11 Crush

When they reached the colosseum Jaune was slightly surprised at the design of the building. It was a massive horseshoe with a large platform in the middle. The platform was stone blocks that were two feet tall. The diameter of the platform was fifty yards. On it currently two huntsman were facing each other. One had a bow staff while the other had bladed chakrams connected to thin wires attached to their waist.

Jaune had just sat down with his family and saw as the two clashed at a fast speed. While he watched the fight Jaune had a running monologue from the heroes in the Reality Marble.

"Oho. It is interesting to see someone using those weapons. They must have an inordinate amount of skill to pull that off." Shirou said.

"Indeed you have to have amazing dexterity and special awareness to keep the weapons from turning against you." Chiron said.

"That bow staff user is pretty good. Similar to the monks of the temple I lived at a long time ago. Though he relies on his Aura too much. He needs to perfect his technique. I'd rate him at about a quasi-master. Close but not yet at the event of creating ones own techniques." Tama said.

"Their movements are all well done but could use some polishing. If they didn't rely on their aura so much they would be far deadlier opponents." Saber commented.

These were the kind of conversations that took place in his mind throughout the day as they watched the tournament progress. When they found a viable candidate they would tell Jaune to focus on the movements of the huntsman or huntress in question. With this Jaune noticed techniques and movements that would aid him in his training.

As this was happening Jaune noticed a glint of light off of some kind of metal. He also noticed that right below someone's seat multiple metal balls were floating and rotating around each other across the stadium seating. Jaune who saw the orbs first then the girl, was lost in her own world. She was the most beautiful person he had ever seen. She had pale skin with crimson red hair and bright green eyes. The girl was likely his age.

Something thumped in his chest.

This was the very first time that Jaune who was a training maniac had felt this. It was Jaune's first crush. He kept watching the girl interested in her focus and what could only be her semblance.

She hadn't been noticed by anyone else due to her location in the corner of the colosseum. Jaune was on the opposite side in a location farther down. His angle was so he could see the girl perfectly while those to his sides, above and below could not see her or her metal orbs.

Shirou who noticed the focus of Jaune's gaze smiled as he saw something he had been hoping to for a long time. A semblance that was a gateway to a new direction for this world. So he had to get Jaune to interact with this girl at all costs. His direction and the girl's abilities could shift the balance of power in the world. Shirou looked at the other heroes and pointed at what Jaune was looking at. The three looked and saw.

All of them have a different look on their face as this revelation especially it being so soon. They had all seen the state of the world how everything was based off of dust rather than the normal physical world. They all knew from experiencing the world through the Throne of Heroes, the power of science and its potential. Even with everything that this world has in it's advanced robotics, flight and weapons it was still lacking due to limited knowledge of the basics of science that if used properly could magnify the might and destructive capabilities of this world against the grimm. But the down side of this was the ability for this knowledge to be turned against its people.

Having seen this and not having any recourse Chiron spoke to Shirou. "Agreed but only allow interaction first. We can determine a direction only after we have made plans to mitigate the disaster the is sure to follow. Besides Jaune still has to learn of the horrors that such knowledge will give him and those who learn of it."

"Agreed." Shirou said to Chiron before he spoke to Jaune. "Hey Jaune, I want you to go over and talk to that girl."

To these words Jaune's face burst into flame before he cried out loud and nearly jumped out of his seat, "What?! Why?!"

"Well she has an interesting semblance don't you think? I want you to go over there and interact with her." Shirou said.

While Shirou was speaking with Jaune, Honeydew who was seated close to her son asked him, "What is it Jaune? Why are you so red? Are you feeling ok?" Honeydew asked as she examined Jaune. She didn't see anything wrong with her son, but she noticed the direction of his gaze and noticed an old acquittance in the same area. Jaune's mother was never slow witted, if she had been then her seven daughters would have all run wild at this point. Seeing the girl and Jaune's burning face she came to the right conclusion. Her mouth twitched.

"So do you want to go over there and meet her?" Honeydew asked her son.

Jaune just looked at his mother in incomprehension and a little fear. He could not understand what was going on in his heart. It was as if he was in battle but to a much higher degree with a feeling of warmth and butterflies. "Mom what is going on? Why do I feel so weird?"

Honeydew looked on at her son in sadness. She knew that this might happen due to his early introduction to the huntsman's way of life. He had little interaction with others outside of his family. This has stunted his social and emotional growth. Seeing this Honeydew knew that things had to change in the future. For right now though she could only explain the situation to Jaune.

"You are feeling strong emotions toward someone that is not of your family. It is an indication of attraction to someone. It shows that you have feeling for that person even if you may not know them. It is also the start of something amazing if you decide to follow your heart." Honeydew said to her son.

Jaune looked down for a few moments before he looked back in the girl's direction. The girl had noticed Jaune's motion earlier and looked in that direction. At this moment the two met gazes. Jaune's breath froze in his chest and his face turned an even darker shade of red. The girl in return also gained a shade of red but she was interested in the boy who looked at her from afar. Jaune lost the will of gazes and looked away first.

Honeydew who saw this could only chuckle at the irony of the situation. She tapped her son's shoulder and said, "Jaune stand up and follow me."

Jaune could only nod at his mother's words not looking up quiet yet.

Honeydew went to her husband and spoke to him in his ear explaining the situation. He smirked and nodded. He continued to entertain the girls with tales he had come across all over the world in his time as a huntsman. As he compared a few of the combatants with the tales. He kept all the girls' attention including Emerald who just felt like one of the girls, as if she had a family again.

Honeydew dragged her son away. She made a beeline toward the girl Jaune had a crush on. Within the Reality Marble the heroes were looking at each other with pinched faces and smirks. "Seems the first crush has been found. Nice going Shirou. You made Jaune's emotions go out of control for the first time since the beowolf attack. How are you going to help your brother now?" Tama asked with sickly sweet voice.

Shirou held his head in his hands as he tried to hide away from the other's gazes. "It seems Shirou's hard headedness has not been completely driven out even though he has become a servant." Saber said with a mirth filled smile. "At least you are getting your wish just not in the way you expected."

"That is true. But my blindness to the obvious has also come with me to this new world even though I worked so hard to rid myself of it." Shirou said depressed.

The other just laughed at Shirou. At this time Jaune and his mother had just reached the benches that the girl was seated at. Honeydew looked around and found the signature red hair of her close friend from the academy. She quickly headed that way and called out, "Hey Nina Nikos! You are looking as busty as you were in school! How do you do it?"

A yelp came from the family of red-haired spectators. Then an exasperated and strident reply came, "Honeydew Arc is that you?! And shut up you bimbo. You have no right to say that. Your assets are even more ridiculous than mine!" A woman stood and smiled at Honeydew.

The two laughed and left the surroundings flabbergasted at the hostile words the two women sent to each other. The two met each other and wrapped one another in a massive hug. The men in the surroundings were all looking on with lecherous looks, but they all had feeling of dread run down their backs as the two women and the respective partners of the males all gave off a feeling of danger.

"It is good to see you after so long. I hear you have a horde of children at your house. How do you deal with it? I can barely deal with the three that I have." Nina Nikos said to Honeydew.

Honeydew laughed and said, "It is just as much of a challenge as dealing with all the teams at the academy. So, I have had enough practice to make it work out pretty well. In fact, here is my one and only son Jaune Arc. He was looking in this direction earlier. It seems he has an interest in your little girl there." Honeydew said quietly with a smirk.

"Oho. Is that so? Interesting." Nina Nikos said drawing out the words as she looked down upon Jaune with questing eyes.

"Hello ma'am. I am Jaune Arc it is nice to meet you." Jaune said. He had to keep in mind his manners even when his emotions were all over the place. His face still had a red tint.

Nina looked on before she smiled and nodded. "Nice to meet you as well brat. You have very good manners for one so young." She then looked at Jaune again and asked Honeydew, "You said he was interested in my daughter but are they the same age? He seems to be a little older if I had to guess."

Honeydew just smiled, "Yes. He is indeed your daughters age. He has just gone through a lot of growth." She put an emphasis on growth allowing Nina to pick up on the hidden meaning.

"Is that right? Why so soon though?" Nina asked.

"He had a deadly encounter with a beowolf close to two years ago now. He saved his cousin from the grimm. Since then he has shown us his drive to never be in that situation again. So, we have started working with him. His progress is remarkable. Shocking really." Honeydew explained.

Nina's eyes widened at this. It is extremely rare for someone so young to be able to kill a grim by themselves and this boy had done so. Most of those situations end in the child's death. For him to achieve such an action at such a young age…this Jaune was going to be a great huntsman in the future. "I see. If he has this kind of background, then I do not mind if he pursues my daughter. She is the pride of our house. I can safely say she has no equal in her age group, even your son has no chance." Nina said with immense pride toward Honeydew who had a dubious look on her face. "Though everything else will be up to him, I will at least introduce them." Nina said as she turned to Jaune, "Follow me brat I will allow you to meet my daughter."

Jaune followed Nina to stand before a family of five who had been alternating between watching the matches and Nina with the newcomers. Nina stood in front of the family and with a gesture of left to right she introduced them, "My husband Maroon Nikos a full-time huntsman." A large lean man nodded toward Jaune. He had the build of a swimmer with a wide chest and back with long arms that held their fair share of scars, long legs perfect for eating up ground or kicking with great strength. He was dressed in a flannel shirt with blue jeans and boots.

Nina pointed to the next person, "This is my oldest Pyron Nikos. He is training to become an engineer in the future. He is about to head to Beacon Academy this year." A young man waved his hand at Jaune. He had glasses messy red hair a lean face thin lean muscles and a very structured demeanor about him as if he could breakdown and build back up a person with his mind alone.

The next was a young teen girl. She had a very rambunctious air about her that led one to believe she was energetic and could hardly stay in one place, from her bouncing knees fidgety hands and rocking motion on her seat. "This is Pheris Nikos. She is a huntress in training. She is a volatile child, what I mean by that is she is a nonstop ball of energy that likes to watch things explode." The girl quickly waved excitedly.

"And finally my youngest Pyrrha Nikos. The most driven child who wishes to become a great huntress. She has recently started our families training. She has a good head on her shoulders. Has great manners and a constant need for improvement. That is actually why we are here. She wanted to see how normal huntsman and huntresses fight, so we came to see the tournament." Nina said with pride in her voice.

Pyrrha who was being highly spoken of by her mother flushed at the praise before she said, "Mom I'm not that great stop it."

"And she's humble. She's the best!" Nina said with happiness.

The two older siblings called out in synch, "Hey!"

"Oh, don't give me that. You both know it and pamper her for it." Nina said with a humorous tone.

The two grumbled as they looked away with slight blushes at being called out on their, thought to be hidden actions. Nina just smiled all the wider. "Nikos clan meet Honeydew and Jaune Arc. Honeydew is good friend of mine from Beacon. Their family came to the festival as well. Jaune here is also training to become a huntsman. Make your greetings."

Maroon stood up and walked towards Jaune. He towered over Jaune as he put out his hand for him to shake. "It is good to meet you, young man. I hope you will be good friends with my children, as they will be to you."

Jaune took the hand and shook firmly. "It is good to meet you as well sir. I hope for the same thing." Jaune finished as his eyes shifted over to Pyrrha for a second before returning to the man before him. Maroon's eyebrows went up at the strength that Jaune put out in his handshake. He then smirked as he stepped away making room for the others.

Pyron was the next up and he held out his hand as well. "Nice to meet you. Seems you are well on your way in your training. I am sure you can give my sisters some pointers to help out." Pyron smiled as he had been the first to realize the reason for Jaune's flushed face.

"I will do my best to help them in any way I can." Jaune said with a smile as he was on more solid ground with the topic of training.

Pheris pushed her brother out of the way and called out, "Yo, shorty. Nice to meet you. Treat me well. I want to have a spar with you in the future when you are ready. Bring it when you are ready." She said with a wide smile.

Jaune responded, "I look forward to the spar. If we can find a location, we can have one right away." Jaune's heart rate picked up when he thought of sparing with someone other than his uncle, aunt and cousins.

"Woah, woah, woah. We can hold off on that we have plenty of time here at the festival." Honeydew said on the side.

"Agreed. We can do that later." Nina said a little exasperatedly.

Finally Pyrrha walked up to Jaune. Jaune was again losing himself to the feeling of butterflies and his fast heartbeat. Pyrrha on the other hand was much calmer but she also had a blush on her face as she reached out her hand. Jaune responded and the two held hands. "It is good to meet you Jaune. I hope we become great friends in the future."

Jaune couldn't speak and just nodded very fast. Pyrrha seeing this giggled. Jaune hearing this giggle could only think that he wants to hear that giggle again. That he wants to be the reason for her to laugh like that.

Off to the side the rest of the family and Honeydew watched on. Pyron looked over to his father and said with a sly smirk, "Seems like there should be hearts and flowers blooming around the two, don't you think?"

With unnatural speed Marron smashed his fist into the top of his son's head. "How about you just shut up. Let them go about it. Who knows it maybe it will work out or it maybe not? But I will be the judge of whether or not he is worthy of Pyrrha."

"Oh-ho, so you will be the judge? Are you so sure about that honey?" Nina asked with a sickly-sweet voice.

Sweat rolled down Maroon's back before he responded, "Well at least one of the judges."

"Hmm. That's what I thought." Nina said as she side eyed her husband.

"Oh there will be more than just two judges. I need to know if she will be a good fit for Jaune. And I guess Gol could have a say as well." Honeydew said.

Across the colosseum Gol sneezed. "Are you and mom sick? You have both been sneezing a lot today." Daff asked her father.

"I, maybe. Not sure." Gol said as he thought to himself, 'She's bad mouthing me over there.'

Pheris who had been lost for most of the conversation due to her imagining the battle between her and Jaune, had just returned to herself and noticed the rosy aura the two were giving off. "What are you guys talking about?" She asked before looking in Jaune and Pyrrha's direction. "Huh? Oh. Hey don't you think those two make a perfect couple?" She asked to practically everyone.

They all looked at her before they looked at Jaune and Pyrrha again. They could not contradict the words that Pheris had spoken. The two were now in deep conversation after Jaune had been able to make her laugh once again. They looked at one another like they were the only ones there. It was something hardly seen in adults let alone children. But what she said was true they seemed to be a perfect couple.

Seeing that the two were deep in conversation they decided to let them be. The rest of the group all watched the combat on the tournament grounds. Honeydew turned to Nina and asked, "Would you guys like to join us in our area? We have room and I think the girls are getting worried I have been gone for so long."

The Nikos clan looked at one another before they all agreed. It took a couple of tries but they were able to get the attention of the two love birds and get them to join in the move to the other area.

Due to the limited social life the two love birds in question they were speaking on training techniques. They both wanted to improve themselves for their own reasons but due to this they were able to get down into a deep talk about martial practice, social, emotional understanding and situational awareness and their effects on combat. With each round of observation and suggestion Pyrrha began to see Jaune as an amazing person. His observations and ideas about combat turned Pyrrha's training regiments and martial training on its head. They had finally gotten to the most important factor at least in Shirou's perspective.

Semblances.

"So, what is your semblance? If you don't want to talk about it that is fine, I just wanted to see if there was any way I could help you to get a better grasp of it by giving an outside perspective." Jaune explained to Pyrrha.

"Oh well…" Pyrrha looked up towards her parents. The two of them had kept an ear towards the conversation and to say they were stunned was too small of a word to explain their contemplation of all of Jaune's words. Seeing their daughter looking for permission to speak about her semblance the two nodded their heads at their daughter giving the permission she asked for.

"My semblance is polarity." Pyrrha said very quietly into Jaune's ear.

"Magnetism huh? Let's see…" Jaune said as he thought and was given ideas by Shirou. "Ok a few questions. How does it work exactly? Are you the pulling or pushing magnet or does your aura surround the object?"

"Both actually. I can become the focus of the magnet or I can have my aura surround the object in question." Pyrrha said with no hesitation after hearing his words.

"Oh well that makes all of this so much easier and you have far broader options than before. All of the options need very fine control something that will take time and a whole lot of focus. One option for you would be if you had very fine control you could use metal sand or shards. You would then have a direct attack option as well as a defensive shield this can be called the formless weapon. Second if you had very fine control you could create a barrel, spinning the barrel the bullet metal you have within could be sent out at immense speeds that exceed huntsman weapons. Combining the two you could create an electrical barrier with the same concepts of the rail gun. Another would be for you to control the iron in someone's blood freezing them in place. The final option which would be after the first through third, you could have a self-sustaining armor that would keep you protected as long as you had the aura to supply the energy to it." Jaune explained his thoughts.

"I could take control of someone's body?" Pyrrha asked in a squeaky voice. Her face had turned green at this idea.

Jaune seeing this could only say quickly back peddling, "It is only an idea there is no way to know if you are actually capable of that. It's not like you have to do it, it was just a suggestion. Just forget about it."

Pyrrha hearing this regained some of her calm but was caught on some of the other options, "Some of those seem pretty complex. How did you come up with them?"

"I have been studying a lot and found out how magnetism affects our environment. If I find an interesting subject I follow it to its extreme." Jaune said rubbing his head chuckling.

"You are really weird." Pyrrha said giggling.

"Yeah I know. Just want to do my best to help people in the future. I was told by an important person to me that knowledge is power. After learning all I have I can only agree with his statement.��� Jaune said.

"That does make sense. If what you said is true then you have just made my training a little easier in the future, if I can figure out how all of that works. Thank you for that." Pyrrha said with a smile.

Jaune stutter stepped as he was caught off guard by the amazing smile. "You are welcome. I will help you anytime you need it." Jaune promised.

Pyrrha smiled happily at this, "I will hold you too that."