Disclaimer: The following is a nonprofit fanfiction of RWBY. RWBY belongs to Monty Oum(RIP) and Rooster Teeth. Any likeness to writings of others is not intentional. To help with improvements: Read and Review!

A/N: Still not the Maoyuu chapter. I'd say it would be done on the fifteenth or sixteenth chapter of Those Days. Like I said last chapter, I had a lot of ideas I needed to type out before I forgot about them.

On with the fic!

Chapter 11: Thought Hearer

"Ugh!" Ren woke up with the most splitting headache, shutting his eyes tight. "What happened last night?"

'Boop boop boop boop deet deet deet deet deet!' Nora sang.

"Nora." Ren mumbled. "No singing this early in the morning."

"I wasn't singing anything Ren–bear." Nora said in her peppy mood. 'What's got you so cranky?'

"I'm not cranky. Just tired." Ren grumbled.

"…Okay." Nora said in an unsure tone. 'Yeesh. Try to lighten up a bit Mr. Grouch.'

"You're awfully snappy today." Ren commented finally looking at his long time friend.

"What?" Nora raised an eyebrow. 'What is up with him today?'

Ren had to rub his eyes before focusing on Nora. He could have sworn he thought he saw Nora talk without moving her lips. 'Why's he staring at me like that? It's starting to creep me out. Quick! Operation: Boop.'

"Boop!" Nora said before walking out the dorm. 'Success!'

Ren was not hallucinating. He just heard his friend's thoughts. Not wanting to jump the gun on it, he decided to test it out on others. Finding Jaune and Blake in the Obstacle Course, Ren focused on the two of them.

"C'mon Jaune! Just one more scale up." Shouted Blake. 'Mmm. Look at those buns. Oh. Oh! That's right. Cling onto that pole just like that.'

'Don't stop me now, having such a good time, I'm having a ball.~' Ren made a mental note to always stick with Jaune if he couldn't fix this problem. Gotta love the music.

Running back to the dorm, Ren sat cross-legged and meditated on his findings. So he could hear thoughts. And the best part was that he could control it. So long as e focused on one person, he was okay. It wasn't like any of those cliché movies where the thoughts would invade his mind and scramble it from all the voices.

While he was deep in thought, he didn't take notice of Pyrrha sneaking into Jaune's closet and putting one of his hoodies on. 'Oh yeah. This feels so good. The first thing I do once Jaune is mine is push Ren and Nora out, having nothing but this hoodie on and-'

Ren ran out of the room without her noticing. 'Okay. So being in deep thought causes me to hear all voices unwillingly. Note taken.'

"Hey Ren!" Nora chimed while running towards him. "You feeling better?" 'Hope you're ready to eat paaaancaaaakes!'

"Yes Nora. I'm feeling better." Ren said in a bored tone. "You wanna eat pancakes, don't you?"

"Aww. You know me so well!" Nora cheered. "C'mon."

Without delay, Nora grabbed Ren's arm and dragged him to their usual table with Team RWBY.

"Morning Nora! Ren." Ruby said in a happy mood. 'So if I think about it even more, the high impact caliber added with gravity would cause a-'

"Morning!" Nora greeted back. 'Can't wait for my pancakes.' "Ren, you sit here and I'll get us our plates."

"So Ren." Yang piped in. "Ever thought of asking Nora out?" 'I'm bored. Maybe Ren could entertain me.'

"No." Ren said bluntly. After that, he stayed silent. Best part of knowing a troll: don't feed it.

'He's no fun.' "So how's Jaune and P-Money doing?" She changed subjects. 'Cuz I got my bet that P-Money will crack and just Amazon his a**.'

"It's not my place to say." He answered bored. No way will he give Yang the satisfaction that easy.

'Looks like I'll be talking to Weiss.' "So Weiss-cream. You and Neptune heading out today? Ozpin posted a cancel of classes." Yang tried to pry.

"Yes. Yes we are." Weiss said in a formal tone. 'I can't wait. There'll be hand-holding, a few kisses on the port, and we'll be sharing a bucket of ice cream the whole time.'

Ren didn't know Weiss repressed most of her happiness like that. He wondered if Neptune was aware of that side of her. As Ren got deeper in thought, a thousand voices invaded his head. Snapping out of it, Ren remembered the important rule. Don't go into deep thought with a lot of people around.

Clearing his mind, Ren noticed Jaune and Blake were back from their workout. Focusing on Jaune, he hoped to hear something relaxing to soothe his mind.

'Cha-la! Head Cha-la! Muni Egawa no ? konoe ayayayai! Sparking!'

'Not what I was expecting.' Ren thought. He still liked the song, but he was hoping for something more upbeat. Suddenly Jaune looked over to Weiss and a new song played. The piano playing was fine, but there was something familiar about the tune.

'Weiss. Do you wanna be a huntress? Go out and slay some Grimm. Drop criminals onto the floor, kicked out the door, and lock them far awaaaay!'

"NO! NO!" Ren shouted while pointing at Jaune. "SHAME ON YOU!"

"What?" Everyone on the room said to him.

"Are you okay buddy?" Jaune walked closer to his friend. 'He looks a bit unwell. And shame on me? I was just going for some waffles.'

'Da f**k is up with him?' thought Nora, then looked to Jaune. 'Pfft. Waffle b**ch.'

"Maybe you should go lie down Ren." Pyrrha suggested. 'Is he going crazy? I wonder if we'll be charged with homicide if we have to put him down when he snaps.'

"I'm fine." Ren said calmly. "Say, Jaune. Why don't we hang out today? Just you and me." 'I'm staying far away from Pyrrha as possible until this thing is gone.'

"Really?" Jaune perked up. "Sure." 'Me and Ruby were going to a leader's meet, but I guess Ren could tag along.'

"Aww." Ruby piped in. "But what about our leader's meet Jaune?" 'I still wanna hear the end of the story about the flour bag, the chicken, and the roller skate.'

'Puppy eyes! Can't resist.' "Why don't you come along Rubes?" Jaune suggested. "Coco and Sun are going on a date this afternoon, so we'll be meeting up with them at six anyways."

"Yes!" Ruby cheered with a fist pump. 'Now I get to hear the tale of how a whole bag of flour was set on fire to a pool while still being- ooh! Cookie.'

Ren was not surprised when Ruby grabbed the cookie out of Weiss's plate. 'Rude! That was my cookie!' "No go ahead. I didn't want it anyways."

"Thanks Weiss." Ruby said with a mouthful. 'My BFF.'

"I was being sarcastic." She snarled. 'No.'

'Aww forget it!' Ren thought tiredly. 'I'll just listen to Jaune's thoughts. At least they're a bit more sane.'

"This hand of mine burns with an awesome power!" A different voice shouted. Some sort of jazz music was playing too. "It's burning grip tells me to defeat you! TAKE THIS! MY LOVE! MY ANGER! AND ALL OF MY SORROW! SHINING FINGER!"

Shaking the thought out, Ren looked at Jaune who was staring at a fork on Yang's plate. 'Jaune's thought cycle is weird sometimes.'

"Say Jaune." Ren nudged his friend. "You know of any good shows lately. And please. Don't mention X-ray and Vav. I mean anime ones."

'Let's see.' As Jaune thought of the series, Ren made a mental note to go for the ones that had an art style and story he enjoyed. It's funny that while Jaune listed the series, his mind also had the character dialogues of funny moments and openings.

"Ah. Nevermind." Ren waved off before Jaune could reply. "I think I got an idea."

'That was rude.' Jaune thought with a grumble. 'He's the one who asked in the first place.'

"Sorry." Ren apologized. "Just remembered something."

'At least he apologized.' "Meh, It's fine." He waved off. "So where did you wanna head off to?"

'Great! Now I gotta follow them to make sure Jaune doesn't die.' Pyrrha thought. "Mind if I tag along as well?"

"I don't mind. How bout you Ren?"Jaune said casually. 'Wonder where we could all head off to? Maybe the arcade?'

"I'd be fine with that." He said hiding his annoyance at Pyrrha's thoughts. "I was just thinking of going to the arcade."

"I was just thinking that." Ren stopped himself from smirking.

'Guh. I hate the arcade.' Pyrrha thought in bored tone.

"Oops. I forgot I had something else to do. I guess I won't be able to follow." She lied in her normal tone.

"Well alright." Ren was happy. Now just one more person. "What about you Nora?"

"Meh. I've beaten all their games." She waved off. 'Who goes to an arcade anymore? All those selfish players never giving a proper turn. Grrr.'

'Yes!' Ren thought in victory. "Look's like it's just me, you and Ruby, Jaune."

Heading to the Bullhead, Ren thought of practicing focusing his thought hearing skills on the way.

'Oh man! Look at those fine girls.' Came a thought behind him. 'A raven, a shot-haired blonde, and a cute redhead.'

Ren looked around to find said women. He didn't see anyone matching that description. Maybe if he listened more he'll find a location.

'Mmm. I can smell that raven's shampoo. Smells minty. And look at the ass on that blonde. Looks firm. That hoodie must be hiding a killer figure! Sun was right! Beacon is home to hotties!'

Ren finally understood. The guy was perving on them! Turning around, it was a dark-skinneed buff guy walking behind them.

'F**K! That's a dude! …Well at least the other two are fine.' The man secretly blanched when seeing Ren's face.

"Say Jaune, you ever get the feeling you have to question your masculinity?" Ren asked loudly for the guy to hear.

'The blonde's a guy too! DAMN!' He walked off far away from the three.

"No, not really." 'I've come to accept every female I know is stronger than me.' Jaune said. "If you think about it, I use my mom's fighting style and Pyrrha trains me in swordplay. So if someone says I fight like a girl, they're technically right."

"…" Ren had no words to say to that. He was right in his own way. Deciding to steer clear from Jaune's thoughts for now, he opted to dive into Ruby's thoughts instead.

'Operation: Adventure.' Ruby thought. Following her gaze, Ren saw she was looking at a newsfeed. Apparently, there was a criminal that escaped into Vale. The report showed that he had the ability to drain aura from his victims like a leech.

"Say Jaune…" the little red-head said in a too sweet tone.

'NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!' Went the alarms in Ren's head.

Thirty Minutes Later

He did not know how it happened. Ren was so deep in thought that his mind shut down when all the voices started harassing his mind. Good news: Now he knows that devising a plan to stop your leader from getting suckered into being bait by another leader is another way of thinking too deep. Bad news: His leader was now playing bait to attract a dangerous criminal while he and the short leader were hiding in a tree.

"Sure am glad I'm full of aura." Jaune shouted unconvincingly to the air. "Would really suck if it was taken away Oh no! I didn't eat yet. Too hungry to fight back." 'We could be doing DDE right now, but noooooo! Little miss crime fighter wants to catch a criminal.'

Ren could sympathize. Sure, arcades weren't the most popular places to game, but there were still some games that were worth playing. Like Tower of the Dead or Kiken: The Lord Aura Fist Tournament.

"Ren! I see the guy!" Ruby shout whispered to him. "Signal Jaune."

Making a good impression of a tweeting bird, Jaune was able to get the message. Sadly, it was too late as the aura leech grabbed a hold of him.

"Your aura is MINE!" He shouted while grasping Jaune's mouth.

"JAUNE!" Shouted Ruby and Ren.

'Bad plan!' Ruby was panicking.

Fortunately the training with Blake and Pyrrha helped Jaune kick the leech off him. Throwing him a few feet away, Ren didn't have to hear the blonde's thoughts to know he was pissed.

"Looks like I have some new treats." The criminal laughed. "I have you right where I want you."

"No. It's we who have you where we want you." Jaune snarled. "We knew you couldn't resist suckling on my giant aura teet. Now you're going to get pounded so hard, you're mother will be jealous!"

This was a first for Ren. Hearing his thoughts, Jaune was full on angry. It was mostly chanting of 'die!'s followed by a few 'kill's in between. What followed was the perp being beaten to a pulp while Ruby and he watched Jaune continue to slam the poor soul onto the ground before burying his head into the dirt.

"He's all yours Ruby." Jaune huffed while walking over to Ren. 'Stupid aura leech and his stupid filthy hands. Gotta stop by the store to wash my mouth off the taste.'

After Ruby called the police and kept watch over their new prisoner, a new crew took their picture while asking them various questions.

'WE'RE NEVER GOING TO THE ARCADE!' Jaune cried in his mind. He turned to answer a reporter's question. "No. We're just students from Beacon."

"AAAAAGH!" Suddenly Ren got a splitting headache that brought him to his knees. With all the questions and Ren constantly thinking of them all, his mind was hearing too many thoughts. To him, it was like two drills were going through both sides of his head, and they were meeting in the middle. As things got noisier in his head, there was a small click sound heard beyond the noise, and then he blacked out.

Jaune and Ruby were quick to pick him up and ask for a ride to the hospital. Well, more of Jaune carrying Ren while Ruby tried to swat away the reporters. Even as they saw an injured person, some still swarmed to ask questions. 'Back you leeches! Back!'

'Don't worry buddy.' Jaune thought in panic. 'We'll get you checked out.'

Twenty minutes later

Ren opened his eyes slightly to see he was in a Bullhead headed to a hospital with Jaune and Ruby sitting by his side. He could see Jaune staring out the window deep in thought, while Ruby was looking down at her hands.

'This is all my fault.' Ruby was thinking guiltily. 'Today was supposed to be a day of fun, and I turned it into something chaotic.'

'What am I gonna tell Nora?' Jaune thought with his eye's shining. 'What if he doesn't make it? No, no! Don't think about it. …F**K! What kind of leader am I? I'm a failure!'

'So this is the burden a leader carries.' Ren thought as he stared at the ceiling. 'It's not their fault, but they believe it is. Under all those silly thoughts, they think of the people before themselves. …I couldn't handle something like that.'

Clearing his throat, the two looked up to see he was sitting upright. "So …are we headed to the arcade or what?"

"REN!" both shouted in joy. Both ran up to him and had him in a tight hug.

"You're okay!" Ruby said through teary eyes.

"Come here you!" Jaune cried while grabbing his head. Ren felt the top of his head being kissed before Jaune started gagging. "Blegh! Twigs."

"…Never do that again." Ren said with a straight face.

"Sorry. But what happened to you?" the blonde asked in worry. "The aura sucker didn't touch you, but you were the one to go down hard."

"…I…" Ren had to think this through. 'NO! Don't think too hard! Just feel.' "I guess I was just getting a split headache from all those reporters. All the shouting must have gotten to me."

"I guess we could believe that." The scythe wielder said uncertain. "They were kind of annoying." 'Stupid gossip-mongers. Got in the way of a good day.'

"We won't be able to head to the arcade today Ren." Jaune said apologetically. "The news crew are hounding for us." 'When we get back to Beacon, set Nora near news studio and commence Operation: Syrup. Prepare Houdini tactic and Operation: Bigfoot.'

'What is up with them and having operations?' Ren thought in curiosity. "That's fine. I guess that means we're heading back to Beacon now?"

'Maybe we could invite him to a leader's time.' Both leaders thought at the same time. Ren didn't know what this 'leader's time' was, but it sounded like something exclusive.

As the two leaders shared a look, they looked back at him with a small smile. He didn't need to hear their thought for what they were about to say next.

Evening

On the balcony near the auditorium

Ren was currently enjoying himself. Jaune's mind was back to playing old songs that were still catchy. Ruby was looking through a telescope at the shattered moon. Sun and Coco were sharing a blanket. And here he was, kicking back on a reclining chair while sipping warm cocoa Coco brought.

After sharing the news with the other leaders, they were okay with Ren hanging out with them. It wouldn't be an all the time thing since it would defeat the purpose of a 'Leader's' time, but they made an exception for him just this once. And the best part was that even if he was to go deep in thought, it wasn't as painful when the only people close by were the leaders themselves. Jaune's mind was playing some relaxing tunes, Sun and Coco were thinking about each other, and Ruby was just making 'ooh's and 'aww's. Before he knew it, they had all fallen asleep outside under the stars.

Morning

Getting up, Ren felt extremely light-headed. Not in a bad way though. He felt light as a feather. Like the air was lifting him off the ground. Focusing on Jaune's mind, he tried to hear his thoughts, but couldn't hear anything. Testing on the other leaders, Ren was overjoyed to find that he couldn't hear other people's thoughts anymore.

"Yes!" he whispered while pumping his fists in the air while getting on his knees. "Yeeessss!"

Elsewhere

Ozpin's Office

"Ozpin?" Glynda said snapping her finger. "Are you feeling alright today?"

"Ah. Yes Glynda." The headmaster said with glazed eyes. He took a sip of his coffee. "My mind was just …wandering."

"Be sure to take better care of your health." She said before walking out.

As she left, Ozping whirled his chair around to look out the window. Closing his eyes, he leaned back into his seat. "Let's see what thoughts the students had yesterday."

END

A/N: I'm not sure how a semblance would work, but if Ozpin was able to have his mind wander, would it give people the ability to hear thoughts? I guess the idea came to me after watching Parasyte: The Maxim. I notice that Jaune was always the victim of something. After I tried making Ren into an Oobleck, I thought 'Hey. What would it be like of he was a mind reader?' So here's the chapter on it.

If you all are wondering why I type thought hearer than a mind reader, I have a reason. Technically, Ren isn't reading anyone's mind. He can't dive into the person's whole brain and see everything. Just hear their current thoughts.

In other news, the Maoyuu is thirty percent done. I finished the episodes, found some would be dismissed easily, and got an idea of how I'm going to finish the whole thing.