jaune I… I didn't mean…" Hazel tried to explain, tried to calm him down, but he was too far gone. He was barely even looking at her anymore and was simply ranting, raving, and raging, carelessly waving his arms around with every statement. But it was the next words that came from his lips that truly struck her.

"I hated you, you know that?" He was panting, getting his breath back from his furious tirade. "If it had been Scarlett, Gwen, Sable, the twins, or even Arianna, I wouldn't have cared. It'd be just another day where the 'weakling Arc' needed to be saved by his big sisters. But being saved by you? I couldn't show my face in town without people pointing at me, laughing at me, judging me. Even the people who weren't there when it happened had heard about it by the next day."

"And you? People congratulated you for doing a good job. For 'saving' me. ME! Like I'm some Dust damned princess in a fairy tale who can't do anything but cry for help! And you expect me to go back to that life?! You even got on my case complaining about how I didn't even thank you for your help! Well forget it. I didn't ask you for your help back then and I'm not asking for it now. And I'm definitely not asking for permission to stay."

Jaune dropped into a stance once more. His shield in front, blade at the ready, body angled forward.

"And if I have to fight you, if I have to fight my entire family for this, then I'll gladly fight."

Before Hazel could process Jaune's words, her beloved older brother ran towards her, shield raised, sword ready to strike, and a heart-stopping battle cry roaring past his lips.


It was, as the old saying goes, like watching a train wreck.

Nobody was close enough to hear what Hazel had said to her downed brother as their blades were locked, but everyone had seen the effect on Jaune. In a surprising show of strength, he had shoved Hazel away from him, hard enough to send her flying back several feet to land on her back.

And then came his words.

His friends hadn't known that he was bullied in the past. His family had known, but only after the aforementioned graduation event. Arianna had known the longest, having attended the same school as Jaune and discovering the truth during her fifth year, Jaune's fourth, but had kept it from their parents after Jaune had convinced her not to tell them, convinced her that it was better to let it fade than to make a big fuss over it. But all of them were surprised to learn of his feelings towards his sole younger sister and her actions.

After Jaune's angry rant in the training room that night, Junpei had suspected that there was something more to his desire to be a Huntsman. It had always been his dream, that much was certain. But the desire to achieve that dream hadn't been able to overcome his lack of ability, nor had it been strong enough to make him fight against what most would call fate.

Clearly something had happened that changed his mind, something that gave him a stronger reason to want to be a Huntsman. And now Junpei knew what it was. Now they all knew what it was.

And with Scarlett's decision to let Hazel fight in her place, they had just handed Jaune the opportunity to vent his frustration, his anger, his hatred, on the very person that been the catalyst that drove him to Beacon in the first place.

"Fuck!" cursed Scarlett, not even caring that her parents were there not five feet from her. "I'm stopping this."

"Don't."

She barely took a step forward when someone intervened. Two someone's to be exact. Turning to her left, she found Junpei facing her, several of his friends looking at him with confused expressions. Then turning to her right, she met her mother's crystal blue eyes gazing back at her.

"I can't let this go on," she argued, her words aimed at both her brother's team leader, and her mother. "Jaune's not thinking clearly anymore."

"That what you think?" Scarlett turned around, surprised that Junpei had been the one to speak up first rather than her mother. "Dude, I don't think I've ever seen Jaune more focused than this."

"Focused?" The blonde's words were hissed between clenched teeth as she glared at Junpei. She pointed a finger in the direction of the fight as she began to speak and followed with her eyes a second later. "You call that foc-"

She froze as she took in the sight before her. It was… surreal. There was no way it was happening. There was simply no way that Jaune was beating Hazel.

And yet, it was true.

Hazel was running backwards, trying to widen the gap between her and Jaune. And yet her brother was easily keeping pace, keeping her within striking range at all times. And whether he was doing it on purpose or not, he was too close for Hazel to properly engage in a fight.

One notable weakness that Rugitus Leo had was that the blade made up half the length of the entire weapon. And that meant that her melee range only began where her blade began, and ended where the blade ended. Anything beyond that was outside her attack range. And anything too close was also, effectively, outside her range.

Jaune, due to Crocea Mors's shorter blade, needed to be close in order to reach Hazel. As it was, he stood just at the inner edge of Rugitus Leo's attack zone. It didn't mean much considering getting hit would still hurt, regardless of whether the opponent was hit with the blade or not, but getting that close made it harder for Hazel to fight due to the size of her weapon.

As though to prove a point, Hazel swung her blade, trying to push Jaune away. But Jaune angled his shield down and redirected Rugitus Leo into the ground. Having her weapon suddenly partially buried into the ground brought her retreat to a halt. And Jaune viciously capitalized on the opening.

"GOOOOOOO JAUNE!" Nora's cheering was gently silenced by Ren. While it was good of her to support him, the situation really wasn't the right time for such levity.

But Nora wasn't the only one treating the fight with less seriousness than the majority. Junpei whistled lowly as he watched Jaune land several blows on Hazel before she could pry her weapon loose and resume her retreat. "Damn, I haven't seen him fight this hard before." He turned to the tall redhead standing next to him. "Hey Pyrrha, what do you think? Think he could actually beat you if he fought you like this?"

"I… I doubt it," she replied, looking thoroughly dumbfounded at the sight like most of the spectators. "He's fighting better, yes, but his movements are all based on the training he received. I would simply have to use Miló's spear form and he'd be unable to react properly."

"I thought so."

At the unfamiliar voice, Junpei and Pyrrha turned around and came face-to-face – or face-to-neck in Junpei's case – with the muscular form of Gwen. Looking up at her face – and Junpei had to resist the urge to snicker at how out of place her glasses looked on her – he tilted his head in askance.

"That training you put Jaune through," she began, her normal tone surprisingly soft given her size and stature, "It was more than just training him how to fight against a sword-user, wasn't it?" Narrow eyes glanced at Akihiko as well, who she remembered mentioning having overseen the same training for Junpei. "You didn't train Jaune how to fight. You trained his body how to do it for him, didn't you?"

"His body?" echoed the twins, Melanie and Viola, looking up at their literally big sister.

"She means his muscle memory," answered Sable, narrowing her eyes at the fight. "But I don't really see how that kind of training would result in this."

"But what does that mean?" This time the question came from Arianna. This time, everyone literally looked up to face the speaker. The tall girl fidgeted for some reason before speaking. "What did they do?"

"You're actually wrong, Sable," said Gwen, shaking her head. "Muscle memory is just that, memory. Your body becomes familiar with repeated actions and requires less conscious thought to perform after enough time. But muscle memory doesn't tell you when to dodge, when to block, or when something is coming at you from somewhere you can't see. If it was simply muscle memory training, Jaune would have been stumbling around more and reacting only at the last second. Even if his muscles knew the movements, if his mind can't keep up with the fight then the memory is next to useless. But instead, he's actually been reacting at just the right times, though he's sometimes off by a bit because Hazel's weapon is much larger and heavier than the ones he's used to fighting."

"As for what they did," she then said in response to Arianna's question. "They put Jaune through a very harsh and painful form of training. And for someone like him, it would have been downright brutal especially since he only had a few days to prepare," was Gwen's response as she turned to face Akihiko, making the tallest of her siblings worry even more. "Am I right?"

The silver-haired boxer nodded, seeing no reason to keep it hidden now. "Yeah, you're right." Then seeing the questioning look on the twins' faces, as well as Arianna's worried expression, he decided to explain. "If you do something enough times, the muscles in your body will become familiar with the movements, making it easier to perform the more you do it."

"Like when we-"

"-Practiced punches and kicks-"

"-Again and again."

Akihiko nodded at the twins' combined response, not the least bit disturbed by it. "Exactly. That's muscle memory. But just getting your body used to the movements isn't enough. Practicing the forms is different from sparring. And sparring is different from actually fighting. Your body may know how to throw a punch, but while sparring you won't just be throwing punches while standing still."

He gestured to the fight where both fighters were constantly in motion despite attacking and defending furiously. "And even if you've sparred before, an actual fight where there's something at stake, perhaps even your life, has a different feel to it. A lot of the time it's different enough that even the most well-trained person can sometimes forget what they've learned if the pressure gets too much, freezing up at a crucial moment."

"I just have one more question," said Gwen, narrowing her already narrow eyes. "How far did you take it?"

Akihiko didn't hesitate to respond. "As far as we could."

Gwen's fists clenched tightly at that response, but she refrained from doing anything. She could understand why they did it, but that didn't mean she had to be happy. Sable, ever observant, caught the movement. "What does that mean?"

"It means they pushed him to his limit, then pushed him some more, and then probably pushed again until he was a hair away from his breaking point," half-growled the second Arc sibling. "Even if Jaune doesn't consciously learn, his body and his subconscious mind will start to pick up on the lessons on its own. But for this kind of training to succeed, they have to go at Jaune like it's a real fight and not just practice. You could almost say that they have to go at him aiming to kill."

That last word caused several faces to pale, including some who were standing behind Akihiko. "Is… Is that true?"

Akihiko glanced over his shoulder to face Ruby, who had been the one to ask the question, and nodded, not looking the least bit sorry. "That's right."

"But why?" This time, the question came from Blake, who still remembered the sight she witnessed on her way to her Stealth class. "How does beating him into the ground and attacking him while he's down help? I thought the training was to teach his muscle memory."

"When did I ever say that?" Akihiko asked with a scoff and a smug grin. "The only time I actually answered was when Gwendolyn asked if-"

"Just Gwen is fine," interrupted the muscular young woman.

The boxer nodded then repeated his statement. "Was when Gwen asked if her assumption was right."

"But she said before that that you were training Jaune's body, right?"

Again, Akihiko grinned. "Remember what I just said, training his muscles to remember the moves isn't the same as training his whole body. Even if we trained his muscles to remember the moves, it's won't be enough if specific conditions aren't met. For example, even if we teach him how to block a certain attack, it's useless if he doesn't realize the attack is coming in the first place. And even if he sees it coming, muscle memory will only make it easier to perform the move, not necessarily make it easier to react to USE that move. No, I didn't train his muscles. What we trained-"

Gwen cut in at that point, finishing Akihiko's sentence for him. "Was his instinct. Right?"

"Exactly."

A sudden snort caught their attention. "Regardless of what training he's been through, it won't matter." All eyes turned to Scarlett at her declaration. And following her line of sight, they saw Jaune and Hazel's blades deadlocked once more. "Hazel!" Scarlett called out. "Stop holding back!"

A brief expression of hesitation appeared on the youngest sibling's face before she nodded. Her expression hardened and she pushed Jaune away from her.

Knowing he was at a disadvantage at a distance, Jaune closed the distance as quickly as he could. But even as he did, Hazel obeyed her eldest sister's command. She placed both hands on Rugitus Leo's hilt, much to the surprise of the students as they realized she had been fighting the entire time with just one hand.

Realizing the danger, Junpei made to call out to his teammate. "Jaune! Look o-"

But his warning came too late. Hazel had charged towards her brother and swung her blade-rifle with both hands. His shield came up to block the blade, just as he did dozens of times before. This time, however, his defense was useless.

As soon as the blade struck, he was sent flying away a considerable distance, farther than any other time he had been struck. He recovered quickly, angry eyes seeking out his younger sister, only to widen when he found Hazel already mid-swing right in front of him. Again he raised his shield, his movements less sharp as his mind panicked slightly at the sudden increase in speed. And again, he was simply launched off his feet.

This time he recovered faster. And the next time Hazel approached, he was ready. Again, he raised his shield. But this time, he angled it to deflect the blow rather than just blocking it outright. But even so, the sheer power behind the blow sent him stumbling, opening him up to a powerful side kick that, again, lifted him off his feet. Only this time, the force wasn't cushioned by his shield.

Back with the spectators, a loud, urgent beeping was heard from three sources as the kick made contact with Jaune. Pulling out his Scroll, Junpei opened it up and saw the reason for the sound. Beside him, Pyrrha and Chidori did the same. The team's Aura monitor had just alerted them that Jaune's Aura had dropped below 25% as shown by the blinking, partially filled, red bar on the screen, right below the blonde's portrait.

"That's the end then," said Scarlett, noticing the image on Junpei's Scroll. "That's enough Hazel! His Aura's too low to continue," she called out to the girl before she decided to continue her offensive. Then she turned to Junpei. "I'll admit, it was a good try bu-"

"RAAAAAAAAAGHHHHHH!"

She was cut off by a loud yell coming from in front of her. When she turned back, she found Jaune charging straight for the dumbstruck Hazel. But the distance he had to run had been too great, and the youngest sibling managed to dodge the attack.

The unexpected move from Jaune unnerved Hazel, and she glanced back to Scarlett, wondering what to do, before returning her attention to her brother as he attacked once more. She couldn't forget that his Aura had already dropped into the red zone - at least, that was what Scarlett had said - so she was hesitant to attack and remained on the defensive lest she seriously injured her brother by accident.

"Jaune! That's enough!" Scarlett shouted out loud, a stern expression settling on her face. "You've lost. Accept your defeat!"

But Jaune paid no attention to her and continued to attack Hazel, who, in turn, continued to defend herself. And all the while, she sent confused, pleading looks to her family, not knowing how to deal with the current situation.

The eldest sibling growled, angry that her brother was ignoring her and insisting on fighting. She was about to step forward when, again, someone stopped her from interfering. This time, however it was just one person.

"The fight's not over yet." She turned to Junpei just in time to see him pocket his Scroll with an unconcerned look on his face.

"What are you talking about?" she question with a snarl. "His Aura has dropped below the acceptable level. If this continues he could very well get hurt. Moreover, he agreed to return home if he lost the fight."

In response, Junpei snorted and grinned. "Yeah, but all he said was that he'd go back 'if he lost'. Nobody ever said the fight stopped when someone's Aura got too low. As far as I can see, he's still going strong. So that means the fight is still on." Then his grin grew as he saw Jaune break through Hazel's guard, her divided attention and lack of focus allowing him to do so. "Besides. It looks like round two is just beginning."


*SIGH*I really, really have to stop writing scenes that have so many characters on screen. But I just couldn't justify not having everyone else there to witness whether Jaune manages to stay or not. Weiss not attending would be understandable, but everyone else sees him as a friend so it would be out of character for them not to attend. *SIGH x1000*

For some reason this chapter felt longer than usual. Minus the extremely long AN at the start and below, this chapter is just over 24k words. Not my highest word count, but the scenes certainly made me feel like I've written a lot more.

Anyway, I hope everyone's enjoying the ride so far.

Now we've met the entire Arc family. And to anyone who's noticed, yes Jaune's mother is based off Sephiria Arks from the manga/anime Black Cat. I just couldn't resist when I was thinking her up back during the planning period. Her last name is practically the same after all. Her first name fits the color naming scheme (Sephiria sounds close to Sapphire). And she's blonde. Though I did decide to give some of them brown hair just for a bit of variety as well as the twins' dyed hair.

The other members of the family, however, are completely original. And believe me, it was a pain coming up with all of them and trying to make them unique in some way. And that included names, appearances, weapons, AND Semblances. Yes, all of that will be revealed in time but for the most part they will remain minor/supporting characters with scattered appearances in the story, some more than others.

Anyone who's read my other story will undoubtedly notice that Jaune's reason for running away and going to Beacon, or rather the event that pushed him into doing it, is the same here. On that note, I hope I portrayed Jaune realistically enough. True, he's no longer the same as canon Jaune, but I hope this fleshed out his character more by providing his motives for some of his decisions and insecurities while maintaining his core personality.

We've also got the start of the fight to determine Jaune's future as well as a partial explanation into his special training. The fight will conclude next chapter (obviously) along with the final explanation into the training.

I'm sure nobody missed that little Jaune/Pyrrha bonding moment. Though I doubt they'll be taking up Junpei's offer to have the room to themselves anytime soon.

And there's also some development with the Weiss/Aigis situation. And is that little anomaly that Fuuka spotted something they should be worried about? Who knows? Well, I do, of course, but I guess the rest of you will just have to keep guessing or wait it out. XD

The next chapter may take a while since I will be busy with a few things. First, the holidays coming up next week will be keeping me busy both at work and at home with my family, so I won't be doing any writing for most of the next week.

Second, I'll be finishing up on rewriting the existing chapters of my other story and cleaning up the story planning mess I turned it into when I decided to edit the overall plot AFTER I had decided on one and planned it all out already. So yeah, big mess because of an impulsive decision that I now have to fix. Oh well.

Anyway, fairly quick discussion on Volume 4 Episode 1 since I really wanna share what I thought.

POSSIBLE MILD CANON SPOILER WARNING!

I like the reveal of the antagonists as well as a peek into where the Grimm come from (not that we understand how it works). Still, a lot of that actually works out in favor of my own plans for Messiah's Legacy and can easily be incorporated with very little changes on my end but obviously the roles may be different in the long run as will be their motivations and such.

I'm feeling a little sorry for Cinder though I do have to say I like her new hairstyle. I know, she killed Pyrrha, but I'm the kind of person who can never truly hate a character. After all, some of you like that you can hate Weiss at the moment, so it shouldn't be a much of a stretch to like a murderous antagonist who killed one of your favorite characters, right? … Right?

Ren's new design is really pushing him into his Mulan role. Seriously, all that's left is to have him outright dress up as a girl to sneak into some place. I'm pretty certain he could pull it off with a little help to get the right curves, or to hide the lack of them. Not sure if we just saw a hint of his Semblance, I mean, he stopped in mid-air and shot forward in a different direction after all.

Nora's got an upgrade to her weapon, though I'm not exactly sure what the heck that was that propelled her to the trees (Magnhild was trailing smoke the entire time so it definitely wasn't a grenade. Or maybe it was? A highly pressurized smoke grenade maybe? Jetpack hammer?) I'm curious about the electricity running through Magnhild too. In Volume 1, we saw sparks erupt from the back of the Ursa she rode during the Initiation. And yet this time it's mentioned as a new upgrade to Magnhild. Since she can turn electricity into raw power, could she be able to release some of what she absorbed?

Ruby's Semblance seems to have taken on a whole new level. That's way, waaaaaaaaay more rose petals then she used to leave behind to say the least. XD

Not much has changed for Jaune but I do like what they did with his weapons. But… Pumpkin Pete? Bwahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha… hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! As Ruby would say anyway.

But seriously, 50 box tops? I wonder how long it took him to save all that up. Then again, with 7 sisters, even if say… only half of them ate the cereal with him, they'd probably go through at least two boxes a week. More if they snack on it in the middle of the day and not just have it for breakfast.

Though I can't see any proper parent letting their kid eat a lot of that. Even Pyrrha admits it wasn't very healthy.

But hey, at least he has something ELSE to remember Pyrrha by asides from his weapon upgrade. Not that he needs the weapons. He's the strategist after all XD.

The new opening scene also revealed quite a bit more. We've also gotten sneak peeks of where Weiss, Yang, and Blake are. Asides from the butler, we've got another white-haired player on the board, asides from Mr. Schnee of course. Episode 2 revealed his identity but, as I've said above, I'll avoid revealing even hints on that episode since I'm sure a lot of people haven't seen it yet.

Yang seems to be… recovering for lack of better word. And I'm a little surprised by Blake's companion and intrigued by who the other two people she was with could be and also where they're headed and why. Though if the opening was any indication, we actually do know where everyone is. The red light (most likely and obviously representing Ruby) flew towards Mistral. The white light flew north to Atlas. The Yellow light just looped around to land on Patch. The black light headed south-east to Menagerie.

Just speculation, but since Menagerie was where the faunus were confined, I'm guessing that they still maintain a faunus-dominant society there for those who would rather not be around humans and other such kinds of faunus. Given her history and what she did at the end of Volume 3, I'm guessing this is Blake thinking something like 'Let's just run away for good this time.' Or maybe she has friends or family there? The latter is a bit of a stretch but I don't recall her ever mentioning being an orphan so it's possible.

Damn, RT really is a tease. We get answers only to end up with a dozen more questions for every answer we get. Oh well, that just means we won't be bored.

End Volume 4 Ep. 1 spoilers.

Anyway, not much left to say so I'll end it here with the usual.

As always, please don't be shy and feel free to let me know what you think of the story. Good? Bad? Like it? Dislike it? Love it? Despise it? Anything at all, even the strictest of criticisms, is welcome provided it is worded nicely and is not made up of 99% cursing, 1% nonsense, and 0% politeness.