BRFs

Chapter 6

Jaune hopped off a crowded bus and onto the empty street. He was in the south side of Vale. It wasn't his first time in the neighborhood but he didn't know it all that well. He had gotten out of work earlier than usual, Tukson said he had something important going on tonight and wanted to close even earlier than usual. Yang had suggested he come to meet her for lunch, so here he was on his way over to the auto shop she worked at.

They had been eating a lot more together lately. They shared dinners at home whenever possible, learning new things about each other every time, like Yang and Ruby's obsessions with Boba Tea, that Jaune really liked camping, or how Yang was a sucker for rom-com. Jaune had let it slip by complete accident that his sisters used to put his hair into pigtails and dress him up. That was a grave mistake. Yang was downright giddy about the last part, asking if she could get him to wear a dress, to which Jaune vehemently declined. There was no way in hell he was going to wear a dress. They were also going to the Stinky Dragon at least once a week now, getting to the point where the waitresses were remembering their names. Roomie outings as Yang was calling them. They kind of felt like dates, but there was no way they were. That was just his hopeful imagination he supposed.

With his scroll in hand, Jaune continued to follow the directions given to him. Making his way down the street, he took a right at the corner and then crossed the street. He continued along for two blocks before taking a left, and there across the street was Benny's Auto. Outside, he could see Yang leaning against her motorcycle. She saw him approaching and flashed her trademark grin.

"Hey Yang, hope I didn't keep you waiting long," Jaune called out as he approached.

"Not at all, Jaune. You came at the perfect time. My lunch just started!" Yang walked over to stand beside Jaune. "Come on, I know a good deli around here where we can eat." Yang started leading the way.

It was a nice day. Clear skies, the Sun was out, and it wasn't too chilly either. They were both dressed casually. Jaune opted for a simple black hoodie and jeans like usual, while Yang wore a loose tank top and wrapped her work shirt around her waist.

"How's things at the shop?" Jaune asked.

"Eh, slow today. I'm pretty much already done with my repairs," Yang bragged. Fixing bikes was like second nature to her. She did good work and was proud of it. Maybe if and when she retired from being a huntress, she could open up her own repair shop and fix bikes in her old age. Yang had never really thought of the future before; she was prepared to just go with the flow of life and move from one adventure to the next. That was still her plan, of course: to become a huntress and hit the road, exploring Remnant, killing Grimm and saving people along the way. Now, living a semi-normal life and working a regular job, she started to wonder about what would come after. What happens when she'd seen all of Remnant and kicked all kinds of ass? The normal everyday life she had once scoffed at didn't seem so boring anymore, especially when you had someone to spend it with. Speaking of her roomie, Yang was going to ask Jaune how things were at the bookstore when, all of a sudden, her scroll started ringing. Fishing the device out of her pocket, she saw her sister's name calling her for a video call.

Yang pressed accept, and as Ruby's face appeared on the screen, Yang's bright smile shifted to concern at Ruby's worried expression.

"Hey Yang, uh, sorry to bother you," Ruby said, sounding hesitant.

"Hey! No worries, Rubes. I'm on my lunch break right now." Yang reassured her sister before asking, "Is everything Okay?"

"No... I have a favor to ask, and if you could, maybe relay it to Jaune as well."

"Hold up. Jaune's with me," Yang cut off Ruby, stopping in her tracks. She pulled Jaune closer, tugging at his hoodie, and angled the scroll a bit so Jaune appeared in the frame.

"Hey Ruby," Jaune said as he waved to the scroll.

"You're getting lunch together?" Ruby asked getting sidetracked.

"Hello, Jaune." It sounded like Pyrrha said that. That meant Ruby's team was with her, both Yang and Jaune figured.

"Yea! Jaune got out of work early, so I told him to come by. Now, What's up?" Yang asked getting back to what Ruby looked worried about.

"Hmm." Ruby shook her head. This wasn't the time to be asking about that. "You both remember Blake right?" Ruby waited for Yang and Jaune to nod. "There was... an argument Friday and it ended badly. She stormed out of our room and hasn't been back since." Ruby's worried expression deepened. "We're all in Vale looking for her, but we could really use some help."

"Of course, Rubes. I got plenty of time on my break. We'll look and ask around. Right Jaune?" Yang turned to Jaune, whose gaze was focused down the street.

"Uhhhh, I found Blake." He said.

"WHAT!?" Ruby screamed from the scroll. Yang had joined Jaune in looking down the street. She was far away, but that was definitely Blake. The only difference was that instead of a bow on her head, there were a pair of cat ears.

"Aww, she's got such cute ears. You didn't tell me she was a Faunus Rubes." Yang had raised her scroll ready to flip the camera.

"She doesn't have cat ears; she wears a bowwwwww-oh," Ruby said as the camera flipped and she got a view of Blake. "That explains the obsession with tuna," Ruby muttered under her breath. Looking back at the scroll her eyes widened as she realized something. "She's with that stowaway!" Ruby shouted

"Stowaway? Yang asked as she looked closer. Now that she noticed, Blake was walking with a guy, a monkey Faunus from the looks of it.

"I told you all he was a criminal." Weiss' shrill voice came through the call.

"He's a criminal?" Jaune asked in disbelief. The guy didn't look like the criminal type; in fact, he looked very friendly. Even from this distance, they could see the monkey Faunus talking to Blake, a big smile plastered on his face.

"We don't know that yet Weiss!" Ruby snapped back at Weiss, an un-Ruby-like angry tone in her voice. Not hearing a but or peep from the Heiress Ruby returned to the call. "Look, we're not too far. Can you follow them until we get there, to see and make sure she's safe?" Ruby pleaded.

"You got it, Ruby!" Yang gave a thumbs-up. "After I end the call, I'll share my location with you; just follow on your scroll." Yang saw Ruby's hopeful smile return before hanging up and activating the share location feature with her sister.

"It's a good thing we're slow today. I'm going to text Benny and tell him an emergency came up. He'll understand, and I'll just make up for it another day." Yang started texting rapidly. Sending the text, she squared her scroll away and put it back into her pocket before adding, "Come on, Jaune."

Jaune nodded and the two started walking after Blake and the other Faunus. Jaune wasn't exactly sure what was going on, but if someone was in trouble, he didn't want to stand back. Yang and Jaune stayed a block's distance away from Blake as they followed, sticking close to the building, along the sidewalk if they needed to hide. Thankfully for them, Blake and the other Faunus didn't seem to notice being tailed; they just kept walking forward in a slight hurry. It reminded him a lot of that Saturday morning cartoon he used to watch about that private eye detective who solved crimes throughout Vale.

The surroundings started to look familiar to Yang; she had driven by here a few times going home when traffic was backed up.

"We're close to the docks," Yang stated.

Blake and the other Faunus had stopped by one of the loading bay entrances, the unmistakable logo of the SDC next to the front gate. Yang and Jaune noticed for the first time since walking they started to turn around, assumedly to check their surroundings. Jaune and Yang ducked for cover by the nearby building in a rushed panic.

Jaune had his back pressed against the stone building. His heart was hammering in his chest. Not just cause they were almost caught by Blake but because he could feel Yang's breast press up against his arm as she leaned on him hiding beside him. He felt her tap his shoulder.

"Peak," Yang whispered. Swallowing the lump in his throat, Jaune slowly inched his head around the corner. His face, peaking out just enough to catch Blake and the monkey Faunus climbing the gate and entering the shipping yard.

"They went in, but what could they possibly be doing at the docks?" Jaune asked, moving off the wall now that the coast was clear. There wasn't much to do, at least not that Jaune could think of—unless it was some kind of trafficking thing, but that was just something you'd see on TV.

"What if it's one of those people trafficking deals you hear about on TV." The fact Yang was thinking the same thing he was did not put Jaune's mind at ease.

"Should we call the police?" This situation was getting weirder and weirder. Jaune was getting worried Blake was in real danger.

"Let's wait for Ruby and her team. Best case, this is just some stupid drama between friends, and Blake decided to spend her time with some boy she met around town. Maybe they decided to go somewhere private and make out," Yang said before suggesting, "But keep your scroll handy." She didn't want to think something nefarious was happening, but she had a weird feeling about all of this, too.

"Why were you following the Faunus girl?" An unknown voice came from behind.

"AAAAH!" Both Yang and Jaune screamed as they jumped backwards. A small ginger girl stood behind them, leaning slightly as she stared at them.

"We're not... well, I guess we actually were, but... we... it." Jaune stammered, trying to explain. Yang put a hand on his chest and stepped forward.

"We know her. Her name is Blake, and she's a teammate on my sister's team. She's been missing, and my sister asked us to help find her. We spotted her walking down the street, and we decided to follow her to make sure she was safe," Yang explained, so naturally and calmly, getting a pleasant response from the ginger-haired girl.

"You're related to Ruby Rose?" The girl asked, looking between the both of them, surprising both Yang and Jaune. This girl clearly knew Ruby. Maybe she went to Beacon, and they just hadn't met her.

"Just her." Jaune pointed out. "I'm Jaune, I'm a friend of Ruby's."

The girl smiled brightly. "I'm Penny. It's a pleasure to meet you! Ruby's my friend, too!" She exclaimed very excitedly.

"Did you hit your head?" Jaune nudged Yang for the comment she gave. "Oh, I'm Yang."

"Since you're friends with Ruby; does that make us friends too?" Penny asked, getting very up and close to both of their faces.

Both taking a step back, Jaune and Yang merely looked at each other, a bit unsure of what to say. Yang shrugged first, leaving Jaune to be the one to deal with and answer the peculiar girl named Penny.

"Sure, why not."

Penny's eyes widened, and looking positively overjoyed, she jumped for joy. "Oh, Wonderful!" Penny held her hands together in glee. "I've made so many friends this weekend."

"Right... well, we're gonna wait here for Ruby and her team, sooooooooo." Yang drawled on, hoping Penny would get the message and leave.

"Then I shall stay too!" Penny declared standing firm and resolute, going nowhere.

"Greaaaat." Yang tried little to hide her sarcasm.

"Penny?" Ruby's familiar voice called out and asked.

Ruby!" Penny exclaimed as she ran up to Ruby.

"Oh, thank god," Yang muttered.

"Penny... What are you doing here?" Ruby asked as Penny invaded her space getting up and close with the red reaper.

"Oh I ju-"

"We can get back to that later!" Yang cut Penny off, stopping this before it could continue. "Blake and the other Faunus went into the docks," Yang revealed to the group.

"The docks?" Weiss asked, peering down the street at the clear-as-day SDC logo. Her eyes narrowed.

"Let's check it out," Pyrrha suggested grabbing Weiss' shoulder. "Before we make any assumptions." The Heiress took a deep breath and nodded.

Jaune and Yang led the group out in front, walking down the empty city block. It was midday now, and the sun was still high in the sky. Night wouldn't be falling for a couple more hours. Jaune offered Yang his hoodie, noticing she looked a little cold. It was chillier by the docks due to their closeness to the open sea. Yang appreciated the gesture but declined, opting to unwrap her work shirt and put it back on.

As they approached the place where Jaune had seen Blake and the other Faunus climb, Jaune pointed up the gated wall, "This is where they climbed. They've been inside ever since."

Weiss studied the walls and its surroundings. In her head, she was devising a multitude of plans on how to enter the docks. First, she could contact the head supervisor. As a Schnee, she could say that she came for an inspection at the behest of her father. Not wanting to anger Jacques Schnee, the supervisor would have no choice but to accept. With access to the facility, they could search unimpeded so they could find Blake and that ruffian she was with. Weiss' face scrunched. She was doing it again unintentionally. She needed to fix that if she wanted to be better than her father. Taking a step forward, she turned around towards the others, ready to share her genius plan with everyone.

"Let's start with-"

"BLAKE!" Ruby shouted Blake's name right next to Weiss' ear, effectively cutting her off and completely annihilating Weiss' thorough plan.

Weiss brought her hands to her ears hunching over in response. she shot straight back up and looked angrily at Ruby. "Ruby!" She chastised her partner. "Why would you do that? What if she's in trouble? You might have just alerted whoever might be with her of our arrival!" Weiss berated Ruby.

Weiss continued her beratement when Ruby looked past her and pointed up the wall. Everyone followed her arm and peaking over the fence wall was a pair of cat ears. Slowly rising, Blake's face came into view, sticking up and over. The monkey Faunus she was with appeared up next to her.

Blake went wide-eyed, seeing her team looking back up at her. "What are you all doing here!?"

"Blake! We were looking all over for you." Ruby exclaimed relieved to see Blake

"How did you even know I was here?" Blake asked.

"I called Yang and Jaune, asking them to help us. They were already out and saw you walking down the street, so they followed," Ruby revealed.

Blake's ears flattened. She silently cursed herself for not having noticed. She was trained to be stealthy and ever-observant. How could she notice the two blondes following her? Was it because they just looked like every other bystander dressed like that? She had only met them once...

"Please come down and talk with us." She heard Ruby plead.

Blake looked into Ruby's eyes, and her will started to falter. Something about that puppy-dog-like look just got to her. Then there was Pyrrha next to her; she had a soft, hopeful expression on her face. She then glanced over to Weiss and said, "I can't yet."

"Blake," Weiss spoke calmly. "Please... Let's just talk about all this." Blake watched Weiss' face intently. She didn't see any malice, none of the frustration or ire from the previous night. She saw a calm and collected face, one ready to talk instead of fight.

Blake turned to Sun and said, "Come on." They both hopped down from the fence in front of her team and the others. She took a deep breath and then, with a calm tone, spoke first. "Weiss, I want you to know that I'm no longer associated with the White Fang. Back when I was with the-" Weiss put her hand in front of Blake, quickly cutting her off.

Wait, White Fang? On hearing the words Yang and Jaune shared a look between each other. Similar questions and thoughts circled in their heads. Just what the hell did they get involved in? At first, they hoped this was just some simple roommate dispute or some school drama that had gone too far. Then, there was the weirdness of the docks, and now this! Was Blake a part of the White Fang? Was the other Faunus? If they weren't then what the fuck were they doing at the docks? Their internal questions halted as Weiss started talking.

"Stop! Do you have any idea of how long we've been searching for you?" She paused. "Since early this morning. Ruby had been worried sick all weekend; Pyrrha was pacing in the room endlessly, thinking you might have been in harm's way. I, Weiss paused. "I was frustrated, but I was worried, too. I might not have had that much time to think, but I've decided..." Everyone looked on slightly nervous about what she was going to say. "I don't care."

"You don't care?" Blake was shocked.

"You said you're not one of them anymore, right?" The Heiress asked.

"No, I-I haven't been since I was younger-"

"Ah-bahp-bahp-bahp!" Weiss silenced her. "I don't want to hear it right now. That can be saved for later. All I want to know right now is that the next time... you'll come back to talk and not." She looked at her friend or whoever he was and glared. "Run off with whoever this is." She added.

"I'm Sun, by the way. I go to Haven Academy." The monkey Faunus finally revealed who he was to everyone else.

"I don't care," Weiss said ignoring him completely.

Blake saw Ruby and Pyrrha behind Weiss smiling softly. She wiped a tear from her eye and nodded. "Okay."

Yang leaned over to Jaune and said, "Maybe she's not such an Ice Queen after all." She nudged Jaune in the side, and the two giggled softly.

"I heard that!" Weiss shouted and turned to point at them. Now everyone was laughing.

"Yay! We can all go home!" Ruby exclaimed, jumping for joy. Blake was found, and she and Weiss had made up. Team RNBW was reunited and nothing could happen that would ruin the cheery mood.

"Not yet," Blake stated killing the cheery mood entirely.

"What!? Why Not?"

"Because! There was a huge dust shipment today, and we believe whoever has been robbing these dust stores will be here tonight. Even..." Blake sighed. Even if White Fang were responsible for all the robberies, I won't sit back and let them get away with it." Blake was adamant. She didn't want the White Fang to be responsible, but deep inside, she had a feeling they were.

"Why not call the police? Let them handle this. I know you're all huntress' in training," He caught Sun's raised eyebrow. "And huntsman, but this seems a bit above a student's pay grade," Jaune suggested, joining the conversation.

"The police haven't been able to do anything about the robberies." Blake retorted.

"What about contacting Beacon?" Everyone turned to Penny as she asked. "Statistically, Beacon could have a huntsman team deployed well within the hour." They looked at her now, questioningly. How could Penny have even known that? "Or so I'm told." Penny quickly added.

"Ms. Goodwitch did almost catch Roman Torchwick by herself." Ruby made an excellent point. Once Goodwitch had reached the scene of the dust store robbery that Ruby had gotten mixed up in, Torchwick hadn't stood a chance. If it hadn't been for that mysterious attacker, he might have been caught then and there.

"I mean, what happens if there actually was a robbery tonight and it happened to be the White Fang? What were you gonna do? Attack the robbers and stop it yourself?" Jaune joked, not being serious. A couple of the others shared in the laugh. I mean who in their right mind would do that? fighting thugs in a dust shop is one thing, but what if it was actual terrorists? and without backup either.

Blake looked away, embarrassed. That was exactly her plan.

"Blake!" The collective voices of Ruby, Weiss, and Pyrrha shouted together.

"What if there was a large group? You had no backup with you! You could have been injured or worse." Weiss scolded Blake, whose ears were as flat as they could be.

"Umm, I'm right here!" Sun pointed at himself. "I'll have you know that my team and I are the best in Haven's first year students," Sun said defensively.

"Again, don't care." Weiss clapped her hands, dismissing Sun.

"Alright, I get it!" Blake exclaimed. "It was a bad plan. You all win! We'll contact Headmaster Ozpin and Ms. Goodwitch." She relented; her plan was ruined, and perhaps that was for the best.

...

Jaune had stood on the side and simply watched the events unfold. There was nothing left for him to do but simply watch. They had found Blake and thankfully stopped her from making a stupid mistake. It was a hectic Sunday but definitely not a boring one. Weiss and Blake were on the scroll talking with Beacon's Professors; Sun stood close to Blake. Yang, Ruby, and Penny were in another huddle; it looked like Penny was talking up a storm to the two sisters. Ruby gladly listened in, while Yang looked like she wanted to be anywhere but there.

"Hello again, Jaune." He heard Pyrrha call out as she approached him.

"Hey Pyrrha," Jaune greeted back. Pyrrha was so nice that it was hard to think of her as some super-star celebrity, let alone a four-time champion winner. Usually, when he thought of celebrities, he thought of people who would hold themselves to higher standards, thinking of themselves above others—kind of like Weiss, but Pyrrha seemed to be the exact opposite from the short interaction he had with her.

"I wanted to ask back in Beacon, would you want to ex-"

"YO Jaune!" Yang shouted from a distance, distracting Jaune and cutting Pyrrha off. "If we get back to Bumblebee quick, we can beat traffic. I'm leaving, so unless you want to take the bus, better start moving!"

"Be right there, Yang." Jaune turned back to Pyrrha. "What were you asking?" He asked.

Pyrrha had lost her momentum. She flashed a fake smile and said, "I'll ask another time, you should go." Pyrrha watched Jaune walk away and joined her team in saying goodbye to the two blondes.

As team RNBW, plus Penny and Sun, watched them walk away, they noticed the two looked like they were playfully bickering with one another while walking. Blake, who had been standing next to Pyrrha, remarked, "They're definitely dating."

Pyrrha's smile dropped. "Hush you," She said with a bit more sass than she had intended, earning a matching raised eyebrow look from both Weiss and Blake before dropping the tone and added, "We don't know that yet..."

...

The next morning, Jaune was up bright and early. He was going to spar with Qrow in a little bit, but before that, he wanted to snag something to eat. After pouring himself some coffee, Jaune walked over to the counter, grabbed the omelet he set aside on the plate, and took both coffee and eggs into the living room. Sitting down, Jaune turned on the TV. It was the morning news. As Jaune watched, his eyes widened when they got to the headline.

"Yang!" Jaune called out. "Get in here."

He got a very long and mumbled groan followed by some shuffling sounds before Yang's door opened. Yang stumbled out, still clad in her pajamas, pillow in her hand, as she walked like a zombie to the living room. She hunched over the back of the couch, folding her arms on the backrest, and muttered, "What happened?"

"Look."

"Good morning, Vale." The professional yet friendly voice of Lisa Lavender came from the TV. "Last night, there was an attempted dust robbery on the south side of Vale by the docks. The culprits? The White Fang, but here is the kicker, folks... they weren't alone... According to eyewitness testimonies. Infamous gentleman thief Roman Torchwick was on the scene, shouting out orders to the terrorist. No dust was reported stolen thanks to an anonymous tip, which prompted Beacon to send two huntsman teams to set a trap. While some White Fang members were arrested, most escaped, including their dastardly ring leader, Torchwick. Huntsman will now be working more directly with the Vale Police Department in a joint effort to stop Torchwick and the White Fang from striking again. As always, this has been Lisa Lavender with the Vale early report." The broadcast switched to the weather forecast.

Yang, looking a lot more awake, yawned and said, "Guess it was the White Fang after all." She stretched her arms far back and wide. "Welp, it's not like we'll be dealing with them. All's well that ends well!" Yang exclaimed, stretching her arms wide, before heading into the kitchen.

Author's Notes: The plot progresses! Sorry, Torchwick. Your robbery was thwarted by two blondes! I just wanted to let everyone know that I've also started posting my stories on AO3. All my stories are already up and will be updated on the same day as my uploads here. As always, I hope you enjoy! Look forward to more, and feel free to comment/review. I love reading them.