A/N: Well, it had been a while because real life happens, right? Anyways, usual disclaimers and special thanks to Furaiz.


His muscles screamed, his throat burned and parched, and all sorts of places that he didn't know he had were throbbing in pain. Jaune Arc fell to his knees as he kept both hands on his sword just to make sure that he didn't lie face down on the ground. It was his first time, training solo in a training facility provided by Beacon. Fighting drones was a lot harder than he thought, every time he would slash at a drone, it would zip away out of his range and every time he attempted to use his shield to block an attack it would somehow weave around it and zap at him, painfully he would add.

He pushed himself off the ground as the drones began to beep and whizz around, with a cry he charged at the first drone, slashing downwards and to his surprise, he cleanly sliced through the drone. Before he could celebrate, something crashed into his stomach, sending him tumbling to the ground once again. His body jerked uncontrollably, drool spilt out of his mouth while he gagged in pain.

"AURA AT LOW LEVELS, TERMINATING SESSION," a cool feminine robotic voice announced and the drones shook momentarily before retreating out of the arena into various compartments hidden within the walls.

The screen attached to one of the walls displayed simple words, 'KILL SCORE: 3' and Jaune stared at the screen for a few more seconds with his mouth ajar before hanging his head, only the sound of his breathing filled his ears as he blinked several times in hopes that his eyes were playing tricks on him. Jaune replayed his session over his head, heat building up in his chest and he slammed in fist into the ground, ignoring the dull throbbing pain that came after.

"C'MON!" his frustrated cry echoed through the chamber, the heat slowly subsiding as he stood up, wanting to hit the showers and head to bed.

"Umm… Jaune?"

Jaune whipped his head and noticed a pair of green eyes filled with worry, Pyrrha entered the chamber and the door slid closed behind her.

"Pyrrha!?" Jaune couldn't help but hang his head once again, if she was here, then she'd definitely saw his pathetic display in the training room and mumbled something unintelligible.

Pyrrha cocked her head to the side and asked, "I'm sorry?"

"You saw, didn't you?" Jaune inquired a little louder, but his eyes were still focused towards the floor.

"I…" Pyrrha paused, then straightened her shoulders, "Yes… I have…" Jaune's shoulders slumped, but Pyrrha wasn't done as she smiled, hoping to ease her troubled partner, "You know, I can help you with your training."

Jaune opened his mouth, only to close it once more and after what she saw, there was no way he could be defensive about it. As far as he was concerned, he was done, his partner saw him for the fraud he was.

Pyrrha frowned as she watched Jaune turn his head left and then right before he finally glanced up and asked, "Why are you here?"

"... You seemed troubled and well… I thought you'd like someone to talk to-"

"You thought wrong!" Jaune bit out, a little too forcefully and Pyrrha almost jumped back from the outburst. The blonde boy sighed and turned away, "Sorry… just… a little frustrated, you didn't deserve that…"

Pyrrha sadly smiled, she wasn't a mind reader and she wouldn't know exactly why Jaune was acting this way. However, she was observant and she knew that ever since they had listened to Touma's story on his mission, Jaune seemed more subdued than ever, even more so than when Cardin would push him around.

"It-It's alright," Pyrrha replied, but Jaune didn't seem to hear her.

"Ahh… what's the point? I'm not cut out for this, why am I even here?" Jaune asked as he turned to her.

"You are!" Pyrrha blurted out, "You were accepted into Beacon!"

Jaune's eyes met Pyrrha's, and it was filled with guilt, "I… didn't get accepted to Beacon… not legitimately. I… used fake transcripts and everything… what was I thinking?" he muttered more to himself than to Pyrrha. "I mean look at Touma! He doesn't even have an unlocked aura and he took down two huntsmen! Two! One of them, unarmed!" He held up his fingers as he breathed heavily, "I can't even finish the first round of drones…"

"What?" more questions popped into Pyrrha's head as Jaune's confession rang through her ears.

"I… I just wanted to be more than… this!" Jaune gestured to himself, his face twisted in disgust, "My dad… my grandfather… they were all warriors, heroes! And Touma managed to save a whole bunch of children against criminals and huntsmen, that's a hero!" a bitter smile graced Jaune's face as he fell on his knees, his muscles finally giving out as he muttered, "Me? I'm a failure… a fraud…"

"Then let me help-"

"No!" Jaune shot out, as if he suddenly gained new vigour, "I don't want your pity or your help. I need… no, I have to do this by myself! Everyone else got here on their own, and if I can't do it, what point is there for me to be here!? Just… leave… I need to be alone..."

Pyrrha froze as she began to realise how everything was crashing down, she saw the fury and frustration blazoned in Jaune's eyes, but most of all, shame. His refusal had placed a pang in her heart, but she couldn't give up now, she knew this kind of mindset was extremely destructive.

"Jaune-"

"Please…" Jaune utterance of a single word held nothing but exhaustion as he bowed his head, almost looking as if he was begging Pyrrha to leave.

"...If… if that's what you think is best," Pyrrha murmured and her footsteps rang out through the chamber, slowly fading into nothing as Jaune remained in his position.

He did it, he admitted the secret he had sworn to carry to his grave to his partner. He didn't know what Pyrrha might be thinking, and he didn't want to know it either. On top of that, the way he talked to Pyrrha was uncalled for, he knew she only tried to help but his own damned ego refused him to accept her olive branch. So what was going to happen? Was he going to get kicked out of Beacon? Was he going to head back home in disgrace? He gulped at the idea of facing his parents, his sisters, but what could he do now?

He grabbed Crocea Mors shield and stared at the emblem, before sighing and picking up the sword, then slowly dragged himself out of the training room. He couldn't go back to the dorm room, he didn't want to face Pyrrha after that encounter. Deciding that he would rather walk around the campus to clear his head, he spent several minutes, breathing in the cool air as he trudged through the halls and grounds.

"Ah! Mr Arc, would you mind helping me out please?!" Jaune looked up to see Professor Port at the foot of a staircase. Beside him was a wooden box, the size of a large dog sitting on a trolley. Jaune sighed briefly but, straightened his shoulders and sharpened his face. He sprinted towards the professor and the two of them heaved the box up the stairs from the trolley.

After what felt like some of the longest minutes of Jaune's life, they were wiping their brow with the box finally on the trolley at the top of the stairs. "Ah, thank you! Nowadays my body doesn't move like it used to!" Professor Port remarked with a chuckle and then his face quickly dropped the jovial attitude, "My! Mr Arc, you look terrible! Is something the matter?"

"I…" Jaune almost answered with the question coming out of nowhere and he quickly clamped his mouth shut.

"Mr Arc, you seemed troubled… What seems to be the problem?" Professor Port asked again.

"...It's nothing… just stuff… you know… exams… and all," Jaune replied but he turned away, refusing to look at the elderly man.

"Nonsense! My primary job may be to instil knowledge to the young huntsmen of the future, but it is also my duty to ensure help to all students with any problems so that they can reach their full potential," Professor Port replied with a wag of his finger in a haughty manner, "Now, why don't you follow me to the Staff Room? It should be empty by this time, I'll treat you to some hot chocolate!"

"But-"

"No buts, Mr Arc! Consider it as thanks for helping me with this task!" Professor Port said and despite his age, the man pushed the trolley with gusto with Jaune just staring at him before deciding that he might as well follow. It wasn't like he was eager to go back to his dorm room anyways.

As they entered the Staff Room, Jaune had to admit that he was a little disappointed at what was inside it. He expected extravagant decorations, trophies and all that, but instead were a couple of couches, a coffee table and a small kitchenette with a fridge, even the walls were as dull as the furniture. On Professor Port's invitation, he sat down on the couch and soon enough, the older man handed him a mug while holding one for himself. Warmth spread throughout Jaune's hands as he smelled the sweet aroma of the beverage in his hands, as he sipped, he almost recoiled at the bitterness of the drink. Maybe hot chocolate making was not exactly the Professor's forte.

"Now… what is troubling you, Mr Arc?" Professor Port asked as he sat down and leaned over his knees.

"I…" Jaune closed his mouth once again as second thoughts ran through his head, was there any point in telling a professor about what he was facing? He might as well, he already blurted out his secret, but at the same time, he felt like he shouldn't say everything. While he had only known Pyrrha for a few weeks, he had doubted that Pyrrha was the type to rat him out, after all, she seemed to always have his back, even when he didn't want it.

"I… I'm just frustrated… I blew up on my partner and well…" Jaune left it hanging in the air as he set the mug on the table.

"Ah… Ms Nikos?" Jaune nodded glumly and the brow creased on Professor Port's head, "Is she impeding on your performance? We do have a system to change partners-"

"No! No!" Jaune yelped, waving his hands. The older man's eyebrow was raised in surprise but gestured for Jaune to continue, "It's just that… well, I… I'm struggling in classes, especially combat and I get that she wanted to help me and all. But, I… I don't want the help, I needed to do this myself. I just… I just took it out on her." Jaune's head fell to his hands, his fingers gripping his hair.

"Ah… Well, Mr Arc, I won't comment on your… questionable reactions to Ms Nikos," Professor Port replied after a sip from his mug. Jaune flinched, but said nothing, allowing the older man to continue, "But, you aren't the first student who has gone through something such as this, and you certainly won't be the last!

"Young man, there is a common misconception that huntsmen are beings above the rest," the elderly man said, and Jaune had a feeling that he would wind up into another one of those stories the professor had always liked to tell during class, "But, we are no different than our fellow person! Even the greatest huntsmen had only reached their fame and their prowess with help. Ah yes… that includes myself, the headmaster… even your father as well, Mr Arc."

"My… My father?"

"Yes indeed! Every huntsman must start somewhere and they need help, it's why this very institution was established!" Professor Port proclaimed proudly as he rubbed his chin, "The professors here have sworn an oath to help the young upstarts like you become the finest huntsmen they can be. Partnerships, teams, all of this was to foster the growth for future generations!

"Mr Arc, my advice to you is to not push help away when sincerely offered. In my experience, the best huntsmen, including myself, of course, had often reached the high highs with the help of their peers," Professor Port declared with a wag of his finger as he thrust his chest out with pride.

Jaune stared at Port, unsure if he was inspired or convinced, but to know that his father probably had help during his time rang through his head, "I… I guess…"

"Good, now I'm sure you have a lot of thinking to do Mr Arc, and unfortunately I have much work to do," Professor Port chuckled at his own 'joke', though Jaune didn't find the humour, his lips twitched upwards, ever so slightly.

"Yeah… I guess you're right," Jaune stood up and with a scratch of his head, he muttered, "Thanks."

"Ahah, it is no trouble, Mr Arc, it is my duty to look after students, have a good afternoon," the educator said, with that Jaune nodded and left the Staff Room to wander with his thoughts.

Perhaps he should've accepted the help from Pyrrha when he had the chance, if his father got help then maybe it was alright for him to get help. Hell, now that he thought about it, Touma probably got help as well, but at the same time, Jaune wasn't sure if he would want to go back to the dorm room. The way he had talked to his partner was out of line, he knew that even before he talked to Professor Port, and guilt gripped at his chest even tighter as he tried to figure out what he could do.


Glynda Goodwitch, in Touma's opinion, was perhaps one of the scariest individuals to exist in Beacon Academy. While not a direct participant of combat classes, he had seen how easily she commanded the students' respect, even from the rowdiest of students like Cardin Winchester or Yang Xiao-Long. On top of that, the one on one classes were something Touma dreaded most as he would have to drag himself from the amphitheatre to the dorm rooms in a ragged state.

When he first got notice to meet her the moment he was allowed to leave the Infirmary had him wished that the 'Project Revolution' subjects had injured him a little more seriously. Now, he had been standing before the entrance to her office for the past several minutes. Mustering every ounce of resolve he could, he raised his hand and knocked on the door.

"Enter." Touma did as he was commanded and saw the professor busily typing on her terminal, she glanced briefly at Touma before returning to her work, "Take a seat, Touma, we have a few things to discuss."

Touma nodded and sank into one of the two vacant chairs at Goodwitch's desk, he listened to her tapping away on the keyboard for several minutes as he glanced around the purple-walled room. There were a couple of wooden bookshelves, framed pictures and even a small coffee bar, all neat and orderly like a complete puzzle. Even the smell was fresh that he felt a little more energetic in a sense, more alert.

"Okay…" Goodwitch finally turned to him, adjusting her glasses, "Touma, I would first like to congratulate on your first successful mission. From what the headmaster has told me, you have performed remarkably well in his opinion." Goodwitch's face wasn't smiling, it was completely neutral and the way her green eyes seemed to survey Touma was unnerving.

"However, the result of your recklessness is as clear as day," Goodwitch continued as her eyes looked pointedly at Touma's cast, "And even then, you have not managed to fully implement the training of your style. So we will have to change your supplementary lessons, hopefully, that should deal with any problems you may have in the future. I'd rather you not get yourself injured again, in the future."

Touma nodded, slowly swallowing a lump as he tried to fathom what kind of hell Goodwitch is constructing for his supplementary lessons, "Yeah… sorry about that…"

The professor's eyes flashed as she replied, "Touma, there is a fine line between recklessness and boldness. You should understand that while you are willing to risk your life for the greater good, your friends and colleagues… including myself, may not appreciate that mindset. I understand that there are times where you don't have a choice, but it should never be your first course of action. Sorry, is not enough, it is your actions that are more important, understand?"

Touma bowed his head down, a little ashamed as if he felt he had disappointed the teacher who spent a lot of time making sure he would survive in a fight. However, if he had to do that mission all over again, he wouldn't change his options at all, it was what he believed was right, but at the same time, he couldn't ignore what Goodwitch was pointing out.

"That's why I've decided that I will have you spar with a number of students in a specialised ruleset in order to prepare you for your future missions," Glynda announced, and Touma released a breath he didn't know he had.

"Oh… and, who might these students be?" Touma asked.

Goodwitch tilted her head downwards, very slightly and Touma leaned back in his chair, somehow, the way her eyes hovered over her glasses made her far more intimidating than ever, "That… will not be revealed until your cast is removed, however, I assure you that they are certainly some of the most promising students of their year. Which comes to our second topic, your weapon."

Touma flinched, it was still a sore spot on how it got so easily destroyed by a couple of kicks, albeit from a super aura enhanced being. "Yeah… I-"

Glynda raised her hand, effectively silencing Touma, "Ms Rose has talked to me about this issue and volunteered to construct you a new weapon, is this true?"

"W-well…" Touma could not read what seemed to be going through the professor's mind and he felt that if he didn't answer correctly, he'd be stuck in detention or worse, "She did. She offered to help… It was kind of hard to refuse her."

"I see," the professor turned to her terminal once again and tapped on it a few times, "As this was a Beacon sanctioned mission, the Headmaster has agreed to cover the cost of the construction of your weapon…"

"R-really? Thanks!" Touma said in slight shock. Weapons were incredibly expensive, in fact, materials alone, was already enough to make his father whimper when he saw the costs of his previous weapon. He honestly had no idea how he would be able to fund the reconstruction of his weapon, but with Beacon backing him up, it wiped away some of the worries he had.

"But! ...Only for the required materials. How you compensate Ms Rose is entirely your responsibility," Goodwitch continued, her glasses glinting off from the light above, however, for a split second, Touma could've sworn that she smiled, or was the lights playing tricks on him? He deflated a little, but he couldn't deny that was a reasonable arrangement. After all, he had planned to pay Ruby back should she finish constructing his weapon, how, he wasn't sure and he had a feeling that the young girl would not be interested in any Lien.

Goodwitch then opened her drawer and fished out a white scroll, placing it in front of Touma, "I was also made aware that your… previous scroll had been destroyed in the mission," Goodwitch said, "Though I don't know the circumstances to why or how your scroll was destroyed, you are responsible for your belongings. Especially a scroll which can contain sensitive information. Do not lose or destroy it again." Touma nodded and slowly grabbed the scroll as his combat instructor watched him like an owl.

"Next… I would like you to sign up for an elective class, though classes have already started, I will personally help you catch up," Goodwitch continued as she typed into her keyboard.

"Class?" Touma had already dreaded the idea of picking up an elective class, the core classes were already intense and jam-packed into his schedule.

Goodwitch nodded, "I believe it would be of great benefit to you and open up a whole new way of improving your capabilities. Though you did not escape injury, your capability of defeating two huntsmen in unfavourable circumstances was certainly a noteworthy accomplishment," she stated, but Touma could see her lips twitch ever so slightly as her eyes flashed in approval, "I have confidence that you will succeed in this class and learn very valuable tools that you can implement in the future."

Touma dumbly nodded, even if Goodwitch wasn't intimidating or had the ability to toss him around like a ragdoll without a sweat, her confidence in him gave him pause, he didn't want to let her down by failing whatever class she had in mind for him.

Goodwitch adjusted her glasses and glanced at the screen, "Now, regarding your missions, Motoharu had just sent me a message saying that he would not be able to supervise you for the next few months. However, you are still expected to prepare yourself should Winter Schnee have one for you. That should be all," Touma nodded and with a murmur of thanks, he stood up, only for Goodwitch to make one last parting statement, "Oh and Touma? …Welcome back."

Touma inwardly smiled and replied, "Thanks, Professor. I'll see you later."

"Good, I'll see you in class, Touma," Goodwitch then returned to her screen while Touma exited the room, thoughts running through his head as he wondered what would be in store for him in the next few days.


Ruby never considered herself a studious girl, she always preferred the taking action side of things. Whether it be inventing new team strategies and tactics, trying out a new weapon mod or even experimenting new dust mixtures, she had always preferred and even paid more attention to these kinds of activities. However, there was one exception to the rule and despite the fact that she was writing another droll essay about an Ursa Major, she had another work she wanted to carry out.

"And that's the critical part about Ursa Major, it is more heavily armoured thus requires certain precise attacks in order to kill it," Weiss lectured and Ruby had to resist the urge to roll her eyes. Aren't Grimm all the same? Just slash and shoot at the right spot until it dies, it worked for her so far and all the Ursa Grimm she fought, fell to that method.

Then again, it wasn't like she could write a three-page essay on an Ursa apart from that it was a Grimm that looks like a bear and that it would die to slashing, stabbing and shooting at the right spot. Weiss had a special talent for finding out a way to write a long essay about one simple Grimm.

"That should be it, with my lecture, you should be easily getting an A minus without a fuss," Weiss declared as she snapped her book shut with a small smile. Again, Ruby almost rolled her eyes but she had to admit that Weiss deserved being at the top of the class academically and finishing the essay as fast as possible was definitely a bonus in addition to a passing mark.

"Finally!" Yang exclaimed as she kicked off the desk and began leaning back on the two back legs of the chair, "You're a lifesaver, Weiss."

"Hmph, if you paid attention to class, you wouldn't be having this problem…" Weiss retorted with her arms folded, "But… you're welcome."

Ruby, however, was a little more interested in her own personal task as she closed her notebook for Grimm Studies and opened another one. On the notebook were several records of various weapons that she had encountered at Beacon so far which included names, capabilities and various other details she had meticulously recorded. This time, it was a blueprint of a weapon she had promised to build to Touma. It had been a few days since he left the infirmary, but Ruby had yet to finish the first draft, even after borrowing his original blueprints for his weapon.

She had to admit, despite the archaic design, she could appreciate the use of the launching mods and use of non-lethal projectiles. Still, she had a lot of things to consider such as materials, cost and functionality, but most importantly was the ability to protect the user. When Touma narrated his adventure, she was admittedly taken in how awesome it was, but at the same time, she had almost forgotten how he injured he was and that his weapon broke. She scribbled more details onto her plans eventually tunnelling on her task as she couldn't hear the rest of her team in their dorm room.

"Ruby? I can't believe I'm saying this, but you need to take a break as well," Weiss stated, but she was impressed at how 'studious' Ruby seemed to be. Usually, it would be the opposite when Ruby asked when they could take a break instead. "Ruby? Ruby?"

"Rubes?" Yang's chair fell to its default position with a dull thud, a little intrigued to see her sister in a focused state. Even Blake peeked over her novel at the state of affairs as they watched their leader hunched over her notebook, scribbling and murmuring to herself. Realising that Ruby was completely in her own world, Yang stood up and yanked the book, quickly earning a 'hey!' from her sister. "Huh… Retterhand Mk Two-Woah!" Yang's hand grasped thin air as her sister snatched the book back.

"Yang! I'm still working on it!" Ruby exclaimed as she hugged the book to her chest.

"Now that you mention it, Touma's weapon broke last weekend didn't it?" Weiss asked, "Isn't he going to repair it?"

Ruby shook her head, "The frame is all messed up, with the repair costs, he might as well build a new one."

Weiss frowned, while admittedly she wasn't the biggest expert in weapons engineering, it's a general rule of thumb that repairing would be less expensive than buying or making a new weapon, "That doesn't make sense, then he'd just-"

Yang placed a hand on Weiss's shoulder shaking her head, "Better stop you there, Weissamus Maximus. I know Rubes isn't the smartest out there," Yang quickly earned a pointed glare from her sister, "But when it comes to anything about weapons… ANYTHING at all, she's got it down to pat."

Weiss folded her arms as she glanced at Yang and then at Ruby. She couldn't deny that Ruby was certainly a weapon fanatic, she even managed to get down every feature of Myrtenaster with a simple examination, but even then Weiss just couldn't believe it.

"She certainly knows her stuff," Blake inputted before she turned her attention to her novel, "I remember her cataloguing every weapon during combat class, even figured out what my Gambol Shroud could do after looking at it."

"See! Even Rubes got Blake's Seal of Approval when it comes to this stuff," Yang exclaimed and much to Weiss's exasperation, Blake held up a peace sign in acknowledgement. "Huh, you still don't believe me? Ok, Weissakins," Yang declared as she held out her hand to Ruby, "Rubes, your book, let's prove it here and now!"

"No! It's not ready! I won't show it to you!" Ruby shook her head as she turned away from the others and Yang just held her hand out there, her face froze, clearly not expecting the outcome that just happened.

"... You just got rejected by your sister," Blake commented casually as she flipped a page in her novel.

"Is… is she in her rebellious phase?" Yang asked, her eyes widened with fear only to earn the eye rolls of the two more stoic members of the team.

"Aren't you a 'rebel' of sorts?" Weiss muttered.

"Well… yeah but… Rubes, c'mon! I just wanted to show off your stuff!" Yang pleaded, clapping her hands together, but Ruby just stared blankly at her.

"Yang… I perfected the puppy face… it doesn't work on me, so the answer… is still 'no'" Ruby stated in a way that would make Blake proud, and indeed she had as the Faunus girl just stared at her with raised eyebrows, impressed.

Just like that, Yang's whole figure was drained of colour and she slumped onto the table, defeated and out of spirit because her very own sister rejected her outright. Blake poked at her partner before shrugging and turning back to her novel while Weiss shook her head at the antics of her team, "While I doubt your claim, Yang… you have my interest in Ruby's… plan for Touma's weapon."

"Wait… you are?" Yang perked up as if she had never suffered Ruby's rejection.

"Of course I am," Weiss responded with a huff, "Touma is under Winter's tutelage, I expect him to be best equipped for any lesson she will provide and that he'll challenge dangers with an actual weapon at the very least. Anyways, Winter had taught me much, each lesson as difficult as it can be. So… I'll be expecting a finished draft, okay, Ruby?"

"Okay! I'm going to show it to Touma anyways," Ruby answered brightly as she continued working on the blueprint. Yang's jaw dropped as she pointed at Weiss, then at Ruby, since when had they been the best of friends?

"Give it up, you lost," Blake said from behind her book and Yang's face was etched with betrayal as she stared at her partner who continued to flip another page without a care in the world.

Yang hung her head and slowly got up from her chair, she staggered exaggeratedly towards the door as she declared, "I'm… I'm just gonna take a walk…"

Weiss called up as she opened her scroll, "Fine, but be back within twenty minutes, we still have to finish up the report."

Yang flinched as if she got shot in the back, but decided not to retort as she left the room to clear her head. She wandered the dorms aimlessly, not minding who or what was in the way as she trudged passed dispirited. Perhaps, she had known deep in her heart that there would be a time when Ruby would have that kind of behaviour as she grew up, after all, her sister was fifteen years old.

"Oi! Watch out!" Before Yang could even react she felt her head bump into something and boxes scattered around her with a crash. A frustrated sigh and comment about misfortunes reached her ears and as she looked up, she saw Touma looking a little exasperated as he bent down to pick up the boxes.

"Ah! My bad, Touma," Yang apologised with a sheepish grin as she picked up a box, hopefully, she didn't break anything inside, "Here, lemme help… Sheesh, what's in there? Porn mags?"

Touma almost dropped the box and with a furious blush, he replied, "What!? No! No! Of course not!" Touma then dashed as fast he could to his room, leaving Yang to shake her head with a chuckle and followed him with a box in her arms. At least there was still someone easy enough to tease.

As they entered, Yang's mouth dropped, the room just as big as RWBY's room, yet it was filled with a single bed, desk and even a small blue couch. All this room for just one person and Yang would be lying if she said that she wasn't jealous, but then again, Touma was flying solo at Beacon.

"Thanks… Would you like a drink or something?" Touma asked as he placed the box down and Yang followed suit.

"Nah… I'm good, though carrying those boxes up there by yourself…" Yang said as she nodded to Touma's injured arm, "You know you could just ask us for help, right?"

"Ahaha… yeah… I guess, didn't want to trouble you guys," Touma replied a humourless laugh.

"Hey, it's no problem, seriously, you don't want to get… boxed in, right?" Yang asked as she wriggled her eyebrows. Touma rolled his eyes, his mouth curving upwards but quickly attempted to hide it as Ruby's warning about reacting to Yang's jokes echoed in his head. "Oho! You found it funny, didn'cha!?" If Touma honestly, didn't think it was funny, but he had to admit that Yang always seemed to be a sunny kind of person and he admired that part of her.

As Touma shrugged, Yang smirked and said, "Whatever, I'll take the win, anyways, there's something more important here."

Touma raised an eyebrow, almost a little afraid to ask as he saw the glimmer in the girl's eyes, "Important?"

"Yeah! I mean, look at this!" Yang gestured her hands around Touma's room as she walked in deeper before flopping onto his bed with a content sigh.

"Umm…"

"This space! I mean, have you seen our room? JNPR's room?" Yang asked and Touma made an 'oh' of realisation, "We should use this as a hangout spot, think about it! Just a couple of bean bags, one of those classy jukeboxes and voila! Hang-out spot, established!"

"You do realise I sleep here, right?" Touma asked deadpanned, Yang stared at him as she had an odd sense of deja vu. Did Blake teach him the ways of speaking in that kind of manner?

Shaking her head, she replied, "Eh, no big deal, bed's are decently comfy and besides," her lips stretched into a teasing grin, "Imagine if all the girls sitting on your bed, it would be the dream, wouldn't it?"

Touma's eyes wandered to his bed as he imagined the very attractive girls of RWBY sitting on his bed before he furiously shook his head with his cheeks tinged pink, "No! I'd still have to clean up everything and-"

"Ah, don't worry about that! We'll clean up, besides, this space could use a bit of spice!" Yang's persuasion was slowly creeping into Touma's head, and she knew it as her grin started to widen even further.

He looked around once more, he honestly didn't mind the company and he did have a lot of space. After several seconds of contemplation, Touma sighed and muttered, "I guess so."

"Great! So, let's check what's inside those boxes, there might be something useful here…" Yang declared as she jumped up and headed to the boxes before Touma could even realise what was going on. As she ripped the first box open, her excitement died down with confusion before sparkles started to appear in her eyes and her lips curving into a smile, "Now what do we have here? Touma, you didn't tell me that you could cook!" She fished out a two plate portable stove and placed it on the desk, inspecting it carefully before nodding with satisfaction.

"Well, my mom taught me and since I was living alone, kinda had to in the first place anyway…" Touma replied with a scratch of his head.

"Huh… is that so?" Yang muttered with mild interest, "So… you wouldn't mind cooking… say… for me?"

Touma watched Yang waggled her eyebrows teasingly and he honestly didn't mind it. His cousin had always preached about cooking for a girl was the best thing you could do for them, even though it was her way of getting him to cook her dinner every once in a while, "Sure… I don't mind cooking for you or anyone else.

Yang snorted good-naturedly at Touma's response, it was a little sweet of him to be cool with cooking for her, but his last few words were a little humorous if anything, but maybe she could use this for her team later.

"Mhmm, well since you can't because of your arm, we can just get Ren to do it," Yang said dismissively, "So, hanging here eating something edible instead of the cafeteria, sounds like a pretty good idea," Yang spun and clapped on Touma's shoulder with a wink, "Touma, you'll love it. I'll tell my team and Jaune's, we'll figure out the deets later, see ya!" With that the blonde girl strode off with a wave, leaving Touma standing there, taken aback at what had just happened.

He didn't think bad of his friends, in fact, he was fond of them and enjoyed spending time with them, and perhaps, it would be an opportunity to find a way to pay Ruby back for her help.


If one had to point out which duo at Beacon was the most polarising, many students would point to Nora Valkyrie and Lie Ren. The number of similarities the two had would be an immense struggle for anyone to list simply because of how difficult it was to find such similarity. To the surprise of many, they got along very well and even pull of high grades in classes that require partnerships, having hit the top of the class, much to Weiss's ire.

For Lie Ren, he was calm, collected and at most, he rarely spoke and would rather keep to himself. His partner, on the other hand, was far more interested in talking with many students across the campus and seemed to never tire. In fact, the only time they ever saw Nora lose in a combat spar was when she was knocked out of bounds.

"Woo! Finally! Reeen! Can we go to Touma's room now? You can use his stuff to make pancakes!" Nora asked as she stretched at her desk.

"Nora, we have been invited to visit Touma's room next week, I don't think he'll appreciate us invading his space," Ren replied as he focussed on his own work. It had been crunch time for him for the past hour and he'd rather finish it correctly.

"I know… I can't wait!" Nora exclaimed as she rested her head on her palm, sure it was only a day or two since she had her last pancake at Vale, but Ren's was out of this world, in her humble opinion.

Ren grunted in acknowledgement and the room only held nothing but the scratching of his pen on his book. It was a common occurrence that something like this would happen, but neither one minded, Nora would be very liberal with her breaks while Ren soldiered on with his work. Sometimes they would be joined by the rest of the team and would even conduct a 'team exercise' by playing video games on their scrolls.

Suddenly, the door swished open and Pyrrha strode in, flopping onto her bed face-down before Nora or Ren could even react.

"Uhh.. Pyrrha… you okay?" Nora asked as she craned her head to take a look at her teammate.

Pyrrha stirred slowly to a sitting position and while her normally sharp green eyes were dulled, her lips set in a thin line and even her hair looked a little frazzled. She sighed and her eyes moved to the Nora, "Just exhausted… that's all."

Nora and Ren glanced at each other, it was clear as day that it was more than 'just exhausted' because this wasn't the first time they've seen Pyrrha entering their room looking a little haggard. While she was considered a prodigy, a level above the rest, she was still a person and today had proved it so.

"Is it… about Jaune?" Nora asked and Pyrrha flinched, answering the question without a word.

The two of them weren't oblivious to how disconnected their teammates were, Pyrrha seemed to avoid Jaune while their leader just seemed to disappear whenever his partner was around.

"...I… Jaune is just doing what he thinks is best," Pyrrha replied as her eyes darted away from the two of them. Diplomatic, just like she had always been, but troubled like they've never seen her before.

It was no secret to anyone, even someone as dense as a certain unfortunate boy that the red-haired girl had a lot of affection for their leader. Her reply had them a little worried that something had definitely happened between them and they could feel it every time Jaune and Pyrrha were in the same room, the atmosphere would be suffocating all the time. Even Nora found it hard to strike up a conversation and she was the type of person that could easily slide into any of it without much of an issue.

"... Alright, Renny! It's time to talk to our fearless and stupid leader!" Nora declared as she stood up with fire in her eyes.

"No! It isn't his fault!" Pyrrha blurted out before she clamped her mouth.

"Uhh.. then what happened?" Nora asked with a tilt of her head as she faltered in her readiness to charge at their absent leader.

"We… we ended up arguing and Jaune… he needed some time," Pyrrha answered as she hung her head.

"...It's not like Jaune to argue, he always struck me as someone who was willing to compromise," Ren commented with a frown.

"Yeah, I mean, Jaune is like a soft sweet cake, he's a nice guy," Nora agreed with a fervent nod.

"He's just frustrated and… I didn't make it better. I tried to help, but…" Pyrrha bowed her head as her voice died down, but Ren and Nora both nodded sagely, as if they understood where she was coming from.

"I'm sure he'll come out of his funk! I mean, look at Ren and I! We've had our fights but we're closer than ever, right, Ren?" Nora asked with a large smile.

Ren's lips twitched upwards while Pyrrha looked up, a little surprised, "I've… never seen you two fight…"

"It happens," Ren admitted, "But, we only had each other at the time."

"Well, duh… I mean, Ren and I knew each other way back. We had our fights here and there and…" Nora then poked her fingers together, lightly blushing, but Ren's attention was towards Pyrrha as he nodded at his partner's explanation, "He'd always come back, you know?" She then brightened and puffed her chest out, "Model partner, that's what he is, cuz we're not together together, but… we're always together!"

Pyrrha's laughter escaped from her lips as she realised how much she missed this kind of feeling. It was why she loved her team, it just felt like she was one of them, not some unreachable being that was worshipped everywhere she walked. At the same time, she could see how Ren and Nora seemed to mesh so well together despite being polar opposites in almost every single way.

"I think, Jaune will eventually figure out what he needs," Ren stated, "... He had asked me how you were-"

"He has?" Pyrrha asked in surprise, she hadn't expected Jaune to even consider her at all since that outburst. Guilt welled up a little inside her as she realised how low she thought of Jaune.

"He has, I think whatever he had said to you has been on his mind. How and when he approaches you, I'm not sure, but I'm positive he will when he is ready," Ren assured with a very small smile.

Pyrrha sighed in relief as a load had just disappeared from her shoulders, she knew she wasn't at fault for the current situation, but she couldn't help but feel that she had a hand in it.

"Thank goodness for that! I woulda had to break… convince him to apologize to you!" Nora declared as she quickly stopped herself from punching a fist to her palm to a more subdued gesture.

"You were going to 'break him in' weren't you?" Ren asked dully only for Nora to laugh stiffly in response.

Nora cleared her throat and sat next to Pyrrha, her hand clasping onto Pyrrha's, "Anyways, if you need any help, just talk to us, kay? I mean… we're family and all, it's one of the reasons why Ren and I came here."

Pyrrha noticed Ren nodding to Nora's statement and for them to consider her part of a family, she didn't know why, but it felt warm. Nora seemed like an energetic sister while Ren had this cool brotherly kind of look, and even though she had only known them for almost a month, the way they interacted with her was just warm, none of this fake-feeling admiration that plagued her for years.

"...Thank you, Nora… Ren," Pyrrha quietly said and Nora's grin lit up before she wrapped her arms around the red-haired girl and squeezed lightly.

"No, problem… oh, that reminds me," Ren said as he stood up and moved to the bed adjacent to Pyrrha's and sat down, "Yang is trying to organise a get-together at Touma's room. According to her, he has a lot of space that's unused."

Nora gasped, her mouth stretched to wide grin as if she had a major epiphany and suggested, "Pyrrha, maybe that can be where you guys make up!"

"I…" Pyrrha stopped herself, if she had to be honest, she would love to talk to Jaune without the awkwardness and all, just be themselves like they were before that day in the training room. At the same time, she knew the ball was on Jaune's court to make-up and from what Ren told her, it may be a possibility that he would soon.

"C'mon Pyrrha, don't worry!" Nora said with a bright smile, "If he doesn't by the time we are in Touma's room doing cool stuff, then I'll force… encourage him to do it!"

Ren stared at Pyrrha while silently praying for his leader to make up with Pyrrha, because he knew how overboard Nora could get and he would be lying if he wasn't worried about Jaune or his physical wellbeing as a result of Nora's 'encouragement'.

"Thank you, everyone," Pyrrha's eyes shone through a clearer green, as she found hope in that Jaune will break out of the rut he is in.


A/N: Ah... Slice of Life. It's actually a lot harder writing it than I thought.