Simple time with the family and misunderstandings

Jaune liked to think himself someone that was very prudent and calculative in every action that he takes. That doesn't mean that he is a heartless person that doesn't feel any emotions, but just that he is much better at putting such thoughts aside whenever necessary than most.

And in his constant pondering and thinking resulted of that, he many times comes up with some crazy ideas that might just be able to offer a solution for a problem he's having.

Despite him being currently not facing any such issues, a very crazy idea has come to him regardless and it was just interesting enough that he might put it action anyway.

He was at the time cooking dinner as per agreed as his punishment for concealing the truth from his parents, then a sudden idea just popped up in his head somewhere in this time and he decided to look further into it instead of brushing it of like most times, and that idea was:

'What if I add aura into cooking? Would the meal, when infused with aura during its preparation taste any different? Has anyone else tried such idea before?'

So with this in mind, he started searching with his Scroll for any information related into this topic, but to his dismay, no information on the topic was ever found or at least never documented and the closest he got was Dust-cooking which adds very small amounts of dust in your meal but it's not very popular since excessive dust consumption can lead to several health problems.

So with this in mind he decided to go ahead anyways and start experimenting with infusing aura into cooking ingredients to see how it influences the cooking procedure. He decided that If no one has tried this before than he would be the one to pioneer it!

And this also served another purpose since it would allow him to train his aura manipulation, he was currently incapable of doing so through normal training since his sensei has banned him from doing it in order to let him 'rest in body and mind' and he can't do it anyways since he would then be breaking his word, and that's unacceptable for an Arc.

So in this way he wouldn't be going back on his own word since what he's doing can't technically be called aura training and the same applies to smithing since it isn't technically physical training either despite it strengthening his body as a result.

His initial results while trying 'Aura cooking' were a little bit lackluster since infusing aura with ingredients seemed to be counterintuitive as they would become much harder to cut and would take longer to cook after being reinforced with aura.

But he didn't mind it and just continued to perform his training/experiments leisurely without worrying about the results. This continued for the next few days before he started to finally attain some results.

After a lot of failed tries, he had finally managed to get some of his aura to remain infused in the object instead of quickly dispersing as soon as he stops supplying it aura like it almost always does, it is still a very crude and ineffective method since 90% of the aura he infuses gets dispersed leaving only a fraction behind but it was a start.

Another gain he had is that thanks to him being constantly infusing his aura into objects is that he has just learned to infuse his aura into his weapons and maintain it for a longer time with less aura being wasted overall. With this he has been able to take his father by surprise in one of their spars and deplete his aura for the first time.

...

Then, another week after that, he was finally ready to put this new and quite a bit more complicated form of cooking to the test and let his family eat the food that was prepared using this method.

The ingredients had already been infused with aura beforehand and even after improving his technique and achieving a much smaller 70% wastage of aura the total amount necessary for all the ingredients was easily enough to completely deplete your average huntman's aura reserves.

So after slowly cooking it and preparing the accompanying dishes, he was left with his finished product:

Grilled fish with rice, steam cooked vegetables and a salad. I also cooked a few potatoes and fried an eggs for protein since Violet is vegetarian and can't get it from meat.

As I put the dishes on the table and call my family to eat, I nervously await for them to arrive and take their seats while hoping that my aura cooking show some results. I had already tested the food beforehand and confirmed that it has no side-effects but now I'm about to find out from others if my food is any better.

My family quickly arrived and took the seats with my parents taking both ends of the table and my sistets + Neo taking the sides and sitting in order according to their age.

My family then quickly sends their gratitude for our meal and praise our ancestors before digging in and eating their food.

I on the other hand, barely touch mine as I'm more concerned with their reaction or if they're even going to be able to tell the difference in the food.

And they must have felt something different since as they started eating, their faces changed from neutral to confusion then wonder and finally elation as their forks became faster and faster which clearly showed what they thought of the meal.

Except Neo, who is gobbling my food like is the best thing in the world, but that's her natural reaction for any of the meals I cook her so there's no difference in that aspect. This is why I will never grow tired of cooking for her, having someone that appreciates my food so much fills me with joy and motivates me to make an even better dish next time

This was our quietest meal together ever since the one after grandpa died, as everyone was constantly stuffing their mouths with food and had no time to chat.

After the meal had ended, all eyes had simultaneously turned towards me with looks of amazement and wonder, so I prepared myself for all the questions that were about to bombard me.

"Jaune, I'm not saying that your normal cooking skills are bad but this meal was simply out of this world!" Aquamarine which is normally quiet was unable to resist the urge to praise it.

"Yeah, this dish had an inconspicuous appearance but its taste is so memorable that I can still vividly remember it." Came the evaluation from Rouge.

"When did your cooking improve so much? Your food wasn't so good when we were living in the apartment!" Saphron whines.

"Jaune, is this a plot you crafted in order to make me fat? If it is then you succeeded because I'm now wanting a second serving." Came from Lazuli in a sarcastic manner.

"..!" Violet just gives me a thumbs up before she resumes eating.

Neo meanwhile has already eaten everything on her plate and is now on her second serving.

"Dear, how come your meal suddenly got so good? What technique did you use in order to accomplish this?" Mom says in a voice that is half perplexed about her son having already surpassed her cooking skills and half proud for being the one that has taught him this skill.

"Secret~" I respond putting a finger in my lips, it's not that I need to hide the method from them or anything, it's just that I can't be bothered to explain the whole process.

"Anyway, I'm glad that Jaune will be on cooking duty for a while, I could really use some more meals like that." Opal says showing a content grin.

"Hm?" Father seems to notice something strange and starts to flex his hands as if testing out for something.

"Dad? What's wrong?" Rosemary asks seeing father's strange actions.

"Nothing, I just suddenly felt more invigorated and even a bit stronger after eating the meal, again it must be just my imagination." Father explains while shaking his head.

"Now that you mention it..." Mom then joins him and starts to move her body and notice the changes.

'So I was able to confirm that aura cooking does indeed present no harmful effects and is even capable of enhancing the flavor of the food and considering the effects that my parents are experiencing and the fact that my sisters didn't leads me to the hypothesis that it can also bring benefits to those who have their aura unlocked.'

More experimenting and testing will be necessary in order to compile all of its effects.

'The results of aura cooking sound promising so far.'

...

As time passed, things continued go smoothly with Neo quickly getting used to living with more people and even sometimes joining in on the family antics.

After she had finally stabilised herself in our home, my parents then asked her what did she want to do or if she had any hobbies she would like to pursue. Her immediate answer was that she wanted to follow and be of use to me in order to pay me back for everything I've done for her, at the time I was a bit embarrassed from her having stated that so boldly in front of my parents.

But they after sharing a laugh, just shook their heads and clarified that they were asking for something 'she' wanted to do, something for herself and no one else.

She then wrote that once she had attended a few dance lessons and had quite enjoyed it, that sealed it, and she was put in dance lessons with my sisters ever since. In regards to asking if she wanted to have combat training, I chose to do so after she had more time to get herself together and find something she wants to do.

Everything was going smoothly, until one day I arrived home after my forging lessons and bore witness to quite a peculiar scene:

Neopolitan was cleaning the house, she had decided to help me with the chores owning to the fact that I was receiving this punishment in the first place because of her despite mine and my parents attempts to dissuade her. But the thing that was different from before was her outfit.

It was a maid outfit, thankfully it was a very formal and not at all revealing maid outfit that I got to admit at the time I thought it was quite cute in a child but I figured this was just one of my sisters shenanigans and didn't put much thought into it.

But then she appeared using it on the next day, and the next and the one after that. After a week had passed and she was still wearing it I realized that there was something more going on.

My sisters usually would just dress someone up, take some photos and tease it until they're satisfied then they would let it go, I find inconceivable that they would not grow bored of doing the same thing many days in a row nor would they force her to wear it for the entire day.

My first action after realizing it was obviously to aproach Neo and ask if my sisters are blackmailing her to wear such clothes, took away all her other clothes away or something along those lines.

But she just started to deflect my questions by asking what I think of her clothes or if if I find her pretty in a maid uniform, for a moment I considered if she just likes this kind of clothes and decided to wear it out of her own will but I just concluded that this being related to my sisters being the more likely scenario.

Since Neo wouldn't give me a straight answer then I would just have to interrogate one of my sisters for it, and I know the one that is the most likely to give me what I want.

...

A hunter must be patient and always wait for the perfect opportunity to trap the prey he's stalking.

And my prey is currently walking leisurely through our house's corridors whole humming a cheery tune, completely unaware that all her movements are being watched.

Finding her in the perfect position to strike, I casually aproach her by walking in from the opposite side of the corridor and pretending to not give any attention as she just barely glances at me before returning to her routine.

When we're finally side-by-side, I finally spring the ambush and take her by the forearm and push her into a room before closing the door behind me, simultaneously blocking her escape and the possibility of someone interfering.

"Jaune! what in Oum's name do you think you're...Eep!" Rosemary Arc responds to the sudden action in a indignant tone but it quickly turns into fright as she looks to my expression.

"Talk." I say in a cold tone and sporting a glare that Is very similar to mother's, therefore justifying her reaction to seeing it, that combined with my height that is no less than her own further amplifies my intimidation despite being the younger sibling.

"W-What are talking about? I haven't done anything! I'm innocent!" She says clearly giving away her guilty conscience.

It's common knowledge among us siblings that Rose is by far the least reliable sibling when it comes to keeping secrets and all you need to do is apply a bit of pressure and she'll quickly spill the beans.

"Neo, you must know the reason she is wearing that outfit. Spill it!" I say with a slightly more aggressive tone in order to guarantee that she'll buckle.

"N-No, I don't know anything about it, please believe m-"

"Rosemary Arc, you wouldn't happen to be lying to your dear brother would you? Of course not, my sister would never lie to me would she?" I sternly interrupt her before speaking in such a way to purposefully gnaw at her conscience.

"I may know the reason for it, but I'll only tell you after you promisse to not reveal anything to the others!" That catches me by surprise as I was almost certain that the others would be involved in this as well.

"I solemnly swears it upon my surname as Arc to not divulge whatever you tell me in this room to others, now tell me what's happened." I make a vow with my surname as Arc which symbolises a unbreakable agreement before waiting for her explanation.

"Well... you see, a few weeks back Neo and I were hanging out in the attic and searching for interesting things while talking, mostly me of course, and we both tried to get to know each other better as step-sisters. But then Neo stumbled into a box and after it fell, it revealed to be full of magazines."

"What kind of magazines?" I ask already having an idea of what it is inside.

"You know... the kind that's full of 'stuff'."

"So, 'Stuff' magazines?"

"Yeah, so Neo curiously picked one of them and opened, but since she wasn't ready for the 'stuff' I quickly confiscated it and sealed them all back into the box."

"Hm, proceed."

"But then she asked me who those magazines belonged to, and I kinda, sorta, may have panicked and said it was yours."

"So let me see if I understood correctly. You and Neo were in the attic, you were probably trying to find embarrassing things from other siblings to show her, but she accidentally found your porn stash while there and you decided to throw me under the bus and transfer the blame. But what's any of this related to what's she wearing now?" I ask her trying to appear as calm as I could.

Rose meanwhile couldn't even stare me in the face and had her head hung low. Now I understand why she didn't want this reaching the rest of the family, this is simply prime teasing material.

"Erm... the magazine that she picked may have had the picture of a maid in the cover and after I told her it was yours, she then asked me if that was your preference in clothes and I still in a panic responded yes, which led her to asking me to get one of those clothes for her."

"You agreed to give her the same clothes that were in your filthy magazine?" I say incredulously while maintaining a cold gaze.

"N-No! The uniform I got the local tailor to make for her is much more proper for her age, and my treasures aren't filthy!"

Now having the full picture in mind, I can't help but pinch the bridge of my nose and release a huge sigh. That explained why she was always wearing that outfit whenever I'm around and why she would constantly ask for my opinion on the clothes whenever I questioned her about it.

And worst of all is that even if I try to explain myself and claim my innocence, it'll just seem as if I'm trying to cover it after being found out. So the best course of action is just letting it pass and hope that she forgets it eventually.

"Uhmm... So, can I go now?" Comes from Rose which is still cornered in the room and with me blocking her only escape.

"Not so fast, you framed me and now wants to get away scot-free? You'll have to pay the price for your deeds otherwise you'll be in big trouble."

"So what? you have already promised to not reveal any of what you just heard, you have nothing to threaten me with!"

"You're right, I can't. But Neo could reveal what happened to all the others in my stead and I'm pretty sure they wouldn't be as gullible as her to believe in your excuses."As I speak, I could see the color quickly draining from her face.

"Alright! You win, what do you want as compensation?"

"5 favors, no bargains."

"Deal."

I then finally step aside and let her leave through the door, as I stand alone in the room I sit down in a bed and release another sigh, I had already lost count how many of those I released over the course of the conversation.

'I hope this isn't a sign for the things to come.'