*Author's Note**Welcome to end of Love is a Knight-mare.*
*Just kidding. This is the beginning of a simple hiatus. When it's over, I will return with a vengeance. So don't think of this as goodbye. Think of it as me coming up with some insane new ideas to keep you guys enjoying this fic. With that being said, here's chapter 21*
Class had ended rather badly that day. After Ruby's strange mishap with Crescent Rose, and Jaune beating the dust out of Cardin, the class lost it's earlier momentum. The students who were eager up to that point had lost their motivation, or felt it slipping away. Taking note of the atmosphere in the classroom, Goodwitch dismissed class early and gave the students a free period. With the extra time on their hands, Blake, Weiss, Nora, and Ren decided to go visit Ruby in the infirmary. Pyrrha made up some lame excuse as to why she would have to follow them in a few minutes.
At the infirmary, Ruby was settled into a bed with her injured leg propped up, and her arms and chest all wrapped up. According to the school nurse, who had spent the better part of the past half hour applying salves and bandages over the burned and cut up skin over her front, Ruby was going to be fine. She had suffered minor burns as a backlash from the explosion of the rounds, and several cuts of varying severity. On top of it all, her leg was supposed to be out of commission for the next week or so. Crescent Rose dug a few inches into her leg, but didn't go too deep. A miracle considering that Crescent Rose is perhaps one of the better weapons on Beacon's campus, and that it was as sharp as a blade crafted by the finest smiths in Vytal.
Ruby was sleeping from the sedative the nurse had given her earlier, and was blissfully unaware of the pain she would be feeling upon waking up. By her side was Jaune and Yang, both of whom had left class early to be with Ruby. Well, Yang had picked up her injured sister and ran with her straight to the infirmary without even stopping to ask the professor. Jaune had mercilessly knocked aura out of Cardin, and asked permission to leave. When he had arrived, Yang was standing outside. She had informed him that the nurse was banding Ruby, and that nobody should be in there aside from her. To protect Ruby's modesty. A moot point for Yang, considering she and Ruby had been joined at the hip since the younger red-haired girl was born, but rules were rules. The two had waited for the nurse to give the all clear and permit them to come in.
Jaune could not help but look at Ruby with a mix of guilt and worry. And anger. Plenty of anger. And Yang seemed to share his sentiments. They both knew Ruby was a wizard with her scythe. There was no person at Beacon who could match her weapon crafting and maintenance abilities. Even the teachers would swear she was on par with (if not outright better than) the weapons maintenance Professor they had recently hired. It was a position that they ended up having to change teachers for frequently, due to the lack of capable smiths and engineers out in Vale. Most were offered private contracts and decided to quit teaching. Others found the students to be hard to deal with, and struck off on their own. But the current one marveled at Ruby's ability, openly praised her in class. He'd called her a genius, a prodigy. He'd called her a master. If even a certified Weapon Maintenance Engineer would attest to her skill, then the two knew. There was no way Ruby would have made a mistake that would cause this. No way.
But for now, they didn't have the time to worry about the weapon. They would allow Ruby to examine that later on and give her opinion. For now, they were both worried about the sleeping red-riding hood before them. And despite their worry, Ruby's sleeping face could not help but warm their hearts and make them feel even the tinniest bit better. Yang had been around Ruby all her life, and never grew tired of sitting with her baby sister as she slept. Yang felt that it was one of the most relaxing things in the world. And Jaune, despite having seen it occasionally over the past couple of months, still loved to watch Ruby sleep. It gave him a sense of peace.
After a few minutes, Yang's stomach began to growl. She looked towards her baby sister, lying so peacefully in the bed despite her injuries. She was loathe to leave Ruby behind. She thought again about the weapon, and was worried that someone might try to hurt Ruby again. Especially when she was in such a vulnerable state. It seems that Jaune had the same thoughts in mind. He looked towards Yang, and saw the concern in her eyes. He also heard her stomach rumbling, and couldn't help but feel for the boisterous blonde. She hadn't eaten breakfast that morning on account of her alarm clock being smashed by a well thrown notebook from Ruby.
"Don't worry Yang," said Jaune, startling her. "Go grab something to eat. I'll stay with Ruby. I won't let anything happen to her, I promise. You can kill me if even a single hair is out of place when you return, okay?" Jaune said, as seriously as he ever had, to Yang.
Looking at him, Yang had noticed that Jaune has matured quite a bit since the school year began. Before he would all but cower when Yang looked at him, afraid of what she would do to him in one of her "practical jokes." Now, he could say such things, and even make her believe them. Deliberating a bit longer in her head, Yang finally nodded her assent to Jaune.
"You want anything while I'm out?" She asked.
"Sure. Mind getting me a Cola?" Nodding to Jaune to show that she'd heard him, she left. Alone with Ruby. Normally, Jaune would feel awkward when this happened, but not this time. He felt, among other things, peaceful. Caring. He was watching over her with a gentleness in his countenance. Brushing a slight strand of her hair out of her face, June thought back on all of the events that had transpired since coming to Beacon. All of them would have seemed so insignificant to an outsider, and most would probably say they were normal. But Jaune felt that they were all events that led up to him meeting, becoming friends with, and subsequently getting together with Ruby. And he looked back on these memories fondly, even if some of them happened to be rather horrible.
After a minute had passed, Jaune had noticed Ruby stirring. Opening her eyes, Ruby attempted to get up. After a little help from Jaune, she finally got to get to a sitting position.
"Hey Ruby. Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine Jaune. It only hurts... a lot." Ruby couldn't bring herself to act in her usually cheery manner. She hurt all over her chest, arms, and leg. And she was confused. Confused, angry, and betrayed. Crescent Rose. Something that had been with Ruby for a long time, something she poured her heart and soul into making had caused this to her. She could not understand how at the moment, but she would do a full search of it later to find out.
"Can I get you anything Ruby? An extra pillow? Magazine? A-"
"It's fine, Jaune. Really. I'm not bored or anything. I'm... well, confused. I just can't understand how this could have happened. And I must have caused so many problems for you guys." Ruby looked down to her bandaged chest, and arms. She felt horrible, thinking that she may have caused everyone so much worrying and angst.
"No no no, Ruby. You caused us no problems. We were simply worried about you. I mean, well..." Jaune found himself stuttering to find the right words here. In his head, he had a vision of his father trying to advise.
'Try to act sympathetic. Girls love it when a guy shows his soft side. Remember to show confidence and try to make her feel that everything will be alright. You are my son after all.'
Oh just shut the hell up, dad.
"Well, I'm always worried about you Ruby. I never stop worrying. You're so strong, but so fragile. You're maybe the strongest girl in our grade. Heck, you are the strongest girl in our grade. And maybe even the entire school at that. But you're still only human, and it pains me to see you fight. Something like this may happen again," he began, raising his hand. "I don't mean a weapon problem, as I know it was likely not your fault. I mean that you may be injured like this again by some force that's out of your control. And I don't wanna see that."
Outside of the room, the rest of the gang had gathered and were watching in on the two's little private moment. They'd arrived a few second after Yang had departed, and were simply watching through the crack of the door at the scene unfolding in the infirmary. Upon arriving, Pyrrha saw them and moved over to see what they were doing. Looking in, her chest tightened as she saw Ruby and Jaune together in such a peaceful moment. She saw the look of concern on Jaune's face. The caring, devotion, and love in his eyes for the little redhead in front of him. And she knew she could not win. She knew her gamble would have failed regardless, that nothing she'd have done would have born fruit. And she knew that she had just caused such injury and pain to a good friend, despite it doing nothing for her in the end. She could only look in on the two with a mix of curiosity, and pain on her face.
Before they'd known it, Yang was returning with a few cans of Cola, a bag of her favorite brand of chips, and a bag of cookies. She had noticed the small gathering in front of the door, and curious walked over to see what they were doing. Noticing her arrival, they hopped back and tried making up some excuse or another. All of them except Nora, who had continued to watch. Out of nowhere, she started to signal them back over with increasing urgency. Looking again through the crack, now with Yang in tow, they saw a scene that seemed straight out of one of those shoujo-novels Blake likes to read (the one's that she thinks she has kept hidden from the others, but that everyone knew she read.) Ruby had put her right hand, the one that had suffered less injury due to be further from the magazine at the time of the incident, on Jaune face, and began to lean forward. Jaune had also begun to lean forward, until it seemed inevitable that their lips would meet.
Seeing this, Yang was all but ready to bust the door wide open, stick the cans of soda in Jaune's mouth, and force his jaw shut with an uppercut that would turn an Ursa into a bear-skin rug. The other,a not wanting the moment ruined, did their damndest to hold her back, all while still watching the scene from the doorway.
And their lips met. To Ruby, it was odd. She'd always been taught by Yang that boys had cootties and such when they were younger, because Yang had wanted Ruby to avoid boys until she'd gotten older. As such, Ruby was experiencing her first kiss ever right now. And it was with Jaune. Despite it being such a simple meeting of their lips, she could not help but feel excited at this. It felt electrifying. It felt warm. It felt right. She let go of the current predicament; her pain, her worries, and her emotions and simply let herself drown in the bliss of this moment. After what had seemed like so long to the two, but was in reality only 2 or 3 seconds, the two shyly met each other's eyes.
"Uhm..."
"Wow."
"Yeah." The two were hardly able to form a coherent sentence. Anyone looking on would say it was like something straight out of a bad romantic comedy. But the two of them couldn't care any less of what someone else would have thought. To them, nobody else was around. It was just the two of them. And they had shared a precious moment, a precious memory.
"Ruby."
"Yes Jaune?"
"Your lips taste like strawberries."
And then they just sat there, looking at each other with a warmth that would make even devil's own heart melt. Both unaware of their friends who had just witnessed this very intimate moment. Unaware of Ruby's older sister who was, not only looking on with a feeling of pride in her sister but also a murderous rage towards Jaune. Unaware of the apple-haired Amazon who was looking on with a sense of hurt and loss. Unaware of the giddy battle nut currently planning how to throw Ruby a surprise party for when she gets well. No, they were simply only aware of each other. To them, even after what had transpired earlier, they were happy.
And then the school bell rang...
*Afterword**So ladies and gents, I suppose you can say this concludes Volume One of "Love is a Knight-mare." I'd like to talk a little about this. The idea for this story has been brewing in my head since episode two, where we were introduced to Jaune, and I began to like him. I thought, and still do think, that he would be a very suitable partner for Ruby. Not combat wise, but as a lover of sorts. So I let this idea grow in my head. And grow it did. About a month ago, I learned of my upcoming hiatus, and thought "Well, why not write this? What's the worst that can happen? Maybe someone or a few someones would enjoy it." So I did. I came to , made an account, and began to write under the pseudonym DravynLeCrux. And I'm glad I did. My story was well received. I'd had no idea that the RubyXJaune fanbase was larger than just a few scattered people. Thank you for the support. I promise to be back with more RubyXJaune goodness once I'm finished with Navy Bootcamp. Until then, please be patient. Write a comment or three, put in a few suggestions, critique my choices. Do what you will.*
*Update* *Sory for the previous release being off. On my way to Boot Camp, I was in a rush and uploaded the wrong chapter. This is the real chapter 21. My apologies to those of you I dissappointed. I hope that this will keep you busy until I can get to an actual computer to start writing new chapters. I read most of the new coments while I had some time and I apologize For all of my problems. I'll gbe writing the new content starting around the middle of February, give or take. At that time, I'll be starting new content deviating from the original storyline, and I'll also try to incorperate some people's suggestions for character attitudes and actions. Also, I do not hate Pyrrha. I've said that before, but I just want to reiterate, I just happen to like Ruby more.*
*Anyhow, enjoy what should be the actual 21st chapter of Love is a Knight-mare. I'll be writing again soon. And thank you for the support while I was dealing with Boot Camp.*