31Disclaimer: I own nothing of RWBY.
Berry
By: Imyoshi
A library was more than a sanctuary from the chaotic and impossible world outside its walls.
It was a fortress that housed an almost infinite world of imagination, and Blake loved it more than life itself. So it came as a surprise to her to find Team JNPR's Fearless Leader tackling a book at the far end of the building, buried deep in a world of fantasy and what-if. The surprise was that she'd never seen him ever read anything other than his comic books.
Being cursed by her feline curiosity, she quietly stalked and hovered over Jaune's shoulder, oddly curious to what he was possibly reading so intently with a book as large as her stomach. Her question was answered upon discovering a limited edition of Ninjas of Love hidden within the book's pages, pressed discreetly close to his chest.
Eyes widening and blood racing, Blake bit her lip before a sound could escape her. It worked. Jaune hadn't yet noticed her presence, captured by the colorful wordplay before him. He had this not-so-innocent grin splashed across his cheeks with a soft giggle lingering here and there. Every few minutes he had the common sense to check for anyone within his personal space that he might know.
Well, everywhere except for his blind spot.
So when Blake subtly tapped Jaune on the shoulder, with all the quietness of a cat, all eyes were on them. It wasn't every day that people heard someone scream like a little girl. Even more so, it wasn't every day that Blake Belladonna had the teasing grin of a Cheshire Cat.
Upon discovering the assailant, he quickly stood up and hid the book behind his back, stutter all too real. "B-Blake?! W-What—ah? Fancy meeting you here! Come here to study for Professor Port's test?"
She smirked, it was a small and reclusive thing, but it sent shivers up his spine. "We don't have any test coming up for Professor Port. Professor Port doesn't even give a test for his class, don't you know that?"
Jaune laughed timidly with a cautious hand rubbing his neck. "Yeah, well, I just really wanted to study more for his class, that way I'd be able to keep up with everything he goes on about."
"By reading an algebra book?"
He was only now realizing he was holding up a math textbook—upside down by the way—and not a book that specialized on anything Grimm related. And before he could come up with a better excuse, however impossible that really might be, the Ninjas of Love story fell out of his hands and next to Blake's waiting feet.
Grinning in a way that would make Yang proud, Blake bent down and nipped the book right off the floor, oddly interested in the story Jaune had been sneak-reading. She flipped through the pages with a nonchalant ease, nodding her head to the proactive material she was all too familiar with a few hums. Each page acted as an incriminating piece of evidence and she delighted each flip of the page more and more.
When she looked back at up at Jaune, he was unable to look her in the eyes, smile painstakingly awkward for a guy who had the confidence to play the guitar for their resident Ice Queen.
"Please don't tell anyone."
Blake paused.
Don't tell anyone? Don't tell anyone! How could he assume so lowly of her? She wanted nothing more to keep this to herself. As popular as The Ninjas of Love series was, finding other fans for the misunderstood literature was tougher than eating cereal without any milk. Practically impossible with everyone's reclusive nature toward the series.
So the feline hadn't planned on telling anyone from the start, but the Fearless Leader of Team JNPR didn't need to know that. Why settle for fifty-fifty when she could attain sixty-forty? Seemed like such a waste to not milk the opportunity for all it was worth.
"Oh?" she smiled with her eyes shining devilishly. "And why shouldn't I? What's in it for me?"
Jaune narrowed his eyes. "Yang's been a bad influence on you."
"Stop beating around the bush."
Nervously looking around the library, he shrugged awkwardly. "Uh? I don't know. What do you want?"
Blake blinked. What did she want? Well, she wanted a lot of things. Faunus equality and the erasure of racism for her fellow brethren for one, but she doubted Jaune here could achieve such results. So she'd have to settle on the next best thing.
Revenge.
"Simple. You know about Zwei, right?"
He raised a brow. "Yeah..."
She grinned in a totally non-innocent way. "Good! I want you to shave off all his fur. He chews on my pillow and I can't allow for that to slide."
Blake expected many things to happen when she made her demands clear. She expected denial. She expected confusion. But most of all, she expected Jaune to choke on the air around him, and he hardly disappointed.
"W-What?!" Jaune wheezed, clutching his chest in pain. "Are you crazy! Do you have any idea what Yang, or worse, Ruby would do to me if I do that?"
She shrugged. "I have a few ideas."
"You're sending me to an early grave."
She pushed the book into his stunned hands. "It's either that or die by embarrassment. And I'm not sure which one's worst."
Jaune threw his head back and groaned. Blake, during the episode, watched him go through the five stages of grief. First, he denied it all by believing all this to be a bad dream. Then he got angry at himself for not checking his blindside when reading. There had been a point when he got on his knees and begged for a different deal—that had been fun to watch. What had followed next was a depressed Arc. And then he had finally accepted her more than generous offer.
Jaune sighed with his confidence at an all-time low. "Fine... you got yourself a deal."
Blake hummed. It couldn't be that easy. "Promise?"
He actually took offense to that. Perfect. "I give you my word!"
Knowing his Arc word was absolute, she smirked and pulled out her own copy of Ninjas of Love, flipping to the latest chapter she was on. "Good. Now, did you get to the chapter were Nasuke proclaims his love for Saruto under the cherry blossom tree?"
He remained silent for a beat too long. She would've thought a heart attack did him in, but no, Jaune just had this gasping fish look that made her hungry for tuna. Oh? Look. He was going through the five stages of grief again, except he skipped acceptance and just threw his hands up in a sputtering panic.
"What?! You read Ninjas of Love?! I-I? What?! But why did you—!"
Blake placed a single finger over Jaune's lips. "Shhh, you might want to be quiet, Jaune. We're in a library."
Author Notes: Sorry for the shortness of it, but this was just a quick one-shot and I wanted to see if I can convey something in a 1000 wordish count. Something to get the blood-pumping and all that good stuff.
