The slowly extending shadows of buildings greet Jaune as he, once again, steps foot into the city of Vale as the sun begins to set.
Dressed in some casual clothes with his weapon stored in his locker, Jaune is on his way to Janir and the other helpers who still needed some hands-on help for actually gathering the food, and as far as he understood, that only meant driving with them from store to store and help carry some boxes. On the other hand, his mind is occupied with school or, to be more specific, with team RWBY.
Jaune knows he isn't good at the whole social clue thing, but even he could see the tense atmosphere surrounding team RWBY. He never would have thought the always happy and joking Yang could glare like that, and Ruby just looked so crestfallen. Even Blake looked affected; if he didn't know her quirks at his point so well, he probably wouldn't have noticed with her holding her book in front of her face like usual. Still, he saw her eyes darting around as to search for something that could put her in danger.
And then there was Weiss. She, of course, looked as beautiful as always, but just like the days before, she was so quiet. Usually, she would talk with Ruby about upcoming classes and their homework, but there was none of that again. He really wanted to talk to her right then and there, to help her in any way possible. Probably good that he didn't; he can't imagine that his trying to worm himself into her private affairs would have endeared him to her. But he promised himself that he would give Weiss her space. She is probably glad to be left alone, especially by him.
So, whatever is happening with team RWBY, he really hopes they can overcome their problem. He doesn't envy Ruby in this situation; as a leader, one is responsible for solving any such issues, but he has faith in her.
He is just glad that he was able to not get the cold shoulder from Pyrrha anymore, and even though it's not wholly resolved yet, she at least gave him the chance to explain himself tomorrow. He wouldn't even know what to do if his whole team were like this.
Walking further into the city, with the sun ever-so slowly sinking closer to the horizon, he puts the thoughts about team RWBY and his team out of his head. He thinks back on what weighs so heavily on his mind: Cardin and the faunus girl.
He knows that if he were in the other faunus' shoes, he wouldn't have wanted someone else to step in for fear of what Cardin would think of next when no one is around to save him. But why, then, is he feeling this way? He just couldn't get it out of his head, thinking about it all day. He couldn't concentrate during classes, and during recess, even his team and friends couldn't shake him out of it.
As the street lights begin to light up in preparation for the incoming darkness, he stops in his tracks for a moment and lets out a sigh.
Who was he kidding here? Maybe the faunus girl was more comfortable with no one helping, and maybe he would have been more than glad with no one stepping in if he were in her position, but that doesn't mean it was the right thing to do. To just sit there and watch. No, even worse. He didn't just sit there; he actively stopped someone from helping. If he hadn't stopped Yang, she would surely have beaten Cardin and his team down.
From the very first day of Jaune's attendance at Beacon, his every action was accompanied by a feeling of inadequacy and shame, especially when comparing himself to his team and friends.
Yet, through those friends' help, he could push past these feelings and better himself.
But what happened this morning, his inaction makes him feel almost nauseous, and he knows the shame he feels now because of it won't be as easily dispelled as before.
Shaking his head in a vain attempt to get rid of these thoughts, he starts walking again and looks back to his surroundings.
He had already passed the busiest part of the city, leaving behind the rows of shops and large groups of people. Now, as only a tiny sliver of orange light could be seen on the horizon, he slowly makes his way into the residential area, where he met Janir's group for the first time.
The streets here almost seem abandoned compared to the busy shopping district, with only a few stragglers walking along them. Some of the street lights flicker or do not turn on at all, making it feel eerie as he walks alone to the meeting point. Only the rows of windows illuminated by warm lights with their inhabitants help alleviate this feeling.
Finally, he arrives at the school. A van is parked in front of it with four faunus gathered. He recognizes two of them: Janir and one of the other new arrivals he met at the meeting besides Bianca, the bird faunus. The other two are people he doesn't remember, an older man and someone who seems even younger than Jaune. Both of them seem to be wolf faunus as black and grey wolf ears adorn their heads.
Swallowing the nervousness he always feels when meeting new people, he steps torward them.
"Hey, guys! I hope I'm not too late," Jaunes greets his fellow faunus while receiving friendly greetings back.
"Ah, don't worry, brother. Albert and his grandson only just arrived themselves," Janir says, gesturing to the old wolf faunus, who huffs.
"Only because this one," he ruffles his grandson's head, "took his sweet time."
"Grandpa! You were the one who told me that it wouldn't be a problem to take my time," the grandson protested before turning to Jaune. "Oh, I am Azure, by the way."
"I am Jaune. It's nice to meet you two," he nods to the pair and grimaces at the bird faunus. "Ah, I am sorry I forgot your name."
"Ha, don't worry, Jaune. It's Kaleo," the now-named Kaleo answers him good-naturedly.
"Well, that is enough talking. We still have to hit more than one shop," Janir interrupts them. "There is only space for one of you in the front. The rest has to sit in the back."
Before anyone can say anything, Albert moves to the passenger seat and says, "Ah, the youngins can sit in the back. Let an old man rest his weak knees."
"Why did you come then?" Azure grumbles under his breath before stepping into the back of the transporter and sitting down
Kaleo just shrugs at Jaune and follows him, with Jaune right behind them.
The back of the transporter doesn't really have any seats but benches on the sides of the car to create enough space for whatever is going to be transported. When they are all seated, Kaleo
slaps his hand twice on the wall, separating the driver's cabin from them to give them the signal to drive. With a small jerk, they begin to drive to their first destination.
The first few minutes are a bit awkward for Jaune, with silence hanging between the three faunus in the back and only some tidbits of conversation from the driver's cabin slicing through it.
"So, what do you guys do?" Azure says, apparently also feeling the awkwardness.
"I'm just a code monkey for a business here in the city. It's not exactly exciting work, but it pays the bills," Kaleo says without any inflection in his voice, making Azure grimace and look at Jaune helplessly.
Jaune cuts in, trying to actually have a conversation, "Yeah, I know what you mean. My sister is also a programmer in Argus, and I hear her complaining often enough."
Kaleo lets out a snort and a small smile but stays quiet otherwise. Jaune sees that as a win.
"What about you, Jaune?" Azure now asks Jaune. "Are you working, or are you still in school?"
"Oh, I am trying to become a Huntsman and attending Beacon right now."
Azure's eyes widen dramatically, and he sits up straight.
"Whoa! Are you serious?"
"Um, yes?" Jaune answers, perplexed.
"That. Is. So. Cool!" He says.
Jaune stays silent, not really sure what to say to that.
"Oh, man. Please tell me that you know Pyrrha Nikos. I've read that she also attends Beacon. I have seen every one of her fights and was really disappointed when I heard she won't be participating in the Mistral tournament anymore."
Jaune has to hold back his laughter at the enthusiasm of the younger boy.
"Pyrrha, huh? Yeah, I know her. I don't really see what the hype is all about," Jaune says, unable to resist playing a small prank on him.
"What!? You take that back," Azure almost shoots up from his seat before thinking better of it and glares at Jaune. "You have no idea what you are talking about! Pyrrha Nikos is the best!"
"Hahahaha," Jaune busts out laughing, toppling forward and holding his stomach before looking back up again at a now confused Azure. "Sorry. I know Pyrrha is the best. She is actually my partner, but you should have seen your face. You looked so mad."
Who would have thought Jaune would ever miss teasing someone as he did with his younger sisters?
Looking to his site at Kaleo, who himself sports a slight grin at the now pouting boy before him.
"I take it back. You're not cool," Azure says, still pouting.
"Ah, that's too bad then. I guess someone as uncool as me won't be able to get Pyrrha's autograph for a fan of hers."
Azure turns his head so fast it might have given him whiplash and stares at him intensely.
"You are the coolest person I know, Jaune," he immediately says to Jaune in a serious tone, making him and Kaleo laugh out loud.
"Alright, I see what I can do," Jaune chuckles.
After a moment of everyone calming down again, with Kaleo letting out a long breath and a last small chuckle, silence begins to settle over them again. This time, none of the awkwardness remains. Instead, a companionable feeling sets in.
"Beacon, huh?" Kaleo says after a while. "You've got a bright future ahead of you, kid."
Jaune stills while Azure looks at him with a complex face.
He began to open his mouth to say something, but the car suddenly stopped with a screech of the brakes. They arrived at their destination.
With two thuds of the closing car door, Janir and Albert leave the driver's cabin. Albert opens the back of the car, looking at the three of them expectantly.
"Well, ladies. You done chattering? We've got work to do," he turns around and doesn't wait for an answer.
Jaune and his companions step out of the back of the car. Azure again grumbles under his breath, complaining about his grandpa, and Jaune takes a look around.
They have parked at the back entrance of a small store— only a corner shop really. Janir and Albert stand at the door and talk to a very old-looking goat faunus, who gestures inside before returning inside and leaving their group alone again.
"Alright, our friend here has already sorted everything we can take left of the door, which includes two pallets of flour, one pallet of juice, and two pallets of eggs. Let's get to it! We have two other stores we have to check in today," Janir explains, leading them towards the goods.
"That's less than he promised us," Albert complains.
"We are grateful for any help we receive, no matter how small it may be in the end," Janir says sternly to the old wolf faunus.
Without further interruption, they began to carry the pallets filled with the food items toward the back of the car. In the end, Jaune almost carried half of it himself, his aura making light work of it.
"You could have told us that the kid had his aura unlocked, Janir," Albert says. "We wouldn't have needed this many people then."
"Ah, well. I forgot, sorry." Janir replies, receiving unimpressed looks from all of them. He clears his throat. "Let's just go, brothers."
Back in the van, now a bit more cramped than before, they make their way to the next store.
"Aura sure is convenient, isn't it?" Azura asks.
"It can be," Jaune answers. "if you want to fight Grimm but not as useful as you think in your everyday life."
"How so?"
"Well, how often do you need extra strength? And it can even be an inconvenience. For example, Nora, a teammate of mine, has often enough broken down some doors in Beacon because of her strength, and most of them were reinforced."
Azure looks a bit stunned at that.
"Oh, I have never really thought about that," Azure says. "The fights on TV always looked so awesome, though."
"You should see some of my classmates in action then."
"What about you, Jaune?"
"Me?"
"Yeah, how good are you in a fight?"
Jaune thinks about it for a moment, not really keen on saying how bad he actually is to someone who seems to idolize huntsmen.
"Um, I get by. But I am far from the best in my class," Jaune finally answers.
"Pyrrha is the best, right?" He asks excitedly.
"The best fighter, yeah. But that's not all being a huntsman is about."
"Yeah, yeah. Tell me more about the fights," Azure grins at him.
Jaune sighs and tells him a bit more about his time at Beacon, to the delight of Azure and apparently Kaleo, who tries not to look too interested in what he has to say, especially about his combat classes.
At the next store, they were once again greeted by a faunus worker and began to load the van with items from the store, this time more varied than before, as some sacks of apples lay in the van now. With that, they drove to their last destination for the day.
Finally, they arrive at the last store, which is located closer to the shopping district than the ones before and much bigger. Instead of being greeted by another faunus, this time, an impatient middle-aged human is waiting for them at the front of the store, a bundle of keys in his hand and a scowl on his face.
"Ugh, took your sweet time. I have been waiting here forever," are the first words coming out of his mouth.
Albert, ready to hurl some insults toward the man for such a rude welcome, is interrupted by Janir.
"Ah, sorry, my friend. We didn't want to inconvenience you," He says calmly.
"You did a piss poor job then," the man responds. "Let's just get this over with. I wanna go home."
The man leads them into the store and shows them what they can take, which is even less than the first store.
"That's all?" Azure whispers to himself, but he is not quiet enough.
"You should be grateful, you brat!" the human says. "I don't even know how you convinced the boss to give you anything at all."
"Of course we are grateful, my friend," Janir interjects again. "Everything given to us is greatly appreciated and is for a good cause."
The man only snorts in disbelief.
Jaunes has to hold back his glare. This guy reminds him too much of Cardin.
Janir sees that their patience is slowly running thin and begins to carry the food outside, with everyone following, not in any mood to engage in any small talk with the human who watches over them.
As soon as they have loaded everything in the back of the van, a police car pulls into the parking lot. Two policemen step out of the car, and one of them stops in front of their group.
"Good evening," he greets them while the other policeman steps around the van, flashlight in hand, and looks into the back. "We've got a call about a suspicious vehicle."
Suspicious? Since when has a car parking in front of a store been suspicious?
"That must be a misunderstanding, officer," Janir explains. "The owner was grateful enough to donate some food for people in need. Inside is someone who can confirm what I am saying."
The officer frowns, looks at his partner, and nods in the direction of the store. His partner goes inside, and he turns back to them.
"In the meantime, I'll need some form of identification from each of you."
"Is this necessary? Just wait for the other guy to come back," Albert scowls.
"Sir, please calm down. It's standard procedure."
Jaune, feeling like Albert was right nonetheless, brings out his scroll with his identification. As do the others, except Albert, who crosses his arms and stares defiantly at the officer.
"Come on, Grandpa. Just do it. I want to go home," Azure tries to convince him. But Albert does not move a muscle.
"Standard procedure, my ass. I know my rights," Albert says.
Jaune begins to feel uncomfortable with Albert's challenge of the officer. It's not like they did something wrong; it's better to just do what he says and get it over with.
"Are we going to have some problem here, sir?" the officer asks.
"No, no, officer. Isn't that right, Albert?" Janir says, glaring at Albert, who is now unhappily getting out his ID.
The officer takes his ID and waits until his partner comes back. When he does, he nods at him and says, "Checks out."
"Is this all then? Can we go?" Albert says.
"We will just check your IDs, and if they come back clean, you are free to leave," he says, giving them to his partner, who walks back to their patrol car.
Even Jaune has had enough of this nonsense. How does this make any sense if it already checks out?
"You don't have anything to hide, do you? You'll just have to wait for a moment," the officer replies. "You running a soup kitchen or something?"
"Or something," Janir says, also done with the situation now.
They just stand in silence. Any good mood Jaune might have had during his drive here is gone now. First, the unpleasant man from the store, and now the police are making an easy situation unnecessarily difficult. Ugh, but it's not like he can do anything.
After a while, the other officer comes back and hands them their IDs back. When Janir reaches for his ID, the officer holds it back for a moment.
"Janir, I have heard about your group," he says, getting only furrowed brows in response and only then giving the ID back. "Well, everything seems to be in order here. You all are free to leave."
None of their group gives them any verbal response, and they just begin to get back into their van.
"Oh, Mr. Arc," the officer who gave them back the IDs calls out as he climbs into the back of the car. "You might want to think about who you associate with. People like you rarely get to have such an opportunity as Beacon."
The policemen get back in their car and drive away, leaving behind the group of faunus in a far worse mood and Jaune with a tight feeling in his chest.
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