I made a small mistake in that I forgot Jaune had saved (or banked) 5 stat points from his last level up. He actually has 15 remaining instead of the 10 I quoted last chapter. Thanks to the people who reminded me, as I'd totally forgotten with all this real-life stress I have going on.

And because of that random stress and me wanting a chill day off today, I've written a Pyrrha chapter. Is this Coeur's character development arc? Is he discovering the joy of Pyrrha as a character!? It's all too strange and unusual! Kill it! Kill it with fire!

Cover Art: Solace O'Autumn

Chapter 59

Pyrrha hummed as she looked over the paper Jaune had drawn his status onto. It really didn't make a lot of sense to her, even with her newfound "passion" for RPG games. The storylines were so dull, and the characters were so insipid, but she'd found a community she could feel at home in.

A forum of min-max nerds online. Joy.

At least that let her learn about stats and builds without having to play the awful games, and it gave her enough to be able to talk with Jaune on an equal level. Hopefully, it'd let her help him out as well. That would have to stay a "hopefully" for now since when she'd copied and posted his build online under the excuse she was a newcomer to tabletop gaming in need of advice, the best advice she'd received was to "re-roll" her character. It took her another post or two to find out what that even meant, and she sure as hell wasn't telling Jaune to kill himself and try again in the next life.

.

Jaune Arc

Lvl 17

Title:Bard

HP:890/890

MP:120/120

Str:9

Con:51

Dex:6

Wis:8

Cha:189 (190)

Aura:Unlocked (Basic Control)

Semblance:The Game

.

Perks:

Speak with Animals.

Bardic Skills.

Jaune-dor Calls for Aid!

Razor Wit

.

You have 15 points to spend.

.

"You have fifteen points," she said.

"Yeah. I got two levels this time for ten points, and we decided to bank five before in case I needed them in a specific stat."

"That might still be your best bet. I know it sounds boring but you're doing fine without those stats allocated, so why not?"

As tempted as she was to tell him to dump them all in constitution because she wanted him to survive above all else, she was still worried about his aura control. It took constant training to get it to a reliable level, and that was training in a combat school where you did it several times a day. Jaune wouldn't, and it'd probably take him a long time to grasp it. It might be better for him to have these points in his back pocket in case he needed to pump dexterity to run away from someone. Or dodge a bullet.

That shouldn't happen given he's not a huntsman, but now he's involved with these criminals. Who's to say they won't just shoot him? Pyrrha was still annoyed he refused to take her with him when dealing with them. It was great he had Cinder – who was apparently stronger than she was – but that didn't mean she hadn't spent all day biting her nails in Sanctum, terrified that the love of her life might be killed.

"Aren't you due another skill around this point?" she asked. "Is there a theme to those or…?"

"I'd thought it was every four or so levels, but I haven't got any options. They might be slowing down. Or maybe this means I'll get a good one if it takes longer." He didn't sound too worried about it. "My last few have been useless anyway, so I'm not fussed."

"They're not useless. I could see a lot of ways to use the ability to reduce someone's aura with words."

"Because you're a huntress and arena fighter. When was the last time I fought someone with aura…?"

That was a good point. It was also a reminder that Jaune's idiocy only extended to noticing her feelings, and that he could be quite clever at other times. And, since he was a civilian, that he only really fought against other civilians. Sure, he might have to escape from Grimm, but they didn't have aura either.

"Isn't that a little weird, then?" she asked. "Why is your Semblance trying to push you toward skills against opponents with aura?"

Jaune paused. "That's a good point. And a worrying one. It'd make sense if I'd faced a lot of people like that and my Semblance was adapting, but I haven't. The closest I can think of is that girl from the White Fang."

"What about the person who kidnapped you in Vacuo?"

"He didn't fight me. He didn't even touch me. The only person it can be said I've fought against is that terrorist – and even that was just her punching me. If my Semblance was going to react to that, it should give me something defensive."

He made a good point. It might be that his Semblance wasn't planning this at all and he just had a linear path of things to unlock, but Pyrrha wasn't so sure. A lot of those quests it kept handing out were… well, they were less than safe. And much less than civilian. Jaune had been level five or so when he met her (or so he remembered) and now he was level seventeen. That might not be as fast a levelling curve as those crappy video games, but it was still a tripling of his strength in a little over a year. That was much too fast to not be concerning.

All these dangerous quests pushing him to level up faster. Once might be an accident, twice suspicious, but more than three times is a pattern. Semblances are usually exclusively combat focused. Is his pushing him to a combat role…?

Pyrrha was afraid to say it in case Jaune ran with it.

"I'll keep hold of my points and let you know when I next get a skill," he said. "But I've got more problems than this right now."

"The criminals, yes."

"And Chae. I promised her… uhh…" He looked away and gulped. "I promised her something that… well… I'm going to have to follow through on."

"Yes." Pyrrha said the one word and nothing more. It was important to fulfil promises, especially when they were to adorable and mistreated young girls like this. One that Pyrrha had practically adopted despite never meeting. "Yes, you will have to. What did you promise?"

"A meeting and day out with Guitar Cutie."

Pyrrha winced. Jaune could be stupid, but why would he promise something like that? Did he think she – also being famous – would be able to reach out to a fellow celebrity? She would try if he asked her to, but she didn't imagine she'd be successful. There were literal record labels trying to reach her and she ignored them all.

"How do you keep backing yourself into these corners?" Pyrrha groaned into the palm of her hand. "What now? You can't just throw on a wig and… and…"

Jaune had reached under his hotel bed and drawn out a blonde wig. It was the same colour as his hair, and really just added length to the back and side. He pulled it on and suddenly there was a cute girl on the bed in front of her.

And she did mean suddenly.

Jaune had put on maybe three inches of hair length and yet now Pyrrha would be hard pressed to recognise him in the street. He looked shorter, less masculine, with thinner shoulders and… and boobs! Small ones, sure, but they were there! Her hands shot out and grasped at them – but she found herself fondling flat pecs through his shirt.

"P—Pyrrha…" she – he? – stammered, flushing a pretty shade of pink and demurely hiding her mouth behind soft fingers.

"Stop that!"

"I'm not— ah…"

"Stop that!" Pyrrha yelped, with her hands still on his chest. She removed them, and she could swear that his flat chest filled back out. "How? You put on a wig and everything about you looks like it's different. Is this an illusion…? Can you cast illusions now?" Her hands glided up from her chest to her shoulders, then down her arms. His arms, she reminded herself. It's a boy. A very effeminate boy. A femboy.

Pyrrha groaned. "I'm so confused…"

"I can explain why this all began and how."

"That's not what I'm confused about," she whined. "You're so pretty! Argh!" Pyrrha grabbed Jaune's cheeks and stretched them out. The girl – for that was how she looked – flailed her slim arms helplessly. "No wonder Guitar Cutie doesn't talk!"

"P—Pyrrha… my face…"

"Yes. Your face. It's never looked so soft." Pyrrha traced his jaw and cheekbones with her thumb, and marvelled in the strange disconnect between touch and eyesight. Her eyes told her he was soft and smooth and chubby faced, whereas her fingers traced a more masculine jawline. "This is insane," she whispered, leaning closer.

Jaune squeaked.

It was that panicked noise that made Pyrrha realise their position, Jaune almost laid back on the bed as she had pushed a knee down between her – his, damn it! – legs and mounted him. As he'd pulled back, she had followed, leading her to crawl over his body as she caressed his pretty face and stared into deep blue eyes.

Pyrrha stared down with no small amount of panic on the embarrassed and cute girl beneath her, looking so soft and innocent and vulnerable and… and… Welp, she thought. There goes my sexuality. Damn it, Jaune.

"How many know?"

"M… My sister and her wife. Nora and Ren."

"From Sanctum? My classmates!?"

"They're the ones who first made it happen. Nora is the one who did this."

Pyrrha had never hated another woman as much as she did Nora Valkyrie in that moment, but she pushed it away. Pushed herself away as well, forcing herself off Jaune before he could combust. Even the way he blushed was feminine. Not to mention he drew his feet up under him and sat in a manner meant for wearing skirts. Pyrrha felt that she should be much more put-off by the fact her crush cross-dressed than she actually was, but she'd long since given up on escaping her attraction to him.

She was the captain of a ship caught in a whirlpool choosing to go down with it, and bravely – not selfishly, damn it – telling all the rest of the crew to take to the lifeboats and escape so that only she would suffer this terrible fate.

"Ahem. So." Pyrrha cleared her throat. "The Chae-young thing seems easily solved."

"The problem isn't her. It's the rest of Mistral. I tend to cause a scene when I appear like this. I'm worried that I might have to flee Mistral if the people who came for me in Vacuo find out I'm here."

"Ah." That was something she could help with, having experienced much the same celebrity fever among the populace. "You need a disguise."

"Uh. I am in disguise."

"No. No. You need a disguise for your disguise to disguise the you that is disguised." He cocked his head, confused. "Think of it like a celebrity going out in a trench coat, hat and glasses so no one recognises them."

"Oooooh. I go out as Guitar Cutie trying to pretend to be someone else."

"Exactly."

"Should I go out as Guitar Cutie trying to dress as Jaune Arc?"

"Let's not get too meta here or I'll develop more of a complex then I already have." Her heart was confused enough already. "You should just wear a hat and tie your hair back, then slip on some thick-rimmed glasses. Oh, and make sure you tell Chae – as your real self – that Guitar Cutie will be meeting her in disguise. The poor girl will think you've shortchanged her otherwise."

"Right." Jaune – Jean…? – smiled adorably at her, all uncertain but hopeful. "This doesn't freak you out, then? You don't think I'm less of a man for doing this?"

Pyrrha placed a hand on his shoulder. "I am feeling many things right now," she told him. "Many confusing things. But anger is not one of them. I don't think less of you. If anything, I'm thinking more about you."

"Thinking more of me?"

"I know what I said."

/-/

Athena Nikos hummed happily as she picked out a dress for her date later that evening. Alexander had finally gotten time off his hunts and had booked them in for a fancy restaurant. It had been over a month since they'd been out together, and she fully intended to blow his mind -then maybe blow—

Her scroll buzzed incessantly. It was Pyrrha.

Athena snatched up her scroll and pinned it between her ear and shoulder. "Hello dear," she said, still holding dresses between her body and a mirror. "How are things?"

"Mom! I need help! I need advice!"

"Okay, darling, I knew this day would come. Have you double checked? Pregnancy testers can be wrong occasionally."

"What…? Mom, I'm not pregnant."

"Ah. Then you and Jaune are struggling to work a condom? The trick is to get them hard first—"

"Mom! Jaune doesn't even know I like him yet!"

"Still!? Pyrrha, darling, you've been with him in Mistral for over a week now. What on Remnant is taking you so long? What are you even doing over there?"

"Um. Crimes…?"

"Crimes is right," Athena grumbled. "As in, it's criminal that you haven't confessed to him yet. And after I saw those rumours of you visiting a blonde boy in a hotel at every hour of the day. Really, I thought grandchildren would already be on the way."

"Mom, please. This is serious. I… I think I might be bi!"

"Hmmm." Athena hummed and shook her head. No, no, no. The black dress wouldn't do. She tossed it aside and reached for the green one. "That's nice, dear."

"MOM!"

"What do you want me to say? That I'm disappointed and am disowning you? Darling, no one cares about things like that anymore. I'm just surprised you can see another person past Jaune. Unless it's one of his sisters? That could make things awkward."

"No. It's Jaune. In a dress."

Athena laughed. "Oh, darling. You're not bisexual. You're just kinky. And desperate."

"M… Mom…"

"Your father and I have engaged in a little role reversal as well, you know. It's nothing to be ashamed about."

"Mom, this isn't role reversal!"

"And it takes a real man to take it, you know. Your father struggled at first but now it's a toss of the coin which of us gives and which receives—"

"MOM!" Pyrrha gagged and choked down the line. "No! No, no, no. I didn't need to hear that! I can't un-know that! Arghh! Concussion. I need a concussion!"

Athena rolled her eyes and slipped on the green dress, then turned her body to admire her shape in the mirror. She wasn't young anymore, but damn if she didn't still have it. Athena slapped her own behind and winked at her reflection.

"Mom, please tell me that wasn't dad you just slapped…"

"No, dear. He isn't here for now. We're going out on a date later. So, Jaune in a dress. Is he pretty?"

"Beautiful…" Pyrrha sighed dreamily.

"Hmmm?"

"So soft and pretty and cute and… and I just want to pin her against a wall, tilt her chin up, lean down and… and… and kyaaaa!" Athena leaned away from the scroll, still smiling. "I don't get it. I totally see him as a girl like this, but I absolutely still would."

"Well, dear, they say love goes beyond what's on the surface. Your father and I should know."

"Mom, please stop talking about pegging dad."

"I meant love, sweetie. The surface as in skin versus the heart. Goodness me, why are you thinking about me plunging into your father's tight hole anyway?"

"Mom!" Pyrrha gagged once more. "Phrasing!"

"Oh, as if you're one to talk after this conversation. Though I do approve of the whole wall thing. There's a name for that, isn't there? The wall-bang? Not the sex thing, but when a taller person pins the shorter one to the wall. You should totally do that." Athena started playing with her hair, tying it up into a bun. "Maybe you can make it clear with actions over words how you feel, because goodness knows you're failing on the words front."

"I'm not failing. I'm taking my time."

"Sure you are. I'm just worried someone will come along, like what they see, and not take their time, and then he'll be snatched out from under you."

"Over my dead body."

"Yes, well, some women will be willing to take that risk for a cute boy. Or a cute femboy. Goodness, Pyrrha, you might have to fight off men if he looks that good in a dress. Does he look that good?"

"…" Her daughter whimpered. "… yes…"

"Darling, you have to do something to make your feelings clear. At this point I'm wondering if you shouldn't just go with a checkbox. Hand him a piece of paper with your face on and two boxes underneath with yes and no written on them. I'd help you if I could, dear, but I don't think he'll think much of me asking him out on your behalf, and arranged marriages are so last century. You're going to have to man up and show him how you feel."

"Man up…?"

"Woman up," she amended, shrugging one shoulder. "That's just how people say it. Woman up, man up. Same thing."

"No. No, this is genius. That's a great idea. I'll man up and show him how I feel!"

The call ended before Athena could respond, and she wasn't sure why, but she felt an odd sense of foreboding about it all. The bedroom door opened, and Alexander entered, looking dashing in a black suit and red shirt. He stepped up behind her, placed his hands on her hips and kissed her neck. "Who is this divine beauty that's snuck into my home, hm? I should call the police."

"Alex!" Athena giggled and pushed his head away from her neck. "That was our daughter I just got off the line to. She's having relationship troubles."

"She has one? Does this mean she let that boy know how she feels?"

"No."

"Then how does she have relationship troubles if she hasn't entered into one?"

"Good question." Athena sighed. "And now she's all confused because he apparently makes a very cute girl when he dresses up. Pyrrha is hooked on both sides."

"Ah." Alexander Nikos smiled. "I have raised her well."

"Speak like that again and I'll be wearing the strap tonight, dear husband."

"Don't threaten me with a good time, woman."

/-/

Nora Valkyrie trembled as she placed the card. The structure wobbled, and she held her breath! It held. Nora sat back and smiled proudly at the card tower she had built over Ren's face as he napped. He was so handsome when he slept, and she liked to admire his face, but no one had ever accused her of having a good attention span, so she usually got bored long before he woke up.

That was a good thing, though.

Ren waking up to find her building card towers over him was funny. Ren waking up to find her staring longingly at his handsome face was much worse! He might think she had feelings for him, then, and things would get awkward. Because they were together, but they weren't together-together.

Though one day…

The door to her dorm slammed open.

Nora shrieked, and Ren leapt up, sitting up with an ace of spades sticking out his mouth. "Bwuh?" he asked, spitting it out. "Why am I covered in playing cards?"

"YOU!" roared a redheaded girl that Nora absolutely recognised, because Pyrrha Nikos was kind of a big deal in Mistral. "You are Nora Valkyrie!"

"Uh." The girl looked angry. "Nope. Nora is next door."

The redhead hesitated. "Oh. Um. Sorry then."

Pyrrha stepped out and closed the door. Nora heard the next door slam open through the wall, and then, "YOU! You are Nora Valkyrie!"

There was a long moment of silence, the sound of a door closing, and then their door slammed open again. Pyrrha stormed in, her face now as red as her hair.

"You lied to me!"

"I mean, to be fair, it's kind of rude that you don't recognise someone you share classes with." Nora hooked her feet under her and slid a finger toward the socket on the wall. There was a nice powerup waiting there if things got ugly. "So, what can I do for you?"

"I'm a friend of a mutual friend."

"Again, we share a class. That doesn't narrow anything down since I'm friends with everyone in class." Every single person in class didn't necessarily agree with her summation on that, but Nora didn't worry herself about it. They were her friends. They just hadn't realised it yet. "I'm pretty popular, so you'll have to narrow it down."

"Jaune."

"Ah! Best friend! Not that he's better than Renny, but Renny is childhood friend and that's different." Something she kept reminding him of, so he'd get the hint. How many Mistral manga did she have to leave strewn around the room before he cottoned on? Goodness. Ren was so oblivious about things. "We know Jaune, yes. We're besties. All three of us."

Pyrrha closed the door and approached, her voice dropping. "I know about his cross dressing."

Oh-ho. That was a different matter. Also a secret one. Nora decided to play it safe. "No idea what you mean. You must have the wrong Nora. Maybe the wrong Jaune, too. And definitely the wrong Ren. Very common names. Very common friendship circles."

The crazed woman lunged and grabbed Nora by her shoulders. Ren, bless him, was already up with blades in hand, but Nora had beat him to it and stuck her finger in the outlet. One twist and this girl would have a nasty shock, followed by an even nastier surprise.

"I need you to make a man out of me!"

Aaaand what…? Ren lowered his weapons and Nora removed her finger from the electrical socket. "What…?"

"Help me cross dress," Pyrrha asked. No, begged. The girl let go of her and got down on her knees, clasped her hands together and supplicated herself before Nora. "I… I'm famous and it's hard to have a personal life, just like Jaune. If you can make him a pretty, beautiful, attractive, sexy girl—"

"That's a lot of adjectives," Ren said warily.

"—then you can make me into a handsome man, can't you? I'll pay. I'll owe favours. I'll do anything. Just make me the most handsome man you can so I can—" And Pyrrha faded off into mumbles, though Nora was pretty sure she heard the name Jaune mentioned once or twice in there.

Wait…

Did Pyrrha like Jaunie…? The signs were there. Super obvious, in fact. It'd take someone really stupid to not notice them. Nora grabbed the girl and dragged her into their bathroom, locked the door and then whispered. "Do you like Jaune? As in, like-like."

"Y… Yes…"

Nora didn't squeal.

But it was close.

"And you want to dress up as a guy to seduce his female self?"

Pyrrha blushed. "I can't express my feelings to him. My moms said I should man up and tell him, and I know this isn't what she meant but maybe being in a disguise will help me feel confident enough to say the things I can't." Pyrrha hesitated, then asked. "And is it that obvious I like him? Jaune hasn't realised it."

"Super obvious. And yeah, Jaune is oblivious. Kinda like Ren."

"Oh, you mean calling him your childhood friend and all the posters on the walls from romances involving childhood friends. Yeah, I noticed that the second I stepped in."

Nora threw her hands in the air. "Yes! Yes! Are all men stupid or something!? If it's so obvious you noticed it straight away, then how has he not?"

"They're so bad at reading the signs."

"Obvious signs, too." Nora lamented. "I mean, how much more obvious can I get than telling him I like manga that involve childhood friends getting together? I even suggested we swear a pinky promise and he just looked at me all confused. Like, duh? Pinky promise? Childhood friends? That's basically a marriage proposal."

"Hmhm." Pyrrha nodded. "And how much more obvious can I get than dressing up as a man to try and seduce his cross-dressed self?"

Nora returned the nod, feeling an odd kinship with this girl.

"Man, we're so obvious with our feelings," Nora said. "It's crazy our boys can't figure it out."

"So… can you make me a handsome boy?"

"Girl. I will make you the hottest boy the world has ever seen. Bar Ren, obviously."

"Oh, of course. And bar Jaune."

"Goes without saying."

Pyrrha and Nora exchanged smiles. Maybe, just maybe, this was a friendship that would work out.

Outside the bathroom, Lie Ren felt the uncomfortable urge to hide under his bed.

Next Chapter: 23rd February

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