"And thus, with the creation of the Ozma Archive, the archaic period came to an end and the historical era began. Any questions?"

Half the dimly lit room was in a daze. Oobleck may have never missed his morning coffee, but first period was always rough, and the soft light of the projector was just so soothing.

Ruby's hand shot up. " Mr Oobleck." she asked. "If we don't have any records before the archive, how do we know any of this?"

"An excellent question." The teacher said quickly. "Suffice it to say for the moment, we don't."

Ruby blinked. "But then, why are we-"

"Bothering to study a series of fragmentary and contradictory fairy tales?" Oobleck finished. "Because Remnant did not emerge from nothing 1000 years ago. To recap, archeologists have found scattered sites across Remnant going at least 20 times as old as our records, and the planet itself is much older than that. Few and far between, they have been clustered in defensible locations such as here, here, here, and here." he said, tapping locations on the map corresponding to the core territories of Atlas, Mistral,Vacuo and Vale.

" Before modern civilization there seem to have been several smaller systems, though we are the first to control the entire planet, and none seem to have reached our technological or economic level. Furthermore, as best as we can tell, every single one of them ended suddenly and violently. Then, between 2000 and 1000 years ago, the number of settlements seemed to climb steadily, and by 1006 years ago on this day, the Ozma Archive was created to maintain trade records on the border between the Kingdoms of Musea and Heian. It stands today in the center of the Greater Kingdom of Mistral, and its scholars composed the first written histories we have access to. Before that, all we have are legends."

The slides flipped, and stylized images flashed on the screen. "Half a dozen gods and creation myths, wicked thoughts bringing divine punishment, scheming witches and men with strength and speed many times greater than a normal human, able to weaponize their very souls. But all stories seem to share a common element- a race of demonic beasts known simply as Grimm."

The class was treated to a shot of a cave painting, chalked in wispy black mist. The pale white stone beneath was etched into tooth and claw, jagged bone, and the center of its face were two blood red eyes that complemented the flowing pool at its feet. The artwork was exquisite in its execution- you could feel the raw malice rolling off the chalk in waves, and in the flickering light it almost appeared to move.

It had Jaune's undivided attention.

"Unfortunately, unlike even the more obscure of our ancient cities, we haven't discovered a single fragment of evidence for their existence. The absence of remains and the multitude of their alleged forms has led many to suggest that the 'Creatures of Grimm' are more metaphorical than material."

"Yeah right." Nora interjected. " Can a metaphor level cities?"

"So you think Grimm are real, shortstack?" Cardin shot. "What's next, you're going to go on a hunting expedition under your bed?"

"Mr. Winchester, insulting your classmates during a discussion is disrespectful and counterproductive." Mr. Oobleck said. "Now, if you would like to rephrase..."

The redhead scoffed. " All I'm saying is the real problem is pretty obvious. Savage abominations that look like animals and bring down civilizations? What could those possibly be?"

A sharp dressed boy with antlers two rows back leaned forward. "Enlighten us." He said coldly.

Cardin's smirk widened. "The Faunus. Duh."

Oobleck sighed, and anxiously adjusted his glasses. "There are others who have made the same argument." He said, slowly and deliberately, quite out of character. "But our oral traditions have very distinct tales for Faunus and Grimm, and whatever it was that culled our numbers its effects were felt by the Faunus as well. Archeological evidence is very clear on that."

Cardin shrugged. "We slugged them and they slugged us, then. Eventually the stronger group came out on top and we've had the mongrels begging for our table scraps ever since. If we were smart we would have put them all down and been done with it."

The deer faunus lunged forward at that and clocked Cardin in the face. The taller boy didn't even flinch as he grabbed his attacker in a headlock and slammed him onto the desk.

"That's enough."

Jaune and Ren had grabbed both of Cardin's arms off the boy's throat, while Nora had wrapped her arms up under the deer faunus's shoulders. Ruby had stepped in between the pair, putting a hand on each of their chests to push them back.

"Mr. Potter, Mr. Winchester. To the Dean's Office. Now."

"That's bull!" Cardin saud. "He attacked me! You all saw!"

"Calls for genocide tend to be rather provoking." Oobleck said glibly. "You are entitled to your opinions, Mr. Winchester, but any student in my class deserves basic respect. If you're going to instigate a race war, you shouldn't be surprised when it comes to you."

The bell rang.

Oobleck shook his head. " It appears we're out of time for today. Tomorrow, we start the unit on the Feral Wars during the foundation of the modern Kingdoms. I expect you all to engage with the material civilly."

As the class filtered out, keeping several bodies between the two combatants, Jaune stayed behind.

"Mr. Oobleck?" He asked.

"Oh, Mr. Arc?" The teacher said distractedly, rummaging through his papers. "This day is full of surprises." The man stood up, deciding to give his student some measure of attention. "Thank you for stepping in, earlier. These things tend to get worse the longer they go uninterrupted."

"Don't mention it." he said awkwardly. " I actually wanted to ask you something."

Oobleck straightened. "Yes?" He said eagerly.

"It's about, well, the Grimm." Jaune muttered.

"I take it you found Mr. Winchester's hypothesis uncompelling?"

"I just think Nora had a point." Jaune said diplomatically. There was more to it than that. For every minute of every day for more than two years, it had been impossible for him to focus on anything that wasn't sex. Even at his best it was background noise, and its call was becoming increasingly deafening.

But for 2 minutes, when that shadow haunted the screen, his own had gone silent.

No, that wasn't quite right. His blood had started singing a completely new tune. It had found something that was a higher priority, that demanded a clarity of vision he hadn't experienced a single time in his life. If a woman was his complement and pleasure, the shadowy beast, whose very presence meant death, was his equal and opposite. Before he could seize the former he would have to slay the latter; that was the driving purpose of his being.

Oobleck shook his head. "Be that as it may, the evidence is purely circumstantial. Nothing like a Grimm has been found in the wild or even the fossil record. All we have are art and stories. If they ever were real, today they are as mythical as the heroes who fought them."

Jaune frowned.

"Of course." Oobleck rambled on. "If you're really interested, there are some excellent papers on the subject-"

"And the slides?" Jaune asked. He could already feel his focus slipping again. He needed something that could clear his head, or he would lose himself entirely.

Oobleck started in surprise. " I scanned the images from an illustrated story collection." he said, reaching into his desk and pulling out an old, worn codex. " You're more than welcome to borrow-"

Jaune's hand moved quicker than the eye could see, and before Oobleck could blink he had already stuffed the book in his bag. "Thank's, teach." He said quickly, moving for the door.

Oobleck's hand caught his shoulder. " I don't suppose you'll make a habit of showing an interest in my class?"

Jaune's eyes met his. It would be easy to lie. But the words died on his tongue.

Oobleck sighed in disappointment. "Well, it can't be helped. Carry on, Mr. Arc." he said, letting go his student. " I hope you find what you're looking for."

'I hope so too.' Jaune thought to himself, though he knew that whatever sketches he found in that book would be a pale imitation of the real thing.

Fluttering skirts caught his eye as he stalked down the hall.

There were other things to hunt.

When Jaune made his way into physics, he spotted a tupperware container on Ruby's desk. His friend was eyeing it warily.

"Who was it?" Jaune asked as he sat down next to her.

"Pyrrha." Ruby replied, eyes locked on the gift.

Jaune looked across the room to find the amazon's seat. Emerald eyes met his with a pleasant smile and the statuesque redhead sent him a friendly wave. Jaune's body thrummed.

"Well, it can't be too bad, then." Jaune said, trying not to eye the gift giver up too much.

Beacon was a strange school with strange traditions. Gag Gift Day was one of the more amusing. Every year each student would draw a name on the 7th Friday of the second semester, and the following Monday they would give their victim a custom present. The good ones had some thought put into them, but they also had to be embarrassing, disappointing or just suck on at least some level.

How Pyrrha's present was going to inevitably disappoint was an open question, as the heavenly scent wafted into his nostrils.

"Smells good." He noted idly.

Ruby nodded. "It's just sitting there." She whispered. "Wafting up. Mocking me."

Ruby opened the lid with trembling hands. A small pile of innocent looking cookies sat there. Taunting her. She reached in, rubbed a thumb over, and brought the treat up to her nose to get a good whiff. Then she took an experimental bite.

"Oatmeal raisin." she spat.

Jaune laughed. "She got you good, eh?"

"My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined." Ruby said, scowling as she slowly scarfed down the cookies.

Jaune's stomach grumbled and he reached into the container. Ruby's scowl deepened as she clutched them desperately to her chest. "Hands off, they're mine!"

Jaune looked over at Pyrrha. 'Mission failed successfully.'

Ruby flushed a bit as she realized her reflexive cookie hoarding had extended to even the bastard brand. She mustered all her self control and broke the last one in half, extending it to him hesitatingly.

Jaune smiled for the first time in hours, but shook it off. "It's your prank-"

"I don't even like it, just take it!"

"If you don't want it, why should I?"

"Eat. It."

As Ruby continued to push the cookie closer, spilling crumbs everywhere, Jaune noticed she was getting awfully close to his face. How easy would it be to just swoop down and-

Jaune took the stupid cookie.

"Happy?" He asked.

"Very." She said smugly.

Just then Yang Xiao Long made her way back from across the building and began strutting over to his desk with a wicked grin and her hands clasped behind her back. Jaune looked at her incredulously.

"You cannot be serious." he murmured, bracing himself. " You got me?" he asked.

"Yup." she replied, before tossing a roll of condoms onto his desk. "Shouldn't be too hard to wrap your head around."

The nearby seats broke out into snickers.

Jaune eyed the tiny plastic squares with distaste. " And you didn't give this to me in the car, discreetly, because…?"

"Oh, Jaune." She teased. "That wouldn't have been in the spirit of things."

'You stupid, big tittied bimbo.' he thought to himself, not even bothering to censor it. The blond bit back a growl." You're supposed to get something I can actually use."

Yang rolled her eyes. " If you'd stop bitching so much then maybe you could find someone to use them with."

"Maybe I would if you'd bothered to get me some that fit."

The entire class was watching with rapt attention at this point, barely holding back giggles. Even the ever bold Yang looked at him askance, cheeks pink with vicarious embarrassment.

Ruby had gone as red as her namesake and was trying to stammer out something to end the awkward encounter, but someone beat her to the punch.

"What's wrong, Jauney boy?" Dove chortled. "That scared of it slipping off?"

"Are you kidding?" Jaune deadpanned. " I don't want to squeeze my junk off."

The room went silent for a beat. Then it burst into raucous, howling laughter.

Jaune's vision went red as his fists clenched in primal rage. Sure, he had worked hard to avoid a reputation as a sex crazed maniac, but did that mean everyone just assumed he was some limped dick loser? Gods, Yang was just right in front of him, laughing uncontrollably. Pyrrha was laughing. Ruby was laughing. He had half a mind to bend them all over his knee and show them just how far from a shrimp dicked-

He took a second look at the package.

Jaune was not an expert on condoms. He had taken health class just like everyone else, he knew how they worked, but he hadn't considered them since. Something about them was viscerally unpleasant.

But as much as the rubbers in his hand utterly repulsed him, even he could figure out the significance of Magnum: XXL.

His anger cooled. Yang was better than that- she'd embarrass him, sure, but for something like this she'd be sure to couch it in the most flattering possible terms. She'd probably gone out of her way to pick out the largest size they had- even if he couldn't use them the rumors it would start would be more helpful than harmful. The image would be funnier too. But not quite as funny as him turning it around and complaining with a straight face about how they were way too small. From the others' perspective it seemed hilariously absurd.

It just happened to be true.

The laughter came to an abrupt halt as Miss Goodwitch walked into the room.

Glynda Goodwitch was sex on legs. There really wasn't a better way to put it; she looked like what you would expect a supermodel to, not a school teacher. She was the reason to study calculus, and the math and physics enrollments at Beacon had shot up in the three years since she had started working there.

But if Glynda was their hottest teacher, she was also their coldest. Barely out of school herself, Miss Goodwitch was keenly aware of how easy it would be to lose her sense of authority. She dressed in formal clothes, she wore stern looking glasses, she even slipped into heels every day so that all but her tallest students had to look up to meet her unflinching gaze. She did everything in her power to appear older and more intimidating, and if she couldn't help being beautiful she could refuse to let it come off as a distraction. If you were in Goodwitch's class, you came on time, did your homework, and followed her rules without question, and god help you if you caused any trouble. She was smart as a whip with a sharp tongue to match. She was not to be fucked with, no matter how much you might want to.

'Breaking her is going to be so much fun.'

"Is something wrong?" She asked curtly.

Jaune snatched up the condoms and put the useless things in his pockets before she could see them. While not technically against the rules, handing out that kind of gift would probably get Yang in hot water.

"No." He said. "Just exchanging presents."

Glynda nodded, aware of the day's gimmick, before placing a warm piece of paper on his desk, fresh off the presses. The front was empty, the business was on the back.

As she made her way around the room, several beads of sweat rolled down many a forehead. Her eyes roamed the class like a hawk's, daring someone to take a peek. No one dared. As soon as she had passed them out to everyone she spoke. "The quiz will begin as soon as the bell rings. You have 15 minutes."

The bell chimed and Jaune tried to focus his mind on his new problems. The packet lodged in his pocket burned.

'I guess Yang would be mad if I just tossed the damn things.' he thought. Joke or not, it was still a gift, and he liked her more than he loathed it. He'd have to wait until he got home before binning them. Without much enthusiasm, he conceded that sooner or later he'd have to buy some proper ones. He was at the end of his rope, and if he snapped it would be better to have some kind of protection. How would he get it if this was the best they had?

'It might not be a bad idea to look into it.' Jaune thought. ' At worst I'd have to pay a little extra to order some sort of custom fit-'

'There's already something custom made for your cock.' His shadow whispered. 'They're called cunts.'

Jaune winced internally. Through monumental effort he was able to suppress the worst of his thoughts to a corner of his mind. An outspoken, fucking obnoxious corner.

'Look, if you're that obsessed with having sex, at some point you've gotta think of consequences.'

He could feel the smugness radiating inside his head. 'Oh believe me, I do.'

'Then you should know that sex makes babies. Have you ever thought about how expensive it would be to have to raise a kid? How hard that would be?'

'Why bother? That's what the slut's for.'

Jaune expected nothing from himself, and he was still disappointed.

'Gods, how am I supposed to figure out the acceleration of the car if I don't know its initial speed?'

'Goodbitch gave you the mass and force exerted.' His shadow shot. 'Use the force equation and basic algebra.'

Jaune blinked.

'Um… thank you, I guess.'

'And once you do that, pull your head out of your ass and start listening to the smart part of you. Could've banged half the fucking school already-

'We are not doing this now, I need to focus-'

'Good pussy clears your head right up.'

'Help with the quiz or shut up!'

'Fuck the quiz. Go fuck Goodbitch.'

'Okay, zoning out now. lalalalalalala'

'YOU CAN RUN FROM ME, BUT YOU CAN'T RUN FROM THE-'

BRRRRRIIIIIIINNNNNGGG.

Jaune put his head on his desk and groaned.

Because Ruby was short enough to need to sit in the front row, Jaune got a front row seat to Miss Goodwitch's disappointment as her eyes scanned over his unfinished quiz.

He had voices in his head and he was arguing with them. 'I hate you so much.'

His eyes were inevitably drawn to Miss Goodwitch's tight pencil skirt as she walked further and further away.

'Right. Back. At you.'

"Mr. Arc, a word?" Jaune grimaced before nodding to Ruby. He'd catch up later.

"Miss Goodwitch?" He asked politely, she directed him to her desk, and sat down in awkward silence at the seat in front of it.

For several minutes he just sat there, ogling her as she typed into her computer. Not that it wasn't a wonderful view, but he only had so much time before his next class.

As soon as he moved to leave, Goodwitch spoke.

"Do I bore you, Mr. Arc?"

"...What?"

"I asked you a question." She said, still not looking at him. " Do. I. Bore. You."

"No!" Jaune shouted. "Of course not!"

Miss Goodwitch finally swiveled around to face him. "Then why are you failing my class?

It was just him in the room. If he recalled correctly this was her planning period. And even though her door to the hall was opened, the bell had just rung, and everyone would probably be in a classroom by now. He had Glynda alone for the next 45 minutes. His pants tightened. "It's, um… hard." He mumbled.

Miss Goodwitch cocked her glasses at him. "Is it?" She leaned in and passed his quiz between the two, and began marking it in front of him. She also unconsciously gave him a killer view of her tits.

'Gods, how fucking big are they?'

'G-cups.' The shadow interjected happily. ' I fucking love this school.'

"You scored 49 points out of a possible 100, with 1 point taken off for a rounding error, and 50 points not even attempted. In other words, you earned an F." Glynda said, marking the quiz accordingly. "However, as my own personal experiment, I designed the quiz so the questions were of roughly equal difficulty, with each requiring knowledge of several different components to answer. If you could answer 5 of the questions," she said, cutting the test in half with a harsh, red stroke " you should have been able to handle all 10. And had I stopped grading after the first 5, you would have gotten an A." She glared at Jaune. "Can you see why that might irritate me?"

"Maybe I just can't work as fast as you want me to." Jaune shot back.

"Maybe so." Goodwitch said. "But that wouldn't explain why you spent most of class with your head in the clouds. If you were so frantic to finish, why waste all that time staring at the ceiling?"

'Bitch can't keep her eyes off me.'

"I'm… thinking." Jaune said slowly. Technically it wasn't a lie.

Glynda's right eye twitched.

"Moving on." She said, gesturing over to the computer. "Your grades follow a similar pattern. Every year or so, your average has dropped between 3 and 5 points, depending on the class. Your homework has stayed fairly static, at an ...acceptable level. The decline is entirely isolated to in class assignments. And," she finished. "In the last semester this trend has accelerated. You are down between 10 and 20 points from your previous average in all of your other classes. And you are down 30 points in mine. Tell me the truth. Why?"

'Because I can't focus on physics when all I wanna do is bend you over this desk and raw dog you until you're leaking cum and can't walk for a week.' It was bad enough in the other classes- sitting front in center hadn't been his idea, but it did limit most of his distractions to his peripheral (he hadn't had the heart to ditch Ruby). He could keep his eyes on the teacher and almost, almost focus on his work. But could you do that when the teacher was the distraction?

Glynda misinterpreted the strain on his features. Her own gaze softened, and she leaned in closer to him. " Jaune." She said gently, green eyes glimmering in concern. "You can trust me."

'You are one of the last people I want to know.' he thought desperately.

Glynda sighed, and put her stern face back on. "Beacon Academy is among the most selective schools in Vale. If your grades continue to move in this direction, the board of governors will have no choice but to expel you."

Miss Goodwitch was only half right. Beacon was geared towards high achievers… and the well connected. Jaune had still been Mason Arc's legal child when he had applied, and after he had lost that distinction, well… they hadn't felt the need to kick him when he was down. But time had passed, and his spot was in high demand- all he needed was to give them an excuse.

"I- I'm sick." he admitted.

Glynda looked at him curiously.

"I can't focus in class." He said carefully. He couldn't risk exposing himself, but he couldn't leave either. He'd lose his friends. He'd lose his family. 'I'd lose so many fucking dimes.' "I feel hot and achy, all the time. Like I'm going to explode."

Glynda walked past the desk and placed her hand on his forehead.

"You don't have much of a temperature." She noted.

'Not. Helping.'

"But," she continued. "if you think it's a medical problem, a visit to the nurse doesn't cost anything." She began scribbling on a piece of paper. "I can sign off on any class you have to miss, though if you're making up the difference at home I suspect your grades will be helped by this little excursion."

Jaune sighed in relief. "Thanks." He said. But before he left, he reached into his bag, and pulled out a box. Glynda raised an eyebrow " While I was getting my gift for my victim." Jaune said "I thought you might enjoy getting in on the fun."

Glynda sighed. " I am not one of your peers, Mr. Arc." she reminded him.

"Come on." He said, flashing the label. " No one needs to know."

It was an authentic box of Dorothy's chocolate truffles. It was a small chocolatier's shop on the edge of the city of Vale. A little on the pricier side, but, every couple of months, she allowed herself to indulge, just a bit. She didn't know how he knew- she must have let it slip at some point. Maybe left a wrapper on her desk?

Her eyes darted between her favorite chocolates and the handsome young man offering them to her. She licked her lips involuntarily.

"This is a trap." She said matter of factly, cursing herself as she reached for the box.

"Doesn't mean you can't enjoy it." Jaune said, smirking as he left. "Later, Glynda."

"It's Miss Goodwit-" the door slammed shut.

She fought back a smile. ' I can let it slide just this once.'

Then, she locked the door and closed the blinds. The temptation was overwhelming. 'Oh, he got the Emerald Box!' That was the only combination that carried her favorite truffle, dark chocolate with white stripes and a raspberry creme filling. There was only one in every box- getting the ratio just right so difficult that Dorothy wouldn't make very many of them, but they were heavenly.

She shook the box, and its contents seemed full. Then she took off the cover, so that only a thin layer of decorative paper separated her from her treasure. There were no foul messages written on the inside of the box, the smell was intoxicatingly sweet, there was no hint that anything had been tampered with. Maybe the punch was just that she had to humble herself to accept it. Well, if that was the joke, it was on him. Such a small, private concession was completely offset by the-

Glynda's smile fell as she exposed everything in the box.

They were the genuine article, pristine and delicious.

But her favorite chocolate was missing.

'Well played. Jaune.' She thought wryly, settling on a highly inferior substitute. 'Very well played.'

For a few minutes Jaune thought his visit to the nurse would actually be fun. Nurse Tsune was a literal vixen, a red headed fox faunus with a respectable body. When she had looked at the note Glynda had sent the check up was upgraded to a full physical exam.

Unfortunately, Headmaster Ozpin had been a practicing MD, once upon a time, and when an appointment was canceled at the last minute he had been made available and had returned to old craft. So instead of getting physical with the hot nurse he had a middle aged dude with a creepy, knowing smile feel him up while the sadomasochistic nurse brought in more implements to poke him with.

It had taken the whole of third and fourth periods too, so when Jaune finally regrouped with his friends it was at lunch. The table had looked up in exaggerated surprise.

"We thought you were dead." Ren said in a very convincing monotone.

"Reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated." Then Jaune slumped down, showing them the note from the nurse. "...Maybe not greatly ."

"Aw, you big baby? Did they stick you with a needle?" Nora teased.

"Yeah." Jaune said. " And I didn't even get a lollipop out of it."

Ruby gasped, clutching her heart. "Okay, that is evil." Nora nodded solemnly.

"So, what's the good word?" Ren asked, picking up a rice ball.

"Well, while the blood work is pending, I've been tentatively diagnosed with adolescence." He said, playing it off as a joke, though that fucker Ozpin had actually said it. "There's no cure, but I've been prescribed therapy and advised to just get a girlfriend."

"I could have told you that." Nora said. " I think old Oz just wanted to fuck with you." Jaune hoped so. If his symptoms were anywhere near standard, he feared for the future of Remnant."Speaking of which," she said, voice lilting. "who's your mark?"

"Velvet." Jaune answered evenly, taking out his food.

"Awww, she's nice." Nora cooed. "Hope you don't have anything too evil in mind."

Jaune slowly took a bite of his sandwich, savouring the taste. "I've got something sweet planned."

"Well, whatever you're going to do, you'd better do it fast." Ruby said. " You don't have any classes together and you've already wasted half the day."

"I take it you've already finished." Ren said idly.

Ruby preened. " I got her first thing in the morning."

Nora bounced up and down in her seat. "Oh, you got Yang?!"

"Yup." Ruby nodded.

"What'd you do?" Jaune asked.

"I made her a bowl of cereal this morning." She said proudly. Jaune arched an eyebrow, waiting for the punchline. Ruby made a finger gun with one hand while the other slowly brought a carton up to her lips. "Without any milk."

Never change, Rubes.

"Booooo!" Nora whined. "Ren, redeem this story. Now."

"I drew a sophomore named Clara." Ren answered dutifully. "I gave her a hug."

Nora pouted. " Renny. The gift is supposed to be baaaad ."

Ren couldn't be bothered. "What did you do?"

"Oh, they paired me up with some freshman. Gave me his number so I could track him down." She said airily. "He practically creamed himself once he realized he was on the line with a girl. So I sent him a nude."

"Nora!" Ren shouted.

'Lucky son of a bitch.'

The ginger smiled mischievously as she whipped out her phone. "Wanna see?"

Some impulses were impossible to resist. Both boys looked automatically, ignoring Ruby's calls of 'filth'. They read through the whole awkward conversation before recoiling in horror. 'Oh that is just wrong .'

Nora's smile got wider. "I didn't say it was a nude of me."

Now Ruby was laughing at the boy's expense as the two tried to recover from the trauma.

Jaune looked at Nora with pure disappointment in his eyes. " That is the most disturbing thing I've had to deal with all day. And I had an old drunk vomit in my mouth."

Nora laughed even harder while Ren and Ruby went green.

"EWWWW! Gross, gross, gross, gross, gross!" Ruby shouted, gagging.

"How did you think I felt?" Jaune said. He had showered for half an hour and still didn't feel clean.

"This sucks." Ruby pouted, pushing her bag away. "I was gonna eat today."

"That's one hit and two misses." Nora said happily. "Gonna even up the score, Jauney?"

The blond shrugged. "Probably not."

While Nora called him a buzzkill under her breath Jaune felt an unfamiliar hand tapping his shoulder.

He turned around to find a younger boy looking at him expectantly. "Jaune, right? Are you Azora Arc's older brother?"

4 pairs of eyes pierced the stranger.

"...I am." Jaune said.

If the kid was cognizant of the minefield he was walking into, he showed no sign of it.

"I've been crushing on your sister for months, but as cute as she is, she's a little, well… frigid. I've wanted to approach her for a while, but I wasn't sure how. I was wondering if you could give me some advice? Maybe put in a good word?"

"Can't do it." Jaune said, turning away. "Sorry."

"Can't or won't?" The boy said, not taking the hint. " Look, I understand if you're protective, but I know Azora's a great girl and I promise I'd treat her right." Jaune gave the kid another once over. He seemed nice enough, certainly earnest. 'Azora would eat him alive'.

"I'm sure you would." Jaune said. " But I don't talk to my sisters."

The boy blinked. "Well... could you make an exception-"

"Drop it." Nora barked.

The kid finally got the hint and left the table, taking Jaune's good mood with him. His friends tried to get his attention again, but he drifted away, nodding at the appropriate moments.

It wasn't surprising the boy didn't know the details of his family situation. Mason had gone out of his way to limit his family's exposure in the press, and if anyone noticed that the tabloid blurbs only mentioned 7 children instead of the previous 8 they didn't talk about it. You'd think emancipating a 15 year old boy and throwing him out on the street would be a bigger story, but to Beacon's gossip mill it was ancient history.

The expulsion meant no contact, full stop. Saphron had tried to circumvent this by having her wedding reception at the Qrow's Nest so he could at least be there as a caterer, and she had nearly been disinherited for it. Since then, Jaune had been happy to stay incommunicado- keep the others out of trouble.

What hurt the most was how out of left field the whole thing had come from. For the first 15 years of his life he had been part of a happy, loving family. Sure, he and his sisters hadn't always gotten along, but he had loved them dearly, and most of them had seemed to love him back. And in a single day those bonds had been severed. Even if he had problems, he didn't understand why his parents would hurt them . Why their daughters were forbidden any kind of relationship with their only-

Jaune started as he remembered his epiphany from the locker room.

Ren and Nora noticed the move but politely continued their own conversation. Ruby's eyes flickered to his, warm and concerned.

' You alright? ' She mouthed.

Jaune nodded tiredly as he read her lips. 'Just figuring something out.'