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pa tr eon.c o m (slash) MrLightbringer0
Weiss already knew this was going to be a strange day.
She was self-aware enough to admit that it was partly because of how strangely she acted with her team earlier.
It might have been strange at first but it was in the end liberating. Perhaps too liberating judging by how overboard she just went with her friends.
She blushes at the memory of it but it was no matter. She was Weiss Schnee, she could handle it. And now that she was also Bleiss, she was damned sure she was going to own it.
So as much as knowing that this was already going to be a strange day, she still wasn't prepared for how exactly troublesome it was going to be.
It started when they found Nora making out with Ren in front of the Beacon Docks.
"I'll miss you." Nora whispers softly in between kisses.
"And I, you." Ren whispers back before leaning backward to stare at the girl in his arms.
They all stood gobsmacked at the public display of affection in front of them.
"They do know it is only a few hours at most right?" Yang pipes up.
"I've said that already. Repeatedly, in fact." Jaune Arc, who was standing in front of them, said with his head bowed down and fingers massaging his forehead.
"You're just jealous Jaune-Jaune because you can't make out with anybody right now." Nora cuts in, giving Jaune a coy smile before freezing at the sight of her.
Weiss' blue eyes sharpen at Nora's obvious gawking. What is she looking at?! Is it her hair?! Who was she kidding, of course it was her hair! What else could it be?!
She feels heat rushing to her face and her glare becomes harsher as she starts to feel self-conscious over her new appearance.
"Ooohh, burn." Yang speaks, thankfully taking away the attention from her.
"Nora, don't be mean. You know why Jaune can't do that right now." Ren says with a smile on his face before turning back towards them and having the same reaction to her. He freezes at the sight of her.
Jaune, who until then still hasn't turned around and still had his eyes closed, rolls his eyes before turning towards them. Again, another person freezes at the sight of her.
She couldn't stop the growl from leaving her mouth from all this attention.
"What the fuck are you looking at?"
She internally cringes at the curse but the snickers from the rest of her team behind her affect her even more. Still, she was Weiss Schnee and she will not crumble.
"HAHAHAHA. Weiss has a potty mouth." Nora laughs while pointing at her to her growing embarrassment.
"...Weiss?" Ren's reaction was milder and his surprised expression was somewhat tolerable compared to his partner's.
What infuriates her however was Jaune Arc's reaction.
"W-what?!" He glances back and forth between her and his teammates, as if unable to believe that it was really her.
Of course it was her! The only thing she changed was her hair color! She still had the same blue eyes, same white dress, she even has the scar on her face! How could this dolt think she wasn't her?!
It might have been enough to fool strangers but they've been interacting for months! Surely, Arc isn't that dense not to recognize her, right?!
Anger and humiliation mixes inside her and Jaune must have noticed based on her expression because he instantly raises his hand defensively.
"Weiss! I mean I knew it was you but you look so...different. Different but nice."
Just like that, the anger and humiliation within her are blown away and what replaces it is flattery and incredulity.
"Nice? All I did was change my hair, nothing more." She frowns as she raises an eyebrow at him but despite her efforts, she feels a blush starting to appear on her cheeks.
"Right, you always look nice." Jaune says absently with his eyes still on her.
Her frown turns into a shaky smile even as she hears her friends gasp and smirk behind her. Luckily for Weiss, Pyrrha clears her throat to send Jaune a neutral stare.
"AHEM!"
Jaune immediately pales in realization even as Weiss sighs in relief.
"No, no, no! Pyr, it isn't like that-"
"I know. I was just messing with you. Jaune, meet Bleiss." Pyrrha pushes her lightly from behind with a gentle smile.
"Right…Hi, Bleiss." Jaune says shyly but Weiss only clams up while keeping her eyes on him.
"Bleiss, huh? So that's what you're going with." Yang pipes and she may not know it but she has given Weiss the tools to move past this situation.
Weiss Schnee closes her eyes and takes a deep breath.
Bleiss Schnee opens her eyes and gives them all a smirk.
That's right….She was Bleiss right now. The badass bitch of Beacon.
She wasn't going to cave to Jaune's flattery nor Yang's needling. Nor was she going to let Pyrrha win something over her. One thing she will not compromise on was that she was not repressed. She was a perfectly normal girl thank you very much. They're the ones who just happen to be perverted.
Time to show everyone what she's made of. Liberty, freedom, and a whole lot of badassery.
"Come on, bitches. We don't have all day." Bleiss, for that is who she was right now, satisfies herself by smirking and dragging everyone to the waiting bullhead.
"Wait! Let me have one last goodbye kiss." Nora shouts as she clings on to Ren.
She rolls her eyes when she sees Nora drag Ren down for one last kiss. Bleiss falters however when Blake pipes up from behind after they move past Jaune.
"Want me to give you a goodbye kiss too?"
They all froze at that.
Bleiss snapped back in surprise to see Blake smiling coyly at Jaune.
Jaune for his part only gapes at that before turning to Pyrrha with wide eyes. Bleiss own eyes grow even wider when she sees Pyrrha rolling her eyes indulgently while giving them a small smile.
"Make it quick."
She could literally hear Ruby squeak beside her as Blake put her arms around Jaune and leaned forward. Miraculously however, it is Jaune himself who stops her by holding her back.
"Blakeee, not in public."
"You don't want me?" Blake pouts, going so far as to wiggle her cat ears after removing her ribbon.
Bleiss will admit, that shit was cute. Jaune however was made sterner stuff than her because he manages to look away albeit with a blush and a shaky smile.
"Oh, you know I want you but we need to have a conversation." Jaune says heatedly before looking at Pyrrha who gulps and nods slowly at Jaune.. "All of us."
Another thing Bleiss will admit, that shit was hot. A man with self-control and the will to sit his girls down? You don't see that everyday. If only she wasn't with-
Bleiss shook her head. No. Weiss Schnee was not a cheater and neither was Bleiss.
"Alright, I'll hold you to it." Blake speaks softly,getting Bleiss' attention and letting go of Jaune while following after them with an intentional sway to her hips.
Bleiss clears her throat and sends Jaune a glare when he starts ogling Blake's ass. Beautiful or not, that ass didn't need any ogling in public. Jaune flinches back and Bleiss huffs in satisfaction as the group finally reaches the bullhead.
"Bye Renny! Bye Jaune-Jaune." Nora waves as she is the last to enter the bullhead.
Jaune and Ren wave back at them before Bleiss finally closes the bullhead doors.
Finally, they could finally get this show on the road but first thing's first. Assert dominance.
"Alright bitches, here's what we are going to do. We are going to get the best-"
"Pancakes!"
"-dresses."
Bleiss sighed as Nora talks over her with a smile on her face. The worst thing is that Bleiss couldn't even refute her because it was at that moment her stomach growled at the mention of pancakes..
Growl.
"She got you there, Weiss!" Yang points a finger at her while laughing.
"Bleiss. Call me Bleiss." She says defeatedly, slapping a hand to her face as everyone laughs at her.
Playing a new identity with new habits was tiring work on the best of days. With these people around her? It was downright starving. Bleiss could tell that it was already becoming a troublesome day.
Adam Taurus was having a troublesome day.
The recruits from Vale were sloppier than he thought. LT did his best but it was obvious the quality of training dropped compared to the days when he was here. As it is, he is lucky that many of his brothers and sisters from Mistral decided to join him.
Though it is strange that they keep whispering about Sienna whenever he hears any of them. Still that's a thought for later. Right now, Adam was thinking of having a break inside Vale itself.
Despite what many may say and what he would like to talk up to his listeners, the strength of the White Fang lay not in the courage and bravery of their warriors. It lay in their anonymity.
It was a simple matter for Adam to walk the streets of the City of Vale. All he needed to do was remove his mask, use an eyepatch for his scar, and leave his weapons at their base for him to assume the normal look of a civilian. He doesn't do this often but even he needs to feel the sun shine on his face and the wind blowing through his hair.
Peace. What a wonderful thing to have.
Sadly, what he is experiencing right now was not true peace. For how could one have peace when he can already feel the judgemental stares and hateful stares of the humans around him.
He put his hood up from his jacket but it was already too late. They've seen his horns, they've seen his scar. He may not be recognized as a warrior of the White Fang but it was enough for the humans to be contemptuous of him.
His blood boiled and his heart beat faster but he took a deep breath in the middle of the sidewalk to calm himself. He might be full of anger but he was not reckless.
He was unarmed and any violence here would have him outed as a White Fang member with how troublesome they have been becoming for Vale.
Worse still were the flying ships of metal above them. Atlas was here. Out of all the human kingdoms, he hated Atlas the most. The most violent and discriminatory of humans by virtue of being compatriots of the SDC, Adam usually went out of his way to cause them harm. Still, this was not the time.
Tsk.
Just to get them away from his sight, Adam Taurus enters the first establishment he sees. A pancake house. Of all the most innocent things he could have entered it was one of the worst. Not because of how bad they were but because of the memories and dreams he once had for himself.
It wasn't even that long ago when he used to imagine going to such a place with Blake. They'll have breakfast, some tea, and laugh together while talking about one of her books. It was one of those dreams he kept to himself that he promised to surprise her with after they've finally won the war against the humans.
His heart ached as his nose picked up the smell of tea. Adam was always the coffee kind of guy but back when the days were simpler, Blake frequently pushed him to try some tea. For relaxation, supposedly.
"Come on, Adam. Chamomile is a great relaxing drink. You need to rest."
He always did reject her, thinking that relaxing or taking a break would have brought their downfall. How arrogant he had been. Oh how he wished to have said yes to her back then. He would have tried any of her hot leaf juice just to get her to smile at him.
Those days are gone however, and all he was left with were memories, dreams, and delusions.
He chuckles deprecatingly to himself, Adam Taurus, Hero of the White Fang, reduced to having delusions of having a relationship with a catgirl.
He was self-aware enough to know that he was being pathetic in thinking LT's encoded message was actually a message from Blake. He knew it wasn't but a guy could dream, couldn't he?
Besides, the reason why they even had a message like that in the first place was to notify him of Blake's presence in a location. Blake was in Vale and is the reason why Adam came here in the first place without orders from Sienna Khan.
Just for a moment, Adam would like to imagine him and Blake would enter a place like this. They would smile at the cashier, a Faunus one of course, for they were the only ones he would trust with their food while humans were relegated to hard manual labor. Adam would then order coffee but Blake would roll her eyes at him and order-
"One chamomile tea and some honey pancakes please."
His eyes snapped open, he didn't even realize they were closed to be honest but Adam couldn't think of that because right there in front of him was a Cat Faunus with black hair and cute ears on top of her head.
Her back was to him and between them there were four human women and another Cat Faunus that Adam had no interest in approaching. Yet despite being only able to see the back of her head, her voice was something he would never forget.
"Uhm, excuse me. I said one chamomile tea and some honey pancakes please. Not…this single glass of water." Blake says again and he could hear nothing but her voice and the beating of his own heart.
That was her. He's sure of it. He can't actually believe it.
Out of all the places he could have found her it was here and now. They might have visited this place at different times, or they might have been at different places at the same time, but instead, they were both here. It must be Fate that has brought them together here and now.
A smile appears on his face at that thought. He was just about to call out when another voice spoke.
"We don't serve your kind here."
Just like that, Adam knew the problem. The cashier. The cashier was human and he was speaking to Blake with scorn.
"Excuse me?" Blake sounds offended and Adam was just about to leap into action when he is interrupted yet again.
"What the fuck did you just say?" Another black-haired woman steps up to the cashier. A human from the looks of her.
The vitriol in that feminine voice causes even Adam to flinch. That was the voice of someone truly disgusted with another being. He should know, he's heard that tone enough from humans against their kind.
Still, there was one thing that was infuriating Adam. Blake's silence. Here she was, letting another human defend her like she was some poor defenseless house pet!
"You heard me, little girl. We don't serve animals. Take your pet out of my shop if you want some food."
"Listen her you slimy piece of shit. This little girl can and will kick your ass with that attitude you are having with my friend here."
"Try it and I'll call the police so you can join your pet behind bars."
"What the hell is your problem?!"
"You wanna know what's my problem?!"
"Yeah! I wanna know you shitty old man!"
"It's because of these animals causing chaos through Vale that my brother got hurt! You know that giant robot that rampaged through the freeway? It smashed his car and his legs with it! He's lucky to be alive but he never would have been hurt if these animals never stole the robot in the first place!"
Adam clenched his hand as another wave of anger rose from within him.
There never should have been any engagement with the authorities before the plan was started. It was supposed to be one swift attack together with Cinder's assets.
Now that they've tipped their hand however, the public was more alert and paranoid, causing their anonymity to start being peeled back. Figures it would be a human like Roman Torchwick who would mess up and make life for them harder.
Yet before he could even process his anger, Blake does something worse.
"I'm sorry." She apologizes while bowing her head.
Blake bowed her head and Adam clenched his fists so hard that his Aura had to manifest to stop his blood from dripping to the floor.
What the fuck?!
The woman actually bowed her head. He can't believe it. His only comfort was trying his best to imagine that this wasn't actually Blake. That he never saw her face and he was just being nostalgic so he thought her voice was Blake's.
"Blake, you don't have to-"
"No, Bleiss. I have to."
Nope, her vulgar friend, Bleiss, just called her Blake so it really was Blake. Impotent rage fills Adam as he stands there powerless. Unarmed and smack in the middle of Vale under the surveillance of Atlas, he couldn't actually do anything but watch.
He watches as Blake straightens to look the cashier in the eye and speaks.
"I'm sorry your family got hurt. I'm sorry for the damages and pain the White Fang have caused. I'm not a member but I am still sorry for what they have done to you and everyone else. Something like that never should have happened and I hope you remember that not all Faunus are like that. We-"
No, no, no, no! Where the fuck is your Faunus Pride, Blake?! Have you fallen so low that you would bow your head to a human who has wronged you?!
Adam could no longer hear the rest of Blake's words. He leaves outside to take a deep breath of fresh air before walking away.
All he could hear was the loud beating of his heart as his former lover renounced everything they had been fighting for. All the sacrifice , the pain, the blood. All for nothing. Invalidated at the prospect of Faunus like Blake willing to submit to humans.
It is perhaps truly the first that Adam Taurus almost considered that his love for her has died. Yet for all that she has renounced them, he will give her one last chance for the love they once had and the memories they made together.
Right before he turns a corner however, he turns one last time and he sees her companions as they exit the establishment. He decides then and there that he will free her of her shackles and give her a choice.
Join them to fight for their righteous cause once more or join her human masters in the afterlife.
Blake already knew this was going to be a strange day because of Weiss but she was unprepared for how troublesome it was.
"Cheer up, Blake. That guy was just a racist. We all know it wasn't your fault and that guy would have found any reason to kick any Faunus out even if Roman didn't bust out his giant killer mech." Yang says with a comforting grin beside her as they walk towards the dress shop Pyrrha wanted to go to.
"We should break his legs!"
Classic Yang and Nora, always out to make them smile.
"We are not breaking anyone's legs, Nora. Besides, this kind of discrimination has already been happening for some time now. It is nothing new." Blake replies with a forlorn smile
Still, Blake cringes at the reminder. She still never expected to encounter a situation like that today.
It was a stark reminder that their actions had consequences and it just so happened that those consequences were hitting her now.
She feels a squeeze on her hand and a quick glance shows her Pyrrha smiling at her.
"Yang is right, Blake. It wasn't your fault and you shouldn't blame yourself for it."
Blake shakes her head at that. As much as she wanted to just let it go like that, she couldn't.
"Thank you everyone but someone has to take responsibility."
"Bullshit." Weiss, or Bleiss as she has recently wanted to call herself, calls out to her.
"Oooohhh, Bleiss is out to play." Nora coos excitedly.
Blake huffs amusedly at Nora for that.
When Weiss insisted they call her Bleiss for today they thought she would only use it as a fake name. They certainly never expected her to play a character so much.
First it was cute how she forced herself to act unrestrained and they were happy to go with her act. Then it was endearing how fiercely she tried to defend Blake against that cashier.
However, to be glared at by Bleiss herself would have been intimidating if Blake didn't know the girl already saw her as a friend and she was just looking out for her.
"You disagree?" She asks with a smile tugging on her lips.
Bleiss tsked at her for that, looking away with a blush before continuing to speak her mind with a thoughtful look.
"Not that someone has to take responsibility. You were right there. What I'm calling bullshit on is the fact that you keep trying to take it on yourself. The assholes who did it should be the ones paying the price. Not you or the rest of the innocent Faunus who just happen to share the same race with some terrorists."
Blake blinks at that. While she and Weiss has already patched up their friendship after the docks, Blake will admit that she still had a niggling doubt that the Heiress was still a bit prejudiced towards her kind. Her words today and defense of her has certainly broken that notion. Weiss certainly has come a long way from the person that was quick to judge her kind.
"...Wow, Weiss-"
"Bleiss."
She smiles at the Heiress before shaking her head and humoring her friend.
"Bleiss, that's….just wow. Thank you but like you said, we share the same species and some people are dumb enough to believe we are all guilty. Until the real perpetrators take responsibility for their actions, it will be up to us to remind everyone that not every single Faunus wants to hurt humans."
"Well that's stupid." Bleiss frowns at her to which Blake only shrugs.
"It's what we have."
"Then…if you had the chance to bring those guys to justice, would you take it?"
"Of course." Blake answers with no hesitation.
Any chance to stop the perpetrators from harming other people must be taken. She doesn't expect Ruby's next words however.
"What if I told you that you have that chance?"
Blake tilts her head at that and she can see everyone else except Nora focus their stare at them. Whatever it is, everyone knows it except her and Nora.
"What are you saying, Ruby?"
"Ruby." Pyrrha sends the crimson reaper a warning look.
"Pyrrha has information on the White Fang!" Ruby squeaks rapidly before slapping both hands on her mouth.
Huh, she did not expect that it would make sense that she and Jaune would at least get something from sneaking around that meeting. It's probably because of everything that just recently happened that she almost forgot about it.
She pauses for a moment before giving them a nod. "Okay, that's good. We can tell the police or Headmaster Ozpin."
"WHAT?!"
"Yes?"
"I MEAN WHAT?!"
Blake raises an eyebrow before she is elbowed by her partner.
"She's having trouble seeing you not jumping to hunt down the White Fang yourself. And frankly speaking, so am I. What's up, Blake? What changed?"
Blake blushes as she remembers what caused that change in her thinking in the first place. Jaune's words.
"B-but what about Adam?! The White Fang?!"
"What about them? They don't matter to me. To us."
"Well, Jaune did. He reminded me that in the grand scheme of things, the White Fang doesn't matter. Not to our relationship at least."
"And that changed you?"
"Why shouldn't it? I got a boyfriend out of it."
"You're official now?!" Pyrrha gasped and Blake blushed as she nodded. "Congratulations!" Pyrrha continues with a smile.
"Thank you." Blake replies shyly as Pyrrha and Nora clap beside her.
Her team however were a group of mixed reactions. Yang smiled complicatedly, Weiss huffed resignedly, Ruby pouted sadly.
"But what about the White Fang?" Ruby asks and Blake could have smiled at how similar it sounded to her when she asked Jaune that same question.
"What about them? We are still handling them to justice by telling the authorities." Blake answers with a smile, echoing Jaune's answer to her before looking curiously at Ruby.
She doesn't like what she sees as Ruby begins to stummer worriedly.
"B-but but-"
Sensing her leader's trouble, Blake opts to get to know what this is really about.
"Ruby, what is this really all about?"
"...Nothing." Ruby pouts before turning her head away dejectedly.
Now that has Blake worried. Take it from a moody girl like her, when they say nothing then it is definitely nothing. Something was bothering Ruby Rose and it seems only she and Nora were out of the loop as the rest sent glances at each other.
Yang apparently has enough of the heavy atmosphere as she widely waves her arms out, catching Blake and Ruby in a hug with one arm each.
"Oh come on, everybody. We're supposed to be getting dresses for the dance, not talking about stuff like this."
"It just came up, I suppose. After all-'' Blake shrugs but Bleiss interrupts her before she could even remind them of what just happened at the pancake house.
"Agreed. If Blake says she doesn't want to hunt down the White Fang herself then that is it. No more conversations about hunting the White Fang." Bleiss, in an overly formal manner, talks over her.
"Awww, Prissy-Weissy is back." Nora pouts to everyone's sudden laughter.
"I am not prissy!"
"Uhm….You kinda are, Weiss-Cream." Yang points out with a grin and Blake has the sudden feeling that this was deliberate.
Did Weiss purposefully let herself get teased just to change the subject? It can't be, right? Just to get them away from that heavy topic and not make Ruby more uncomfortable? No, she totally would, wouldn't she?
"Listen here you fuckers! Prepare to see the most liberated and broad-minded person you will ever meet! Come on, Blake! Time to find you the sexiest dress we can find! That is, if they aren't a bunch of racist assholes, of course."
Ahhh, she's back to being Bleiss again. Blake smiles as her friend fumes and she can't help but laugh at the banter and consideration their friends have for her.
"Don't worry. I went to this place together with Jaune while I was in disguise. They certainly didn't mind that I looked like a Faunus back then." Pyrrha giggles pointing towards a certain store.
Blake smiles as she lets herself be dragged by her friend fuming and huffing into the store.
Blake will admit that she was excited for this activity of the day. Everybody knew Jaune had a huge crush on Weiss back then, so Blake was curious what would happen if she wore a dress picked out by Jaune's old crush.
Would he like it?
She hopes so but if for whatever reason, Weiss' fashion senses fail her, Blake could always go down on her knees and earn Jaune's favor another way.
Or better yet….she could buy some additional lingerie on her own. After all, they already were in the shop and from what Blake could see….it had a tasteful corner for women who were on a mission like her.
….Maybe Pyrrha would like to visit that corner together later? She's pretty sure Jaune will appreciate her and Pyrrha visiting him together while scantily-clad with soft intimate clothing.
Now that she's thinking about it….Blake can't help but be excited as she licks her lips. Jaune and Pyrrha together with her? Marvelous.
Jaune felt a shiver run down his spine right as he was staring at the people in front of him.
Was it because of fear? Or was it because of pleasure? Considering he was looking at Cardin and his team then it was definitely fear.
Not because he was afraid he was going to get beat up, Jaune has grown stronger and he is pretty confident he could take on at least one of them or just escape altogether if need be. Not to mention the fact that he was with Ren, Sun, and Neptune, there was no reason to fear getting beaten up.
No, there was a particular reason he was feeling fear right now.
To explain, Jaune and Ren had just finished waving off the girls when he turned around and saw Team CRDL gawking at him. It seems like they were about to take a bullhead to travel to Vale when they saw Jaune and Ren waving the girls off.
Eye contact happened and then as if they all just suddenly agreed to do the same thing, they all ran. Team CRDL ran after them while Jaune and Ren just ran towards the dorms.
They got caught when they bumped into Sun and Neptune just as they were moving past the dorms for the exchange students. After that, this and that happened.
There was some shouting, pushing, and pulling but eventually Jaune decided that whatever Cardin wanted to say, he was better off hearing it in a private place.
Which is how he found himself sitting on a table in Team CRDL's room across from them. A sentence he never thought he would ever think about.
"We saw." Cardin only said those words gravely and Jaune couldn't help his race because of nervousness.
"I don't know what you're talking about." He answers immediately without hesitation.
There could only be one recent thing they could have seen that would cause that reaction. Blake trying to kiss him.
"Don't deny it! We saw!" Cardin slammed his hand on the table and if Jaune's eyes weren't tricking him, there were tears in his eyes?
What?
"Uhm, excuse me. What exactly did you see?" Sun asked, raising his hand and getting Team CRDL's attention.
Contrary to Jaune's expectation of Cardin being a racist to Sun however, he keeps his eyes on Jaune as he grits his teeth.
"This guy has been cheating on Velvet!" Cardin shouts while pointing towards Jaune.
WHAT?!
Eyes snapped towards Jaune as he only looked at Cardin, gobsmacked and horrified.
"Jaune? Not cool dude." Sun looks at him disappointedly.
"I knew there was something wrong with you." Neptune remarks knowingly from behind him.
"Calm down, I'm sure this is all a misunderstanding." Ren tries to calm everyone down to no avail.
A tick appears on Jaune's forehead at their reaction as he slams his own hands down on the table as he suddenly stands up.
"What the hell are you talking about?!"
"We saw! Don't deny it! You had Belladonna clinging to you while you were waving them off to Vale!"
Ack! They really did see, but one thing is bothering him.
"Yeah, that might have happened! But what do you mean I'm cheating on Velvet?!"
"Smart, sexy, beautiful, and strong enough to kick my ass, right?! Isn't Velvet the Faunus you slept with?!"
"W-what?!"
"Yeah. Don't you remember shouting that to everyone during Doctor Oobleck's class?" Russel pipes in, pulling Cardin back.
"T-that was weeks ago! You're the one who spread that rumor?!"
"Rumor? You practically declared it to all of Beacon!"
Come to think of it, Coco did kidnap him to interrogate him about him for a bit. Wasn't a fun time but this explains so much. These assholes were the ones responsible for it.
Jaune grits his teeth as he looks at Cardin.
"It's a misunderstanding! I'm not with Velvet."
Team CRDL gasps dramatically before their leader glares at him with renewed hate.
"So she was just a one night stand?!" Cardin roars angrily.
"Damn, I didn't know Arc was such a man whore." Neptune says casually.
Jaune's eye twitches at that as he sends a glare at Neptune before turning back to Cardin.
"Damn it! I'm not a man whore! What I'm saying is I never slept with Velvet!"
Cardin reels back at that before processing his words.
"...What?"
"Yeah, I never slept with her." Jaune sighs tiredly, falling back into his seat.
"Then you lied?"
"No, I didn't lie. I did sleep with someone but it wasn't Velvet."
"Then who?"
Did they not see Blake take her bow off? Maybe they were too far to notice that they were actually seeing cat ears instead of the bow itself? Regardless, it wasn't his intention to answer their question.
"Why do you care anyway?"
He doesn't expect Cardin to blush and look away from him at that question.
What the fuck?
Luckily, Dove steps up to clear up everything.
"Ahem, you see….our leader here-"
"Shut it!" Cardin protested, immediately turning on his teammate but Russel and Sky were there to grapple him down.
Dove clears his throat again before continuing to speak to Jaune with a serious look. He does not like it one bit.
"Our leader here entered a period of self-reflection wherein….he thought really long and really hard on the prospect of you being with Velvet."
He thinks he knows where this is going but the prospect is so incomprehensible and out of nowhere that it causes his brain to lag for a bit.
"MMPH! MMFF!"
He jolts back into focus when he sees Cardin's desperate struggle to shut his teammate up, going so far to reach his hand out even as Russel covers his mouth.
"He denied it. He raged about it. But eventually, he accepted it. He pretty much went through the stages of grief so you might have noticed he wasn't acting up as much."
Jaune nods. He did notice actually.
Cardin and his team were still brash but it felt like they never went out of their way to cause trouble recently. It actually got to the point that Jaune felt like they turned over a new leaf and it was Jaune and his friends who were causing more trouble for the school with all their shenanigans.
"However, when we saw you this morning mooching up-"
Nope. Nope. Nope. He was not going to listen to any of this crap any longer so he decided to just go to the truth of the matter.
"Does Cardin have a crush on Velvet?" Jaune interrupts Dove.
Cardin slumped in defeat as silence envelopes the room.
Silence as everyone is stuck awkwardly looking at each other. Eventually, Russel lets go of Cardin and turns to speak to Jaune.
"We think its infatuation-
"Admiration. It's admiration, you fools." Cardin cuts in, absently covering his mouth and looking away from them.
Jaune keeps his eyes on him as he tries to verbalize what is happening.
"You….admire Velvet? A Faunus? You, Cardin Winchester, admire a Faunus?"
What? It's like saying Nora now hates pancakes. It's inconceivable.
"A person. I'm admiring a person."
"Why?"
Cardin opens and closes his mouth before ultimately deciding to remain silent. It is Sky who swoops in to answer.
"We think it's because you pointed out what she is."
"What?"
"Or we thought you did, I guess? But in short, Cardin realized that she's smart, sexy, beautiful, hot, and can kick his ass." Sky points out, trying to repeat Jaune's words all those days ago.
The words however…they just keep coming and going out of Jaune's ear at how incomprehensible it is.
"Again, what?" He asks again with wide eyes.
"Take your time, we had the same reaction when we realized it too." Dove points out, guiding Cardin to sit down on his chair once again.
Jaune takes the time to look at Sun, Neptune, and Ren at that.
Sun only shrugs at him while Neptune only looks neutrally. Figures they wouldn't have any opinion on this. They're not from here so they never had the pleasure of being exposed to Cardin's past ways and while Neptune's cold attitude to him seems strange, Jaune is not going to hold a grudge on it considering he just got dragged here against his will.
"Well, stranger things have certainly happened." Ren nods sagely as if this kind of stuff was not groundbreaking.
Perhaps in the grand scheme of things Ren was right but being one of Cardin's previous victims, Jaune just has a lot of trouble wrapping his head around it.
"So let me get this straight, you like Velvet?"
No reply but that's okay, Jaune could just continue.
"You thought I was dating her."
"...Yes."
Finally, a reply and Jaune could finally see one thing. This was not his business.
Everyone turns towards him as he stands up and turn to leave.
"Okay, great. Well, I'm not dating her. If that is all-
"Wait." Cardin calls out.
Call it curiosity but Jaune, instead of ignoring Cardin and walking away, turns around to look back at him.
"You slept with a Faunus." Cardin continues, clenching his hands together in front of him.
Jaune frowns but humors him.
"Yeah, so what? I'm not gonna tell you who-"
"No, no, not that." Cardin interrupts.
"Then what is it, Cardin?" Jaune sighs out impatiently but Cardin's next words get his complete attention..
"Did you do a mating ritual or something?" Cardin asks with a blush.
A blush. What the fuck?
He isn't the only one gobsmacked because everyone else in the room looks incredulously at Cardin.
"What the hell dude?" Sun frowns even as Jaune's mouth opens and closes in shock.
"It's a legitimate question!" Cardin replies while defensively raising his hands.
"First of all, that's racist." Jaune points out before frowning at Cardin. "Second, I'm not telling you any details about my sexlife."
"No, no. I don't need any details. I just….need you to teach me."
"Are….are you asking me for love advice?"
Cardin opens and closes his mouth for quite some time before eventually settling on one word.
"Yes."
Holy shit. HOLY SHIT!
The pronouncement was so monumental that even Sun and Neptune gawk at Cardin.
Jaune looks at Ren with wide eyes only to see his teammate looking back at him with the same amount of surprise.
"Jaune…I'm scared."
"Me too, Ren. Me too."
"Oh fuck off! It's not that hard to believe!" Cardin throws his hands up in the air exasperatedly at that.
"Sorry, Cardin. But it actually is." Russel pats his leader on the shoulder comfortingly, getting a scowl for his troubles.
"I-well! It doesn't matter, okay?! I don't even know if it is love, I just….want to talk to her."
"Then why did you make us think it was for love advice?"
"It…seemed convenient….just in case, you know?"
"Just in case you actually like her."
"Listen, are you going to help me or not?"
It would be so easy to say no. He owes Cardin nothing. He doesn't actually have to do this. On the other hand however, what else was he going to do today?
Train? He's been training for most of the week and Pyrrha actually requested him to be fresh for tonight so training is out.
Hang out? Isn't he kinda doing it right now? Even if it is with the most unlikely of people? Besides, maybe he can settle his beef with Neptune later?
Not that they actually have beef. Jaune was just self-aware enough to know that he had bitterness against the other boy because of his old crush for Weiss. Maybe Neptune was just picking up on his feelings and throwing it back at him?
Regardless, that's a question for later. Right now he had Cardin glaring impatiently at him.
"Okay, I'll help."
"Really?" Cardin actually sounded relieved when he heard his answer.
"Yeah, I will. First things first though, you need to apologize."
Wow, Cardin actually flinched after he said that. Seems like he at least knows he did some wrong.
"Yeah, yeah. I will." Cardin sighs but Jaune wasn't done just yet.
"To Sun."
"What?!"
As expected, Cardin exploded angrily as everyone turned to look curiously at June. Why would he make Cardin apologize to Sun? That's easy.
"On behalf of Faunus everywhere." He says with a smirk.
Sun actually perked up at that, looking at Jaune thankfully before trying to look as magnanimous as he can while crossing his arms in front of his open shirt.
"I…grrrr." Cardin actually growled as if he was in pain at the prospect of apologizing to Sun.
"Come on, Cardin. You need to do this. You don't want Velvet thinking you're a racist, do you?"
Was it manipulative? Yes, no doubt about it. Was it helping bridge the divide between Human-Faunus relations? HELL YEAH!
Jaune actually grins as Cardin looks at him with a red face.
"I get it, okay?! I….I'm sorry." Cardin shouts before eventually managing to apologize to Sun.
By all means, that was a pathetic apology but this was Cardin they were talking about. Something like this might as well have been comparable to the SDC making peace with the White Fang.
Ren must've been thinking the same thing because he smiles approvingly at Jaune for that accomplishment.
Jaune nods, smiling at Cardin supportively before speaking. "Good, now we can have you practice talking to Faunus."
Cardin's face of defeat and regret was something that would stay with Jaune for a long long time. He actually looked broken even as Sun beamed at him at that.
In his usual Sun way, Sun starts the conversation with a shining beaming smile.. "Hi, my name's Sun. Nice to meet you."
"...Pleasure." Cardin replies through gritted teeth as his teammates laughed behind him.
"Cool! What are your hobbies?!"
As Sun continues the conversation, Jaune couldn't help but think. This is good. Bro time is good. As someone who used to live in a female-dominated household, Jaune treasured experiences like this.
Nothing against his friends but they were mostly female. Jaune needed more male friends in his life.
And if his friends are having an all-girls day, then they wouldn't blame him for having an all-guys day, right? He just hopes they are enjoying their day like he is his now. After all, every time they went to Vale as a group, something always happened.
So...Let me know what you think!