Jaune cleared his throat, drawing attention to himself as team JNPR ate their breakfast. "So, before team RWBY shows up I should probably approach this topic first," he said, "So, Nora, Ren, as I'm sure you know, it is perfectly natural for couples our age to be affectionate with each other. But, if you either feel like you wish to be more passionate with each other, don't be embarrassed to tell Pyrrha and me. It would be quite easy for us to either spend the night in my room or if both of you desire a more romantic environment, I could supply you with a keycard to a spare room to ensure you won't be interrupted."
Pyrrha stared in shock and awe at Jaune, while both Ren and Nora began choking on their food.
"It's not like that!" Ren assured.
Nora agreed, "Yeah, we're together, but we're not together-together! I mean Ren is a handsome guy and anyone would be lucky to have him and sure I think he's hot and nice and handsome but it's not like that-"
"I know I'm a bit out of touch socially, but you guys don't have to lie to me about your relationship," Jaune said, "It's perfectly natural for both of you to have feelings towards each other after all you've been through, there's no need to hide it from us,"
Both Ren and Nora began to go on a spiel about how they weren't together-together. Ren's normally stoic personality frayed at the edges as he and Nora talked over each other, denying that there was anything untowardly about their relationship.
This was put to a stop as Jaune raised his hands, shushing them both.
"Look, there's no need to worry about it." Their leader said, pulling out his scroll and typing in a few commands, "There, I've sent both of your scrolls the necessary permission to unlock the room number I've also sent you. Feel free to use it, I've also sent Ren some lien to cover protection costs,"
Now Ren and Nora were both equally red.
"I can assure you that we won't be using it," Ren stated.
Nora once again agreed, "Psh, yeah, I mean, there's no way we're going to be using it. Like how Renny said, we're not together-together, and if we used those things that'd mean we'd be together-together, which we aren't," Nora finished out of breath.
Their leader rolled his eyes, "Ruby, Yang, Pyrrha and I are heading out to Vale today, so I won't push. Your scrolls can unlock and lock the door to one of the extra rooms, I've sent you the room number and we're going to be out of your hair for the day. I'll pick something up for you both while we're out as well."
Then, almost as if on schedule, team RWBY walked in. Ruby led her little pack, yapping energetically about whatever crossed her mind to her ivory-haired partner. Weiss looking relaxed, finally seeming to have become accustomed to her team's eccentricities, talked with Ruby about something, at this distance JNPR couldn't quite make out the conversation.
Yang was the first to lock onto where they were sitting today, seeing what table Team JNPR was eating at, and shepherded her team in their direction.
As they approached, Weiss and Jaune locked eyes, something Nora noticed. Nora also noticed that Weiss' face gained a light blush, and her blue eyes darted away from Jaune's gaze quickly. Of course, she noticed all of this out of the corner of her eye, not breaking her conversation with Pyrrha about how she and Ren weren't together-together.
Suspicious, Nora thought but didn't think much of it afterward.
Jaune waved and smiled that grin he always gained when he saw team RWBY, gesturing for Ruby to sit next to him.
"Hello Ruby, you ready to go into Vale?" He asked.
The silver-eyed reaper rolled her eyes, "Psh, of course, I am," Ruby said as she started shoveling down the plate Jaune had nudged in front of her.
This had actually become a habit the rest of team JNPR had noticed, Jaune tended to get both Ruby and Yang their breakfast so they wouldn't have to get in line. It seemed natural as Jaune also passed Yang a plate, already piled with her favorite breakfast items.
Jaune's habit seemed to be lost on both the Y and R of Team RWBY, but the other half had caught on pretty quickly, as Blake and Weiss left to get their own breakfast.
"And, as a reward for passing your first test of the year," Jaune said, drawing everyone's attention to build up the suspense, "I'm giving you two thousand Lien."
Ruby's face lit up in glee, "Really! Oh heck yeah! You're the best Jaune," she said while chewing her food, accepting the envelope Jaune placed in her hand.
Yang facepalmed her face, mumbling something about "That damn ice queen" before shooting Jaune a glare.
"You're going to spoil her." She deadpanned.
Jaune only smiled back, "It's fine," he assured her, "It's better she gets used to having money now than in a few years, huntsmen make a considerable amount and this will be pocket change for us in the future,"
Ren cleared his throat, "Also, how exactly do you know if she passed her test or not? I was under the impression that the scores were yet to be posted,"
"Well I graded some of them, and I just happened to have graded Ruby's. If you want I can also tell you if Nora passed or not,"
The Valkyrie in question tilted her head, "shouldn't you be telling me that?"
"Do you want to know?"
Nora opened her mouth to say something, before closing it and nodding in agreement.
As the group continued to chat and talk amongst themselves, Weiss and Blake came back from getting their food. Ruby quickly went to hide the Lien inside her cloak. However, the reaper was too slow as Weiss gained a fake and ice-cold smile as she sat down.
"Jaune." She said, "What did Ruby just hide from me?"
The knight ignored the looks of urgency from Ruby, "I just have her some Lien for our trip, she passed her first test of the year and I think that deserves a reward."
Weiss' smile got wider, "There's no need for that, I'll be sure to pay you back for whatever you gifted Ruby."
Blue eyes locked onto blue eyes as Jaune and Weiss stared at each other, their faces both set in the same artificial smile.
"Please, I insist," They both shot out at the same time.
Once again they were stuck in a stalemate.
"Ruby," said Weiss, "How much did Arc give you."
Ruby shuddered as both Weiss' and Jaune's gazes shifted to her, her eyes flittering to and fro their faces while she thought of what to do. Finally, the attention was too much.
"Tw- Two thousand Lien," she whispered.
Weiss' eyes gleamed in victory as she once again shifted her gaze to Jaune, "I'll make sure to properly compensate Beacon,"
"Ruby," Jaune stated as he stared off with Weiss, "I'm going to be buying you that scope you wanted,"
"Not if I buy it for her first," Weiss responded.
Yang had had enough, as she clocked Jaune in the back of the head and flicked Weiss in the forehead.
"Stop trying to spoil my sister like it's some kind of competition!" She said.
"We're not spoiling her," they both parroted, glaring icy daggers at each other as they did so.
"I'm changing the topic and that's final," said Yang, "But I guess Weiss is also going to be accompanying us to Vale,"
As this happened Nora whispered something into Pyrrha's ear, which made the gladiator nod as she looked at Weiss and Jaune.
"A-actually, I just remembered that I need to stay back to do something, so I'm not going to be able to go to Vale with all of you," Pyrrha stuttered.
Jaune gained a questioning look, "Really? I thought you had finished all the homework?"
"Uh, It's not homework, so Nora and I are going to go now," Pyrrha said as she left the table and dragged Nora with her, who by extension also dragged Ren along as well.
"That's strange," murmured Jaune, "But it also seems to be our cue, shall we depart for Vale?"
Most of Team RWBY nodded.
"How about you Blake?" Jaune said, "Will you be coming with us as well?"
The raven-haired girl flinched slightly at Jaune's attention, "I'm staying behind, but thank you for asking," she said in a polite tone. If anyone noticed Blake's reaction to Jaune, no one said anything.
"Alrighty then!" Ruby exclaimed, "Let's get this show on the road!"
Yang smirked, "Hell yeah, let's go! We've gotta show Vomit-Boy and Weiss-cream how we party!"
"We're only going to be shopping, I doubt this counts as much of a party," Weiss-cream said.
Both Yang and Ruby smiled, "You'll see," they both said.
Yang looked over as Jaune popped a few pills in his mouth, raising a brow once Jaune gazed back at her.
"They're for my motion sickness," he said.
The other blonde smirked, "So you won't be making another performance as the great Vomit-Boy today?"
Jaune rolled his eyes, his face relaxing from his usual smile into something more authentic, "If the pills don't work I'll make sure to direct it at you,"
"Eww," Yang said as she jostled Jaune's shoulder, "You puke on me and I throw you out the bullhead,"
The two chuckled at that mental image, they both stood near the bullhead airfield, waiting for Weiss and Ruby as they had apparently left something behind.
"So what are you planning on buying?" Jaune asked.
"Shampoo, I've already run out," Yang said, flipping her locks behind her to emphasize her point, "I've got to make sure I always look my best after all,"
Jaune let out a soft chuckle, "I don't think that's very hard for you, I find it hard to imagine you looking anything other than amazing,"
This froze Yang, who had a slight blush creeping up, before Jaune could notice she punched him in the arm again, "Shut up. And I could say the same to you Mr. Muscles, I've seen the looks you get in the hallway,"
Jaune scratched the back of his head, chuckling softly once again, "I'm pretty sure that's just because I'm Ozpin's ward, I'm just me you know,"
Yang rolled her eyes, "You have to drop the whole humility shtick, you're six foot and something, built like a truck, and you've beaten Pyrrha Nikos for Brother's sake,"
"It's just-"
"I swear if you say it's only because you got a head start on everyone I'm throwing you down the cliff," interrupted Yang, "Really Jaune, you'd think Goodwitch would have taught you some self-confidence,"
Jaune protested, "I have self-confidence, I just don't like to brag that's all,"
"And I have no clue why, I love to brag," Yang said assuredly, "I'm great,"
"Pft, you don't have to tell me twice, " said Jaune with an easy smile on his face.
The smile firmed up quickly though, his smile returning to its usual polite shape as Weiss and Ruby approached from afar.
"Jaune!" Ruby yelled from afar, "Look what I have!"
As she said this Ruby activated her semblance and zoomed forward, arriving in front of the two blondes without so much as a change in her breathing.
"Coupons!" She exclaimed, waving a bunch of large paper slips hastily cut out from some magazines.
"One even gives me five percent off of a purchase if I buy two things over one thousand Lien at the dust shop!
"That is a horrible deal," Weiss said bluntly.
"But coupons!"
"Ooh, is that a coupon for Bath & Body Worship?!" Yang said, snatching up a coupon from Ruby's hands. "They sell the shampoo I need!"
Jaune looked over her shoulder, "That says it's forty percent off anything in bulk, exactly how much shampoo are you going to buy?"
Yang looked him dead in the eye, "Yes."
Weiss rolled her eyes, "If we're done lollygagging, should we head to Vale? I've already drawn up our itinerary."
Her partner looked in shock and awe, "How? I left you alone for like two seconds,"
"Don't worry about it. Regardless, let's go, the first shop we're visiting is that blasted weapons shop you kept blabbering on about," Weiss responded.
"Yippee!" Ruby said as she and the rest of the group were shepherded onto a bullhead by Weiss.
The ride to Vale was calm and scenic, giving everyone enough time to appreciate the sights. Vale was truly something to behold, the vast metropolitan sprawl certainly living up to the stories of the "Great City of Vale". From their position in the sky, they could see everything, from the suburban housing to the shipping district, the city seemed to go on forever. Ruby and Yang both gazed in open amazement, Jaune smiling at the sisters' reactions. Weiss on the other hand was typing away something on her phone, a visible scowl on her face.
"Is something the problem?" Jaune asked.
This seemed to startle Weiss out of her thoughts, quickly putting her scroll away to face Jaune. "It's nothing,"
One look at Weiss' face told him not to push, so he didn't, only giving a reassuring nod before going back to gazing out the bullhead windows with Yang and Ruby.
The dull roar of the bullhead's motor filled the gaps between the passengers' idle chatter, talking about everything from the weather to Roman Torchwick. Eventually, the bullhead slowed and began its descent, bringing everyone to attention as they waited for the doors to open. Ruby led their group with a hum and a skip as they left for the shopping district, Yang pestering Weiss about who-knows-what while Jaune trailed behind, listening to the conversation but never truly joining in.
Vale was as vibrant as ever, the crowds bustling with energy as everyone went on with their daily lives. Ruby was the first to spot their destination, quickly pointing out the large sign that read "Guns"R"Us".
"We're here," she said in a sing-song voice, skipping forwards in glee, opening the door with a dramatic flourish before entering.
The first noticeable feature of the shop was the array of thousands of weapons and weapon parts which covered the plentiful shelves, the layout was comparable to that of a bookshop, if you substituted literature for almost every kind of weapon known to Remnant.
Ruby let our a dreamy sigh, "Home sweet home," she said before strolling with purpose to a specific section of the shop.
"I'm going to check out the ammo," Yang said, leaving Jaune and Weiss alone near the entrance.
The blonde knight only nodded in confirmation, standing still and gazing onward with the same smile as always.
Weiss on the other hand seemed to be antsy, chewing on her lip as she waited next to Jaune. A few hunters propagated the shop alongside the main group, shopping and purchasing whatever was necessary for the safety of Vale. The shop was also quiet, if you ignored the happy babbling that came from Ruby's location, the bustle of Vale muted through the shop's windows.
Time ticked by, Yang having made her way to the cashier with an assortment of shotgun shell boxes under her arms. Ruby was still off in wonderland, gazing at all the different weapons, machinery, and ammunition, not stopping her appreciation of all the weaponry even as she scooped up what seemed to be the new scope she wanted.
Weiss viewed Jaune out of the side of her eye, her focus seemingly split between keeping an eye on Ruby and glancing up to Jaune every now and again. Jaune didn't notice this, instead he tried to hide his laughter as Yang bartered with the poor cashier, who seemed overwhelmed by Yang's intensity and ferocity.
His attention was diverted by Weiss as she cleared her throat.
Jaune let out a sound of recognition, shifting his gaze from Yang to Weiss, "Hm?"
The ice-queen couldn't seem to meet Jaune's eyes, going to open her mouth before shaking her head, "Nevermind, this isn't the right place," she said.
Jaune's interests peaked, but he was once again distracted again by what seemed to be Yang's victory over the cashier. She seemed to have begun to shamelessly flirt with the cashier, giving a wink and leaning precariously into the poor cashier's personal space.
The girl working the cashier had turned into a blushing mess, giving a thumbs up before ringing up Yang's total to a cost far below what Jaune and Weiss had expected from all the ammunition Yang was toting.
Of course, this only gave Yang a wicked smirk as she sauntered over to Jaune and Weiss, hips swaying for extra effect on the part-timer who had just met Yang for the first time in their life, and she would probably remember her for months to come.
"Well, that was fun," She said with a crooked smile, eyes gleaming with smugness.
Jaune only gave a low whistle as he looked over Yang's shoulder to see her handiwork, "I'm still surprised she's standing, I'm not sure I would be able to keep on my feet if you gave me that much attention Xiao-Long,"
"Ew don't call me that, that's what people call my dad," Yang retorted, but her grin only seemed to widen at Jaune's comment.
Weiss' face scrunched up as if she was about to scold Yang for her behavior before her eyes flitted over to Jaune and she caught herself. With a tight smile she looked over to her teammate, "Yang, please don't do that again. We have an image to uphold."
Jaune snorted slightly, "She learned that from her uncle,"
"Hey! When I work my magic it actually works!" Yang replied in an overly exaggerated offended tone.
"I hope I never have the displeasure to meet your uncle if he's the one that gave you such dreadful habits," Weiss said.
Ruby popped in out of nowhere, a bag in her hand as she stuffed what seemed to be even more coupons into it as well, "He's not that bad,"
Jaune opened the door, herding the group outside, "I would argue otherwise. Qrow once tried to flirt with Beacon's statue, and he only stopped because he fell into a bush. I found him on my morning jog cuddling up on a branch," he said with a chuckle.
Both sisters sighed with an easy smile on their faces, giving each other knowing looks before heading onto the next shop.
On their way there Weiss and Yang made idle chatter, which was to say that Yang teased her the whole way there.
Ruby and Jaune melded into the background for a bit, walking alongside their friends.
"Hey Jaune, have you upgraded Crocea Mors?" Ruby asked, glancing at the weapon that had been strapped to his hip since the beginning of the trip.
"I've thought of it once or twice, but in the end, I'd rather not," Jaune responded, "Why do you ask?"
"Well, I mean, it's a pretty dated design," Ruby said, "I'm pretty sure you could do better if you added dust mechanics of some kind. If you're already that good with just a sword and shield, I can't imagine what you could do with something better,"
Jaune placed his hand on Crocea Mors' pommel gently, "You overestimate me. If I added something I'd have to learn how to use it properly, and once you stick with one style, with one weapon, as long as I have, adjusting takes a lot more effort,"
The small reaper made a face at Jaune's comment about her overestimating him, "I'm pretty sure you'd come out fine if someone dropped a bullhead on you, plus it could be something minor to give you an offensive boost, like dust infusions on the sword,"
"You could also do the same to Crescent Rose," Jaune shot.
"I could, but it's already mechashift and it'd make it even more complex than it already is. Plus, it's my baby, I don't want to change too much of its original design, Qrow and my mom helped me make it," Ruby retorted.
Jaune nodded, "Our weapons as huntsmen become part of the family, even if we could change them to be better, it'd feel wrong to stray from what we've gotten so used to. It's part of what makes us human,"
"Yeah I guess you're right," Ruby said.
"Plus," Jaune said, a soft smile on his face, "You can't go wrong with the classics,"
Before Ruby and Jaune's conversation could go any further they were interrupted by their other companions, Yang and Weiss once again in an argument.
"Jaune!" They both yelled.
"Yes?" He responded politely, ignoring the looks they were getting from everyone around them.
"Weiss is being a party pooper!" Yang said, "Ow, don't pull on my ear!"
"I am not being a "party pooper"!" Weiss hissed, "But I'm not going to get in trouble by being caught in an indecent establishment!"
Yang rolled her eyes, "It's a dance club, what's so indecent about that?"
"Hey!" Ruby interrupted, "I'm both of your y'alls leaders! Why aren't I being consulted about this?"
Her sister laughed, "Oh Ruby, you're not going into any club until you're thirty,"
"Why!?"
"Because there's alcohol and lecherous guys and who knows what else," Yang responded.
Weiss scoffed, "So it is indecent!"
The blonde-haired bruiser sputtered, "No, it's not the same when it comes to us,"
Ruby was indignified, "Why isn't it the same Yang?"
"Because I say so,"
The argument devolved from there, tensions rising as Ruby balked about being babied, Weiss ranted about being seen in a low-class establishment, and Yang tried her best to defend her position.
"There's the shop you wanted to go to Yang," Jaune said, derailing the argument, "And there's a sale on all shampoo,"
Yang's head swiveled, locking on to her target, "There is! Hell yeah! We can argue about hitting some clubs later, lets go shopping!" She said as she dragged along her teammates to her destination.
Jaune only chuckled, walking behind Yang's trial. Another guy who seemed to be on a shopping trip with his girlfriend gave him a small nod, understanding of his plight. Jaune nodded back with a small smile on his face, noticing that they were both carrying the bags of their shopping partner or partners in Jaune's case.
Nonetheless, Jaune entered the shop to catch up with Yang and the rest, finding them easily, since all he had to do was find the tower of teetering shampoo boxes that towered over the isles.
"You can't buy that much shampoo Yang!" Whined Ruby.
"Yeah, I can, right Weiss?
Weiss looked up and down the tower of shampoo, which was being held precariously in Yang's arms, "That seems like an adequate amount of hair product,"
"What!" Ruby screamed, "How!"
Jaune stalked up behind them, "And how are we going to get all of that into Beacon?"
"We'll just order a second truck and bullhead to bring it back with us," said Weiss as if that was a completely reasonable thing.
"I'm not sure Ozpin would be willing to supply us with another bullhead just for our shopping trip," Jaune said, "But as long as I can fit in a bag I'll buy it for you Yang,"
Yang grumbled before setting down the shampoo tower, which had apparently been a display the shop had set up, something Yang had just picked up from the bottom and was fully prepared to take home with her. She then instead decided to take a large chunk of shampoo boxes out of the side, ignoring how the tower began to teeter due to the lack of support.
Weiss also went and grabbed a few skin products, of course, the price tag on said products made both Ruby and Yang balk. Ruby opted out to buy a rubber ducky and some strawberry-scented body soap, at a much more reasonable price.
Once they made their way to the check-out area Weiss and Jaune flashed their cards, paying for everything quickly.
"Where to next?" Jaune asked, now holding more bags than before.
Yang's mouth turned up into a sweet smile, locking eyes with Jaune, "The arcade, duh,"
Weiss didn't know what to expect from their destination, she knew what an arcade was. She wasn't that isolated, but the pictures and movie sets of arcades didn't quite prepare her for how boisterous it would be. Even far from the entrance, she could tell how loud it would be, the crowd of children gathering around the doors certainly didn't help.
Of course, her partner was visibly vibrating with energy at the prospect of playing some two-bit arcade machine, and any hope she had had for Yang to be any better quickly evaporated as well. Both sisters were excited to enter the arcade, each pulling out a small wad of cash from their pockets, Ruby of course was using the money Arc had given her this morning.
"Everyone buys their own tokens all right," Yang said, acting as if Weiss would be asking them for money any time soon. She rolled her eyes of course, Weiss wasn't childish enough to be entertained by something as simple as a video game, her palette was refined and sophisticated when it came to what media she absorbed.
Ruby wasn't sure if Weiss knew she had said that last part out loud.
They got in line to enter the bustling arcade, getting surprisingly little to no stares from everyone else considering who Weiss and her company were.
Once in the building Weiss, Yang and Ruby went to buy their tokens while Jaune found a table for them and their shopping bags could sit. He joined them soon enough, flashing a smile and his card to the counter worker for his own small plastic cup full of tokens.
Weiss gazed down the rows and rows of neon arcade machines, raising a brow at it all.
"Wow, this place is way bigger than the one at Patch!" Exclaimed Ruby, eyes full of awe at everything.
Yang nodded, "There's even a second floor," she pointed at the spiral staircase at the back.
"That's actually the bar and restaurant, but it should still have some arcade machines if you're curious," Jaune said as he put away his scroll, "Just looked at their website, it's a decent establishment, you can pay to host a party on the second floor as well,"
Weiss rolled her eyes as Yang's own eyes filled with excitement at Jaune's mention of a bar, Jaune must have caught it as well as he quickly added another comment.
"The bar only opens after eight, so unless you want to be here for three hours I don't think it's worth it,"
"Damn, I could have gone for a Strawberry Sunrise right now," whined Yang.
Jaune chuckled, patting her shoulder "Don't worry, I'm sure Qrow will take you bar hopping one day. And if he doesn't, we can make it a date,"
"A-a a date?" Yang sputtered, face almost as red as Ruby's cloak.
The knight nodded, "Yeah, that's what people call a friend hangout right? Then again I'm not sure if the sitcoms Goodwitch watches are considered modern,"
"Oh, oh yeah that's a great idea," Yang shot back, and if Weiss didn't know any better she would have thought Yang was disappointed.
"While I'm sure the chaos of whatever Yang will come up will look great on Team RWBY, does anyone know where our dear leader is?" Weiss said with a sarcastic tone.
Both Yang and Jaune looked around, realizing that Ruby was nowhere to be found.
"I think I know, I'll go check, both of you relax while I check on her," Yang said before taking off, leaving Weiss with the ever-smiling knight.
"Do you want to sit down? Or do you want to experience one of the arcade machines?" Jaune asked in the same polite tone he always used with her.
This is my chance, Weiss thought, so she nodded. The two of them made their way to the table Jaune had claimed for them, evident by the pile of shopping bags that took up half of the tablespace.
Jaune sat down and seemed to lock on where Yang and Ruby were, Weiss, followed his eyes to see that Ruby had gotten in line for a dancing game.
The heiress decided to mimic Jaune by sitting down and glancing over at him now and again to see if his gaze wandered from Ruby and Yang.
It didn't.
If Jaune thought the situation was awkward he didn't show it, his face set in a calm and collected smile, watching the screaming crowd of teenagers and children like one would watch the ducks at the park.
"So…" Weiss started, "Are you planning on playing any games?"
"I will, I'm just resting my feet before they drag both of us to play," he responded. There was a silence between the two of them, a stark contrast to the noise coming from the game area. Weiss decided that enough was enough and cleared her throat before starting once again.
She was interrupted by a loud announcement from the arcade's PA system, something about a birthday party on the second floor.
Her accompanying knight must have noticed she wanted to say something, "Did you want to ask me something? I suggest you do it fast before Ruby comes and corrals us to play with her," Jaune asked as he motioned to a rapidly approaching Ruby.
Weiss internally groaned, before shaking her head.
"Guys! Guys!," Ruby exclaimed, "They have a brand new dancing game! It makes the one in Patch look ancient! Do you guys want to play it with us!" She said as less of a question and more of a statement.
Jaune laughed the same laugh he always had around Ruby and Yang, "Of course, we're going to play with you, I can see Yang already saved us a place in line,"
Ruby beamed as Jaune pat her head, unaware or uncaring that it made her seem like a small puppy.
"Come on let's go Weiss!" She said as she dragged her partner to their place in line.
"I never said yes!" Yelled Weiss over the roar of the arcade, her statement falling on deaf ears as Ruby dragged her to the dance game.
Jaune trailed behind them, arriving at the arcade machine Ruby was so excited about, she wasn't kidding when she said it made the one in patch look ancient.
The arcade game was ridiculous in size in a way only something from Vale could be, one giant screen that could be mistaken for a movie screen, four sets of arrows for four people to play on, and speakers the size of Jaune on the side on the console.
After people realized that it was Weiss Schnee and Jaune Arc waiting in line, they were quickly propelled forward much to Jaune's surprise. He couldn't help but make out his name being whispered out some people's mouths, Jaune would have understood Weiss, but himself?
The revelation that he might be well known outside of Beacon didn't fill his mind for long, as both Ruby and Yang launched him and Weiss onto their places above the machine's arrows in excitement.
"You know how to play right Wiess?" Yang hollered over all the noise.
Weiss rolled her eyes, "Yes, I am aware of what a rhythm game is Yang,"
"You might want to put it at a lower setting," Jaune said, "As a sort of warm-up,"
"You're right, Weiss probably needs to stretch her little, dainty toes on baby mode before getting to the actual game," said Yang, shooting Weiss a look to challenge her.
Weiss' nose flared, just a tad bit, in offense, "I'll show you dainty," she murmured under her breath, before setting the game mode to expert and selecting the hardest song on the machine.
She shot Yang a look of her own before stomping her feet and throwing the machine into a roaring start, music blared from the speakers as a pop hit from Mistral threw rapid-fire lyrics at Yang, Weiss, Jaune, and Ruby.
Immediately the huntsmen in training flew into action, each easily matching the arrows on the ground to the ones that zoomed by on the screen. Weiss and Yang both stared at each other, their rhythm uninterrupted as their feet slammed at high speeds onto the arrows. Ruby seemed to be unaffected by her partner and sister having a dance battle, instead, she twirled and spun like a small child on the arcade game, her feet a blur even compared to her sister and partner, she even struck a pose or two.
Jaune on the other hand was keeping up as best he could, getting around seventy percent of the arrows correct, and being too slow to get the rest. He didn't seem too upset about it, more just enjoying his company and the nice music that blared around him.
This continued on for a bit, Yang and Weiss eventually having to pay the screen their full attention as the song got progressively and progressively harder. Jaune was just barely getting by, his brow covered in a slight sheen of sweat. Ruby continued to be unaffected by everything, continuing her perfect score as she twirled and danced in a way that wasn't really fitting to this kind of pop song, no one said a thing about it due to how much awe they were in at the red-haired reaper.
At one point Yang threw her brown leather jacket into the crowd that had gathered around them, it being caught by said crowd with a squeal.
The whisper and murmur of "huntsman students" filled the crowd around them, and when the song finally concluded the dancers were met with a resounding roar of applause.
Ruby immediately eeped and hid behind Jaune, who only chuckled as he used his shirt to wipe his brow, flashing the crowd with a very healthy dose of huntsman abs. Jaune raised a brow at the swooning and giggles from their small audience, his sudden attention only elevating that kind of reaction. Yang only smirked at Weiss as they awaited their scores, feeling confident that she had scored higher.
Once the arcade game finished calculating everything, the scoreboard was shown for all to see. In first place, to no one's surprise, not even Weiss, was Ruby, who was labeled as 'Player Three'. Second place was claimed by a very smug Yang, who was labeled a 'Player Four', this smugness vanishing as 'Player Two' or Weiss, got the exact same score but was only put in third place out of some arbitrary reason. Jaune of course claimed fourth place, 'Player One' landing at the very bottom of their scoreboard.
The arcade machine flashed for them to input their names, which they did, and spitting out a decent amount of tickets for their performance.
Once finished Yang made sure to wink at the crowd and bow in a dramatic way, Weiss only rolled her eyes before sending a steely glare at any guy or girl who wanted to approach her afterward. Jaune didn't seem to get the memo so he was quickly swamped by guys and girls that wanted the number of the one and only "Jaune Arc", much to Ruby's panic who had been hiding behind her best friend.
She escaped the mob with a flash of her semblance, clinging onto Yang as they were both ignored in favor of their much more famous classmates.
With the help of Weiss, Jaune managed to disperse the crowd around him, leaving his usual smile tinted with a bit of confusion at all the attention.
"That was weird," Jaune stated with a laugh, "Didn't know the all knew who I was,"
The group made their way to their table, Yang and Jaune moving around shopping bags for them to be able to sit down.
Yang got out her scroll and made her way to ValeGram, the hottest and newest social media app for people her age, and with a few inputs she searched up 'Jaune Arc'. Unsurprisingly, or surprisingly in Jaune's case, there was a horde of pictures of him.
The students at Beacon had apparently turned him into a kind of celebrity, of course, it was easy for huntsmen to gain traction on the internet, their arduous training combined with their aura made them extremely attractive and allowed them to gain followers easily on whatever social media app they used.
The biggest culprit behind Jaune's fame on the internet was one Coco Adel, who hosted a fashion account with over one million followers, and every now and again her posts contained Jaune himself. Her posts of him always had him posing and modeling some new clothes, and the way he posed and stared into the camera made Yang drool a bit, something she wiped away incredibly fast and with a blush.
Jaune, Weiss, and Ruby looked over Yang's shoulder as they went through Coco's page, and from there they clicked on the 'Jaune Arc' hashtag under each post containing him. Low and behold there were a few hundred pictures containing him, the older ones having been taken by Beacon students who wanted to flaunt Jaune off, and a few dozen newer ones of him taken today of their trip today.
Away from everyone, Weiss took out her own scroll, searching her own name up before looking over to how many views Jaune's hashtag had and how many her's had. With a sigh of relief, she saw that she was still leagues ahead of Jaune, however, her breath caught as she looked over Yang's shoulder to see an edited post of a picture of Jaune and her.
"What is that!" Weiss hissed, voice shrill as she pointed glaringly into Yang's scroll.
"What's what?" Yang asked, before looking at the post Weiss was so concerned about. The post in question was a hastily edited picture of their group walking, with Ruby and Yang cut out of the picture and a pink filter put over the post, of course, the filter was also accompanied with a dozen hearts and kissy-face emojis. The caption read, "Weiss Schnee x Jaune Arc, SchnArc Season,"
Both Ruby and Yang got hit with a fit of giggles, especially when they looked over at Weiss' appalled face, Jaune merely raising his eyebrows in acknowledgment and giving out a small 'Hmph' didn't help either.
"Well this is certainly interesting," Jaune said, nonplussed about the whole thing, "I don't even have a ValeGram account,"
"You don't!?" Yang and Ruby exclaimed, even Weiss seemed a bit surprised, that was before her surprise was once again taken over by her offense at the horrid edit of Jaune and her.
"Yeah," Jaune responded, "Don't have time for it,"
"Bro, even Ruby has one, and she still thinks 'Totally Tubular' is something cool kids say," said Yang.
"It isn't?" Both Ruby and Jaune asked.
Yang only facepalmed.
"We must be careful from now on Jaune," Declared Weiss, "We can not give those internets degenerates any more ideas about this 'SchnArc' lunacy,"
Jauned hummed in approval while handing his scroll over to Ruby and Yang, who were in the middle of making him a ValeGram account.
He got his scroll back soon enough, ValeGram downloaded and opened in front of him, an account page looking right back up at him.
"JauneArcTheActualOne?" Jaune asked with a peaked brow.
Yang shrugged, "All the other names with Jaune Arc were taken,"
"We also only tried like two," Ruby said, "That's the one you have until you get verified I guess, now let's go back to playing games!"
With Ruby in the lead they once again entered the game area, this time Weiss and Yang taking the challenge to another level, both of them bustling against one another as they raced to the next game to see who would get the highest score.
"Just like last time," chuckled Jaune, "So what games are we hitting Ruby?"
The red reaper's eyes glittered with excitement, "Yes!"
And while some might have taken that as hyperbole, Jaune personally knew that it was not. So of course, they then tried out. Every. Single. Game. Even the ones that weren't multiplayer, although on those Jaune usually just took a breather while Ruby went and set a new high score.
By the end of Ruby's arcade crusade, they had collected a truly monstrous amount of tickets.
"I'll save them for next time," Ruby said with a smile before balling them all up and fitting them into a bag in a cartoonish way.
Both of them finished just in time as Weiss and Yang both stood over the ticket counter with their own tickets, the two competing girls having decided that the tiebreaker of the day would be how many tickets each of them had gotten. Ruby and Jaune didn't notice the giddy and adrenaline-filled smile on Weiss' faces, Yang wasn't much better either.
Jaune nudged Ruby, "So much for that refined palette of hers,"
Ruby giggled at Jaune's comment, happy that Weiss was having fun.
The two competing girls hadn't thought of the fact that if they both played the same games, and both their scores were tied, that they would both end up with the same amount of tickets. So when the arcade worker announced that they both had the same amount of tickets he was met with a series of yells from Yang and Weiss, each claiming that they should have more than the other.
Everyone left the arcade happy in the end, ignoring the playful resentment between Yang and Weiss, the group seemed to have agreed to save their tickets for the next time.
As they were getting ready to leave Jaune decided to take a picture, using his height to take a selfie of him and his friends.
It's a good picture, he thought, it captured the moment nicely. The neon light of the arcade showed Ruby sprawled over both Yang and Weiss' laps, a wad of tickets in her hand as she counted her rightfully earned tickets. Yang and Weiss were both caught in the middle of another one of their arguments, but their large smiles were unmissable and showed their friendship for all to see. Jaune himself only smiled and took the photo, happy of his mediocre skill before posting it on his account as his first post, the only caption being 'My friends and I'.
If the rest of the group caught him taking a photo they didn't say anything, they just helped him gather the bags and left for Beacon.
Of course, they also ran into an ice cream shop on their way back. So while Yang and Ruby clamored to buy some ice cream for the group Weiss saw her chance and took it, dragging a surprised Jaune into a small alley beside the ice cream shop.
"Before we get interrupted again, I just want to say I'm sorry," Weiss blurted out, "I shouldn't have questioned Ozpin's decision about making Ruby leader, I see now that she's an excellent candidate and Ruby is completely qualified, and rather than having complained I should have done my best to support her as a teammate instead of complaining. It wasn't my place to question Ozpin's judgment and I-"
Jaune cut her off with a raised hand, bags and all, "Calm down Weiss," he said with a chuckle, "This isn't Atlas, Ozpin isn't some stuck-up aristocrat that thinks you questioning his judgment to be some grand insult. If I had to put money on it I would also say he saw this kind of situation coming as well, it's all water under the bridge,"
"Oh," Weiss said, a bit surprised, "Thank you,"
The knight was almost surprised Weiss didn't curtsy after saying thank you, he didn't say anything of it and kept the thought to himself, laughing inwardly at his own humor. Weiss led the two of them to meet with Yang and Ruby who seemed to be looking for them outside the ice cream shop entrance.
Yang raised an eyebrow as Jaune and Weiss exited the alley, "What was that about 'not giving those internet degenerates any more ideas about this 'SchnArc' lunacy'" she asked.
Weiss sputtered, "Get your mind out of the gutter Xiao-Long!"
This only spurned Yang on with her teasing, giving Weiss the ice cream she had bought her while doing so. Ruby had been the one holding Jaune's and had apparently already eaten her own, so she spoon-fed him his ice cream while they walked due to his hands being full.
Eventually, they finished the icecream and vowed to return to that wonderful wonderland of frozen confections, walking towards the bullhead station to ensure they made it to Beacon for the night.
Jaune had fallen back into his position of holding the rear, opting to not actively converse but to rather listen to whatever his group talked about instead.
While they walked Jaune dropped one of the bags, crouching to grab it only to see that a gloved hand had grabbed it for him.
"Careful there young man," said the voice of a tan-skinned man with emerald eyes and a bit of gray hair crowning both his hair and mustache, he gave Jaune the bag back nodding before going back to fiddling with an electronic device attached to his wrist.
"Thank you," Jaune called out, only to see that the man had disappeared into the crowd in a blink of an eye.
"Are you coming Jaune?" Ruby called out.
Jaune nodded, before hurrying to catch up.
The group made it to the bullhead with time to spare, so they sat idly as they waited for the take-off, Jaune taking his motion sickness pills to spare him of Yang's teasing.
Thankfully for Jaune, the pills worked, and his trip was a vomit-free one. So they made their way to Beacon, stretching their legs once they got off the bullhead and then making their way to their dorms.
Jaune dropped off the dozens of bags at Team RWBY's room before heading to his own team's dorm.
He opened the door and with a stretch popped his back, but before he could bask in the silence he was interrupted by none other than Nora Valkyrie.
The Valkyrie shoved a picture of Weiss and Jaune in an alley with cartoon hearts, edited sparkles, and a pink filter over it before yelling, "Care to explain yourself, young man!"
Hello everyone, I can not apologizes enough for the lack of updates, I'm 15 so that means I'm kinda at my parents whims when it comes to when I can write and when I can't, and testing season just finished so that didn't help one bit.
Anyways, hope you enjoyed this new update! Is that Arthur Watts! What is he doing here?! Find out next time in Upon You They Break!
Also shout out to my best friend Boose, who recently started writing a Genshin Impact fic titled "And He Shall Appear"As always, thank you so much for reading, and I am extremely sorry for the lack of updates.