The school week was yet to start at Beacon, and most students chose to make the most of their final few days of break by going out into Vale or spending time with their friends on campus. There were also those who had left their schoolwork until the last moment, and had to use the time to catch up. Luckily, Cinder had none of that on account of not actually being a student, and as long as Jaune wasn't in the city, she had no interest in being there. And so Cinder stayed at Beacon, where Jaune was.
After hours of trying to get him away from his friends, they finally had some alone time together in the library. Granted, he didn't know she was there with him, but they were together nonetheless.
It was honestly a miracle that he hadn't noticed her following, and it was best that she keep it that way for now.
While she would love an excuse to talk to him, Cinder would also admit that it wouldn't exactly be unreasonable for him to be a little unnerved by her behavior. On top of that, she was still euphoric over finally having found him, and she felt she still risked pouring all that emotion out if the boy were to come up and speak to her, afterall, just seeing him after so long completely destroyed her composure. She couldn't risk scaring him away with all that.
It's not weird for me to want to make sure he's safe, but I need to further our relationship to a point where he'll understand why I'm doing what I'm doing.
It was hard to stop herself from just going up to him, but everything about their reunion had to go perfectly. To make that happen, she had to know some things before she actually talked to him, everything he liked and didn't like, what made him happy, and most importantly, what it was he looked for in a woman. That last bit would be a little harder to figure out, but she was more than determined. She couldn't wait forever, though.
Deciding that she had been looking away from him long enough, Cinder brought her head back up to continue staring at her beloved. He looked incredible just sitting alone at his table, but then again, when didn't he? He seemed invested in whatever book he was reading, which meant he was looking down, or more importantly, not up at her. That meant Cinder could admire his features from the table over without him noticing. So long as she didn't gaze at him for too long, that is.
Snap
It also meant he didn't notice her getting her pictures. Cinder smiled down at her scroll, quietly giggling in a way only he could make her.
"Hey, Jaune!"
Looking back up in annoyance, she saw one of his friends approaching his table.
Do they have to spend so much time around him?
He was always with his damn friends. It was a constant point of frustration to Cinder. She wasn't frustrated at him, that would be impossible, just at how difficult it was to get him alone. It seemed like getting him away from them would be a rare occurrence.
Of course, it was only natural for someone as great as Jaune to have a lot of friends, but she still didn't like them. For one thing, the vast majority of them were female, and that alone meant Cinder considered them to be dangerous, but even worse was that they were taking up precious time that he should be spending with her. She planned to befriend them to earn favor with Jaune, but that didn't mean their friendship would be real. Luckily, Cinder was quite skilled at faking things.
"Oh, hey Ruby."
The girl was Ruby Rose, who stopped the famous Roman Torchwick from getting away with robbing a dust shop. Although interesting, that detail took a backseat to the fact that she seemed to be rather closely acquainted with Jaune, a little uncomfortably so for Cinder. But fortunately for Ruby, their relationship seemed purely platonic. Still, that didn't mean the girl wouldn't be monitored.
"What are ya reading?"
This was something she couldn't miss. She silently thanked the girl for the opportunity to finally learn some of her beloved's preferences.
"Quiet in the library!"
Cinder looked behind her and glared at the school's librarian. She could see no reason for them to be quiet, it wasn't like there was anyone else in the library. Except Cinder herself, of course, but she wanted to hear this!
Jaune and the Ruby girl started talking again in hushed voices, just barely too quiet for her to make out what they were saying. Cinder let out a sigh of frustration. It seemed like it would be harder than she thought to figure out what she needed to know about him. Only to add to her annoyance, Ruby was now standing beside the table in between her and Jaune, meaning she couldn't even admire him.
Move, you bitch!
It seemed it would be rather difficult to get close to Jaune's companions. It wasn't a question of whether they would see through her facade, rather, it was a question of if she could tolerate them enough to keep it up. Ruby hadn't so much as looked in her direction, yet she was already infuriating her.
They always had to do something to mess her up. Whether it was this girl positioning herself perfectly so that she couldn't look at her Jaune anymore, Nora Valkyrie yelling loud enough to make everyone around her go deaf, or Nikos just generally existing, they always gave her something to be angry about. Well, that was fine. She never cared about them anyway, just Jaune.
Speaking of Jaune, he was now standing up and putting his book back on the shelf. A shame. Cinder couldn't just follow them out, that would be too noticeable. Instead she would just have to watch him leave and catch up with him later, an inconvenience that only served to exasperate her displeasure.
That irritation would almost certainly turn to anger as soon as Jaune was out of her sight. She could never be too angry when her beloved was so close. He just had such a calming effect on her, like his mere presence told her that everything would work out. When he wasn't there, though?
That was another story entirely.
She stared at the back of her Jaune until he was out the library door. Eagerly walking up to the book shelf, she pulled out the one that he had been reading earlier. Cinder looked down on the book with a smile.
Basic Grimm Studies
Her smile turned to a frown when she realized that he had been doing school work. That told her practically nothing about him!
Fine then. I wasn't under the illusion that this would be easy. This just means that I'll have to keep following him. Not that I mind.
Although the smarter thing to do might have been to wait to leave and catch up with him later, Cinder rushed out of the library and quickly looked around for the boy. Seeing him walk down the hallway with Ruby Rose, she began to follow at a distance just close enough to hear them from.
"Come on though, grimm studies? Just swing at it with something sharp until it's dead, no science needed," Jaune said. Gods, Cinder loved hearing his voice.
"Well, I guess it's kinda helpful to know their weak points and stuff. Four-hundred pages does seem a little excessive, though," Ruby responded. Ugh, why couldn't she just be silent and let Jaune talk?
"I dunno, though. That's more Weiss' strong suit. Anyway, me and Team RWBY have some team training scheduled in a couple minutes, so I've gotta go. We'll be making some team attacks that'll blow everyone away," the girl stated with almost mock-confidence. Her remark earned a chuckle from Jaune.
Cinder burned with jealousy. She should be the one making him laugh, not this little girl!
"See you later, Craterface," Jaune said, addressing the younger girl by her nickname. "Oh, and uh, say hi to Weiss for me!"
Cinder's eyes narrowed. What could he possibly want with someone like Weiss Schnee?
"Ah, yea… Yea, I'll do that. See ya, Vomitboy." The moniker made him scratch the back of his head and let out an embarrassed laugh.
Jaune may have not been that upset that he had been called such a thing, but Cinder most certainly was.
How dare she call him something so- so… degrading! That little girl has no right! Does she even have any clue who she's talking to?
Cinder decided she did not very much like Ruby Rose. As the girl walked down the hallway to the left, she stuck her head around the corner and glared daggers into the back of her head. Jaune would never have to face such disrespect when he was with her.
Her beloved began to move through the hallway to the right that led to the student dorms before someone else caught his attention.
How the hell do they keep finding him?! Will they not offer us just a few seconds of peace and quiet together!?
Cinder listened from just around the corner, out of view.
"Oh, hey Pyrrha! Are you ready to start our training? I was just telling Ruby about how much you've been helping me to improve."
"T-thank you, Jaune. Do not sell yourself short, though. I may be teaching you but it's your own hard work that makes the real difference," the red-head responded.
Once again, jealousy surged in Cinder, overwhelming her like a tidal wave. Pyrrha Nikos didn't deserve his praise! And while she was almost certainly correct that she had nothing to do with Jaune's own achievement, her words could very well have been an attempt to get him to develop feelings for her, and her "teaching" just a ploy to spend more time with him.
The possibility that the Nikos whore was trying to take Jaune away from her filled Cinder with fiery anger. Her hands were clenched into fists. She wanted to turn the corner and cremate the so-called champion.
Unfortunately, though, her hands were tied. If she were to do so, not only would Beacon take notice of a missing student and launch an investigation, but Jaune would be devastated. Just as she thought they would be, the two were seemingly very close.
Thinking the situation over only made her even more infuriated.
Cinder took a few deep breaths, calming herself down before she could do something she'd regret. She couldn't let her emotions get the best of her. If Jaune saw her as some irate lunatic, her chances with him would be all but thrown out the window.
Trying to get a glance at the two, she poked her head around the corner to see Jaune facing away from her and towards his partner. She stopped and stared for a few seconds, captivated by his features. Even if she could only see the back of him, he still looked absolutely divine to her. Cinder took a glimpse at Nikos, and rage once again came back to her almost immediately.
That little slut was blushing! Blushing! How dare she blush at her Jaune!
Cinder was so angry that she completely forgot about trying to go unnoticed and glared for just a little too long at Nikos.
Her heart jumped as they locked eyes with each other. She instantly brought her head back from around the corner, shaken from having finally been caught. Jealousy, rage, and love surged inside of her, making her entire body tremble.
"You alright, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, sounding taken off-guard.
Yet another wave of fury hit Cinder.
Jaune shouldn't feel concern for Pyrrha Nikos, he shouldn't feel anything for her! She didn't deserve it!
"Yea, I'm fine," Nikos said with a sigh. "Let's start heading up to the roof so we can start our training."
I'm going to kill this little slut!
/-/
Pyrrha walked down the hallway, happy that the end of the day had finally come.
It wasn't like she had had a bad day, in fact it had been a rather good one, she was just looking forward to her training with Jaune, which always took place in the later part of the evening. The time they spent together on the roof was always one of the best parts of her days.
Seeing her partner in the hallway, she quickened her pace,
"Oh, hey Pyrrha! Are you ready to start our training? I was just telling Ruby about how much you've been helping me to improve."
Pyrrha smiled to herself as Jaune greeted her, blushing at his praise. She was happy to have been able to help him make so much progress, and it only made it all the more worth it if he thought more of her for it.
Over their months on a team together, the two of them had become close friends. Growing up, her titles and success had made it hard for her to find real friends, people who liked Pyrrha Nikos and not the Invincible Girl. It was why she valued her friendships at Beacon so much, especially her and Jaune's.
She was close with everyone on her team as well as part of Team RWBY, but it'd be a lie to say she didn't feel as though what she had with Jaune went a little deeper.
I just hope he feels the same way…
"T-thank you, Jaune. Do not sell yourself short, though. I may be teaching you but it's your own hard work that makes the real difference," she responded.
She meant what she said. Pyrrha was the one training him, but it wasn't like his improvement was entirely because of her, no matter what Weiss said. At any point, he couldn't have laid down and given up, but he didn't. It only made her respect him even more.
Her blush got even worse. Just as it was beginning to calm down, too.
"Anyway, let's go up to-" Pyrrha cut herself off, seeing something out of the corner of her eye.
Looking past Jaune, she saw a black-haired girl staring at her with amber eyes. Pyrrha only got a brief glimpse of her. As soon as they made eye contact with each other, the girl ducked back behind the wall and out of her vision.
A frown crept its way onto Pyrrha's face. It seems Beacon had spoiled her.
Back home in Minstral, she had gotten rather used to more… enthusiastic fans. There was a surprisingly high number of them. Unfortunately, it was just one of the downsides of being a popular public figure. She hadn't yet encountered any at Beacon, but she supposed she should have expected to come across one eventually.
"You alright, Pyrrha?" Jaune asked, clearly a little concerned.
"Yea, I'm fine," she said with a sigh. "Let's start heading up to the roof so we can start our training."
"Yea, let's do it," he said, smiling at her.
Almost instantaneously, her frown disappeared, having already forgotten about the supposed stalker-fan.
Pyrrha occasionally glanced up at him as they made their way towards the roof. Most people probably wouldn't have considered him good-looking, but Pyrrha was not most people.
Maybe she was biased, but she actually considered her partner to be quite handsome. Yang's teasing did nothing to change her mind on that, no matter how much she did so.
Why can't I just tell him how I feel?
In the starting days of her career, Pyrrha was always labeled the underdog, yet no matter how many people said she would lose, she faced her opponents confidently and without fear. And here she was, scared stiff by a boy. The irony was not lost on her.
Maybe she should just say something right now? The sooner the better, right? Besides, if he said no their training would help take her mind off of it.
The thought of rejection had the exact opposite of the intended effect and only made a confession seem even more terrifying.
It's not like he's going to laugh at me or something. Sure, it might make things a little weird if he turns me down, but there's no way he'd cut off our friendship for asking.
Besides, if she didn't say something soon, who's to say she ever would? It also wasn't like every single girl he flirted with was going to turn him down, eventually someone might say yes to him if she didn't act quickly.
Pyrrha paused before walking out the door to the roof, finding a seemingly random burst of confidence.
"H-hey Jaune, can I… can I ask you something?"
"Yea, what's up Pyr?" he said, turning to her.
"Well I… I ah," Pyrrha cleared her throat. "I was just wondering if you would like to go out to Vale with me tomorrow?" Her words came out so fast it was amazing that he understood her.
"Oh yea, sure."
Her heart soared…
"We can get Ren and Nora to come along with us, too, I'm sure they'd love to go. Good idea to make the most of our last day of break," he said, wearing the same smile he was earlier.
…and crashed back down.
Apparently, he had misinterpreted what she was trying to say. Was she really not being obvious enough, or was he just trying to tell her he wasn't interested without hurting her feelings? Knowing Jaune, it was probably the former.
Oh well. She'd just have to try again at another time and make it more clear. If she could muster the courage again, that is.
She had a feeling this was going to be harder than she thought it would be…
/-/
Cinder stalked through the hallway, grinding her teeth together in anger.
I need to find a way to deal with Nikos. What makes her think she has the right to be anywhere near him!?
The way she talked to him, as if she was worthy to do so, made her sick. If Jaune hadn't been there too, Cinder would've killed her and left nothing for her family to bury, made her regret ever speaking to him.
She doesn't deserve to even look at him, much less be his friend! The millisecond she tries to lay her dirty hands on my Jaune I'll make sure she wishes her father never met his mother!
Fire began to leak out from Cinder's clenched fists. She had to keep herself under control.
While her anger was absolutely justified, she would have to make sure to keep her temper in check if she wanted Jaune to love her back.
Cinder leaned against the wall for support, took a few deep breaths again and closed her eyes for a couple seconds. When she opened them again, she looked around and tried to figure out where she actually was and how to get back to her dorm, but noticed something else that caught her attention.
She had been so mad she didn't realize nor care where she was going, but had somehow ended up back at Jaune's dorm room. It was like her body was just naturally drawn to anything he was associated with.
Cinder smiled to herself. This was exactly what she needed to clear her mind.
She leaned against the door, just like she'd done the day before when they had finally been reunited. Just being so close to where he slept was enough to dissipate her anger.
Maybe I can get in? I know Jaune and that Nikos bitch aren't here, but what about the other two on JNPR, Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie? I'll need to make sure they aren't currently inside.
She could just knock on the door and see if anyone answered, and if they did she could simply pretend to have gotten the wrong room number. That would be awkward, sure, but not suspicious. It was a no risk, high reward situation.
The decision couldn't have been easier.
Cinder brought her fist up and knocked three times on the door, loud enough so that she was sure anyone on the other side of the door would hear her. There was no response. No one to open the door, no noise from inside the room, nothing.
She knocked again. Still nothing.
Her smile widened. She tried twisting the knob and found it unlocked.
Cinder was too excited to even think of an excuse as she opened the door, but luckily nobody was inside.
She stepped through the door and shut it behind her. Her heart fluttered as she looked around, thinking about how he lived in that very room. Jaune may have not been with her, but being there made her feel so close to him. It was a great feeling.
There were four beds up against the far wall, one for every team member, each with a drawer beside it for storing clothes and whatever else.
Her smile somehow got even bigger as she began looking through the drawers, trying to find out which one belonged to her Jaune. She started on the left, but found it full of woman's clothes and moved onto the next one. The second drawer was the same story. She opened the third drawer to find a collection of men's clothes and paused.
There's that other guy on his team, Lie Ren. I have to be careful to make sure I don't touch any of his stuff.
Cinder was completely and utterly loyal to Jaune, and putting her hands on any other men's clothing would be a blatant violation of that loyalty unless it was absolutely necessary. The thought of betraying her beloved filled her with disgust.
Opening the last drawer, she compared the clothing in each, trying to figure out which belonged to Jaune and which belonged to his teammate. She knew from her own observations that his teammate was a few inches shorter than her beloved, who stood around six feet tall, so it would make sense for the larger clothes to belong to him. It was hard to tell which were bigger when they were folded up in the cabinet, though.
Deciding that it was, in fact, absolutely necessary, Cinder took a shirt out of each drawer and compared them, dropping the one in her left as soon as she found the one in her right to be slightly larger.
I'm sorry, Jaune. I only touched it because I needed to to make sure.
She looked through the drawer the larger shirt had come from and found a number of pants, shirts, and sweatshirts, a tag on one of them which had 'Jaune Arc' written in sharpie, confirming that all of this did, indeed, belong to her beloved.
Cinder giggled as she rummaged through his clothes. Picking out a random sweatshirt, she brought it up to her face and inhaled. His scent was intoxicating. She sat down on what was presumably his bed and continued to breathe it in, unable to get enough.
After a few minutes she decided that it was probably best to get going. It would be a bad look if he or one of his teammates walked in on her burying her face into his clothes. No way she'd be leaving empty-handed though. Surely he wouldn't miss a singular hoodie?
Cinder reluctantly walked back towards the door, taking a black hoodie with her. Before leaving, she took one final look at his room.
"Don't worry, Jaune, I promise I'll talk to you tomorrow. Then we can finally be together," she said, giggling to herself.
Finally, she pushed the door open again to see Mercury turn and stare at her.