Sparring went a lot quicker than Jaune had expected. On reflection, it was probably because he had focussed more on the feeling of warm fingers in his than he had on the actual bouts.
The bell signifying the end of lessons for the day called all the students to their feet, and the blonde relinquished his partner's digits to help push himself up. Once he was vertical, he led his team down the tiered desks toward the door.
The large presence approaching from the left telegraphed itself long before it got near him. The loss of a simple step kept the blonde out of the space which the auburn-haired figure had been aiming for, and Cardin simply kept walking.
Jaune frowned. That attempt had been in no way subtle...but it was far less than CRDL's leader normally attempted. Even if he'd run into the blonde, the odds of him actually falling over would have been minimal.
Blue eyes looked back over a massive shoulder and met Jaune's own. The blonde's frown deepened as the contact was cut off, even as the hulking figure moved forward with his team. Normally Cardin looks like he'd rather eat a Grimm than interact with me...so what was that?
His thoughts were interrupted by the need for him to keep up with his friends, as RWBY had just combined with JNPR. The eight-strong group made its way to the dining hall...though Jaune noticed that his partner was shooting glances at Yang from time to time.
What on Remnant were they talking about earlier...
A lot of possibilities sprung to mind, though most of them were discounted as too fantastical. A lot of them were still spinning around up there by the time the group reached the dining hall, but they were discarded in favour of sustenance.
One fully loaded tray later, Jaune settled down at a table alongside RWBY and NPR. The incident in the classroom hadn't curbed Nora's energy in the slightest, and she was talking at Ren about what could be done with the massive pile of feathers currently taking up space in the JNPR and RWBY dorms.
Ruby had apparently decided to pitch in, and ideas were flowing thick and fast. Jaune decided that he didn't want to know after he caught the words 'full-scale Nevermore', and instead turned his attention to his other side. Pyrrha was eating more slowly than usual, her eyes far away as the knife and fork moved robotically.
Yang was trying to read over Blake's shoulder, and a Huntress-level game of keep away was just waiting to happen. Weiss had apparently realised that, because she was in the process of moving her meal next to Ruby for some measure of safety.
I don't need God-given future knowledge to know where this is going, the blonde thought to himself. "Pyrrha, scoot up a little will you? Yang and Blake are at it again." The red-haired warrior didn't respond for a few seconds, just moving her cutlery between the plate and her mouth.
Jaune waved a hand in front of her eyes. "Remnant to Pyrrha? You okay there partner?" With a start, Pyrrha turned to face the blonde.
"Jaune? Oh, I see. We should probably move." Calling to Ren and Nora that they should probably move up a bit, JNPR shuffled a couple of seats sideways.
Just in time too. The seats where they had just been were suddenly occupied by Yang, as she made a spirited grab for Blake's literature and got nothing but air. As Yang rolled back to her feet, Jaune recognised the eager grin on her face. He could see traces of a similar one on Blake's features as well.
"Alright Blake, I'm going to win tonight!". Letting out an exaggerated sigh, RWBY's quietest member closed her book.
"Don't flatter yourself. You'll try." Banter complete, Yang started grabbing for the book while her partner kept it out of reach. They jumped back and forth over the table, occasionally moving under it as their friends watched on with a spread of amusement and resignation.
"They do this every other day...don't they get enough exercise in training?" Jaune directed his question to Ruby, who scratched her head with a nervous smile.
"Ah, well, we don't get a lot of time for training...Yang tends to lose focus part-way through her homework and wander off. Then we have to wait for her to get back so we can force her to finish it..."
The blonde nodded wisely. "I understand perfectly." He actually did too. Nora was much the same, often doing her homework in fits of frenzied activity. The only way to get her through it in one sitting was to sit Ren next to her as a reminder. It was high quality work whichever way she did it, but it played merry hell with their training schedule.
"It's incredibly irritating. You'd think someone studying to be a Huntress would manage to keep their attention on one thing for an hour or two." That comment came from Weiss, who was watching her team mates with the kind of resigned depression that Ren had practically trademarked.
It was probably for the best that the Schnee heiress was focussed on Yang and Blake, since Ruby flushed bright red at that. Jaune raised an eyebrow, and the younger girl muttered something about history needing more pictures.
"Well, so long as it gets done." Jaune commented cheerily, sipping from the mug of fruit juice he'd acquired. A long-suffering sigh emanated from the white-haired girl as she turned away from the now blurring limbs further down the table.
"I suppose you're right." Jaune raised his mug to her, his eyes moving back to his partner, who had gone back to being silent. In fact, she had also gone back to eating like a robot. Green eyes stared into the middle distance, obviously not actually seeing what was in front of them.
Jaune shook his head, turning back to the Schnee heiress. "Weiss, I don't suppose you know what Pyrrha and Yang were talking about earlier? She's been acting strange ever since." The girl seemed about to reply, but the red-haired warrior beside Jaune had snapped back to reality in seconds.
"Nothing! We weren't talking about anything, Jaune, it was a perfectly normal conversation with no real focus!" Considering the volume and force with which she had delivered that line, Jaune sincerely doubted that.
Of course, that didn't change the fact that his partner obviously didn't want it discussed. "Right. Not talking about anything. Got it." JNPR's leader cleared his throat. "So, you can probably sit back down now."
Jaune's partner blinked...and quickly came to the realisation that she was, in fact, standing over her leader. A quick glance showed that more than a few pairs of curious eyes were pointed in her direction, and the warrior sat down with a cough.
"Well. So long as you understand that." Apparently content to leave the situation at that, Jaune's partner went back to her dinner...and found that she had already finished it. That fact was not lost on the blonde, who was frowning slightly.
That...is very unlike Pyrrha. Jaune had spent most of a year in her company, and knew how she responded to things. He had seen his partner angry, sad, happy, embarrassed and nervous. But he had never seen her like that.
He wondered if this was a result of his impromptu confession the other night. After all, he had found himself acting differently around her when he'd returned to this time. If he thought about it, he'd started to think of her differently just hours after...
Another rush of emotion, but he knew what he was doing this time. Jaune fixed his eyes on his partner, focussing on nothing but the aura he could feel swelling. He turned back the tide almost as soon as it reached him, ignoring the pricking in his now clenched hand that told him he'd successfully kept his reserves constant.
A quiet crack, almost inaudible in the constant low-level noise of the dining hall. The blonde looked down and cursed, pupils darting to the corners of his eyes to see if anyone had noticed. Ren had, obviously, but thankfully it seemed that Pyrrha was otherwise occupied. Jaune quickly stood, taking his tray with him as he headed for the drop-off area.
He was joined en-route by the dark-haired martial artist, who fell into step with him. "Jaune...that's twice in one day." The blonde shook his head, his tray rattling slightly.
"Second flash of memory. Didn't draw aura this time." Closer inspection of the tray revealed Jaune's mug, the handle now broken off, alongside a few drops of blood.
"Though I don't condone self-harm, I still have to say that this is probably a good thing." Chuckling at the comment, JNPR's leader dropped the ruined mug into the bin below the tray shelf.
"Yeah. I just looked at Pyrrha, and it grounded me enough to let me focus." Jaune felt a pat on his shoulder as his friend smiled.
"That's a good start. If you have something that works to keep you calm, then we can build your self-control around that." The two young men left their trays for cleaning, heading back over to their friends.
As they reached the table, the black-and-yellow blurs that represented half of team RWBY came to a gradual halt, both panting. Blake still had her book in hand, but Yang seemed to have run out of energy with which to pursue it.
"You win...this time..." the brawler managed to gasp, hands on her knees as she collapsed onto a seat.
"Told...you..." replied her opponent, who mimicked her partner and let gravity carry her down.
Their team leader walked forward, presenting two trays which Jaune hadn't realised she'd salvaged. "You guys want the rest of your dinner?"
As Blake took the trays from the younger girl and Yang thanked her profusely, Jaune and Ren took their seats once again. "So, what's everyone doing tonight?" asked JNPR's leader, eyes sweeping the table.
Pyrrha seemed to go a bit rigid beside him, and Jaune turned to her in confusion. "Oh, Red's gonna be spending the evening with us. I invited her over for a study session." Yang's voice reached her fellow blonde before he could ask his partner what was wrong, and the rigidity vanished immediately.
"Yes, I'll be in RWBY's dorm for a while tonight. Unless you guys need me for something?" Jaune shook his head, leaning forward to check with Ren. Getting an identical motion from the martial artist, he waved away his partner's question.
"Nah, you're good Pyrrha. Our homework's already done for this week, so the three of us'll log some time in the training room. I have a few ideas I want to work on." The partners smiled at each other, though the red-haired warrior turned away after a few moments.
"Right then, I hope it's productive." Since JNR had finished eating, Jaune gestured for his two other team mates to follow as he stood.
"We'll see you later, 'kay Pyrrha? Study hard you guys!" The blonde headed off toward the training rooms, Nora skipping ahead of him at the prospect of sparring. Ren walked alongside his leader, caught between resignation to his fate and interest in what they'd be doing.
Once the trio had cleared the dining hall, Yang leaned in to the centre of the table conspiratorially. "Alright team, let's head back to the dorm. We have a group project." Pyrrha buried her head in her hands as Ruby, Weiss and Blake all looked to their overeager blonde friend curiously.
She might need the help, but she just knew she was going to regret this.
Jaune stood in front of his two team mates, hands behind his back and a serious look fixed on his face. "Friends! We are here today for the most important training we will ever undergo!"
He began to march up and down...though admittedly, marching seemed to suggest he was taking more than two steps in either direction. "Today, we consolidate the bonds of friendship with the ultimate bonding exercise!"
Coming to a halt, the blonde pointed to the empty space between his two friends. Ren was standing ramrod straight, wondering where on Remnant his leader was going with this. Beside him, Nora was almost vibrating in anticipation.
"Combination attacks!"
Nora reacted first, immediately tackling Ren with a resounding "YES!" The martial artist barely even seemed to notice the sudden addition of a Nora necklace, a listless expression having overtaken his face.
"...combination attacks?" he asked, not quite seeming to comprehend.
Jaune nodded seriously, his finger lowered. "Yes, combination attacks! It is simple logic; pre-defined moves that can be executed by multiple team members. By setting these in training and naming them, a team leader can deliver instructions at a more rapid pace. They are, in fact, essential!"
Impassioned speech complete, the blonde stoically accepted his own hug from Nora, who had moved from 'excited' to 'giddy'. Ren seemed to be struggling with something, and he raised his hand. "Yes Ren?"
Clearing his throat, the martial artist raised his right hand and index finger. "Jaune, we have been a team for barely three weeks. Why are we doing this now?"
The blonde smiled. "I'm doing this now because we're ready for it. You work with Nora like two halves of the same warrior because of how well you know each other. I was Pyrrha's partner for a year and she's Pyrrha freaking Nikos, so the two of us can work off each other as well."
The blonde didn't seem to notice Ren's raised eyebrow, which worked to indicate that there was more to their fluid combat partnership than just that. Nora had released her leader, and was now happily skipping around the room with the occasional outburst of "Yes!"
Jaune continued, "We've been working, sleeping, fighting and occasionally collapsing together for the past three weeks. I say we can handle this." The martial artist's raised eyebrow remained in place, catching the blonde's attention.
A few seconds passed, but eventually JNPR's captain muttered "...and I want us to be doing it before RWBY." Ren sighed, the driving force behind the decision made clear.
"Alright, Jaune. I suppose you make a legitimate point. How do we start?"
Confidence restored, Jaune returned to his military stance. Nora took up her original position, and what Jaune probably thought was a serious expression made its way onto his face.
"We start with names!"
As Nora began reeling off suggestions and his leader started scribbling them down on a notepad, Ren couldn't help but wish he'd volunteered to join that 'study session'.
Pyrrha really wished she'd gone to the training with her team.
RWBY had dragged her along in its wake back to their dorm, Yang leading the charge. She hadn't said a word since the dining hall, and the expectation emanating from Ruby was palpable. And audible.
Blake and Weiss seemed interested too, but they didn't seem willing to resort to hanging from Yang's shoulders and pleading. "Pleeeeease sis?"
Yang turned her head a bit to look at her little-sister cape. "Ruby, we're just outside the dorm. Everything will soon become clear." Having successfully driven her sister to even greater heights of pleading, the blonde pressed her scroll to the pad by the door.
As the sisters moved inside, Blake made an after-you gesture to Pyrrha, who stepped forward with growing trepidation. The room beyond was dark until Yang activated the lights, revealing what was probably the most physically improbable pair of bunk beds the warrior had ever seen.
She stared at the constructions, words failing as she tried to ask. The Schnee heiress beside her had apparently seen that look before. "We did it in about twenty seconds on our first day. We don't remember what exactly we did, and we don't want to know."
The red-haired warrior looked to the amber-eyed girl next to her, who shrugged. "I worry that they'll collapse if we think about it too much. So...just roll with it?" With that less than stellar advice, Blake moved forward to take a seat on her bunk.
Yang was already seated there, Ruby opposite her. Weiss took a seat next to her partner, leaving Pyrrha the only one standing. The overwhelming urge to simply shoulder charge her way through the door and out of the building was making itself known, and the red-haired warrior took deep breaths to try and avoid property damage.
"Right then. Now that we have some privacy...Red, how about you tell us why we're here?" Green eyes locked with lilac, which held just as much of a grin as the mouth below them. I think I've been outmatched... the warrior thought to herself, as she fought to get the words past her lips.
"I...might – no, I definitely...like...Jaune." Oh Monty, she'd actually said it.
The reactions around the room were...interesting. Yang, who had already known, simply gave her a thumbs-up for managing to say it out loud. Ruby, on the other hand, was looking at her with widening eyes. Then suddenly there were rose petals on the bed, and a girl wrapped around the warrior's waist.
"Oh that is awesome!" she exclaimed, as Pyrrha felt herself being spun around by the younger girl. "We've been watching you two for so long, but you actually noticed!" The spinning finally stopped, and green eyes were finally able to focus on the silver orbs looking up at her.
Her attention was diverted by Weiss, who was crossing her legs and nodding to herself. "Indeed, the looks you two gave one another when you thought no one else was watching...I swear, I was beginning to think your were willfully oblivious."
The red-haired girl looked to the only person who had remained silent so far...and got a knowing smirk in return. "...I'm not sure if I should feel better or worse that you all noticed." Her nerves were fading fast, any worries she might have had slipping away at the complete lack of impact her confession had carried.
The blonde girl laughed happily, variations of the sound emanating from around the room. "Well, it's your feelings we're here for. Okay team, Pyrrha's got an admission out of tall, blonde and scraggly – so we're going to take her through the next steps."
Pyrrha felt the room spinning again as the girl who was still hugging her began to twirl again. "You actually got a confession?! Oh that is just perfect! When? Where? How?" The questions just added to the dizziness the red-haired girl felt building up, and she staggered slightly as Yang pulled her little sister away.
"Okay, that's enough fawning Ruby. But yeah Red, spill the beans! How'd it go down?"
And just like that, the nerves were back.
Pyrrha's normally confident tones were usurped by the flush she could feel moving up her neck. Oh Monty dammit, I'm a Huntress in training! How difficult can talking about a crush be? Shaking her head and trying to push through it, the warrior settled down on the nearest bunk. It happened to be Weiss', so the Schnee heiress moved up a bit to give her space.
"Well, there's not much to tell. Last night, while we were both in the infirmary, neither of us could sleep. We were just laying there for hours on end, and I eventually started a conversation to break the silence." Despite the boring beginning, Pyrrha noticed that all four of the room's occupants were leaning forward like she was revealing the secrets of the universe.
"We spoke for a while and...well, you remember what happened in Forever Fall?" All four nodded in sync, the incident still recent. "Well, there's a story behind what happened that I can't talk to you about – not on my own, at least. But the conversation turned to that..." Pyrrha took a breath, settling herself. It didn't go unnoticed, but no one interrupted.
"I...did something, to Jaune, which would break most friendships. I was so scared to tell him, because I thought I might lose him if I did..." Another steadying breath, four sets of creased brows as RWBY wondered what the girl before them would or could possibly have done to her leader.
"But he just listened. He listened, and then he dragged himself out of his bed and walked over to me. You know he actually used his IV stand as a walking stick? Hours after nearly dying, he pulls himself across to me because he wants to make a point." It had been terrifying for a moment, as if the blonde had collapsed she would have been in no shape to help.
The frowns she had caused before had vanished now, replaced with small smiles. It was a very Jaune thing to do. "He just sat down on my bed, looking like death warmed over. He...took my hand..." The pauses now were to suppress the blush that was fighting a war with her self-control.
"And he told me...that he didn't care. He told me that all he wanted was to stay with me, that he didn't even need me to feel like he did so long as he could have that." It might not have been his words, but it was the meaning behind them. The smiles had grown larger now, as they recognised the determined but conscientious young man who had been a part of their lives for the past month.
With most of it out in the open, talking about it didn't seem so embarrassing, and the warrior found herself smiling too. "So I told him I'd try...and the smile on his face – oh, it was so goofy." She couldn't help but laugh as she remembered the expression the blonde had worn when she told him that.
With the conclusion of her story, her four listeners sat back. All of them were nodding to themselves. It was all...very Jaune. "Well, I think we can all say it fits the man." Yang began, rising to her feet, "He demonstrated great courage, so we will treat him as a worthy adversary. First, let us take back the initiative! Assistant Ruby, my scroll!"
The device was placed in the blonde's hand a moment later, and she immediately opened it. "Weiss, you're on fashion! Blake, you're on dialogue! I'll deal with venue, and Ruby!" Standing to attention in front of her sergeant-major sister, the younger girl delivered a salute.
"Yes!"
"You will be in charge of information gathering – I want everything you can get!" A flurry of rose petals met the announcement, the door left open in the young leader's wake.
Pyrrha was left slightly dazed as Blake left the room and closed the door behind her, saying she was headed to the library. Weiss had opened her own scroll and taken a picture of Pyrrha. She then moved to one of the chest-of-drawers, comparing the image she had to the clothes contained within.
The blonde demon who had started all this laid a hand on the red-haired girl's shoulder, her grin terrifying. "Trust me, Red – by the time we're done here, Jaune won't even know what hit him."
Looking up to a face which Ren would recognise and immediately run from in terror, Pyrrha couldn't help but think she was probably right.
She just hoped they'd leave her leader in enough pieces to put him back together afterwards.
Author's Note
That's fin for now. Being of the male persuasion, I have difficulty trying to imagine what a conversation like this would be like. All the experience I can draw on is either from stories, anime (which I take with a large pinch of salt) and the female members of my friend group. So...if I messed up, sorry...? Speaking of anime, can anyone guess which show inspired that scene in the middle? I'll give you a clue: miniskirts.
In case you're interested (and somehow haven't noticed yet), I've started another RWBY story called Gloria Dei est in Tenebris. It's an OP Jaune piece which I'm planning as I write it. It won't be updated as frequently as this, but check it out if that's your thing.
I hope you enjoyed reading this even partially as much as I enjoyed writing it. If you have any comments or criticism, please leave a review and I'll be sure to get back to you. Enjoy your day!