{Author Notes/Review Response}
LadWatcher(Ch5): Thank you so much for that. But don't bash on their writings. I think some insightful critiques on their reviews rather than ignoring it completely would benefit anyone greatly. I always try to give some to several starting Pokémon fics if I have the time. But seriously, thank you for that. (Also, 'The Games We Play', the highest favorite and followed story here in Fanficiton by rgm0005/Ryuugi? It barely has any actual ships—if not, none at all, and way more action and plot development.)
Super side note: In case you guys didn't know, rgm0005/Ryuugi has way more chapters of 'The Games We Play' posted up in Spacebattles. com.
Here's a link to his thread. Just connect the spaces and remove the "()":
forums. Spacebattles.(c)o(m). (/) threads /rwby-the-gamer-the-games-we-play-disk-four .311394 /
THE-Twilight-BlazeKnight(Ch5): Alright thank you for the insightful review. Maybe I did introduce them all too early. But I never stated that they were planning to kill Jaune. Also I figured that all of them taught a lesson to their opponents because they still are second years. Teaching those younger than them doesn't raise suspicion. It makes them stronger yes, but then again you could potentially teach them the wrong thing if you teach the right thing enough times. One lie among many truths can be quite deadly if played correctly. As for being as strong as Glynda… it does seem like that even though I'm sure Glynda is even stronger. But (a bit of a spoiler) how I saw semblance was that it evolved over time. I can see within a year and certain studies, potentially team RWBY and JNPR would have some really cool powered up versions of their semblances. They were sort of a reflection to that. But yeah, maybe I should tone their powers a bit even though they all wanted to show off to their cute juniors.
Kegi Springfield (Ch2): What? But that's been done a lot! Not to mention, I have some interesting plans for an original weapon such as Jared's.
Kegi Springfield (Ch1): Xia Ren takes after both of her parents. She has Nora's energetic and hyperactive personality mixed with Ren's sage patience and knowledge—a very deadly combination when she seemingly acts like an air head, but is more ambitious than Cinder ever was. (It's also why Jared acts so witty because he and Xia get into a lot of situations where they have to think on their feet.)
Mr. What If (Ch5): I don't know about you, but I got that reference by lurking around the League of Legends community where some comments would use that as a joke whenever they want someone from Riot or their favorite youtuber to respond to their comment.
Guest #1 (Ch5): Err, who's Kiva and Decade? Are they writers? Or are they stories? From which category? … WHY AM I SO CURIOUS TO WHO THOSE TWO ARE!? *Christopher Nolan's Batman Voice* TELL ME!
Cough.
(Mini note: I got a cool new image from League of Legend's 'RiotJynx'. It's so adorable! … What? A deadly ninja mask on an abominable, mutant, baby, snow goat isn't cute? … Well… No you!)
Well that's enough of that. To the story!
"Where am I?" The child called out confusingly.
Where was his dad? Where was he? What was this place? It was dark, dreary. The ground felt wet and stone like, but why was he barefooted? He didn't like walking—where was his dad?
"Dad? … Dad!? …DADDY!?"
Violins in the distance started playing, all as if they were conducting a symphony.
"The stars are blind, my love…"
The little boy was near tears, he cried for his father again. "DAAADDDYYY!?"
"You will learn to crawl, under oceans above..."
He cried again, tears flowing out as he sobbed madly. Where was his dad? Where were his parents? What happened to his siblings, aunts, pets, and friends? Why was he alone?
He hated being alone.
"That force will fuel its hate."
Another blast of violins in the distance where now playing with the first set, they were getting faster along with the singing voice.
"When it drains your soul, it will flood the gate…"
A dim light shone in the distance, something was there, something wicked.
It was coming for him.
"Fear is a device,"
The boy ran, but heard the music suddenly grew faster as if it was getting ready to explode.
"So quiet and precise,"
"It's not what I allow, not in my world now…"
Jared turned back, only to see its dark blue eyes with jagged swirls slowly invading his soul.
"AAAGGGH! … Gah… hah… hah…" Jared cried out as he gasped for breath. A flash of lighting lit up the room for a second before thunder came booming after it.
"Uh what!? Is it Grimm!?" Jaune woke up in shock as he cried out, making everyone else in JNPR wake up as well from Jared's scream.
"S-sorry guys," Jared apologize. "I-It was just a weird nightmare."
"Are you alright?" Pyrrha asked patiently.
"… Yeah, it didn't make much sense to me," Jared looked out to see it was raining rather hard. The night looked really stormy. He looked at the clock and saw it was two A.M. before looking back to Pyrrha. "I'm fine—really. I'm going back to sleep. I'll see you all in the morning." Jared slowly got back to his bed and stared out the window he was closest to. He listened closely at the scattered pitter-patter of the storm. For some reason it felt calming to him. Jared closed his eyes; he only had two hours of sleep left.
"I can't believe you still want to go out jogging. Do you not see the rain out?" Jaune told Jared in utter disbelief as he motioned outside the main exit where the rain was pouring hard.
"Sorry sir, I'm not letting up on your training even though today I messed up your sleeping schedule."
Jaune had agreed into training with Pyrrha in combat skills and battle orientation at night, while Resh would work on his stamina and creative thinking during the mornings. Later on in the afternoon, if they had the time from studying, would be a light group practice with Nora and Ren.
"How can we even jog out there? It's raining cats and dogs!"
Jared smiled at his future father. "Actually, I'm glad it's raining. There's a cool aura trick I want to show you. It will really help you master over your aura instead of relying on it instinctively. Come on."
Jaune cautiously followed his friend as he went closer to the main exit.
Resh inhaled deeply then walked into the rain. Jaune opened his eyes when he heard sizzling noises as soon as the rain started pouring on the black haired boy. There was now a glowing outline of purple around Resh that was revealed as he stood under the rain. When Resh stepped back in, there was no sign of water even in his footprints.
Jared extended his hand out to his dad. "Feel it."
"What?" Jaune questioningly asked.
"It's dry and you saw me stand out in the rain for a few seconds. Come on feel it." Jared prodded his dad.
Jaune, a little skeptical, poked Resh's arm. Well it was way more toned than he thought it would be for one. The other thing was that it really was dry.
"How did you…"
"It was a trick my father taught. When I was ten, he explained to me that Aura was sort of like a forcefield."
"I knew it!" Jaune cried out.
Jared suppressed a laugh. "Back on topic, my dad found a cool trick with his aura. As you know, our aura does protect us from harm and enhances all of our physical powers, but…" Jared took out a butter knife. "I was able to sneak this one for this…" Jared placed his right arm in front of him and inhaled. Then he brought up the butter knife up and stabbed his right arm as hard as he could.
"Resh!?" Jaune yelped out in surprise before stopping as he saw the butter knife completely crushed and Jared's skin untouched. "Wha—how did you?"
"It's called Aura Solidification. It's fairly basic: concentrate your aura around areas of your body and solidify it. It manifests better and allows stronger attacks and defense, but in turn also expends one's aura faster than usual," Jared explained as he poured aura into his hand and straightened the knife back. "Remind me to return this to the cafeteria."
"So you're going to teach me this?!" Jaune excitedly asked.
"Ye—" Jared froze. What was he doing? Why was he allowing himself to strain the future even more? This was a trick his father learned when he had momentarily lost his sword and shield in a mission. It wasn't even supposed to be invented in the next ten years! Why did he get so accustomed with living with living with his dad?!
"Resh? You OK?"
"… Yeah… uh… yeah. Sorry, just a thought. There's something I just remembered I had to do over this weekend." Jared answered.
"Really? What?"
"Um… it's personal… it's about my family and I rather not talk about it… yet…" He hesitantly said that last word.
"Oh sorry. … So about this Aura Solidifying?"
Jared sighed, but lacked the same energy he had a few seconds ago. "Alright, so basically, let's start with moving your aura. Concentrate your aura around your palm as a start. It should have a faint glow of the color of your Aura." He instructed.
"… How exactly do I… um… how do I concentrate on aura?"
"It's not that hard really. In essence, your Aura is a physical manifestation of your soul, so in a sense it's also like an invisible limb. Calm all your thoughts and just… ask your aura politely to gather up around you palm..." Jared lifted out his palm and a small outline of purple started appearing on his hand.
"Really? You just ask it nicely?"
"That's how I was introduced to Aura manipulating." Jared shrugged.
Jaune closed his eyes and inhaled. He re opened his eyes before placing out his palm and focusing on what Resh told him. As he did he was able to see a white glow around the outline of his hand.
"Along with power, comes immortality… and with its gifts, you must bear its curse. For wherever there is light, there is darkness, and wherever there is darkness, there is light. Once you gain this power, you will never let go of the blade, even as it is driven into your own heart…" Jared recited mystically as thunder boomed in the background.
"What was that? It sounds really familiar…" Jaune asked. It did sound a lot like when Pyrrha opened up his aura only way darker and gloomier.
"Some people call it, Soul Speaking. I did a little research on it when I was reading the aura books last night. No one really knows where the incantations for opening someone's aura come from, but all of them hint to some interesting secret we are all capable of. You should have seen the theories behind it. Some scholars believed that the true original words were spoken by the gods," Jared explained. "But that's beside the point. Me teaching you this just reminded me of those words. … What I specifically told you was the rite that opened my aura. Weird how I remember it so vividly…"
Jared shook his head. "Sorry, getting out of topic. Now for the next step: solidifying it. It's basically the same process, but for this you might want to try to cover your entire arm. However, it might be a little tricky if you move, which might break your concentration. Once you think you have a solidifying aura, place your arm outside the rain."
Jaune did what he was told, and true enough the aura around his palm seemed to condense, it looked easier to see some kind of line, but it also looked smaller. Trying to keep his focus, he walked and placed the arm out.
"H-Hey! It's working!" Unfortunately in his excitement, his concentration broke and his arm got soaked. "Wah!"
"Good try sir," Jared seemed to suddenly have a towel and wiped his hand. "Now just keep practicing this until the rain stops, or when have to get to class, whichever comes first really."
The blonde raised his brow at the raven haired boy. "Where did you get the towel?"
There was a particular gleam in Resh's red eyes. "Oh, it was one of the spares I borrowed…"
Jaune ignored it and stretched both of his hands. "Well anyway, what next?"
"Keep doing the same thing around three to five times. When you get that down, we'll move to both hands, repeat, then your feet, repeat, then your head, repeat, and so on until you can completely cover and hold your body..."
"…lp, but I knew she was lying. It was in her eyes, her deep black eyes. So I stood strong and didn't over feed the bunny." Professor Port went on.
Jared took notes down rather well. He personally found the stories rather interesting… yeah he was weird like that. If anything, now he knew what to do if he had a pen, a pencil, and a blender if he was ever trapped in cage with an Ursa wearing a clown costume.
… If only he had those the last time he was trapped in a cage with an Ursa wearing a clown costume.
...
He wondered why he even agreed to half the things Xia told him to do.
Or right, he liked her. Of course, he had to fall for the hot lunatic.
"So… Snow Angel…" Jaune started as he 'whispered' to Weiss, who seemed to be putting up a very good front into ignoring him as if he had never even existed.
'Speaking of liking someone…' Jared thought to himself.
"I heard there was a new Spruce Willis movie. By any chance you wanna go see it? … With a friend? … Preferably a male friend? … A blond, male friend?"
Jared fought the urge to snicker. He was trying so hard.
Weiss briefly turned her head to Jaune and gave him a sour look.
"Alright, since you asked so nicely, I'll go with you, ya big lug."
Jaune turned his head away.
"Resh, I was talking to Weiss." Jaune leered at the boy who was the one who said that.
"With all due respect sir, you have a way higher chance of bringing me on a date than Weiss. Besides, you still owe me 1337.69 you can start a down payment by treating me to a movie. Now focus on the class, there's a test coming soon." Jared pointed out.
Jaune sighed while Weiss had a hidden smirk up her lip. She reminded herself to thank Resh privately for stopping Arc from his excessive flirting. In fact, if it wasn't for the purple clad skater, she couldn't imagine how many attempts the Arc would continue to annoy her with.
Maybe after class since the next period is one of the few times the two boys are not seen together.
"Erhm!" Professor Port cleared his throat. "It appears we have finished today's lesson rather early. Aren't you all a wonderful class! As a reward, let me start ahead with next class' lesson!"
Interestingly enough he ignored the muffled moans throughout his class.
"Now this lesson is quite the tale! It was one of my most dangerous missions yet! I barely survived this adventure, but I did and gained quite the fame for such a feat. This is called the Eyes of Pandora!" Professor Port turned to the board and started drawing some strange eyes.
"Now, who can tell me what a Pandora Grimm is?" He asked as he finished drawing a pair of eyes that looked strange with jagged swirls in them.
Jared stared at the crude drawings almost hypnotically. Why did those eyes looks so familiar? Had he seen them before?
"The stars are blind, my love…"
Weiss raised her hand.
"Yes, Miss Schnee?" Professor Port pointed to her.
"You will learn to crawl, under oceans above..."
"Pandora Grimm are rare breed of Grimm, and are oddly known as the 'Black Sheep' among the Grimm. Unlike most Grimm, the Pandora are blob like creatures who are slow, are born with flimsy limbs, have soft bodies, and have to crawl on their stomachs. With bodies like that, Grimmologists say it's impossible for those things to physically harm you. Also the moment they die, their bodies vanish faster within a half a minute. … That is all that's been recorded about those specific Grimm."
"That is correct. … But as you said that is only in record. Who here is actually seen a Pandora Grimm?" Professor asked inquisitively towards the whole class. No one seemed to know.
"I have. Do not let their weakness fool you. If the choice to either die by hordes of Grimm or a Pandora comes—always choose the hordes of Grimm," Professor Port walked around the class. For some reason people were listening to him now. He actually sounded like a teacher. Something was off.
"That force will fuel its hate."
"It was a day a little like today really," He glanced out the window, still showing that it was raining hard. "It was a dark but cloudy day without rain or thunder. I had been asked to take an easy mission of protecting a border town around an area with no immediate Grimm. The town was quite lovely; the town's folk were all smiles and would always invite me to dinner with them. Every night a small group of men would come together and play a collection of exotic music collected from different parts of the world and the ladies were dashing good cooks!" He laughed with his trademark mirth as he recalled the small town, but then his mood dropped. "… That day, a mother came to me with hysteria in her eyes. A young and innocent child that I had met had gone missing. I quickly agreed to go looking for him and his father… that courageous, good man… adamantly came with me. We searched and we searched the forest surrounding for the boy, and when even I was starting to fear the worst… we heard it."
"When it drains your soul, it will flood the gate…"
"… Heard it?" Jaune called out. He couldn't help it. This story was actually sounding interesting, and he was not the only one invested into the story.
"Yes, Mr. Arc, the father and I heard… music. But it was not the exotic and melodious notes that came from the town, it was soft, it sounded like the howling winds, and remembering it now—brrgh! It still chills my very soul..." He shivered. "But most of all I thought it was speaking words! Actual human words! Yet they sounded like they came from something inhuman! I remember them clearly: "The stars are blind, my love… you will learn to crawl, under oceans above…" I do not wish to recall the rest."
"Fear is a device,"
Jared stared into the eyes on the drawing board unblinkingly. Flashes of images he didn't understand came into his head.
"Regardless," Professor continued the story, but there was no trace of joyous triumph in his voice. "We followed the dark voice. It became clearer, but more bone-chilling with each step. Every time I stepped forward, I felt my aura quaking in pain, not my mind, not my body, but my Aura. I felt my courage wavering and doubt encroaching into the recess of my soul—it was repulsive and something I never want to re live."
"So quiet and precise,"
He paused.
For once the entire class hung on his every word.
"Out in the clearing, we saw the light forsaken creature… and the son. Only… the twisted creature was cuddling the body of the boy! Like some kind of twisted mother singing to her baby with a lullaby!"
"It's not what I'd allow, not in my world now…"
"I paled at the sight, but the father raced to free his child from monster. I called out to him too late and he went into the front of the creature. … One second. That's all I saw happen in that amount of time. I saw two pairs of lights, coming from its eyes, hitting and looking straight into the father's eyes. Then he instantly fell down, drool and foam coming from his mouth and his eyes so void of life. I finally acted quickly and killed the beast by bashing the back its skull, but not following through as to protect the child," He explained.
"Deep beneath the lights,"
"But it was too late. The son and the father seemed drained, they were alive and breathing but it was like the creature had sucked their souls. I turned to the fading beast, and just before it completely vanished, I saw…" He pointed to the eyes on the board. "Those unholy eyes staring at me, piercing my soul before it vanished. … This Grimm did not have a mask, but I believe that it was never meant to. The Pandora only seemed interested in children, pure hearted and joyous children. I learned that later when I had studied hard to find several similar cases of this around parallel border cities. And as for both the father and the son; to this day they are still treated in a hospital without a sign of them returning. Ever since then, that small town stopped its beautiful music, and the food was never as exotic as it was before…" Professor Port ruefully finished.
"A spark will now ignite,"
"There is one more thing I should tell you. A while back a fellow associate of mine with a Telepathic based semblance looked into their minds in an attempt to cure them. However, he had told me a horrible truth. The two beings were trapped in a hellish nightmare of their worst fears and beyond. My friend could not dispel their mental curse because he theorized the Pandora had damaged their aura somehow. But I knew it was the eyes! We believe that our eyes are the windows to our soul, but it appears that even the Grimm know of this. Pandora are the creatures that do not kill us physically, but trap us in eternal damnation! … To this day, I pity the young boy of five, who is now twenty four and trapped within the recess of his own mind, crying desperately for his father and mother. I remember what physical ailments he had: his eyes would cry blood, and his mouth would fill with foam—… Mr. Kolc?" He stopped and focused in on the man in question.
"You will see me now,"
"Huh? W-what?" Jared snapped out from looking at the eyes on the board, and faced the Professor. As he looked around, everyone that glanced over to him gasped and looked horrified. Even his friends beside him seemed scared.
"Resh!? You're bleeding!" Jaune cried out worryingly.
Jared took out his buckle and turned it over to its reflective side. True enough, one of his eyes was leaking blood.
"This is my world now…"
Jared sighed as he sat on the nurse seat and allowed Doctor Helsing shine a light on his right eye, the eye that started spontaneously bleeding.
"Hmm, I don't see anything wrong. … Tell me, Professor Port was talking about the Pandora Grimm and when you looked into the drawing of its eyes, you didn't notice you were bleeding?"
"Yes…" Jared answered honestly.
"… Resh Kolc, did you have an encounter with a Pandora?" The doctor asked.
Jared's head flashed with a multitude of imagery and emotions the moment the doctor said that stimuli. The young red eyed boy simply replied, "I… I don't know."
The doctor put away the eye light and inhaled. "To be honest, I have no idea what caused that, but I'm willing to bet my paycheck that you had to have had an encounter with one. It's not really public information, but Professor Port was right, once a Pandora locks eyes with you, there is almost no way to undo its spell on you until you die. Telepaths, astral projections, or whatever soul or mental semblance, none of them have so far worked on releasing those poor children or parents from those curse. Yet here you are almost completely fine. Pandora Grimm are attracted to children. So the only time you must have met one is during your childhood. I'd say between three to seven..." He theorized.
Jared only stared. He calmed himself and tried to recall one last time.
"Jared!"
Five different shrieks, all of them melded together, but he recognized them.
Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha. They all shrieked out his name. But that was all he could remember.
Doctor Helsing took a ponderous stare at Jared. "… Alright, you seem fine enough. I will call you back to my office so I can perform some tests. Something is off about your case."
'Tell me about it. This last week has been Stress City!' Jared whined in the back of his mind.
The wanderer sighed as he made his way out the office. He was rather surprised to see Weiss waiting by the chairs for him.
"The others all went to their classes and I had free period at this time, so I volunteered to wait for you." The heiress stated her reasoning.
"Oh, well thank you for that. Sorry about this mess." Resh began.
"Your welfare is important to all of us. Especially to that dunce…" Weiss muttered the second sentence. "There is no need to worry."
Jared decided to catch up a bit and make some small talk. "Well… I also have free period around now. So… how is your team?"
"Ruby and I… got off on the wrong foot, but we're patching things up. Yang is unbearable at times, but as for Blake…" She paused. She couldn't help but sense animosity from the girl whenever they would meet. She couldn't understand, but she seemed to sense some… restraint from her whenever she was around Blake. "We're working on things, but last night Ruby thought it would be a good idea to bond over cookies and ice cream as they watch a movie marathon of adventure movies. And it was surprisingly enjoyable."
"Huh, really?" Jared called out. "Team JNPR did that a few nights back. We had to marathon the first two sagas of Nebula Wars."
"Oh Dust, I think that's what Ruby said we'd watch next..." Weiss softly whined.
There was a lull in their conversation.
"I think I'll spend the rest of my free period on my bed. I'll see you later with the others, mam." Jared said as he made his way out.
"Wait," Weiss stood up as well. "Thank you for keeping your leader in check with those advances."
He blinked his red eyes twice. "Why are you thanking me for that?"
"Because he keeps doing it every single chance he gets!" Weiss cleared her throat. "At least you keep it to a minimum."
Jared suddenly laughed, surprising the girl in white. "Oh… sorry… just… whoo. That was a good laugh."
"And what do you find so hilarious?" Weiss folded her arms strictly.
It was more of an inside joke to Jared. He just remembered how embarrassed Weiss would be whenever she would take about his father when they were young.
Then a thought occurred to Jared: it was true he was already changing time as is—trying to make sure his father fall in love with one girl, but there was the fact he didn't know which future was his real future. Just who was his real mother? … The best Jared could come up with is to simply listen to the advice of that text. Be his father's wingman. And that means just being there for him and helping him with his problems… right?
Anyway, Jared figured an honest way to help out both Jaune and Weiss, and decided to act on it. "Well… first off, why do you dislike him so much?"
"I do not dislike him! I'm sure he is an… adequate young man, but I am not interested in dating at this point in time."
'I am so holding this against you when Uncle Neptune appears.' The son thought to himself.
"Have you actually told him? All I've seen you do is scoff, leave him mid word, and completely ignore him. I bet if you honestly told him that he would drop right there and then."Jared maturely explained.
"Oh please, people like him are like boomerangs. They always come back for more…"
She looked back at Resh, who seemed to actually absorb her words. It impressed her that he was actually considering her words.
"Well, I don't know who this 'they' is, but I do know Jaune. He doesn't seem to like you just for your looks or your riches," Jared replied thoughtfully. "I should know, he's asked me on dozens of occasions what exactly he's doing wrong in wooing you."
Weiss noted those words. She wouldn't accept them, but she supposed she would at least think about those words. "And? What did you say?"
"I answered vaguely in an enigmatic, all knowing manner," He flourished with certain theatrical flair which Weiss only rolled her eyes at. Then he continued in an honest manner. "But I told him I honestly had no idea why you would reject him so many times."
"Why? Is it not obvious? I do not want to go on a date with him!" Weiss raised her voice but didn't scream. Resh seemed like a sensible man, but why could he not see something so obvious?
A smirk curled up on Resh's lips. "It's not really as obvious as you think. I was taught to give a second look at things, and I always wondered why you didn't just tell him to stop. At any given time after or even before he starts his daily attempts, you could have just as easily said, 'Jaune Arc, please stop that. I am, nor will I ever be interested in you. For both of our sakes, drop it.' … and that would be it. He would never do that again." Jared described.
"I am not that cruel! I would never do that!" Weiss exclaimed.
Jared smiled and spoke out plainly, "And there you have it. I think that's why Jaune likes you."
…
Weiss seemed confused.
"May I remind you that everyone here simply calls you Ice Queen?" Weiss slightly flinched at the nickname. "Now, I may be looking way too deep into this. But here you are, a girl that is leagues ahead of Jaune, yet you don't really stop him from flirting with you. By all means you have the power to cruelly stop him altogether and forever shame him and his friends, but you choose not to. You let him continue even though you both know the answer to that same question." He paused a second to let it sink in before continuing. "I think he's attracted to that side of you. The one that—despite all what others say—really cares for other people. That's why he calls you Snow Angel; he knows you've got a heart as gentle as snow behind that cold exterior... And I think that's his way of wanting to meet that person." Jared theorized in such a professional manner that it almost sounded true.
A few pregnant seconds of silence passed between them.
"… That sounds fascinating. But that is all speculation. You have no proof that dunce thinks like that…" Weiss denied rather softly.
'But you didn't deny that you have a soft side others don't see…' Jared noted mentally to himself before nodding his head once. "Alright then, in that case, I'll have Jaune stop his excessive attempts at courting with you."
Her pale crystal blue eyes widened at the thought of being free of all attempts at that thing he called flirting. "What!? You would do that?!"
"Hold on there, mam. Between you and Sir, I have more reason to be nicer to him than to you. Since he is more of a friend to me than to you—no offense. … But if you really want him to stop completely, will you be willing to go on an actual date with him?"
"What!? Did Arc put you up to this? I thought at least you would pull—" Before she could continue, she saw Resh's hand form a stop sign.
"Here's how I see it. Go on one date with him, one short afternoon with him, and make him realize that either you're not the type of girl he likes, or he's not that good enough for you. Or spend the next four years trying to ignore his repeated and escalating advances, even with my help in pulling a leash on him." The boy from the future chuckled at this. He had once overheard Mother Weiss use this same tactic on lesser politicians and business men. Time must be pretty poetic to allow a potential student to turn their teacher's lesson against them before even they could learn it. It was rather addictive to correct the people correcting one's entire life.
Weiss considered between the two options. Several hours with the doofus, or suffer four years of his advances?
She sighed. "You swear you can make him stop?"
"You have to admit, despite his character, he wouldn't go back on a promise with a friend." Jared assured. "I just have to make sure he agrees to it. So how does this we—no—next weekend sound?"
"I would rather have it this weekend, best be done with it quickly." Weiss resigned.
"No, please, it has to be next week. I swear he will not flirt with you even now if you let me have a week for preparation. You wouldn't want him to be too unbearable for even a few hours right?" Jared reasoned.
Weiss sighed. "If I find out you cannot hold your end of the bargain…"
"I'm quite aware, Mam," Jared finished. "Oh! May I suggest one more thing?"
"What?" She leered annoyingly at the boy.
Jared gave her a big, goofy smile. "You should try smiling more. You look better without a frown on your face all the time." He answered honestly before making a quick get away before Weiss could react.
"Hey, sir. Mind if I talk to you privately?" Jared did not stop walking and dragged his leader by the arm before escaping the rest of team JNPR.
"Resh!? You're alright! How are you!? … Wait, let go of me!" Jaune yelled out until Resh brought him around the corner.
He turned to his leader with a hushed voice. "I'm glad to see you care. Look, sir, I might have done something I shouldn't have interfered in…" He admitted nervously.
"What?" Jaune did not like the look of nervousness on his friend's face. What could have caused him to make such a laid-back and calm boy seem so aghast?
"… Calm down first… I'll start with the good news then. … I got you a date with Weiss."
Jaune's eyes widened and felt his heart leap out in joy. "You what!? Did you actually—"
"Shhh!" Jared emphasized greatly to stop his dad from saying more. "Yes, I did, she agreed to go on one—just one date with you."
"Man! If I knew all I had to do was send you into the hospital to get a date with her, I would have mauled you in your sleep a long time ago—wait, what do you mean just one?" It suddenly occurred to Jaune that the way Resh worded it made it sound like there was a catch.
Choosing to ignore the nightly urges of his father attacking his sleeping form at night, Jared sighed before addressing the situation further. "Look, you kind of have to admit you're not going anywhere with you directly asking her repeatedly each day. So I promised her that she would go on one date with you if you stopped flirting with her every chance you got."
"Wait… so… I technically did ask her on a date because of my flirting?"
Jared gave an incredible look at the question. "Well… that's one way to look at it. But she'll only agree if you stop flirting with her for the rest of the time her in Beacon. That means even after the date."
"Huh… Ok, yeah! I can do that!" Jaune assured him.
Jared inhaled deeply. There was one thing he needed to confirm. "Wait, sir, I need to ask: why do you like Weiss so much? And please don't tell me it's because she's pretty or rich."
"She's rich?" Jaune questioned in disbelief.
Jared fought the urge to facepalm, but failed.
Taking his hand off his face, he continued on. "… Ignoring that, please answer my question."
Jaune rubbed the back of his head. "Well she is beautiful for one, but so is every other girl here… I… don't really know how to say it, but… she keeps denying me right? But she doesn't really tell me to stop trying… ? Do you get what I'm saying?"
A smile appeared on the purple clad boy's face. "Go on."
"I just think… there's more to her. I mean sure she's smart, and really pretty, but I think there's just… more to her… than… her? … Maybe? I don't know!" Jaune struggled as he tried to think about it.
"Don't worry, Sir." Jared patted his back reassuringly. "I understand." It was funny enough how his son figured out his own father's feelings before he did.
"Yeah right…"
"Trust me sir, I think I know you better than you do."
'And then some.'
{Author Notes}
… I took a look at my story and notice there was waayyy too much Jared and Jaune scenes. I'm really going to try and give everyone some equal screen time, but the problem with my story is that the plot relies on Jared. (Especially with the next chapter where Jared finally becomes proactive.)
I would like to have more character fleshing on everyone else, including Ren and Nora, but that might take too long with everything else I'm planning.
I really hope you guys can be patient with this and for those who are, thank you so much for waiting. I have studies I need to do as well. Along with other stories I have to write. So once more a huge thank you for your support. You guys are the best.
As for the story, we start on building friendship with Weiss! I have some interesting ideas for the date.
And a bit of mystery around Jared and a certain Grimm. That little tidbit episode where they explain Grimm only attack humans gave me some interesting plans taken form of the Pandoras.
The beginning part is actually a real song. It's called 'Firewall by Les Friction' a really cool song. I recommend to those that like movie music with epic vocals.
I did want to add more this chapter, but I think this will do for now. Three straight long chapters aren't always that good.
Also, Whoo! My fifth week of proper uploads! I've gone five weeks of actually keeping in schedule! I wonder how long I can keep that up.
Next Time: First Weekend! Detective Resh Kolc is on the hunt! The Enemy Appears!?
Goal for next week: 10 new reviews before next Saturday! (33+ Reviews since the goal with favorites and likes was a bit of a stretch.)
The reward for this is an (omake) extra! ... How do you guys think team RWBY, JNPR and Resh would do in a baseball game?