Yeah, in the last chapter Pyrrha's weapons appeared in weird font. I did copy them off somewhere, because the accents are hard to find on my PC. That said, I changed the text in the word doc to normal, and it looked normal. I guess the website changed them back… sigh. Oh well.

College Fool has also become the beta of White Sheep, and because he ended up being the beta for four fics with that, it was slowing down his own chances to write. Because I desperately want to see him write more, we decided to have him bow out on this one. So from here on, he's not a beta, but that shouldn't be a big problem. It's just so you know that any mistakes are mine and not his.

Chapter 10

Jaune's initial response was to scowl. There was no panic, no sense of fear or terror - just the sight of four people he didn't like. He forced a smile onto his face and thanked his lucky stars he wasn't working, and thus didn't need to be too polite. "Hello Cardin. I didn't know you came here." And he wished he had, since it would have been a fairly simple matter to blacklist the asshole. Then again, that might have caused some trouble. Cardin looked like the kind to try and press the issue against a bouncer, and most of the muscle out front weren't exactly huntsman material.

"I think that line should be mine Jauney-boy," Cardin grinned – and it was a malignant expression, one that showed far too many teeth. "Why don't you come and sit down with us? We should catch up."

Nothing could have sounded worse to his ears, and in some way that must have shown on his face because Cardin's smirk was replaced with an ugly frown. "I'd rather not," he said and stepped away, "I've got places to be and there's class tomorrow, right? Have a good night you guys." He pushed past them, and with the bouncer watching, they made no move to stop him. It wasn't like they could do anything, and this wasn't on school grounds, so he felt no need to stick around.

"My, my," Cardin called, just before Jaune could get out of range. "I have to wonder what your team and friends would say if they heard about you spending your evenings in a strip club?"

Jaune's feet froze to the floor as a nauseous feeling pooled in his stomach. Their words were wrong, of course. They didn't know the full story and he could oh so easily prove them wrong… but if he walked away now, then they'd have nothing but their own assumptions. Rumours had a tendency to grow out of control, and also to become fact in the minds of those who spread them. With a sigh he turned around and walked back to them. It would only take a few minutes to set them straight, surely? "You got a table?"

It turned out that Team CRDL did, in fact, have a table for themselves. It was a smallish one on the ground floor, far enough from the bar and close to one of the windows that overlooked the street. The teens sat down around the table, Jaune being left to take a small stool from nearby. "So," Cardin began, "You're actually into strip shows, and apparently well-off enough to afford entrance too. Can't say I expected that, what with that piece of crap you call a weapon."

"I'm not here for pleasure, Cardin. I work here."

"You work here?" The four of them shared quizzical looks. "You mean upstairs?"

"Not like that!" he lied. "I meant I work behind the bars here. I'm a bartender and this is my job. You caught me just finishing up for the day, so no – I'm not visiting a strip club."

"You work at a place like this?" Russell asked as he looked around the club. A particularly lecherous expression took over his face as he spied a pretty girl behind the bar. "Nice…"

"She's taken. New worker, doing part-time as she studies to be a lawyer – has a boyfriend in the city."

"I'm sure I could change her mind."

Jaune fought down his irritation. She wouldn't be swayed. Jaune both knew and liked the girl, as new as she was. There's no need to get angry; she can look after herself. It wasn't like she hadn't been working behind the bar long enough to get a few similar proposals. Still, it was annoying beyond belief to hear them talk about her like that. He hid his temper in the act of slowly sipping at his drink.

"If you work here then you could get us into the VIP rooms, right?"

"Hey… nice idea Sky," Cardin offered his palm for a hi-five, the two grinning as they clapped hands. "Well, you heard the man Jauney – we'd love to see a little skin before the night's over. Fancy helping us out?"

The glass in his hand nearly shattered. Nina would be performing right now, and while she wouldn't bat an eye at a few hormone-fuelled boys being added to the audience, the thought of the four of them drooling and cajoling his mentor – a woman who had treat him like her own son – was infuriating. "I can't," he said, "I only work here, and only as a bartender. I don't have the power to decide who can and can't enter the VIP. Only the boss can do that."

"You can't get into the booth at the front entrance and get us some tickets?"

"It's always manned by someone and I don't have the authority to go wherever I want." Jaune shrugged, though there was no real apology in it. "Sorry."

"Tch… and I bet you can't get us any free drinks either?"

"Not without paying for them… and since I work here part-time and wield a, how did you put it, piece of crap as a weapon – I'm obviously not wealthy enough to buy you some rounds."

Cardin crossed his arms and scoffed, "So you're useless then?"

Jaune's smile was the first honest one he'd had since spotting them. "I guess so," he shrugged. Oh, he could have done any of the things they asked. It would have been easy enough to get them entrance to the VIP, but there was no way he would let these idiots slather over the girls here. He could get drinks too, but that would mean letting them win – and they had nothing on him.

"He could do some of our homework?" Dove suggested. "If he can't do anything here, there's always Beacon.

That was where his patience ended. Were they honestly going to sit there and talk about how they intended to blackmail him, when they didn't even have something to do it with? He stood up and pushed his stool back. "Well, now that we've sorted that out, I have to go. Have a nice night."

"Where do you think you're going? I didn't think we were finished talking."

"Oh?" Jaune turned with an easy smile. "I thought we were. You thought I'd come from the strip club, but I've explained why I'm here. Unless you need me for something, I need to go back to Beacon and get some rest. Plus, I'm out-of-hours at the moment, so you can always ask the guys behind the bar if you want a drink."

Cardin growled but seemed unable to come up with a reason to make him stay. He had already turned to leave when Russell called out. "We didn't actually see you working behind the bar. Who's to say you're not lying?"

"I can get a bartender to vouch for me if you really want me to."

"Yeah, but they would say that, wouldn't they?"

"That… made no sense."

The Mohawk-wearing teen flushed amid the muffled laughter from his peers. He seemed angry as he wracked his mind for something to say, some way of winning the argument. "Yeah, well maybe you came out of that place because you work there as a stripper yourself, eh?"

Jaune's heart turned to ice. It was so sudden that it took his breath away, and his hands clenched into fists as he turned back with as calm an expression as he could manage. "That's a lie," he whispered. "I already said I work as a bartender. There's nothing more to it."

"Maybe," Cardin grinned, apparently having caught onto Russell's idea, "But who are people going to believe on that? The guy who comes walking out a strip club and apparently works there, or four normal students like us?"

Normal students? Is that how they thought most of Beacon saw them? Jaune growled under his breath, even as he struggled to find something he could say. They were completely on the mark with their accusation, though thankfully the way they laughed and grinned said they didn't actually believe it.

"I can offer proof that's not true…"

"And how many people do you think are going to come here to see it? It's much easier to believe the rumours."

True… oh so foolishly true. It would be around Beacon within days, and although most would probably dismiss it – hell, they probably didn't even know who he was, there would still be those who took it as fact. Would his team?

He didn't think so… Pyrrha would panic at first, but she'd probably believe him quickly enough, and he didn't think Nora or Ren would give a damn in the slightest. As for Team RWBY, they might react to it, but Yang could calm them down easily enough. She knew where he worked, after all. Or she thought she did.

But there was the other problem… what if the mental nudge was all she needed to put the pieces together? What if Yang started to wonder about it, to doubt – and then kept it in mind the next time she saw Crimson? He looked different in hair and voice, but his facial structure was still the same. If she was actually looking for it, she'd probably tell in an instant.

And even if they didn't… what would hanging around and being friends with a person everyone else considered to be a stripper do to them? It wouldn't just be his reputation, but Ruby and Pyrrha's too. It would be a problem for his partner… maybe even an actual scandal if the newspapers found out or cared as much about her fame as they used to. Even if they didn't, Ruby being underage and friends with him would raise eyebrows.

There were so many ways it could go wrong, and only one way it could go right – that being where his team and RWBY didn't believe it, where Yang didn't connect the dots, and where literally every other person in Beacon didn't believe Team CRDL.

What were the odds of all that happening?

"So," Cardin said, "About that homework we want you to do…"

Jaune cursed himself as a thousand different kinds of a fool, but worse – a coward.

He sat back down.

/-/

Yang knew there was something wrong the moment Pyrrha came to sit with them alone, though she supposed she would have known sooner had she looked towards Jaune. She'd been distracted, however. Blake and Weiss were having another one of their mini-arguments and she was half-heartedly trying to play the mediator. "No Jaune this time?" she asked with a tired wink towards the redhead. Her teasing tone didn't get the response she was looking for.

Pyrrha sighed and drooped, the smile she offered in return looking dull and worn. "He's with his other friends," she said.

He has other friends? Maybe that was cruel, but when it came to it, he was as bad – if not worse – than Ruby. He only had the people he'd been put onto a team with, and everyone else came as part and parcel of Ruby basically deciding the first person she met was going to be her best friend at Beacon. Sure, she sort of considered him a friend too, but that had still been because of Rubes. She strained her neck to find him, and didn't like what she saw.

Jaune sat at a table with Team Cardinal, and he did not look thrilled with the situation. One of them said something and Jaune smiled weakly and made his way over to the serving area and pick up some desserts. He brought them back and gave them to the four stooges. He didn't have any for himself.

"Okay," Yang said as she turned back to Pyrrha, "What the hell?"

"I don't know! Just this morning after class they came up and told Jaune to come with them and he did." Pyrrha sighed and poked some vegetables around her plate. "I tried to stop him but he said not to worry and that he'd see us later."

"A little sudden for the lot of them to become friends." Yang watched as Jaune's painfully fake smile came out once more. He laughed at something he clearly didn't find funny, even as one of the four punched him on the arm. She didn't fail to note how he rubbed it afterwards.

"That's what Ren said… do you think this is part of the bullying?"

Yang blinked stupidly as she stared at Pyrrha. The redhead looked back, and for the life of her – she looked like she honestly didn't know. "Well yeah," Yang said, "I mean… that seems pretty obvious."

Pyrrha flushed and looked away. "I wouldn't know," she whispered, "I've never been bullied, at least not physically, and I can't say I had many friends in Sanctum who went through the same."

Or any friends at all, Yang filled in. In some ways Pyrrha felt like Jaune and Ruby too. Was it her curse to be surrounded by socially awkward people? At least she had Weis-… Okay, at least she had Blak-…

"Oh my god, it's really a curse…"

"Yang?"

"Ah, um, nothing," Yang laughed and rubbed the back of her head. "But yeah, I'd definitely say this isn't exactly something he's doing by choice. You gonna have a word with him later?"

"I don't know what to say…" Pyrrha's head drooped a little further.

Yang sighed and placed her elbow on the table, resting her cheek in one hand. Was Pyrrha waiting for her to offer to fix this? She liked him, she really did, but between Ruby and now Pyrrha, it felt like she was going to be lumped with sorting out all his problems.

And she wasn't sure she liked him that much.

"It's easy," she said, "Wait until he comes back, take him aside and ask him what the hell he's doing. Then, when he eventually confesses to whatever it is, offer to help."

"Will that work?"

"Maybe," she shrugged. The redhead didn't look at all comforted. "It's got more chance of working than you doing nothing, Pyrrha. He might sort this all out on his own, but if you're as worried as you look, then you might as well do something."

"I suppose so," Pyrrha sighed and tried to smile, "Thank you for the advice, Yang. I appreciate it."

Yang waved it off with a little smile. Sure, sometimes it could be annoying when people expected you to deal with their stuff, but at least Pyrrha was honest and upfront about it. She was good to Ruby too, which made it all the easier.

Still, as Pyrrha went back to planning her eventual discussion and moping over her crush's absence, Yang couldn't help but find her own thoughts drifting to him. I thought the spars would have helped him out. Sure, he's probably not good enough to beat Cardin yet, but that never bothered him before. What's changed?

Cardin and his goons stood up to leave, and for a moment it looked like Jaune might walk away and re-join his team. The blond hesitated and looked towards them. His eyes met Yang's.

She felt nothing as she raised an eyebrow towards him. Make your choice, Jaune. It's us or them.

He bit his lip and looked back at Cardin, who wrapped an arm around Jaune's shoulders and turned him away. He could have broken free, however. Instead, he bowed his head and allowed the broader student to lead him away.

Yang scoffed as she looked down to her own food. That idiot… did he not think Pyrrha or Ruby would have stood up for him? Didn't he think she would have done the same, as much of a pain as it would have been? She wasn't the kind of person to let someone get away with crap like that. Ugh, and why was she even bothered about it?

"There he goes," Pyrrha sighed. "I suppose I'll have to talk to him tonight."

"Forget it," Yang snarled and stood up. "If he wants to make that kind of choice, let him. Why should we care?"

"Why get so worked up over it, then?" The words came from the resident heiress, and were delivered with her usual grace. "You're the only one who seems actually angry about this. Well, other than Ruby's simmering glares." The younger girl was doing just such, her eyes locked onto the door Jaune had been escorted out of.

"I'm not," Yang shook her head and turned to leave, "It just leaves a bad taste in my mouth and now I've lost my appetite."

"Where are you going?" Blake asked.

"For a walk. Need some fresh air, that's all."

She didn't hear if anyone else said anything. It wasn't like she wouldn't see them again come their next set of lessons. She pushed through the cafeteria doors, slipped past some other students, and walked out into the open gardens of the academy.

The cool air brushed against her skin, but it didn't do much for how she felt. What was the point in her helping him out with spars if he was just going to throw everything away like that? It didn't make sense. He couldn't have been threatened… he'd already been knocked about and didn't seem to care in the slightest. Hadn't the plan been to ignore Cardin until he got bored of targeting him?

Against her will, she found her feet dragging her towards where she could see the five guys walking.

They laughed among themselves, their pace set towards the library. Jaune looked as reluctant as ever, though again – he didn't do anything to improve the situation. Cardin paused, his eyes going wide, as Yang stepped before them.

"Hey," she greeted.

"Xiao-Long," Winchester nodded warily.

"Mind if I borrow your boy toy for a moment?" She gestured towards Jaune. "I need to pass on a message from his team."

"Jaune was going to… help us with our homework, right Jauney-boy?"

"Yeah…"

Yeah right, more like he was going to do it all for them. Did they think she was stupid? She smothered her annoyance, however, and smiled beatifically at them. "I won't take him away," she promised, "I just need to have a chat with him. You can wait there and I'll bring him back."

Cardin didn't agree, but he didn't disagree either, and no doubt he knew he wouldn't be able to stop her if he wanted to.

In the end, she grabbed Jaune by the arm and led him away, promising to have him back in five minutes. Once she got the idiot behind a tree, however, her smile quickly fell. "So," she frowned, "You and CRDL, eh?"

"It's not what you think."

"Isn't it? Because it looks to me like you're being made into their little lackey. I take it you're the one doing their homework?"

He winced at that, one hand coming up to massage his face.

"What happened to ignoring him until he went away?"

"Things got complicated."

"Definitely looks like it."

"I don't need you to lecture me, Yang!"

"That so?" Yang placed her hands on her hips and smiled at him. "Funny. To me it looks like you need more than that."

He snarled and pulled his hand away, only to meet her irritated gaze and look away. His temper fizzled quickly and he refused to meet her eyes.

Yang sighed as she felt a headache coming on. "What's he got on you?" she asked. "No way you're doing this cuz you want to, and I know full well you're not bothered by his bullying. He has to have dirt on you. What is it?"

"I can't say…"

Her frustration bubbled as she threw her hands down and glared at him. "If you can't trust me, then tell someone else. Talk to Pyrrha, Ruby – heck, talk to Weiss if you want a really impersonal opinion, but if you're about to say `oh, I'm going to wait it out` then I swear, I'm going to walk away."

"It's not that simple... I need time to sort this out, to try and figure out what I'm going to do."

She couldn't help it. Her eyes flashed red as she grit her teeth and shoved him in the chest. Not prepared for it, he toppled back and stared up at her from the floor. "Fine," she snapped, "Then go back and be their little gopher. Maybe you'll wise up and do something before you lose more than just my friendship."

"Yang, wait!"

She didn't wait.

She stalked angrily away.

/-/

"You look like shit."

"You always so charming to customers?" Yang asked as she looked up into the pock-marked and lumpy face of the Golden Oyster's owner.

Reg swiveled a rag inside a glass, before he took it out and peered into it. Only when he was content that it was spotless did he put it away and address her. "I'm charming to paying customers. With that frown, you've a face so ugly you're scaring them away."

There was something oddly endearing about that comment, enough so that she laughed. She couldn't take it seriously, not with how terrifying he often looked.

"Bad day?"

"You could say that."

"Here, on the house." He mixed something before him and pushed it over to her, and despite that everything was technically on the house, she still whispered a quick thank you. Summer would have been disappointed in her otherwise. Heh… not that Summer wouldn't have been disappointed already. Didn't she always say not to lose your temper and be mean to people?

She gagged and coughed at the horrific taste of the liquid that flowed down her throat. It burned and froze in equal measures, and the taste… it was like someone had distilled alcohol and then pissed in it. There was no mixer, either, and she could feel her brain cells dying. "What the hell was that?" she coughed.

"I call it `wake the fuck up and stop being a mopey little bitch`." Reg grunted. "It work?"

"Screw you."

"Sorry blondie, my heart belongs to my dearly departed. Now stop being such a depressive little shit at my bar. Find a table to have your teenage angst at, preferably one far enough away that I don't need to feel like an indulgent uncle every time I see yer ugly mug."

"Fine," Yang hacked, "Ugh… is Jaune working tonight?"

"No, and even if he was, I don't pay him to wait on you. Now scat!"

Yang shook her head with a laugh, making sure to give him the finger a she took her drink and moved away. Reg mumbled something behind her back, but there was no real heat in it. If anything, she had the suspicion he'd sent her off because she was making him feel soft. Heh, that was almost adorable.

At least Jaune wasn't working… that was a conversation she neither relished nor looked forward to. She upended her glass and finished off the rest of her sunrise, not as good as his – and didn't that thought make her want to growl? I wasn't wrong to get angry, she thought. He was being an idiot and letting himself be led along by Winchester.

Wasn't it right for her to feel angry about that?

It was… but not at him.

Yang frowned and massaged her temples, not at all enjoying the loud music that pounded through the club. Normally it would be right up her alley, but at the moment it was making her want to burn off some stress, and that was not what she wanted to do at a club.

Most people had a different definition of `burning stress` than she did.

Her feet carried her down a familiar path, one she'd been horrified about before, but now tread nonchalantly. The bouncer at the curtain nodded towards her, and she felt she ought to have been worried by how he considered her a regular. She nodded back, however, and ducked under the curtain once he had pulled it aside.

There was already a show in progress.

It was a new girl on the stage, and not one she'd seen before. She danced alone and her lithe figure glimmered in the low light as she played with the satin gown she wore. The audience was about half-full, and like many times before, there were both men and women in attendance.

That didn't seem quite as surprising as it once had, and as Yang sat down with her drink, she watched the woman on the stage too. There was no sexual attraction there, and she doubted every woman in the room was a lesbian, either. The way the performer moved, the way she smiled and caught their eyes… in some strange way, they could all enjoy that – regardless of gender.

It allowed Yang to relax, if only a little. The music was lower, the sound more rhythmic and sensual, and the woman on stage didn't frown down at her or make excuses. She smiled and danced, with an occasional wink that made her feel included and welcome.

It was a strange feeling… she liked it.

Yang almost leapt out of her skin when the cushion she was sat on flexed. So engrossed was she that she'd failed to notice the person sitting beside her, and a protest was already on the tip of her tongue. It died when she saw the woman beside her.

"Hello there," Jaune's mentor and teacher whispered. No, whispered felt like the wrong word. This woman caressed the syllables, strung them out and danced their letters before Yang's eyes. Her perfectly painted lips moulded around each word, and blew them towards her in a delightful little kiss.

Her cheeks warmed before she could stop herself, and she coughed and smothered the words she might have said in her drink.

The woman laughed. And damn it, did that have to sound like tinkling little bells? She wore a green gown this night, one that reached down to ankles but was slit on one side. As she crossed that leg, the folds fell down to reveal a creamy expanse of thigh.

Yang had the sinking suspicion she'd done that on purpose.

"Yang, is it not?" the woman said. "I'm not sure if you remember me. My name is Nina." The woman smirked when she mentioned remembering her, and Yang flushed because she absolutely had remembered this woman. Who could not?

"Hey," she giggled – giggled – back. She also mentally slapped herself around the head. "Yeah, I remember you. Thanks for the help with those twins."

"It is I who should be thanking you. And besides, I believe you had yours well under control. It is my silly apprentice who struggled."

"He was unarmed." Yang frowned at her own instinctive response. Why was she defending him?

"True," Nina allowed, "But would coming to a fight without a weapon not be his fault?"

Yang shrugged but didn't say anything. It was his fault, and it wasn't like every Grimm they came across would patiently wait for you to call a locker in. Still, neither of them had really expected to have to fight in a nightclub. She really should have, given her history…

"That is not what I wanted to talk about," Nina touched Yang's knee, and the contact made her jump. The brunette smiled. Oh gods, she knew exactly what effect she was having.

Yang pulled her leg back and frowned.

"Sorry," Nina laughed, "I do apologise, forgive me. Sometimes my work cross over and I forget myself. I promise you, no hard feelings."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Yang grumbled and refused to meet her eyes.

"Of course you don't… but that is not why I came over here. You look troubled, my dear. Is there not some way I can help?"

Help? Yang looked towards the woman's smiling face, before she recalled the words Crimson had spoken what felt like a long time ago. Sometimes entertainers at the club focused on sexual things, other times they were just there to offer advice, or to make someone feel wanted – to listen.

"I'm not a customer," Yang clicked her teeth and looked away. "I don't need any service, thank you."

"Not that, my dear. I'll admit that your mood creates an enticing proposition for many of us… you look like you need attention – and you're very pretty when you pout."

Yang swallowed the embarrassment she felt at that, especially when she noticed a few of the other topless men and woman around the bar looking her way. Oh gods, was Nina right? Was she really sending out a message that she needed them?

"We're not all heartless, Yang. Some may smell profit; others need what we earn to get by. Myself? I simply saw a friend of my student in need and wondered if I might help."

"Does Jaune know?" she whispered.

"Hm?"

"Does he know about… what it is you do?"

"He is aware. It would be hard not to be, given how much time he has spent here."

Yang's stomach tensed as she wondered what to say. Her hands clenched and unclenched before her and she suddenly felt worried. "Does he…" she couldn't finish the sentence.

"Does he know that you visit here?" Nina asked.

Yang nodded.

"Jaune has not seen you here, and none of us have spoken of your presence. We afford our clientele some level of privacy, do not worry."

Yang's breath escaped in a great gasp of relief. Her shoulders loosened and she leaned back. It wasn't so much him… he knew about what this place was, and clearly didn't dislike any of the people here. It was more that the information might get back to her team, and that was a conversation she never wanted to have. Besides, it didn't matter. It wasn't like the two of them were on speaking terms anymore.

"Has my foolish apprentice done something to upset you?" Nina asked, her head tilted prettily to one side. It made her auburn locks fall like a waterfall, and they looked so soft she wanted to tou-

"No," Yang shook her head, "I mean… maybe. Ugh, you can tell all that from just how I look?"

"Fear not, you're not quite that open a book. Let's just say that a miserable little bird told me… or rather his mood did. I also have the advantage of knowing exactly how infuriating Jaune can be."

"Is he here tonight?" Reg had said no, but the talk of him made her wary again.

"Jaune is not working tonight," Nina said. "Thus, Jaune is not here tonight. Tell me what he's done to upset you so, Yang."

Could she? Yang squirmed beneath the woman's gaze as she considered her options. Nina would know more for sure, but at the same time, anything she said might be passed back to him – and she'd made it clear she was angry with him.

And she was still angry – furiously so! He'd gone and thrown away the help she'd given him, and now he was hurting not only Pyrrha and his team, but Ruby too! She was angry beyond belief. She wanted him to know that… not to hear how she'd been worried and talked to her mentor about him behind his back.

"I'd rather not," she sighed and finished her drink. "Sorry to waste your time. I'm just not in the mood for talking. I just came here to blow off some steam."

Nina looked coyly at her, though there seemed to be a sense of disappointment behind those emerald eyes. "In that, we can always be of aid," she smiled, "Perhaps you would like me to personally entertain you?"

Yang grit her teeth and glared as her cheeks went red.

"No?" Nina smiled, "A shame. I did not lie when I said you're a very beautiful young woman, Yang. Still, it would not do for just anyone to see your poor spirits and take advantage of you." Yang made to argue, but the woman shook her head, "You are upset, my dear. Believe me when I say there are some who would offer sympathy, who would sit and listen – but then lay a large bill on you come the end. My dear apprentice would be upset if I allowed that to happen to you, and it would be a poor way for me to reward you for protecting him."

"I don't need a reward," Yang said, "I already drink here for free. If I'm going to run into trouble sitting here, I can always go back to the main bar." She made to stand, but Nina's soft fingers wound about hers before she could and tugged her aside. Yang stumbled, unable to say anything as she followed.

The woman took her through a nearby curtain, her white teeth glistening as she smiled comfortingly back at her. And for some reason, the smile did make her feel safer. Was this woman so experienced that she could choose what feeling she wanted to invoke in you through expression alone?

Or did she just trust the woman, for some reason.

Maybe it was the subtle calluses Yang could feel on the woman's fingers. The sensation of them was so out of place from how soft, warm and beautiful she was. They felt like the calluses one might get from swinging a sword for many years.

"Where are we going?"

"I said I would reward you," Nina laughed, "And I shall. How does five hundred lien sound?"

"I-I don't need money. Not for doing something I was going to do anyway."

Nina laughed and pulled her towards a room hidden by a curtain. The corridor was small and Yang's breasts pushed up against the older woman's as they squeezed together. Her face began to turn scarlet, but Nina ignored it. "Then how about benefits in kind?" she said. "Did you know it costs five hundred lien to hire one of the more experienced entertainers for a single hour?"

Yang's eyes widened. Five hundred!? That was like… fifty drinks, and pretty damn expensive for a single hour. Wait, wasn't it also the same amount Nina had offered to-

Oh no, oh hell no.

"I really shouldn't…"

"Nonsense my dear, and worry not, I'm not talking about myself." The woman's hand ran down her bare arm again, leaving goose bumps in her wake. "I wouldn't want to make you feel any more uncomfortable."

Great… That was pretty much saying she knew exactly what effect she had on her. Yang crossed her arms but refused to rise to the bait. "Who then?" she asked. "I'm not looking for that kind of entertainment."

"As I well know, and my apprentice would be hurt if I led you astray. Trust me, Yang. I believe you and my colleague here might have more in common than you believe."

And before Yang could think any more on that, she was shoved through the curtain.

She struggled and pushed it aside, gasping slightly as it smothered her for a second. In terms of an entrance it wasn't her most graceful, especially when she finally got in and flung the curtain behind her with a growl. Her golden hair stood on end and she was panting slightly.

A gasp sounded behind her.

"Y- I mean, you're Clover, right?"

Clover? Who the hell was this guy talking… to…

Lilac eyes widened as she saw the figure that lounged on a satin seat before her. Tight, black trousers hugged his legs, while a white shirt was buttoned only half way up his chest. She swallowed and looked up into sapphire eyes, hidden behind a black mask.

Crap, crap, play it cool!

"H-Hi!"

Kill me…

Crimson, the dangerously beautiful man she'd dreamed about day in and day out, smiled down on her. "I didn't expect to see you again, Clover."

Nina, you absolute cow!

"Me neither…"

I know some may disagree with Jaune giving in to such blackmail, but it's worth noting that unlike canon, Jaune's biggest fear here is not being caught out for fake transcripts; it is being caught out for his night job. It's not quite as illegal, but in terms of what it could do to his ability to have a normal school life, it's crippling.

As such, he was afraid to take the risk, and CRDL played on that. Hopefully the narrative made that clear, but if not, here you go.

It also occurred to me that Crimson has had too few appearances, which was remiss of me. I've decided to increase the pacing on this story somewhat as a result.

Next Chapter: 30th January

P a treon . com (slash) Coeur