A/N: Are y'all ready for a fight scene next chapter? It'll be wild. For now, though, have some angsty Pyrrha and potato-like Jaune.

Laws of Attraction

The following Friday was an odd one.

Although combat practice generally took up the majority of their Friday afternoons, this day, Professor Goodwitch had cancelled it entirely with a minimal explanation. "There are meetings to be had between the headmasters of our great Huntsmen Academies for the Vytal Festival preparations," she had said primly through the PA system on campus that morning while they were finishing up their breakfasts. "You'll be free from your last two classes. Enjoy your weekend, students."

That had left an unusually free afternoon for the entirety of the student body, allowing everyone to excitedly make plans. Pyrrha couldn't help but laugh when Nora insisted that they run a scavenger hunt out of the blue- "For what prizes? What are we looking for?" Ren kept insisting, but the orange-haired girl simply cheered, "Who cares?" in response every time, and the usually calm boy was slowly losing his mind.

Team RWBY was up to something, too. Ruby and Yang seemed to be bouncing in their seats, biting their lips in anticipation for something Pyrrha couldn't even begin to imagine. When the redhead asked about it, the younger just smiled mischievously, the older girl grinning wickedly outright. Neither of them would explain what was going on, though. Even Blake, who had been looking more and more haggard over the last month, appeared more alive than ever. Her eyes flashed with a stark determination that Pyrrha had never seen in the quiet Faunus, and for once, the girl's dark circles and pale skin had disappeared. She looked well-rested, and oddly enough, ready for a fight.

Weiss, who was usually the epitome of the focused student in their lectures, was unusually checked out that day. As Professor Port rambled on and on about yet another story from his youth as an up-and-coming Huntsman, the pale, icy girl's eyes simply glazed over, staring into the distance. She didn't even try to sit near Neptune for once, nor did she comment when Jaune sidled into the seat next to her.

Of course, the one who was acting the strangest of them all was Jaune.

He had awoken first that morning out of all of them, which was entirely out of character for the blond. Pyrrha had caught him frantically looking up show times for the Vale Cinema on his Scroll multiple times throughout that morning, biting his lip anxiously as if the listings would suddenly change on him if he didn't check and re-check them over and over again. And, of course, he left his usual place beside the redhead during class in favour of sitting next to a certain heiress. The pale-haired girl didn't even give him a snide remark regarding his presence, either.

It was all very bizarre.

As the afternoon bell was about to ring, signalling their newfound freedom for the rest of the day, Pyrrha's attention was drawn to the two sitting in front of her. Jaune, who looked halfway to a heart attack, leaned over to Weiss. "So, Weiss, y'know, uh," he began, trying to get his words out as smoothly as possible – he was failing miserably, Pyrrha noticed wryly – "I-I was thinking after this, maybe we could go grab a bite to eat?" The blond turned back to look at Professor Port, who was still lecturing his heart out, then continued, "And, uh, um, I-I've got two tickets to that new Spruce Willis movie, if you wanna make the trip to Vale. I hear it's awesome."

A strange numbness began to spread in Pyrrha's chest while she watched, wide-eyed in shock, as Jaune added, "And maybe after that, we could study together? I mean, you're smart and I'm, uh... Y'know."

But… don't we always spar after class on Fridays? Pyrrha thought to herself, bewildered. Her brain was running in circles, trying to process what was going on in front of her.

Wait. Is he asking Weiss out... on a date?

The bell finally rang, a sigh of relief erupting from the class as all the students began to pack up their belongings. Professor Port sighed, breaking out of his animated stance and wrapping up his story dejectedly while everyone began to file out of the room.

When Weiss didn't respond, Jaune meekly asked, "Weiss? Did you hear me?"

Without even breaking stride, Weiss said, "No, no, no, yes," and walked past the boy towards the exit.

Jaune groaned and pressed his forehead against his table. The rest of Team RWBY, who had been seated on the other side of Weiss, walked behind him towards the exit after the pale girl. They all cast sympathetic glances at the blond, Yang even pausing to ruffle his hair, murmuring, "One day."

"Weiss, wait up!" a familiar voice called. Pyrrha could only watch blankly as Jaune's head perked up, the blond's eyes instantly drawn to the blue-haired, dashing young man who jogged smoothly after Weiss. And, to Jaune's horror, the girl responded, turning around and sparing the Mistralian boy a sweet smile.

It suddenly all clicked in Pyrrha's head. How did I not see it earlier? she fumed silently, packing up her own notebook and Scroll slowly. Jaune doesn't like Neptune… because he flirts with Weiss, and Weiss flirts with him back.

There was only one logical conclusion. The redhead could only clench her fist in response, the words booming through her mind.

Jaune has feelings for Weiss.

All of his weird behaviour made sense to her now- the frustration over being ignored by her, his rejection of Sun and Neptune, his constant attempts to curry favours with the girl. Even his improved study habits had only really come about after Weiss had mocked his first-term results, since she was sitting comfortably near the top of their class.

As her mind raced with the newfound understanding of the situation, Jaune spun around in his chair. Childishly, he whined, "Pyrrha, you like Spruce Willis, right? Why did Weiss say no?"

Her mouth was dry. She swallowed thickly, finding her voice at last. "Well… there's always other girls to ask, since she said no," the girl replied weakly.

Jaune rolled his eyes, turning to glare darkly at Neptune, who was now waving goodbye to the girl as Weiss left with the rest of her team. "Why does she talk to Neptune?" he moaned tiredly, running his fingers through his hair. "She would kill me if I flirted with her like that. Actually, no- she wouldn't even acknowledge I existed." He hung his head low, shoulders slumped. "She barely does that anyways."

Pyrrha bit her lip, trying to hold back the million things that wanted to spill forth. Why do you like her? She's cruel to you, Jaune! She doesn't treat you with any respect! What is so special about her?

But, in her heart, she knew what was special about Weiss Schnee- who was she kidding? Despite her attitude, the pale girl was beautiful in the most traditional way- she was petite, lithe and graceful, elegant and poised. Everything about her exuded the confidence of the young heiress she was born to be, and every step she took with her head held high and her long, silvery-white hair flowing behind her marked her as a woman to be reckoned with.

Hell, she even wore puffy dresses during combat, and she made it look good.

Pyrrha looked down at herself, suddenly feeling a flush cover her cheeks, shame rising like bile in her throat. Her hands, lying limply in her lap, were large, callused- anything but ladylike. Her legs were muscled, the definition of her toned body showing through her tights, looking almost silly sticking out from underneath her uniform's skirt. Her biceps and broad shoulders strained lightly against the fabric of her blazer. She wasn't petite. She was tall, and muscled, and intimidating-

After weeks of pretended it wasn't there, of feeling almost okay, the black box rumbled in her chest, and it horrified her.

She's so much prettier than me.

A sudden yelp brought Pyrrha out of her dazed thoughts. Looking up at the blond, she had to blink a few times to take in what was going on. Nora, looking more peeved that Pyrrha had ever seen her, was holding up her bag menacingly in front of a cowering Jaune. She was poised to land another blow with her bag held tight.

"Ugh," the orange-haired girl fumed loudly, "Jaune, you're the worst, you know that?"

"Wait, what-" the blond protested, but Nora ignored him. Instead, she grabbed the redhead's hand, tugging insistently. Reluctantly, Pyrrha followed her towards the door, feeling more than a little helpless.

"Nora, what are you-" she attempted, but the other girl huffed angrily.

"C'mon Pyrrha, we're going to hang out with Ren instead!" Her normally cheery face was scrunched up in annoyance. The boy perked up at hearing his name, and didn't question as Nora grabbed his hand with her free one and dragged them both out of the lecture hall, leaving a confused Jaune behind.

The trio found themselves in the dining hall, the area fairly empty. It was only just past four o'clock, after all- no one had shown up for dinner, since most of the students had gone to spend their afternoon of freedom in Vale or around the campus.

Nora leaned forward on her elbows, resting her chin in her hands. "Ignore him," she murmured comfortingly to Pyrrha. "He's dumb. Boys are dumb. He'll change his mind."

Pyrrha didn't respond, simply spooning another bite of the pudding Nora had brought her into her mouth as her friend continued to murmur words of encouragement. Ren, who clearly had no idea what was going on, simply nodded along with Nora's words; his eyes were locked onto a large book laid out before him, though, so it was obvious that he wasn't paying any attention to the girls anymore.

A tap on her shoulder caught her attention. Immediately, she thought that it would be Jaune, here to mope with the rest of the team- or maybe it would be Team RWBY, coming by to finally tell them what had them all so excited that day.

To her surprise, the figure standing behind her was neither RWBY, nor JNPR's hapless leader. Professor Ozpin took a sip from his cup, peering down at the trio through his glasses inquisitively. "Mister Ren. Miss Valkyrie. Miss Nikos," he acknowledged one by one.

"Professor Ozpin!" Pyrrha cried, startled. "Um, what brings you here?"

The man smiled amiably at the group. "Actually, I was hoping to have a few words with you, Miss Nikos," he explained.

Nora frowned. "Is something happening?"

"Nothing to worry about," assuaged the man kindly.

Pyrrha frowned slightly, her mind running back through what had happened over the last few weeks. Nothing of note had occurred- not that she could think of, at least. What did the headmaster want with her this time?

"I'll return you to your team shortly," the professor insisted when he saw her hesitation. "Just a few minutes of your time, if you please."

She glanced back at Nora and Ren, both of whom were wearing the same expression of confused concern. "Alright, sir," she murmured slowly, standing up.

The man nodded in appreciation, and without another word, led her out of the dining hall and into a small office near the visitor's reception area.

"Please, Miss Nikos, have a seat," said the quiet man, gesturing towards the lone table in the small room. There were two chairs on either side of it, so Pyrrha obediently slid into the closest one. Professor Ozpin stalked around the table, sipping on his coffee tiredly.

With the singular light shining directly upon her chair, the redhead couldn't help but feel as if this was an interrogation.

"Sir, is something going on?" she asked warily, sitting up straight in the hard-backed seat.

The man's face was troubled. "I just have a few questions for you, Miss Nikos." He placed his coffee cup upon the table as he slid into the opposing seat, lacing his fingers together. "Are you aware of the incident which took place upon the docks last month?"

"Um… vaguely, sir," she replied.

"Were you involved in any way?"

"No!" she cried, startled by the question- by the possible insinuation. "No, sir, I wasn't." Her mind flashed back to her team hunting for Blake that day, searching through Beacon for the girl on behalf of Ruby.

Professor Ozpin picked up on that hesitation. "But you did know something was going on," he commented dryly.

Pyrrha clasped her hands together on her lap, fiddling with her skirt absentmindedly. After a moment, she admitted, "Ruby called us- JNPR, I mean. They were trying to find Blake- she went missing."

"This was… during the incident?" he asked, quirking a brow.

She shook her head. "The days leading up to the incident," she clarified. "They found her during the incident- Blake had figured out what was going on, I think. I'm still not too sure on the details, since they didn't want to get us involved."

He nodded sagely, taking in this new information. Slowly, his eyes narrowed. "Miss Belladonna went missing right before a large-scale White Fang operation on the docks," the man reiterated slowly. "Do you realize what you are saying, Miss Nikos?"

The girl felt the colour drain from her face. No. That's not what I meant, she thought to herself, heart quickly picking up speed in her chest, the ramifications of her careless words flashing before her eyes-

"What did you mean, then?" he added, the reply making her jump.

She bit her tongue, cursing herself for saying her thoughts aloud. She closed her eyes, breathing deep, in, out, 1, 2-

Her mask was back in place. "Blake was not involved in the attack. She fought against the White Fang. That is what Team RWBY told us, and I trust them. JNPR trusts them."

Professor Ozpin studied her eyes for a moment before letting out a heavy sigh. He sank back into his chair, picking up the coffee mug once more, examining his reflection in the black liquid within.

Pyrrha sat upon the edge of her seat tersely, holding her breath.

Finally, Professor Ozpin asked, "Is your dream still the same, Miss Nikos?"

That was not what she had been expecting. "Pardon me, Professor?"

"Do you still wish to become a Huntress, more than anything?" His eyes were still locked upon the cup in his hands.

She closed her eyes, her usual dream playing out quickly behind her eyelids; fighting Grimm, protecting the weak, being welcomed back by her team. "Of course, sir." Wasn't that what she had always wanted, after all?

"Your studies are going well?" he asked again, the same impassive tone upon his lips.

"…Yes sir."

The man finally tore his gaze away from his coffee, a gentle, somewhat wistful smile on his face. It looked incredibly out of place after the tense conversation which had just occurred. "Keep at it, Miss Nikos- Pyrrha. Trust your friends, for they are your staunchest allies. If you do that- if you keep this up- you'll make a fine Huntress."

And with that, he stood and walked out of the room, leaving Pyrrha shell-shocked in the office on her own. Her thoughts were a mess, questions filling her mind faster than she would ever be able to find answers for. Nothing in that conversation had made any sense to the girl.

It was indeed a weird Friday.