A Day Out
After an hour and a half, as well as a seemingly endless amount of Grimm hunting tales, Professor Port's class had finally come to an end. Once the bell rang out, every student rushed for the door, eager to get out and enjoy what was left of the day.
Professor Port called out, "Such enthusiasm, always a pleasure to see. Now remember class, just because lessons are over now, please do try to make today productive".
Oh I intend to.
Pyrrha was on a mission. Neither Jaune's obliviousness nor her shyness would get in her way. She was going to finally make Jaune see how she felt.
Wait. Today? How?
Pyrrha knew she couldn't just blurt out her feelings, despite how much she'd like too. No, this would have to be done gradually. She needed to find a way to break the ice.
The young gladiator walked past the tide of uniformed students rushing for the exit and caught a glimpse of the blonde knight, fast asleep on his desk.
The red head smiled.
Not everyone had the willpower to last through Professor Port's…bombastic storytelling.
She crept up behind him and gave him a flick at the back of his ear.
Almost instantly, Jaune shot up, arms flailing about and tired eyes searching for the thing that pulled him from his slumber.
"Huh-who-wha, Nora it wasn't me someone else ate the pancakes!"
The pancake dream again? That's the third time this week.
Once he'd settled Jaune noticed Pyrrha looking down at him, smiling, and immediately straightened up.
"Oh hey Pyrrha. Sorry I was just…uh…"
"Dozing off?"
"Gimme a break, he went through eight stories about Deathstalkers!"
"Thirteen. You didn't make it for the rest. You were lucky!"
Jaune chuckled. "Well, that's a first. But, looks like my luck's gonna run out pretty soon if I don't get caught up on those notes. I'm gonna go find Velv, she probably remembers em backwards anyway".
As he turned to leave, Pyrrha grabbed his shoulder. It wasn't a planned move, it was a reflex. He turned his head confused.
It was all so simple in her head. She just had to ask him something, but the minute those sapphire blue eyes met hers she just stopped functioning.
No! You've made it this far woman, say something!
"Pyrrha? Are you O.K?"
It was now or never.
"I was just wondering…well there really isn't anything else to do today. Why not take the day off. Get some R&R. I'll give you the notes later".
Jaune was clearly surprised.
"Wow Pyrrha, you'd really do that?"
Yes! Got him!
"Promise".
Jaune gathered all of his things quickly, and a little clumsily. "O.K. See you in five minutes, I just gotta get outta this uniform".
Pyrrha let out a very silent sight of relief that he had agreed to accompany her.
"Very well. I'll meet by the gates".
Jaune smiled and nodded. "Cool. See ya Pyrrha".
As Jaune trailed off, Pyrrha waited till he was out of sight and jumped a little in joy before recomposing herself.
Calm down. You're just going out. It's not like it's a date or anything.
"But still, it could be", she whispered to herself.
Then she rushed off the change back into her armour.
It had been fifteen minutes since Pyrrha spoke with Jaune and she was starting to get a little paranoid.
He said five. What's keeping him?
Pyrrha froze.
What if I came on too strong and scared him off?
She shook her head.
No, calm down. I'm sure everything's fine. He's just a little late, nothing out of the ordinary there. After all, he is…
Just then she heard a screaming noise that was getting louder. She looked up to see its source falling down very quickly.
"Jaune!"
She summersaulted into the air and caught him, ending the improvised rescue with a perfect landing. Pyrrha released Jaune from her hold and let him dust himself off.
"Thank you".
"Jaune what happened? Are you alright?"
"Huh? Oh the falling. Yeah that was just a side effect of Cardin trying to pick on that new kid, Mercury I think it was. Man that guy can roundhouse kick. I just got caught in the crossfire, no problem."
Pyrrha knew she'd find out what had happened later, but for now she was just happy her partner was alright and that their day could finally begin.
"So, what would you like to do?"
"I was thinking maybe we could go for a walk in the woods for a while".
Jaune raised an eyebrow.
"The one where an Ursa Major tried to eat me?"
"I believe you sorted that problem quite effectively last time".
"Heh heh, yeah. Plus with my badass partner what could go wrong?"
Pyrrha looked down a bit to hide her blush.
"Ever the charmer".
"Plenty of charms but no luck though. No one ever falls for em".
"You never know".
I do.
"Welp, lead the way then. Off to Forever Falls, where the teddy bear's picnic involves aspiring hunstmen."
Pyrrha giggled at his well humoured pessimism and led them to the forest.
They must have walked for about three hours now. Thanks to General Ironwood's latest measures against the Grimm, the forest's perimeter was relatively monster free.
Still, bringing their weapons just in case was never a bad idea.
Forever Falls was so beautiful once you didn't have to fear attacks by any dark beasts.
The whole place had a brilliant scarlet glow, stretching across the entire forest. The silence was a much welcomed change to after the constant chaotic events the teams had endured in their last semester.
And to top it all off, Jaune was here with her.
She'd been watching him the entire walk. She was surprised how awe struck he was at the wood's beauty, considering his near death encounter last time.
Still, this was also the same place Jaune finally rid himself of that cretin Cardin, so maybe it wasn't too surprising this place had an effect on him.
It also hadn't escaped her notice that he'd glanced her way a few times before looking back at his shoes.
Could he really be…
Jaune started to slow down a bit, causing Pyrrha to stop.
"Are you alright?"
Jaune panted a little and nodded.
"Yeah just, can we take break? I don't think we've stopped walking since we started".
"Of course".
The two of them lay up against one of the many trees and looked up to the sky.
"Hey Phyrrha?"
"Yes Jaune?"
"Thanks for bringing me hear. This was…really nice".
In her head, Pyrrha was cheering that her little plan had been a success.
"You're most welcome Jaune".
Jaune smiled and looked back up again.
"Wow. Look at that. When you actually look at how big the world is, how much of it there is it really makes ya think. I mean about everything. Where you fit in this world and what's important to…."
Slowly, Jaune's smile fell into a disappointed frown. Pyrrha caught sight of it quickly.
"Are you alright?"
"Pyrrha I'm sorry".
She blinked her eyes in confusion.
"For what?"
"Last time we were here, I was a totally jerk and an idiot. I was so stupid. I should've just let you help me from day one, but no. I had to be the tough guy for once. I just…I was just tired of being the idiot following along. Instead I just made an even bigger idiot of myself. I never wanted to hurt your feelings".
Touched by his sincerity, Pyrrha fought the lump in her throat and moved a little closer to him.
"Jaune, you know we're past that now. And as I recall, this is the same place you chose me over Cardin".
Jaune snorted.
"Yeah, my best friend, who has been nothing but kind to me since I met her or Cardin. Gaah, I can't believe I even thought that was a choice".
"But it was. And you chose our friendship over your fears".
Jaune's smile started to reappear and his hand drifted closer towards Pyrrha's until their fingers intertwined.
"I'd chose us everytime".
At those words, Pyrrha's heart was practically drumming. It was skipping beats so many times she was worried it might forget how to function properly.
Their heads slid closer to each other, their eyes starting to close. They were just a hair's width away from making contact with each other now.
"Hey, what's that?"
Pyrrha's eyes shot back open and her body pulled back from Jaune's, albeit reluctantly.
"What is it? Grimm?"
He shook his head. "No that smell. Do you smell that?"
Pyrrha sniffed the air. "Yes, it's so familiar".
They hesitantly walked towards the scent's intoxicating aroma. They stopped in fronts of a small, sticky puddle of pinkish goo.
"Hey wait a minute. That's Rapier Wasp jelly! But what's with the big smoking outline in the leaves. It kinda looks like an…"
To Pyrrha and Jaune's shock, the outline resembled an Ursa Major, with a smaller outline not too far away, which is where the monster's head must have landed.
"Pyrrha. This is where is happened. Right here. Whoa".
Pyrrha sighed a little at how close she was to finally express her true feelings, but couldn't help but smirk at Jaune's joy.
"You must be pleased", she said.
"Yeah. I feel like…like right here, I really started to be a huntsman".
He turned to Pyrrha and held her hands in his.
"Well, I had a little help of course".
"Wha-what do you mean?"
He chuckled to himself.
"Pyrrha, I'm dumb but not that dumb. I know you moved my shield".
Damn.
"Jaune I just…"
"Pyrrha it's cool, really. I'm grateful. You helped me become a better person that day. So maybe it wasn't all me but I still did it.
He looked deep into her eyes.
"We did it".
He squeezed her hands a little and she squeezed his in return.
"Well, I didn't do much. You just needed a little nudge is all".
"Well you can nudge me any time you want partner".
At that they both turned as red as the leaves they stood on and broke down laughing.
Oh Jaune.
They kept laughing until they fell right down into the dead beast's charred imprint. They rolled over and faced each other, finally settling down.
"This was great Pyrrha. I really needed this".
"Me too", Pyrrha hummed.
An idea suddenly hit Jaune.
"Let's make this our place. Just for us, when we need to get away".
Pyrrha wapped her arms around his neck.
"That sounds wonderful".
Then, slowly. Closer and closer. Their eyes shut once more and their lips drifted so close to each other and then…
A fierce howling noise echoed from the distance.
Damn! And we were so close this time!
Then it occurred to them.
"Hey Pyrrha? Grimm like that jelly stuff right?"
"Yes".
They looked over their shoulders and their hearts sunk to see what remained of the jelly was now stuck to them.
"Oh crap".
The pair ran off, with Pyrrha being somewhat impressed by Jaune's sudden increased athleticism.
I swear, I will come back and wipe every last Beowolf out of this forest for ruining that moment.
It was drawing close to bed time and Pyrrha sat up, twiddling her fingers.
Today had been…magical.
But she'd dodged her objective all day.
No more distractions. Tell him.
She knew in her heart she wanted nothing more but to tell Jaune that she wished to be closer but she physically couldn't. It was like there was tar in her throat and every time the words tried to surface, they got caught I na tagled mess.
Jaune exited the bathroom and headed for his bed.
"Goodnight Pyrrha".
She slowly got up and nervously approached him.
"Jaune I…I…um"
Say something! Say something! Please say something!
"Yes Pyrrha?"
The young gladiator was struggling to think od something coherent to say, so she decided to go with the first thing she had.
"I…was wondering…if we could be together".
Jaune's eyes nearly fired out of his skull.
"Tonight. I was wondering if we could sleep together tonight. Like last time".
"Ooooohhhh".
Why couldn't I do it?
"Sure thing Pyrrha. Come on in".
Her disappointment didn't last long. As soon as the warmth from Jaune's body reached her's she let out a sigh of contentment.
As his strong arms wrapped around her, she buried her head underneath his chin.
Well, this isn't a total loss.
Even if Pyrrha hadn't confessed her true feelings today, this was certainly a good day.