Takes place around the time of Jaunedice.

Jaune was lost on what to do.

He strolled through Vale alone, sulking in the loneliness of his own design, crafted by his own stupid mistakes. The morning sun glistened in the sky, and the people around him remained oblivious to his own internal struggles and despair.

Good.

It would spare them from seeing how pathetic he was.

Dammit...

What was he supposed to do?

Last night, on a lonely rooftop at Beacon, he confessed to Pyrrha his ugly truth:

He had faked his way into Beacon.

And now, because of his own stupid mistakes and fears, he pushed his partner away when it was clear that she only wanted to help him with his own problems, and he hadn't wanted her to do that because if he couldn't figure out his own crap then how the hell was he supposed to help others with theirs, and now Cardin had him by the balls because of his own stupid decisions and-

Dammit, stop it. stop ranting. Ranting about it won't do any good.

…

This would be better if there was someone he knew that he could talk to about this crap.

But there wasn't any. He couldn't burden his team with his own problems anymore than they already had, he didn't have any friends outside of his own team, he couldn't try to talk Cardin down from this because it was obvious that he'd only use that as incentive to press on with whatever plans he had, he couldn't turn to any other teams (Especially not Team FSBY, gods know what those guys and their creepy leader would do), he couldn't call his family because that would be admitting defeat and tantamount to giving up on his dreams, he definitely couldn't talk to the teachers about this, he just...

He had no one to talk to about this.

And now, here he was in Vale, wandering around aimlessly without a single goal in his mind, trying to think of something- Anything!- To try and get out of this damned mess.

…

Maybe he really should just pack up and head back home. It was what a failure like him deserved.

He winced at himself, and rounded a corner, still trying to come up with something and-

{CRASH}

"Ow!"

-Accidently ran into someone.

This was his life...

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Jaune went as he quickly bounced up and waved his hands frantically before, "I mean- I know that I should've been looking ahead of myself, but I wasn't, and- Oh, crap!" he held out a hand to the person he had knocked over, and went, "Here. Let me help you up."

"Thanks", a cute feminine voice answered back, and Jaune felt them take his hand as he pulled them up, revealing the person he had knocked over to be a girl that looked to be about 1 or 2 years younger than him, but definitely shorter than him by a head and shoulder, at least, with glistening silver eyes, messy black hair that faded into a red gradient at the tips, and was dressed in red jumper with a fur hoodie, a grey shirt, blue jeans, and had a necklace with a ruby red rose emblem in it, "I'm sorry too, I should've been paying attention myself."

"No no, it's my fault, I mean-"

"Hey, I wasn't saying that it wasn't your fault, I'm just saying that it was my fault as well."

"...Oh."

"Yep."

The mysterious girl looked Jaune up and down with a raised eyebrow, before looking to the side, where a café just opened up, and then looked to Jaune with a smirk and said, "You want to know how you can pay me back for it?"

"Huh?"

"You want to know how you can pay me back for it?" she repeated after dusting herself off.

"Er… Sure?"

She pointed a thumb to the café, and went, "Café. Slushies. You pay."

"...Seriously?"

"Yes, because you seem like the chivalrous type, and I'm going to exploit that in order to get free stuff."

"...Fine."

"Yay, slushies!" the girl went as she grabbed Jaune's arm, and began to pull him along, before pausing, and then looking at him and saying, "I'm Ruby, by the way."

Jaune blinked, and then sighed and smiled, "I'm Jaune. Jaune Arc."

"..."

"...What?"

"Just strawberry?"

Ruby pouted from her seat at the table as she took a long, exaggerated sip from her purely red slushy- Not even from the straw, just... Just downing it- And then threw it back onto the table, burped, and then said, "Just strawberry. No other flavours. Other flavours are for the weak."

"..."

"Ow, ow, brain freeze!" Ruby went as she clutched her head in pain, "Brain freeze! It's the worst kind of freeze!"

"Yep, I know", Jaune couldn't help but chuckle as he also took a long sip from his multicoloured and multiflavoured slushy- Through his straw, of course, because he wasn't that mad- And then went, "It hits you like a freight train, it does."

Ruby glared cutely at him, "Oh, you think this is funny?"

"A little bit, sorry."

"Yeah, well 'Sorry' isn't going to cut it, mister!" she pouted, before pointing at him in an exaggerated manner and going, "For I now sentence you to Super Brain Freeze Hell!"

"'Super brain freeze' what- Ow, ow ow ow!" Jaune went, for it was now his time to clutch his head in pain as he went, "Augh, brain freeze! Is that your semblance? Being able to give brain freezes to people?"

"Hah, I wish. If I had that power, I would just be doing it to everyone that I didn't like."

"Well, I hope that I'm not on that list."

"Don't worry, you bought me slushies. That automatically gets you onto my favourite people list."

"Huh, is there anyone that you don't like?"

Ruby paused, tapped her chin in deep thought, and then shrugged, "I'll let you know when I think of someone."

Jaune did properly laugh this time, and then followed it up with, "You remind me of Nora."

"Who?"

"Oh, one of my teammates, back at Beacon. She always seems so pent-up with energy. And really sociable on top of that."

Ruby rolled her eyes and giggled as well, "You'll have to thank my mum and family for that last one. I don't know what kind of person I'd be if I didn't have them."

Jaune smiled, "Your mum sounds like one hell of a lady."

"She is. She really is", Ruby's face then turned inquisitive as she then went, "Is that what's eating at you?"

"Huh?"

"Something's up with you, I can tell. It's written all over your face", she took another long sip from her slushy, tutted her lips, and then went, "Wanna talk about it?"

…

Jaune wasn't too sure.

On the one hand, he had wanted someone to talk to about his problems badly.

On the other hand, he had only just met Ruby, and really didn't want to make her uncomfortable offloading all of his own crap onto her. Especially when she had deigned it fine to spend time with him without much in return.

Jaune chewed the insides of his cheek, and then went, "I don't know. I don't want to bore you with my-"

"Ah, come on, Jaune, don't be like that. I'm already here, and I'm already listening, aren't I? Besides, the idea that you don't trust me with your problems", she pouted, "I'm hurt. Honestly."

Jaune took pause, relented, and then sighed, leaning back on his chair as he looked up at the sky, and went, "I just... I screwed up, okay? I messed up. I did some things I shouldn't have, I said some things I shouldn't have as well, and now my partner probably hates me, and my bully has me in a vice, and... And I messed up, and I don't know what to do, and I'm starting to wonder why I'm still at Beacon, and... And maybe it would be better if I just packed up my things and left."

He let out a breath that he didn't know he had.

"I'm a failure..."

He didn't notice Ruby leaving her seat until her face suddenly enveloped his vision, and a finger pointedly pressed against his nose as she then went, "Nope!"

"...What?"

"I said nope!" she went as she booped him on the nose again, "You're in Beacon now, right? That means that you're on a team! So if you're on a team, then you're not allowed to be a failure!"

"But... What if I'm a failure at being a teammate?" team leader, technically.

"Nope!"

"I'm starting to realise that you're not the best person to talk to about this kind of stuff."

"Nope!" she leaned back away from him, letting him have his own space once more, and then, "Okay, look, Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid-"

Jaune sank into his chair and groaned.

"-And you might've even been a failure the first day you arrived at Beacon-"

He groaned louder.

"But, you can't be one now. You know why?"

"Uhhh, because...?"

"Because it's not just about you anymore. You've got a team now, Jaune. You're intrinsically part of one. And if you fail, then you'll just be bringing them down with you", she leaned herself against the table, and smiled, "You have to put our teammates first, and yourself second. Your team deserves a great teammate, Jaune.

She leaned in close to him, and pressed her finger against his chest.

"And I think that can be you."

There was a long pause between them, before Ruby stepped back and pulled out her scroll.

"Want to exchange numbers."

…

Jaune smiled.

"Yeah, I'd like that."

"And that is why my uncle believes the world to be banana shaped."

Jaune couldn't help but laugh at Ruby's mad story, before he eventually recovered himself, and went, "Gods, your uncle sounds like a bit of a nutter."

Ruby good-naturedly laughed as well, and fondly went, "Yeah, there's a reason that he always looses family trivia night. And not just because he's always trying to cheat by moogling it on his phone", she then dramatically whispered to him, "Let me tell you this, he is a right sore loser."

"Huh, sounds like one of my sisters. They can be real asses when it- Oof!" Jaune went as someone shouldered him and quickly walked off in the opposite direction. He looked back for a second, and then continued off, "When it comes to loosing, yeah", he looked at Ruby, "But I have my ways of surviving it. What about you? How'd you deal with your folks?"

"Oh, I picked up a few tricks-"

She then held up- Is that his wallet?

"-Like how to stop pickpockets from stealing my money", she pushed it back into Jaune's hands with a smile, "Let me tell you, my friend Emerald: She's addicted to online shopping, and my cards always happen to be the closest source of cash around."

Jaune blinked once, twice, thrice, and then looked back to the identified pickpocket from before, who was patting himself down and trying to find the wallet that he had just stolen, before looking to both Jaune and Ruby and growling.

Ruby just stuck her tongue out in response, and the robber quickly realised the position that he was in, and hurryingly began to stomp away in a sulk.

Jaune couldn't help but laugh at the sight, "Wow, t-thanks… You really are awesome, Ruby."

"Yes, please, compliment me more. It fuels my barely restrained ego."

Jaune was about to take her up on that, but then remembered something important. Ah crap, he had lessons, today!

He looked at his scroll- Still with the number that he had just added in- And realised the time, "Ah, crap- Shoot, shit, I got lessons, Ruby! Right now!"

"Wha- You do? Right now?"

"Right now!"

"Well, what are you waiting for?" Ruby exclaimed as she waved her hands, "Run run run, dude! Before you're any later than you already are!"

And Jaune did just that, as he began to run down the street, towards the Bullheads on the- On the other side of town... Great.

However, quickly, he stopped in place, looked back towards Ruby, and said, "Hey Ruby?"

"Yeah?" she called back.

"...Thanks. What you said... It means a lot."

"Heh, don't mention it", she waved it off, "Happy to help", she then waved her scroll at him, "Call me later?"

"Yeah", his reply was instantaneous, "Speak to you later."

And with that, he was off, thankful that he had met Ruby, and even more so that he now had a solution to his problems.

He was being an idiot, of course, for thinking about himself so much, and not about the others. Right now, he had to be the best team leader for them, and that meant, firstly, cutting off Cardin.

But how to do that?

First, he had to get back to Beacon and weather the inevitable detention that Miss Goodwitch would undoubtedly give him.

Afterwards, maybe he would try and talk to Pyrrha. Try and iron out the cracks, and...

And maybe fix what was broken.

Maybe...

Well, it wouldn't hurt to try.

Ruby eyed Jaune running down the streets before her, and smiled.

It was nice to make a friend.

Someone tapped her shoulder, and she looked to the side, to see a pair of emerald green eyes staring back at her, attached to a girl that was somehow shorter than her, dressed in a black gothic skirt and dress, and with black hair tied into twin ponytails.

It was all so obviously fake.

"Hey there, Neo. When did you get here?"

"..."

"Seriously? Don't you have anything better to do?"

"..."

"Oh, so you're jealous?"

"..."

"Aw, don't be like that. Look, how about I get you some ice cream later, okay?"

"..."

"Want me to get Neapolitan again?"

"..."

"Mint chocolate chip? Really?"

"..."

"Well, alright then. If that's what you want?"

"..."

"Jaune? What about him?"

"..."

"Oh shut up, I only just met him. I wouldn't set up that kind of relationship immediately with him."

"..."

"Yeah, well, I know that you like to live that way, but you know I'm saving myself."

"..."

"I'm not saying it's wrong to like casual sex with different partners. It's your body, your choice. I'm just saying that I don't personally live like that,"

"..."

"Well, maybe... Maybe..."

"..."

"What about what I said to him?"

"..."

"'You're not allowed to'... Well of course I said something like that. Why wouldn't I?"

"..."

"Wait, did I- Did I actually make it sound like he was the problem?"

"..."

"Ah, dammit! Ah, I screwed that up, big time! Augh, I suck at this..."

"..."

"...Well now I'm depressed."

"..."

"Hey, what'd you say we go knock over some White Fang mooks?"

"..."

"Well, it'd make me feel a lot better."

"..."

"Ah, I knew you'd like it!"

Plot twist: Evil!Ruby is a much better boss than Cinder!

To the surprise of no one...

And what's this? Do I hear a Monty Python reference?

Yes. Yes you do.

Anyways, I told you I'd update this whenever I want to, and today, I just so happened to feel like it, so I hope you enjoyed!

And as always, leave a review, follow and favourite, and I shall see you all next time!

Titanmaster117 out!