Chapter 2: Pyrrha Nikos
It was a lazy Sunday afternoon at Beacon Academy. The students of Beacon were trying to make the best use of their unfortunately and rapidly dwindling hours of freedom before the school week began.
Two of these students were the female members of Team JNPR: Pyrrha Nikos and Nora Valkyrie. The two of them were often together whenever their partners weren't around, since they considered themselves best friends.
This was true of this afternoon in particular, as Ren had gone down to Vale to pick up ingredients for his, in Nora's spoken and Pyrrha's unspoken opinions, disgusting health shakes. Not even Professor Port, who claimed that as a true man's man no food or drink was too gross to consume, escaped from drinking it unscathed. The only upside to that time had been that Professor Port's classes had been cancelled for a few days as he got his stomach pumped.
As for Jaune, he had decided to get some extra training in on Sundays, since he felt that he needed to work harder than anyone else in order to catch up to his friends. Pyrrha felt a surge of pride that the boy she lov-LIKED, the boy she LIKED, was so driven to improve himself. If anyone looked at where he had started out, and where he was now, Pyrrha believed that they would have to admit that he'd honestly made insane progress.
Of course, Pyrrha would have liked to have spent the afternoon with Jaune, but she knew that this extra training was important for him. Due to this unwillingness to interfere, Pyrrha was now spending the afternoon reading some of Blake's collection of Mistrali girls' comics with Nora. Pyrrha was a little embarrassed by how bold some of the love interests were, though she felt a connection to the heroine.
Pyrrha was broken out of her musings by a very strong shoulder nudge from Nora. Pyrrha looked up from the comic page she was on, and glanced at Nora to see what she wanted. Pyrrha hoped it wasn't some crazy idea, though with Nora, that was the most likely possibility.
"What is it Nora? Do you need me to do something?" Pyrrha asked with almost motherly concern. "OH! OH! Pyrrha! Pyrrha! Look'it this!" Nora said with extreme excitement, as she held up the comic she was reading, pointing at something on the page.
Pyrrha gave the page a close look. The comic showed the heroine being given a kabedon by the main love interest, her back against the wall while the boy she lov-LIKED, had slammed his hand against the wall behind her with his body looming close to her. Pyrrha blushed at how bold this was, and then began to question Nora, "These kabedons are really bold aren't they? But why did you want to show me this?"
Nora's face grew a Cheshire cat-like grin. "I showed you this because I think you should try it on Jauney!"
Pyrrha's hand flew over her mouth in shock. "Me? Give Jaune a kabedon? I could never…It would be too bold! What if he gets offended? What if he thinks I'm creepy? What if…" Pyrrha started to rant with worry over the idea before Nora cut her off.
"Pyrrha! You're losing it! Calm down!" Nora near-shouted, as she shook Pyrrha out of her panic. "Thank you, Nora. But still, I don't know if I could give Jaune a kabedon. I don't even think I should." Pyrrha stated sadly.
"Pyrrha, you know I love you, but you're being foolish right now." Nora sternly replied. "What do you mean?" Pyrrha inquired. "You're approaching your romantic problems too timidly. You're trying too hard to subtly shift Jaune towards going out with you. And it isn't working. Our beloved Leader is too dense to pick up the subtleties. If being subtle doesn't work, it's time to attack openly! You need to directly ask him on a date y'know? And if you use the kabedon to ask him out, it'll make it harder for your prey to ignore or flee you!" Nora explained the plan she had just concocted, striking a triumphant pose.
Pyrrha gave this some thought. Nora, for as crazy and hyperactive as she often acted, was intelligent and wise, which often shocked those outside the team. The more Pyrrha thought on Nora's idea, the more sense it made. Jaune truly hadn't grasped all the subtle ways that Pyrrha had used to insert the idea of the two of them as a couple.
Since they hadn't started going out yet, Pyrrha also was worried about all the girls and boys that she feared might steal a march on dating her partner. She had seen the way that Ruby would blush whenever Jaune gave her even the slightest compliment. Pyrrha feared that soon Weiss would realize all the good things about Jaune, and finally accept his previous advances. Pyrrha had even seen the longing glances that exchange student on Team SSSN, Scarlet David, gave Jaune when he thought no one was looking.
Pyrrha was always looking, and she feared that sooner rather than later, if she didn't snag Jaune as her boyfriend, someone else would take him from her. Pyrrha wouldn't be able to handle the heartbreak and suffering if that happened. The only answer then, was to stop being subtle, and to be bold.
Pyrrha looked over at Nora again, and saw her looking expectantly for a decision. "You're right Nora. I've been passive about my feelings for far too long. It's time to start assertive tactics." Pyrrha said with finality. Nora gasped happily.
"If he still doesn't get it, I'll break his legs a little bit." Nora deviously murmured. "NORA! THAT'S NOT OKAY!" Pyrrha chastised. "Not even a little?" Nora asked petulantly. "NO!" Pyrrha commanded.
"Anyways, time for you to go and give our Fearless Leader a kabedon, and ask him on a date!" "Wait, you meant right now?" "Of course, you silly girl! Now off you go!" "But I don't have my scroll! I won't be able to get back…." The door slammed shut. "In…."
Pyrrha started to get nervous, as Nora had pushed her out the dorm room, locking the door. "I guess I have no choice…" Pyrrha mused. She then started to walk towards the training rooms, as she knew Jaune would be ending his extra training soon, having memorized his workout schedule and understanding his training methods and limits as well as she did.
As Pyrrha neared a turn in the hallway she was in, she heard footsteps. Her heart started to beat much faster when she heard Jaune whistling the tune of Shine, the song their team had danced to at the dance.
Okay, remember, be assertive, Pyrrha reminded herself. She listened as Jaune continued to draw near her, and gathered her courage. Here goes nothing, Pyrrha thought as Jaune rounded the corner ahead of her.
Pyrrha put on a burst of speed and startled Jaune into retreating to the corner of the hallway. Jaune barely had time to greet or interact with Pyrrha as he ended up in the corner, Pyrrha's right hand slamming into the wall behind Jaune.
Jaune was a little surprised by Pyrrha's actions, and tried to ask her why she was doing this. Pyrrha didn't respond, as she mumbled words under her breath that Jaune couldn't make out.
"Okay…Well Pyr, I'm a little sweaty, so I think I'll go take a shower before you have my stink mess up your pretty nose." Pyrrha blushed hard at the compliment, but as Jaune made a move to head past her and go back to their dorm room, Pyrrha slammed her left hand into the other side of the hall corner, trapping Jaune where he was. Jaune let out a small yelp of surprise.
Pyrrha flinched and started to apologize, "I'm sorry…" Pyrrha's face then hardened, "No. You know what? I'm NOT sorry!" Jaune looked confused, "Umm, okay?" "You're not going anywhere till you promise me to go out next Saturday!" Pyrrha demanded, as her frustration with the lack of progress in establishing a relationship with Jaune emerged.
Pyrrha then had to fight her conflicting feelings of elation, embarrassment, regret, and the fluttery feelings of love that turned her stomach over. A few minutes of silence passed.
Jaune then replied to Pyrrha's demands, "Of course we can go out next Saturday Pyr!" Pyrrha could scarcely believe her swiftly reddening ears. HE SAID YES!? Pyrrha mentally flipped out in joy.
"It'll be a lot of fun! Hanging out with one of my absolute best friends! I can't wait!" Jaune gleefully stated. Pyrrha's mind shut down hearing this, and then within seconds, rebooted with a response. "Of c-course. Best friends. Yes." Pyrrha said out loud with her forced and cracking celebrity smile, while internally, she was raging and shouting unholy screams of fury, cursing how dense her crush was.
"Let's head on back." Pyrrha told Jaune, releasing him from the corner she had kabedon'd him in. "Sure Pyr." Jaune said with a charming smile that normally made Pyrrha giddy with happiness to see, but now only infuriated her. As the two headed back to their dorm room, Jaune heard Pyrrha whisper something that shook him to his core.
"I guess comic tropes don't work in real life…" Pyrrha whispered despondently. Jaune then remembered a conversation with his eldest sister on the subject of kabedons.
"This kabedon thing seems to always happen to a girl big sis. Would you ever do it?" Jaune asked his eldest sister Ivoire. "Hmm. That's a good question Jauney. I think that not all girls would do it, the ones that do tend to be more aggressive in their actions. But, I think that if a girl that usually wouldn't do a kabedon does one, she probably was desperate to get something." Ivoire responded to her little brother's question.
"Get something?" Jaune asked curiously. "Yes. I think that if a girl does this to you, one that wouldn't usually do anything as assertive as a kabedon, and asks you to go out, usually she's into you." Ivoire explained.
"How do you know?" Jaune questioned Ivoire with all the endless curiosity of a child. "Umm, I'll tell you when you're older." Ivoire said with a blush staining her cheeks. "Aww. You're no fun." Jaune said with a pout.
It was at that moment that Jaune had a moment of sharp clarity. Pyrrha's previous actions, up to and including the kabedon, had been done because she liked HIM. Jaune then understood that Pyrrha's asking to go out next Saturday wasn't meant to be a friendly excursion. It was meant to be a date!
Jaune looked at Pyrrha, and decided to take action. Surreptitiously, Jaune took out his scroll and messaged Nora without Pyrrha noticing, melancholic as she was. Jaune asked Nora to help him plan a romantic date for Pyrrha on the upcoming Saturday, and to keep it a secret from her. Nora's response was nothing less than an ecstatic scream in text form and affirmation of her undying support, saying that this was happening.
Jaune slipped his scroll back into his gym bag, and looked over at Pyrrha. He was a little disappointed in himself that it took Pyrrha doing a kabedon on him to realize her feelings, but he was determined to make it up to her. He was going to give her a truly amazing date. He was going to do this for her, and for himself, since he had been unable to figure out a way to act on his burgeoning feelings for Pyrrha. Truly, Jaune was grateful that comic tropes sometimes worked in real life.
AN: And thus, ends chapter two of Jaune Gets Kabedon'd. This chapter was all about Arkos. I feel like Pyrrha's politeness was at least partially a construct brought about by her need for a positive media image as a celebrity. Thus, any kind of strong negative emotions would be voiced internally. I also like seeing Pyrrha be more assertive, hence why I made her decide to do the kabedon in a way to trap Jaune. Furthermore, Pyrrha's correcting herself from love to like is less about her being tsundere, and more about maintaining her self-control in an attempt to maintain normalcy. Otherwise, poor Jaune might get jumped. This chapter is the first of the more romantically inclined one-shots, as the previous Lancaster chapter was more platonic in nature. I'm very glad that I got such a positive response from the first chapter, it means a lot of you enjoyed it. I enjoyed writing this, and I hope that you enjoyed the chapter! Leave a review if you want, and let me know what you think. Remember to keep your eyes peeled for more in the future!