A/N: Here's the weekly update! Not exactly Monday, but I got caught up with some stuff at the hospital yesterday, so it took longer than expected.

Also- KH3 is coming out next week. I've been waiting for this for so, so long. So, there may be weeks where instead of LoA I'll be posting KH3 oneshots. Please be patient! (Or join me in those fics, that would be amazing :D)

Don't forget to leave reviews/message me your thoughts! There's so many of you reading along, and I'd love to hear from you all.

Laws of Attraction

She brought her arm down in a strike, and he raised his shield deftly to block. She swung backhand towards his exposed right side, but his blade was ready to parry. She grinned, spinning away in a light dodge in return to his own attack, and lunged through the opening in his defenses.

He didn't block, didn't react, didn't register the potentially fatal blow.

She stopped herself short, breathing steady and blade a scant inch from his exposed neck. "And you missed the final block. That's disappointing."

Jaune pouted, relaxing his stance as he stepped away from Miló's still-extended edge. He wiped his brow, shoulders heaving, catching his breath from the rigorous training manoeuvres. "Well, I still did pretty good, right?" he insisted, but there was a disappointed, faraway look in his eyes.

Pyrrha folded her blade, willing the metal form to her back as she approached him. A smile adorned her lips. "I suppose you did, Jaune," agreed Pyrrha amiably. "You've improved a lot. Soon, you'll probably be able to use this same feint, too! Just remember that it's always easiest to strike when your opponent is still preoccupied with your previous attack. Don't ever hesitate."

The blond hummed in response, but didn't continue the conversation otherwise. He slouched over upon the edge of the rooftop, removing his breastplate wearily. Sweat had soaked through his hoodie underneath, beads running down his temple with every laboured breath. He was exhausted.

Pyrrha propped her hands upon her hips, but she couldn't help but smile softly at the blond's figure, broad shoulders silhouetted against the gentle evening glow. Meandering over to him, she readjusted her circlet and took a seat, letting her legs hang over the edge of the dormitory rooftop.

Her fear of the location seemed like nothing but a far-off memory.

"Yeah, let's call it here for the night," she murmured, bumping her shoulder into his.

He didn't respond.

It had been a few weeks since the new term had commenced, and their training had begun anew- and already, her charge had improved immensely. The rate of his growth was almost astounding. The boy had thrown himself into his studying thus far in the term, almost to the point where it concerned Pyrrha. She wasn't upset by his newfound fervour for his academics- far from it, it was incredible to see him taking actual notes with her and Ren in the library each day- but it was still a little confusing. Plus, his footwork was becoming better and better each day.

Once, she even caught him practicing different stances using one of her training videos when he thought he would be alone in JNPR's room. She had left before he noticed her presence, but the flush on her cheeks hadn't died down for hours afterward. Nora had never laughed as hard, teased her as much, as that evening.

And yet, despite all of this new enthusiasm, Jaune seemed farther away from her than ever. They spent the majority of their days together, after all, but every single time she tried to talk to him he seemed distracted.

"Jaune, is something on your mind?" asked the girl, nudging him with her shoulder again gently.

As if suddenly coming back to reality, Jaune jumped with a start. "Oh, Pyrrha! Yeah, of course, I'm cool with- wait, what were we talking about?"

She rolled her eyes. "Jaune, what's going on? You seem troubled."

The blush which flooded his cheeks was not from the exertion of their training, and did not help his case as he stuttered nervously, "N-no, nothing! Nothing's on my mind, why ever would you think that?"

She crossed her arms, raising a disbelief brow. "Well, you've barely been able to focus tonight." Jaune looked away guiltily. She couldn't help but let out a defeated sigh. With a careful hand, she placed her hand on top of his. He looked up at her in surprise, only to meet her kind gaze. "You're doing great, Jaune. I'm so proud of you. And… You know you can talk to me about anything, right?" she murmured tenderly. "We're… we're partners, after all."

Jaune's tense expression melted away, cheer restored. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Pyrrha."

But his eyes were still troubled, and Pyrrha had no choice but to put the matter away.

Over the weeks that they had been back in classes, the exchange students had assimilated with Beacon fairly seamlessly. In Pyrrha's life, this meant the immediate inclusion of SSSN, Sun's team, into their friend circle- the energetic blond Faunus was actually a riot. When paired up with Ruby and Yang, Sun's antics were always entertaining. Neptune, despite being womanizing to a fault, had also become more tolerable over time. After realizing that there was no way to win over Pyrrha's heart like the numerous other fangirls he quickly accumulated in Beacon's halls, he had mellowed out, and Pyrrha had had more than one comfortable, easygoing conversation with him.

The other two members of Team SSSN, Scarlet and Sage, were much more aloof. They had other friends in their own circles from Haven Academy, and thus didn't spend as much time with Team RWBY and JNPR as Sun and Neptune did. When they had first met Pyrrha, the two of them had both instantly begun to flirt with her, claiming it a 'once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to get with a real celebrity' but Sun had instantly scolded them. Ever since then, both Sage and Scarlet had been amiable and sweet without overstepping their bounds, and she had grown to like them.

While Jaune wasn't a huge fan of the four boys in general (for reasons Pyrrha just couldn't fathom, considering how kind they were to him, too) Pyrrha really enjoyed their company. Blake was just looking worse and worse over time, but Sun always was able to bring a smile to her face. Neptune had also managed to make Weiss open up a bit more, and for that the redhead couldn't help but respect the boy.

Three weeks into the new term, Sun and Neptune finally joined them for their weekly noodle hunt in downtown Vale. The two boys were already waiting at the airship dock for the regular eight members of their crew, all cheery smiles and waves on the chilly Sunday evening. "The gang's finally all here. This is awesome!" Yang cheerfully commented, placing her hands on her hips. Nora chorused her agreement, saluting Sun and Neptune playfully.

Unlike the rest of the students, Ruby's smile held a hint of sadness as they piled onto the airship, scanning their Scrolls for entry. Pyrrha nudged her with her elbow, murmuring, "Hey, what's wrong?" as they settled into an empty corner of the first floor.

"We're all here," the younger said, "and that's awesome, but to be honest, I kind of wish Penny could be here."

"Oh yeah," Weiss said. "I totally forgot about that weird girl." She harrumphed and continued filing her nails, as she often did when bored.

"Weird girl?" Nora giggled, perking up. "Ooh, who's that? What's the story?"

The rest of JNPR zeroed in on the conversation, instantly becoming an attentive audience.

"She's this girl we met that day…" mumbled Ruby, "…the day we went to the docks. She helped us fight."

"She was really bizarre," Yang murmured. "Like… really weird. She had no idea what was going on."

"Didn't we, like, bump into her and she fell? And she just stayed down on the ground and stared at us when we met her for the first time?" commented Weiss, rolling her eyes. "We had to tell her explicitly to stand up. She just didn't think it was weird."

"Well, yes… But she was still really nice!" Ruby protested. "Like, really, really nice. We're friends, y'know?"

The image of a vague figure speaking to the girls from the street floor brought out a small chuckle from Pyrrha. "I can't really imagine someone just lying there," she said dryly.

Ruby sighed, insisting, "Okay, she's weird, I get it." She pouted, crossing her arms petulantly. "Doesn't change the fact that I haven't seen her since the fight, and it's kind of worrying."

"I'm sure she's fine, Ruby," said Pyrrha. "She fought alongside everyone, right? That must mean that she's pretty strong. You'll see her soon."

The younger girl paused, then flashed her a wide smile. "I hope so!" she laughed. "She said she's here for the tournament, so hopefully we'll see her around campus sometime!"

"Oh, she's going to be in the tournament?" Nora chirped. "We'll definitely see her, then." The orange-haired girl jumped on her seat, posing with one fist held high up in the air proudly. "We'll make it to the Vytal Festival Tournament for sure!"

They all cheered to that, and the group dissolved into smaller conversations again.

"She sounds nice," Pyrrha added to Ruby quietly. "I can't wait to meet her."

"I'll introduce you two," Ruby reassured her warmly before turning back to Yang to continue on their conversation from before they had entered the ship.

Suddenly, a group of standing figures caught Pyrrha's attention from the aisle. Turning to face them, she shared a polite smile with the person who stepped out towards them. "May we help you?" she asked.

The girl nodded warmly, her pale green bob swaying with action, contrasting flatteringly with her darker skin. With a husky voice, she replied, "Yes please. We're heading out to Vale for dinner- we're sick of the mess hall food. You all look like you go to Beacon- do you have any recommendations?"

Ruby perked up from her conversation with Yang as she spotted the newcomers. "Oh, you're the exchange students from Haven, right?" she called happily. "Nice to see you again!"

"Oh, you're from the dorms!" the girl replied easily. Looking over the rest of the group, she smiled. "I'm Emerald, by the way. It's nice to meet you!"

The two figures standing behind her stepped on either side of her now, sharing friendly smiles with the group. A handsome boy with ashen hair waved coolly. "I'm Mercury," he said. "What's good?"

"And I'm Cinder," the third figure, a quiet, refined girl, murmured quietly, glancing over the group. She smoothed her hair over her shoulder, the curls retaining their shape as they trailed over a slim shoulder.

Despite the approachable introduction, as her eyes travelled over the two and a half teams, they retained a feeling of coldness. At least, they did until they hit Pyrrha.

The redhead barely contained the gasp which threatened to jump out of her throat as she saw piercing yellow glaring at her. Cinder's golden eyes flashed menacingly, the smile on her lips nothing like the expression her gaze conveyed.

What is going on? Who is she? She gulped. …Why was she glaring at me the other day?

Because these were the eyes, the eyes that refused to stop following her from the shadows as the group had walked towards the dormitory weeks earlier. These were the eyes that had sent chills down her spine, made her heart jump into her mouth and her stomach drop to the floor.

A brief glance at the other two proved that they were looking at her with a similar disdain in their eyes.

Completely oblivious to this exchange, Ruby and Yang rattled off a few good eateries the group had visited in the past. Satisfied, Emerald shifted her attention brightly back to Ruby. She was all smiles as she said, "Thanks! We'll check them out."

"See you around," Mercury said airily, waving with two fingers as the trio turned to walk away. Cinder waved amicably towards them, her eyes suddenly soft and welcoming as she looked over the rest of the crowd.

With the exchange student trio gone, everyone continued their previous conversations from where they had left off. Everyone but Sun, that is. Nora had gotten into a silly argument with Neptune, and while a few of them were watching in mild interest, Sun simply sat there and crossed his arms, confusion troubling his brow. "I don't like this."

Although she had been fairly quiet throughout this entire adventure thus far, Blake was the first one to pick up on it, gently murmuring, "Sun, what's the matter?"

The blond bit his lip, watching the trio wander down the aisle away from them. "Nothing, it's just- I don't remember them from Haven."

"Me neither, man," Neptune added as Nora continued on her tirade. Unlike Sun, he was still relaxed, unperturbed. "I'm sure they're just transfers or something. It's no big deal."

But Sun's expression remained dark, and Pyrrha's thumping heart couldn't help but agree with his unease. A pit of worry began to sink into her stomach, and her entire body felt cold, yet blazingly warm at the same time. Something was wrong here. There was something sinister in the way that entire interaction had played out, and although she didn't know exactly what was going on, she knew that she didn't want to run into those three again.

Although they had been polite and full of smiles, their eyes had been dangerous.

Maybe I'm just paranoid? Maybe I'm just reading into this too much?

Those eyes had been even more malicious than those she had faced in the past during tournaments, when fighting frustrated opponents. Those eyes had been angry, terrifyingly detached, and calculating.

Emerald, Mercury, and… Cinder.

"They look tough," Jaune commented nervously. "I hope we don't fight them."

Yang waved her hand leisurely, completely self-assured. "Relax! We'd figure out a way to win, even against them. I'm sure we would!"

Pyrrha didn't respond. Those eyes had been sizing her up for a fight. She didn't like it.