Okay, here we go getting down to the main plot point which all of you have been excited for I'm sure. Before I let you get to it however there is one thing I must address here and now. I will not be writing an OT3. It will have a decisive ending in which one heart gets broken and where one wins over Jaune's heart. I do not like the idea of him settling down with both because it feels like a total deus ex machina and because neither of the girls really seem poly amorous in nature so no it wont be both. Other than that I hope you enjoy the chapter.
Jaune was nervous, perhaps the most nervous that he had ever been. It was hardly surprising given the situation. Here he was on his very first date ever with a girl that could only be described by using words such as 'adorable' or 'sweet'. The blonde knight knew that in reality he had very little to worry about and that Ruby was probably just as if not even more nervous than he was himself, yet he simply couldn't escape the flocks of butterflies going crazy within him.
The two of them made their way in near perfect silence over to the sky docks that connected Beacon Academy to the bustling and vibrant city of Vale. Boarding, they took their seats with nary a word said between the two of them. Both of the teens feeling to afraid to open their mouths, terrified of saying the wrong thing and ruining their evening. It was only halfway through their flight that Ruby finally decided that it was beginning to get quite silly, after all they couldn't go through their entire date without saying a word to one another. She may not have been on many, but she knew that the whole idea of a date was to get to know one another better and grow a little more comfortable in each other's presence.
"Jaune, we can't spend the whole night too scared to talk to one another. The whole idea of tonight is to try and work out how we feel about one another, or how you feel about me... We can't do that without talking to one another, so why don't we just relax?" She spoke softly in a way which helped put the bumbling blonde leader at ease, she was right of course and Jaune knew it. He gave her a soft smile and nodded.
"You're right, sorry Rubes. I just, I guess I was afraid of messing up somehow y'know? I put way too much pressure on myself to make sure tonight went down without a hitch that I guess I forgot what the whole point of it is; to get to know you better and try and work out just how I feel. Thanks Ruby, you're a good friend to me~" Reaching out, he enveloped the tiny rose in his arms for a few moments, glad to feel at least some of the pressure relax and the knot in his gut begin to unwind itself and allow him a little more comfort.
From then on their date was a lot more easy-going and relaxed as conversation began to flow naturally between the two of them. As their flight went on, thankfully without any attacks from Jaune's motion-sickness, the two teenagers began to relax more and more as they became slowly more confident in the other's presence. Laughter soon rose from the pair as old jokes were resurrected and anecdotes were shared. This was what Jaune had been hoping for from their date, a low key and relaxed evening without any kind of expectations on either of them to be anything but themselves.
Before long, they felt their aircraft dip itself into a shallow descent as it pulled into the Vale terminal, the whine of the engines decreasing in pitch as the power was steadily reduced until once again the great craft touched back down on terra firma. Standing, Jaune nervously reached out and took Ruby's hand as the two disembarked into the busy terminal. Ruby looked at Jaune expectantly as she waited to see just what he had planned for the two of them that evening. The blonde gave her a sly grin and led her off to the movie theatre, her grin becoming more apparent with each passing moment. Heading inside, Jaune collected his pre-booked tickets and bought them a large popcorn and drink to share before the two of them headed into their screen and sat together in the very centre. As they waited for the movie to start, they expected to see more and more people pile in and fill the seats around them but that wasn't the case.
Only a couple of others drifted into the theatre and those took seats a fair distance away from the pair, leaving them with more or less the whole screen to themselves. With a grin the two looked happily at one another. It was going to be the best kind of movie experience, an empty screen with no irritating kids kicking the back of their seats or throwing popcorn at them. Just the two of them, a great movie and a few other stragglers whom didn't seem the type to cause trouble. With a smile Jaune settled back in his seat with a fist full of popcorn and waited for the movie to start. The pair laughed and joked, discussing which of the trailers looked the best with Ruby even suggesting that they go and see one of the movies as a follow up date. Before long, the title sequence for their movie; 'Die soft 7.0' started and the two settled into silence to watch.
There was no escaping that it was an old story, a cop coming out of retirement to deal with a particular group of terrorists for the seventh time using a mixture of signature catch-phrases and explosions to give the movie universal appeal to its audiences. It was cliché, cheap action but enjoyable nonetheless. As was the norm, their popcorn and drink didn't even make it halfway through the movie, the two teens polishing it off long before the opening act had finished. Once the movie was over, both of them remained rooted in place, waiting for the credits to finish in the hopes that there might be some form of post-credits scene or teaser for the sequel. Sadly for the two of them, there wasn't. Feeling a little disappointed, the two of them stood and made their way out of the theatre, shivering as they were met with the cool evening air. After so long spent in the warm movie screen it was a stark contrast which sent chills up and down their spines.
The two of them wandered aimlessly for a while, heading unerringly back in the direction of the airport though without any real sense of urgency. The night was still quite young and neither of them were quite ready to call it quits on their date just yet. A couple of streets away from the airport the two of them ducked into a small bistro and settled themselves in one of the booths by the window. The bistro was nothing fancy, just a typical greasy spoon in which one could find the entirety of the menu staining the paper table cloths, yet it had a friendly enough atmosphere. A middle aged waitress just the wrong side of her forties came over to them, smiling warmly with her trusty notepad in hand. Jaune ordered a large portion of fries for the two of them and the waitress scurried off to tell the cooks. Both Jaune and Ruby sat together in their little booth in companionable silence, watching the world go by outside the window. The city had seemed to slow to a near halt from its usual self, with most people having gone home for an evening with loved ones.
It was a little while later that the waitress returned carrying a large plate laden with a large pile of fried unceremoniously heaped onto it. Yet despite its simplicity it was just what the two of them wanted. Neither of them were in the mood for anything particularly fancy, just something good, tasty and comforting. Looking out the window, Jaune watched an empty street. The few people that did stray out for whatever reason provided a welcome change to the somewhat monotonous view.
"What do you think they're doing out so late?" Ruby asked as she began to work her way through the plate.
"Well... That guy there with his coat pulled right up" He began, pointing to the individual whom he was referencing. "He's a criminal mastermind. The finest in the business and feared by all, he kills his nemesis by putting them into a big fish tank with a lethal octopus!" The blonde explained with a twinkle in his eyes, a smile on his lips and not a few hand gestures. He wove a lengthy story all about his 'master criminal' long after the man had passed from sight, and all the while Ruby sat listening intently. Her silver eyes were wide with wonderment as the story began to unfold.
"... And the worst thing of all? He is gonna take over the world with an army of really silly minions... Like friendly zombies, who instead of infecting people go around handing out chocolate chip cookies full of mind-altering chemicals that turn your brains into mush and make you his slave~" He finished, waggling his fingers at her menacingly.
"That... That monster!" Ruby gasped in mock horror "How could someone be that evil? To take something so innocent and pure and turn it into a weapon for world domination... it's... it's so wrong."
"Okay, your turn. What about the lady there?" he asked, pointing to another of the few pedestrians whom passed their window. Ruby looked out to her and paused for a moment in thought, her tongue poking out of the side of her mouth in concentration before she finally jumped back to life again with an 'aha!'.
"She is a genius! She is the leading lady on Grimm in the whole world but no-one listens to her. She got real angry, so angry that she turned evil and promised to fight back against the world for rejecting her. She kidnaps people and drags them away to her super secret underground lair where she does experiments to turn them into people-Grimm hybrids before setting them loose around the city to wreak havoc. The hunters deal with them in secret all across the city and try their best to find her but she is just too crafty for them. Even now she is plotting her revenge against the scientists who turned her away!"
As though to back up her story, the little rose finished it with an evil laugh, raising her fists to the sky as she did so. Jaune in turn started to laugh at just how ridiculous the story was and before long the both of them were sat there laughing wildly to themselves, tears streaming down their cheeks and stitches burning in their sides. They continued making up these stories about each of the passers-by that they saw, with each story growing even more ludicrous than the last. In fact, their little game went on for so long that they only stopped when the waitress approached their table again and collected their empty plate.
"I'm sorry to bother you when you seem to be having such a good time but, well, we're about to close up." She said politely. Both Jaune and Ruby blushed a little as they realised the time and that they had both been sat there for the best part of the evening. Gathering what possessions that they had brought with them, they paid, thanked the waitress and stepped out into the evening air once more. A slight chill had settled over the city in the absence of the sun and after the warmth of the little bistro, both of the teenagers shivered. Taking her hand in his own, Jaune walked alongside his date back towards the airport.
As they walked, he allowed his mind to wander over the evening's events. He thought for a long while about just how he felt about the little rose walking beside him in comfortable silence. He felt like he understood his feelings a little better than he had before. With a nod he made his conclusion, he did like Ruby. She was a girl that he could relax around and be at ease without the fears of messing up and looking stupid. She was just as socially awkward as he was and in a way that meant that she understood him in a way that not many others did. In terms of looks, the little rose certainly had them. She might not have been beautiful in the traditional sense, yet she had a certain innocent charm to her appearance which made her seem only all the more endearing. It was definite that he liked the little rose, the question remained now as to whether or not he liked Pyrrha too and if he did, who was it that he wanted to be with. These were some of the most frightening questions that he had ever faced.
Before long, they had boarded their flight and settled back into their seats. The four huge engines of their craft whirred to life and lifted them off of the landing pad and high up into the air. The little rose shuffled closer to her date and curled up into his side with a contented smile on her face. She was completely happy with how things had gone and couldn't imagine anything which might have made it better. Judging by the look on the knight's face, he still had to make up his mind but Ruby was sure that their evening had gone a long way towards her winning his heart. Still smiling, she closed her vibrant silver eyes and before long, fell asleep on him.
It was beginning to get late when they began their final approach towards Beacon Academy's landing pad. Once the craft had settled Jaune made to stand and only then realised that Ruby was still asleep. One look at her calm face and bright smile was enough for him to decide not to wake her. Lowering himself back tentatively, he slowly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and under her legs. Picking her up, he began carrying her off of the aircraft and back towards their shared dorm room. Her only response to being lifted was to curl herself even closer to him, so much so that her gentle breaths could be felt tickling the hairs on his neck.
Jaune walked at a slow and measured pace so as not to wake her, because of this, the walk back to their room which ordinarily took around ten minutes, ended up taking closer to twenty. Yet at last he stood before the simple white door of the team JSPR dorm room. Taking extra care not to drop the rose, Jaune reached out and knocked gently on the door. It was late, but Weiss was still usually awake at this time cramming for some class test the following day.
He wasn't mistaken, mere seconds after he knocked the door opened to reveal a somewhat disgruntled looking heiress. Her usually brilliant, icy eyes were half lidded from lack of sleep and her pristine ponytail was looking somewhat bedraggled, her signature tiara sat lop-sided. She looked at them with a mixture of weariness and frustration.
"Just where have you been?!" She asked, her voice hushed in an attempt to avoid waking any of their neighbours.
"Sorry, we ended up in a cafe for a long while and then Ruby fell asleep, I didn't want to wake her so the walk back took longer." Jaune explained hurriedly, feeling his own fatigue beginning to set in. Weiss didn't seem to appreciate his answer however and gave him her best tired attempt at a glare with a soft 'hmph'.
"That is kind of romantic..." she muttered softly, barely loud enough for him to hear. When he asked her to repeat what she had said, the tiny heiress blushed a bright scarlet.
"J-just try to be more mindful of your teammates in future!" she stammered and hastily turned away to return to her seat at the desk, upon which sat a huge stack of papers with line upon line of the heiress' flowing handwriting across them. Jaune chuckled softly at his team mate's apparent embarrassment and carried the little rose petal over to her bed. He set her down gently upon the soft covers and tucked her in as best he could. With a soft kiss on the forehead he shuffled off to their shared bathroom to prepare himself for bed.
The heiress watched her two teammates out of the corner of her eye, a smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. Despite how much she wanted to be mad at the two of them for coming back so late and being out so long, she simply couldn't. If it did all work out, the two of them would undoubtedly make a cute couple. Yet deep in her gut, Weiss simply couldn't escape the feeling that it wouldn't all end happily ever after for her partner and their leader. With a sigh, she finished her sentence and made her way over to her bed, crawling under the sheets she soon fell asleep. Finally, the blonde leader came back into the room and headed over to the light switch, he paused for a long moment, looking at both Ruby and Pyrrha as they slept, his heart heavy that he was still no closer to his answer, despite his date with the rose. He flicked off the lights, plunging the room into pitch black before crawling into bed. Closing his eyes, he offered a hurried prayer to whatever gods might have been listening.
'Please, if you're up there. Help me out here, give me a sign?' feeling a little self conscious he closed his eyes and with that he soon fell asleep.
Waking the following morning to bright sunshine. Outside the window, the air was clear and crisp. Birdsong could be heard as sparrows and starlings fluttered around from tree to tree, chasing one another in the morning light. Jaune groaned tiredly as he watched them, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. He had slept well enough and yet, as was always the case, he still felt tired. Thankfully, with it being a Sunday the students of Beacon Academy were allowed a lie in, the final one before classes began again on the Monday. Each of his teammates seemed to have their own routine for the weekend depending on what it was that they were hoping to achieve.
Weiss was completely absent from the room, having long since gone down to the library to get some extra reading and research done, she always preferred to be a couple of lessons ahead of the class so as to give herself extra time to come to terms with the syllabus. Likewise, Pyrrha was also gone. Every weekend, the champion would rise early and head off to the academy's top of the range training facility to put herself through a brutal workout in peace before any of the other students arrived. Jaune had gone along once to train with her and had immediately decided never to do it again, it had been three hours of discomfort for the blonde, even some actual physical pain. She had giggled afterwards when he had struggled to so much as stand let alone walk around.
It was only Ruby that remained in the room, still sleeping soundly. Her mouth was slightly open, a fresh stream of dribble flowing from it and down her chin to add to the ever-growing pool on the sheets. She snored ever so lightly, the covers pulled up tight around her petite form as she slept. Jaune smiled warmly as he looked at her before quietly slipping out of bed and heading to the bathroom for a shower. He returned shortly after in a cloud of steam, still towelling off the thick blonde mat that his hair had become, to find more or less the same situation. He chuckled softly and lay back on his bed, fluffing his pillows and getting comfortable.
He reached under his bed and felt around for a few moments before retrieving what it was that he was seeking; the very latest 'X-Ray and Vav' comic. With barely suppressed excitement he opened the graphic novel and began to read. The story started right where the last had left off with the dastardly mad king warming up the world and holding the weather ransom. In the last comic he had been left on a cliff-hanger just as X-Ray and Vav had snuck into the Mad King's secret volcano lair, led by X-Ray the stealthy parkour master.
Jaune read through his comic for near an hour, soaking up every detail of every colourful panel. So absorbed in the story was he, that he didn't even notice Ruby stirring. The tiny Rose sat up with a lengthy drawn out yawn, her arms stretched out as far as they could go. It was only when the little rose climbed out of bed, still in her clothes from the previous evening that Jaune noticed he was no longer alone. He closed his comic and turned to look her straight in the eyes.
"Jaune..." she said with a yawn "What happened last night?"
"Hey Ruby! You're awake." he replied with a smile "It wasn't anything really, you fell asleep on the plane ride back and I didn't wanna wake you so I carried you to the dorm and tucked you in. After that I went to bed and here we are."
Ruby listened to the story with an ever growing blush on her face, how embarrassing! She couldn't believe that she had fell asleep on him and that he had carried her back. Yet despite just how embarrassing it was for her, she couldn't deny that it was one of the cutest things that anyone had ever done for her. It also showed that he liked her right? Why else would he have carried her instead of waking her, and why would he have tucked her in? It took everything that Ruby had to not squeal in her excitement. Instead she smiled, and headed into the bathroom for her shower. It was some time before the little rose came back out again and when she did Jaune was just finishing the final page of his comic.
"Argh! Why?!" he cried out in anguish as he cast the comic aside and covered his face with his hands. The graphic novel fell to the floor, open on the last page, the final panel of which had a giant explosion on it with the words 'to be continued' emblazoned in the middle in big lettering.
"Another one? What happened this time?" She asked with a slight giggle.
"It was all going really well, X-Ray and Vav were about to stop the Mad King but it turns out he was a sore loser so he tried to blow up the planet by overloading the Freeza flux capacitor. Vav used his slow motion powers and dived in the way but there was a huge explosion and now I have no idea what has happened! What if they kill Vav o-or the Mad King has done it and blown up the world?! What is this game of emotions we play?!" He asked in an almost hysterical manner, his eyes hungry for knowledge of his favourite heroes fate.
"Its okay Jaune, I'm sure Vav is just fine~" Ruby reassured him with a smile, patting him gently on the shoulder. "Where are the others?"
"They went out early, before I even woke up. They shouldn't be too long now. What's say when they get back we all go out and get breakfast together?" He asked with a smile, glad for the distraction from his comic book's infernal cliff-hanger ending. It was evil and he hated the writers for it, but he would be one of the first in line to buy the next one.
Ruby nodded to his reply and picked up her beloved Crescent Rose from beside her bed and carried it over to their team's desk. She set it down and from her belt produced a multi-too with which she began to disassemble and clean her weapon. Never before had Jaune seen anyone so meticulous in weapon maintenance. Both Weiss and Pyrrha worked to the highest standards but neither of them had the twinkle in their eyes that Ruby had now. She worked with a tender hand like that of a mother with a newborn. She took it apart with great care to keep every nut, bolt and screw in one place. Before long she had stripped it of its metal casing and blade so that just the sniper rifle and unfolding mechanism remained. Rather than simply clean the weapon, she replaced parts which she deemed as damaged, though what the damage was Jaune couldn't tell. Every part looked pristine to him.
He watched with great interest, occasionally asking questions about the functions of the various parts which Ruby was only too happy to answer. She explained the function of every piece, its advantages, disadvantages and why she had chosen it over lighter and cheaper parts. It was clear to any whom would have heard her that this scythe was the little rose's pride and joy. It had been hand built when she had first started at Signal Academy and had stayed with her ever since. To Jaune it was impressive that she had managed to build such a complicated weapon at such a young age, with little to no help. Was she really that interested in weapons as a kid that she really needed so little help in making one of her own.
Jaune settled in and observed her take every piece apart and reassemble it, paying particularly rapt attention to the mechanism inside her sniper rifle. It was fascinating to him to see just how the bolt worked and how the scythe itself helped her to absorb the recoil whenever she fired. It was just as she was reconstructing the bolt itself when both Pyrrha and Weiss came back into the room, chatting amicably about their respective mornings. Jaune smiled when he saw Pyrrha, her brilliant eyes locking with his for a brief moment before she looked away with a slight blush on her cheeks.
"Hey guys, Ruby and I thought it might be cool if we all went to lunch when you got back? We've been waiting ages and I'm starving~" He said with a light-hearted laugh.
"Well, eating is forbidden in the library so I am quite hungry..." Weiss nodded her approval.
"And I am always hungry for a good meal after training." Pyrrha agreed with a smile.
"Well then it's settled! When Ruby is done rebuilding Crescent Rose we will all head off down to the cafeteria and get us some good food."
"But that dunce could take forever! You remember the last time..."
Indeed the blonde did remember last time they had waited for Ruby to finish reconstructing her weapon. No-one knew how but somehow the rose had managed to take an additional three hours for her to finish. The blonde cringed at the memory, that had been a very hungry day indeed. Yet they were all cut off by a whooshing sound as rose petals fluttered around them and settled softly onto their carpet. The rose held up her finished weapon with a wide smile.
"Done~" she sang cheerily before dashing out the door, yet more rose petals floated to the ground in her wake. In an instant Weiss shot after her, red faced.
"Ruby! What have I told you?! No semblance in the dorm room! I am not cleaning the petals up after you!" She growled. Jaune and Pyrrha looked at one another in shock before bursting into laughter and following after their two teammates.
Jaune ducked just as Miló sliced through the air where his head had been but wasn't quick enough to avoid the powerful shield bash which followed as Pyrrha slammed Akoúo̱ into him. It caught him on the chin and his neck snapped back sending tingles and a hot sensation through the base of his skull. Bouncing off, the blonde fell flat on his back and lay there too stunned to make so much as a peep. Above him, Pyrrha dropped her guard and sheathed her weapons, sitting herself down beside him. Their day had passed by relatively quickly, there had been another food fight at lunch which the four of them had managed to somehow get themselves entangled in, yet aside from that it had been business as usual. Even now, Jaune and Pyrrha had headed up to the roof for another of their one to one training sessions.
"Are you alright Jaune?" She asked, concern plain to see in her voice.
"Yeah, that last hit just connected harder than I expected is all." He replied, sitting up with a groan.
"Sorry..." Her voice was soft and sad, almost as though she were ashamed of her actions. Jaune's expression softened as he shuffled over to her side and wrapped an arm around her shoulder, pulling her into a hug. She seemed to practically melt at his touch, leaning into his hug and fitting herself against his body perfectly. The champion buried her face in his neck as he held her and there sat there together for a long time, neither really wanting to move. Jaune sat looking out over the campus, his brilliant cobalt eyes fixed on the emerald beacon for which the academy got its name. His silent contemplation of the giant gem was cut short by the sound of his partner's voice speaking nervously. Tearing his eyes away from the beautiful view he looked down at her and was surprised to find her looking back up at him.
"Jaune?" She asked.
"Yeah?"
"Can I ask you something?" The champion continued, a hint of fear in her eyes.
"Of course, you can ask and tell me anything." He smiled.
"W-well... you and Ruby went on that date last night and well... I don't want to impose but well I was wondering if I could maybe have my turn too? Maybe this Saturday?" Jaune was a little taken aback by these words and it was a little while before he could actually answer her. He took one of her hands in his both to calm her and stop his own from shaking.
"Pyrrha... Nothing would make me happier." he gasped as he realised what he had said, and drew back a little in shock. Those words had been from the heart, but how... did his heart really know more than his head? Seemingly Pyrrha was just as shocked, her bright green eyes widened but before he could say another word, she simply hugged him closer and tighter than before and buried her face in his chest, smiling brightly. One question spiralled around in his mind over and over as his heart did flips at his close proximity to the red haired victor.
'Do I love Pyrrha?'
Aw shit! just when you all thought it was gonna be sunshine and roses I go and throw that shit at you all. I hope you all enjoyed it if you did please favourite, follow and especially review. Start theorising now who you think will win and who will end up sobbing in a puddle of their own sweet salty tears. Thanks for reading and on this bombshell I'll see you all next week :P