Once again, I've gotten a ton of support and I couldn't make you guys wait for too long. Thanks to all of you for your reviews as well as all who are following/favoring the story.
I feel the humor isn't as present in this chapter as the others, but it definitely setting up for the next. Velvet has barely had any lines, so her personality is mostly speculation.
Anyways, enjoy and thanks again.
Pyrrha awoke from sleep, earlier than she normally would. With a yawn, she turned to her clock, which read 5:00AM. "Odd," she muttered to herself, "I am not normally awake for at least another two hours."
Pyrrha then proceeded to start her regular routine of gathering her sundries and clothes for the day when she noticed that her love interest's bed was empty. He couldn't have gotten up earlier than me. Not what after what I put him through last night. Pyrrha thought about how tired the boy must be.
Although concerned, the Spartan figured that she might as well get showered and ready before searching for her leader. After a finishing in the washrooms, Pyrrha exited to find Jaune lazily slumping down the hall. Bags hung under his eyes and each step seemed to be a struggle. "Jaune?" Pyrrha called out to him.
Jaunes head snapped up and he gave a small smile. "Oh, hey Pyrrha."
"Look at you. Jaune, you need rest. What are you doing up so early?"
"I made a promise," Jaune replied with a yawn.
"What kind of promise," Pyrrha pressed.
"S'not my place to say." Jaune slowly trudged past his teammate and towards the boys room. "We'll talk later, k?"
Jaune walked into the door frame several time before Pyrrha grabbed his shoulders and corrected his course. "Thanks," Jaune muttered as he entered the room.
Pyrrha sighed. She needed to know what he was up to. Continuing this pattern would be bad for his health. She then made her way to the training grounds to do her daily warm-ups. For two hours, she relentlessly beat on the training dummies until she grew tired and went to seek food in the cafeteria. Alone with her toast and eggs, she began to think about her next course of action.
Jaune only thinks I only confessed to help him out with Penny. At least he didn't flat out reject me. What should I try next? Perhaps I could try to cook him something? No, I have no experience in the culinary arts and anything I could make would pale to what Ren makes us. "C-can I sit here?"
Pyrrha recognized the accent and turned to her bunny eared friend. "Of course," she replied to Velvet.
Velvet had her own tray of cereal and an orange. She sat across from the Pyrrha and began to daintily eat her breakfast. "You're up early," Pyrrha mentioned.
"I, uh, had some early morning things to take care of," Velvet averted her companions gaze.
Pyrrha furrowed her brows. Jaune also has to wake early to keep some secret promise. Could they be connected somehow? "May I ask what that is?" Pyrrha asked.
Velvet blushed and shook her head. "It's embarrassing. I'd rather not."
"Alright," Pyrrha relented.
This doesn't make sense though. Jaune asked Penny out after he started his secret morning activities. If he was in some relationship with Velvet, that would mean he tried to cheat on her and I doubt he's the kind of guy to do that. But what could they possibly be up to?
Pyrrha decided that she would figure it out later. It would be rude if she ignored Velvet. The two girls chatted for some time. Within their conversations, Pyrrha learned quite a bit about Velvet and had to admit that she liked her a lot. Soon, other students began to fill the cafeteria. The duo continued their conversation until they were interrupted by a hand slamming on the table. "Well how's it going freak?" Cardin sneered down at the girl. "No blonde clowns to save you now."
Pyrrha was about to intervene when Velvet stood and faced the bully. "I don't need to take that from you," she stated firmly.
"And why's that?" Cardin growled.
The rest of CRDL moved in to aid their leaders intimidating presence. Velvet remained were she was and stared directly into Cardin's eyes. "Because I am a student who worked her way into Beacon with good grades and transcripts. I am an equal here, whether or not I have animal appendages. Also, unlike you, there is no need to go around displaying these qualities or any others I possess to validate my own ego."
Everyone became quiet and watched as Cardin went from shocked to angry to calm. "Whatever. No matter what you say, you're still a freak with freakish ears."
Cardin went to grab the Faunus ears, but his hand was slapped away by Velvet, who had a dead serious look in her eyes.
"I think you should go now," Pyrrha smirked to the rival team.
Cardin gave one last growl before signalling his team to leave. After they were out of the doors, Velvet collapsed back into her seat, panting with a panicked look in her eyes. "I c-can't believe I d-did that."
"That was amazing Velvet," Pyrrha smiled at her. "I don't think he'll be bugging you soon."
"Well a lot of it is thanks to Jaune," Velvet sighed.
"Jaune?"
Velvet blushed and stared at her fidgeting hands. "Um, yes. After the other day when he helped me, he offered to coach me on my self-confidence and how to stand up to people like Cardin. We've met out in the gardens for the last two mornings. I was embarrassed, so I asked him not to tell anyone."
Now that she had the full story, Pyrrha relaxed. "So that's what he's been up to."
"Sorry I asked him to keep a secret from you."
"Don't worry about it. It's fair that you wouldn't want people to know about this."
"He talks a lot about you, you know."
"What?" Pyrrha grew a small blush.
"He said that you've given him so much help that he's more than happy to pass it forward. He told me you were his inspiration for his courage."
"W-well I-I don't know if I would-"
"It's obvious you like him," Velvet giggled.
Her mirth ended, however, when she saw Pyrrha's face go red. "I'm sorry, I went too far."
"No, you are correct. And that's nothing compared to what team RWBY puts me through," Pyrrha muttered under her breath. "So, um… does he say anything else about me?"
Velvet tried to suppress her smile as she turned away. "I really shouldn't say…"
Pyrrha's eyes opened and she leaned across the table. "Don't you do this to me, Scarlatina!"
"Don't do what?" She heard Yang's voice from behind.
Pyrrha spun around to find RWBY approaching the table.
"She wants to know what Jaune has said to me about her," Velvet answered.
Pyrrha's expression was one of someone who was doomed as Yang's grin tripled in size. "Oh. My. God. You are interrogating poor Velvet here so that you can satisfy your lust?"
"It's not like that! I-" Pyrrha tried to explain herself.
"When I said you should hunt him, I didn't mean for you to take it so seriously," Weiss chuckled, "Are there any Jaune-traps around school we should be aware of?"
Pyrrha sighed as a resignation to her fate. The other girls continued to tease her until Nora and Ren finally arrived.
"Where's Jaune?" Ruby asked.
"He went back to sleep. He was really tired this morning," Ren answered.
Both Velvet and Pyrrha felt guilty for the boys tired state. "Does anyone know why he gets up so early?" Nora inquired.
Pyrrha looked to Velvet, but held her tongue. She was above petty revenge. "It's his own business," Ren replied.
"At least he won't miss any classes," Blake offered.
The group finished their meals and agreed to team training practice with each other when Jaune woke up. Until then, they would work on some of their homework in their respective rooms.
On the way back, Pyrrha felt someone grab her arm and try to pull her to the side, but to no avail. She turned to find Velvet struggling to pull the much more muscular woman. "Is there something I can help you with?" Pyrrha asked.
Velvet gave up with a huff, but still smiled. "No, but there's something I can help you with."
"And that is…"
Velvet motioned her to follow her into an empty hallway. Pyrrha followed her before she continued. "I'm thankful to Jaune for making my life here easier, as the rest of you have. Yang told me about your 'project' to get together with Jaune and I want to help."
"How…" Pyrrha had a bad feeling about this.
"Well I think Jaune wants to be a hero. The one to help others. You are always the one giving him the extra hand, so he has no reason to seek you out. However, if he sees a damsel in distress, he will act as the knight in shining armor. I believe that's why he's been paying so much attention to me." Velvet explained.
"So what you're saying is that I…"
"Need to be the damsel in distress. Create opportunities for him to help you and he will focus only on you," Velvet finished for her.
Pyrrha thought about it for a moment. It was true. Jaune might even feel emasculated because of all her assistance, but he would jump at the chance to help her. He did say he wanted to pay me back for all I've done. Maybe I should just let him. Pyrrha smiled at her conclusion. "Thank you," she said sincerely.
"You're welcome," Velvet waved as she left.
Pyrrha returned to her team's room and started on her homework, but her mind kept going to how she could put herself in a situation for Jaune to help her. "Are you still thinking about how to win Jaune?" Ren approached with his question.
"Yes," Pyrrha sighed.
"Pyrrha, listen to me. Jaune and I have become pretty good friends and he's always telling me about the girls he talks to. I can easily ask him why he-," Pyrrha clasped her hand over his mouth.
"Shh," she whispered, "Jaune's waking up."
Ren rolled his eyes and went back to his desk, a little more irritated than before. Jaune yawned and sat up on his bed. "What time is it?" he asked sleepily.
"Ten," Nora replied cheerfully.
"Aw, crap! I've gotta get to the cafeteria before they stop serving breakfast." Jaune fell off his bed, quickly dusted himself off and bolted out the door.
"Now that he's gone, will you accept my-" Ren attempted to help again.
"Hold that thought," Pyrrha interrupted, "There's something I need to take care of.
Ren through his arms up, Nora giggled and Pyrrha went for the door.
She decided she wasn't going to be able to be the damsel in distress Jaune sought out. It wasn't in her nature. So if she couldn't do it herself, she would get help. She knocked on team RWBY's door, which was answered by Blake. "Can I talk to you guys?" Pyrrha asked.
"Only Yang and I are here right now. Ruby accidently scratched Crescent Rose and panicked. She ran to the mechanics room to buff it out. Weiss went to go help her, claiming that it was 'her duty to make sure her partner and her equipment are in tip top shape'." Blake responded.
"She's been spending a lot of alone time with my sis," Yang muttered from within the room.
"Anyways, what do you need?" Blake asked.
"I, um… This might sound a little weird, but I need a bully," Pyrrha rubbed her arms.
"Uh… What?" Yang peeked around the door. "I think Cardin's available."
Pyrrha shuddered before continuing. "That won't do. I need someone to subtly cause me small, manageable, havocs that… Jaune can save me from."
Blake had an amused smirk, but Yang was practically bursting from laughter. Pyrrha endured until the brawler finally settled down. "I think Blakey and I can handle that," Yang replied.
"Just so we're clear," Pyrrha warned, "I don't want this affecting my grades and I only need small practical jokes at the most. Understood"
"Of course! Anything to help a friend," Yang continued to smile.
The three girls turned to the sound of footsteps to see Jaune returning with a frown on his face. "What's the matter?" Pyrrha asked with concern.
"I was too slow. And I'm starving," Jaune replied.
Pyrrha went to go console her leader when she lost her footing and tripped forward. She could see Yang retracting her foot at the last moment before colliding into Jaune. The two ended up sprawled on the floor with Pyrrha on top. Both of their faces were flushed. Yang was laughing and Blake was giving a small giggle. "I, uh, thank you for not letting me hit the ground," Pyrrha joined with a nervous laugh of her own.
"N-no problem," Jaune squeaked.
Pyrrha thought Jaune's embarrassment was a little advanced until she realized that the cleavage of her outfit was directly in his line of view. She quickly rolled off of Jaune, who scrambled to his feet and offered a hand. "It's not often I help you up," Jaune laughed, still a little embarrassed.
"Oh, I'm sure there'll be plenty of times that she'll need you," Blake gave a sadistic smirk.
Pyrrha groaned. She had made a terrible mistake.