Chapter 12:
A Day in Vale Part 2
Neopolitan was bored.
Ever since the fire bitch came over and held Roman by the balls, it's always been dust this, dust that. She's tired of the damn dust! When can she actually steal some real cash?! They used to steal jewelry stores and banks, now all they've been hitting are dust shops! All you do is point a gun at the owner and they give you the dust. Where's the challenge in that?! When did the heists turn from exciting police chases and get aways after a thrilling infiltration into this?!
When Roman told her he had a new target he planned to hit she volunteered. She was excited! Finally! Something new! Something other than dust! He didn't tell her the new target was just a new damned dust shop! Figures! Roman just probably wanted someone to babysit the White Fang.
Ever since someone trashed Junior's club, they had to use the White Fang. And terrorists or not, they make for terrible criminals. No planning! No preparation! They just drive to the place and hit it! Granted that's all you need for dust shops, but is that really all they can do? Luckily, Roman managed to schedule an SDC freighter carrying a large amount of dust to arrive at the docks 2 nights from now. With that haul, they'd hopefully stop hitting dust shops.
Did she mention the White Fang was stupid? No? Then allow her to say that they're stupid! Who the hell drives to a dust shop in broad daylight, and proceeds to enter in a large group, with White Fang masks hanging on their belt? You might as well have announced to everyone you're White Fang and showed your face at the same time! They were lucky that the only two visitors were already on the counter with their backs to them and talking to the shopkeeper. It allowed her to move near the buyers. One of them is a blond human male and the other one is a black-haired female cat faunus. Bikers from the look of their clothing, and have no weapons on either of them.
You see, Neapolitan expected the White Fang to at least be competent and surround the targets, but no. They just stood there near the entrance, looked at the cat faunus, and proceeded to put their masks on their faces. Then proceed to shout that this is a robbery.
She would have facepalmed if the blonde guy near her wouldn't have noticed. Couldn't they have just approached the bikers from behind, put a gun behind their backs and get the dust safely? Sure, she likes violence, she's a criminal! But can't they at least have a level of competence? Damn Roman for making me babysit these 3 guys.
The blonde guy's turning around now to face the White Fang. Neo doesn't really move to help them because really, they already have guns trained on the bikers. They would really have to be miraculous levels of incompetent to fuck this up.
"Woah there, calm down." The blonde guy says calmly. But before he finishes his turn the White Fang interrupts.
"Put your hands in the air! Don't move! Get on the ground!" All three White Fang say at the same time.
Neo really facepalms at that.
"Uhhh, which is it really?" Blondie pipes up again.
"I said don't move!" The lead one finally says
"Okay okay, I'm not moving. I'm keeping my hands on the counter, see?"
"Alright! We want the money! The dust! Everything!" Lead guy says.
"Uhhh… Tom.. Roman only told us to get the dust, remember?" Stooge 1 interrupts.
"Shut up Jerry! As if I'd take orders from a human! We should get everything we can carry!"
"I'm with Tom on this one, we need the extra money." Stooge 3 lets his stance known.
Neo facepalms again. This time putting both hands on her face to silently scream on it. Those idiots! They were only told to take the dust! How do they think they're gonna carry everything else?! They even dropped Roman's name! She guesses they're lucky they didn't drop her name as well, because if they did, she would already have skewered them with her sword Hush. As it is, she'll just make them see each other naked with her semblance.
Busy with her inner suffering, Neo doesn't notice the blonde guy break a vial of dust on his hands and throw it towards the White Fang. So distracted by their bickering, they are late to react to the sudden threat.
A bright light explodes inside the shop and suddenly all three White Fang are down with electricity coursing their body. Blondie and his friend move to secure them…. At least that's what would have happened in an ideal world.
In this case, the White Fang goons do go down, but just because they are late to react doesn't mean they are unable to. The blondie must have been an amateur because it would have been better had he used ice dust to freeze them. What did you think was gonna happen when guys holding a gun get electrocuted? They twitch and are prone to shoot randomly. That's what happens.
And it just so happens that the only thing the goons aim at weren't the blondie, who was apparently an aura user now. The goons manage to shoot at her! The audacity! It seems Neo is feeling slow today because the blonde biker is suddenly in front of her, hugging her so she doesn't get hurt, blocking the shots with his aura!
Normally, Neo would have just used her Semblance to avoid taking any damage, but for some reason she's just distracted lately. More reason to blame fire bitch for making them keep to dust heists, she's getting rusty with all these easy marks. The blonde guy smiles at her as he keeps a hold of her.
You idiot! It's because of you they even shot at me! Neo thinks to herself, not that she could say it to the guy, since you know, she's mute.
Flushing in annoyance at the situation she just nods to the guy. Seeing the shopkeeper already calling the police, she already knows that there's no chance that they're robbing this store today. Granted, she could probably beat this blondie here and his faunus friend, she sure as hell not gonna carry the dust if she robs the place. That's what the goons were for, and now they're getting secured on the floor by blondie's friend.
"Are you okay? You're not hurt are you? I'm sorry, that was my first time handling dust, if I was better they would have probably never managed a shot." Blondie says with a smile aimed towards her.
First time? Interesting….
First time handling dust? Bullshit, based on what Neo managed to see, he threw that dust smoothly together with Aura pointed towards the goons. That wasn't what a first-timer would do, A first-timer would probably spread the lightning across their own body and blow up the remaining dust as well.
Neo could only nod with a raised eyebrow in reply.
"Really? Are you sure you're okay? You haven't made a sound since stuff went down." Blondie responds as his friend finally manages to tie the goons with some spare rope from the shopkeeper.
Smirking at Blondie's question, Neo does sign language, not expecting him to understand her.
'I'm mute you idiot.' Neo mocks him
"OH! I'm sorry! I didn't realize." Blondie replies, Neo is shocked at that because you wouldn't expect a biker like him to understand sign language. Her expression must have shown her surprise because blondie continues.
"I learned sign language as a kid, I thought it would be cool to use as hand signals back then. I'm glad it could be useful now."
Neo laughs at that silently.
'Did you want to be a spy and use hand signals?' Neo signals, smirking at the blondie's explanation.
"Hahaha. Hero actually. I thought it would be cool, you know?" Blondie replies bashfully while rubbing behind his neck.
Neo really laughs at that, showing her humor using exaggerated heaves, showing blondie how childish it sounds.
"Hey! I'll have you know I can use it to talk to pretty girls like you." Blondie replies indignantly.
Pretty? Oh boy, if only you knew what I do, you wouldn't say that. Neo thinks to herself silently.
Neo raises her eyebrow at that, expressing her disbelief towards Blondie's comments. She's sure he got the message because he replies.
"Hey, I'm just calling you how I see you."
Neo lightly blushes at that, not knowing how this guy could say stuff like that with a straight face.
'Is that why you helped me? Because I'm a pretty damsel in distress?' Neo signs
"Hahaha no, helping someone in need is always the right thing to do."
Neo gapes at the guy's naivety, it doesn't really suit his biker attire. She'd expected him to be loud and boisterous especially when he just managed to stop a robbery. Instead she gets this…. Something.
'But I'm a stranger, you don't even know me, why would you help me?' Neo signs, wanting to see just how naive and different this guy is.
"Strangers are just friends you haven't met yet, you know?"
Yup, this guy is very naive and optimistic in life if he's spouting nonsense like that. You're more likely to get shanked in the other world if you think like that. Not even bothering to hide her expression, Neo laughs at the guy.
"Hey! It's true. How about this? My name's Jaune Arc, short and sweet. This way we're not strangers anymore" Jaune smiles at her.
Neo just laughs more, she can't believe someone like this managed to reach his age. This is the most fun she's had recently.
'My name's Neo.' She says honestly, wanting to see how he would react knowing he's talking to a criminal.
"Hi Neo, it's nice to meet you." Jaune only says with a smile.
He doesn't know me?! I know I'm not as famous as Roman but the public should at least post my picture and name since I've appeared most of the time together with him.
"See, we're friends now."
Before Neo can even reply, Jaune is already being called by his friend.
"Alright Neo, it's nice to meet you. I gotta go now, stay safe okay?" Jaune says with a smile as he leaves.
Neo sees that the police have finally arrived. And that's her cue to step out. Using her Semblance, she teleports instantly away from the shop towards the rooftop of the building across it.
Watching the police enter the shop and arrest the White Fang goons, Neo thinks to herself.
Jaune Arc huh? Interesting.
Neapolitan is no longer bored.
—-
Jaune Arc was feeling good for himself. His first use of dust and he manages to stop a robbery? That's a big improvement in his book, plus he's managed to acquire all he wanted to buy for free. Welf considered it a small payment for preventing him from getting mugged.
Still though, that was too close. What if he was too slow and the White Fang managed to shoot a civilian, or worse, something explosive? It was a dust shop after all, there's a reason they don't sell guns and the raw dust is kept by the shopkeeper somewhere else. It would have been a disaster if that happened. It just goes to show how much he has to improve.
Walking towards his partner outside the shop, he sees Pyr arguing heatedly with the 2 police officers on the scene.
"...and I'm telling you, I'm not one of them." Jaune hears Pyrrha say. She's not usually one to snap at people, but Jaune can hear the frustration in her voice.
"Please Ma'am, you'll have to come with us. Put your hands behind your back." One of the officers approaches his partner while putting his hand on the gun still inside the holster.
"Woah, woah, woah. What's going on, officers?" Jaune interrupts.
"Sir, please stay back, we had reports that there were some White Fang members robbing a store." One of the police officers say, while still looking at Pyrrha.
"It's okay officer, Pyr's with me. The guys you're looking for are tied down inside the shop." Jaune says, trying to deescalate the situation by speaking calmly and showing his palms up.
"Officer Rodriguez, go check inside. Ma'am, I'm gonna need you to stay calm and not make any sudden movements." The more senior officer orders.
Getting pissed at the officer's attitude, Jaune finally asks what his problem is.
"Excuse me officer, but what seems to be the problem with my partner here?" Jaune asks in defense of his partner.
"Sorry Sir, but protocol dictates that any faunus found within areas of White Fang activity are to be questioned."
Jaune finally sees the problem. Racism.
"That's unfair! What if they're innocent?" Jaune snaps at the captain.
"It's not something I like doing Sir, but with all this trouble around Vale, the Council have been pushing for stricter measures. I'm just doing my job"
Understanding the reason helps Jaune calm down a bit, not by much though, he's still pissed at the unfairness of it all.
"All good in here Captain! We've got three mooks tied down. Shopkeeper also checks their story out, it's good." Officer Rodriguez shouts from the entrance of the shop. Finally making all of them relax a bit now that they've all assessed the situation.
"Apologies Ma'am, Sir. I didn't want to do it but it was protocol. Just doing my job to keep the peace. The name's Goldy Roger, you may call me Captain Roger. May I see some identification please?" The officer introduces himself.
"Sure, my name's Jaune, Jaune Arc, and my partner is…. Well, you'll see and you'll understand." Jaune responds politely, while both Jaune and Pyrrha show their student id's.
Seeing the realization in the Captain's face. He looks back at Pyrrha and winces while returning their IDs.
"Sorry Ma'am for the inconvenience. It's… very convincing." Captain Roger apologizes with a wince, showing he understands the situation and the disguise.
"It's okay, as long as we've cleared it up." Pyrrha gives the Captain a tight smile.
"Still, are we free to leave now, Captain? Or is there something big going on? I didn't know a captain of the police force would have to patrol the streets of Vale." Jaune asks.
The captain winces at the questions.
"It's fine, the two of you are free to go. We'll just mark the scene as a crime zone and see if we can find any leads about White Fang operations. It won't take too much time. As for why you are seeing a captain patrol the streets, we've just been short in manpower recently. The recent dust heists have stretched us thin across Vale but it's nothing we can't handle." Captain Roger tries to give them a reassuring smile.
Not fully believing the captain, the partners just look at each other. But without knowing the situation, they can't do anything. Plus they're just students, this sounds like a Vale Council and police matter and not for Jaune and Pyrrha to solve.
"Alright thank you Captain, we'll be on our way."
"No problem, thanks kids for helping out. Be careful on your date."
Blushing at the last comment thrown towards them, both Jaune and Pyrrha avoid looking at each other's eyes as they walk away.
He thinks we're on a date?! I mean we might look like that with the matching outfits and all. But we're just friends. Still… If this was a date, it would have been a crappy date. We only walked to a shop, almost got robbed, and had to deal with racist protocols.
You see people, Jaune Arc might not be the sharpest sword in the armory, he still has seven sisters. Living with seven sisters inevitably exposes you to their love lives. He has heard stories of good dates and bad dates, and the one thing that they've taught him is always make a girl have a good time when outside.
Right now, Jaune Arc does not think he is giving Pyrrha a good time even if they're not dating. It started out well with the small talks while looking for the dust shop, but it got ruined halfway through before they could even go on with their day. Pyrrha has been helping train every night, the least he could do is show her a good time. So Jaune Arc resolves himself to make Pyrrha have a fun time outside of Beacon. To do that, the first step is to apologize, then secure the time to continue the day together.
"I'm sorry Pyr. Your day almost got ruined with that racism back there."
"Don't be sorry Jaune, it's not your fault. I was just as surprised at the situation as you. I didn't expect things to go that way. Coco told me to wear these ears because nobody would recognize me as Pyrrha Nikos if I looked like a faunus." Pyrrha replies, while putting a lock of hair behind her ears.
"Faunus, huh. They sure have it rough. We don't have that kind of divide back home in Ansel." Jaune responds, lamenting the faunus' plight.
"It's a complicated matter, you heard Captain Roger. The White Fang are intensifying their activities, stricter protocols are being implemented for the public's safety." Pyrrha sighs, sad for the situation but still understanding the reasoning behind the Captain's actions.
"..Well, come on. Let's not worry about it anymore. The day is early, we still need to buy our clothes for the next time we go out. Let's make the best of what we have before we meet Ruby and the others." Jaune says slowly, trying to move on from the complicated topic and salvage the day for Pyrrha.
"That sounds like a grand idea, Jaune. Why don't you tell me about Ansel on the way to clothing stores." Pyrrha flashes him with a bright smile.
And so, Jaune Arc regales Pyrrha of his adventures and family life in Ansel. He tells her about the lessons his sisters put her through. The dog eat dog world he had to survive through because living with 7 siblings means there is always one week in a month that you would inevitably walk through hell. He tells her all sorts of stories, making Pyrrha both laugh and wince at times.
"I can't believe you lived with seven sisters. I've always been an only child so sometimes I wonder what living with a sibling feels like." Pyrrha notes after a bout of laughter from hearing the time Jaune's sisters forced him to wear a dress while attending a festival.
"Yeah, you have the lows and highs. They're stressful, needy, bossy, and downright maddening at times, but they're my sisters. I'd do anything for them the same way I know they would do the same for me." Jaune replies, thinking of his family for a bit.
"Do you miss them?" Pyrrha asks, thinking of how Jaune forged his transcripts and snuck onto Beacon. His family probably doesn't even know.
Jaune is silent at that for a bit before thinking of his reply.
"Yeah, I do. But I needed to do this Pyrrha. I know they love me, but they never supported my dream either. Even when I begged them to help me. The most they did was teach me skills and disguised it as essential Huntsman Survival Skills. I haven't even talked to them since I got to Beacon." Jaune replies, missing his family but determined to see his dream come true.
"I don't know how it is to have siblings. But if I had one, I would want to know if he or she is okay. Maybe you could let them know you're still alive somewhere? You don't have to tell them about Beacon, but I'm sure they would love to know that you're doing fine for yourself." Pyrrha says slowly.
"Thanks Pyr, you really know how to cheer a guy up." Jaune flashes her a smile.
"You're welcome Jaune, now why don't we go look for clothes now that we're here." Pyrrha smiles back at him.
He must have been more focused on telling his stories than he thought, because he just noticed that they've already arrived at one of the first clothing stores Coco recommended to them.
"You're right! Why don't we look for which clothes we like first, then meet outside a changing room? We can take turns to show each other if what we chose fits us." Jaune says slowly, hoping the coming blush on his cheeks aren't noticeable.
"Sounds like a plan, meet you in front of that changing room in 30 minutes?" Pyrrha squeaks out, pointing at a changing room on one corner of the store, while feeling her own cheeks blush.
"Alright see you in 30 minutes partner." Jaune responds
And with that, the two partners go on their separate ways inside a clothes store, hoping to pick the best clothes they can to show to their own partners off. They separate, not knowing that they are being watched by two pairs of eyes.