49A Knight's Heart
It was shaping up to be a normal day at Beacon. Students were either training or doing any assignments they still had to do. Meanwhile, more exchange students were showing up for the Vytal Festival in a few weeks. A few students were just fooling around or doing whatever they felt like to relax after classes and the usual stress of their day to day lives.
Team RWBY was doing exactly that, the four girls were sitting in their dorm room trying to unwind on this average morning. Ruby was sitting on her bunk and going through a weapon's magazine, looking for any upgrades for Crescent Rose. Although, she wasn't as focused as usual, her inner nerd just wasn't into it. Weiss was at her desk, reviewing her notes from the various classes she had throughout the week. But unlike usual, her mind kept wandering from her task. Blake was lounging in her bunk, reading one of her favorite books. But similar to her teammates, she was getting distracting and had to keep rereading every paragraph she was on. Finally, Yang was laying on her back on her bed while going through her scroll. But going with the theme of the world, was finding nothing to occupy her time.
That's when Ruby threw her magazine into the air and fell back onto her bed with groan, "I'm bored!" Then said magazine fell back onto her face in a comical fashion.
Yang looked across to her sister and pocketed her scroll. She turned to face her while using her hand to support her chin, "Yeah, same here, sis."
Blake used this time to put her book down and turned to sit sideways on her bed, to face her two teammates, since her partner was above her. "Same." She said in a lackluster tone.
The three then turned to their white themed teammate. She could feel their stares on her but decided to ignore them and focus on her work. She was Weiss Schnee and she had a task to complete. But a few seconds later, she sighed and turned around to face them, "My sentiments exactly."
They sat in a silence before their leader spoke up, "So, what should we do?"
Yang shrugged, "No idea. We've trained all week and for once, I don't feel like fighting anyone. Wanna head down to Vale?"
Weiss looked over at Yang, "We can't. We're confined to Beacon grounds for the rest of the week. Since you destroyed a good portion of them, when you lost your temper and chased a student around campus because he nicked your hair." Weiss reminded her with a glare. Yang looked away sheepishly as she played with her hair.
"We could hang out with CFVY." Ruby suggested.
Blake shook her head, "Coco dragged her team to Vale to do some shopping, they'll be gone all day."
They fell into another silence for a while. That was before the boxer came up with an idea and sat up on her bunk. "How about a little bet between us?" she said with a grin.
"I don't know, Yang." Ruby started. "The last one didn't end too well." No one wanted to remember the last bet their team had. It ended with a lot of crying and someone almost needing reconstructive surgery.
"I already apologized for that." Yang defended herself. "This one will be different; no violence will be involved and we'll all have an equal chance in winning."
"I'm scared to ask what challenge that head of yours has concocted." Weiss said with her usual sass.
"It's fine. The bet will be simple: first one to get a date by the end of the day, wins!"
"That's it? Isn't that a bit, degrading?" Weiss asked.
Yang scoffed, "What, we're all attractive ladies. What's wrong with us trying to find a date? One of us just being better than the rest of the team is just a bonus." She said with a smirk.
Ruby was slightly embarrassed by the thought, but she had an idea on who she would ask. It'd be the perfect cover to ask them out without Yang going full 'Protective Sister mode'. Weiss didn't want any part of this, but Yang was being overconfident, and it was grating on her nerves. It would be good to wipe that smile off her face by winning and showing she didn't need blessed 'assets' to win. Not that she was jealous or anything! Blake just rolled her eyes, she really wasn't interested in dating anyone right now, but it would at least break up the boredom she was feeling. They decided they were not about to back down to the challenge the blonde just laid down. "But, this isn't exactly fair." Ruby pointed out.
"Why's that?" Blake asked.
"Because you and Weiss can just ask Sun and Neptune. They'd agree instantly. And nobody who goes to Beacon will agree to go out with me because Yang has threatened every person that looked at me for more than five seconds." She pouted with that.
"Plus, you've got a dozen guys that have been trying to… seduce you, Yang. Not exactly fair." Weiss added, trying to not be crass.
Yang shrugged with a smirk, "Not my fault that I'm awesome and that a bunch of pervs were gawking at my baby sister. But you have a point there." Yang brought her hand to her chin and gently rubbed it as she was thinking. She came to a resolution and snapped her fingers, "I got it. What if we all try to get a date with the same guy?" They all looked ta her confused, so she elaborated. "We'll choose someone we know and we'll all have one chance to ask them out. If he agrees, that person wins."
They all thought about it, "That could work." Blake responded.
"As much as I want to disagree, it would make things easier." Weiss added but still wondering, why she was going along with this. "But, let's agree that we are not allowed to sabotage the others' attempts." Her teammates nodded with that condition.
"But, who are we going to choose?" Ruby asked.
"We all agree that it won't be anyone from CRDL." Blake stated. The three nodded instantly.
"Sun and Neptune are out for obvious reasons. Yatsuhashi and Fox, as well." Weiss added.
"What about Ren?" Yang asked.
As soon as she says that, images of grenades, a massive hammer, broken legs and manic laughter fill their heads. "NOO!" They all yell at once. They all were trying to calm down when Ruby had a thought, "Why not Jaune?"
They all looked at her before Weiss spoke up, "That dolt? Why him?"
"Actually, that makes sense." Blake answered.
"Yeah, I'm okay with that?" Yang agreed.
Weiss looked at them stunned, "What!?"
Yang just rolled her eyes, "Look, Jaune knows all of us pretty well. So, if he agrees, we'll have a more genuine win. Plus, afterwards, we could just explain to him that we don't feel that way about him and he'll understand. No friendships will be hurt by it. And if you don't want to go out with him, Weiss, you could just make up an excuse and he probably won't argue with it."
Weiss had to agree with her points. But another thought came to mind, "What about Pyrrha? What will she think?"
"Pyrrha's out with her manager for the day, so she won't be a problem. And it's only a single date. Maybe it'll give her the incentive to ask him out herself." Yang explained.
They all looked at each other for a bit, just considering it. "So, we all agree?" Yang asked. The other three nodded and Yang smirked, "Alright then. So, the first person to get a date with Jaune, wins the bet!"
Yang was making her way down the halls of Beacon, looking for one Jaune Arc. After her team had agreed to the bet, they all decided to draw straws to make some sort of order to it. The results were Yang first, followed by Ruby, then Blake and finally Weiss. With that settled, she decided to go win herself this bet, asap. She grabbed a 'quick' shower before getting dressed. Although, Weiss would say she was still in there for too long. With a roll of her eyes and a smirk, she left her dorm room to complete her objective. There was no way that Jaune would turn her down of all people. Most people would look at her and do anything to get a chance at her. But they'd be out of luck, she had gone on plenty of dates but only with people she knew would be respectful of her. She may be a flirt, but she was not a bimbo and she would not be treated as one.
This was actually a win-win scenario for her. She could win the bet and she finally found a way to repay the blonde knight. She was a bit concerned that Ruby's first friend at Beacon was a guy, so she decided to keep an eye on the two. She didn't want her first friend to do anything to hurt her little sister. She was pleasantly surprised to find that he treated her very well, kind of like a little sister. Ever since they were kids, Yang had always been watching out for her sister but now with Jaune, she didn't have to stress out all the time about Ruby's safety. He was there to give her a hand if Yang couldn't.
Since then, Yang had been trying to find a way to thank him. Now she had the perfect way. The two could go on a date and enjoy themselves. Jaune could have a date with a, in her humble opinion, great girl and Yang could learn a bit more about him. 'Maybe I'll take him to a club?' She thought to herself, 'I could get him to unwind and maybe show off some more of his dance moves he demonstrated at the dance. I wonder what drunk Jaune would be like?' She chuckled to herself with that.
"Hey, Yang!" a voice boomed, snapping her out of her thoughts.
Yang looked up to see Nora skipping up to her in her usual work out gear. Yang returned her smile and waved slightly, "Hey, Nora." She returned as the bomber stopped in front of her. "Just finished your workout?"
"Kinda." She replied cheerily. "I was actually helping Jaune work out."
Yang smirked at that thought. "What, did you drag his scrawny butt down there?"
To her surprise, Nora shook her head. "Nope. Jaune dragged me down there. He wanted to work out and I'm his personal trainer, so he had to take me along."
"Wait, I thought Pyrrha was training him?" Yang asked confused.
"She does but Pyrrha only helps him with his fighting. Our Fearless Leader asked Ren to help him with meditation and aura training. And he asked me to get him in shape." She smiled in pride, "Those two might be helping him on the battlefield, but those muscles he's sporting are my handiwork."
Yang needed a second to take all that in. 'Jaune willingly had Nora train him? Huh, he's got more guts than I gave him credit for.' Yang looked back to Nora, "So, what did you guys do?"
"Jauney wanted a full workout today. So, we did the normal." Nora started to count off her fingers as she listed the exercises. "Hundred one-armed pull-ups with each arm, two hundred squats, hundred-fifty sit-ups, hundred-fifty push ups with me on his back, run ten kilometers on the treadmill while wearing twenty-pound weights on his arm and legs." She said cheerfully.
Yang just stared at her. "Whoa, is he still breathing?"
Nora nodded, "Yup. He wanted to do more afterwards but I told him not to push himself too far. We don't need him hurting himself."
Yang gave a low whistle. "Damn, he's dedicated, I'll give him that."
Nora looked away, "Well, yeah. But there's a little more to it." Yang just gave her a quizzical look and Nora sighed, "Jaune doesn't like being negative around us, so he tries to hide it. But while we were working out, I could just tell. He's angry about something and its really bothering him."
"And you don't know what it is?" Yang asked in concern.
She just shook her head, "Nope. But he'll talk to us when he's ready." She looked over her shoulder towards the gym back down the hall. She then looked back to Yang, "Would you mind keeping an eye on him? I don't want him hurting himself."
Yang nodded with a thumbs up, "Leave it to me."
Nora gave her an unrestrained smile, "Thanks, Yang! If you'll excuse me, I need to get to my dorm to take a shower." With that, she skipped off down the hallway.
Yang watched her go for a second before she went down the hall and into the gym. She looked around and saw several students using the equipment there, but she didn't see Jaune anywhere. She then heard the familiar sound of someone working on a punching bag and looked to the back of the gym. There she saw Jaune, dressed in a skin tight white shirt with blue shorts. She walked over and noticed a few things. His shirt was drenched with sweat, practically making it see through and she wasn't hating the view. Jaune was using a rudimentary boxing stance. It was obvious that he was an amateur, but he was showing some promise. 'Maybe I could offer to train him?' she thought to herself, half-seriously. The last was how hard he was hitting the bag and the restrained anger in his eyes. He was hitting the bag like it had insulted his family or worse.
Yang decided it was better to not distract him and stood back to watch. Jaune carried on for a few more minutes with a few steady combos. Until he started to hit the bag even harder and faster. She saw his eyes narrow and a snarl appear on his face as he hit it one last time. The force behind his hit tore the bag off the chain and sent sand all over the floor. That shocked her to say the least. Jaune stood there for a bit, arm still extended while he was breathing raggedly. When his breathing calmed slightly, he dropped his fist, "Damn. Broke another one."
Yang decided to make herself known, "Nice punch there, Vomit Boy." She said with her usual swagger.
Jaune stiffened before he turned to face her. For a second, Yang saw shock on his face mixed with some other emotion. But it was gone quickly and replaced with his usual smile. "Hey, Yang. What brings you here?"
"Nora said she was training you. I was curious and decided to see it for myself." She smiled at him as he was undoing the wraps around his fists.
Jaune nodded as he was freeing his hands, "Well, looks like you missed it. I'm finishing up."
"Too bad." Yang smirked, "From what I heard, you've got some insane stamina and all that sweat backs it up. I wonder if you have the physical endowment to fit that stamina?" She asked with a flirtatious wink.
Jaune blushed like she expected but then he snorted, "Wouldn't you like to know." He was finally done with the wrapping and looked down at his shirt. "But you are right. All this sweat is making this thing annoying." He grabbed the hem of his shirt and pulled it off with a sigh, "Much better."
"I'll say." Yang muttered. She was not expecting this. When he wore the dress at the dance, she saw how toned his legs and arms were. But now, she could see his developing abs and pecs, they weren't at Sun's level but they were still appealing. And all the sweat was making his skin shine incredibly. She swallowed as she fought the blush trying to form on her cheeks. 'Why does he hide that under a hoodie?!'
"You say something, Yang?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"J-just that it probably does feel better getting that off." She quickly said with a nervous chuckle.
Jaune just looked ta her confused, "Okay?" He then looked like he got an idea, "Hey, Yang, mind spotting me? I wanna get a few reps in but Nora left before I could."
Yang didn't trust herself to speak so she just nodded. Jaune gave her a grateful smile and the two went over to the bench. Jaune loaded the weights and laid down on said bench. Yang took her spot by his head and had her arms ready to grab the bar if he needed help. Yang gave him a nod and he returned it. He then removed the bar and started his reps. Yang stood there and tried to pay attention, in case he needed her. But her eyes kept wandering to his body as he worked out and it was getting her a bit hot and bothered. His grunts and groans were not helping at all either.
She then started to think to herself, 'I didn't know Jaune was so…hot.' Her eyes widened slightly. 'Did I just say that? About Jaune?' She looked back down to him and their eyes met for a second and he gave her a strained smile due to the weight he was lifting. She gave him a smaller one as a blush crept onto her cheeks. She was shocked, again. 'When was the last time I was flustered over a guy? And why is it Jaune of all people? Sure, he's nice, kind-hearted, a great friend. He treats Ruby so well and he has always treated me with respect…. Wait a minute, do I have a crush on Jaune?!' Her eyes widened more with that. This revelation was shocking to her but what was more shocking was the fact of how okay she was with it now that she did know.
"One-hundred." Jaune said in a strained voice as he put the bar back. That pulled Yang from her thoughts as she saw him sit up and use his shirt to dry off some of the sweat on his body. He turned back to her with that same smile, "Thanks, Yang. I owe you one."
Yang was still thinking about her feelings when he said that. 'Maybe this really is a win-win.' She smiled at him, but unlike the usual ones, it was genuine and sincere. "I might have an idea on what you can do."
"Okay, I'm all ears."
"You could go out with me. I think it would be fun." She said.
Jaune just looked at her for a while and she was shocked when he looked away for a second. He turned back to her with a neutral expression. "Sorry, Yang, but I can't." Yang felt herself deflate at that. "I need to grab a shower. I'll see you later." He turned to the showers and started walking away.
Yang just stood there, staring at his retreating form. She was shocked to say the least. "What just happened?"
Ruby was walking around Beacon, looking for her best friend. Well, guy best friend. A while ago, Yang had messaged the rest of their team, saying that Jaune had turned her down. That was a shock to the three of them. They were all under the impression that if a friend asked him out, he'd at least give them a chance. Not just turn them down.
Ruby was still kind of shocked that Yang was turned down. She couldn't remember the last time that happened. Although, she really didn't want to know that much about her love life. But that was good for her, now she got her chance at asking Jaune out. When she suggested they could use Jaune as the person for their bet, she wanted to punch herself in the face. First, because she really didn't want to use one of her friends like that. Second, she may or may not have a small crush on him and didn't want her teammates to date him. After she realized she had feelings for him, it annoyed her greatly to see him constantly trying to ask out Weiss, but she didn't say anything. She didn't want to ruin their friendship if he didn't feel the same.
It didn't start off this way. Originally, she just saw Jaune as her first friend at Beacon and fellow team leader. She liked that he was kind of dorky like her and the fact that both of them wanted to be Hunters for the same reason was awesome in her book. The two started to hang out with each other more and more; either to help each other with their homework or just to vent their frustrations from the day before. The more time they spent together, the closer they got until they became best friends.
She never considered that she had feelings for him, mostly because she was usually too busy trying to make her dream a reality to think about it. The first time the thought even came to her was a few months back. She had to stay behind after her History class because she had fallen asleep during it. Afterwards, she rushed to the cafeteria as quickly as she could. That day they were serving chocolate chip cookies and Beacon's were the best she ever had, not counting her mother's, and she desperately wanted some. When she finally got there, she was devastated to find that they were all out. She then somberly got her dinner and made her way over to the table her team and JNPR were at.
She started to eat her meal on auto pilot until she saw someone place a plate in front of her. She looked at it and her eyes went wide. It was a plate of cookies. She looked up to see Jaune smiling at her and he told her that he grabbed them, just in case they ran out before she got there. Next thing she knew, she had jumped over the table and gave him the tightest hug she could as the two tumbled to the ground. The whole time, she was thanking him profusely. That lasted until Yang teasingly mentioned how she shouldn't break her boyfriend. Which made the two of them blush profusely and break apart. She helped Jaune up and thank him again before she sat back down. She took a bite from one of her cookies and she noticed that it tasted better somehow.
Later that night, she kept thinking about how right and nice it felt to hug and be hugged by Jaune. It was weird since they had done so many times before. So, why was that one different? She kept thinking about it over the next few days and came to the only option that made sense: she had a crush on Jaune.
That made things complicated. With Pyrrha having feelings for him, him trying to ask Weiss out all the time and Yang being as protective as she was, that meant a lot could go wrong. But trying to ignore her feelings for her best friend was painful and it started to hurt more with every passing day. So, she decided to wait until she could find the best chance to ask him out. This bet was the best chance she could have. She could ask out Jaune and see if there was anything besides just friendship there. Plus, Yang wouldn't try to murder him because the bet was her idea.
"Now if only I could find him." The reaper said to herself. She was walking past the training rooms and could hear students fighting training drones in them. She would look in to see who it was. She saw Sun and a few students she had seen around but didn't know their names. She stopped at the last door when she noticed a familiar mop of blonde hair. She looked in to see Jaune was fighting a few drones with Crocea Mors.
She stood outside and watched him fight. She didn't want to walk in and distract him. As she was watching him, she noticed how much he had improved since the beginning of the year. He was switching between offence and defense very well. He'd also fall back if the situation would get overwhelming. She smiled at that. 'He's getting better. Soon he'll be a knight in shining armor.' She thought to herself before images of Jaune dressed in armor and saving her came into her head, which she blushed bright red at.
She came back to reality to see him shield bash one drone back as he spun and decapitated a second. Jaune turned to the last one but this one had slightly heavier armor. He collapsed his shield and hooked it to his belt before he charged it. He gave a battle cry as he swung his blade two-handedly. It tried to defend itself by crossing its arms, but he managed to cut through the one arm before his blade sank halfway through its chest. The drone fell backwards as Jaune pulled his sword free. He smiled at his accomplishment. Before he was tackled to the ground by the drone that was shield bashed earlier. That dropped his aura low enough for the training room to shut down. Jaune shoved the drone off him and sighed in annoyance. He sheathed Crocea Mors and started to leave the room.
As it opened, Ruby greeted him. "Hey, Jaune!" she said happily.
Jaune jumped back in shock before he calmed down as he realized it was the red reaper. "Hey, Ruby. What brings you here?" he asked.
"Nothing much. Was looking around and saw that you were fighting. I decided to watch." She said with a smile.
"Sorry for the lackluster performance. Do you want a refund?" he asked with a smirk.
Ruby chuckled, "No. Besides, it was pretty cool."
"You're just saying that." He said embarrassedly as he scratched the back of his head.
Ruby shook her head, "No, I'm not. You've improved so much since the beginning of the year. You're like a completely different fighter now."
"Well, I can thank Pyrrha for that." He said with a smile before he placed his hand on top of her head and gently started to pet her. "Thanks for the support, Ruby."
Ruby just hummed in content and leant into it more. She usually hated when people did this. It felt like they were treating her like a little kid. But, she was fine with Jaune doing it. He was just being affectionate, and she knew he respected her as much, if not more, than she respected him. Another thing she liked about him. Honestly, there was one thing she liked more than this. She blushed slightly when she thought of it. "You okay, Ruby?"
She opened her eyes and looked up at Jaune, who still had his hand on her head. "Yeah, um, can I have a hug?" she asked sheepishly.
"Um, I don't know about that." He said as he scratched his cheek with his other hand. "I'm a bit sweaty from the fight. So, it might make you uncomfor-" He was stopped when Ruby hugged him tightly and rested her cheek on his chest plate. She sighed happily. Jaune just had a small smile and returned her hug.
The two broke away and they started to walk together. They left the training rooms and were walking around Beacon's grounds. They started to just talk about random subjects and eventually went onto the subject of weapons. Jaune had just started to explain an idea he had for his weapon. "See, the extra weight added to my sword from the shield would help me get through tougher defenses and hit harder."
Ruby nodded as she scratched her chin, "You'd have to sharpen the edges though and the shield would have to shift to be more blade-like. But, yeah, it could work." She said happily. "Although, you still need something for some range, Jaune."
He just gave her a look, "Ruby, I'm surprised I haven't hurt myself with a sword. And you want to give me a gun?"
The two laughed at that. They fell into a comfortable silence. They walked for a bit more before Ruby took a deep breath. 'Now or never.' She turned back to Jaune. "Can I ask you something, Jaune? Something important."
Jaune just looked at her as they stopped walking. "Always, Ruby."
She looked down and started to shuffle her one foot across the ground before she looked up at him with hope in her eyes. "Would you like to go out with me?"
Jaune's eyes widened slightly and some emotion flashed across them. She couldn't tell what it was because he closed them. He took a deep breath before he opened them again, but they looked a little emptier than before. "I'm sorry, Ruby, but I can't." Ruby felt like the world broke around her. "I-I need to go. I'll see you later." With that he turned away and walked off.
Ruby just watched him before her head dropped. She sniffed slightly as her eyes misted over. "Why?" she asked shakily. She started to walk back to her dorm dejectedly right after that.
Blake was making her way to the library. She had just passed a very sad looking Ruby on her way and she told her that Jaune had told her no. Blake offered her team leader her condolences, but Ruby said that she was alright. She just wanted to be alone for a while. She told the Faunus that she would tell Yang and Weiss over a message that she lost the bet before she said goodbye to her.
Blake was still thinking about that now. Out of everyone on her team, Ruby was the one she thought Jaune would say yes to, not counting Weiss, of course. 'Maybe he doesn't want to date anyone besides Weiss right now?' she thought to herself. But then she remembered that over the last week or two, Jaune had stopped asking Weiss out. 'Maybe he just isn't looking to date anyone right now. I mean, being rejected so much might've made him need a bit of time before he can put himself out there again.' She left her thoughts there. Everyone was entitled to have a few details of their life they didn't want to talk about. Her ears twitched under her bow with that thought.
Most people would look at Jaune and Blake and believe they had little in common. And they would be right. Blake and Jaune were opposites. Blake was mysterious and graceful while Jaune was clumsy and blatant. But both had aspects the other admired. Jaune liked how intelligent and strong-willed Blake was. While Blake liked how open Jaune was with his emotions and how he was loyal to a fault.
They became good friends when Jaune walked into the library to read a novel that one of his sisters had sent him, apparently it was because they ruined his old copy. He asked to sit next to her and she nodded. After a while of both sitting in silence, her eyes flicked over to see what book he was reading. As much as she hated the stereotype, she was curious. She was surprised to see that it was a book she had read before. She made a comment and Jaune mentioned that it was one of his favorites. They started to discuss it in detail and had lost track of time. They were shocked when the librarian had come over to tell hem that it was time to lock up.
After that, the two would meet up on occasions to discuss other books and read. They would also suggest books to the other. Jaune even managed to wear her down enough to get her to read a comic. And she had to admit, they weren't the same as actual books, but they were good. She started to read them on occasions to break up the monotony of her usual readings, not that she would tell him that. She could only imagine the smirk he'd get from being told that.
After her secret of being a Faunus was out, she was afraid that Jaune would be angry with her. Not with her race, she knew he didn't care about that. But the fact that she had lied to him for so long. She was stunned when he just told her he was surprised but it didn't really matter. With Cardin and other racist bigots around, he could understand why she would hide like that. But overall it didn't change anything between them, except he did thank her for trusting him with her secret. She just gave him a grateful smile as he chuckled sheepishly.
Since then, she had been thankful to have a friend like Jaune. Once or twice, she asked herself if she had feelings for the blonde knight and she never had an answer. Especially, after how terribly her last relationship went, she wasn't looking to put herself out there again so soon. But, she had already agreed to this bet, so she had to at least try. 'Maybe I could tell Jaune it would be a friend date? Would still count and it wouldn't lead to anything. Or maybe I won't see him, and the bet will just end in a draw.'
She eventually made her way to her usual table and was shocked to find Jaune already sitting there. He looked up and gave her a smile, "Hey, Blake. Fancy meeting you here."
She gave him her own smaller smile, "Yeah. Not like I'm here all the time."
He chuckled as she took the seat next to him. "So, what are you reading today? Ninjas of Love?"
Blake had a small blush as she glared at him. "I hate that you know what that series is about."
Jaune shrugged, "I was just asking." He turned back to his book, "Not going to judge you and your risqué readings." He said with a smirk.
Blake shoved him slightly as she shook her head at him. "And what exactly are you reading?" she challenged.
He looked up at her, "The Tale of Star-Crossed Lovers."
She gave him a deadpanned expression, "And you question my reading?"
Jaune laughed at that, "Guess you're not a fan."
She shook he head, "The romance made no sense at all. And the two families warring with each other was never fully explained. Can't believe you actually like it." Even saying the word 'like' with that book made her want to vomit.
Jaune just gave her a smirk, that said he knew something she didn't. "That would make sense. You've never read the real version of the story, after all."
Now that confused her, "Real version?"
Jaune nodded, "Yup. The book was published in Mistral and it depicted an idea that the government didn't agree with. So, they confiscated most of the copies and destroyed them. But by that point, the people had already heard of the book and they were angry that they tried to censor someone's work like that. They quickly started to print the book again to please the people, but it was an edited version of the story. Most people didn't know this and those that did were never believed. So, most people don't have any idea that the story they know is actually a lie."
Blake just looked at him, she was now intrigued. "So, what didn't they like about the story?"
Jaune smiled, "The two lovers." He answered simply, and Blake just raised an eyebrow. "The man was human while the woman was a Faunus."
Blake's eyes widened to comical proportions. And so many things that made no sense in the story were a bit clearer now. "That changes a lot." She said, still stunned.
Jaune smiled and nodded, "Usually does." He looked back down to the book. "This isn't an original copy because those are rare and worth a fortune. This is a reprint my parents got me for my fifteenth birthday and it did cost a good amount of Lien. I read it when I'm too emotional for my own good, helps me separate myself for a while." He looked back to Blake to see her looking at the book with a glimmer in her eyes. Like it held the secrets to the universe. Jaune just smiled and held it out to her. "Wanna borrow it?"
She looked into Jaune's eyes with a look of pure shock. "You're serious? You're really going to trust me with something like this?"
Jaune just chuckled, "Blake, if anyone knows how to take care of a book, it's you."
Blake felt her heart skip a beat and looked back at the book before she gently took it from him. She pressed it to her chest protectively, "Thank you, Jaune." She said sincerely.
"No problem, Blake. We can discuss it after you're done with it." He smiled at her.
She felt some heat rise to her cheeks. "So, how do you feel about a human and Faunus being together?" she asked. She was shocked because she had no idea on where that question had come from.
Jaune just shrugged slightly, "Nothing really. I mean, if the two people are happy and in love, why should it matter?"
That made Blake happy to hear and she couldn't help herself from asking her next question, "So, would you ever date a Faunus?"
"I don't really care." His eyes widened after he realized just how bad that sounded. "Wait, that totally didn't sound right. What I meant is, it doesn't really matter to me if the girl is human or Faunus. As long as I like who they are at their core..." he shrugged again with a nervous smile, "I guess the rest isn't important."
Blake looked down and felt a faint blush start to rise to her cheeks, 'Well, so much for not thinking too much on my feelings for him.' Her fingers gently started to trace small circles over the cover of the book as she slowly asked her next question. "If that's the case, would you like to go out sometime? With me?" she then looked back at him, hopefully.
Jaune had a shocked expression on his face. He shook his head and looked back into her eyes for a second before he turned away slightly. "I'm sorry, Blake, but I can't." She felt her ears pin against her head with that. He slowly stood from his chair. "I need to go. Enjoy the book." He then left the library.
Blake sat there for a while, just replaying his words in her head, "Well, this sucks." She said hollowly.
Weiss was truly shocked right now. She just got a message from Blake saying she lost the bet. Jaune Arc had turned down Yang Xiao Long, Ruby Rose and Blake Belladonna. She had expected him to say yes to at least one of them. But he didn't and now it was her turn. She breathed deeply before she left her dorm room.
She really didn't want to ask that dunce out. She knew that he'd agree instantly, considering how often he had asked her out. Then she'd either have to sit through some miserable date. Plus, he'd probably be more annoying afterwards, asking for more dates. Or she could take Yang's advice and just give him some excuse to not go out with him. But that would be unbecoming of a woman of her stature. Why did she even agree to this? Anyone else would've been more ideal than Arc.
She then remembered what happened at the dance. She was depressed that Neptune had turned her down and she was siting off by herself as her team was having a good time. That's when Neptune walked up to her and asked to sit next to her. She was about to tell him off but decided against that. She agreed, and he sat down. They sat in a silence for a while before he apologized to her and told her he was embarrassed because he couldn't dance. She was shocked by that but accepted his apology.
That's when Arc walked up to Pyrrha in a dress. That was hilarious to see. That was until he started to dance with his entire team and that got the dance going. She then asked Neptune what changed his mind. He told her she was looking at him and that she had some good friends looking out for her. That was something she wasn't expecting.
If Arc was really after her for her money, like she thought, then why did he go through the trouble to get Neptune to talk to her? Was it because she was hurt? Then why didn't he take advantage of her being on the rebound? She asked herself those question a lot that night. The only answer that made sense was that he legitimately cared about her and wanted to date her simply because of that. Not because she was Weiss Schnee, the Heiress to the SDC. But, Weiss Schnee, the student of Beacon. And even after how badly she always treated him, he still went out of his way to help her.
That made her feel horrible. It still made her feel horrible but she tried to bury it and focus on her budding relationship with Neptune. That was until she saw him flirt with another girl. That hurt a lot more than being shot down. She locked herself in the bathroom and cried about that for a while and she realized that this was probably similar to what Arc had felt every time she turned him down.
'Must be karma.' She thought to herself. She realized she was still in front of her dorm and sighed to herself. 'He deserves an apology, at the very least.' She was about to leave and look for him, when she heard something. It was very quiet, and she strained her ears to hear it, but she recognized it. Someone was playing a guitar. Her curiosity got the better of her and she started to follow the sound to its source. She eventually arrived at the door that would lead to the roof of the dorms and she could hear the person playing behind it.
She slowly turned the knob and opened the door enough to see who it was. She was shocked to see Jaune sitting on the edge of the roof and looking over the horizon. He had his guitar, the one he used to serenade her, and was playing it. Although, it was much better than the song he played for her. She was about to walk out to him but stopped when he heard him start to sing. She recognized the song as Simple and Clean.
You're giving me too many things
Lately you're all I need
You smiled at me and said,
Don't get me wrong I love you
But does that mean I have to meet your father?
When we are older you'll understand
What I meant when I said no,
I don't think life is quite that simple
When you walk away
You don't hear me say please
Oh baby, don't go
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go
The slow and calming melody started to get louder and sped up, fueled by more of his emotions and his singing wasn't any different.
The daily things
(like this and that and what, what)
That keep us all busy
All confusing me
That's when you came to me and said,
Wish I could prove I love you
But does that mean I have to walk on water?
When we are older you'll understand
It's enough when I say so,
And maybe somethings are that simple
When you walk away
You don't hear me say please
Oh baby, don't go
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go
Hold me
Whatever lies beyond this morning
Is a little later on
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all
Nothing's like before
When you walk away
You don't hear me say please
Oh baby, don't go
Simple and clean is the way that you're making me feel tonight
It's hard to let it go
Hold me
Whatever lies beyond this morning
Is a little later on
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all
Nothing's like before
Hold me
Whatever lies beyond this morning
Is a little later on
Regardless of warnings the future doesn't scare me at all
Nothing's like before
Jaune stopped playing completely when the song ended and sat there in silence; trying to regain his breath and possibly, his composure. Weiss was speechless. She never expected Arc to be able to sing or play like that, especially after his serenade a few weeks back. She opened the door and started making her way over to him. He heard her heels and turned. He was shocked to see her, "Weiss? I didn't know you were there." He said nervously.
She nodded her head slightly, "I apologize. I heard someone playing and was curious." Jaune blushed and looked away in embarrassment. She stopped beside him. "You play well. Your singing isn't that bad either."
Jaune looked at her in shock before he gave her a small smile, "Thanks, Weiss."
"I actually didn't think you could play. But then again, I've only heard you play once." She gave him a smirk.
Jaune laughed at that, "Yeah, that wasn't my best performance. I was so nervous." He looked at her, "You can sit if you like."
Weiss took him up on that offer and sat down beside him. They sat in a comfortable silence as they looked at the view. "Mind if I ask, why you're up here?" she asked.
Jaune shrugged, "After Pyrrha showed me up here, I started to come up here to just get away from it all." He sighed, "Today, hasn't been too good. I decided to come up here and play to try to make myself feel better. Didn't go so well."
"I'm sorry to hear that." Weiss answered. After a bit she spoke again, "Thank you."
He looked at her confused, "For what?"
"Neptune told me you convinced him to talk to me at the dance." She explained.
Jaune's eyes widened a bit before they went back to normal. "It was no big deal. I just didn't like that you were so sad."
"Why didn't you comfort me then?" she asked. She thought she knew his answer, but she wanted, no needed to know the truth.
Jaune just gave her a sad smile, "Because you didn't want it to be me. You wanted it to be Neptune. He makes you happy so…." He just let his sentence drift off there.
Weiss just looked at him for a bit, "Well, things really didn't work out that well between us." She looked down slightly.
"I'm sorry." He said sincerely.
She shook her head, "It's not your fault but thank you for the sentiment." She looked over the horizon but looked at him with the corner of her eye. "This might be how you felt when I shot you down."
"Maybe." Jaune said simply, not exactly sure on what to say. "For what it's worth, I'm sorry about asking you out so much. I went over the top, a lot."
Weiss wasn't expecting that but shook her head slightly, "Don't worry about it. I could've been a bit nicer with letting you down."
"Honestly, I can't blame you for being annoyed or just pissed. If someone asked me out repeatedly and didn't get the hint, I would've lost my patience too." He shrugged and gave a small smile, "But, that's in the past. Can't do anything about it now. We just have to look to the future."
There was a long silence before Weiss turned to him. "Arc…. Jaune." He turned to her. "Would you… go out with me?"
Jaune's eyes widened before they narrowed slightly. He sighed and looked over the horizon again. "Sorry, Weiss, but no. I can't." He stood up without looking at her. "I should probably go." He went back into the dorms with that.
Weiss watched him go. She was beyond shocked with that. She turned to look over the edge again before she released a shaky breath, "Shouldn't really be surprised by that." She said weakly.
Weiss opened the door to her dorm to see her teammates all on their beds in just as bad moods as she was in. Weiss walked in and flopped down on her bunk to bury her face into her pillow. She stayed like that for a while. Yang turned to her as she sat cross-legged on her bed, "I'm guessing it didn't go well."
Weiss just shook her head and turned to face her team but stayed laying on her bed, "He told me no."
Blake was sitting with her back leaning against her headboard, "Well, if he didn't say yes to you, I don't know what's happening." Blake said tiredly.
Ruby looked at her teammates as she sat up on her bed, "Do you think something is wrong with Jaune?"
"No idea. But why else would he say no to four ladies that asked him out? In one day, I'll add." Yang asked no one in particular.
"Think him and Pyrrha got together?" The three other girls turned back to Ruby. "They seemed really close after the dance."
"I doubt it." Weiss answered. "If Pyrrha and Jaune got together, she would've said something, or we would've seen the signs." She sighed, "Besides, he would've told us he was dating someone when we asked him out. Not just say, he can't."
Blake's ear perked up under her bow, "Wait. He told you, he can't?" Weiss nodded glumly. "He said the exact same thing to me."
All the girls' eyes widened at that, "Same here." Ruby added.
"Ditto." Yang said right after.
"Why would Jaune say the exact same thing to all of us?" Weiss asked as she sat up on her bed.
They were about to think about it when they heard a familiar voice, "Maybe because it's my default response when I don't want to do something." They all went rigid and turned to see Jaune leaning against the doorframe. Weiss had left the door open when she walked in. "You know, you girls really should close the door when you're talking about someone."
They all looked away sheepishly. "Sorry, Jaune." Ruby spoke up and turned to him. "We were just curious why you said no to all of us." The other three nodded with that.
Jaune looked at them all and sighed, "Fine, I'll tell you. But its a long story." He got off the doorframe and walked into the room. He stood in the center with his hands in his pockets. "Back home, I really didn't have the best luck with women, but you probably guessed that. Back then, I was the nice guy that everyone knew. I had quite a few dates, but they weren't real in anyway. They were either pity dates from girls who felt bad for me, things arranged by my sisters that the girls in question didn't want to be on or, on the rare occasions, even just to act as a 'pallet cleanser' for girls who got out of bad break-ups."
Jaune took a second before he continued. "I was fine with that. I never really thought I was good enough for any of them and I was lucky to have the experience." He shrugged helplessly. "That was until the most popular girl back home asked me out. I agreed and was so excited for it. I planned it out perfectly and she told me she'd meet me at the restaurant." He looked out their window, "I must've waited for her for two hours, but she never showed." That made the girls angry to say the least. Blake nearly growled like a cat, Yang's eyes turned red, Ruby was reaching for Crescent Rose on reflex and Weiss' aura was acting up slightly, making the temperature drop a bit.
"I saw her the next day and asked her why she never showed. She laughed in my face and told me she only did it because her friends bet her she wouldn't." The girls all froze with that and felt their chests tighten. "Yeah, that sucked. It hurt so much and that made me realize that if I wanted to find love, I had to be more assertive." He chuckled weakly, "But, we all know how well that went with Weiss." Weiss looked down sadly and the others just looked at Jaune as he continued. "After that failed, I decided to just give love a break for a while. Focus on other things for now. But, I decided that if anyone asked me, I would give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe I'd get lucky and find love that way."
"So, why did you turn us all down?" Weiss asked weakly as she looked up to him.
"Don't get me wrong. You're all out of my league. You know it, I know it. Hell, the entire school knows it. I'd be lucky to date any of you. And I would've said yes, to see if there was anything beyond friendship." He was quiet for a second. "That was, if you were serious." They were all stunned and were about to defend themselves, but his next words stopped them. "I overheard your bet this morning."
There was an extended silence with that. The girls had no idea on what to say. "Yeah, that really hurt. Felt like déjà vu and not in a good way." He looked at them all, "I mean, I thought we were friends. I didn't think you'd use me as way to 'win' anything." They all looked away in shame. "And even if you girls did go through with the date, it would've been out of pity and I had my fill of those a long time ago. So, yeah, that's the reason." No one said anything so Jaune made his way to the door and closed it behind him. When the door closed, it sounded so much louder than it actually was. Like five hearts were broken with that.
The next day, Jaune kept his distance from RWBY. They didn't try to talk to him either out of respect or shame. His team did realize this, and they asked him about it. He just told him it was nothing serious and that he just needed some space from them for a while. They didn't push and hoped they'd work things out eventually. That carried on for several days and nothing changed. Honestly, Jaune didn't even look in the general direction of the girls. Just looking at them caused the pain to resurface. He didn't know when or if they would go back to the way things were. But right now, he didn't care.
At the end of the fifth day, JNPR was relaxing in their room. Ren was doing maintenance on StormFlower, Nora was listening to music while reading a comic, Pyrrha was reading a magazine and Jaune was laying on his bed. He was exhausted and needed some sleep. That was until someone knocked on their door. Jaune groaned in annoyance as Pyrrha went to the door. He could hear her talking to whoever it was and was trying to ignore it, until she raised her voice slightly, "Jaune, it's for you."
Jaune just groaned, "If it's anyone from RWBY, tell them I'm not here."
Pyrrha was silent for a bit, "They can hear you, Jaune."
"I know." He responded coldly.
"Jaune, please, can we talk?" Ruby asked weakly.
Jaune stayed on his bed for thirty seconds or so before he sighed and sat up. He walked over to the door and Pyrrha went back to her bed. He walked into the hall and closed the door behind him. He looked to see that the four girls were having trouble looking at him. He didn't want to deal with this. "I'm here, so talk."
The girls looked to Ruby. She looked up at him with a sad look in her eyes, like she would cry at any moment. "Jaune, we are so so sorry for what we did."
"What we did was terrible." Yang added, "You are our friend and we shouldn't have abused our friendship like that." She sounded so defeated, which was new for Yang.
Blake nodded, "You have every right to be mad or even hate us right now. None of us would blame you for that." Jaune was sure if she didn't have her bow on, her ears would be pinned against her head if her tone was anything to go by.
Weiss was looking down at her feet, "But, if you ever forgive us, we want you to know that something like that will never happen again. We swear."
Jaune looked them all over. He knew they were telling the truth and he could tell just how badly they felt about what they did. Plus, he could never stand to see girls being sad. Damn his sisters. He sighed, "Fine, I'll forgive you." They all cheered up slightly. "But, if you do anything like this again, I will tell Nora." They all paled with that and nodded frantically. Jaune smirked slightly with that. "Well, if that's all, I'm exhausted." He turned back to his door.
"Actually..." Jaune stopped and turned to Ruby. "There is one other thing we wanted to talk to you about." She blushed slightly.
"Okay?" Jaune tuned back to them. "What is it?"
Blake spoke up, "Well, we've been talking, and we figured out that when we asked you out, it was not just because of the bet." She flushed after saying that.
Jaune raised an eyebrow and Yang answered his unspoken question, "We all like you, Jaune. As in like-like." She said with her own blush.
Jaune's eyes widened but he couldn't speak since Ruby started to speak next, "We all talked it over and we know we don't deserve it, but we'd like another chance." Ruby was red as her cloak at that point.
Weiss cleared her throat and had a pink dusting on her cheeks as well. "So, if you think you can forgive us and see it in your heart to give us this chance, we'd like to ask you…" she trailed off and looked at her teammates. They all nodded and turned to him before saying in unison, "Would you go out with us?"
Jaune just stared at them as his mind tried to catch up. 'Did Team RWBY just ask me out?!' He shook his head and placed his hand over his forehead. "Its finally happened, Nora has driven me as mad as her." He looked at them, "You're all serious?" he asked still stunned.
They all just nodded at him. "But, how? How could all of you feel like that towards this?" he motioned to himself in a negative way when saying that.
Ruby started to play with the hem of her skirt, "I've liked you for a while now. It started to form as we hung out and eventually I figured out that I liked you. I didn't say anything because I was afraid it would ruin our friendship if it didn't work out. But it hurts to hide it so, I'm taking a chance." she finished determinedly.
Yang put her hand on Ruby's shoulder, "You've had my sister's back since day one, Jaune. Having someone that I know will look out for her means more to me than anything else. I guess that is the secret to winning my heart." She said with a smile. "So, I don't see why I shouldn't give this a shot. Plus, you're hot as hell underneath that hoodie." She gave him a wink after that. That caused them all to blush.
"You've always been a great friend to me." Blake started to speak next. She had a nervous gleam in her eyes. "You've been my confidant and shoulder to lean on for so long. And you accepted me, for who I am and the mistakes I made. You've made me feel...safe. Like I can really be myself with you and not worry about you hating me. On top of that you trust me with so much; why else would you loan me something that means so much to you? So, I want to see if there could be something here. It doesn't matter that your human and I'm a Faunus, I want to try."
Weiss had her head down and her hands behind her back. She was just radiating nervousness. "Jaune...I finally realized that you liked me for who I am. Not my status or money, but just because I was me. No one has ever shown interest in me like that, so pure and genuine. Now, that I know this, its become obvious that I have some feelings for you, as well. I regret being so cold and harsh to you. So, I want to make it up to you and see if...maybe we could be together." She looked into his eyes, "If you think I'm worth it, that is."
He looked up at the ceiling to try and get his thoughts in order. He didn't know these four girls had such genuine feelings for him. He didn't know what to do in a situation like this. He didn't want to shun them, to hurt them in a way like that. He looked at them, once he had an idea on what to do. "Alright, how about this? I'll go on a date with each of you and afterwards we can see where we go from there. But no matter what, we will still be friends if things don't work out. I don't wanna lose you girls over this. So what do you say? Deal?"
Ruby squealed and hugged him tightly. He was stunned and slowly hugged her back, he missed this. He was shocked to see Yang hug him from his left and Blake do the same on his right a few seconds later. He saw Weiss was looking at him hesitantly. He just smiled, "Come on, Snow Angel." She smiled and hugged him as well, right between Ruby and Blake.
They all broke apart and said their 'good nights' before they went back into their dorms. Jaune closed his door behind him before he leant his back against it and sighed. "How did it go?" Pyrrha asked him.
Jaune just shook his head with a small smile, "Well, we made up." Pyrrha smiled when he said that. He then gave another sigh, "And somehow, I have a date with all of RWBY." Jaune heard something hit the ground. He looked to see that Pyrrha had fainted.
A/N- Had this one-shot in my head for a long time now. So, I decided to put it out on Valentine's Day. This is staying a one-shot because if I continued it, it would most likely become a harem story like TES and TVS. I don't think I need to say this but I'm going to just cover all my bases: I DO NOT own Simple and Clean. It is just a fantastic piece of music that I'm a huge fan of. So, with that said I hope you all enjoyed. See ya all in the next update!
