Hey, I didn't take a full month this time around. But then again, the chapter is shorter than the previous two, so… I guess it evens out?
Regardless, please enjoy the chapter.
Beacon was fun.
That was the best word to describe it, really. Yeah, it was the best combat school in Vale and one of the four huntsmen academies that trained young people to fight creatures of darkness and so on and so on, but most importantly, it was a ton of fun. It was organized inside a huge castle, had a forest full of Grimm nearby, the teachers were really cool and the students were a very colorful bunch. Literally. Most students really liked sticking to a single color in a way they dressed and dyed their hair, maybe with the exception of these boring pricks from Team CRDL.
Point was, everything was lively and almost everything was exciting as well. Nora was initially afraid that they would have to actually prove their knowledge somehow to get in, but nope, the headmaster decided to just throw them all down a cliff. Someone like Blake who liked reading and writing would probably call this unprofessional, but Nora hardly cared. The initiation was awesome and while it did leave her separated from Ren – which was obviously bad and there was no denying that, but it wasn't as though it would make them any more distant – it also left her with some really fun teammates.
Although sadly, those teammates were not without their issues. Not issues that would make them unlikable or anything. The kind of issues that affected them and probably gave them quite a bit of angst.
It wasn't obvious at the surface... well, it kind of was obvious, but it got worse the more Nora thought about this. Blake was the most blatant example, with how she refused to interact with most people and how she felt a need to hide her faunus traits behind a huge, unsubtle bow – how she was able to fool anyone in this manner, Nora had no idea, since the freaking thing moved on regular basis. Then there was Yang, who in contrast seemed cheerful enough, but she definitely had an issue or two to work around. She was worried about her little sister being in charge of a monster-slayer team, that much was obvious, but there was also something... less obvious going on. There was something about Yang that made her seem like she was putting up a front, a disguise, but the reasons were only known to her. There was probably no point thinking about this too much, since it was all guesswork at this point.
And besides, there was another master of disguise around...
At the moment, Nora and her classmates were sitting in a classroom and listening to Doc Oobleck, the tall man with funny green hair and a love for coffee, trying to teach them history. Most were listening anyway – Nora paid only a part of her attention to the lecture, her thoughts focused on her partner instead. Jaune was sitting right next to her and taking notes, though in a way, he appeared absent. No, 'absent' was the wrong word. Jaune was focused on the lesson, at least relatively to most students, but he just didn't seem all there. He never did.
It was subtle and not in a 'only noticeable to someone who is paying basic attention' way people usually meant when they said something wass subtle. Back when Nora first met Jaune, right before the initiation, he didn't seem all that weird. Not in any bad way, anyways. Yeah, he always had an agenda, but few people didn't. Everyone wanted something out of life, it was just some people were less needy than others. Jaune had a big and specific goal in mind – take over the Schnee Dust Company or something along these lines – and there wasn't anything wrong with that. Not in principle, anyways. The problem lied in the way Jaune was.
Nora only learned to pay attention to it after Jaune took down the Death Stalker by not feeling much. At the time, it reminded Nora of Ren's semblance because of how it worked, but the more she thought about it the bigger the difference seemed to be. Ren could make himself or the others feel less fear or anger, but that was about it. When he used his semblance on you, you didn't suddenly become a different person, you just felt differently. Ren couldn't make himself or anyone else not care about something. He could make you less afraid of the Grimm, but not convince you to let yourself be eaten by one.
Jaune... he seemed like he would be able to do just that to himself. He had no way to calm his emotions down, as evidenced by his less-than-pretty language while he was running away from the giant Grimm. He simply shut those emotions down whenever necessary. How far did that go, Nora couldn't tell, but if someone told her that Jaune could force himself to jump from the cliff using that trick of his, she wouldn't be very surprised.
And then there was his little speech about dominance he gave the previous day. Normally, Nora would dismiss it as nonsense taken from some dusty old book, and maybe it was, but the way Jaune argued it was... distressing.
When two people get to marry, one will almost always end up making most decisions as the dominant one, but not after frequent arguing and divorce threats. No one is ever satisfied with equality.
That didn't imply anything good. Nora didn't know the first thing about how a child should be raised, she didn't think that far forwards, but she was pretty sure these kind of words were not something you would hear from someone who hailed from a happy family. Then again, you would also not expect children form a well-adjusted family to behave like Jaune and Weiss did towards one another.
Nora could vaguely register that her teacher was giving closing remarks, so the lesson was probably almost over. She put some extra effort to appear as though she was paying full attention, but the moment the students were all dismissed, her thoughts once again focused on a single target. She followed her teammates out of the classroom, forcing herself to miss an opportunity to chat with Ren some more, and trudged alongside them as they entered the corridor.
"So, did you guys actually understand anything the doc was saying?" Yang asked. "Cause I didn't. He seemed to be trying to cover a year's worth of material in one lesson."
"We'll only have history for one year. I feel we will need to cover a lot of material quickly." Blake said. "But yes, he is talking fairly fast."
"Yeah, he's such a motor mouth." Nora agreed. In truth, she didn't see anything wrong with Doctor Oobleck's way of speech, but it was her opportunity to create a one-on-one situation with Jaune she wanted. "I understood absolutely nothing. Was any of you taking notes or something?"
"I managed to catch a thing or two." Jaune replied. "I can show you if you want."
"I was writing stuff down too." Yang said before Nora had a chance to reply. "Actually, why won't we compare our notes? I'm pretty sure if we get it all together..."
"Nah, that will do it." Nora interrupted. "Jaune, let's find someplace quiet so we can study together."
"Wait, why would you..." Yang said, only to suddenly pause and smile. "Ah, I see. Just the two of you together. Maybe me and Blake can go train, so you can have a room to yourselves?"
"That would be nice, actually." Nora agreed. It wasn't like there was any better place for the two of them to talk than their dorm.
"You heard her Blake. Jaune and Nora just need some time to each other." Yang said cheerfully while grabbing Blake by the shoulder. The faunus girl rolled her eyes, but she ultimately followed Yang into the side corridor, leaving her two other teammates alone.
"Let's go partner." Nora grabbed Jaune by the hand and lead him towards their dorm. For some reason, her partner didn't have anything smart to say back like he usually did. Also, his face turned a shade of pink for some reason, but it had already did that a couple times before, so Nora paid it no attention. She just continued dragging Jaune towards their destination.
Eventually, they reached the dorm of Team JNBY. It was marked as such by the huge, glittery letters written on the door. Nora opened said doors, threw her partner inside and then entered the room herself. She shut the door behind her and sat on her bed, careful not to touch the freshly-painted frame. She didn't want her hands dirty with pink paint, even if the color was really nice.
"So…" Jaune didn't want to sit himself. He appeared rather unsure what to do or say. "I get it you don't actually want to study?"
"Maybe later." Nora replied. "There are more important things to do right now."
"…and what exactly do you mean by that?" Jaune was still pink on the face and still very unconfident. Weird.
"That I want to know why you're moping around."
Jaune appeared taken aback, but he quickly rid his face of any sign of surprise. As usual. "Oh, I suppose it makes sense. I mean… how exactly am I moping around?"
"You won't fool me, Mister Secretive." Nora lowered the tone of her voice a little so that it sounded more serious. "I know when people are not feeling well, even if they try to hide it. You are not even that good at hiding it."
"Right. Sorry." Jaune took a seat on his bed. "You are pretty perceptive, you know that?"
"I'm just paying attention." Nora replied honestly. Was paying attention to how people behave really such an art? It was never something she had a problem with. It wasn't even a talent of hers, it was just that she had two working eyes and was willing to use them. "Now speak up."
"Alright, I suppose there is no harm in that." Jaune sighed and then took a pause. "It's about Blake. She doesn't seem comfortable around me and won't open up about her reasons."
Oh right. It was pretty obvious that Blake and Jaune were not getting along very well. It was mostly the former having some immense dislike for the latter, as though Blake was holding some huge grudge. Did it have anything to do with her faunus heritage? There was something about the Schnee Dust Company not liking faunus all that much, or maybe the other way around. Nora wasn't exactly paying attention to this sort of things.
In any case, Nora didn't feel all that confident giving Jaune advice regarding Blake. If Blake's faunus heritage was the reason for her behavior, then the only way to help Jaune out would be to reveal that fact – something Blake definitely wouldn't appreciate. Jaune would probably figure this out oon his own eventually, but for now, Nora could offer no help in the matter.
"It can't be just about Blake though, can it?" She asked instead. "Even before we got teamed up with Blake and Yang, you were pretty stressed out. Worried."
"I don't think I was…" Jaune paused upon seeing Nora's stern look and then sighed. "Yes, I was worried. Worried about Weiss and what she could do to hinder me."
And thinking of the ways you could hinder her. Nora thought, though she didn't say that out loud. It wouldn't help to be accusatory like that, no need to make Jaune defensive.
"Well, I figured that much. What I'm not getting is why that fight of yours is even a thing." Nora leaned towards Jaune. "Why do you feel a need to constantly one-up each other like that?"
"It's pretty complicated." Jaune said evasively.
"Make it simple. Explain it like I was five."
"I guess I can do that." Jaune paused, as though carefully choosing his words. "Our family company is one of the largest ones in Remnant, and maybe the most important one. Everyone needs dust and there is some big money to be made out of selling it. Weiss is the family heiress, which means that when our father dies or becomes unable to run things himself, Weiss will end up in charge of the Schnee Dust Company, or at least will get to decide what happens to it."
"And you think it's a bad thing?" Nora asked, fully knowing what answer to expect.
"There is a reason Weiss wasn't selected as a team leader. She's not stupid, but she has no idea how to run… anything, I believe. She also idolizes her grandfather and thinks she knows how the company should be ran, even though it's completely unrealistic under current market conditions and she doesn't know how to be pragmatic at all and…" Jaune paused to recollect himself. "So no, I don't believe my sister is cut for the task. Someone else has to take over, and I am the next in line. If I can gain enough renown while in Beacon or if Weiss proves herself unreliable somehow, I might just be deemed a better choice for a heir."
"That sounds tough." Nora replied, thinking how she could ease the growing tension a little. Suddenly, she came up with something. "Hey, I've got an idea. How about we break her legs?"
"What? That wouldn't really stop her from running a company." Jaune replied, only to add hastily. "And would be wrong!"
"Wouldn't that be enough?" Nora asked, ignoring the second part of her partner's response. "We can break her arms as well, then she wouldn't be able to sign anything. Real career breaker right there."
"What?! Nora, I'm not turning my sister into a quadriplegic."
"I suppose we can just kill her." Nora said casually. "Just set a bomb in her room. She'll never see it coming."
"That's just…" Jaune paused in sudden understanding. "You are joking, right?"
"I'm kind of glad you realized this." Nora grinned. "Not everyone does."
"You have a really messed up sense of humor, you know that?" Jaune almost managed to hide a smile of his own. Almost.
"Maybe I do." Nora shrugged. And then, in that very moment, her idea evolved. It only took a second for her to decide what her new plan would be. "But maybe that's just what you need."
"Dismemberment?" Jaune raised his eyebrow.
"Humor. Something to laugh about so that you aren't so serious all the time." Nora leaned forwards even further. "You have some serious beef with your sister, but you won't take it out by actually hurting her. I think you should ease the tension in some, how you would put it… socially acceptable manner?"
"What do you mean, exactly?"
"Say, pull a prank on her." Nora suggested. "Do something harmless to her, and the worst that will happen will be her doing something harmless to you in return."
"A prank. Done for no reason other than for amusement and a desire for revenge. Wouldn't that be just… petty?"
"Yes." Nora nodded. "It would be extremely petty. Are you into it?"
Jaune stayed silent for a long while, considering the choices in front of him. Even so, his final decision seemed rather easy to predict.
"Do you have anything specific in mind?" He finally asked.
Nora grinned.
Weiss strode across the corridor, feeling rather tired. Her clothes were soaked with sweat and her muscles were sore from a training session she had been subjected to by no other than her team leader, Ruby Rose. Said girl was trudging in next to Weiss, also exhausted but somehow seeming upbeat even if that tired state.
When at the very morning Ruby woke everyone up with that damn whistle of hers and announced they were going on a jogging session, Weiss didn't say a word in protest. As much as she hadn't enjoyed the session and as much as she didn't enjoy Ruby's leadership as a whole, she had to admit that the idea wasn't a bad one by any stretch. Good physical condition was something any fighter could benefit from and Weiss was… far from perfect in that area. It was mostly just the way she was built naturally, a slim body that could only handle so much stress, but perhaps she has neglected that particular area of training. Since endurance was one of the few things aura couldn't substitute for, the only way to improve it was through physical training and Beacon grounds had a perfect place for that. Thus aching muscles.
Pyrrha and Ren handled all that strain a lot better, both of them being more physically fit than Weiss or Ruby. For all Weiss knew, they were still jogging around the campus, though Ren did seem to be wearing out when they departed. In any case, they were not around and Weiss only had to worry about keeping a friendly face for Ruby's sake.
"You know, it feels kind of nice to get tired like that from time to time." The younger girl said, breaking the silence. "Like, I'm tired, but I don't feel all that bad."
Runner's high. Or, in professional terms, the release of endorphins after physical exercise. It was a widely known phenomenon and Weiss felt an urge to explain that, but she bit down on that desire. One advantage she certainly had over Jaune was that she knew when it didn't pay off to be a smartass.
"It does feel refreshing, yes." Weiss said instead. Truthfully, she didn't feel fresh in the slightest, but that wouldn't be the right thing to say. As she saw the door to their room, she decided to switch the subject to something far more important. "Do you want to shower first, or…"
"Nah, you go ahead." Ruby replied. Weiss felt relief wash over her – partially because she was eager to get washed, but also because it was a sign of her chosen strategy working properly. Because she was now respected as a leader, Ruby felt secure and friendly enough
Maybe Beacon isn't that bad. Weiss thought as she opened the door and entered the room. Or rather, she would enter the room, if not for something heavy hitting her in the head as she passed through the doorstep.
As if that wasn't disorienting enough, she then immediately felt something cold wash over her head. It wasn't water, it felt denser and more… sticky. Still, it quickly covered Weiss' eyes, then her entire face, then the shoulders. Though eyes were the worst, of course, especially since a bit of liquid got through before Weiss managed to shut her eyelids.
Even though her eyes burned, Weiss kept perfect calm. She did not try to move around blindly and she certainly wasn't about to rub her eyes, knowing how badly this would end. She just waited motionlessly until most of the substance dripped down on the floor and opening her eyes seemed safe.
Her room looked exactly as it had once the team left it at the morning, except for the iron bucket lying at Weiss' feet. There was a pink substance slowly spilling out it and onto the floor, not that the floor wasn't already covered with the dense fluid.
Weiss felt something else wash over her – cold anger to be exact. She walked up to the nearby mirror to confirm her suspicions and, as expected, she saw herself covered with pink substance. Her clothes, her neck, parts of her face, but most importantly her hair. It was still white at the roots, but most of it was sticky with what had to be some sort of dye or paint.
In spite of her anger, Weiss felt above all… confused. She hadn't made any enemies while in Beacon, not to her knowledge at least, so the only one with motive to ruin her day would be her dear brother. But there was no way Jaune could benefit from throwing some paint at her. It wouldn't truly hinder her in any way, wouldn't make her look worse in any meaningful way and it certainly wouldn't make him look better. In a way, that made the situation much worse – it meant that whatever plan her brother had, she couldn't see through it at the moment.
"Um, Weiss?" Ruby approached her teammate nervously.
"I need to go to the infirmary." Weiss announced after a moment of thinking. "This thing is almost certainly toxic in some way. I didn't though Jaune was so corrupt as to poison me, but it looks like he had gotten that desperate."
"Weiss, I don't think anyone is trying to poison you."
"Well, what is the point of this then?" Weiss threw her hands in the air. "You don't attack your enemy with non-threatening substances like that."
"I don't think it was an attack…" Ruby replied. "I think you just got pranked."
"Pranked?" Weiss put all her disbelief into that little word. "Who would do such a thing to a Schnee heiress and what can they expect to gain?"
"Weiss, people don't pull pranks on each other because they have something to gain." Ruby was now giving Weiss a really strange look. One of surprise, but also… sadness? "You and Jaune never did that to one another? Or did that with your friends?"
"We Schnees are above such childish activities." Weiss said proudly, only to add more quietly. "And I never had that many friends."
"Oh." Ruby slumped slightly, but she almost immediately stood upward once again. "Anyways, let us wash this stuff out of you."
"Somehow, I doubt this can be washed off just like that." Weiss sighed, although she was grateful for the quick change of subject. "But let us try anyway."
After a few minutes of attempting to wash away the dye with soap and running water, Weiss' fears were officially confirmed. The substance didn't stick to the skin, but washing it out of Weiss' hair and clothes was a different matter entirely. She didn't care much about the sweat-soaked workout clothes, but her hair… her beautiful, enamel-white hair…
If that change was permanent, Jaune was going to pay. Dearly.
Because it had to be Jaune. It made little sense for Jaune to engage in something so childish as a pointless prank, but there weren't many plausible alternatives. Maybe his new teammates influenced him somehow? Either directly, or by changing his sense of humor into something less sophisticated? Not that any of this would excuse his behavior, but it made at least some silver of sense when you looked at the matter from that pespective.
As Weiss mused about all the possibilities, Ruby walked around the room also in deep thought. Although she was likely less focused on Jaune's psychology and more on a problem at hand.
"Alright, so we can't get rid of it just like that." The brunette stated. "No reason to panic. Every kind of dye can be dissolved if the dissolvent is strong enough."
"Are you sure about that?" Weiss asked with uncertainty, even fear. Even if it wouldn't matter in the game between her and Jaune, she was really hoping not to have to choose between having multi-colored hair for the rest of her life or shaving her had.
"I've been dying my hair for a while now." Ruby replied. "Trust me, it always comes off at the end. Sometimes sooner than I want it to."
"You are dying your…" Weiss started, but then she realized that the question was somewhat silly. "But of course. Those red tips aren't exactly natural, are they?"
"Neither is the rest. I'm a natural blonde, you know."
A long moment of silence followed that statement.
"What?" Ruby said defensively. "It's a pretty common thing. Not everyone gets born with a hair color that matches their name, you know?"
"Yes, I understand." Weiss said hastily. "It's just… it's kind of hard for me to picture this."
"I know, right?" Ruby groaned. "Blond hair would just look awful with my cape. And it wouldn't match Crescent Rose at all!"
"Regardless." Weiss sought to bring the conversation back on tracks. "Does that mean you have some dye at hand? Or a dissolver, as you said?"
"Sorry, I'm all out of dissolver. I have some dye if you want it, but only black and red. Would you like any of them better than pink?
Weiss pondered that question. Black hair was not an option, it would look terribly with her combat skirt and some people would think badly of her for wearing the opposite of her family color, but red… it would make her hair look similar to that of Pyrrha, which wasn't a bad look, but it also didn't go well with Weiss' attire. Still, at least it would be one color and not some chaotic mix of pink and white. Maybe it was the best option…?
"That said…" Ruby looked towards the bucket that was lying on the floor, with trace amounts of pink liquid still inside. "I could probably rub whatever is left into your hair so that it looks entirely pink. Really, I think it would look good on you."
Weiss felt an urge to say something snarky, but she opted not to do so. Partially because she was still trying to be nice, but also because Ruby had a point. With pink hair, at least she wouldn't look like she had a can of paint dropped on her head. And as much as she preferred white, pink was a light color… it wouldn't look that bad with a white outfit. Not terribly bad, at least. Not as bad as red or black would.
"Alright, I'll pick the lesser of all evils." Weiss sighed. "Go ahead and dye my hair pink."
"Great!" Ruby exclaimed, but then amended. "I mean yes. We have to go with the least awful option."
At moments such as this, Weiss wondered if being friendly with her team was really worth all that effort.
The cafeteria was slowly filling up with students. Not everyone wanted to eat their breakfasts here, some preferred to make their own meals or even skip breakfast for the sake of sleeping a while longer, but Jaune believed eating here was more efficient. He could trust Beacon Academy to provide its students with nutritious meals and while breakfast wasn't the most important meal of a day as some would claim, it was still vital for the proper diet to be maintained. Luckily none of his teammates was opposed to the idea, and so the entirety of JNBY was now sitting at a table together.
That said, none of them was eating particularly quickly. They were in no hurry to finish, as either way they would be waiting for their classmates of team RRWP to arrive. It was an agreement they came to back on their first day of classes – they would always hang out together during mealtimes and spent at least a few minutes together. The idea was brought forwards by Nora, but Ruby quickly became an equally eager supporter. Jaune had agreed to it right away because, for better worse, the two teams would end up interacting with each other anyway due to Yang and Ruby being sisters as well as Nora and Ren being… not a couple yet from what Jaune knew, but as close to a couple as you could get without sharing a bed.
Besides, they were other advantages to that arrangement. Unless Weiss forgot that brilliant new strategy of hers, she would soon appear as well and Jaune would get to see if Nora's idea actually worked.
It had.
As the members of team RRWP entered the cafeteria, quite a few other students glanced in their direction. There wasn't anything weird with the four prospective huntsmen, of course, it's just that many people remember Weiss having snow-white hair instead of bright pink.
Weiss didn't act out of usual, not at a cursory glance at least. She calmly approached the counter, picked a tray and placed whatever food she deemed suitable on it. All the while her teammates made sure to keep at least few feet of distance, recognizing her mood for what it was.
Eventually, they all assembled their food and sat next to their colleagues in Team JNBY. The tension was so high that there were no enthusiastic greetings this time around – Blake and Yang weren't let in on the prank, so they were too surprised to think of anything else at the moment. As for Nora, she was apparently so proud of her idea working out that she couldn't keep her eyes away from Weiss, except to wave Ren an obligatory 'hello'.
"Wow, Ice Queen." Yang was the first to speak anything out loud. "You look different than yesterday."
"I fancied a change." Weiss replied calmly. "And don't call me that, thank you."
"That is one unexpected change." Jaune commented, unable to resist an urge to rub it in. "I always thought you were happy with your hair color, sis."
"I like experimenting with different options from time to time." Weiss explained.
"That is good to hear. For a moment, I feared you were planning to accuse me of messing with your hair, even though you have absolutely no proof of this."
"I am saddened you would think so lowly of me. Even if my current state was your doing, I would simply paint myself as uncivilized by starting a public argument like that."
"But of course. You have my earnest apologies."
Then the Schnee siblings stared into each other's eyes for a moment, Weiss with cold fury, Jaune with mild amusement. Weiss then averted her gaze and began eating her breakfast.
This is pretty satisfying. Jaune thought as he took to his meal as well. He had to thank Nora for suggesting the idea and then helping set everything up. He would have done that right away, but the girl had been insistent on keeping her involvement secret. A weird request, since it wasn't like Nora to be ashamed of such an activity or fearing the consequences, but not an unreasonable one.
Come to think of it, he should probably ask why she had so much pink dye ready to use. Maybe it had something to do with that pink strand in Ren's hair or maybe Nora just loved color pink that much, but Jaune had an unpleasant suspicion that pulling off such pranks was not unusual for his partner. In that case, he could only hope that her loyalty applied to such trivial things as well. Dealing with Weiss and whatever retaliation she had in mind, that he could handle. Fighting against Nora… that just seemed scary regardless of the context.
Jaune was pulled out of his musing when he heard a cry of pain. It was accompanied by the sounds of laughter, which let him form a theory of what was happening even before he turned around to see.
The members of Team CRDL surrounded a female student – a faunus girl with brown hair and rabbit ears of the same color. She attended history lessons alongside Jaune's class, but the name eluded him. The leader of a group, Cardin Winchester, was holding the girl by one her rabbit ears. She was struggling, but from the looks of it, all she achieved was causing her more pain.
"Ow! That hurts!" Moment later, the faunus stopped struggling and put on a resigned grimace. "Please stop…"
"Told you it was real!" Cardin said between snorts of laughter.
"What a freak!" One of Cardin's teammates commented. Russel, if Jaune recalled correctly. With that mohawk of his he looked like a stereotypical street thug, even moreso than his teammates.
Jaune briefly considered intervening in some manner, but quickly decided against it. What exactly would him stepping up achieve? By all likelihood, confronting the bullies would just lead to a fight – a fight he could likely win if his team came to support him, but that was beside the point. He would just end up getting everyone in trouble and would at best get Cardin to consider abusing faunus out of sight instead of in the open like that. Publically defending a victim of bullying could be good for his reputation, but in this case, he would just be dubbed a faunus lover and be subject to more laughter then praise.
Sure enough, it only took few more seconds for Cardin to let the faunus girl go. He and his teammates kept laughing, but were not about to do anything else from the looks of it. The brunette scurried away, clearly shaken and embarrassed, but seemingly unhurt.
"Atrocious." Pyrrha said, her voice expressing genuine anger for the first time that Jaune heard. "I can't stand people like him."
"Those people are not exactly uncommon." Blake remarked. "
The last sentence was aimed at Jaune. It was clear not only from the words themselves, but also from the way Blake glanced towards her leader, as though expecting a reply. It annoyed Jaune a little – he didn't exactly like to hear the kingdom he was raised in be given offense like that, not without some opposition at least.
"Atlas has its problems, that much can't be denied." Jaune admitted without actually having to admit anything. "Still, I wouldn't say it's a bad place to live in, be it for humans or the faunus."
"Not a bad place for the faunus?" Blake raised an eyebrow at that. "Atlas is rather infamous for its problems of racial inequality and prejudice."
Well great. That sort of discussion again. Jaune could barely stop himself from rolling his eyes, but he knew it wouldn't help in keeping the conversation civil.
"I believe that racial equality is guaranteed under the constitution, much like in Vale. Faunus have the same rights as humans under Atlesian law."
"That doesn't mean that there is no discrimination going on." Blake protested. "There might be equality on paper, but that doesn't mean human and faunus are actually treated as equals."
"Perhaps. There are different way to measure these factors, but I don't believe it matters that much."
"Excuse me?"
"Economic inequality is a natural consequence of free market, and not a negative one at that. Thanks to the large number of investors and large companies, Atlas has the most efficient economy of all the Four Kingdoms. There is a lot of talk about poverty and discrimination, but it you compare the numbers, faunus in Atlas tend to be wealthier than in any of the other kingdoms, let alone outside of them. You can look this up if you want. Fringe cases aside, faunus are better off in Atlas than anywhere else."
"Exactly." Weiss agreed, joining the conversation. Apparently she felt much the same way as Jaune, to the point where she would ignore the indignity of having to agree with him just to defend her country. "You seem to have a biased view of these sort of matters. Not that it's your fault in any way. Misinformation can be found everywhere these days."
"What?!" Blake looked quite angry now, as though greatly offended. It was pretty surprising – while Jaune didn't expect Blake to instantly change her views when presented with evidence, that reaction was a little bit more emotional than one would expect. "This is absurd!"
"Blake, maybe you should calm…" Yang started, but cut off when her partner gave her a harsh glare.
"There are countless faunus who are freezing on the streets, working like slaves or just getting beaten for who they are at this very moment." Blake continued. "How can you dismiss all that as fringe cases and insist that things are going great in Atlas?"
Well that was going farther than expected. Jaune hadn't expected he would annoy Blake that much with his words – the girl didn't look like she would be particularly concerned about social issues like prejudice against faunus on another continent. She just didn't seem the type, didn't look like one of these attention-seeking teenagers who would spend their time complaining that society wasn't perfect. It partially explained why she would have the Schnees, given the reputation they had, but she had no reason to be concerned about an issue that didn't affect her in any way. Unless…
Jaune looked back at the interactions he had with Blake thus far. He then looked at her bow. He then added two and two together.
He had to lose. That much became clear at this very instance. He couldn't let that argument escalate any further.
"Look, I expressed myself badly." He said, this time keeping his voice calm and neutral. "I know that there is still tangible discrimination in Atlas and in Remnant at large. That's exactly my point, in fact."
Blake was now looking at him less with anger and more with interest and surprise. Weiss, was also looking at Jaune surprised, but in her case, it wasn't the positive kind of surprise. She looked taken aback, almost as if she felt betrayed at that very moment. She couldn't understand why her brother would suddenly cave in like that, not without knowing just how serious the situation was.
Arguing about politics was one thing, but if Jaune was inadvertently opening some old wound of Blake's… that would be just too damaging. It could cost him the chance of his team ever working properly. His national pride just wasn't worth that much.
"Atlas struggles with treating the faunus fairly. But so do the other kingdoms. I don't think it's right and I don't mind that being pointed out. I just want it known that other Kingdoms are not free of similar vices and are not necessarily better. There is no point singling Atlas out when humanity in general has a lot of room to improve."
A safe statement. One without any real meaning and one which didn't require any kind of deceit, but which still constituted a form of surrender. Perhaps enough of one for Blake to end the argument feeling as though she had won.
Before Blake had a chance to reply, Weiss opened her mouth. "That's not really…"
"Exactly!" Ruby suddenly exclaimed, interrupting her pink-haired teammate. "We are all on the same page here, right?"
"I suppose…" Blake didn't seem all that certain, but she wasn't angry anymore either, which was a victory in of itself.
"Well, I am finished anyway." Weiss stood up, even though her plate was far from empty. "I shall join you in the classroom, half an hour from now."
"Do you… want us to keep you company?" Pyrrha asked.
"I believe I can handle being alone for few minutes. Farewell all." Weiss said as she turned around and marched towards the exit.
The remaining three members of Team RRWP looked at Weiss with concern. Ruby with her outward and honest worry, Ren with a more calm and understanding expression and Pyrrha with something in-between. Yang also seemed visibly uncomfortable with the situation, though she wasn't about to say anything either. Blake's expression was now unreadable – it was hard to tell if she was still upset, satisfied to see Weiss quit in such a manner or both at the same time. Jaune couldn't see Nora's expression from where he sat, but she probably felt the same as the rest, though no doubt she would forget about this earlier than anyone else. That was just how she was.
Jaune sighed internally. He knew he hadn't handled things perfectly, far from it in fact, but at least he handled them somehow. Angering Weiss was far better than pissing off Blake any further – he couldn't afford to alienate one of his teammates even further and his sister wouldn't react too strongly to such a trivial thing as not backing her up in a discussion. Although, since she already felt upset after that prank…
"And Jaune." Weiss turned around to face her brother once more. "Be careful from now on. I have a feeling you annoyed somebody who might want to get back at you."
Jaune sighed, this time very audibly. He recalled the ceremony after the initiation and the Headmaster's words after the teams got finally established. Only now did he understand just how true these words were. With the game he had to win and the teammates he was stuck with…
The year was sure about to be interesting.
Just to be clear, I don't actually believe Ruby is a natural blonde. Probably not, at least. The thing is an old joke that started with a fan-made comic and which others, including yours truly, helped escalate in various forums. I didn't see it used in fanfiction before though, so I deemed it necessary to include such a concept myself.
If you have other concerns regarding the portrayal of the characters here, please don't hesitate to point that out. I might have made some unpopular decisions here, but certain choices have to be made to keep the story working.