Cover art - Mike (A car I don't recognise has been trailing my street lately. It's probably nothing)

Chapter 13 - Accursed Pandemic

When Weiss had told her what had happened in the cafeteria, Pyrrha knew she had to investigate. She had to confront Jaune when he was alone. Easier said than done. It was easier to split atoms than it was to split him and Blake apart.

But when she saw Blake with her own team without him, she knew now was the time to act. She went to the first place Jaune would likely be - their dormroom.

She opened the door and there he was. He was standing in front of the mirror, still dressed like Blake. She wouldn't say she was used to seeing him in those clothes by now, but she no longer had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't dreaming.

He twisted his body so that he could get a view of his rear. He looked very proud of himself. Normally she'd be happy to see him looking so confident, but given current circumstances… her concern was piqued.

"Hello, Jaune," she said. "Do you have a free moment? I'd like to talk."

He slowly turned around and grinned at her with that eerie cheerfulness that seemed to follow him these days. "It finally happened, Pyrrha," he said. "My transformation is complete."

"Your transformation?"

"My transformation into faunushood. It's finally complete. Look!" He turned around so that his rear was facing her. "My butt is so sexy! Look at how it hugs my jeans! It's positively thickety-thick!"

Pyrrha felt like the temperature in the room had suddenly increased. She tried to be modest and looked away. "I-I hadn't really noticed," she stammered. "I've never looked at you from, um… that angle before."

Jaune didn't seem to care about the view he was giving her. "Don't just stand there and look then. Get over here and touch it. Feel how perfect it is."

Pyrrha's arm reacted on its own. It shot up, fingers twisted into a claw ready to squeeze those bootyful cheeks.

She pushed it back down with her other hand. The effort made her sweat. It was like trying to bend marble.

"Look, Jaune, as… impressive as your bottom is, I need to talk to you. It's quite serious."

Jaune stood up straighter, putting his behind… behind him. Unfortunate, but at least she had no distractions now. "Funny, I was hoping to talk to you too," he said.

"You were?"

"Of course. You're my partner. I'll share all of my issues with you."

"Oh, good," she sighed. "Because not to sound rude, but you do have a lot of them right now."

Jaune nodded. "I completely agree. So let's start with the obvious one."

This was going to be easier than she thought. "Very well. The first thing you should do is stop wearing-"

"I'm in desperate need of a katana."

"-those clothes - what?"

He walked over to his wardrobe and pulled out Crocea Mors. He twirled the blade in his hand. "Now that I'm a full-blooded faunus, I can't keep walking around using a broadsword. It's not suitable. I need something that represents who I truly am. I need a katana, like what Blake has."

Pyrrha wasn't sure what to say. "Um, I'm not sure you do," she said.

"No, no, I definitely do," he insisted. "I've already got some designs in mind. If you wanna see some references, turn to pages twelve, sixteen, and thirty-two of this."

Jaune threw her a copy of Ninjas of Love: Volume Sixteen. She dropped it before she could stare at the cover for too long.

"What are you going to do with your current weapon then?" she asked.

Jaune sniffed. "Guess I'll sell it. I'll see how much I can get it for on SchneeBay."

"You'll do what?" Pyrrha exclaimed. "Have you lost your mind? You can't do that! You told me that Crocea Mors was a family heirloom!"

Jaune shrugged. "An heirloom in our house is just what we call the stuff we've lost the receipt for, so we might as well keep it. I'm pretty sure my old underwear is a 'family heirloom' at this point."

"Regardless, you can't sell your sword for a katana! That'd be ridiculous!"

Jaune considered her words for a moment. "Yeah, you're right," he hummed. "Finding the highest bidder would take too long. I'll just take it to a blacksmith and have 'em reforge it into a katana."

"That's not what I'm talking about!" Pyrrha snapped. "You can't just change weapons like you would a pair of socks! You've only now started to get good with your sword. If you swapped it for a katana, you'd have to completely change your fighting style! You don't have the time for that!"

"I wonder what I should name it?" Jaune hummed. "It's gotta be something deep and meaningful."

"Are you even listening to me?"

"I'm thinking Obsidian Void. No? How about Blackest Agony?"

"Jaune, you do not need a katana. You've never even used one before. What makes you think you'll be able to wield one effectively without any experience?"

"I'm not concerned. I can already hear the blade's voice calling to me. It sings to me like a melancholic siren."

She wasn't going to ask what that meant. "And if that doesn't work out?"

"Easy. I'll just have you teach me."

"Teach you? How? I don't use a katana."

"You will."

"I don't want to use a katana."

"That'll change when you transform too."

Pyrrha paused. "What do you mean by that?" she asked cautiously.

"Didn't you ever wonder how I achieved this level of enlightenment?" Jaune said. "I'll give you a clue - it all began with Blake. Do you know what she did to me?"

She hadn't a clue. "I assume she said something that made you confused," she said. "This is either one big misunderstanding, or she's forcing you to act this way. That's what I wanted to talk to you about, actually. I want to understand where this behaviour is coming from. I know Blake's responsible for it, I just don't know how."

"Oh, she's responsible alright," he confirmed. "She's the one who made the first move. It was a rather intimate experience."

Pyrrha's ears perked up. "It… was?"

"Yup. A lot of teeth-work was involved. She took me completely by surprise, I didn't have time to stop her. Who knew she could be so aggressive? I was definitely sore that day. It hurt more than expected."

Gods, that sounded like...

What in the world were these two getting up to? And why was he telling her this so casually?

"Anyway, she probably doesn't remember, but I'll never forget that day," Jaune said. "You might remember, though. You were there. The entire class was. It happened right in front of everyone."

"Um, I think I would've remembered seeing something like… that," she gawped.

"Well, to be fair, it only lasted about a second."

"My goodness…"

"It took some time, and I was a little resistant at first. But my transformation is complete. And now the real work can begin."

Jaune turned his back to her and walked towards the window. This gave Pyrrha enough time to stop her face steaming like a kettle.

The glass reflected Jaune's stoic expression. "There's so much work to be done," he murmured. "Most of humanity is still ignorant of the suffering we faunus face. We can't afford to wait for the rest of the world to learn acceptance. We must act now if peace is to be achieved."

Her composure returned to her. "Jaune, I'm still very confused," she said. "All this talk about transformation, faunushood and… intimacy. It sounds like you're saying Blake turned you into a faunus."

"That she did," he said. "But it's not enough. You see, I have a goal, Pyrrha. My transformation has opened my eyes to all the corruption, all the prejudice, all the scorn pitted against faunus. I cannot and will not stand for it any longer. I will be the harbinger of peace, and usher Remnant into a new age of glorious paradise."

"And you need a katana to do that?"

"Eh, it'll help. But I'm talking about converting all of humanity - transforming them into faunus too. Once everyone is faunus, we will finally be united."

That was the last straw. Pyrrha had to step in now if she was to save her partner from his own delusions.

"Jaune, you clearly suffering from some kind of identity crisis right now," she said. "I don't know if it's from the stress of Beacon or whatever, but this isn't you. We'll get you to a doctor and have you checked."

He smiled patiently at her like she was the one with the problem. "I don't expect you to understand right away," he said. "But you will when you transform too."

"Okay, you keep saying that, and I still don't know what that means."

"As I said, I aim to convert the entire world," he explained. "I don't know why Blake and the rest of the faunus haven't thought of this already. They must trust your kind enough to make the right decisions yourselves. But I've been human once. We're a slow bunch. I know better than anyone that if we are to go into the light, we must be pushed. I'm gonna make as many of us as I can."

He turned back to look at her. His expression was now that of adoration. "And in honour of you being the first person to believe in me, as well as the greatest partner anyone could ask for, I shall make you the first human I convert."

Pyrrha blinked once, then after a few seconds blinked again. "What?"

"You, Pyrrha, will be the hammer that forges the new age. Just think about it - the Invincible Girl: face of the faunus conversion movement. People will be flocking to transform too, and Remnant will finally be at peace. The Grimm will seem like a minor inconvenience once we achieve unity."

Unity? Faunus conversion? He had gone completely insane!

He began walking towards her, and despite all her instincts telling her to run, her legs refused to move. "Uh, as flattering as that title sounds, I think I'll pass," she said nervously. "I've got enough publicity as it is."

"There's no need to be nervous," he laughed. "I was nervous too when I first started to change. But believe me, this is a gift."

He reached her. His arm wrapped around her waist, pulling her close to him. His hand linked with hers.

"W-Wait a second! What are you doing?" she squeaked.

"We must begin the transformation process," he said warmly. "In order for this to work, my genes must flow into your body. I could probably pass them onto you by injecting you with a needle, but I want this to feel personal."

Too many things were happening at once. The room was spinning. His arm moved up and hers followed. His grip was gentle, but she couldn't pull away.

"Hold on, don't you think we're going a bit fast?" she said frantically. "Shouldn't we go on a date first? Maybe take a walk or something? Get some noodles?"

He laughed again. "That won't be necessary. Blake and I barely shared a single word between each other before we did this."

Good Gods above, how did he ever have trouble wooing Weiss if he worked this quickly? As for Blake, how could someone so withdrawn be so brazen with her body?

Wait, no, that wasn't the issue here. Jaune wanted to do with her what he did with Blake!

Pyrrha's throat went dry. This was bad. Was it? It's not like she had never thought about this, but given the circumstances… then again, this dominant side of him was endearing…

Her inner Pyrrha roared in confusion. What was happening right now? She was too muddled.

She felt his hot breath wash over her hand. A tingling sensation travelled down her spine, causing her entire body to shiver.

"I… I… I…" Her mind had crashed. Her words were useless.

"I'll try not to make this hurt too much," he said. "You can close your eyes if you want."

"It's just… this is… we shouldn't... I'm a virgin- ow!"

Pyrrha's wild train of thought crashed when she felt Jaune bite her hand. The sudden jolt of pain gave her control of her body again, and she pulled herself away from him.

Jaune wiped his mouth and grinned. "Voilà!" he said proudly. "Now you are one of us. Congratulations, Pyrrha."

"You bit me?" she said. "Jaune, I don't know what I'm into yet, but biting definitely isn't it!"

"Sorry, but that's how the gene gets passed on. Think of it like getting bitten by a werewolf, only don't think of it like that because that's racist."

She rubbed her hand. "But I thought we were gonna- wait a second! When you said Blake transformed you through, um, personal contact, is this what you meant?"

"Sure. What did you think I meant?"

She let out an embarrassed cough. "N-Nothing," she murmured. Was she disappointed? It was hard to tell. "So… you think I'm going to turn into a faunus now because of this?"

"I know you will," he said confidently. "You carry the gene now. You will be reborn just as I have."

"Right…"

She stared at the bite mark in silence for a while. Did he really have to bite her so hard?

"What happens now?" she asked.

Jaune blinked. "Right now? Oh, uh, nothing happens right now. You gotta wait a few days for the beast blood to kick in."

"Oh."

"Yeah…"

An awkward silence hung in the air. Pyrrha tapped her foot softly, while Jaune looked all around the room to avoid her gaze. He scratched the back of his head, trying to look as casual as possible.

The sound of his stomach rumbling broke the silence.

"I'm pretty hungry," he said. "Wanna get lunch somewhere?"

"U-Um, sure." All this craziness had made her work up an appetite too.

"Great. You fancy noodles?"

She loved noodles. "As long as it's from A Simple Wok. And after that bite, you're paying."

He rolled his eyes playfully. "Fine. Lemme go grab my wallet."

Pyrrha couldn't remember why she had come here in the first place, and before she could try to, the two of them were already out the door.