Jaune panted as the simulated Ark crossed the finish line of the [Beacon Aura Pilot Training Subroutine V1.7.3.], the timer flashing as it stopped.
Jaune felt like this run through the course had gone better than the last few times, but he was also a complete novice who shouldn't be trusted to judge his growth objectively. Instead, he looked up at the timer and saw proof that it was better.
"[Beacon Aura Pilot Training Subroutine V1.7.3.] has been finished. Time of Completion: 21 Minutes, 32 Seconds. Completion Rank [D] has been granted. New Personal Best!"
He felt a sigh escape him as the giant letter 'D' flashed next to the timer, leaning back in the chair he was sitting in up in the cockpit of the simulated Ark. 'Well, I guess an improvement of 3 minutes is still pretty great, especially since it hasn't even been a week since I got my Aura unlocked…'
The simulated world around him fades away with the blare of a siren, and he finds himself back in the box again, unstrapping himself from the control gloves with what was quickly becoming muscle memory.
As the machine went through its shutdown procedure for the course he had been running, he headed outside of the simulator. Jaune couldn't help but yawn as the mental exhaustion of training for the whole day straight hit him, and he offhandedly noted that he was alone in the simulator building this time around.
'This isn't working fast enough. I clearly can't just keep bashing my head against the wall when it comes to Aura, or I might not be ready for when we get sent out to fight a Grimm.'
The mental image of him not being good enough a pilot causing one of his teammates to get hurt or worse stung badly, and he felt his lips press into a line. The 'reset' page for the simulator tempted him, calling for him just to hop back in and keep practising, but…
No, he needed to be smart about this. 'I need answers about Aura, but Weiss is probably busy right now. And hell, I owe her enough already… Surely I can figure this out myself.'
And the place to do that would be… The library, most likely. Exiting the simulator building, the door locking behind him automatically, he pulled out his scroll, inputting the library building into his map and following the directions the device gave him.
The map function was something he found really cool, mainly because it was something he hadn't been able to use much back home, especially since he barely ever left the farm. There was just so much need for there to be a detailed map out in the middle of nowhere like Ansel, so whoever made the maps apparently didn't bother going out there to make them.
As he walked, he couldn't help but notice a pair of Arks getting deployed from one of the nearby silos. The process seemed simple, get the Arks outside of Beacon's territory and then send the pilots on their way to complete their mission, but moving machines that were 40 meters tall and packed full of weapons was apparently harder than it sounded.
But Beacon was made to do this kind of thing, and the Arks were on their way soon after, headed off into the wilderness. They were likely destined for some village a little larger than Ansel had been, who had spotted a Grimm in the vicinity and called for a Huntsman.
He'd been walking as he watched them leave, and it had taken up the whole amount of time needed for him to get to the library building, his scroll beeping to tell him that he'd arrived. He headed up the small flight of stairs, pushed open the big double doors of the building and headed inside.
The interior of the Beacon Library was… Homely, he would say. There was just enough light that no one was going to hurt their eyes reading, but not so much light that the building felt clinical. It was also almost perfectly climate controlled, too, the perfect temperature where you weren't cold or warm, just existing.
It was quiet, too, which was to be expected due to its being a library, but it was even quieter than he had expected. Was it because it was the later evening, and everyone was out doing their own thing?
Or did Beacon students just take the massive stockpile of books for granted? That felt weird, but hey, even he'd only come here as a last resort when hard work was going too slow for him, so maybe the others were like that as well.
He moved further into the building and after a quick chat with a nice librarian, he had been pointed towards the section of the Library that dealt with Aura, as well as a small bit of paper with some 'supplemental reading' as the lady at the desk had put it.
Jaune had pocketed the paper but didn't expect to get around to reading anything on it for the moment. Right now, he was just focused on Aura control and Ark piloting. He didn't need to be a professor of Aura-ology yet, he just needed enough to be able to fight.
He reached the section the librarian sent him to and started grabbing books that sounded right. 'Dempsy's Guide to Aura', 'Aura and You', 'Aura for Dummies', 'How to activate Aura', and even a small picture book that was clearly meant for 10 to 12-year-old Signal students called 'Andy and his Aura' which featured a chibi, anthropomorphic bunny rabbit with Aura around him.
He stopped grabbing new books when his pile got so high that he couldn't see over the top of it and instead started moving over to the reading booths. It was hard to navigate with the books in the way, but he eventually made it to a booth and slipped into the seat, placing the books down on the table.
Letting out a sigh, he started to spread the books out so that the pile wasn't about to topple over when he heard someone clearing their throat nearby. Looking up, he met amber-coloured eyes as Blake raised an eyebrow at him.
"AH!"
His shout of surprise caused Blake to jump in shock as well, and for a loud 'SSSHHHHH' to come from the librarian's desk. He placed a hand over his heart and took a few deep breaths. "Sorry, I didn't see you there and you spooked me. Payback for the other night I guess, haha."
Blake hummed at that, opening her own book again and rolling her eyes, a small smile on her face. Jaune took that as a good thing and relaxed. "Are you alright if I sit here and read as well?"
There was a moment of silence from her as Blake glanced down at the pile of books he'd brought over, but she didn't comment on the sheer number of them that he'd grabbed. "Go for it. Are you still struggling with the simulator?"
Jaune laughed quietly and nodded, idly grabbing at one of the books, the Signal student one with the bunny person. He knew just about as much as Signal students would, to be honest, so maybe it would be helpful.
"Yeah, thought It would help to study up on Aura and stuff. How about you, what are you readi-"
He froze halfway through his sentence as he spotted the cover of the book she was reading. Ninjas of Love stared back at him with its purple lettering over its just-barely safe-for-work photo shoot cover.
At the same time that he realised what she was reading, it seemed like she remembered what she was reading, as the look of sheer panic on Blake's face as she slammed the book shut and made to get up was almost priceless.
"Wait, wait! It's ok!"
Blake looked back at him as the words tumbled out of his mouth, and she stopped looking like she was about to run away when he motioned placing a finger over his lips. "I promise not to make a big deal about it."
Blake's eyes darted around their surroundings, but even Jaune knew that there was barely anyone else in the library. After she was seemingly confident that no one else had seen or heard them, she visibly calmed down.
Jaune smiled at her as she dropped back into her seat, and could see the question in her eyes, even if she didn't outright ask it. "Seriously, it's fine. I'm more of a superhero story guy myself, but a few of my sisters have read the series, so I know it's not as… Ahem… Spicy as most people think it is."
Blake seemed genuinely excited to hear that from him, and he could have sworn the bow on her head moved slightly, but he had probably just imagined it. "Yes! The romance between Dusk and Alyssa is so well written, the cough spicier cough bits are just so it stays realistic!"
Jaune couldn't help the smile that grew on his face at the sight of Blake's own, and he nodded. "That lines up with what my sisters said, yeah. They kept praising it for its quality writing, even as they kept it away from their 'precious little brother'.
Blake's smile stayed on her face as she let out a small sigh, before opening her book again and shuffling into the cushion of the seat. "They sound like good sisters."
Jaune preened slightly, feeling weirdly good about the compliment even if it wasn't aimed at him. Cracking open 'Andy and his Aura', he grinned. "They're the best sisters."
He noticed that Blake was looking at his book now, a look of genuine confusion on her face as she realised what he was reading. Jaune just looked down at the cover, looked back up to her, and shrugged.
"I don't judge you for your reading, and you don't judge me for mine?"
Blake snorted with laughter at that, giving him a sharp nod before going back to her reading. "That's a good deal, Jaune. I'll take it."
Jaune internally gasped to himself at having made Blake Belladonna laugh but refocused on his book before he got too distracted. He needed to get through this reading if he wanted to improve.
Settling into their chairs, sitting across from each other, Jaune and Blake settled into a comfortable silence as they both read their chosen books until it was time to head back to the dorms and go to bed so they could be up and ready for tomorrow.
"Mr Winchester, may I have your attention? Or is whatever is on your scroll that much more interesting than the training that will save your life in the field?"
The talking that had been softly echoing from the back of the room stopped suddenly as Professor Greene snapped at Cardin and his fireteam, who all basically just froze stiff as soon as it was clear they had been caught.
Jaune felt little pity for them as he kept himself laser-focused on Professor Greene and the screen she had up. She'd just been about to talk about the thing they were doing for today's lesson when she'd noticed Cardin on his scroll.
Cardin must have looked appropriately chastised for Professor Greene, or at least been able to fake looking appropriately chastised, because she nodded sharply, crossing her arms. "This will be your class's first and only warning. Unauthorised use of your Scroll during my class will now come with immediate detention. You may thank Mr Winchester for using your only warning on your own time."
As a feeling of animosity started heading towards the back of the room, Professor Greene continued with her lesson, ignoring the rising tension. "Tactics are a very complicated subject to cover, and seeing as none of you has much of a background with it, I will first be starting with some metaphors that might help you wrap your head around this."
She tapped on her desk scroll and the screen at the front of the room changed to show a couple of symbols with labels over them. 'Melee/Ranged Damage, Support, Tank.'
There were a few snorts of laughter as they were brought up, but Professor Greene continued to look deadly serious. "Obviously, this is an incredibly simplified version of your role in a team, but I have found it does fit quite well, and is readily understandable for younger people."
Stepping out in front of the screen, she unclipped a laser pointer from her belt and pointed it at the symbol marked 'Melee and Ranged Damage.' "This is fairly self-explanatory, and encompasses everyone whose job during a fight would be to be on the offensive."
She pressed a button on the laser pointer, and a pair of photos appeared, both of Arks. One was fairly similar to the generic Ark frame the simulators used, if a little more armour, and wielded a slightly-curved greatsword, and the other was slightly shorter than the generic, lower armoured, and held a rifle in its hands.
Professor Greene seemed to sigh tiredly at the photos, before shaking her head slightly. Jaune wasn't even sure if she realised she'd done it, but it was, at the very least, clear to him that she probably knew the pilots of these Arks, and wasn't a fan of at least one of them.
"Those that are considered 'Damage Dealers' are usually those that have fighting styles or semblances that are conducive to such, but Semblances are unnecessary for the classification. As long as it's your job to be doing damage, then you exist here."
Another click and the screen swapped over to 'Support', bringing up another pair of pictures, this time including one that Jaune recognised from the first day of school. Professor Greene nodded as a couple of hands shot up.
"Yes, Professor Goodwitch's 'Broomstick' does count in this category, no matter her capability in combat. During missions where she is accompanied by a fireteam, she will usually take a backseat, supportive role, assisting her teammates with positioning, and using the large traps she keeps as equipment to immobilise Grimm using her Semblance."
Professor Greene clicked forward, bringing up another pair of mechs, and Jaune didn't recognise either of them, but one was clearly an Atlas-affiliated Ark, the symbol of the kingdom emblazoned on its heavily armoured chassis.
"Then you have 'Tanks', those who specialise in direct combat, with the fighting styles or semblances that rely on either tanking hits or counterattacks. If the Grimm's attention is meant to be on you in a fight, then you're a Tank."
Professor Greene clicked the screen again, and it turned off. Turning back to the class, she put her hands together behind her back and looked out over the students as their scrolls all buzzed in unison.
"With this in mind, we will now begin our first exercise for this class. It will be focused on testing your planning and adaptability. You will be given the details about two Ark's fighting styles and semblances, and will have to make a plan of action against a randomly assigned Grimm, in a randomly assigned battlefield."
Jaune hummed as she opened his scroll, seeing the document he had been sent, containing the info Professor Greene had been talking about. 'Alright, we've got one Ark that focuses on agility, with a non-combat Semblance, alongside a ranged focused Ark that can float for short bursts, the battlefield is a desert, and they are up against a… Sabyr?'
He had to quickly remind himself of what a Sabyr was, but luckily all Beacon students got access to a free database about known Grimm. He was given an image of a Grimm that looked almost like a cat… If a cat was almost two buildings tall and had fangs sticking out of its top jaw that were many times taller than he was.
A hand came up to hold his chin up as he placed his Scroll on the desk in front of him, closing his eyes as he tried to think of the best plan he could.
Cats were quick, their claws sharp, but they weren't very durable, and a quick check of the Grimm database told him that his description would also hold up for a Sabyr, as well. They were ambush hunters, which meant they had little to none of the bone armour some hardier Grimm had.
Reading up on the Arks a little more, he noticed that it came with a small blurb about their capabilities in combat, their skill level, and some of the munitions each of them had. As he read through it, he could feel the start of an idea coming into his mind.
'What if I have them do this…'
He tapped away at the screen of his scroll, humming to himself as his idea started to come to life with every word. He had to delete a couple of lines here and there and replace them when he realised something wouldn't work, but by the end of it, he reckoned he had a half-decent plan.
And it had only taken him about half an hour to think of it and fully write it down!
Doubling checking everything again, he sent it through once he was truly happy with the plan and winced as Professor Greene's own scroll pinged, making him realise that he was the first person to have submitted their idea.
Professor Greene picked up her scroll and was clearly reading through his plan, and after a moment, she started tapping away at the keys on it. After a short waiting period, during which he felt a rising sense of worry in his chest, Jaune received a message, opening it as Professor Greene moved on to the next submission.
'Using the more agile Ark to act as bait for the Sabyr while the ranged Ark peppers it with shots, using the ranged Ark's ability to float to stay out of the Sabyr's range if it ever changes targets, and using the water Dust ammunition to create mud-traps in the sand to limit the Sabyr's movements. Impressive plan, Mr. Arc, especially for your first go at it. Keep up this quality and you will do fine in my class.'
As he read over it, Jaune let out a breath he hadn't realised he had been holding as a sigh of relief. He hadn't expected such sincere praise from a teacher like Professor Greene, but he would take it without complaint!
His worries eased, and he felt a swell of pride. He had done well! Jaune Arc, the guy who cheated his way into Beacon, had gotten praised by a teacher for his work. He felt himself fall back into his seat as a sigh escaped him.
That was as good a sign as any that he could make Beacon work, in his eyes. And it was a much-needed confidence boost, especially after the incredibly slow progress his Aura training had been having.
But this? If he had any amount of nascent talent at this it was worth nurturing, especially with his position as Fireteam leader. He wasn't confident that he could fight just yet, so what better way was there to contribute to the team, until he was able to fight, than to help his teammates fight as best they could?
The question buzzed in his mind as he closed his eyes again, the members of Fireteam JSBYRR floating through his mind as he tried to think of effective combinations in a fight, using the format Professor Greene had used.
His mental training (daydreaming) continued for the rest of the lesson until the bell rang, and he headed straight back to the dorm room now that classes were over, wanting to get some proper rest before he went and did his Aura training later that night.
Jaune's bed was heaven on Remnant, as far as he was concerned.
He was currently lying over the covers, with his eyes shut and his hands behind his head. The doona that Beacon gave all their students was fluffy and comfortable, and his rising drowsiness definitely attested to that.
A factor that helped with his comfort was the fact that the room was so quiet. Only Ren and Ruby were still there, and Ruby was too busy focusing on tinkering with her tricked-out war scythe to talk. Literally. She was holding a screwdriver with her teeth so that her hands could be free to play with the mechanisms.
Ren was seemingly setting something up on the Dorm's TV, but Jaune's bed was far too comfy for him to be focused on that. He was far too busy relishing the blessed quiet of the room. Weiss had gone to the CCT to call her family, and Yang dragged Blake out to Vale to go shopping.
His blessed quiet was broken when an alarm went off on Ruby's scroll, and she let out an excited gasp as she grabbed the offending device and silenced the alarm. There was a 'woosh' noise right after and Jaune saw Rose petals fly towards the door, Ruby reforming from them as she opened it.
"I need to catch a bullhead down to Vale! A new weapon store is having its grand opening in about 30 minutes, so I'll be there for the next few hours, totally not fangirling over all the cool new tech there."
Jaune smirked at that, the memory of her reaction to their assignment in Equipment Maintenance class flashing through his mind as he sent her a small nod. "Definitely not, you're not one to fangirl over technology at all."
That even got a snort out of Ren, and Ruby just beamed back at him before rushing out of the room and slamming the door shut. The room returned to its blessed silence for a moment… Before Ren of all people shattered it.
"Do you have plans for tonight as well? Or are you staying here for the moment?"
Jaune felt his eyes narrow at the boy as he caught a slightly suspicious undertone to his words. "Do you… Want me to have plans for tonight? Plans that would leave you alone in the Dorm room, perhaps?"
For what it was worth, Ren had the awareness to blush as what his question implied hit him before he coughed into a fist. "No, no, nothing like that. I merely have a friend coming over and wanted to know if I should be introducing you or not."
Jaune smiled at that, already fairly certain who the 'friend' was. "Is this the redhead you've been talking to since we got to Beacon? Nora?"
Ren nodded as he fiddled with the game console, trying to get one of the controllers to connect and struggling. It was while he was doing that, that a knock at the door echoed through the room.
"Renny! Let me in! We've got goblins to kneecap!"
Glancing over to Jaune, Ren met his eyes with his ever-tired stare and nodded over towards the door. "Would you be able to grab that for me? I have to get this fixed."
Letting out a joking sigh of effort, Jaune hopped up off his bed and moved over to the door, opening it and putting a smile on his face. "Hey ther- OOF"
Jaune could have sworn he felt his Aura levels take a dive as a blur of orange and pink slammed into his with the force of a Bullhead. His arms pinned to his sides by the blur's sudden hug, he found himself coughing as the blur lifted him off the ground.
The blur spoke up a moment later, and Jaune's brain finally caught back up with himself as he realised that Nora had wrapped him in a bear hug. "Renny! I've been so busy I couldn't see you I'm sorry! Wait… You feel taller. Ooo, and you look blonder, too!"
Ren let out a cough at Nora's words, and the girl's eyes widened slightly before she let go of Jaune, sending him tumbling to the floor. His Aura took most of the brunt of the impact, but he still groaned as a dull ache shot through his back.
The girl, Nora, bent down and held a hand out for him to grab, a blinding smile on her face. "Sorry about dropping you! It's just been so long since I got the chance to hang out with Renny, and I'm super excited!"
Jaune heard the tired sigh that escaped Ren and struggled to smother the snort of laughter that threatened to escape him because of it. "Nora, it's been less than a week since we hung out like this."
Nora turned to Ren with a manic smile on her face as she absentmindedly patted Jaune down, getting some dust off his back. "Exactly! It's been almost a whole week since we hung out like this!"
A soft smile appears on Ren's face, disappearing just as quickly. However much Ren tried to hide it, however, Jaune spotted it, a smirk appearing on his face. After he was apparently clean enough for Nora to be satisfied, the girl darted over to Ren and swiped up one of the controllers.
"Alright, let's get started! I only have an hour or two of spare time, so let's maximise friendship time and get this game going! Oh, and Blondey, you can play too, we've got, like, four controllers to use!"
Jaune glanced over to Ren, who just shrugged and motioned towards the third controller, giving him the choice if he wanted to join or not. Smiling, Jaune moved over and plopped down on Ren's right, with Nora practically stealing the boy's left arm.
"Oh right, I totally forgot to introduce myself! My name is Nora Valkyrie! Your name isn't Blondey, right? Unless I'm just super awesome, and guessed it right on the first try."
Jaune laughed at that, shaking his head as he stuck a hand out towards the girl behind Ren. The girl almost looked pained when she had to let go of Ren to shake his hand, but she perked back up immediately after, relatching onto his arm.
"It's nice to meet you too, Nora. Unfortunately, you didn't guess it right, haha, my name is Jaune. I'm Ren's partner."
Ren stiffened at that, and Jaune could almost sense… Panic in the boy's body language. Why? Was he not supposed to tell people about them being partners? That was a little hurtful, to be honest.
"IT WAS YOU!"
Any thoughts he had about Ren being rude were thrown out the window as he realised why Ren was worried. He wasn't worried about Nora knowing Jaune was his partner for Ren's sake. He was worried for his sake.
Nora had practically teleported to Jaune as she yelled it out, her forehead meeting his as she gave him what he would call a happy death stare. "You stole my man from me! We were going to be partners at Beacon!"
'Her man, huh?' A small smirk grew on Jaune's face, but he quickly schooled his expression as the dangerous glint in Nora's eye grew slightly. "I'm sorry, Nora. It was really random, though. I would have let you two be partners if I knew you wanted to. How long have you been together?"
Both of them froze at that, to Jaune's amusement, and Nora let him go quickly, a bright red blush on her face as she tapped the tips of her pointer fingers together. Ren spoke up quickly. "We've known each other our entire lives. We've been together ever since we were little kids."
Still tapping her fingers together, Nora mumbled something under her breath that Jaune only just caught. "Not together-together, though…"
Jaune's idea of the two's relationship became slightly clearer at that, and he felt a pang of pity for the girl. Ren didn't seem to notice how much the fact that they weren't 'together-together' upset Nora…
'Maybe I can help that along at some point? Ren has done nothing but help me so far, so I should help him, too!'
But for now… He would put any attempt off, and let them enjoy hanging out with each other. "Alrighty then, why don't we get started? If you want, you can explain the game to me while we play, Nora."
Nora nodded rapidly and went into a rant about game mechanics and little tips and tricks, somehow maintaining the focus needed to fight alongside Ren and himself while she did so. In fact, she was actually outscoring them both, even while she explained the game in detail.
Her explanations and tips continued throughout the entire two hours that she was in fireteam JSBYRR's dorm room, with Jaune asking the occasional question and Ren essentially just vibing silently.
Jaune would have almost thought Ren wasn't enjoying himself if it wasn't for the way that he leaned into Nora as she spoke, that soft smile of his returning to his face. It was clear that even the 'less than a week' they had spent separated had hit Ren just as hard as it had Nora, even if he wasn't quite as… Manic about his excitement.
Eventually, though, a notification buzzed on Nora's scroll, sparking a loud, long groan of disappointment as she grabbed the device. She put a comically expressive frown on her face as she tapped away at the screen, turning the alarm off, and jumped to her feet.
"I have to go now, Renny… My team leader is calling my fireteam back for training…"
Ren nodded as she stood to start packing up the console, accepting the quick hug the girl wrapped him in, seemingly not even noticing how his face grew slightly red at the act. Jaune chuckled to himself at the fact as he stood as well, only to be suddenly winded when Nora slammed into him again, wrapping him in another hug, this time aware of who she was hugging.
"Goodbye for now, Partner Thief! It was nice to meet you! Let's be friends!"
Before Jaune could even respond to her, she had given Ren another quick hug, before darting out of the room, the door slowly creaking shut behind her. Jaune turned to Ren, a smile on his face.
"She's… incredibly energetic. You must like her a lot to put up with it your whole life."
Ren either didn't understand what Jaune was trying to imply or if he didn't, he didn't rise to the bait. He just finished packing up the console with a contented look on his face. "Yes, she is a handful. But Nora is my closest friend. I don't have to put up with her, because I enjoy every moment."
Ren paused for a second before frowning. "Don't tell her I said that, or she'll start breaking into our Dorm room in the wee hours of the morning. Don't ask me why I'm so sure about that."
Jaune burst out in laughter at that, agreeing to keep it a secret for him, and stumbled back to his bed to lie down again. It was a few moments after he had laid down fully on his bed when the door to their door slammed open again, four voices filling the room.
"And then the guy was like; 'For you, sweetheart, I can do a 30% discount, more if you show more', ugh! The dude was like, 70 years old, why on Remnant would he think I would want to be flirted with by him?"
Jaune looked up to see Yang, Blake, Weiss and Ruby all filtering back into the room, all four of them covered in shopping bags. Halfway through Yang's very loud story, however, Weiss looked at himself and Ren and sighed.
"We were all gone for like, three to four hours. Have you guys just been sitting here like this the whole time?"
He knew that he was in a very similar position to when they had all left, and a glance over at Ren showed that he had returned to his own bed and was sitting cross-legged, in the exact pose he had been when Weiss left.
Snorting softly at that, Jaune sat up and shook his head. "Nah, we a visit from Ren's friend, Nora. She came over and we hung out playing video games for a few hours. They're super close."
The second he said 'she', he could tell that he'd caught the girl's interest, even Weiss, whose eyes sparkled slightly even as she kept a cool look on her face. Yang and Ruby were more obvious about it, grinning at Ren, and Blake didn't seem to care either way if you weren't able to see the way her body language pointed towards Ren.
Ren didn't seem to get the danger of embarrassment he was in, and nodded. "Yes, we are close. We've been together since our childhoods. You wouldn't know her, of course. She's on another Fireteam."
Jaune winced at the phrase, worried for a moment, and he saw the girls all glance at each other. A glance that said 'Oh god, Ren is making up having a girlfriend and Jaune is humouring him to help him save face.'
Before he could speak, however, the girls all nodded to each other, some sort of pact being made through the mental connections teenage girls had when it came to the topic of relationships.
All four of them, in sync, put on smiles that Jaune recognised from his years living with 7 sisters as the 'I'm playing along' smile. Ruby spoke up after a moment. "Glad to hear it, then! I hope you both had fun with… Nora."
He felt the girls glance his way, clearly thinking that he was playing along as well to help his partner out, and Jaune could just barely stop himself from bursting out in laughter. They seriously thought Ren was trying to pull a 'My girlfriend goes to another school' gambit!
It was a serious challenge for Jaune to keep his internal laughter internal as the girls settled in for the night, and when Jaune's alarm went off on his scroll, he jumped up and started heading to the simulator building.
Before he exited the door, though, he turned and spotted Ren texting with someone, presumably Nora, and he snickered to himself. Ren was texting a girl who was a friend, and who very clearly wanted to be more…
And none of the girls in Fireteam JSBYRR thought she was real. Jaune only made it a couple of steps out of the room before his laughter escaped him, but it was the effort that counted more than success in this case.