Just another criminal

Jaune looked around nervously as he made his way through the streets of Vale. Crowds of people were making their way back and forth as they enjoyed the early Saturday morning, but he couldn't discount the possibility of students coming down to explore the city on their first official weekend. Not that he was doing anything illegal of course… he was just meeting someone who was… yeah, okay never mind, it was probably illegal.

This is where I met him last time. Jaune thought to himself as he reserved a small table in the innocuous looking diner. It didn't escape his notice that the place was absolutely deserted of people. He said to come here and order a drink, and that someone would take me to him…

"Can I help you sir?" A suited man asked, looking pointedly overdressed for a simple waiter. Jaune wanted to weep at the general lack of subtlety.

"I'd like a latte." Jaune ordered with a sigh.

"We don't serve latte." The suited man replied back in annoyance. Jaune simply rolled his eyes, and repeated the order he had been told to give.

"I was told to ask for a latte… look is Roman here?"

"Uh, yeah sure he's in the back." The man grunted in slight confusion, jerking his thumb towards a door behind the counter. Sighing, Jaune climbed to his feet and walked to the door, wondering if the man would make any effort to stop him. Instead the suited goon just watched, with a vaguely confused expression on his face.

The door opened up not to a kitchen as might have been expected, but instead showed a flight of stairs leading down into the darkness. The last time he had been here they'd done their business at the entrance to these stairs. The man coming up to meet him just long enough to hand over the documents and enforce some simple tips Jaune would have to follow to make sure they worked. Now though, it looked like he was about to go down the rabbit hole.

Welp. No time for hesitation.

Despite the darkness suggesting a long descent, it was really nothing more than a hundred steps or so down into the basement. And as he entered through the small opening, he could see that they were now in some kind of underground warehouse. A number of maps, televisions and couches were strewn about the area by the stairs however, while suited men wandered around in the background like little ants in a hive.

It was an honest-to-goodness underground base. That was pretty cool.

"Hey kiddo!" A familiar voice called from the left, drawing Jaune's attention to an orange-haired man who was lounging on a wide couch, his feet propped up on a coffee table in front of him. One gloved hand waved at him as Jaune sighed and made his way closer. "Take a seat kid." The man gestured to the single-seater opposite him.

"Thanks for agreeing to help me Roman." Jaune greeted as he sat down, only to leap forwards in surprise as he felt his rear end connect with something definitely not made of leather.

"Bu-wha!?" Jaune stammered in shock as he looked behind him to see that he had almost sat on a petite girl who was in the seat… but it had been completely empty when he looked at it! It had totally been empty!

"Yeah, can you avoid crushing my partner, I kind of need her." The orange-haired man grinned, as Jaune quickly shuffled to a different seat and sat down. "Also kid, no need to thank me. This is going to be a business transaction after all."

"That's fine with me. What do you want?" Jaune asked as his attention drifted back to the girl he had almost sat on. Not only was she one of the most petite women he had ever met, but she also had the most incredible hair he'd ever seen. Three colours in total, a mixture of pink, brown and cream! She was also incredibly beautiful, in a frail sort of way.

"First of all." Roman interrupted, as he gestured towards Jaune with one hand. "Why don't you tell me why you need your aura unlocking? I thought you'd get that handled once you were a student."

"Yes well. There was a bit of a complication there." Jaune admitted with a heavy wince. "You see the records were good, a little too good… I've been taken on as a teacher."

There was a long silence after the words, the orange-haired criminal blinked slowly, as though he couldn't quite understand what he was looking at. Across from him, the young girl watched on, a definite look of amusement in her eyes. Wait, were those mismatched colours?

"Wait wait wait!" The flamboyant man echoed as his feet finally came off the table as he leaned forwards. "You, someone with no training… are now a teacher?" Jaune nodded miserably, knowing full well what would come next.

True to form, the man burst out into uproarious laughter, slamming his hand down on his knee as the mirth proved too much for him to handle. Jaune even noticed the girl shaking in her seat, one hand held in a fist before her mouth – even though no noise came forth.

"Oh… oh man, that's rich. Only you kid. Only you." It took him a few more seconds to calm down, while Jaune just sat there glumly, not at all finding the situation he was in that amusing. In the end though, the man did manage to pull himself back together, though Jaune didn't miss him sharing a quick grin with the girl.

"Tell you what, I won't ask for lien over this kid. You can just owe a favour, yeah?"

"Sure." Jaune agreed miserably. He would rather have handled this with money since he was now being paid quite well, but he had a feeling that Roman had something else in mind. Especially since he now knew Jaune was an official teacher at Beacon. "But nothing that might cause any danger to the students."

"Little kids aren't really my forte." The man joked. "I'm not going to want anything regarding them. Now get over here, I need to be touching you for this." Jaune stood up and moved over, moving to sit by the man, only to pause when he instead gestured for him to kneel down. As Jaune did so, the man placed a hand on his shoulder and began to intone.

"For it is in our infamy that we achieve immortality, through this we become a paragon of deceitful glory to rise above all others. Infinite in potential and unbound by laws, I release your soul, and by my shoulder, set thee free." The words pounded into Jaune's being as he felt something burst forth from within him, shining a dull white on the nearby area as he looked down at his hands, to see them now surrounded with white light. The hand holding his shoulder released him, causing Jaune to look back up at the man, who for the briefest moment looked a little tired. A second later and the fatigue was gone, replaced with an arrogant smirk.

"That's some big aura reserves you got there kid. Makes me wonder if the longer you wait to unlock them, the larger they grow."

Jaune barely paid attention, too busy experiencing what felt like pure energy now coursing through his veins. Was this what all hunters felt like? This heady feeling of power and untapped ability?

"Thank you Roman." He replied simply. Unsure what else he could say for this boon. No, not a boon… a debt, that he would be expected to repay.

"No problem kid, like I said. It's business. But you know…" The man paused here, leaning forwards to give Jaune a serious look that had him almost sweating. "A bit of aura isn't going to be enough to fool those people up at Beacon. Not unless you think you can fight on the level of the other teachers…that is… trained hunters."

He winced. He hadn't forgotten that… not at all. He'd just been so busy trying to solve things one at a time that he hadn't reached that issue yet. But the man was right. What happened if he ever was in a situation where he needed to fight? Be it versus a Grimm or a student, or even another teacher?

"I know. I've been reading up. Training with your aura activated lets you push yourself further since any muscle damage repairs easier. I'll have to work hard now to catch up." Even as he said it though, he knew it would be a near impossible task. Maybe in the space of a year or two he could catch up with the tuition achieve in four years at Signal, if he worked his hardest. But there was no way he could delay fighting for that long…

"Why not get some one-to-one training with a professional?"

"The professionals would be Hunters and the teachers wouldn't they? I can't go to them for training unless the information gets back to Beacon." He wasn't sure what kind of information network the hunters had, if any. But obviously he couldn't really go further than Vale for training anyway, and every hunter here probably knew the staff at Beacon, if not personally, then by reputation.

"How about someone less legal?" The criminal offered. No doubt another favour he would need to pay back, but what other options did he have?

"Who do you have in mind?" He sighed out instead.

"Neo." The man pointed with a smirk towards the small girl on the other seat, who looked equally as surprised as Jaune himself, as she looked at the two of them over a bowl of ice cream. Neopolitan flavoured from the look of- Oh, well if that was a codename then he supposed it was pretty apt.

The bowl descended to the table as the girl cocked her head to one side and pointed at her own face in question. Despite being accused of stupidity, Jaune wasn't that slow off the mark, and could at least guess that the girl either couldn't, or didn't, speak.

"Yes you Neo." Roman urged with a small grin. "No amount of training is going to get this guy up to full Hunter level. But if we can focus on getting him dodging even slightly like you, then he can buy himself time to learn the rest." At this he turned back to Jaune, pointing at him. "Focus on defending and dodging, wear them down before going in for the finishing blow. In fact, your final blow is going to be so pathetic that if you don't finish them, they'll probably figure your style is fake."

"Will that really work?" Jaune had to ask. He supposed it made sense to focus his training on one aspect, since it cut down the time needed by half. But that would make him pretty screwed if he couldn't manage his defence properly.

"It's your best shot kid. I'll give you some offensive tips and tricks, but anyone can be worn down given time. Any brats you might face at Beacon will be even worse since they don't learn to pace themselves. All flash, and no sustenance these kids." He shook his head while mumbling about someone called `Red` of all things. "Anyway, since Neo will be the one teaching you, you'll owe Neo a favour for this instead. Neo, do not use it on ice-cream."

The girl in question crossed her arms and pouted, one leg whipping across the other as she took a defiant pose.

"Um… so how are we going to do this?" Jaune asked uncertainly. Instead of answering, Roman simply let a slow and lazy grin creep across his features.

"Neo. Beat him into dust and I'll buy you some of those chocolate wafer cones for your ice-cream." Jaune sighed at the ridiculous comment and looked towards the girl to see what she thought, only in time to see a white boot connect with his face.

~~~~~Professor Arc~~~~~

"Better kid." Roman cheered from the couch he was still lazing on, right as Jaune slammed painfully into the ground. Practice had taught him better than to lay where he landed, and he rolled away just in time to avoid Neo's foot crashing into the floor. Oh yeah, he'd learned the first time that this girl didn't really know what mercy was. If a person was on the floor, that just made them an easier target.

Looking up from where she was crouched, a pout came to the girl's lips as she realised his escape, before she dashed towards him faster than he was actually able to climb to his feet, kicking his legs apart so his face fell back down to the floor. Another desperate roll avoided what seemed to be her favourite finishing move. And this time he had enough sense to climb to his feet as fast as he was able, rather than watch the little monster.

The training, if it could be called that had gone on for over two hours now. Something he would have found impossible before due to his stamina reserves. Seemed like his aura was working overtime to keep himself going. That was pretty lucky too, considering if it wasn't unlocked then he was sure he would be nursing a broken nose and jaw from her first attack. The brutality of the moves had not decreased since then.

Even her typical kicks use an almost unfair application of high heels! He thought to himself as he weaved between her legs, using his shield and armguard to knock aside any further attacks. She seemed to favour kicks, since she wasn't actually armed with anything, but she was so quick at resetting and chambering her kicks that he didn't have any time to counter-attack! Also the heels of her boots helped to focus all the force into a single sodding stiletto!

His eyes widened as he ducked below a flying roundhouse kick, partly amazed that such a short girl could reach his face. Her follow-up heel drop landed on his shield with a mighty clanging noise, even as the girl's hands were visible below it, propping her up in a handstand while she flipped backwards.

Jaune didn't bother drawing his sword. There was no way he could actually attack her, apart from the fact that was insanely fast, she was also attacking without a weapon and this was sparring more focused on teaching him to dodge. The other fact was that he was actually finding it easier to block and deflect her blows with his free hand, using his metal plate on the back of his gloves.

"Two scoops if he eats dust in the next ten seconds!" Roman called out tauntingly, prompting Jaune to sigh as the girl disappeared instantly, before re-appearing inside his guard. He still tried to throw himself to one side, but buckled over her knee as she blocked his escape, before grunting painfully as her other leg snapped over his back, and she was able to flip him over, just using her hands as a pivot. "Oh man, this is gold."

Jaune struggled to push himself off the floor, his tongue probing his teeth to see if any were loose. Luckily it looked like his aura was still protecting him.

"I don't see you fighting her!" Jaune called out in a useless effort to shut the laughing man up. The training had been pretty useful so far. Not that he had come any closer to actually beating Neo… in fact that still seemed impossible. But he had definitely improved in his ability to get out the way! Now when he tried to dodge Neo, he only got badly hurt… instead of outright slaughtered in a single attack!

That was an improvement, right?

"Take a break Neo, you did well." Roman chortled as he climbed to his feet and picked up his cane. "I said I'll teach you a few tricks kiddo. You might want to draw your sword for this one." The man walked up so that he was stood a few feet from Jaune, resting arrogantly with both hands atop his metal cane.

Jaune groaned to himself as he drew his blade. Trust his big mouth. The way they spoke and acted pretty much told him that Roman was the superior to Neo, which probably meant he was about twice as strong.

Congratulations Jaune, your mouth has gotten you in trouble again!

He adopted a nervous guard position, with his shield held out in front of him, and the sword poised behind in a thrusting motion.

"Cute kid. But I want you to attack me, and I'll teach you some tricks." The bowler-hat wearing man bragged. "Come at me as best you can, I can handle it."

Jaune shrugged, rolling his shoulders slightly to help dispel some of the pain he still felt from sparring with Neo. He held no thoughts in his mind that he might be successful against Roman. The question was how long he dragged out the beating. In that sense, it was best just to get it over with, and hopefully learn something from it.

"Rarghh!" Jaune shouted as he charged forwards, swinging Crocea Mors in a wide arc. It wasn't the most elegant of attacks, but it was aimed at centre mass, and would probably force the man to block it.

The blade of his sword screeched against the metal cane as Roman blocked, but the force behind the strike seemed to catch the criminal off-guard, knocking him down onto one knee as Jaune shouted out in victory and chambered another strike. His eyes widened as Roman grinned up at him, right before a handful of sand and grit splattered into his wide blue eyes.

"Arghh!" Jaune screamed in distress, the burning sensation in his eyes causing the world to swim and blur as tears mixed with grit. Angrily he scrubbed at his vision, clearing it just enough to make out the blurry figure of Roman approaching him, his cane moving towards Jaune's left. He slapped it aside with his sword, intent on getting his own back on the crook. Just in time to receive a punishing punch to the face, which knocked him clean off his feet.

"And that's why you don't keep your eyes on the birdy!" The man laughed, as Jaune struggled on his knees to clear his eyes. A boot kicked into his ribs a second later, knocking him onto his back so he was staring up at the ceiling. Jaune made to push himself up, but paused as a boot gently rested on his crotch. Like any man, he froze instantly.

"Relax kid, trainings over." The boot was removed, as Jaune let out a sigh of relief and climbed to his feet. A hand patted him on the back as Roman laughed and escorted him back to the seating area, letting him fall down into one with a sigh. "You pick up any tricks?" He quipped.

"One or two…" Jaune grumbled out angrily, still rubbing at his eyes. "Dirty tricks."

"Seems my lesson worked then." He laughed, as Jaune sighed. Neo handed him a glass of water, which he gratefully drank of. "It's a lesson to learn there. A fight is about causing as much pain as possible to the other party, as quick as possible. You don't have the time to fight honourably… or the ability."

"I see what you mean." Jaune accepted with a sigh. It wasn't how he had ever imagined himself fighting, but Roman was correct when he said he didn't have the time to learn anything better. He would need to do whatever was necessary to win. Even if that meant doing something dishonourable like that…

"This won't be enough training though, so Neo might pop in every now and then to help you out. Don't worry, she can find her way into Beacon without any trouble." Whoah, what, wait?

"Won't that be dangerous! Neither of us can afford to be caught." Jaune argued… he appreciated the effort Roman was going through to help him out, but he wanted any signs of his more illegal dealings to be far away from Beacon.

"Relax, Neo's an unknown at the moment. If anyone asks just say she's an old friend from Vacuo. And she lost her voice due to the trauma of losing your school." Jaune nodded uncertainly, even as Neo pantomimed crying and swooning in apparently agony.

It wasn't very convincing.

"Right… sure." Jaune accepted with a sigh, he supposed it wouldn't be too much of a risk… If it was, then they wouldn't be risking themselves doing it. And they were the professionals after all… "I should go though, I need to pick up some books before I head back to Beacon."

"Sure thing. Good luck Professor." Roman taunted as Jaune turned to leave, Neo waved at him as he left.

Pain aside, the trip had definitely been valuable, solving two of his biggest problems, or at least providing a plan for solving them. He would just need to keep training in his own time. Reaching the steps he began to climb up them, only to pause as he noticed a figure ahead of him.

"Oh, my apologies." He offered as he stepped back down, waiting for the figure to step out of the darkness.

"Not a problem." A husky female voice replied easily, as a single smooth leg came into view, heel clicking on the floor as a second leg followed. His eyes trailed up the creamy legs, which soon disappeared into a dark red eastern-style dress with gold decoration. Finally his eyes followed the contours of her body up over her tempting cleavage and bare shoulders, up to her golden eyes, one nearly hidden behind a lock of black hair.

The woman stepped away from the staircase, bringing herself close to him as she placed a single hand on his chest to steady herself. He didn't move away, enjoying the strangely hot feeling, even as she paused to look into his eyes with an almost smouldering gaze. She broke contact first, stepping past him as her fingers trailed across his chest to leave him.

As she swayed away, Jaune forced his eyes to remain forwards as he climbed the stairs back to the surface.

A definite fifty-six out of ten. What the Hell was up with the women in this town!?

~~~~~Professor Arc~~~~~

"Oh he's hilarious." Roman chortled softly to Neo as the two of them reclined on their seats, the latter having helped herself to some more ice cream. Roman made a mental note to secure the cones he had promised her, as childish as it seemed. Going back on a deal with Neo was not advisable.

"…" The girl silently pointed towards where the kid had left from.

"Whenever you want to train him, it would be handy for you to have a few favours owed to you. It's never too soon to start building your own contacts."

"…" The girl slyly tilted her head, glancing at him from the corner of one eye. Roman grinned.

"Of course while you're there it wouldn't hurt for you to have a look around, maybe map out the place." The girl grinned back at him, the two of them on the same wave length. Sure he had primarily helped the kid because it was entertaining, and it didn't cost him anything. But now that he was a teacher at Beacon?

Well… that had potential, didn't it?

"Roman." A sultry female voice spoke suddenly, bursting Roman's happy place almost instantly, despite the faux-smile that spread across his features.

"Cinder!" He cheered back, before pointing at Neo. "Neo!" He echoed, adding a little extra sarcasm for good measure. "Coffee table!"

The coffee table went up in flames instantly, causing him to curse as he patted the small flames from his shoes.

"No." The woman hissed. "No coffee table. I'm not paying you to sit around Roman, not when there is still plenty of dust to be acquired."

Roman sighed as he mournfully looked down at the small burn marks on his shoes. It was barely noticeable… they would have to go. No way could he appear on the news with damaged clothing, think of the reputation! Can't even be bothered to dress up for a robbery! Vale's least stylish criminal…Never!

"We are working Cinder. I don't exactly go out into Vale at midday on a weekend to rob shops. That might be a little obvious don't you think?" He knew he was playing a dangerous game here though; Cinder had made it clear that she had need of his services, but would have no compunctions removing him if he became a hassle. But Roman was no fool either. If she was so eager and willing to remove him now, why keep him around when it was all finished either?

"Pray tell me then Roman. What were you doing here?"

"Meeting with one of my contacts." Roman answered instantly. "I have to keep my information network up to date after all. They don't exactly advertise dust deliveries."

"That man then…" The woman paused, one finger coming up to artfully tap at her chin. "The tall blonde. He is your contact?"

"He is." Roman agreed, a small uncomfortable feeling beginning to form in his gut. It wasn't that he was particularly worried for the kid, he was fond of him. But hardly going to risk his life for him… no, the concern was more that Cinder might test the kid just to judge Roman. And there was no way he wanted his future safety laying on the shoulders of him!

"He didn't back away from my gaze…" The woman murmured to herself, prompting Roman to share a quick look with Neo. The silent girl shrugged. "He is an interesting one. What is it that he provides for you Roman?"

"Information on Beacon." Roman replied as honestly as he could. The kid had told him he was the new Professor there, so that was information, sort of… He winced when Cinder's eyes lit up.

"That will be most useful then Roman. You've done very well. Perhaps when you next see him, you'll think to invite me along as well." It was not a question, but an order. To which Roman nodded uncertainly.

As the dangerous woman turned and left them, Roman slumped in his seat, finally letting his uncertainty show. This was bad, he knew he shouldn't have shacked up with this broad.

"Neo, plans changed." Roman whispered as the girl leaned forwards. "Work the kid to the bone. He's going to need it."

~~~~~Professor Arc~~~~~

Jaune strained to look over the top of the small pile of books he was carrying in his arms, the counter of the shop being visible in the distance, with a bearded man with an amused grin on his face watching on. Why didn't bookshops have baskets like the markets!? Well, probably because no one else came to buy upwards of twenty books at once.

He was lucky he'd been paid his first month in advance to account for any supplies he might need. He just hadn't expected to be spending it all on books for a counselling job he hadn't know about at all.

That was pretty much his life at the moment though, he supposed.

It was while he was bumbling his way towards the counter though that his hip banged painfully into a wooden chair, causing him to stumble forwards as the books clattered loudly to the floor.

"Aw man." He moaned to himself, going down onto one knee as he began to collect them, only to notice another hand helping him. A quick glance up the bare appendage showed the bare shoulder of one of his students. Or rather, Beacon's. "Miss Belladonna?" He queried a little uncertainly. He knew her name began with a B, and that sounded close enough.

"Hello Professor." The girl greeted back with a small smile, as she helped him collect his books.

"What are you doing here?" He blurted out in surprise, only to wince slightly at her raised eyebrow. Yeah, bookstore, that should have been obvious.

"I wanted to find a good bookstore in Vale on my first weekend." The girl shrugged, piling a few more of his books, before holding one out in front of her. "Teen Psychology: Understanding trauma?" She read, in slight confusion.

Jaune laughed nervously, accepting the book and placing it on his pile.

"Ah yeah, I suppose I can tell you." He wasn't sure what plans Ozpin had in place to make his new position a known fact, but maybe it wouldn't hurt to have some information given out to the students directly? "Headmaster Ozpin wants me to act as a Student Counsellor, due to our similar ages. I'll be available to help students with any non-school related issues they might have."

"Is that so?" The girl echoed rhetorically, picking up a few more books and scanning the titles. He'd picked up a wide variety, from trauma to general psychology, all the way through to mental illnesses that could manifest. "This is heavy reading."

"Ah well. I want to be as well-informed as possible if I'm going to be helping people." He chuckled nervously. Because, of course, he didn't know anything about the struggles they actually went through in any way…

"That's probably a good idea." The girl accepted though, handing him a few more, before she paused at one of the last books. "Understanding faunus? You have an interest in the faunus Professor Arc?"

"Ah well." He shrugged as he climbed to his feet with the books now more firmly secured in his arms. "Beacon accepts all aspiring hunters, human or faunus. I thought it might be best to better understand those I might help… also considering the discrimination they face. Well… I thought I might have some faunus that could use help."

The black haired girl looked at him with no real emotion on her face for a few moments, making him shuffle nervously, before a small smile broke onto her lips.

"I think that sounds wonderful." She complimented, making Jaune blush at the words. "There aren't many humans willing to help the faunus like that."

"Ah well." Jaune laughed the embarrassment off as best he could. "Maybe you should be praised as well then Miss Belladonna. There aren't many your age who would be so open-minded either."

"Blake." The girl interrupted as she climbed to her feet and handed the last book to him. "You can call me Blake." The young student gave him one last enigmatic smile before she left him, walking through the door of the shop with a pleased expression on her face.

~~~~~Professor Arc~~~~~

"Thanks for picking me up Glynda." Jaune gratefully offered as he sat on the Bullhead seat next to the blonde woman. "I didn't expect to buy so many books."

The woman in question merely shook her head in mild exasperation, before picking up one of his bags to rummage through the books he had bought.

"I see Ozpin managed to convince you to take the Counsellor position then. How did he go about convincing you?" Her green eyes scanned over the titles of the books, occasionally nodding to show her approval of his choices. Jaune simply leant his head back on the sea, enjoying the chance to rest his tired body.

"He just showed me examples of people I could help. I suppose if you want to be cynical you could say he played on my emotions." Not that knowing the fact had helped him in any way. It was one thing to know that someone was guilt-tripping you into something – but another altogether to not feel the guilt.

"I don't think that's necessarily a bad thing." The other teacher offered as she looked at him through her glasses. "It shows you care greatly for others." Jaune fought back a blush as he looked away from her expression, feeling inordinately pleased despite himself. Despite that, the woman did notice. "You don't handle praise very well, do you Mr Arc?" The tone was neutral, though he had the distinct feeling that she was actually trying to tease him.

"I never received much of it." He admitted without thinking, before wincing slightly at his error. His records had suggested he was a veritable exemplar of the Hunter ideal, of course he would have received praise. Luckily though, the woman didn't seem to catch on to that.

"That's unfortunate." She replied after a moment's silence, before hesitatingly laying a hand on his shoulder. If he was unused to receiving praise, then it seemed she was not particularly used to touching people either. "I want you to know that we appreciate your being here. Port, Oobleck and I. And I was truly thankful for your handling the graveyard shift for me Jaune. Even if I didn't make it obvious."

"Thank you." Jaune smiled back, doing his best to convey that he appreciated it, but that she didn't need to worry about him. He had the sinking feeling she was assuming he was still broken or damaged from his perceived trauma of losing his last school. "I did that because I wanted to help you though. You look like you do enough work here, without being asked to handle that too."

"Thank you Jaune." The woman smiled at him, her stern visage disappearing for a moment as she suddenly looked more natural and radiant, before that frightening, though still beautiful, stern mask was back in place.

It cracked a few moments later though, a dark blush taking over her cheeks, as she quickly placed a book back into the shopping bag and left it on the ground. She didn't bother looking through anymore, and Jaune was too tired to ask why.

~~~~~Professor Arc~~~~~

Blake almost skipped all the way back to their team dorm. Today had been a good day. Not only had she gotten to Tukson's on the very day the next volume of Ninjas of Love had been released, but she had also bumped into their new teacher – and been pleasantly surprised indeed.

He wanted to help the faunus. Him. A human, wanted to do what he could to help the faunus. Sure it was just the students of Beacon Academy, but it was a start! It proved that there was potential for the human and faunus to coexist peacefully, without the need for violence.

Maybe Ruby was right about him after all? Maybe she was just becoming so used to being disappointed with people, that she wasn't giving them the chances they deserved. She would give him the proper respect, if only for how far he was willing to go.

Not that the book would be of much use to him… their mistreatment aside, there really was no real difference between faunus and humans. So it certainly wasn't like they had to have different treatments. And contrary to the racist remarks from some people, they didn't need to go to vets either!

She was still becoming amazed at how brilliant Beacon really was. The teachers were kind, with Oobleck and Arc both now showing blatant support for the faunus. Her partner had quickly become her best friend – which was weird considering how different their personalities were. And even though her team contained a Schnee, of all people! She was already beginning to consider them her family.

"Hey Blakey!" Yang greeted as she came through the door, shopping bag in hand. "Is that the latest in your porn series?" Of course, there were downsides to having Yang as a partner…

"It's not porn." Blake hissed in displeasure, flushing slightly as Ruby and Weiss stopped doing their work to watch the upcoming spectacle. Blake was the one who liked to watch other people or entertainment… When had she become the entertainment?

"Oh I bet!" Yang crowed. Reaching for the bag with grabby hands, while Blake did her best to keep her away. The two of them wrestled angrily for a few moments, Ruby shouting her support (for both of them) as Blake strained to keep the bag closed.

"Nooo!" Blake whined as the thin plastic bag ripped, Yang taking her chance to steal the book from inside and hold it aloft as though it were some kind of priceless relic.

Which Ninjas of Love was.

"Formative Behavioural Psychology, Pavlov and you?" Weiss read lazily as Yang waved the book back and forth, causing the entire group to freeze. Yang brought the book before her own eyes, before looking at Blake with a disappointed expression.

Blake meanwhile had frozen. Where was Ninjas of Love: Master of Ninja Wire? She knew she had picked up the right book, because she'd been reading it when she bumped into Prof-

Blake's face drained of all colour, even as her ears beneath her bow flattened against her scalp.

A low whine of distress escaped her lips.