Day 1 – Essentially, following on from what happened at the end of last chapter. Yes, there will be a ramping up of the events, to a crescendo of sorts. Also, for those who maybe don't get this story. It was a competition run in Professor Arc, wherein the favourite "potential pairing" would win a one-shot (or small series as it turned out) of them with Professor Jaune Arc on a romantic getaway.

For the love of all that is Holy, if you haven't read Professor Arc - stop now and read it. This is spoilerific.

Cover Art: Meee!

Day 1 – Hitting the Beach… literally

"Mrbhll…" Jaune complained as a hand continued to weakly slap against his chest. He tried to ignore it for a moment, letting out a deep sigh as he enjoyed the warm rays against his skin, or the way the air carried that small amount of moisture from the ocean.

But when the hand hit against him once more, harder this time, he sighed and sat up.

"What is it…?" The blond groaned, pulling off his sunglasses to show bloodshot eyes as he looked down on the girl that lay beside him, her deck chair only a few inches from his own. Dressed in a flattering pink bikini with brown stripes, Neo would have looked smoking hot – if it wasn't for the towel she had draped over her entire face.

The hand that had hit him grasped about randomly, as though trying to close on something.

"Water?" He guessed, sighing when she gave a thumbs up.

Yeah… turned out the girl wasn't as strong a drinker as she gave off, and hadn't realised how much she'd been drinking alongside all that ice-cream. Not that he'd done any better, drowning himself in a bottle of Desert Rose.

He didn't think they'd gotten up to anything silly… not since she'd been asleep on his bed fully clothed, and he'd been in the bath – also clothed, but with his legs hanging over the edge.

No… the true disaster had been the hangover.

Neo was a bitch at the best of times, but the look she'd given one inquisitive young man this morning, when he'd asked if the carpet matched the drapes? Yeah… he doubted they'd be seeing him again.

"Ugh…" and his head just kept on pounding too, the dubstep that was his life beating its way into his skull as it played an epic solo on his brain. The only solace was that he didn't have any actual work to do, well… other than to cater to every single of one of Neo's needs like she was a pregnant woman.

Hell, considering how sick she was this morning, she was at least playing the part well.

"Here," he pushed the cool glass into her hand, giving her a second to scope out its dimensions with her fingers before she pulled it towards herself. Blue eyes rimmed with red watched on as she dumped it across her face, sucking what moisture she could through the now drenched towel.

She gave him a quick thumbs up.

With a quick sip of his own cool beverage Jaune considered the beach before them, looking over the long expanse of clean sand dotted with brightly coloured umbrellas and deck chairs. It was nowhere near as crowded as the beaches he'd visited as a child, likely due to the exclusive nature of the resort, but there was still a good hundred or so people present.

Most of them were lounging in the sun like they were, though a fair few were playing in the ocean too. If it weren't for the sun that burned his sensitive eyes, and the pounding in his skull, he might have joined them.

Welp, back to sleeping it off for me, slipping the sunglasses back on, he laid back on the soft bed, taking a deep breath and closing his eyes.

Only to feel a hand tap against his chest once more.

"Quit it," he groaned, refusing to move. There was no way she could be thirsty again, and he wanted to try and fall asleep too. Her tapping became more insistent though, prompting him to push his glasses up and frown at her.

Just in time to see the girl, towel still covering her face, surrounded by three young men. Men who had made the ultimate mistake, blocking her access to the sun – leaving her body covered in the shade.

"Can we help you?" His mother had always said strangers were just friends you hadn't met yet, but he was fairly sure she'd also told more than a few who tried to talk to her when she had a hangover to go fuck off and die.

Mixed messages, there was little wonder he'd grown into a messed up liar posing as a teacher.

"We weren't talking to you," one of them replied, dyed red hair standing at bizarre right angles. The teen could only have been sixteen at the most, but then again with Neo's height, she probably looked a similar age.

Which posed the worrying question; did he look like a paedophile?

"Well I don't think you were talking to her either," Jaune pointed out, as they all looked down at the girl, who was even now waving her hand dismissively in the air. As always, Neo's fine arts of diplomacy were making things much worse than they had to be… "Or rather, maybe you were talking to her, but I don't think she was listening."

"Ha ha, a regular joker – look mate, why don't you go for a swim or something?"

For the love of… he already had a killer hangover, and now he was going to be forced to save some idiotic kids from themselves? Did they not see that there was a beach umbrella embedded in the sand between their chairs? Sure, it wasn't a parasol – but it was close enough that Neo could probably perform a genocide before lunch if she was in the mood.

And with how she'd looked this morning, she probably wouldn't stop at just killing them.

Did they not see the clear danger? In a short, multi-coloured-hair girl with a beach umbrella next to her? Was there a part of that which didn't promise pain?

"Look," Jaune rose to his feet, towering an inch or two above the tallest of them as he made his way round the chairs in what he hoped was a peaceful manner. It was hard to feel peaceful with how he felt, but he made sure to try and smile – even if it looked more like a pained grimace. "I get that you're on the beach and I get that she's hot," a thumbs-up from Neo, "but trust me – you don't want to do this."

"I wouldn't mind doing that, if you know what I mean," one of them quipped, getting a high-five from the other and a grimace from Jaune. Oh Gods, teenage humour…

Something tapped against the back of his hips, drawing his eyes down to Neo, who was making another grasping motion with one open hand.

"You need another drink?" She gave a thumbs down, before holding her hand like a fist and making a stabbing motion – then holding her open hand to him once more. "No, I'm not giving you a knife… we're going to solve this like adults."

"Damn right we are," the tallest of them said, as something tapped Jaune on the side of his face.

"Huh, what was that?" The blonde asked, looking back to the three teens, who had wide eyes – even as one cradled his fist. Behind him Neo engaged in what could only be termed as the most sarcastic slow-clapping he'd ever heard.

"W-what the hell man!?" The one cradling his fist spoke, waving it before himself as though in pain. Jaune could just about make out the grazes on the back of the knuckles. With a growl the teen lashed out towards him with the other hand.

To be fair to Jaune, his training with Neo did try to kick in. His eyes processed the incoming danger, sending neuros flying through his brain – only for them to get lost half-way. Someone checked the map wrong, or they took a wrong turn around the hypothalamus… then the driver started drinking, got pulled over by the brain cops – court case, lost their job, family upset…

Jaune only really had the time to think Huh… before the teen's fist struck.

Fortunate then, that aura was a little more automatic.

"Oh," Jaune sighed, trying to sound like he cared – but too hungover to actually achieve it. His words instead came out as incredibly deadpan and lifeless. "Are you okay? That looked like it hurt."

"Ow – fuck. What the fuck man!?" The boy sounded affronted, which Jaune supposed was fair…

"Yeah, sorry… I should have dodged, or maybe disarmed you – that would have hurt less, I suppose? In my defence though… I've a hangover and you're kind of a dick."

"I-I'm a dick!? You broke my hand!"

"Did I, though?" Jaune asked metaphysically, stroking his non-existent beard. "Did I?"

"Yes, you did!"

"Huh… I suppose I did. I'm sorry?"

"You don't sound sorry!"

"True…"

"Then why even apologise!? Argh, my fucking fingers!"

"My mother always said the quickest way to get rid of someone you couldn't be bothered to deal with was to apologise to them."

"I demand an apology!"

Okay… this was getting old approximately… yesterday. Jaune reached out and made to grab the kid by the collar, pausing as his addled mind provided the fact that he wasn't wearing a shirt. In the end he settled for pointing dramatically instead.

"Look kid, the only people who get to boss me around is my boss, my mother, my father, my seven sisters, the man who holds extensive blackmail over my head, the woman who is maybe trying to kill me, Glynda… and this psycho bitch here."

Neo took that moment to wave at them, even as Jaune felt a bead of sweat dribble down the side of his face.

Man that was a lot of people… what was he doing with his life?

"Now, are you on that list?"

"N-no…" they said in unison, backing up from him as he unveiled his secret weapon, drawing his glasses down his nose.

He wasn't Glynda Goodwitch, and unless he earned her semblance – which he was convinced was not telepathy, but instead terrifying disciplinary looks – then he wouldn't ever be able to inspire fear as she did. But his bright blue eyes, rimmed with red veins – laden with dark bags beneath?

Those were fucking scary, and the three kids ran off a moment later.

A hand tapped against the back of his leg.

"What!? What now!?"

A small face stared up at him, eyes wide. Before with a great wail, the ten-year-old boy began to wail.

"Oh my God, Timmy – I told you not to go near that man!" A woman came up and dragged the child away, even as everyone within a twenty metre radius gave him judging looks.

Fuck my life… he sighed, sitting down on the chair once more and offering Neo a fresh drink, watching her pour it on her head once more.

"Hey Neo," he asked, waiting for the towel covering her face to twitch, "I have an important question..."

The girl sat up finally, letting the towel slide down her form as she fixed him with a curious gaze. She didn't show her hangover in the same way as him, and her eyes looked fairly normal. Well, apart from the fact that one of them was sort of pink and brown, with a few dribbles of cream in it. Like she'd tried to choose her eye colour and messed it up.

"Do I look like a paedophile?"

Big questions indeed Jaune, don't damage your mental capacity there. And seriously guys… she was right next to an umbrella, are you like BLIND!? It's like you don't know how dangerous that is or something… sheesh.

They really ought to watch the show. Anyway, I need to go and do some work now.

"Hey Yang, can you give me a ha- oh… too soon? Hey Pyr-… oh right."

. com (slash) Coeur