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It wasn't unusual for teenagers to live on their own when attending a combat school, but it was more common for parents to send their children to one close to home.
That wasn't the case for Jaune Arc, whose father was deadest against him going to Marker Academy near his hometown on account of a disagreement in beliefs with the headmaster. That didn't mean he didn't try to apply so he could attend with his friends from primary school.
He didn't expect to get in, so when his father approached him with his acceptance letters to both Marker in town and Signal, hours away on the island of Patch, he tried to convince his father to his side, but despite his and multiple of his sisters arguing for it, both parents were convinced Signal was the better option.
And two years later, Jaune would have to agree.
He wasn't thrilled to be moving so far away, even if his new apartment in the main town of Patch was a lot quieter than his room at home, which was surrounded on either side by a set of twins who always yelled. The first few weeks were a hard adjustment for the then 13-year old, but now at 15, he thoroughly enjoyed the small island that had become his second home.
The people here were nice, the air was clean and the views were breathtaking. A lot of the island's inhabitants knew his name and liked chatting about various things with him, something that made him feel more at home.
School was pretty great too, he wasn't overly friendly with many of the students, but no one disliked him so he could easily slip into any group and fit in. Two years in and he was in the upper half of grades and he was hoping to keep that seating as they transitioned into combat classes proper this year.
He and his father trained together before he left for school and each time he returned home over the breaks in school. He hadn't unlocked his aura yet, but it was going to happen over Christmas break this year, and he would be making his weapon soon after.
Yes, things were looking up for the only male child of Alexander and Juniper Arc.
He had just moved back after summer break, setting his luggage down and relaxing about in his dorm, enjoying the peace and quiet that he so rarely got when his sisters were always around at home. It was a serene feeling… until a few loud thumps on the door broke him out of his stupor.
"Open up Jauney! Otherwise things will get Yanggerous for you!" the familiar voice of Yang Xiao Long called from outside, making him shudder. Both at the pun and her not so harmlessly veiled threat.
Making a few slight curses under his breath, he stood up and walked the short distance from his bedroom to the door. A turn of the knob later and the grinning face of his fellow blonde greeted him.
She seemed a little more smug than usual, and was even wearing a blouse and skirt, which almost never happened. When he locked onto her face, he paled, seeing her a smirk replace her happy grin.
"Wow Jaune, I didn't know you got the balls to check me out over the break. See something you like?" she puffed her sizable chest out and laughed at the blush that took over his face.
This is how Jaune's days normally began ever since the second semester of his tenure at Signal, and most people still weren't used to seeing it happen.
While Jaune was relatively liked by everyone at Signal, he never really did much outside of school with any of his classmates, nor did he try to deepen the friendships he had. He seemed content with just being in people's circles, no matter how close to the edge he would be.
People assumed it was because he was trying to improve his grades, but he was never better than third or worse than fifth in the class rankings, which while impressive, didn't scream that he was putting all of his effort into it.
People began to start rumors about what he did outside of school, whether it be him having a secret relationship, being a secret agent in training or just simply having antisocial tendencies like so many others. Many just left it as is, not caring that the friendly yet awkward blonde strayed away from them after school hours… but there was one who never leaves a mystery unsolved.
Yang was the self-proclaimed Queen of Signal, and no one would ever doubt her ability to retain the title should someone else attempt to take it. This meant she kept up with all of the gossip and other tidbits of information that would circulate within her kingdom.
She, like many others, enjoyed talking to Jaune enough, but never really questioned why he never did anything else with them. She passed it off as his awkward nature not allowing him to spend time with beautiful girls outside of classes, but that changed when news that he turned down a few offers to hang out with a group of guys before the break started.
Over the Christmas break, Yang thought a lot about what could cause her fellow blonde to become reclusive, but she couldn't place her finger on it. Even her sister, Ruby Rose, a well-known introvert, couldn't pinpoint his issue.
So, with a goal in mind, she set out to solve the mystery that was Jaune Arc.
Jaune didn't notice anything strange for the first few weeks, Yang would just choose to hang around him more than other people between classes. Including invading the table he liked to sit at by himself at lunch.
It was a month in that he noticed she was being nicer than usual to him. He didn't allow himself to take it for more than just that, her being nice, but his mind did travel down a few various paths occasionally.
It didn't start out with the intention to become his best friend, but after months of spending more time together, they just sort of clicked. Yang would do the teasing, Jaune would do the blushing and stammering. Yang would be loud and boisterous, Jaune would be quiet and considerate. Yang would lose her cool, Jaune would be there to calm her down.
She didn't even realize they had become, what Ruby and her friends referred to as, besties until one day during study hall, they were doing homework, and after a particularly daunting question came up, she leaned her back against his side.
"That question too hard for you?" the boy asked her as he cast her a sidelong glance before returning to his writings.
She just chuckled.
"Yeah, I guess you say this was one question I wasn't prepared to embark on."
Normally she would receive nothing but groans or silence in response to her glorious puns, unless the audience was her dad. Jaune seemed to be in the latter camp, remaining silent after most of her jokes.
So, when she heard him snort and his body move while laughter came out of his mouth, she had to doubletake.
Her wide lilac eyes watched as he laughed freely, at one of her puns. It was like a golden light cascaded down on the duo and opened her eyes to exactly what had happened.
In her quest to unravel the mysterious Arc, she had opened herself up to someone more than she ever had outside of her own family. She felt comfortable around him and could fully be herself.
This was the moment that she realized Jaune Arc had become her best friend.
And from then on, people got used to seeing the blonde duo together most of the time.
Yang found out where Jaune lived and she would meet him there to walk to the school together. They sat together in every class and hung out outside of them. It was a strange sight, but to the Xiao Long-Arc pair, they could care less.
Back at the current moment however.
"Y-you know it's not like that!" the blushing knight said, taking a step back from the smirking brawler. His face replicating a sunburn as the girl giggled.
"I know lover-boy. Calm down. So how was your break?" she walked past the boy and took a very familiar position on the couch, patting the seat next to her.
First, he walked over to the fridge and grabbed them each a grape soda before plopping down next to her and handing off the drink. She gave a thankful smile to him and opened it up.
"Pretty good. All of my sisters were back in town for the first time since Christmas last year so that was hectic, but nice. Trained with my dad and helped out around town to make a little cash. What about you?" he tossed the question back at her and sipped his own drink.
"Same really. Training with my dad and Uncle Qrow when he was around. Mostly just spent time with Rubes and Zwei because a certain someone wouldn't come back to visit." Her glare caused him to chuckle in an attempt to dissuade her violent tendencies.
"I told you… Mom wanted me to stay home all break since it will be like five months until I go back." His excuse took the edge off her mild irritation as she grumbled.
"Speaking of family. Dad wants you to come over for dinner tonight, and no you can't skip out. If I wasn't planning on dragging you there myself, you know Ruby would just do it instead. She is so excited to start at Signal and be students with us… do you really want to break her heart this early on?"
Just the thought of a puffy-eyed Ruby after Yang told her he skipped a dinner at their family's cabin was enough to make him cave. He just hung his head, letting Yang celebrate her victory.
"She has you wrapped around her little finger Jauney." Yang said, leaving no room for argument as she finished her soda and crushed the can.
"Oh like you are any different…" his response was weak and he knew it, but she chuckled nonetheless.
The pair walked in relative silence out of his apartment complex and out towards the forest where Yang's home was, enjoying the quiet atmosphere and each other's company.
A/N: This one is quite a bit shorter than normal, but I gurantee a second chapter of this particular story will be coming in the future. I just wanted to get a chapter out before I get really busy in the coming week.
There are a few other chapters I need to type and edit before they are finished and another one that is going to be finished soon, but I do stagger chapters to help the growth of this fic. Your ideas and support have been making me want to write even more and I love and hate it.
I love it because I get great ideas and love writing, I hate it because I have other things I need to do! But it is worth it in the end.
If you like my other story House Spider, an Overwatch story, it will be updated tomorrow with Chapter 7 as usual. If you haven't checked it out, but you like how I write I would love if you went and gave it a shot.
Until next time,
CP