A pained squeal echoed. Jaune turned his head to see Cardin Winchester tugging on a Rabbit Faunus' ears.
"Ugh. I ha-" Jaune stood quickly, pushing the table and subsequently, his teammates, away from him. He stormed over to the bully, scowling.
He grabbed the teen's wrist and clenched, twisting it outwards and making Cardin release the Faunus.
Cardin opened his mouth to yell and brought his hand around to attack, but Jaune released his wrist and grabbed his breastplate, pulling him in.
"If I ever see something as pathetic as what you just did, I'll kill you myself." he whispered and stepped away.
One of Cardin's teammates made to step forward and confront him, but Cardin reached his hand out and stopped him. The boy turned to see Cardin shivering as he looked where Jaune had grabbed his armor.
It was perfectly indented in the shape of his hand.
"We don't touch him." he whispered.
"We can't."
Line Break
His teammates seemed to have developed a new opinion of him, and Jaune didn't blame them. Kinda hard to feel good about a friend who was almost failing every class and looked like a coward in combat, who proved to the entire lunch room that he could crumple titanium with his bare hands.
Ruby seemed enraptured though. She had been protective of him before, now she was outright possessive. Poor Pyrrha was too intimidated to even talk to him anymore.
Come to think of it, Yang and Blake seemed to be more affectionate as well. They both smiled at him more often, and they smiled whenever they met his eyes. What's more, they smirked whenever he tried to get out of combat class. Goodwitch, though annoyed more and more, never explicitly banned him from trying to settle his matches without fighting.
Perhaps it was the dent still in Cardin's armor.
Today, he won his fight by challenging his opponent, Pyrrha Nikos herself, to a game of chess.
Goodwitch actually offered that his tactics had been good, and recommended Pyrrha to review chess techniques if she wanted to learn to beat him at that.
School continued as normal.
Until Blake heard a snippet from someone's scroll.
"Roman Torchwick and the White Fang?" she asked forcefully. "That can't be..." she whispered.
Ruby was quick to come to her aid. "Hey, we can check it out if you want?"
Blake smiled and nodded gratefully. "I can't imagine the White Fang working with someone like that."
Jaune brushed her hand. "The White Fang changed. We can check it out, but maybe their is just a reason they need to work together. They've been stealing a lot of dust. It can't just be the SDC, or they'd just ruin the mines."
Blake looked uncertain, but nodded. "I'd like to look."
The team nodded in agreement, and the group was soon headed for Vale.
Line Break
Blake was, if nothing else, an exceptional spy. She had discovered in less than an hour that there would be a raid on a duat warehouse in the docks that night.
"Any chance we can try this my way?" Jaune asked them.
Ruby immediately nodded without a question, and Yang smirked gleefully as she also agreed.
"Blake? I want a full agreement, or you can handle it how you like." he said.
Blake sighed and relaxed her muscles. "Fine. I agree."
Jaune smiled, showing off way too many teeth.
The three of them hid while Jaune arranged his set.
A half hour after they arrived, three Bullheads arrived and started moving Dust as Roman Torchwick examined the scene, supervising the Faunus.
He turned to look for authorities only to find a teen sitting in the shade of a storage container.
He scowled and twirled his cane, aiming at the teen.
The boy didn't even twitch.
Roman walked up to the boy, noticing his blond hair and blue eyes, and jabbed him with his cane.
It disappeared.
Roman's hand twitched at the loss, his mind not immediately realising what happened. He growled and went to kick the blond, and found himself face to face with the suddenly fierce looking boy.
"Roman Torchwick. I have a deal for you." Jaune said.
"Why should I bother with a deal with you?" Roman asked with a smirk.
"Because I can blow this dock sky high, and I have your weapon." Jaune replied. "But who needs to be nasty."
Torchwick nodded, though his smirk remained smugly in place.
"A little game if you will." Jaune said. "Just a game of chance. I'll flip a coin, and you call out your side. If it's face up, you win. I'll return yoiur weapon, give you the charge, and leave. If I win, I give you your cane, you give me something you value, and leave."
"Not going to play for my arrest?" Torchwick asked.
"Hah. Like I care. You're just a thief."
Jaune narrowed his eyes and leaned forward. "Right?"
Torchwick felt his neck sweat, and nodded. "Yea, just a thief. I only attack people to get away."
Jaune leaned back again with an easy smile.
Torchwick felt his hope of cheating flutter away.
"Ready?" Jaune asked. He pulled out a coin and offered it to Roman, who examined it for a second.
Jaune flipped the coin in the air. He quirked a brow.
"Heads." Torchwick said.
The coin flickered down, smashing into Jaune's arm as he smacked it to a stop.
"Tails." he declared.
Torchwick scowled, but for a thief and a thug, he had some honor. "Fine." he said.
"Get going, we need to split!" he yelled. The faunus jerked and scattered, taking their last loads and rushing away.
Jaune pulled out Roman's cane and leaned against it. "And something you value?"
Torchwick frowned in thought for a moment. "I only value my partner." he finally said.
Jaune sighed and opened his mouth but Torchwick cut him off.
"Neo!"
An incredibly short girl with pink and brown hair appeared. Her eyes were the same, but as she blinked, they switched sides. She was wearing fancy clothes and high heeled boots, and carried a parasol.
"I gambled you away to this guy. My bad."
He didn't sound very repentant.
"Anyway, have fun with him and all that jazz." Roman declared, swiping his cane and strolling away.
Jaune was left standing next to... Neo.
"What have I gotten myself into?" he asked aloud.
Mismatched eyes blinked at him curiously.
Line Break
"You can go now." Jaune said to the small girl.
His teammates were all glaring at her.
"Please." he asked.
She shook her head and mimed a cat, nuzzling his arm sweetly.
Ruby snatched him away from her.
"Just go back to Torchwick." Jaune pleaded again.
Neo shook her head. She mimed shaking her hand and throwing dice.
"Yea but I was expecting a necklace or something. Not a person."
Neo shrugged unrepentantly.
"You can't sleep here." he demanded.
She gave him a morose look, full of sadness.
"W-well..." he stuttered, scratching his cheek. "Maybe we can do something about it."
Now his team was glaring at him, but Neo smiled like an innocent angel.
"You think we can get a cot or something?" he muttered thoughtfully. Ruby's ever present glare at the new intruder was entirely more malicious than he thought she was capable of.
"You're a criminal, right?" he asked.
Neo nodded happily.
"Are you into sadism?" he asked thoughtfully.
Her smile grew sharp and angry.
"Look, perfect. She'll bunk with Lavender."
His teammates seemed too amused to be upset at him anymore. Team Lavender, on the other hand...
While it is true that Nora was the biggest cause for concern, Weiss' reaction to Nora caused things to accelerate rapidly, and Neo was sure to be another instigator to those conflicts.
But Blake and Ruby hated Weiss, which meant Yang did too. Plus, he was just getting used to his team thinking he was amazing no matter what...
The choice was simple and easy.
They pinned a note on Neo's jacket and sent her on her way... right across the hall.
Ren opened the door and looked the girl dead in the eyes.
"If you're here to kill me, now is a good time." Ren said.
Neo shook her head and pointed at the note.
"Uh huh. That's Yang's handwriting. You are here to kill me in some way or another." Ren said with a sigh.
Line Break
"I'm just saying, everything looks like it's turning into a harem, and that isn't very reasonable." Jaune remarked.
"Jaune, you are the one who suggested Neo went to Lavender anyway." Blake pointed out.
"Yeah, but that's because I know you guys were being twitchy and weird. Especially when I offered my bed for her."
"She pulled you in with her." Ruby growled.
"She's probably used to a stuffed animal! She acts just like one of my sisters. She never lets me leave her bed either if she can't find her bear."
Ruby had a scheming look in her eyes that didn't bode well for her partner.
Line Break
"Time for bed." Jaune yawned.
"Jaune?" Ruby's voice called. Yang and Blake turned to look at Ruby, because she sounded so pitiful.
Red ringed eyes blinked balefully at Jaune Arc before a sniffle broke the silence.
The team didn't have time to react before Jaune Arc was in bed, embracing Ruby Rose tightly and trying to comfort her.
It would have been sweet if not for the victorious smirk on Ruby's 'innocent' face.
Yang whispered a prayer for her new brother in-law, even if he didn't know it yet.
Blake shrank into the corner and tried to ignore the duo.
Line Break
Team Lavender across the hall was in chaos.
There were pieces of uniforms and textbooks scattered on the floor, black stains around Nora's bed, and what could only be a Beowulf arm keaning in the corner of the room.
Lie Ren finally snapped.
"Shut the fuck up and sit down!" he bellowed.
3 people froze, and scattered to sit on beds.
"Weiss. You will respect my authority under the pain of death, or so help me god. Nora, you won't antagonise Weiss any longer, and Neo!"
The newest bunkmate blinked at him.
"Either never bother anyone again, or go back across the hall."
The girl smirked and left the room.
"We are cleaning, and then sleeping. Set an alarm." Ren ordered.
Nora hugged him tightly as he finished speaking. "I knew you could do it, Renny." she told him quietly.
"Thank you, Nora." he whispered.
Line Break
Jaune woke up to a rather interesting feeling. In front of him was Riby Rose, his leader and one of his closest friends. She was asleep, and holding his arm against her waist.
Behind him, he turned to see, was Neo. She was wrapped around him tightly.
"This'll be a pain. Good night." he whispered, falling back asleep.
His prediction came true just a small while later when he woke up again. Neo and Ruby were scowling at each other, with only Jaune in the way to stop them from anything.
They both looked as if they wanted to reach for weapons that were, thankfully, not present.
Blake and Yang watched from across the room. Jaune was sure he caught a whiff of popcorn.
"No." he ordered.
The two petite girls turned to look at him, and he shook his head.
"Figure it out, and do it without violence." he ordered again. With that, he turned back over and fell asleep.
Line Break
"Maybe I should have set the conditions..." he groaned.
He had woken up and gotten ready before Ruby described the circumstances that they had agreed on.
"I get to keep you Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and she gets the other three."
"I'm not a dog. Or a stuffed toy. Don't I get to pick where I sleep?" he asked.
"No."
Jaune sighed. "Why did I expect anything else?" He perked his head. "I have an idea."
He ditched his team and sprinted through the halls until he found an elevator, which he took to the Headmaster's office.
"Ozpin!" Jaune shouted.
"Mr. Arc." the man replied calmly.
"My transcripts are fake and I'm failing all my classes. Kick me out, please." Jaune pleaded.
"No." Ozpin replied, his voice still exactly as calm as before.
"W-why not?" Jaune asked, hopeless tears threatening to buikd behind his eyes.
"In less than a month you have eradicated racial bullying, introduced the idea that not all conflicts deserve a battle, and halted a major Dust theft from the SDC. You even... let's say rehabilitated, a criminal entity of high skill."
"But..." Jaune cried.
"And when your father said fake transcripts, he really meant he told me the circumstances and asked me to take you."
Jaune felt his last chance of hope sinking. "But. I'm failing every class?" he asked with the last of his hope.
"Everything except for the combat class are irrelevant, and you have technically won most of your matches." Ozpin remarked, sipping coffee. "Even if we had thought you were somehow failing in Ms. Goodwitch's class, we have this."
Ozpin pulled a scroll from his pocket and revealed it to Jaune. It was Jaune slaughtering the Deathstalker in initiation.
"I think this," he waved the scroll before pocketing it again, "reveals quite a bit about your actual combat ability."
Jaune sank into one of the Headmaster's chairs in disbelief, as Ozpin drank from his mug again.
Line Break
Jaune went back to his teammates. Students who saw him on his way thought he looked like a man headed to his death.
It wasn't far off.
Ruby saw him first, and cheerfully pulled him next to her as they ate breakfast.
Jaune shrugged and spoke. "Apparently Ozpin knows about Neo, so I'm guessing there isn't any point in hiding her."
A sound like breaking glass echoed through the cafeteria, and Neo was sitting on his other side, eating breakfast as though she had been there for ages.
"Mkay. That's fine. I'll just... yea..." Jaune murmured. He pushed his breakfast out of the way and laid his head down for a nice nap.