Jaune Arc, seventeen and counting was smiling as he walked towards the cafeteria with his team.
Nay, he wasn't just smiling, he was grinning like a loon.
The reason for his joy? The woman who was walking just as happily if not more beside him.
Pyrrha Nikos, four-time regional champion and his partner, glanced at him shyly with a blush on her face.
Their mood was so palpable that Team RWBY immediately took notice of their faces as they sat down.
"What's up with you two?" Ruby asked with a tilt of her head as she munched on her cookies.
"Yeah, I would have thought all of us would be bummed out considering what we learned yesterday." Yang added and Jaune's eyes widened at that.
He saw Pyrrha wince slightly beside him but more than that was Weiss scowling visibly beside Ruby.
"Please do not remind me."
Jaune cringed. That's right. They all learned that Atlas, Weiss' home, supposedly falls on top of mantle in the future.
Considering the circumstances, it does seem strange that he and Pyrrha were smiling so much. Luckily for them, he had an answer ready.
"Right, the reason for this is..." He waves wryly to his own face before closing his eyes and...glowing.
Gasps greeted him and Jaune opened his eyes to Team RWBY's shocked faces.
Jaune smiles at that.
"I unlocked my Semblance."
"BULLSHIT!"
He jolts however when a voice cuts through the din, silencing the background noise of mundane conversation around them as everyone looks at the source.
Cardin pointed at him with a mean glare on his face.
"I call bullshit! You haven't even unlocked your Aura for a month!"
"Hey! Watch your language!" Yang shouted back, covering Ruby's ears but it was too late.
Murmurs started around him and it is only then that Jaune realizes how strange his situation truly was. Pyrrha already told him about it yesterday but it was really only sinking in now that he sees his peers looking at him with such strange eyes.
Almost everyone here went through years of training or trauma to get their Semblance and yet here he was waltzing in, partnered to a four-time regional champion, unlocked his Aura right in the middle of Initiation, and now showing his Semblance for all to see.
He didn't know how they view him as but it felt uncomfortable to suddenly be the center of such attention. He felt like a freak.
The light of his soul flickered and his smile breaks at the attention leveled against him.
He must have looked stupid there, glowing dimly like a candle with a sideways smile on his face. Luckily for him, he has such good friends.
"Hey! You leave fearless leader alone!" Nora shouted, suddenly crouching like a feral dog and growling at everyone looking at him.
"She's right. No matter how much you may not like it, Jaune discovered his Semblance by his own merits. I, myself, discovered my own Semblance the same day I unlocked my Aura." Ren replied firmly, pulling Nora back as he looked at the strangers around them with unimpressed eyes.
Cardin however only snorted at that with his team scowling beside him.
"Oh yeah?! I'd love to know what you two did to get your Semblances so fast!"
"I became an orphan."
Everybody froze at that and it seems even bullies have limits as even Cardin nods shakily.
"O-Okay, that's fair but with did Arc do?"
Ren turned toward him at that and even Team RWBY looked at him curiously as everyone seemed to hang on his words.
His jaw opened and closed as he tried to think of an answer. He could hardly say Pyrrha kissed him...or could he?
Regardless, before he could even open his mouth to speak, Pyrrha was already there to help him.
"He jumped off a cliff."
Technically speaking, that was true. Left unsaid however was the fact he unlocked his Semblance before jumping off a cliff.
Cardin looked at him strangely at that.
"Bullshit. If that was all it took then he should have unlocked it during Initiation when we all got launched!"
Pyrrha however only looked at him flatly.
"Well, he jumped multiple times but regardless of what you think, Cardin, it is the truth. I saw it myself."
And suddenly it was Cardin's words against hers. Jaune blinked at that. Nobody would be willing to call Pyrrha a liar, not to her face at least. Not even Cardin as he only went red in the face with indignation before sitting back down.
"Fine! But I'm watching you, Arc! I'll find out what you did!"
"Why though? Who cares how Jaune-Jaune got his Semblance? He's already got it and that is all that matters." Nora shrugged, making Cardin blush even more as nods started to come from the people watching them.
She was right and Jaune smiled at his team. He didn't have to say anything and they already had his back!
"Well, I for one am curious as well. How did you get your Semblance so fast?"
"Weiss?" He asks incredulously as he turns back to see Weiss Schnee raising an eyebrow at him.
Jaune had complicated feelings for Weiss. He had a crush on her, that was undeniable, but he also kissed Pyrrha. Or at least let her kiss him. But that was not the point, despite their differences and awkward interactions, Jaune never thought she would side with Cardin of all people against him.
"Not cool, Ice Queen." Yang frowned as Ruby pulled down her hands.
"Weiss!" Ruby chided and even Blake shook her head at her teammate.
Weiss however only rolled her eyes before staring intensely at him.
"Just humor me for a moment. I want to know how to improve so much. Surely you did more than just jump off a cliff. Who knows, I might even improve my Semblance. In fact, we all might!"
The rest of Team RWBY froze for a moment before looking back at him slowly with thoughtful looks on their faces.
Jaune gulped but he nods back slowly. So she was just curious then. She wasn't exactly out to get him.
That's good.
He sighed slightly at that before a smile lifts his face as he thinks of an answer. Judging by Pyrrha's answer earlier, she didn't want their actions known out in public but luckily for them, kissing was not the only catalyst for activating his Semblance.
"I just thought of a traumatic even and wanted to stop it." He answers, Team RWBY's faces lighting up at his words.
If there were people who would really understand his answer then it would be them. Just the thought of trying to stop the future should already be in their minds that it wasn't really surprising that one of them would use thatvfeeling to push themselves.
He saw nods of approval coming from all of them, even Weiss gives him an impressed look at that.
"I understand." She smiles at him and it was the brightest he has received from her so far.
Jaune's heart skips a beat at that and he blushes lightly before turning away embarrassedly. He freezes however when he sees Pyrrha's unimpressed look beside him and Jaune could only shrug back unsuredly.
Salvation comes from the most unexpected plaves however.
"Well, I didn't understand it one bit." Cardin calls out, throwing his hands out in exasperation even as Jaune's mouth was moving to reply.
"Maybe you just need more trauma."
"Fuck you, Arc. What kind of trauma do you even have that would give you the push to unlock your Semblance?"
He immediately knew the answer. Jaune looked at his friends at that and finding them sharing with him an understanding look, he shrugs casually at Cardin as he gives his answer.
"The Rusted Knight."
Whispers immediately shot up all around them and Jaune blinked as he saw Cardin pale.
"T-The Rusted Knight?! Why would he even give you some trauma?!"
Because he's me from the future where Pyrrha is dead?
No, no, he couldn't answer with that but he could answer with something else.
"Remember that punishment we needed to have for trashing the place?" Jaune asked with a smile on his face, his hands waving all around the cafeteria around them.
Cardin paled even more at that.
"And that have you trauma?"
It wasn't Jaune who answered this time.
"Yup." Ruby answered, a faraway look in her eyes even as Yang added her own words in.
"He even broke my arm!"
Whispers blow up into yells at that.
"It was a stressful situation." Blake nodded even as Weiss grunted in agreement.
"It was informative though."
Cardin froze.
"Damn...maybe we should apologize to Velvet." Sky muttered and Jaune's eyes brightened at that.
That's right! These guys had their own punishment to go through!
"Did you not do it yet?" He grinned and Cardin shivered at that before rapidly standing up and rushing out of the cafeteria.
"Already on it!"
The rest of his team followed, fear eveident in their faces as they ran after their leader.
Jaune laughed loudly at that.
With Cardin gone and nobody to interrupt their breakfast, Team JNPR finally started their day and if Jaune was forced to describe it then he would call it good.
He attended his classes, listened to the lectures, and watched happily as both his Team JNPR and RWBY bonded closer together, which may have been brought by trauma but it was still pretty cool to see.
Overall, things were pretty good. That was of course until Combat Class wherein he happened to see his older self finally acting like an older man.
The Rusted Knight visibly winced as they entered the room and he just knew it had something to do with Pyrrha considering his partner suddenly froze up beside him before going beet red in the face.
The Rusted Knight however, struggled to sit down near the teacher's desk. His hand going to his hip as he slowly and gingerly sat down.
"What happened to you?" Jaune asks, approaching the older man with wide eyes. "Also, where is Ms. Goodwitch?"
He was out of his armor which is probably why people weren't giving him awed looks but already they were receiving strange looks due to their similar appearance.
Honestly, Jaune never thought he'd see him like this. A man so powerful and strong that Jaune struggled to think of as his future self, laid low and injured like an old man.
The Rusted Knight however only looked at him pityingly before asking him one question.
"Are you together yet?"
Jaune's eyes immediately widen.
"How did-"
"No, nevermind. It doesn't matter if you already are, you probably are going to be soon, judging by the way my Pyrrha is talking to yours."
"W-what? What are they talking about?" Jaune nervously tilted his head to Pyrrha as she looked back towards their own direction with wide eyes.
The Rusted Knight however only ignores them.
"Just let me warn you, as cool as our Semblance is, be prepared to be pushed to the limit." The Rusted Knight gave him with a meaningful look. "Also, if you want more than one, make sure there are rests in between."
Jaune only shook at that. "W-What limit?! What do you mean more than one?! What happened to you?!"
"See, what happened was-"
Last Night
"Why, Glynda? Why?" Jaune sighed tiredly as he rubbed the furrows on his forehead.
Glynda, having the sense to actually button her blouse again was squirming uncomfortably as she looked at him from the other side of the one dining table he had.
"I...I don't know what you mean."
"You know exactly what Jaune means!" Pyrrha shouted, not that Glynda could hear her but it only added to his ongoing headache even as he looked at Glynda flatly.
"You were stripping, Glynda. You yourself said so."
Glynda's eyes only darted away from him as she blushef prettily.
"...Because I wanted to?"
Jaune only gawked at her audacity and even Pyrrha became speechless for a moment.
"...Alright, I can respect that."
It was the first positive thing his partner said about Glynda ever since the...incident but despite that, Jaune only threw his hands up exasperatedly.
"But why, Glynda?! Why would you want to strip in my own bedroom?!"
This time, it was Pyrrha who mentally threw her hands up in exasperation inside his mind.
"Because she wants you, you dense idiot! Why else would she strip somewhere you could see her?!"
Finally having enough of Pyrrha shouting in his head, Jaune surrenders to her advice.
He sighed loudly as he looked at Glynda's green eyes. "Is it because you want me?"
"Jaune!"
What?! What did he do this time?! He was just following her advice!
"Mr. Arc!" Glynda herself shrieked scandalously at him.
Jaune scoffed at that. As if she was not stripping moments ago in his bedroom!
"What?! What else do you want me to say?!" He yelled out incredulously to both Pyrrha and Glynda and each had the same thing to say to him.
""Not that!""
Jaune rolled his eyes at that.
Women.
"You can't just say that out loud! You would seduce her!"
What?
Never has Jaune been more unimpressed with his own partner than he was now.
Sure, she might have ran off to her death instead of escaping with him during the Fall of Beacon and that was pretty stupid but her thinking Jaune could seduce Glynda Goodwitch of all people with just a few words?!
Ridiculous!
"Ahem, Mr. Arc-"
"Jaune." He corrects flatly, he still wasn't used to being respectfully addressed as Mr. Arc. He felt like his father so they might as well get themselves used to them calling him Jaune for now.
"-Jaune." Glynda nods before continuing with a light blush on her face. "As I was saying, as embarrassing as it was, it is to my shame that I felt too comfortable inside your own home that my body instinctively tried to settle down for the night."
...okay. That was not what he expected but hey, at least she wasn't trying to seduce him! His surprise must have shown om his face because she only clears her throat even more embarrassedly.
"I'm afraid chores relax my mind." She waves her hand around them, showing the clean bed. "Your clothes are already folded inside your closet by the way."
A smile finds its way to his face at that. "Thank you and I think I understand what you mean."
"Oh?" She raises an eyebrow in surprise but Jaune only chuckles back.
"I'm afraid there's not much to do in the Ever After, I've found doing a routine of chores could be helpful in putting me in a meditative state."
Glynda smiles sadly at that but Jaune only shrugs. What can he do? It's already happened and besides, he has found his way here.
"AHEM!"
Jaune winced as Pyrrha's presence suddenly reverberated across his mind.
"What is it?" Glynda asked and Jaune only gave her an apologetic look.
"Sorry. It's just Pyrrha."
Glynda jolted at that.
"Oh, forgive me. Sometimes I still forget about it. I meant you no offense, Ms. Nikos." Glynda finishes, lookong deep into his eyes.
They said eyes were the windows to the soul and Jaune could only assume she was trying to convey her sincereness to Pyrrha but in actuality, all it did was make Jaune blush uncomfortably.
"Offense taken." Pyrrha grumbled, jolting Jaune out of his own thoughts and prompting him to reply to Glynda.
"She says no problem." He says instead and Pyrrha instantly gasps inside his mind.
"I did not!"
Glynda however only shakes her head at that.
"Even so, more apologies are in order."
Pyrrha immediately fell silent at those words and even Jaune gulps at the suddem tension in the air.
They all knew what Glynda was trying to apologize for.
The Incident. A handjob in the Infirmary.
"I-I...took advantage of your vulnerabilty. I am so so sorry." Glynda stuttered, bowing her head down in the end even as Jaune began to shake his head.
"You didn't-"
"I did, Jaune, please do not deny it just to spare my feelings." Glynda stated firmly but Jaune again just shook his head albeit a bit more firmly this time.
"No, you didn't, Glynda, and I am not saying this to spare your feelings. I'm stronger than you. I could have stopped you anytime."
It was the truth and to get his point across, Jaune called his Semblance to the fore. His body glowed and Glynda's eyes immediately widened on realization.
"B-But you didn't." She stated with wide eyes even as Jaune nods wryly and Pyrrha pouts inside his mind.
"I didn't."
"Why?" Glynda immediately asked and wasn't that the same question he asked himself after it happened?
As it turns out it was also a question that he already had an answer to.
"Before I answer that...can you tell us why? Why did you do it in the first place?" Jaune sighed before looking at Glynda's eyes intently.
She blushed. "To be honest, I must confess-"
"Oh hell no!" Pyrrha shrieked even as Glynda continued with her words.
"-that I haven't the faintest idea myself."
Jaune blinked at that while breathed a sigh of relief.
"Whew! I was worried for a second there. I thought she was going to confess her love to you!"
His eye twitched at that even as he frowned at Glynda. "So what? You just...decided to do it?" He finished, moving his hand up and down in front of Glynda and making her blush.
"J-Jaune! This might be hard to believe but I really do not know! I just...Gods, this is embarrassing!" Glynda answered, covering her face as her blush grew brighter.
"Consider how I feel." Jaune however only shrugged at that but if he was being honest himself, embarrassment was the least of his worries because what he was feeling troubles him.
He feels like...teasing her. Even now a smile struggled to lift up his face even as a light blush graces his skin.
Seeing Glynda like this? Shy and flustered? It was dangerous.
"B-But what about you? Why didn't you stop me?"
"I was pent up."
"Jaune!" Pyrrha shrieked even as Glynda gawked.
It was simple, crude, and it was the truth. There was no higher or deeper mystery about it. Jaune Arc, the Rusted Knight was just pent up.
He wasn't proud of it but he wasn't going to deny his own part in things either. Doing his best to send an aura of comfort to Pyrrha who was undoubtedly hurt, Jaune also looks apologetically at Glynda.
"So I'm sorry, Glynda. I'm sorry I didn't stop you but twenty years in the Ever After takes a toll on a man." He bows his head but it is here Jaune starts to blush. "So uhm, when Pyrrha and I did some stuff in my dreams, I couldn't stop. You doing things to me in reality...just made it irressistible."
"So...it is my fault? I made you feel like that?" Pyrrha asked in a complicated tone as Glynda's jaw dropped open and close at his words.
"No, Pyrrha. It isn't your fault." He says loudly for Glynda's benefit, making her jolt im surprise even as he shakes his head. "I am just saying that you shouldn't hold everything against Glynda because I had a part to play in it and for that I am sorry."
Before Pyrrha could even say anything however, Glynda was already waving her hands rapidly.
"N-No! You two shouldn't fight. I am the one to blame!"
"Glyn-" Jaune sighs but Glynda only cuts him off.
"No, Jaune, despite you not doing anything to stop it, I myself was the one who started it. So I really am sorry, especially to you, Ms. Nikos. Not only was it unprofessional of me but it was disrespectful to your newfound relationship." She looked at him guiltily and in pain that it actually causes his eyes to widen.
"Is she..." Pyrrha trails off, getting Jaune to furrow her brows.
"Pyrrha?" He asks but she only hums at him.
"Nothing, Jaune, nothing at all. Please tell her that I accept her apology and it is deeply appreciated."
Jaune's eyebrows climb upward at that. That...that was a drastic 180. He will admit that he was happy she was forgiving Glynda but just like that? It sounded suspicious. He was sure Pyrrha was picking up on his skepticism but his partner does not comment on it.
"Jaune?" Glynda calls out worriedly, jolting Jaune out of his thoughts.
"Sorry, got lost for a moment there. Pyrrha says you are forgiven and that your apology is deeply appreciated." He relays and he has the pleasure of seeing Glynda's expression light up.
"Thank you, Ms. Nikos. Thank you so much."
"You're welcome. Also, Jaune, please let her know she has to call me Pyrrha."
He says as much, getting Glynda to smile brightly at him.
"Pyrrha then."
Pyrrha giggled yet her next words blows him out of his mind.
"I guess she was just pent up too then."
Jaune choked on air and Glynda immediately looked at him worriedly.
"What is it?"
"A-Ah, nothing." He laughs out awkwardly but it seems his partner wasn't done just yet.
"Say it, Jaune."
His eye twitches at that but he only smiles silently as Glynda tilted her head at him.
"Are you sure? Did Pyrrha say something about me?"
Oh, Pyrrha said something alright.
"Say that she was just too pent up that she couldn't resist the first dick she saw."
That's when his eyes blew wide open because what the fuck?!
"That is definitely not nothing, Jaune." Glynda noted firmly.
"I-I don't think I should say. It's private." He cringed however when Pyrrha made her displeasure known.
"Say it, Jaune! Say it or I'll keep annoying you inside your head!"
"I don't remember you being like this back when we were in Beacon." He grumbles loudly as he rubs his forehead.
"I'm dead, Jaune, there are no more sponsors to annoy me with their restrictions." Pyrrha giggled even as Jaune nodded in understanding.
While he wasn't going to say she was unhinged, Pyrrha was definitely less restrained and more liberated than she was before. Apparently, dying will do that to a person.
"Now are you going to say it or not?"
Jaune only sigjed loudly at that before looking at Glynda with dead eyes.
"I want you to know these are her words and not mine."
"Noted." Glynda nods and Jaune takes a deep breath before opening his mouth.
"She says that you were pent up too."
Glynda's eyes blew wide open and the blush returns to her face full force.
"That...I suppose I was." She nods hesitantly and Pyrrha only laughs loudly inside his head.
"I'm sorry." He says apologetically but Glynda only shakes her head while fanning her red face.
"Don't be. It was a valid conjecture and is as good an explanation as any."
"Ask her if she has relieved herself."
"I'm not going to ask her that!" Jaune shouts out immediately, surprising Glynda who reels back away from him.
"A-Ask me what?"
Jaune only looked at her in distress. While he did want to tease Glynda earlier, the lengths Pyrrha was going to was just too far!
"Jaune." Pyrrha warned but Jaune stubbornly kept his mouth shut.
"Alright, you asked for this." Pyrrha sighed and Jaune's eyes furrowed as he heard her take a large breath.
It wasn't long after that did Jaune's eyes blew wide open while clutching his head.
The reason?
Pyrrha's song.
"BABY SHARK DO DOO DO DOO! BABY SHARK-"
"Make it stop! Gods make it stop!" He shouted as he stood up but still, the lyrics grated at him.
"Jaune?! What is happening?!" Glynda called out worriedly but her voice was drowned out by Pyrrha's singing.
"Alright! I'll ask! I'll ask!"
The singing stopped immediately.
He blinked and marveled at blessed silence only for it to be shattered by one word.
"Ask."
It was a command and Jaune could feel the smugness radiating off of Pyrrha as he woodenly turned towards Glynda.
"I'm sorry for this but Pyrrha wants to know." He says gravely and Glynda stutters nervously at that.
"K-Know what?"
"Have you relieved yourself?" He throws it out and closes his eyes to avoid looking at Glynda's offended reaction.
Instead of being offended however, Glynda asks him confusedly. "R-Relieved?"
Jaune's eyes snap open at that and he looks at Glynda with a broken expression. It only becomes broken however when Pyrrha interjects again.
"Ask her if she's masturbated already."
Gods, what was even happening? Maybe he should ask Lady Blacksmith for help in reining in his girlfriend?
Pyrrha however only starts to hum at his silence.
Glynda, forgive me.
"Have you masturbated?"
"I-what?!"
Now there's the expected reaction. Glynda looked at him with a red face but he only repeats the question.
"Pyrrha wants to know if you have masturbated."
"I don't believe that is any of your business!" Glynda replies indignantly but Pyrrha apparently already had a reply for that.
He sighed as she whispered the words inside his head. "She says...it also wasn't your business to make me cum."
Jaune blushed as Glynda hemmed and hawed at that.
"I-I already apologized for that!"
Pyrrha's next words however takes the cake for the most outrageous question yet and Jaune's eyebrows climb upward even as he relays the question.
"Would you like me to return the favor?"
"What happened after that?" Young Jaune Arc asked his older self with wide eyes and a low whisper but before the Rusted Knight could even answer, Glynda Goodwitch entered the classroom.
Clack! Clack! Clack!
Her heels sharply announced her arrival and Jaune felt his older self pat his back and nudge him towards his seat.
"I'll tell you next time."
Damn it!
Now he had to attend class with a boner!
Gods, could classes get any more boring?
Cinder didn't understand how the masses could stomach such drivel but still, she knew why she had to be here.
She had to establish herself as a student of Haven and to do that, she needed to be seen as one.
Thus, the classes but did they actually have to be so boring?
Cinder sighed as the professor droned on and on about Dust safety and what else.
She can't believe she is saying this but its only been a few hours since Watts' left and she already misses their arguments!
She! Misses! Watts!
What the fuck?!
As incredulous as it sounded, it was true. It was a testament to how mind-numbing classes were that she would miss Watts of all people.
Gods, what she would give to be able to hunt the Maiden like what Hazel was probably doing right now?
Hazel Reinheart was currently inside a bar.
One might say that he was wasting his time or slacking off of his duties but he wasn't.
Despite starting with no leads other than that the Spring Maiden left Haven, Hazel Reinheart actually found one.
And it was all thanks to the rumors that typically goes through said bars.
All he did was enter, drink, and ask.
"Where would you go if you wanted to hide?"
Every barman's answer was the same.
"The Spider."
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