Chapter 14

October 5th. Late evening.

Just as she was about to indulge herself into another peaceful walk around the city of Vale, she noticed him. "Hello, Jaune!" She happily greeted him with a big wave of her hand.

He turned his look towards her, and then cracked a smile and waved her back. "Hey."

She walked closer to him and then stopped. And noticed he was warming up his legs. "You're going to run again, aren't you. That's great!"

He chuckled. "I guess seeing Nora go through her 'training arc' inspired me to work a bit harder as well."

She smiled. "I'd say that's a good thing. By the way, that exactly is a 'training arc'?"

"It's uh…" He started, but then stopped to ponder for a moment. "Basically, it's a period of time when a fictional character is extremely dedicated to their training in order to get stronger."

"Hmm." She hummed pensively. "But then why would Nora use that term given she's not a fictional character?"

He snorted, amused. "Honestly, I'm not really sure. Nora is...eccentric, I'm sure you've noticed. There could be any one reason why she used that term. Maybe she just like's it?"

"Hmm. Maybe," She said, and then cracked a wide grin. "Could it be then that you have now started your own 'training arc'?"

He laughed. "No! Definitely not. I'm just going to run for a bit, that's it."

"I see," She said, and then, for a few moments to come, she stared at him in what must have been silent consideration. Before she pointed her look down the street, and then back to him. "I'll leave you be, then. Have a great run!"

"Thanks," He said with a smile, and then watched her go for a brief moment. Before he scratched the back of his neck, and then quietly hummed to himself. "Penny?"

She spun around. "Yes?"

"Well, I...remember how you once asked me if we could try and run together?"

"I do remember, yes."

"How about we give it a try then?"

"Really?!" Her eyes sparkled. "I would absolutely love to!"

He couldn't help a laugh which escaped his lips.

She actually looked sheepish for a moment. "Did I say something weird?"

"What? No. That's not it." He dismissed that immediately. "It's just; not a lot of people would get so excited about something like running."

"Oh." She uttered just that, and it seemed to be one of those rare occasions, where she would have to ponder for a moment on what to say.

He took her silence as a chance to add, "Then again, I suppose that's just how you are. You're the type of person who gets easily excited."

Her lips twitched for a moment, seemingly wanting to struck a smile, but couldn't quite get there. "Yes. I'm very much like that. It's not difficult at all for me to get excited over things. I suppose I'm weird like that."

"Maybe," Jaune said at first, and after a quick pause, he continued. "But I think I kinda like that about you," He said with a smile, which by all means seemed to be a simple one, but somehow...somehow, she couldn't help herself, but to look away for a second, and she wasn't even sure why. And thinking about it didn't help either, so she pushed this oddity aside, and locked her eyes back together with his. Her following smile revealing more than she knew.

He too, couldn't uncover everything her smile had to offer, but at the very least, he didn't miss just how truly beautiful it was. Though of course, he wouldn't admit it aloud. "Um, anyways, just let me know when you want to run with me."

"Right now," She said without batting an eye.

He again, quietly laughed to himself. "Alright then. I'll be waiting right here for you to go and change your clothes. I mean, you're not planning to run while wearing a cute dress, are you?" He said with a lick of humor to his voice.

She blinked, and then looked herself over for a moment. Before she struck a salute for whatever reason. "Just give me a minute and I'll be right back!" She exclaimed, and then took off running.

He parted his lips as he wanted to let her know that she didn't have to hurry like that, yet instead he chuckled, and decided to simply wait for her return.

…

She wasn't lying alright.

She was back in what must have been a record time, and giving her a quick glance, he noted she wasn't even panting in the least.

"I'm combat-no-running ready!" She exclaimed, her slender figure now sporting a running jacket, as well as a pair of sports tights and appropriate pair of sneakers.

"Let's get running then," He said, and after she voiced her agreement, they both started to make their way through the streets of late evening city of Vale.

…

One hour later.

She legitimately wasn't human.

That is what Jaune thought as he gave her a glance after wiping off the sweat from his eyebrow. Now, he didn't go all out today, but the pace they were running at most certainly wasn't something to scoff at. He himself was now breathing hard and covered in sweat, but she...she was fine. No. Not even a beat of sweat was visible on her face! As if she hadn't just finished an hour of running at a good pace just now!

"You're...you're frikkin' amazing, you know that?" He said to her once his breathing was back to normal.

She turned to look at him. "What do you mean?"

He parted his lips to answer, but then closed them shut and only answered after giving it some legitimate thought. "Well, let's see. You're a bad-ass fighter. You can out-muscle pretty much any person I know, and as it turns out, you've got endurance second to none," He said, and then realized there was a fitting question to be asked here. "What about your scores in tests?"

"They've been perfect so far."

Jaune splayed his arms out in a dramatic gesture, but then let them fall down by his sides. "And that's exactly what I meant. You were basically born to be a huntress. Seriously, in raw talent alone, you outshine even someone like Pyrrha, and she's a bonafied prodigy!" He said with an impressed tone of voice. "Which kinda means you're pretty much perfect now that I think about it."

She pointed her look down to the ground, and came to be awfully quiet.

He cocked his eyebrow at her. "Um, is something wrong? Did-did I say something wrong?"

"People tend to get jealous when someone stands out the way I do, don't they?"

"I guess they do, yea."

She pointed her look back to him. "Are you going to feel that way about me too?"

"No." He answered without batting an eye. "Penny, just because some people would get jealous of you doesn't mean that everyone would. I just think that you're a genuinely amazing person. Both in things you can do and the type of person you are," He said, and then his cheeks were tinted in mellow pink for a moment. "And I'm sure that my friends feel pretty much the same," He said, and though the effect wasn't immediate-eventually-worry in her eyes came to be replaced with joyous appreciation.

"Thank you, Jaune," She voiced her appreciation, and a moment later added, "I think you're an amazing person as well. And I'm sure that one day, you'll become a great huntsman."

Hearing this, he placed his hand behind his neck, and his eyes went astray from hers. "You really think so?"

"Of course!"

"…"

A moment of deep pause. He smiled-a little-but then sighed, and pointed his look to the starry, late evening sky. And didn't utter a word for quite some time, before finally, his lips just ever so slowly parted, and he said, "Thanks...I guess. I mean, I, I'm just not sure how much I want this...you know?" He spoke with great caution, as if he was weighing each and every word.

She was confused, of course. "What do you mean? Don't you want to be a huntsman?"

He frowned, and answered only moments later. "It's...kinda complicated. But yea, becoming a huntsman has never been exactly my dream."

"Why did you join Beacon then?"

"Well, that's the complicated part," He said, and was struggling greatly to measure just how much he wanted to open up to her. "Honestly though, it's just family drama more than anything else. I, I have a difficult relationship with my mother, basically," He said, and then immediately felt the need to change the subject. "Sorry. I shouldn't trouble you with-" His sentence was cut short when he felt her two hands wrapping around his one.

"Is there anything I can do to help? Please, I don't want to see you like this," She said, and he was quick to notice just how genuinely worried she was about him. He was honestly taken aback for a moment.

"Oh...uh, it's alright. I'm alright, Penny. It's not as bad as it seems." He tried to reassure her, but could see he wasn't all too successful with it.

"Really? But you seem so troubled right now," She said, and her grip around his hand tightened. It honestly hurt a little. "Are you really alright? Sorry, I don't really know how you feel right now," She said, and then looked down to their linked hands. "But I know that I want you to be happy. And you didn't seem happy just now." She finished, and he could tell that she was being sincere.

She just genuinely cared so deeply about his happiness. About him, really. And he...he didn't know how to respond. Before he simply decided to let his heart take over him.

Her eyes widened when she felt how he pulled her into a hug.

"Jaune?"

"I'd be lying to you if I told you I'm totally fine, because I'm not. There are things that I'm constantly trying to figure out. But sometimes I fail, and sometimes that scares me but…" He stopped, and wondered if maybe it'd be better to let go of her now, but somehow, he did the opposite as his arms tightened around her frame. "I think I'm going to be okay. Thanks for being worried about me, though. I appreciate that," He said, and only then decided to break off the hug. "But don't worry too much okay?" He said while cracking a good, honest smile. "'Cause I want you to be happy as well, you know." He finished, and even though some of the feelings she felt were still conflicting, she did smile to him.

And that helped him realize just how much he enjoyed to see her smile. He adored her smile.