Chapter Thirty-Three

Heading back to our rooms, you'd never guess we'd all had our asses completely kicked.

"That was so cool," Ruby cheered. "Yang, you were like, missed me, and Jaune, you were like all blaaaaah," she said, miming my fire breath,"and Nora, you were all like, Mua-ha-ha! I'm so glad it worked, but are you okay, because that looked like it hurt. Sounded like it hurt. Are you hurt?"

"I'm fine," the ginger waved off her team lead. "It hurt way less than being struck by actual lightning!"

Ruby frowned, "That doesn't make it okay! But, as long as you're okay, oh, oh no!" she gasped.

Yang cocked an eyebrow, "Something wrong, Rubes?"

"Weiss!" the small girl practically yelled.

Looking around, I was just as confused as my fellow blonde was. "What about Weiss?"

"She's going to have to do whatever Mrs. Sepper's gonna do to the others!" Ruby exclaimed.

Blake shrugged, uncaring. "And? If you're worried, what about Ren?"

"Pffft, Rennie'll be fine," Nora scoffed.

Yang turned to the girl, "How can you be so sure?"

The ginger shrugged. "He got hit because he was trying to help me, which, is, you know, kind of romantic," she said, blushing a little, before quickly adding, "not that we're anything more than, friends, that'd be cra-zy, but, like, without me there he'll be fine."

She wasn't wrong, but, now that I thought about it, there was something wrong with what she was saying, on a much deeper level. I glanced to Pyrrha, a question in my eyes, and she understood, nodding and putting forward carefully, "Does he often do that? Get hurt protecting you?"

There was a moment of sadness that flashed across the eternally optimistic girl's face, with blink-or-you'll-miss-it speed, before she waved the comment away. "He's got Aura. He's not really hurt."

Once again, I shared a look with Pyrrha. She'd pounded into my head during our training that you needed to train like you fought. If Ren's instinct was to throw himself into danger, then, even when he didn't have the Aura to tank a blow, he'd still sacrifice himself to save Nora, possible even if she still had Aura.

I started to say something, but my partner shook her head, and I deferred to her expertise, tabling it for now. We'd still need to talk about this, but it didn't have to be today. Pyrrha smiled, and nodded, "Ren will probably do well, but, Ruby, I believe you are correct to be concerned for Weiss."

"I know!" the girl replied. "She tries, but she spends more time studying than anything else! She trained a bit at first, when we first started, and again, after the thing in the forest, but when I asked if she wanted to work together she blew me off!"

"Really?" Yang asked, doubtful, and her sister sent her a hurt look. "Not that I don't believe you Rubes, but, after what our light-knight over here said, I thought she'd. . . ." the girl trailed off.

The tiny team lead shook her head, looking sad. "She said she'd train when we did the group sessions, but that my thing was weapon design, and Myrtenaster was fine as it was."

"Well, you've got a choice," I shrugged, getting her attention. "I know you want to help, but you can't help someone who doesn't want it. I mean, you can, a little, but they're just as likely to resent you for it. More likely if they don't see why you did it, which, since you helped them avoid the bad thing, they very well might, things that didn't happen being kind of hard to see. So, you can reward her behavior, and get one of us do it, or let her have a bad time and come to you for help. Or have her come to one of us on her own, if that'd be too much for her ego."

Pyrrha nodded in agreement, though sent a sideways look my way. "If the worst that can happen is a. . . trying practice session, then that is fine. But there times when it is right to save someone, Jaune, even if they won't appreciate it."

If I was younger I'd agree with her, but having as many bad experiences as I'd had, where the very philosophy she was espousing had been abused by others, help given in turn becoming expected, making you the villain for not being a slave. . . "We'll have to agree to disagree," I offered, getting odd looks from the others.

"Um, Jaune?" Yang asked, unsure.

"For everyone on our team, I would," I reassured her. "For our other classmates, probably. For people I don't know, who might just as well stab me in the back the second it's turned, or are responsible for the very problems they, and others, are facing? No. I'd offer help, but I wouldn't force it."

Ruby considered this, before nodding slowly. "I think, I think I'll do both." Looking up at me, she decided, "I'll tell her about today, about what our teacher said, and offer to help. If she's alright with that then I will, and if not. . . I'll ask again Monday night."

Her gaze was challenging, as if daring me to tell her she was wrong, but I just shrugged. "Sounds like a good compromise. We've still got a few hours before the dining hall's open for dinner. I think you said you wanted cookies, for when we talked weapon design?"

Like a flick was switched, the mood flipped from tense to almost comical, as the girl blinked, confused, before she processed what I'd said, and a wide grin nearly split her face.

"I, yes,Yes! Cookies!" she cheered. "I'll go talk to Weiss, you make the cookies, and we'll start in. . . an hour?" she asked, I nodded, and she pumped a fist. "Okay, going now! Cookies await!"

Shifting into a swirling mass of rose petals, Ruby sped off.

Blake looked at the others, nonplussed. "What just happened."

Yang shook her head. "My little sis loves her cookies. Just like you love those books you won't let me borrow."

The cat-girl froze, "Um, what books?"

The blonde grinned, shooting me a conspiratorial look. "She took the outer cover things off, but they're called 'Ninjas of –"

"Shouldn't you be going?" Blake asked me brusquely , blushing as she cut off her partner. "An hour isn't that much time to bake!"

Yang laughed, the cat-girl shooting her a nasty glare, Pyrrha holding up a hand to cover her own giggles. "Sure thing, Blake," I told the Faunus, smiling myself, and jumping into the air to spread my wings and fly away to a place I could go Home without being spotted.

After all, those cookies wouldn't bake themselves.

DR

When the weekend rolled around, and I found myself confronted by Yang.

"We're supposed to be dating, but you haven't taken me out dancing once. We're fixing that," she informed me, after Blake had already left for the library.

I'd looked up at her, surprised. "Oh, um, yeah, I guess I didn't. Sorry, I was busy."

That'd earned me a look that had bordered on scornful. "Too busy for me?"

Thankfully, as I was caught on my back foot, Pyrrha interceded, "No, he just gets into things. I think we've only had one date that didn't start with us sparring."

Wincing, I shrugged, "Sorry, I've been trying to get better so I'm not shit at fighting, and when I asked you if you wanted to spar, you said you hadn't finished Oobleck's assignment."

"Wait, that was a. . . what kinda girl do you think I am, Arcs?" Yang demanded, annoyed, with her hands on her hips.

"The kind that'd think that getting her blood pumping with a good brawl is excellent foreplay," I replied, unabashed, and a little annoyed myself.

The girl stared for a long moment, before turning her back on me. "Meet me at the school dock at five, and wear somethin' other than your hoodie!."

She quickly left, before I could reply, and I turned to look at Pyrrha, who was shaking her head. "What?"

"Jaune, you have the subtlety of a thrown brick," she informed me, though her fond smile took out any bite the words might've otherwise held.

"I can do subtle, I just didn't think I needed to be," I replied, a bit defensive. "And, was I wrong? Both of you enjoy a fight a bit more than most, though I have feeling your reasons are a bit different than hers."

My partner sighed. "No, I believe you are correct but. . . perhaps merely hint at it, instead of saying such things outright?"

I considered that. "But I just say those things to you."

"And Yang, while we have some similarities, is not me, Jaune," Pyrrha replied. "Perhaps you could accommodate her?"

Looking at my partner, I asked her seriously, "And what is she doing to accommodate me?" From the redhead's expression, she wasn't understanding what I was going for. "Pyrrha, what we have, it's a two-way street. You're helping me, and I'm doing everything I can to get to the point where I can help you in turn. You try and understand me, and I you. It's not tit-for-tat, I'm not keeping score, and if you wanted to do something, you know you'd just need to ask, and I'd try and do it, just as I know you'd do the same for me."

Pyrrha didn't respond at first, considering what I was saying, before she slowly nodded. "So what you are saying is, she declined your request. . . no, it's more than that, isn't it?"

"Her saying no because she's busy is perfectly understandable," I nodded in agreement.

"But then her approaching you as if you were the one who had done wrong. . ." she continued watching my expression.

I nodded again. "Not exactly something that puts me in the best of moods, even if it's happening so fast, blindsided as I was, I don't consciously know why I'm feeling that way. And the fact that she hadn't even hinted that she wanted to? That she just expected me to somehow know? I've had enough of the 'you've done something wrong that you didn't know was wrong, so you better do what I want to make it right' back home." Both homes, actually.

When everything you did could be wrong, because of reasons you didn't know and weren't allowed to argue, and you could never avoid no matter how hard you tried, but you were always expected to work to make it right, it wore away at you. Doubly so, when someone did something that upset you, possibly in the exact same way, and you were just expected to be forgiving and give them the benefit of the doubt no matter what. Even to the most optimistic and understanding of people, the fact that it was always a one-way street, and nothing more than a method to enforce compliance, became readily apparent.

It was something that Jaune and I actually had in common. He had just been young enough to believe things would get better on their own. But servility wasn't strength, it was weakness, and everyone other than Pyrrha had seen him as lesser because of it. In the original timeline, Yang hadn't given Jaune a second look, and the others had, at best, treated him like the team mascot, or a special needs student. It was nice that he was trying, but no one expected him to actually be worthy of their respect. To be fair, the boy did have problems, but their treatment of him hadn't exactly endeared me to a good amount of the cast.

Or, to put it simply, their standing by while Velvet had been harassed wasn't out of character for team RWBY, an 'if you're not strong enough to fight, you don't deserve help' undercurrent to their actions.

And Jaune hadn't been strong enough.

"Then why not say so?" my partner, the only one who would've helped Jaune regardless, asked. "Why not tell her doing so upset you?"

I gestured, "Because that's not how verbal fights work. I apologized, assuming it was unintentional, and was going to bring it up later. But then she attacked again, taking offense where I didn't mean it, showing it wasn't unintentional. I still tried to back off, but she went for me again, so I replied in kind, without claws."

"Without claws?" she echoed, though from her expression I was pretty sure she understood.

I nodded. "I didn't bring up the fact that the only times she'd expressed interest was when we'd sparred, and then she pretended like nothing happened for weeks, so she could very well wait a little. I didn't bring up the fact that she was the one that wanted to pursue me, not the other way around, so why hadn't she done something I didn't say we should do, since that's the standard she was using on me. I didn't even tell her I was busy, and make her reschedule instead of springing her demands, and they were demands, on me at the last minute. Now she didn't double down on my having done something wrong again, or I would've told her no, though I'm now halfway tempted to show up in my school uniform, because of her petty little parting shot about my wardrobe."

Rather than respond, Pyrrha stood up from her desk, walked over to me, and put her hand on my shoulder. "I. . . I don't think she meant it that way, Jaune."

I gave her an unimpressed look. "And when has that ever mattered when it came to me? That makes it worse, not better, Pyrrha. We talk, like this. You wouldn't, after a point was scored against you, walk out in such a way that made sure you got the last word. Sorry, but none of that screams 'partner' to me. It says you're lesser. It says you're my opponent. It says you've got something you need to prove to me. And, while, in some respects I absolutely do have things I'm lesser in compared to her, my worth is not one of them. Hell, I don't even know where that came from, but I'm not going to be finding that out now, because she walked out rather than talk."

"Would you feel that way if I did that, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"Would you do that?" I asked in turn, and she winced. "Exactly."

She frowned. "Are you still going to meet her?"

"Yes?" I said, had I not made that clear. "If only to find out what's going on. But, I can be subtle, Pyrrha, I can just also be a bit, well, catty if the situation calls for it. Though I've got nothing on Blake."

"Jaune," my partner sighed at the familiar complaint, shaking her head. "Do you even own anything that isn't your hoodie, or your uniform? Back home that was all that was in your drawers."

I smirked, "I have a onesie, but I think showing up to go dancing in that would be a bit much."

"A. . . . we're going Home to get you a new outfit," she decided. "And then, I'm going to have a bit of a talk with Yang. I really don't believe she meant it that way." She paused, "Unless, do you feel that is me being too demanding?"

Shaking my head, I stood, grabbing my scroll and opening a Portal. "You're helping me do something I already said I'd do. That's entirely different. And for her not meaning it. Well, you know how I feel about that. Now, let's see if we can get this thing to work so I never need to go clothes shopping again."

DR

Good news, Sweet Home could be used to create clothing. Bad news, it was keyed to me, so I needed to try to visualize exactly what I wanted. That meant it turned into a game of fashion telephone, as Pyrrha tried to describe what she wanted, and I thought I made it, only to be told that it wasn't quite right.

Finally, however, I got it, and the results were. . . not what I ever would wear.

". . . A lot of red in this," I noted, with a smile, as Pyrrha messed with my hair.

Her ministrations slowed, just for a moment. "It's a good color on you," she commented, nonchalantly.

I nodded, just a little. "Uh-huh. And you're totally not subtly reminding her that I'm yours, first and foremost."

"I have no idea what you're talking about," she stated with fake primness, though she couldn't help but smile a little, an expression I returned.

"I approve," I told her, as she stepped back, one of my eyes now covered by golden locks, though I could kind of see through it. "But now I have an overwhelming urge to brush my hair."

Pyrrha lightly hit my chest, "Don't you dare, Jaune. I think you look very handsome this way. A certain roguish charm."

"Really?" I smirked, and she smiled wider. "Well, alright then, but I'm not wearing it like this most of the time."

"Just until you meet Yang. Now, I'm going to go talk to her," she announced, holding up a hand. "I know, you don't believe I need to, but, please Jaune, trust me on this one."

"Okay," I replied, without hesitation.

"Okay?" she repeated, doubtful.

I smiled at her. "Pyrrha, we're bound. Yang and I aren't, nor do I currently like or understand her enough to offer that. If she asked me to trust her to go along with something, I probably would, but I'd be cautious. If you ask me to trust you, I will. It's as simple as that."

"And if I asked you to make her the offer, Jaune? If I said to trust me?" she questioned, tone thoughtful.

At that I hesitated, considering. "I. . . I would. I'd want an explanation, even if it had to be afterwards, but. . . I would. But, you wouldn't ask me to, would you?"

"No, Jaune, I wouldn't," she smiled, shaking her head, before taking my face in her hands, leaning forward while lifting herself up on the balls of her feet to kiss me.

We stayed like that for a long moment, before she pulled back.

"Do you have to go-" I started to ask.

"Yes, Jaune, I do. Remember, five o'clock. Don't be late."

And with that, Pyrrha pranced out the door.

DR

"Arcs?" came a voice from behind me, and I turned, to see Yang in a very nice black and beige outfit that looked oddly familiar, with thigh-high black boots and, somehow, her bust seemingly even more on display than normal. "Dang, you clean up nice," she smiled, sauntering up to me. "Likin' the threads."

"Same," I replied, giving her a slow once over. "So, where are we going?"

The blonde walked past me, smirking, and onto the waiting airbus, already a quarter full of students. "A little place I blew through before. Tons of fun."

Following her, we grabbed some seats in the back, and waited for it to take off, as more classmates came in, one of them, a girl by the name of Ginger Fields from team SFRE, giving us a wink, in the same kind of flashy/sexy outfit Yang was wearing.

It wasn't until the ship had taken off, shuttling us to the city of Vale, that Yang spoke up. "So, how long's it been since you got out and tore up the floor?"

I looked over at her, and at her calm confidence, though there was an underlying tension to it. "Does square-dancing count?" I asked dryly, and from her incredulous look, that was a no. "How about school-sponsored dances?" That at least got a negatory head shake. "Seventeen years, give or take."

The girl froze, "You, you've never been out. . ." she trailed off.

"Nope," I replied blandly.

"Oh. But, you and. . ." she glanced around, being conspicuous as all hell, and whispering, "Red?"

"Sparred a lot, had a picnic, that was it. I've been busy," I reiterated.

Yang looked like I'd slapped her with a fish. ". . . Oh. I. . . uh. . . damn."

I waited, calmly, watching her as she looked away, anger momentarily flashing over her features. Glancing back at me, she chewed her lip, before announcing, "I normally meet guys at the club. Or at a dance. Or somethin' like that."

Not saying anything, I just watched her, wondering where this was going.

"So, I kinda. . ." Yang said, looking away from me again, fidgeting a little. "I kinda thought, that, maybe I'd forced ya to, you know. And that's why we hadn't done anything. 'Cause you didn't want to. 'Cause most guys want to Yang out, like, all the time. Kinda annoYanging sometimes. But ya didn't."

"So you were worried with Xiao Long it was taking me to ask?" I questioned, getting a snort of laughter from the other girl, and a nod. "I did ask, Yang, but you were busy."

"But that was just the one time!" she objected, sounding a little hurt.

Thinking about it, I asked, "And you were waiting me to ask again?" She nodded. "Why?"

Her head snapped up, staring at me, confused. "Because that's what guys do," she said, as if it was obvious.

"So, because I'm a guy, I have to be like the others?" I questioned, without heat.

She shrugged, "Well, yeah."

I nodded sagely, "Ah, so, when are you going to quit being a huntress?"

"What? Never!" she practically yelled, offended, getting a few looks sent our way. Quietly she demanded, "Why would you ask that?"

"Because, until a few months ago, not risking yourself that way was 'just what girls did'," I told her. "If that's the standard I should be using, that's the logical next question. Or are you saying you're different than the other girls I knew before I got here."

"Like, duh," the blonde said, motioning to herself. "Of course I'm different!" I gave her a flat look. "Oh."

"Oh." I agreed. "Pyrrha might've said so, but if you wanted to do something, you could've just asked."

"I did," she insisted. "That's why we're here."

"Oh, you did?" I raised an eyebrow. "I must've missed that. What, exactly, did you ask me, Yang?"

"I asked you if. . ." she started to say, but trailed off. "I asked. . . I. . . um. . . Hey Arcs, do you want to go dancing?" she inquired, chagrined.

I let the statement sit for a moment, as the other girl squirmed a little, to highlight the answer to my question. "I wouldn't say no," I finally stated. "Pyrrha had gotten me these, and thankfully let me have them in time for this."

"She did? Ah, shit," Yang swore to herself. "I, um, damn, I've really messed this up, haven't I?"

I nodded. "Yes." The single word crushed her, and I continued, "But that doesn't mean the night's ruined. I've never gone dancing, and always wondered what a club was actually like. I just. . . I want to be talked with, Yang, not dictated to. I'll try my best to do so with you, but, we're just figuring this entire 'dating' thing out. Mistakes happen. Hell, I'm sure I'll do something that pisses you off. Just, talk to me, if that happens, Yang. Don't do some big thing like telling me I've messed up for not reading your mind, then keep looking for things to get mad at. Okay?"

She winced, "Yeah, that's what Pyrrha said. But, why're you so busy? And don't say you need to get stronger," Yang said, with a wave of her hand. "You're top five of the class, easy. Hell, dude, you hosed down a giant Ursa. Like it was easy. Until all was left were the freakin' paws. What's got you so worried?"

That was a good question, but I couldn't exactly cite canon, so it was, "The Grimm Tide-"

"Never happens," she cut me off. "I mean, they do, but I've seen, like, two in my life, and one was the one last month. And Vale's got defenses. Wait, is that why we're makin' those air-cycles?"

"One of them," I agreed easily.

Yang fell silent, and stared at me, eyes flicking down to my mask, as she frowned contemplatively. "Arcs, Jaune," she said, correcting herself. "The Tide wasn't your fault."

Yes, yes it was, I thought, but I knew I wasn't going to get her to believe me. "It doesn't matter if it's my fault. It matters if I can protect you," I told her.

She frowned, protesting, "I can protect myself."

"Not against a Tide. Not yet. I can't protect myself either, let alone everyone else," I added, cutting off her objection. "By the time I can, I can relax, but until then, I have a long way to go." And, given I'm almost certain that the fall of Beacon will be a Grimm Tide this time, I only have a few months to get there.

"But, Blake and I aren't getting that much better. I mean, we might now, with the new Prof we've got, but. . ." she paused, looking at me. "But you and Red, you're always practicin', always gettin' better."

I shrugged, "If that's what it takes for us to protect the other six, then we just need to get that much better."

"Six?" she questioned, realization dawning. "You're protecting Rubes' team too, aren't ya."

"I'll protect my team," I reiterated, dead serious. "Ruby is the team lead of RRWN, but she's still my teammate, and I'll do what I can to make sure she survives, along with Ren, Nora, and Weiss. I don't particularly like the Ice Queen, but I don't particularly like Blake either, and I'd defend both. But that doesn't matter. They're my team, and I'd face down another Tide if that's what it took to make sure they're safe."

"Holy shit that's hot," Yang muttered, blinking, and like that, the moment was broken.

Sighing, I looked at her, "Really?"

She blushed a little, but shrugged, burying it in bravado. "Hey, I calls 'em like I sees 'em. And hey, look, we're almost here. Come on, Light Knight, I'm gonna give you a ride you'll never forget."

DR

Well, she wasn't wrong, careening down the streets at breakneck speeds, holding on tightly to the girl. At first it'd been scary, but, while I didn't trust her not to go after me verbally, Yang knew what she was doing on a motorcycle. I'd leaned into it, enjoying the low sense of speed, far different than flight, and all too soon we stopped in what looked like a lower-class part of the city, the girl nodding to herself as she pulled up her bike near a few others that were parked off to the side.

There wasn't a line, but maybe that wasn't a thing with clubs here? Either way, the bouncer, a guy in a black suit with red glasses and a tie, along with one of those fedora-but-not hats, froze for a moment, and stepped aside, letting us in.

She had said she'd been here before, I thought, getting the oddest sense of Déjà vu. Either way, we walked past the coat check, the spring air, and Aura, meaning neither of us needed to wear one, and then out into the club proper.

The music was oddly familiar as well, and as we moved through the last door we found ourselves in an enormous monochrome room, mostly black with white accents, four large white glass pillars on each corner of the dancefloor, with holographic black tress at the edges. As we headed down, the white in the room shifted colors, fading into blue, and green, but always going back to white in time for the music. The only constant color was the red of the DJ's booth, where a guy in a giant teddy-bear helmet kept the beats coming.

Again, I had the strongest sense that I'd seen this all before, but I was distracted as Yang took me by the hand, leading me into the masses of people, everyone dressed up and with some sort of color primary in their outfit, like beige was for hers, or red was for me.

Going with the flow, I tried to sync my movements with her, and I could see her laugh. The music was almost punishingly loud, so she leaned in close, pressing her body against me as she yelled, "You've really never done this, have you?"

I just shook my head, and she laughed again, reaching out and helping direct me to move with her, and, as we continued, I could start to feel Jaune's memories perk up, showing me what to do, helping to smooth my stances, letting me pick it up quickly. Right, I thought, this is one of the few things he's good at.

Soon enough, I fell into the beat with her, matching and moving around her as the music thrummed through us both, twisting against each other in a way oddly halfway between Pyrrha's two favorite activities: combat and sex.

We'd been at it for, I didn't know how long, before she took my hand and dragged me off the dancefloor, pressing herself up against me and kissing me deeply, pulling away flushed, and with a wide smile. "I'm gonna go freshen up, get a drink for me?" she asked, adding, "Strawberry Sunrise," before I could even ask.

Patting me on the chest, her last one a gentle push towards the bar, she turned for the bathrooms. Shaking my head, I made my way over, finding it, too, was not as busy as I'd thought a club's bar would be. Benefits of living on a death world? I wondered with gallows humor, the bartender looking up at me warily.

Must be a Faunus thing, I noted, only now realizing that, while not the only non-human in the place, I was one of maybe five. Either way, the guy shot me an inquisitive look. "Strawberry Sunrise and something with cinnamon."

He nodded, making the drinks, and the price, while a bit eyebrow raising, was paid without question. No entrance fee, need to pay for this somehow I thought, waiting for Yang.

Sipping my own drink, which was surprisingly good, the alcohol no-sold by my Body Talent, my date sauntered up to me, grinning, as she took her drink and twisted to lean against the bar with me. "So, what'd'ya think?"

"I'm sorry I haven't come to a place like this before," I replied just as loudly, the music a bit more bearable off the dancefloor, but still enough to make talking difficult. Giving her a smile, I added, "Though that might just be the company."

She laughed, punching me in the arm while we relaxed, and I made a mental note to figure out a time when we could do this again. Once a month, maybe?

The music changed, the colors of the room shifting, which was a nice effect, and I noted, with a little relief, that it wasn't quite as loud. Then someone to my left growled, "You're either brave or stupid to show your face here again, blondy."

Looking over, there was a large man, maybe seven and a half feet tall, in black and white, with the same red tie as the staff wore, scowling behind his neatly trimmed beard at my date, and it all clicked.

"Yang," I asked, looking over at her. "Did you take me to the club full of criminals that you trashed right before term started?"

"Well," she replied, grinning unrepentantly. "You did say I liked a fight to get things going."