12/16/1998… Outside of the school…
Yang sat down on a bench at the rear of the school during their mutual lunch break, it took a bit for them to brush the snow off the bench and they were the only students braving the biting cold of the winter weather.
Yang, however, was staying quite warm enough from the sheer rage she had been stewing over the entire day, that bastard, that psycho bastard didn't show up at school and she wanted nothing more than to tear him a new asshole.
[I still can't fucking believe that son of a bitch! How are you okay with what happened!] Yang signed rapidly to her sister.
Ruby was finger signing in a slower more deliberate way as her own right wrist was still throbbing in pain from the prior night's events. [He didn't try to hurt me, Yang, if you would just let him-]
[You need to cut him off, He sliced your arm open!] Yang signed back.
Ruby shook her head [No, your crazy I can't cut him off if you would just let me explain…]
[I don't want to hear it, I don't care why he did it! No one hurts my little sister!] Yang Signed out of instinct as she shouted.
Ruby sighed realizing she wouldn't get anywhere with her [Fine just… Promise me you will actually talk to him okay?]
[The only conversation I'm going to have with him is me ramming my fist into his guts!] Yang signed out.
Ruby tossed her arms up in frustration [I give up, do what you want, just don't be you about it for once!] before walking off.
The next day at school she would assault him, setting off a chain of events that would, for better or worse lead to Jaune and her sister to start dating…
Even knowing the full story of what happened she still filed the whole affair as a big red flag in her book.
01/01/1999….
He kept staring at it… The bandage on Ruby's arm.
They were lounging about with Pizza and Drinks at Weiss's house for New Year's eve. The evening was going well, it was mostly just video games and food, nothing to really write home about. But it was a time spent with friends during something that only came once a year. Yang wanted to have a good time but she just couldn't ignore how he wouldn't stop looking at her wrist when she wasn't paying attention.
Yang noticed that when Ruby wasn't paying attention that he would fixate on her injury. "You dumb bastard, you caused that!"
Late in the evening, Yang noticed that Jaune had stepped out into the balcony. Yang was not as deeply sleeping as everyone else thought she was and she watched him go out and just stare out into the distance. He eventually turned and looked off to the side and looked at something to his left.
Yang didn't know what to make of it until he signed something. [I thought I was supposed to stop seeing you?]
Yang narrowed her eyes as she thought "Who is he talking to out there?"
Yang watched on as Jaune seemed to then go back to staring back into space. For a few more minutes, but he would occasionally glance into the corner as if he was trying to ignore… something he was seeing…
Yang closed her eyes as she saw Jaune start to make his way back inside and softly flop back onto his air mattress.
"Another red flag," Yang thought as she tried to get back to sleep…
01/03/1999…
While Jaune was at the hospital with Ruby as he was being put under the knife for a needed shoulder operation, an injury that has hampered him for months now, Yang spent part of the day doing something she very much enjoyed doing with Neptune.
As she rested her bare body against his she took in his warmth and sighed out. But it was a discontented sigh.
"Was I really that bad?" Neptune chuckled.
"Nep, your one of the best parts of my life right now" Yang contently purred out.
"Oh is that why your here and not at the hospital with your sister and her boyfriend?" Neptune asked.
"I still don't like how close she is to that freak…" Yang muttered as she nuzzled against him.
"Yang, he's having surgery for an injury he got protecting your sister, cut the freak some slack okay?" Neptune said
Yang tensed up and Neptune could tell. "Didn't think about that one huh?"
"Okay, fine, you make a good point. I don't think my sister would be here if not for him sure…" Yang said.
"But you don't think he should be dating your sister?" Neptune said.
"Something is seriously fucked up with him.." Yang said as she laid on her back giving Neptune the perfect view of her body.
"Well adjusted people don't try to kill themselves," Neptune said in response and he rolled on his side.
"It's not just that, I haven't told anyone yet, but I'm sure I saw him talking to himself on the balcony Weiss's place when no one was watching him.
"Did you talk to him about it?" Neptune asked.
"Of course not, what would I even say to him about it?" Yang asked.
"Well, I guess 'Are you okay' or, 'Is there anything I can do to help?' would be a good start," Nep said.
"No… I didn't consider that at all, he already has Ms. Fall to talk to, I'm sure he's talking about all this shit with her." Yang said dismissively
"Maybe, but it might help even more if he had a friend to talk to about it. I bet he's keeping a lot of shit to himself right now so he doesn't worry anyone." Neptune said.
"Aw fuck him… Let's enjoy the rest of this day" Yang said. "Besides there's something I wanted to try out."
"Oh is that so?" Neptune chuckled.
"Yeah just relax, I got this," Yang said with a seductive smirk on her face.
The less said about what happened next the better.
04/20/1999… The School halls…
Yang found herself, much like many other people rattled at the idea of a mass shooting at a high school. It seemed it was almost impossible to imagine. She had heard of people bringing guns to school, or a student shooting another student, but genuine mass murder on a school campus was a whole different can of worms that Yang just couldn't wrap her head around.
Up ahead of her she saw Jaune and Ruby signing back and forth, Jaune didn't sign much and mostly listened to her prattle on about how she was horrified at the idea of someone doing something like that at their school.
"Just be happy he doesn't have access to any guns then…" Yang thought to herself. Before she was snapped out of her train of thought when she noticed something.
Jaune rubbed his eyes again as the glazed over slightly. Yang read the change in his body language as he still watched her sign to him. Jaune's body grew tenser and his eyes were noticeably glancing at the scar on her wrist.
"Is he still feeling guilty about that?" Yang wondered to herself before she remembered the night of the party "No… he's having another hallucination of some kind while chatting away with my sister!"
Yang's mind raced. He was so good at hiding them if she didn't piece together what to look for. She had made it a habit to note when he'd have episodes, each time was another red flag in her book. "I should really talk to him about this, convince him to break it off with Ruby until he gets his shit together."
[Jaune… You there?] Ruby signed as she snapped her fingers in front of his face.
[Yeah… sorry] Jaune signed back as he put on what Yang considered to be a fake smile
[Don't forget your antidepressant, it's about time you took your second pill] Ruby signed with a look of mild concern.
Jaune shook his head like he was shaking the cobwebs loose from his head before he pulled a small plastic bag with a pill inside of it and swallowed it dry. After a second he signed [Thanks for reminding me, I almost forgot.]
"That's some bullshit, you never forget, you just wanted her to think you did so she'd feel like she did something!" Yang thought with a look of anger on her face. "You bastard, you're doing this on purpose, you're manipulating her!"
Yang walked up to Ruby and firmly tapped her shoulder signing [let's go, we have errands to run today.] Before she grabbed her and practically dragged her off.
10/25/1999….
"Shit is that Cardin?!" Neptune shouted as he saw a person laid out on the ground on the other side of a broken wooden fence as He and Yang walked towards his place.
Yang's heart skipped a beat as she ran over to him. She covered her mouth when she saw the state that he was in.
Cardin was bleeding from the nose, has a couple scrapes on his face and was completely unconscious. Neptune Kneeled down and tried to wake the unconscious teenager. After a few minutes, he finally started to stir.
"Cardin, hey what happened!" Yang shouted to Cardin as he looked at the pair.
"Got… Jumped…" Cardin said in a daze.
"Who in the hell would Jump Cardin, the guy would have to be insane to think they could win a fight against him," Neptune said to Yang.
"Clearly, whoever did this knew what they were doing," Yang said pointing out the state Cardin was in.
Cardin seemed to come to and grabbed his ribs as he sat up "Fuck…"
"Hey, who the hell did this Cardin?!" Yang asked.
"Yeah we want to go get a few guys to show them why they don't mess with our QB," Neptune said as he punched his fist.
Cardin looked like he was going to say something before he stopped and thought it over. "I.. I didn't know the person who attacked me…"
"What the hell?" Neptune said looking at Yang then back to Neptune "I mean did you see the guys face?"
Cardin shook his head no. Something about the looks on his face rubbed Yang the wrong way. "You're not telling us something are you?" she thought as she tried to read his face.
Neptune looked him over and nodded "Well did this wasn't looking to completely cripple you at least, you're going to be sore but I don't think anything is broken on you."
Cardin nodded as Neptune helped him to his feet before saying "It was probably some asshole from a rival school or something."
Neptune nodded. "Well, either way, we should get you checked out, we can walk you to the clinic okay?"
Cardin groaned as he walked being partially carried by Neptune. Yang got on the other side of Cardin and started helping him walk as well. As they walked and Cardin slowly found his strength Yang found herself thinking "Cardin is clearly holding out on us. Neptune might be taking what he said at face value but I'm not… I don't want to make any accusations here but… I can't think of anyone else who'd have a grudge against him right now."
Yang sighed out and thought "Crap… I need to talk to him…"
10/26/1999...
Yang and Ruby were waiting near the entrance of the school when they both saw him. Jaune walked on to the school grounds with his hoodie tied around his waist, it was unusually warm today but most people carried their coats just in case.
Yang and Ruby stood off to the side watching Jaune intently. Ruby was shocked by the radical change in appearance while Yang was reading his body language.
Once Jaune entered the school after waving hi to someone who greeted him Ruby turned to Yang and signed. [Holy crap did you see that? He died his fucking hair purple!]
[Yeah I did, I was more focused on that Henna tattoo on his arm…] Yang frowned [There's no way his mother approved that.]
Ruby got a thoughtful look on her face for a moment… [That's not like him at all, I should try to talk to him or something.]
[You should sit this one out Ruby] Yang said. [Let me grill him about it before you try to approach him.]
Ruby smirked [You're not exactly the most popular person in our group at the moment, you get that right?]
Yang sighed as she signed [Neither are you, but people will still at least talk to us right?] Yang signed before she snapped her fingers and said [You can go grill so of our mutual friends about it.]
[True, I guess we have that working for us at the moment.] Ruby signed back. [That being said, all of them agreed to keep quiet to us when it came to Jaune.]
[Okay, you work on Penny then, she seems to be the easiest to work, and I'm going to attack this problem head-on.] Yang signed out
[Your going to try to talk to Jaune… I mean where were you last year when I asked you to do that?] Ruby signed out.
[Oh shut it, I'm doing it for my own reasons this time.] Yang signed as the bell went off. [Okay, we'll meet up after school and trade notes okay?]
Ruby nodded and went off to her class…
It just a bit after school that Yang was able to finally track down Jaune. The slippery bastard was enjoying the rare bit of warm weather and was outside reading a book as he sat on a bench just outside of the building.
Yang hesitated at first. But eventually worked up the nerve to talk to him. She walked up to him wearing a face of pure determination and put up her shields and stared at him till he looked up.
The Arrogant bastard took thirty-seven seconds to look, Yang counted.
[You do know that if you take a swing at me on school grounds your going to get expelled right?] Jaune signed with a look of disinterest on his face.
"I recall you getting away with it once…" Yang said trying not to get riled up.
[Yeah well that was because my mom and Alan had just started dating.] Jaune signed back. His body language shifted towards an aggressive posture as he kept signing [So what did I do to piss you off this time?]
"You didn't do anything." Yang said, "I'm just here to talk."
Jaune's eyes took on a hard and determined look as he stared at her "That's not a look I often see him wear too often anymore…" Yang thought before she kept going. "So for full disclosure, I'm doing this for my own sake, because I still feel like your dangerous. But partially because my dumbass of a sister is for some reason still worried about you."
[Oh so I'm some big threat to you is that it?] Jaune signed [Please, I have a sister at home that I have to be an example for, that's tiring work.]
"Did you jump Cardin?" Yang asked.
Jaune silently laughed and said [Oh I would have liked to, believe me, I overheard him talking about how he wanted to fuck your sister for sport to Russell…] Jaune paused [But someone else beat me to it.]
"So you're saying that if you had the chance you would have? Then what were you doing yesterday?" Yang asked.
Jaune smirked and pointed at his hair.
"Right of course…" Yang said as she thought "If that was him, getting his hair dyed would be a convenient cover for his actions."
[Why are you pretending to give a shit anyway? Cardin getting his ass kicked doesn't impact your precious sister one way or the other.] Jaune signed back.
"Bullshit it doesn't, People know Cardin was part of the reason you broke up!" Yang shouted.
[No, actually they don't, I was pretty clear at the time when people asked me why we did Break up. I told them that it was over our growing differences, not because of the fact she was cheating on me.] Jaune signed.
"So what did you gain for lying for her?" Yang demanded to know. "Was it for blackmail, or to lord it over her?"
[Neither, for some reason I still don't want to hurt her.] Jaune signed out before he paused [At least, I don't want to hurt her again.]
Yang felt the tug at her resolve as she pulled up a seat next to him. "Why do I have a hard time believing that," she said.
[Because your a fucking psychopath] Jaune signed before a sly grin crept on his face. [Maybe even a bigger one than you think I am.]
"Yeah, well, I know a lot more than you think I do about you, I saw you getting up in the middle of the night at Weiss's party," Yang said, the look Jaune got on his face spoke volumes. "You know what I'm talking about."
[Yeah, I know what you're talking about.] Signed back. [It's been months since I had an episode like that.]
"Well let's talk about that then psycho boy," Yang said.
[You know I really hope you never lose anyone close to you, otherwise your going to get someone just like you shitting on you over it.] Jaune signed back.
"Is that so?" Yang said
[Yeah, it seems like no matter how much forward progress I make.] Jaune paused [It was never good enough for you.]
Yang clenched her fists "You hurt her… Even if you didn't try… You. Hurt. Her."
Jaune pulled back the collar of his shirt so she could see the long surgical scar on his shoulder that was partially covered by his temporary tattoo before signing. [We didn't get our scars because the other hurt us, Ruby didn't hurt me the night I got hit by the car any more than I hurt her when she stopped me…]
"Oh so what are you trying to tell me, you'd do it again, even though your relationship ended?" Yang said sarcastically.
A fire lit up in his eyes as he signed a single word [Yes.]
Yang found herself stumbling for words, So Jaune kept going [Why are you shocked by this, she was my best friend and my girlfriend. This might come as a shock to you but I did love her.]
Yang grimaced "But not anymore?"
Jaune didn't say anything, he lacked the words.
"So you go out, get your hair dyed, get a tattoo, Why?" Yang demanded
[That's simple enough, I didn't feel like I was in control of my life. So I took control of it.] Jaune signed in response.
"What in the hell does that mean?" Yang asked.
[I let your sister dominate our relationship, I let her push us along at a pace I wasn't ready for.] Jaune signed as the fire in his eyes burned hotter [I bent over backward to keep her happy out of guilt because she got hurt over me.]
"And how far did you and Ruby go?" Yang asked
Jaune refused to answer.
Yang's eyes went wide "Wait... You mean."
Jaune signed [Yes fine, we slept with each other a couple times. Stop being so Naive! We all see the Hickeys you try to cover up.]
"Jesus wept that stupid girl…" Yang sighed out "She would waste something like that on you…"
[Yeah, I don't think she saw it as a "Waste" Yang.] Jaune signed as he gritted his teeth [Also that comment is exactly why I don't go out of my way to talk to you]
"So, then, you and Ruby break up, Throw our whole group into disarray, and you decide to lie over why the two of you broke up." Yang poked Jaune in the chest "Why!?"
Jaune fought back a wave of frustration as he stood up signing [I have places to be.]
"Do you?" Yang said to Jaunes back as he walked away, Yang walked over and grabbed his arm turning him around to look at her.
Jaune was crying…
"Answer the question…" Yang demanded.
[I don't know why I did it!] Jaune signed with one hand [She didn't fucking deserve it, she sure as fuck deserved her reputation ruined for fucking cheating on me.]
Yang's head snapped back "She deserved it? What about you?"
Jaune slapped her causing Yang to lose grip on his hand. By the time she was looking at him, he was balling his hand into a fist in anger, but that anger was not directed at her. [I went too far… sorry.]
Yang didn't expect an apology. As she rubbed her cheek she asked: "What the hell has you so worked up?"
[Because I still don't get it!] Jaune signed angrily [I don't get what the fuck I did wrong!]
Yang stop in her tracks "what?"
[I mean, I did things the way she wanted us to, I went at her pace, I wasn't ready for us to sleep with each other, but I still did it for her!] Jaune signed as his rage built [Why was I not fucking good enough? Do you know?]
Yang Blinked, she rarely saw Jaune vulnerable like this, this was a side of him he only reserved for Ruby… She's heard about this side of him but never saw it.
Now that she saw it… It was another red flag…
"I'm sorry, I don't know…" Yang said, surprised that she felt the need to apologize.
Jaune wiped his eyes off in frustration signing out without making eye contact. [If you're wondering why I didn't come back to the table when everyone else did. This is why I can't return until I know what I did to deserve her cheating on me.]
Yang went silent as all the times she found herself saying how the relationship collapsing was "What he deserved" raced through her head. She remembered her saying that very line got her slapped by Blake a few days ago.
[You don't know either? Then what fucking good are you right now then.] Jaune turned his back and started walking home.
Yang for the first time since the Drama between her sister and Jaune asked her self "What did he do to deserve being cheated on?"
As she turned to walk back to where she was very much late to meet up with her sister. She thought it over "He's insane, he hallucinates visions of his dead ex. He sliced her arm open trying to kill himself!" Yang thought as she tried to find her determination. "There's so much broken in him I don't even know how he's not locked up in a mental hospital"
Yang stopped for a second as a thought crossed her mind. "I encouraged her to consider a relationship with Cardin. I wanted her to get away from Jaune." Yang stopped for a second as she realized something. "My god… I was trying to help her but all I did was help drive a wedge between her and Jaune."
Yang started to tear up just as she came upon Ruby sitting alone waiting for yang. Yang shook her head and found a new sense of determination in her thoughts "The break up hurt Ruby badly, she has been obsessing over him since then… If I really want to help her… then I need to ignore the red flags and help her find a way to win him back."
A smile crept across her face as she walked to her sister to discuss what they learned.
So we have our first fated confrontation between Jaune and Yang, one as you an see has been brewing for well over 30 chapters. It was important for me to go back and reframe a few key scenes from Yang's perspective so we can all see the mindset she would be in, to see the red flags she saw in Jaune as the story progressed. I kinda felt like that as the youngest sibling, I didn't really have the best mindset for Yang until "Dragon lord Syed 101" pointed it out to me.
I'm curious to see how you all take this scene, but I also recognize that Halo Reach is dropping on PC today (I'm watching the download bar for it on steam as we speak) So I can see it being a slow day.
Before I talk about the reviews, I have to say i'm shocked no one called me out for having a 16 year old Jaune fool around with a, roughly mid to late twenties Neo, but I digress. Also, sorry if this isn't the "People react to Jaune" chapter y'all might be expecting, that one is coming next.
Johnkilla100: I'm glad your enjoying the story so far, it's been real fun to write for me as well!
Gustrubio: I semi agree with this statement, Jaune clearly needed to break out of his shell, and last chapter did that, I don't plan on it to be a recurring encounter, Neo was clear it was a one day only fling at best, but this was a kick in the ass for him as you put it.
Calamk: Yeah it'll be interesting where Jaune's course leads him and what lines, if any he chooses to cross to get there.
typhonyx: You do have the habit of writing out reviews that tend to force me to look at what i'm writing from different angles, I never will say if I agree with you fully or not. I'm not going to say if what Jaune did was morally good or bad thing, but it was good thing psychologically for him. Also I'm not a fan of the magic reset button, if he ever ends up back with Ruby, or if he ends up with someone else, I plan on those changes to stick, a large part of the story was revolving around his mental recovery and even if he stumbles from time to time, he's a far cry from the teenager that tried to stab himself earlier in the story.
In Any rate, thanks to everyone once again for reading, and I hope you all have a great rest of the day, and remember Reach!
