'I'm not prepared for the break between semesters. I can't go home, not so soon after having snuck away. I'm not strong enough yet to prove to my family that I truly belong here at Beacon, and even if I was I don't think I'm ready to face my family without being overwhelmed with guilt.' Thought Jaune. 'I'll just stay here at Beacon for the break and train by myself as much as I can.'
(~)
"So what are you guys planning on doing over the break?" Jaune asked his teammates.
Nora and Ren's were both on Ren's bed, despite the protests that Ren makes, and they both answered at the same time, "We're going to our village." They didn't even notice how in sync they were with each other that they just continued what they were doing.
Turing towards his partner Jaune was surprised to see that Pyrrha was staring at the floor with a doom and gloom kind of look. He wasn't sure what was making her feel that way, so he got up from his bed and walked over towards hers. Sitting down next to her seemed to bring back some of her cognitive functions and she turned to look at him.
"I'm...going back to Mistral." She said.
"Well that's great! You'll be able to see your family again and hang out with people that you know." Jaune said.
Pyrrha let of a soft scoff, and replied, "Ya...I bet that'll go well."
Ren and Nora had caught onto the mood that was starting to envelop the room. When they looked towards each other they nodded and Ren cleared his throat. "So what will you be doing over the break Jaune?"
Jaune quickly jumped up from where he was sitting and went to sit down on his own bed. "Well...I was kind of planning on staying at Beacon over the break."
His three teammates looked up at Jaune in shock. They couldn't believe what they were hearing. Jaune was denying to go back to his home of seven sisters that when he starts to talk about them he won't shut up. Not willing to give school a break and take a rest...was this Jaune real.
Pyrrha quickly got over her initial shock and jumped at this opportunity. "How about I stay as well. You're my partner and I wouldn't want you to be staying here all by yourself."
Jaune smiled softly at her. Of course Pyrrha would volunteer to stay behind with him. 'She know's the real reason why I don't want to go home anyways...and it would be a big help if we could continue our training sessions together.' Jaune thought.
"Are you sure Pyrrha? I mean I don't want you to have to cancel whatever plans you had to do at home." Jaune asked slowly.
Pyrrha in turn nodded her head quickly, and even scooted closer to Jaune, their faces not far apart. "I swear Jaune, I won't be ruining any plans if I decided to stay here...in fact I might have just made some."
"How about me and Renny stay as well and make it a team bonding exercise?" Nora practically shouted from her position on Ren's bed, causing Jaune to leap back onto his, and Pyrrha to jump up in surprise.
Jaune let out a hearty chuckle at Nora's enthusiasm but shook his head. "No I want you two to go to your village. Visit your family and have fun." Jaune said.
Ren nodded and Nora pouted a bit until Ren patted her head and secretly promised to make her pancakes.
His team was now all sorted out in what they were going to be doing over the break and Jaune was now content with how things were going. 'I should at least write my family a letter telling them I'm safe and getting stronger.'
(~)
An hour had passed since Jaune had written his family a letter and was just walking out of Beacons mail room when he saw team RWBY.
"Jaune!" called out Ruby and Yang as the smaller of the two used their semblance to rush at the boy. Jaune tried to brace himself as best he could, and once Ruby had collided with him, he was proud to say he only moved 6ft. back this time. Somehow in that 6ft push Ruby managed to twirl around Jaune and was now settled on his back effectively getting a piggy back rid from the older boy.
Once the rest of her team caught up Yang let out laugh at Jaune's predicament while Weiss just sighed and muttered about children.
"Hey guys, what's up?" Jaune asked.
"Nothin' much. We just finished making plans for what we're doing over the break!" Yang replied back to him.
"Oh ya, what mischief will you guys be up to then?" Jaune said, smiling at how Weiss grumbled saying he wasn't wrong.
"Hey!" Yang complained but smiled nonetheless. "Anyways, me and Ruby convinced Weiss to come to Patch with us, and Blake is going to stay down in Vale with a friend. What about you, what're you doing?"
Jaune nodded along with Yang's explanation and was about to reply when a voice behind Yang said, "Jaune and I are going to stay at Beacon and train."
When everyone turned to the voice they saw Pyrrha standing there holding an envelope. 'Probably a letter to her family telling them she won't be coming to visit over break.' Jaune concluded to himself.
"Oh...that's...cool." Yang said.
There was an awkward silence that followed after that remark, and it was making everyone present a little bit uncomfortable.
"So uhhh...I haven't had breakfast yet, you guys wanna go get some food with me?" Jaune asked breaking the tension.
"No thanks. I already had something to eat and I need to prepare what I'm going to wear over the break." replied Weiss.
"Won't you just be wearing the same outfits you wear now...I've never seen you with any other ones." asked Ruby from Jaune's back, tilting her head a bit.
Weiss became flustered and started to stammer, while everyone else had a good laugh. Weiss decided to not deal with it anymore and started to walk away towards the dorm rooms.
"W-wait! Weiss, come back!" Ruby yelled out as she jumped off of Jaune's back and pursued her partner.
Jaune smiled at the retreating forms of Weiss and Ruby, then turned to the people who were left and repeated his question. "So you guys wanna go get some food?"
"I think I speak for me and Blake when I say we could go for some food!" Yang exclaimed. It looked like Blake was about to protest when her stomach chose that moment to betray her and growled and might growl, effectively nullifying any argument she had.
"I could also go for some food." Pyrrha said. "Just let me drop off my letter really quick."
Jaune nodded while stepping aside to let Pyrrha complete her task. Once she was in the building Yang immediately sidled up next to Jaune.
"Soo, it's just gonna be you and Pyrrha here over break huh?" She said while wiggling her eyebrows.
The notion went unnoticed by Jaune. "Ya, it was originally just gonna be me, but once I told my team about my plans Pyrrha volunteered to stay with me." he explained.
Yang nodded slowly and grew a slight frown. Pyrrha walked out of the building at that moment and gave a big smile. "Shall we go eat now?"
(~)
It truly was amazing at how wide of a variety that Beacons cafeteria served. Just based on what Jaune, Blake, Yang, and Pyrrha got the choices were varied and unique to them. Yang had gotten a sausage and egg burrito, with a bear claw. Blake came back with a Lox* and glass of milk. Pyrrha had a granola bar that went along with yogurt you could dip it into, and some raisin bread. While Jaune...well he got a plate of nothing but hash browns.
"So Yang, what kinda stuff will you be showing Weiss while you're home." Jaune asked trying to start up a conversation.
"Uh-uh-uh. You can find out what we're doing when you come visit yourself and get the tour in person." Yang replied while wagging her finger at Jaune.
Pyrrha giggled at their antics and turned to Blake. "What will you be doing in Vale Blake?"
"Well, the friend I'm staying with owns a bookshop...so I'm going to be reading books the entire break." Blake said.
"Well that sound gran-"
Pyrrha was interrupted by someones scroll ringing. Yang quickly pulled out her phone while answering the call.
"Yellow! This is Yang, what can I do for you?" She said while everyone was groaning at the pun.
The person on the other side of the call talked for a bit while Yang's facial expression went from happy...to not so happy. "Well isn't there another-" Yang started but the person on the phone stopped her.
"Oh..." Yang didn't need to bother with ending the call, because it ended before she had even moved the scroll away from her face.
"What's wrong Yang? What happened?" Jaune asked.
"Ruby won't be very happy when I tell her, but apparently some VIP decided to go to Patch over the break and we lost one of our three tickets, and every other flight to Patch is booked over the break." She said.
"Doesn't Weiss have her own Bullhead? Why not take that?" Blake asked.
"Me and Ruby immediately thought of it, but if she did that her dad might be angry about her 'slacking off' during break, and we also wanted to get her the full experience. Rides included." Yang said.
A somber mood had fallen over the group of four now as they sat there, not even touching their food. Jaune suddenly reached out towards Yang and held one of her hand within his own while saying, "Well you can still hang out with us over the break. I mean, we might not be your family and Weiss, but we could still have fun, just the four of us."
Blake started to nod, "I could also just stay at Beacon instead of in Vale if you're staying. Heck we could even break some of Weiss' rules while she's not here."
Though it kind of looked like she didn't want to say it Pyrrha also said, "You can also help me with training Jaune...it would really help him learn unarmed combat from a professional such as yourself."
Yang slowly regained her smile, and once the three finished talking she firmly grasped Jaune's hand back and nodded. "That sounds great you guys. Thanks for cheering me up."
"Well what are friends for?" Jaune said.
Author's Note: Yay! Chapter done.
*Lox is salmon served on a bagel with cream cheese, sometimes had with tomato, sliced red onion, and capers.