Jauney was already one of her favourite people.

But after the exercise where she got hurt, and he had discovered his Semblance and saved her life? Well, that seemed to have amplified his popularity with everyone! As she looked around at the small group of people around their lunch table, asking Jaune about his Semblance, Nora gave herself a mental high five for the Yang-Worthy pun.

Sure, most of those people were only giving him the time of day because they wanted to see how his Semblance felt, and maybe get a boost for the day, but… It was better than the ridicule she knew he received behind his back before!

Slightly. Probably. Maybe? Was fake friendship better than real non-friendship? She sure didn't know! Maybe Ren would, though?

She turned to ask Ren the question and almost choked on the pancake she was currently eating, earning a concerned 'tut' from the boy in question as he hit her on the back, helping to stop her from choking.

"Chew. Then swallow, Nora. Then ask me whatever you're thinking."

She giggled to herself as Ren seemed to read her mind like he always did. She chomped away at the last of the pancake in her mouth. Then she double-checked to make sure she hadn't immediately stuffed another one in there before she whispered her question to the boy.

Ren was silent for a moment, his eyes closed in intense focus as she thought about how to answer her. Or he was just sleepy. She wasn't quite as adept at reading Ren's mind as he was hers. Otherwise, she would have already figured out if he lik-

'AH!'

Slamming the book on that train of thought, she bobbed in place. At the same time, she waited for Ren's answer, watching as the crowd thinned as Jaune used small bursts of his Semblance on people, the different colours of Aura flashing underneath his hands.

"I believe… that would be up to Jaune himself."

Nora's shoulders dropped at Ren's non-answer. "C'mon, Renny! Surely you can do better than that. What would you prefer if you were in that situation?"

Ren hummed as he sliced off a bit of pancake and chewed on it, glancing at Jaune as he did so. "Personally, I don't really care about what anyone has to say about me, other than the people I care about. So… I would tell everyone to leave me alone, and likely only use the Semblance on those who needed it, or my friends, but Jaune…"

He grinned softly as he looked at their fearless leader, and Nora smiled too, seeing the happy grin on Jaune's face as even the usually standoff-ish Cinder Fall strode up to him, striking up a conversation.

Ren continued after a moment of watching the two speak. "Jaune, at least right now, is very sensitive to how he is perceived. Do you remember how he was with Cardin when his secret was revealed to the boy?"

Nora's smile dropped as she remembered that little section of their life at Beacon. It had sucked, seeing Jaune drop all of his responsibilities as their leader, and even neglect their friendship, just to dance to the whims of a bully like Cardin, but she understood why he'd done it after Jaune and Pyrhha had revealed how he'd gotten into Beacon, and the dirt Cardin had on him.

Seeing where Ren was going with this, Nora nodded, her hands coming up to her cheeks, squishing them into her palms as she rested her head on them. "Yeah, I 'member."

Ren nodded to her as he finished off his plate of pancakes, pushing his plate and cutlery forward. "I believe that Jaune will continue to fuel this 'fake non-friendship' as you put it until he either; gets hurt, or people forget about him, and his Semblance just… Becomes a part of Jaune Arc, instead of this new, flashy thing."

Nora hummed, before suddenly glomping Ren in a side hug that had him letting out a small grunt of surprise before surrendering to her grip. "Thanks, Renny! Knew you'd have a good answer. You're smart about all that junk!"

Ren dutifully allowed her to finish her side hug, so she eventually let him go, the boy settling back into his seat with a dull 'thud' and a small wince. Turning back to her fearless leader, she saw him still talking with Cinder Fall, the girl's Aura still flaring up a fire-like Orange, somehow brighter than all the others.

Whatever they were talking about that was taking so long, Nora could tell that their other teammate, the ever-adorable and badass Pyrhha, was feeling upset about how Jaune's focus was so squarely on the beautiful exchange student.

Nora just sighed as she tapped at the table, before turning and throwing a grape at Yang, a funny tradition she still followed after their massive battle in this very cafeteria. Of course, she was rooting for Pyrrha, but it was clear the girl was torturing herself by not just fessing up to Jaune already!

Not that she had much room to talk but… Nora grumbled to herself at her own brain's betrayal and threw another handful of grapes in Yang's general direction, pelting team RWBY with a shotgun blast of fruit.

She giggled at that, almost a little disappointed when it didn't devolve into another food fight. Maybe that only happened if you hit Weiss with something messy. Hmm…

A theory to test another day.

"Hello. You're Jaune Arc, right?"

Jaune shook his hands, his constant use of his Semblance during their lunch break so far causing them to be absolutely awash with boosted Aura, and feeling a little tingly as a result. Turning to look at the voice, he paused in surprise for a moment at who was speaking to him.

Cinder Fall.

Not the first, second, or even third person he would have ever expected to strike up a conversation with him, to be honest. She usually spent her time outside of classes either on her Scroll, ignoring her teammates, or sitting by her lonesome as she stared contemplatively out the window. That was the usual, however, but to come talk to him now, so soon after he got his Semblance… It probably wasn't as subtle as she thought.

"That's me! It's nice to meet you. Were you wanting to see my Semblance as well?"

Something flashed across her face at his question, but it was gone too quickly for him to see what it was. Instead, a confident smile grew on her face as she cocked a hip out to the side, a hand coming to rest on it.

"Actually, no. I merely wanted to congratulate you on unlocking it, and to ask… Well, I was wondering if you would like to spar with me from time to time?"

No, he definitely did not look at her thighs when she did that, but even if he had… Sue him, Cinder was hot. Still, her answer surprised him. Raising an eyebrow at her, he turned his Semblance off, allowing his Aura to return to normal. "Oh, uh, thank you then. Sorry for assuming and all that."

He wasn't actually sorry, because he was fairly sure that she was just being a bit more subtle about wanting to see his Semblance, but Cinder waved him off, so he reckoned there were no worries there and he continued.

"And on the sparring thing, I mean I wouldn't be opposed to it, but I will say that I might not be the most challenging of opponents."

There was a slight glow of amusement to her smile as he said it. He could tell that even if she wasn't outright making fun of him for it, the image of him during Combat class was likely playing through her head.

"I am aware of your skill level, Jaune. It's actually part of why I offered. I saw you fighting before you unlocked your Semblance, and I had some ideas on some ways you could improve. Plus, my mentor had a Semblance that boosted his defensive capabilities, so maybe I could pass on some tips for your own?"

Jaune paused and actually considered the offer for a moment. He was still almost sure that she was just taking the whole 'get him to use his Semblance on her' thing slowly and trying to be subtle, but the clear jump from 'we've literally never had a conversation' to 'I wanna train you and be friends' was rather jarring.

But, extra training from another one of the large amount of very skilled Huntresses in Beacon. If he had improved enough to fight Grimm with only Pyrrha's guidance so far… would this help him catch up even faster?

"I wouldn't be opposed to training together every now and then, thank you! I promise to try and not slow you down too much, though, haha!"

His awkward joke got a perfect laugh out of the girl, and Jaune couldn't help but frown internally. It really was a perfect laugh. It was beautiful, and he could almost still hear it ringing through his brain after she stopped. "Wonderful, my Scroll number is 248-434-5508, why don't you message me later and we can figure out a time?"

As he tapped her number into his Scroll, he hummed to himself.

While he wasn't an expert on women in a romantic sense, he still grew up around 8 other women, so he was able to tell just how fake that laugh was, even if it might fool most others. Plus the whole 'faking it' vibe he had constantly gotten from the girl… He was now sure that she was just trying to be friends with him for his Semblance…

A test, then?

He wasn't usually one to spring things like this on others, but if she wanted to be training buddies, then even if she was just trying to use him, he had to be sure she wouldn't get blinded by his Semblance and ignore actually helping him train.

She'd offered it like a good deed, but… With her clear interest in his Semblance, he guessed it was more like a trade, in his eyes? Even if she probably didn't think he had her sussed out. He raised his right hand and activated his Semblance, wreathing it in bright white light. "Okay, I'll message you after the school day ends. Also, while you're here I guess, would you like to see my Semblance?"

His test seemed successful as her eyes darted down to his hand for the briefest of instants. That was confirmation enough to him that she wanted to use his new Semblance, but… He also kinda felt bad for her.

As hot and seductive as Cinder seemed, she was a bit of an enigma to everyone. She barely ever interacted with anyone, had a mean streak when it came to Combat class and, to him at least, was putting on a fake personality almost 24/7.

Could it be that Cinder was… Lonely? She clearly seemed lonely, if all of his experience seeing his Sisters through various stages of their lives said anything. Maybe he should try and be her friend?

Even though she had quickly quelled the look of hunger in her eyes at the sight of his Semblance she still did hold a hand out towards him, winking at him. "If it is so impressive as to have drawn a crowd I guess I must."

Jaune internally snorted at that justification, as if he hadn't been worried she would tackle his hand a second ago. Reaching forward he laid his hand on Cinder's and activated his Semblance, but was surprised to see that instead of just the normal glow… Cinder looked like she was aflame.

Yes, it was still bright, but where others' Aura just glowed under his Semblance, Cinder's Aura rippled and twisted while remaining contained to the area around her body, like a flame trapped in a fireplace.

"Woah"

The words were pulled out of him on accident as he watched her Aura shimmer, and it seemed to cause Cinder to come to her senses again as well, a look of excitement on her face, marred only by a glimmer of… Concern? In her eyes.

But why?

Whatever the case, she quickly pulled her hand away from his, the Aura boost quickly fading from view -although he knew the actual boost stuck around longer by now- and stared at it, that same look of excitement staying on her face as she looked in his direction, meeting his eyes.

Before Jaune could say anything, however, Cinder took a half-step back, before turning around fully. She paused as she did so and looked back at him, an unreadable expression on her face. "I will… See you later, Jaune Arc."

Jaune just smiled at her, waving his hand slightly as she practically marched off, walking past her teammates Mercury and Emerald -Mint wasn't there, it seemed- and dragging them with her. He didn't get much of a chance to keep watching, however, as Coco pushed Velvet towards him, dragging her sunglasses slightly down her nose.

"Yo, Arc! Can we see what your Semblance is like? It's pretty hot gos at the moment!"

Jaune just laughed, reaching out a hand for the both of them. Coco grabbed it like a handshake while Velvet -the much more timid of the two- just held her hand out. He knew he didn't actually have to touch anyone to boost them so he didn't let his hand hover over Velvets to be considerate to her, something she clearly appreciated from her smile.

After those two ran off to show off to their teammates, Jaune had… Ran out of people who were interested in trying out his Semblance. At least for this very moment, it would seem! He couldn't help but smile to himself as he turned back around in his seat and finally ate the last of his meal, the sandwich having tempted him the entire time he had been crowded.

He was glad to have finally unlocked his Semblance, and he was very much enjoying the boost in popularity it was giving him! Like, in what world where he didn't have his Semblance would Cinder Fall of all people come up and offer to help train him?

Jaune chuckled under his breath, remembering her practically running off after getting the Aura boost. Did she even realise that her face was red as she did so? Probably not, she was usually so intentionally put together that he doubted she would have noticed.

In any case, his food time was interrupted by the bell going off, causing him to have to eat the rest of his sandwich as he jogged to Combat class with Miss Goodwitch alongside his friends and teammates.

Maybe today would go better for him, now that he had his Semblance?

"The winner of this match is Jaune Arc!"

Semblances were fascinating.

Cinder had her own, of course, but seeing the change in Jaune Arc's ability to fight his fellow students change so much merely from unlocking it… She was just even more sure that she had made the correct choice and approached him early to -she mentally sighed- ingratiate herself with him.

She hadn't been lying when she had told Jaune that she knew of his talents -or lack thereof- in the arena. Over the last few weeks of her infiltration, she had watched Cardin Winchester (Why was it always him? She vaguely wondered if Goodwitch was incompetent or trying to prove a point to one of them) beat Jaune into the ground many times with very little resistance.

But now?

Now, Cardin Winchester was essentially sulking off to the side of the arena while his teammates spoke to him and Jaune Arc was standing with team JNPR, looking almost surprised as the rest of the class was at Miss Goodwitch's declaration.

Cinder spared a glance to the screen above the arena, which was still synced to the two boy's Scrolls, and hummed in interest as Jaune's visibly started to go back up as she watched, slowly rising from the middle of the 'yellow' stage to the lowest part of 'green.'

Truly fascinating.

He had not improved from his last fight in any significant metric of skill, albeit slightly better for the assignment he discovered his Semblance in being so combat-filled, but the real difference was just that, his Semblance.

He'd already had an impressive amount of Aura, that was something she had noticed, lasting much longer than he should have, even if he was taking massive hits from the Winchester brat, but now that he was able to use his Semblance to amplify that already large pool, it was like he had stepped up and entire league in the classroom.

Enhanced strength, the ability to take more hits, and an honestly surprising amount of explosive speed when he launched forward to start the fight. He did not have the finesse needed to control said explosive speed just yet, having caused himself to crash right into Winchester's armour at high speed, but that would come with time and practice.

Both of which Cinder would be assisting him with, in order to gain access to the permanent side effects of his Semblance. A smug smile formed on her face at the very thought of near-effortless, permanent increases in her power.

She leaned back from the railing of the raised section the viewing area was sitting upon and hummed in satisfaction when she saw Emerald taking notes on the fight as she had asked her to. Not that she had any doubt in the girl's willingness to follow her orders, of course, but it was nice to know that the job was being done either way.

"Ma'am, I'm done."

Ah, perfect timing it seemed. Even as she was looking in Emerald's direction, the girl raised her head and passed the book over to her subtly, using her sleight of hand to its fullest. Cinder took the book off her and rolled her eyes.

They were, for all intents and purposes, classmates, and thus sharing notes was not only allowed but encouraged. Still, old habits die hard, and Emerald's habit of being sneaky amongst crowds was old indeed.

Still, as she scanned the notes, which were not only detailed but seemingly time-tracked on when Jaune had done certain things with his Semblance, as well as theories on what exactly he had done, was more than she had asked the girl for.

"Excellent work, Emerald. Well done."

The girl preened under her praise even while Mercury groaned in disgust at her reaction, causing Emerald to swipe at him, which caused him to kick back at her, which caused them to start fighting, which caused…

"Both of you, stop it."

Her to step in.

Emerald froze immediately at her words and got the lightest tap of one of Mercury's boots on her shoulder for it as the boy tried to hold his leg back mid-kick. Cinder just sighed. Working with these two was tiring but it was good to have loyal minions, if for different reasons.

Her eyes turned to Jaune at that thought, and a wicked smile grew on her face.

'I wonder for what reason I can make him loyal. Will I have to force his loyalty from him when he finds out my plans? Or maybe he will be as dense as he usually is and will fall for the woman helping him train out of the goodness of her heart, offering himself to me on his own?'

She couldn't wait to find out.

Jaune met the rest of his team's eyes as he stood in the doorway of his dorm room, in his full combat gear.

It was a couple of days after his first-ever in-class win against Cardin, and he was about to head out for his first training session with Cinder. Well, he had been about to leave when the others stopped him, urging him to reconsider going and training with Cinder…

By telling him that she was just using him for his Semblance.

It actually kind of hurt, that they thought he was so dense. "Oh, don't worry, I 100% know she's using me. I just plan on using her back."

"What?"

Again, another tiny feeling of hurt entered him as he saw his teammates shocked, and confused, expressions. Did they really think he was so unobservant? He grew up with 8 women in his life! He could read women pretty well!

Well, except for Weiss, initially, otherwise he would have known that trying to woo her like he had seen in romance movies was a terrible idea.

Nodding, Jaune shrugged at them as he laughed softly. "Yeah, she was kinda obvious about it, even if she probably thought she was being subtle. The pretty exchange student approaches me of all people for the first time the day after I unlock my Semblance? Hell, I wouldn't trust it to not be about my Semblance even if it had been Ruby who asked me at that point."

His words were met with silence. Hopefully, it was a contemplative one where they reevaluated him in their minds and added 'perceptive' to whatever sorting system they had him under so he just flashed them a smile.

"So yeah, I know. But that's the thing. If my Semblance helps me, like, pay for training with powerful people, then why not use them like how they want to use me?"

Pyrrha raised a hand at that, a hopeful look on her face as she spoke. "But what about our training? Is that not enough?"

Jaune flinched, knowing he had to be careful about how he answered it. "No, no, Pyrrha, our training is wonderful. Brothers know I wouldn't have gotten anywhere near the level I have without you, I just… Miss Goodwitch keeps telling us that it's good to spar against multiple people, right? Even if she always seems to put me up against Cardin, the bastard."

He stepped forward and placed a hand on Pyrrha's shoulder, nodding once as she met her eyes. "I just want to be the absolute best I can be. You've pushed me far, farther than I ever thought I could get, and I hope to continue training with you, but I also want to spar with as many powerful people as I can, and get strong enough to really stand by your side, by all three of your sides."

He'd stepped back and looked at both Nora and Ren as he spoke that last bit, and he could tell that he had convinced them. Mainly because Nora was crying and shaking Ren like a flag at the start of a race, but mostly because he was so in tune with his team by now and could just totally sense it, yeah.

Hell, he must have gotten better at speeches or something as well, because Pyrrha was even blushing slightly! He had to admit that it certainly made him feel more leader-y if he could get such a reaction out of the three of them.

"Alright, I really do have to head out now, otherwise I'm going to be late. And she's gonna be beating my ass anyway, might as well not make her angry, right? Haha!"

He got no arguments this time, only a chorus of 'Have a good training!' as he entered the hallway and shut the dorm room's door. Turning left, he headed towards the school building, and more specifically to the student training rooms.

It was time to sell his soul for extra training… Literally.

Cinder felt… Excited.

It was odd. She cared so very little for so many things in this world, so to feel excited was a rare thing for her. The only other thing that usually evoked this feeling from her was scheming, and planning around Beacon and their defences.

But, as Jaune entered the room, she actually felt… Happy to see him. It felt disgusting. But, knowing that she was about to take the first steps into getting him under her spell, into getting his Semblance in her hands and used for her benefit… It was exciting, she had to admit.

"Jaune, you made it. A pleasure to see you again."

The boy shot her a smile she could only describe as 'goofy' her way as he approached her, adjusting one of his shoulder guards as he did so. She wondered why he even bothered wearing armour when he had such a large pool of Aura, and now the ability to enhance it even further, but to each their own, she supposed. Maybe he would grow past it as he realised how useless it was.

"Hey, Cinder! Sorry if I'm late, my team had some things they needed to talk to me about before I left and we went a bit longer than I thought we would."

Cinder pursed her lips in an amused smile at that, mentally rolling her eyes as she read between the lines. Yes, she could imagine that team JNPR would be vocally against their leader training with the strange woman who they likely suspected just wanted him for his Semblance…

They were right, of course, but Jaune himself seemed oblivious to the fact.

Cinder just waved off his words, sending a smile that had melted better men's hearts his way as she motioned towards the training grounds. "It's no issue, I assure you, I only just arrived myself."

Jaune grinned at that and followed her down into the arena itself, and the both of them synced their Scrolls to the Aura Tracker, both of their pictures appearing on the screen above them with a green bar below it.

Cinder knew that for unsupervised training like this, the Arena's safeguards would kick in closer to 40%, rather than the 20% that signified the 'red' section of the bar, for safety's sake. That was marginally annoying, but luckily, she was training against the person in Beacon who could likely recover their Aura after being depleted the fastest.

She turned on the spot as she reached the other side of the arena they would be sparring in, and flashed Jaune a smile. It was annoying to have to keep this persona going, but she had to have some kind of bait on her hook. Once he was hooked, however, she would be able to slowly allow the truth to surface as he fell more and more in her control.

Jaune stood across from her as he unsheathed his sword, and then expanded its sheath into its shield form. The boy nodded to her, and she smirked, drawing one of her swords -Not Midnight, which required her Semblance, but still good- and falling into a combat stance.

She met Jaune's eyes and saw a surprising lack of concern as he squared off against her. Was he that confident in himself, even with his comparative lack of skill to her? No, no one could be that delusional.

A small laugh escaped her as she realised why he was so calm. The fool knew he stood no chance and therefore had no expectations of victory anyway. If this was anything other than a spar, she would have relished in the feeling, but as it was technically meant to be a learning experience…

It would be rather suspicious if he did not improve at all under her tutelage, but she still got her boosts. It would eventually make it clear that she was wasting his time. It might help in the short term to get more boosts quickly, but she was investing in Jaune and his Semblance, and that meant playing the long game.

"A moment before we begin."

Jaune's stance loosened as she spoke, and he looked confused. "Uh, sure. Is something wrong?"

She cocked her head to the side and hummed, wagging the sword in her hand back and forth as she took a couple of steps towards him. "Not 'wrong' per se, but something we will be working on nonetheless. You have no confidence that you will win this spar, do you?"

Jaune paused and she knew that she was right, especially as he looked nervous and a little embarrassed at being called out on it. Sighing, she stopped in front of him and tapped his chest plate with the tip of her sword.

"To win a fight, you have to be able to picture winning a fight. You have to be able to see a future where you are stronger than your opponent, a future where you can snatch victory from them. Without this, you are fated to lose."

She saw him purse his lips and look away from her, clearly either not believing her or just unable to picture it. She knew the boy trained with Nikos… Did that girl not hold back at all during it? Or did she just still win every time? That was the only reason she could think that Jaune would be so accustomed to failure before he even started. How could a novice be expected to beat a Champion?

Sheathing her sword, she crossed her arms, tapping a finger on her forearm and thinking. "How about this, then. You have some form of training that you can do by yourself, right?"

Jaune nodded, which was good. Although if he didn't, then that would have immediately allowed her to solve one problem today. "Good. Go through one cycle of your practice, and I will give some critiques… And then we can give sparring a go. Throwing you in the deep end was a bit hasty, I admit."

She watched his expression as she talked, and was interested to see a look of both relief and frustration flash across his face before he schooled it and focused on his movements as she started slashing at the air.

Relieved to have the extra time before the fight, but disappointed that he needed it? That definitely sounded correct from what information she had been able to gather about him. Cinder watched him run through his practice and gave a couple of comments as he moved through the different forms and stances the Nikos girl had been drilling into him.

Basic moves, with no flourish or character… But that was for the best at his skill level. If nothing else, she would admit that Nikos had the makings of a good tutor. A touch too light-touched to really hammer her lessons into such a dense mind as an overconfident teen boy's, but not terrible.

But Nikos had nothing on her.

As Jaune finished his sets, she strode forward and nodded to him, smiling. "Good work, Jaune. I could see a few minor improvements already from the feedback I gave you. Well done incorporating it so quickly."

Her own voice felt gross to hear as she spewed compliments and flattery, but it was necessary to bring up his improvement whenever she could without feeling overbearing about it, especially emphasising that it was her fault for the improvement. She needed to condition him to subconsciously feel indebted to her, that he needed to pay her back somehow.

And then she would have her prize. Her own personal Aura battery and booster, loyal to her without question. She was shooting for a loyalty more similar to Emerald's than Mercury or Roman's, as it was far more stable and much easier to cultivate while maintaining her cover.

Jaune just gave an embarrassed smile at her words, his eyes closing as he nodded. "Thanks, Cinder. Some of it felt a bit weird but I guess that's mainly cause it's the first time doing it with the changes, right? Anyway, I think I'm ready to spar now."

A feral grin escaped her before being quickly smothered and wrangled into a wry smile as she put a hand on her hip, cocking it out to the side slightly. "Splendid. Then rest for a moment and take your position, and we can begin."

He did so, and they began to spar, and… There was no surprise in the outcome. She wiped the floor with him the first time. And the second. It was on her third victory that she started to critique his movements and attacks during the fight, and after the fourth she sat him down for ten minutes and went through the spar again move for move, telling him what he did wrong at every step.

Luckily, he seemed either used to his own failures or just remarkably humble, taking her words into account and even writing down some of her notes on a small pad of paper he had tucked in his hoodie.

Her lecture was interrupted by his scroll giving a small beep, the same one that told them his Aura had gotten back over 80% full. She had asked him to try and use it to consciously make his regeneration stronger, and she had been correct in assuming that when he focused on it, he could indeed amplify its regeneration speed.

She had almost demanded he give her a boost there and then as she spied another glimpse of the potential in his Semblance, but she stopped herself. It would not do to give away her motives so early in the game, not when she still had her target dancing in her palm.

"Ah, damn, I have to go, Cinder, sorry. Team Leader stuff, you know what I mean."

Her thoughts were interrupted as Jaune's scroll went off and he jumped to his feet, grabbing his sword and shield from nearby and packing them up, strapping them to his hip.

"Pardon?" She hadn't meant to ask the question, but the sudden need to leave had surprised her, especially mid-internal monologue about how in her grasp he was already.

Jaune looked sheepish as she walked over to her, rolling his shoulders to try and work out the pain from where she had smacked him in their last spar. It would surely bruise… Or would it, through his Amplified Aura? It might already have healed for all she knew.

"Yeah, there's something my team needs me for, and it's apparently really important. Still, I'd like to thank you for today! Even if you did kinda beat me up, I think I learned a lot. Would you be willing to do this again sometime?"

She nodded, regaining her groove as Jaune stuck his hand out for her to shake. The fool did seem genuinely sorry for having to go so soon, so she grabbed his hand and shook it politely like the woman that was her current persona would.

"Of course, Jaune. We have each other's contacts now, so we can organise another one of these sessions for another day. Don't be worried about offending me either, your team is more important."

Jaune paused at that, however, meeting her eyes with an odd look on his face. He nodded slowly but didn't let go of her hand for some reason, and she felt a spark of… Hope? An odd feeling that she was largely unfamiliar with, but she knew why it shot through her.

"Thanks for being so understanding. I… I just want you to know as well, that you don't have to like, keep the mask on around me, alright? And if you want me to do this, you can just ask. You've helped me out, so we're friends now."

Cinder blinked as Jaune activated his Semblance and stared at their hands, the connecting point, with wide eyes. She had gotten a taste of the feeling in the cafeteria a few days before, but this…

Jaune was intentionally putting as much as he could into his Semblance, to make it the most effective it could be… And it felt intoxicating. Her Aura felt doubled, or more, and even the Maiden's power that lay within her seemed to sing as her soul was reinforced.

A gasp escaped her mouth as the power shot through her, even as it started to plateau and Jaune let go of her hand. Even as he said his goodbyes and left the training room she stood there, staring at her hand, at her Aura.

Her entire body looked aflame, even without her summoning any of Maiden's Flames. Her body felt lighter, but so much stronger, and her Semblance called out to her. Normally she had to superheat items to be able to control their shape or movements, but she could sense almost everything in the room that was heated at all.

It was… incredible, but not even the headiest feeling she had ever experienced, the most power she had ever had, could stop her from replaying his last words to her before he left in her head.

'You don't have to, like, keep the mask on around me, alright?'

Somehow, he had been able to pick up on the fact that she was faking her personality. That was the only thing she could think of that would count as a 'mask'. But what did that mean, exactly? Was it just that he knew she was putting her friendliness on? Or did he know about her true reasons for being at Beacon, somehow?

A pressing question and one made no less frustrating by the implications of the latter option. If he knew about her plans, then an important crossroads was approaching, where she would have to value his worth as an Aura Battery vs the Maiden's power.

A decision he would lose. And while she didn't much care for the boy's life, nor anyone's really, she did care for his Semblance, and the effort she had already put in to draw him to her side. So when it really came down to it, she found herself hoping that he was oblivious, that he was just slightly more observant than she had expected.

Because the alternative meant that she would have to take care of him, and that was such a waste of a potentially good lackey.