Jaune smiled to himself and whistled a tune as he set his tray down at an empty spot. Usually, he'd sit next to Nora and Pyrrha, but they decided to hang back at their dorm for a little longer while he and Ren went to the cafeteria. For whatever reason, they'd been in a big hurry to get him out the door. Something about having a girl-talk. Whatever the case, he was perfectly fine with leaving. Living with seven sisters had taught him to keep himself out of that sort of thing.
Taking a seat, he decided to enjoy the silence in the cafeteria while he could. Usually, the room got pretty loud during meal times, especially with Nora sitting right there next to him.
"A little weird how quiet it is, huh?" he said, earning a hum of agreement from Ren.
The two of them sat there without speaking for a few minutes, eating their breakfast. The silence would usually be awkward, but it didn't feel that way with Ren. Rather, it was a silence of mutual respect, one of understanding. Or maybe he was just in a good mood, who knows.
But hey, who could blame him? Things were looking up for him, big time. It wasn't because his grades were going up, even though they were, or that he was finally making real progress with his fighting, although he was, no, it was something different. Something even bigger.
He, Jaune Arc, had finally managed to score a date. Yup, that's right. In one short week, he'd be going out on a date with Cinder Fall.
Jaune blushed as he remembered their outing into the city, specifically, the part where she'd asked him out. Honestly, that had been the last thing he'd expected to happen. He wasn't complaining, though. She was awfully nice to him, and not to mention beautiful.
Hell, even if he wasn't at all interested, she made it pretty hard to say no to her with that backstory of her's. It was seriously a miracle that she'd turned out to be as great as she was after all that.
"You sure are happy," Ren said, breaking his train of thought. It was impressive how easily he could read him without a single word spoken between them. "Something happen?"
Jaune leaned back in his chair. "I'm just in a really good mood today, that's all."
His teammate looked at him skeptically. He would've loved to brag, but he didn't want to have Nora interrogating him about it and, worse yet, letting everybody else know so they could question him, too. For how little Ren talked, it was amazing how much his childhood friend managed to get out of him.
"Just in a really good mood, huh? Nothing happened?"
"Yeah, man. Sometimes you just wake up and feel great about everything, y'know?"
Jaune could tell he wasn't buying it. He was a terrible liar, after all. Still, Ren didn't dig any deeper. Maybe he would have if something was wrong, but why would he get concerned over his friend being happy?
As the sun got higher, more and more students came into the cafeteria to eat. Eventually, their sister team, Team RWBY, joined them, sitting across from the two.
As soon as she saw him, Yang grinned ear to ear. She took her seat without ever breaking eye contact. Jaune braced himself, having a pretty good feeling that he knew what this was about. She finally had a chance to tease him for that conversation with Cinder.
Jaune looked over to Ren, hoping to get some dialogue going with him to avoid talking to Yang. "So… the girls have been in the dorm for a while, huh?"
"You're right," his friend responded, checking the clock that hung on the nearby wall. Seeing the time, he sighed and stood up. "I should probably go check on them."
"H-hey!"
Come on! Was he seriously about to leave him here with her?!
Ren didn't even look back at his calling, making a beeline towards the exit. Oh, whatever. He wouldn't have been any help, anyway.
Looking up, he saw that Yang still hadn't stopped staring him down. That had gotten the attention of Ruby and Weiss, who glanced between the two of them. Blake still hadn't taken her eyes off of her book.
"So…" he said, looking down at the table, "Crazy weather we've been having, huh?" The comment earned nothing but raised eyebrows. The weather had not, in fact, been crazy. On the contrary, it'd been nothing but blue skies for the past few weeks.
Weiss spoke up, narrowing her eyes. "What exactly is going on here?"
"Oh, nothing." Still grinning, Yang leaned her chair back, clasping her hands behind her head. "It's just that Vomit Boy here's got a date."
Ruby turned to him and gasped. "Jaune! Is that true?"
His face lit up. "N-no! What Yang here is referring to is a friend who I happened to hang out with yesterday. A friend who just happens to be a girl."
"A hot girl," Yang shouted. Almost identically to the last time, Ruby turned to him and once again gasped. Weiss just rolled her eyes. "One who just happened to ask him to take her into the city."
Jaune sputtered. "That doesn't mean we went on a date!"
"Yeah… I don't believe you." Yang rested her head on her closed fist. "So where are you gonna take her next? Nice candlelit dinner, maybe?"
"Yang, please," Weiss said, swooping in to save him. "I'm sure she meant it purely platonically and Jaune just happened to misunderstand the situation." Or not.
"I- what? How does that even- But I'm the one-" Jaune shook his head. "Look, point is, we are not dating! So if you could please drop the subject, that'd be wonderful."
Just then, he felt a hand rest on his shoulder from behind him. "Hello, darling," Cinder said. "I'm looking forward to our date coming up. I'm sure it will be a great time." With that, she left as quickly as she came, running her fingers through a lock of his hair as she walked off.
Jaune's face went red as he buried it in his hands. He could just feel the cheshire grin coming from the other side of the table. The laughter was pretty obvious, too.
Oh Oum, kill me now.
Weiss clicked her tongue. "Well, I seem to have misread the situation. You two are clearly in a committed relationship, although I can't say I understand why you denied it."
Committed?! Where'd she get that from?
Jaune held his hands out in front of him in exasperation. "Because we're not in a committed relationship! We agreed to go on one date together!"
"I don't know, Vomit Boy," Yang said, "She seemed pretty damn comfortable with you there. You sure she isn't your girlfriend?"
"Yes!"
"I agree with Yang." It was Ruby, of all people, who spoke up this time. "It looked like she really likes you."
Jaune's eye twitched. No offense to Ruby, but he was pretty sure that she was the last person at the table qualified to speak on the subject. "And what exactly tells you that?"
"Mostly the part where she called you darling, plus the part where she touched your hair. Personally, I wouldn't let anyone put their hand on my mane until at least a few years into dating." Yang flicked a lock of hair behind her ear. "That's just me, though."
Her mane. She called it her mane. He was surrounded by lunatics. They were his friends, but they were lunatics. Although, in all honesty, her calling him 'darling' was a little weird. Still, what made them so adamant that he was wrong about this whole thing?!
He looked around the table, begging for anyone with some sense to speak up, but everyone seemed to be in agreement with Yang.
"I also think Yang's right about this."
Jaune turned to Blake, shocked that she'd not only been listening in the first place, but also bothered to contribute to the conversation. "Yeah?" he said, once the shock wore off. "Well, I'm positive Ninjas of Love provides plenty of realistic advice on how relationships are supposed to work, so maybe I'd better defer to you."
Blake frowned. "Ninjas of Love is art-"
"Art!?" Weiss shouted. "You call that art?!"
His comment had the intended effect. The girls once again brought up the always-heated debate on whether or not Blake's books counted as literature, which, more importantly, meant that they left him alone, forgetting about him and Cinder. They argued until the rest of his team arrived at the cafeteria and sat next to him.
"What did I miss?" Pyrrha said, taking her usual seat to his immediate left.
Yang opened her mouth to speak. Jaune stared at her. She stared right back. "Oh, nothing new. We were just discussing Blake's choice of reading again."
Pyrrha raised her eyebrows. "Really? Again?"
Yang shrugged. "Like I said, nothing new."
Jaune took a deep sigh of relief.
/-/
"Keep going, Jaune!" Pyrrha yelled, making her voice heard over the sound of Milo clashing against Jaune's shield.
Jaune kept his guard up, barely managing to stay on his feet. She kept up her assault, attempting to knock his shield away and leave him defenseless, but he wouldn't put it down. It was a smart strategy that he'd developed, wearing out his opponent by allowing them to attack and carefully choosing moments to strike back. Not good enough to beat her, but smart nonetheless.
Pyrrha brought her spear above her head, and as soon as she did, Jaune lunged after her, taking a wide swing with Crocea Mors. It would have been a brilliant move if he was faster, but all she had to do was step back to avoid it.
"Great thinking, but you weren't quite quick enough," she said, closing the distance in between them and stabbing at him. He tried bringing his shield back up, but Pyrra hit him before he could, finally knocking him off balance and winning their spar.
Nora started cheering, but she drowned it out. Being famous and competing in front of thousands was a lot easier if you could block out all that noise without having to think about it.
Pyrrha stretched her hand out and helped Jaune up off of the floor. "That was an amazing fight, Jaune. You've been improving a ton recently. Just make a point to practice speed and you'll be a true huntsman in no time."
"Thanks, Pyrrha," he said, smiling.
That usually wouldn't have gotten her going like it did, but everything he did seemed to have that effect today. With her confession just a few hours away now, it was hard to focus on anything except him. Any other day, she'd have been able to dismantle him in a matter of seconds, but for the life of her she couldn't stop getting lost in those eyes.
Should she tell him that, or would that be weird? That wasn't weird, was it? Or did it depend on how she said that? Ugh, why did this have to be so hard!? She knew him so well; she shouldn't be having so much trouble thinking of something to say!
The two of them retreated to the edge of the training room while Nora and Ren squared up for their fight against each other.
"I really mean it when I say you've been improving, Jaune. The work you've been putting in is really starting to pay off."
Jaune beamed. "Thanks, but it's all because of you. Your teaching has helped out a ton."
Pyrrha had to avert her gaze to avoid letting him see her blush, not that he'd have noticed. "I'm just happy that I can be of some assistance."
The sound of Nora's hammer slamming against the ground took their attention back onto the ongoing fight. They watched as Ren gracefully avoided his partner's attacks, weaving in between powerful swings and exploiting the few weaknesses in her defense.
"They're good huh?" Jaune turned to her and smiled. "Not as good as you, though."
Pyrrha managed to keep her cool on the outside, but on the inside, she was panicking.
Was that supposed to be a hint? Was he trying to say that he liked her, or was she reading too deep into it? Would he be upset if she tried to kiss him? Where had that last one even come from?! Of course he'd be upset!
Get yourself together, Pyrrha!
"T-thanks," she managed to squeak out.
It took a few more minutes, but eventually, Nora managed to take her partner down. Ren was evasive, but she only needed to hit him a handful of times to win the match. There was something to be said for power like her's.
Once Ren had gotten up, the four of them came together in the middle of the training room.
"That was awesome, guys," Jaune said, high fiving Nora and shaking Ren's hand. "At this rate, I'd say we've got a good shot at the Vytal Tournament."
His optimism alone was enough to lift her spirits. She couldn't remember the last time he'd spoken with so much confidence.
Nora crossed her arms and grinned. "Hell yeah! We're gonna kick so much ass!"
"If we stay consistent, that is," Ren said. "Everyone else is practicing just as much as we are, so we'll need to stay on schedule if we want to make it out of the first few rounds."
"You know, that reminds me of something really important!" Nora grabbed her partner by the wrist and winked at Pyrrha. "Me and Rennie need to go out into the hall and have a super secret, private conversation! You two should stay in here while we go do that. Bye!" With that, she ran off and out the door, leaving her alone with Jaune.
Pyrrha froze up as soon as she realized what was happening. Nora wanted her to confess. Right now.
Jaune looked at her with raised eyebrows. "I don't suppose you have any idea what that was all about?"
"N-nope," she said, shaking her head. "I-I guess we should probably just wait here until they come back."
Her partner shrugged his shoulders. "Fine by me."
She considered making a break for it, but Nora had made it clear on multiple occasions that if she tried that, she would take matters into her own hands. Not telling him would have the same consequence. Her fellow redhead had essentially trapped her. Pyrrha had no course of action except to tell him, right here and right now. That was certainly easier said than done, though.
She wanted to tell him, she really did, but she had no clue how! Everytime she tried to think of something to say, her mind came up completely empty.
Maybe she should just make it up as she went? That was probably what most normal people did, and besides, he'd probably appreciate it more if it sounded more genuine. But then how would she avoid messing it up?
"H-hey Jaune? Can we… talk about something?"
Why was she talking? She had clue what she even had to say yet!
"Yea, what's up, Pyr?"
Think of something quick!
…
…
…
"I really like your eyes."
Turns out, it was, in fact, a weird thing to say.
"Oh, thank you," Jaune said, acting as if that was somehow completely normal and expected. At least he wasn't adding on to her embarrassment.
"They're, um… really distracting."
Why on Remnant are you still going with this?!
Jaune frowned. "What?"
"N-nothing. Just forget I said any of that."
"Okay, then… Is that all you wanted to tell me?"
Maybe she should just back out now. He'd given her an easy out, and she wasn't exactly off to a great start. It might be better to try again at another time.
"Y-yeah, that's all."
"Alright, thanks, I guess," he said, turning towards the door.
You can't stop now, a small voice in the back of her head screamed, just loud enough for her to hear. If you don't do this now, when will you? Besides, Nora's going to make sure you follow through and you probably don't want to know what she'll do if you don't.
Pyrrha grabbed him by the wrist, stopping him in his tracks and making him look back at her in confusion. "Actually, that's not it. I… S-sorry, I don't really know how to say this."
Jaune smiled back, completely non-judgmentally. "It's fine, Pyrrha. You've got plenty of time to figure it out. I'm not going anywhere."
Alright, so he'd been fully understanding and somehow didn't feel weirded-out about her behavior, which was great, but that still didn't change the fact that she had no clue what to say. She'd tried thinking through it, but had drawn a blank, and making it up as she went along had made her sound creepy. What else was there to do?
Well, she supposed she could take Nora's advice and just be honest. She was hesitant to do that, though. For some reason, the idea just seemed so intimidating. She wasn't sure what it was, but something about saying what she was thinking was just so nerve-wracking. But did she have another choice? It wasn't like anything else was working.
"Jaune, can I be honest with you for a moment?"
Jaune frowned. "Something wrong, Pyr?"
"No, no, I just need to get something off my chest, that's all." Her partner looked at her, but said nothing, inviting her to keep going. "Listen, I… didn't have many friends growing up. It may sound silly to complain about being famous, but it did make it rather hard to form relationships, so my social life was… not the best." Jaune stared at her with sympathy. Oh Oum, she was actually doing this, wasn't she?
"I was lonely for a while. Honestly, I wanted nothing more than to be normal again. I still do. But you… you make me feel normal. In a good way." Pyrrha took a deep breath. "That's what I like about you. When I'm with you, I'm just Pyrrha. Not the 'Invincible Girl,' or some championship fighter, but a normal girl who doesn't have to put up some mask, because I know you want to see the real me and not a media-trained celebrity. That's a great feeling, Jaune. Look, what I'm trying to say is that… I…"
Her words got caught in her throat. No fight had ever made her feel as nervous as she did now.
"I think of you as more than a friend." Her face turned a bright red as soon as the words left her mouth. Wanting to avoid looking him in the eye, she suddenly decided that the ground was very interesting. "In a romantic way, I mean. I like you romantically."
She expected some relief when she finally said it, but none came. That wasn't helped by the fact that he stood there, completely silent, for what felt like ages. Waiting for his response made her even more nervous.
"Oh…" he finally said, breaking the silence.
Pyrrha's stomach dropped. That was a no, wasn't it? It had to be. He didn't sound even close to being happy about it.
"I'm sorry, I…" Jaune cleared his throat. "Yesterday, Cinder asked me on a date, and I said yes."
And there it was. The killing blow. His words, as softly spoken as they were, came down on her like a hammer. She'd poured her heart out, but somebody else had beaten her to it. She'd been too scared, and she'd lost him because of it.
Her eyes began welling up. She felt his hand on her shoulder, and he was telling her something, likely in an attempt to comfort her, but it didn't register to her. All that registered was the crushing feeling his words had left behind.
Before she could think about what she was doing, she found herself running out the door, as if getting away from him would in turn help her get away from reality. Jaune called out to her but got no response.
She slammed the door open, nearly forcing it off the hinges. Nora, who'd been waiting right outside, stared at her with a look of optimism, oblivious to what had just happened.
"How did it-!" Seeing Pyrrha's face, she cut herself off, her own expression dropping into one of disappointment and sympathy. "Go…"
Pyrrha looked back for a fleeting second before burying her face in her arm to conceal the tears coming down her face and running off through the hallway. She didn't care who saw her or what they'd say, she just wanted to be somewhere else, anywhere else. Anywhere but there.
She felt like such an idiot. She should've made sure he was available before throwing herself at him like that. It would have been as simple as asking, but somehow, the thought hadn't even occurred to her.
Her partner's words echoed in her head as Pyrrha walked swiftly down the hallway, hanging her head. She could barely make out the shape of the doorknob through the tears, but managed to open the door and slam it shut behind her nonetheless.
A day. That's how much that girl, Cinder, had beaten her by. If she'd listened to what Nora had been saying for months and taken the chance just one day earlier, things could have gone differently. Maybe he'd have even said yes. Instead, she currently sat crying on her bed, burying her face in her hands, and probably looking rather pathetic. That's certainly how she felt, anyway.
Pyrrha stayed like that for some amount of time, she wasn't sure how long. It could've been minutes, could've been hours, she had no clue. It wouldn't have made a difference either way. She didn't even bother moving until Nora knocked on the door and walked in.
Most of the time, she'd come in making about as much noise as a huntress-in-training could, which was a lot, but now, she entered almost noiselessly. It would've been strange if not for what had just happened. Hell, with how hard the girl had rooted for her to get with Jaune, Pyrrha was surprised she didn't break down with her.
"Hey," Nora said, shutting the door behind her. "Are you alright?" Shaking her head, she took a seat next to her. "Oh, what am I talking about, of course you're not. Listen, I'm sorry about what happened. I shouldn't have pressured you into telling him as much as I did. That was stupid of me."
"I-it's not your fault," Pyrrha choked out.
"Whether or not that's true, it still really sucks to see you like this." Nora put her arm around her shoulder and offered her a tissue, which she accepted wordlessly. "Jaune wanted to come over here to comfort you, but I told him you probably didn't want to see him right now."
She'd stopped crying now, and the dull, almost numb pang of sadness that came after the initial pain had begun to settle in. "Thanks," she said weakly.
Nora sighed. "Girl, you are a mess."
"I know. I-I'm sorry you have to deal with all this."
"Don't apologize. I'm your friend, and that's what friends do. And hey, it'll be alright. Somehow, things will work out. You just have to give it a little time, that's all."
Pyrrha didn't think she'd ever met someone as optimistic as Nora. It was probably because she'd grown up an orphan, all alone in the world outside her friendship with Ren. Hope would've been an invaluable asset to her. Whatever the case, it was that source of optimism that she didn't think she could do without. Especially right now.
/-/
Cinder listened intently as Mercury recited an escape route he'd found for the Vytal Tournament. Nor for herself, of course, but for Jaune. She was determined to prioritize his safety in the ordeal, even if that meant changing her plans.
"From there, I can take him down the tunnel to the exit, where they'll be running bullheads down to Beacon and the city," he said, pointing to lines drawn on a small map in front of him. "After that, things get complicated."
"We'll figure it out. We've got months to do so. Besides, as soon as I get the maiden powers, I'll be right there to assist him." Cinder took her eyes off the table and looked up at him. "I'm sure you'll be able to protect him until then."
Mercury stood stiff. "That's not really the part I'm worried about."
"Oh?" she said, raising her eyebrow. "What, then, are your concerns?"
"Look, I've got no problem memorizing all these routes, but how am I going to actually get him to follow me? Won't he be more interested in, you know… helping? And why would he even trust me?"
Cinder leaned forward. "If he wants to help, you can tell him that more people need him in the city. You won't even be lying to him. As for trust, you'll need to build a friendship with him beforehand. That way, he should have no problem following you."
"You want me to become friends with him?" He spoke almost skeptically, like he didn't believe she was being serious.
"I do believe we've discussed this before," she said, leaning back in her chair, "Or have you already forgotten about your orders? I haven't given you anything else to do. Surely, one mere task isn't too much for you to handle?"
"Alright, alright, I'll get on it. Just give me some time, it's not like I can just walk up at him at any random moment."
A scowl made its way onto Cinder's face. His ill manners, bordering on outright disrespect, was starting to get very, very old. In all honesty, she'd have considered getting rid of him by now if he wasn't such a valuable asset. At least he was starting to take Jaune's safety seriously. Or perhaps he just feared for himself, but she didn't care either way. The result would be the same.
"And why not?" she said, glaring at him. "That's exactly what I did, and quite frankly, it worked out just fine for me."
Mercury took a sharp breath in. "I just thought that it'd be better if I stayed back for a bit so he wouldn't think I was trying to force a friendship with him."
"You clearly aren't very good at thinking, then. Perhaps you should stop doing that and start doing what I tell you to." Cinder pushed the map back towards her underling, signaling for him to collect it. "I expect you to have talked to him by tomorrow. If I speak to you at the end of the day and you can't tell me exactly how your conversation with him went, you can expect consequences."
Without a word, Mercury reached over the table to collect the paper, stuffed it into his pocket and walked out the room, leaving her totally alone. As soon as he closed the door, a wide smile made its way onto Cinder's face.
She'd had to appear irritable while dealing with him and his partner to keep them in line, but underneath her cold surface, she really couldn't have been happier. Her night with Jaune had been replaying in her head over and over again.
Thinking about it made her body heat up. The fact that they were together now almost seemed too good to be true, like a good dream that never ended. That was fitting, considering how often he appeared to her while she slept.
It was honestly unbelievable how far she'd come in such a short amount of time. Just a few months ago, she'd had no idea where he was, and every lead she got led nowhere. Now, he belonged to her. No longer would she have to imagine a life with him, daydreaming for hours on end only to snap back to the reality that he wasn't there with her. Those days were over.
For once, she saw both a bright future and a bright present, and all she had to do to keep it that way was make sure he was happy. Perhaps for the first time ever in her life, she could just enjoy herself.