The price of trust is measured in ice cream

Seeing the scared girl desperately pressing herself to the wall as a way to try and gain as much distance from me as she can, I come to understand that gaining her trust will not be something as easy as I have previously though. My methods will have to be slow and I should be very careful to not cross any boundaries at the risk of her growing even more weary of me.

The first thing that I do for that end is to quickly stop staring intently at her since she is obviously very uncomfortable while under my gaze, additionally I retreat a few steps in order for her to be at a much more comfortable distance where she doesn't feel so threatened and may actually be inclined to try to communicate with me, no matter how difficult it will be at the start.

Then finally, I lower my stance in order for me to appear less threatening while I make the first effort to try and establish communication between the two of us.

"Umm, hello? Sorry if my previous performance has scared you, it was the only way I could think to resolve the problem without too much violence, speaking of which are you hurt anywhere? Do you need my help?"

"..." The girl only reacts by shifting slightly towards the exit of the alleyway, she is clearly not buying my good intentions and considering how tough things must have been for her, I can't blame her for being cautious.

And it's not like I could have expected any other kind of response from someone that has been shown as a mute in the show, despite this I must still continue trying to communicate with her in order to gradually win her trust.

"Are you quiet because you don't want to talk to me or are you unable to speak because you're a mute? Let's do things this way: I will ask you a few questions and you will answer me using gestures, you nod your head if the answer is yes and you shake it if the answer is no. Are you okay with this?"

"..." She doesn't seem to be very excited to have someone poking into her personal matters as easily seen by the frown in her face, she is also much more worried about finding a escape route than anything I might have to say.

"Well, I guess I should've introduced myself beforehand, my apologies. I'm Jaune Arc, I'm the student of a nearby dojo and coincidently heard this commotion while I was walking home and then I decided to help when I saw the situation, I can guarantee you that I had no bad intentions when doing so."

"..." After hearing my speech her expression becomes much less hostile and instead it shifts to a more doubtful one, which is much better since she is now much more open to listen to what I'm going to say in contrast with her previous uninterest.

I can quite easily read her expressions and make assumptions from it thanks to having lived with 8 women from a very young age and with them it's all about signs and subtleties, so I picket up such things really fast.

"Look, I'm not trying to pry into your private life or anything, as long as you answer a few questions I can promisse to not try to harm you in any way, I can even let you keep the stolen money and look the other way." Finally, I present all the benefits she'll get by agreeing with my arrangements and await patiently for her to give me her response.

"..." She immediatly clings to the wallet that was concealed inside her clothes protectively but quickly realizes that I could have made a move to take it beforehand but I hadn't done it so far. Then she adopts a thinking position and starts to consider the pros and cons of the proposition, her face after a few seconds starts to contort as she hesitates but it ultimately returns to natural as she comes to her decision.

After coming to her decision she slowly nods, showing in her movements a combination of unwillingness, fear, curiosity and acceptance. Probably motivated by the fact that refusing it has no benefits for her and despite my assurance that I don't intend to harm her, she isn't entirely convinced that I will let her go if she refuses my offer.

I don't feel even a bit offended by all the mistrust and instead use the monk-like patience I have developed after dealing with all my sisters to patiently ask her a few simple questions while being very mindful of her expression and body language.

"Are you mute?" I already know the answer of this question but since this is our first encounter I will pretend to not know nothing about her, showing too much knowledge I shouldn't have will only make her more suspicious of me.

"..." She slowly nods.

"Okay, did those men actually hurt you?"

"..." She shakes her head, good to know that I haven't come too late.

"Do you wish for me to help you with your wounds regardless?"

"..." She starts to shake her head but quickly catches herself and thinks a bit more, after giving her a few seconds to think she reluctantly, and I mean very reluctantly nods her head at the end.

Getting her confirmation, I start to very carefully make my way towards her while recalling all the knowledge about first-aid that I've gathered so far, using my semblance would be much more effective but unfortunately it only works on those who have their aura unlocked and I'm nowhere near confident enough in unlocking someone's aura just a few months after unlocking my own so it's not an option, that makes me glad that I've learned this skill in my spare time.

After I aproach her, I take off my backpack that is always used to carry essential items inside such as a change of clothes for after I shower in the dojo, my Scroll, snacks and a self-defence spray that my parents gave me when I left the village and I've completely forgotten I had till I saw it, a few moments ago it would've been very useful. From inside of it I pull a simple first-aid kit that I open and use the items inside to start disinfecting the wounds and wrap them up.

As soon as I touched her, I could feel her instinctively flinch and start observe me as I tended to her wounds with a very high suspicion in her gaze. But this gradually changed as I continued to treat her wounds unbothered by her reactions, I could feel the first signs of trust coming from her as the treatment came to an end and all the superficial wounds were dealt with.

But I knew that I would need to do more in order to deepen her trust, any subjects related to her past and current situation would be too personal for her to answer me so there is one way left in order to gain her favor.

"Are you hungry? I can buy some food if you want." Considering her circumstances, offering food is a safe bet and a easy way to gain her favor.

"..." She shakes her head and takes out the wallet she has stolen and showed it to me as if to say: 'don't worry, I've got that covered!' but unfortunately there was one thing that she forgot to take into consideration.

"Are you sure that it'll work? Having money is useless if there is no shopkeeper willing to sell you anything, I mean no offence but just considering your appearance most of the vendors would turn you alway as soon as you step into their store and even if they don't they'll just take away your money and threaten to call the police to shoo you away."

Hearing that, her expression goes from a cheerful one to that of complete despair. I too would be feeling that way if I risked myself and almost got beaten only to find out that it was all for nothing. If she had really endured the beating and had been turned back at a store the shock would probably be enough to traumatize the poor girl.

"Don't worry! you can't buy food yourself but I can still buy it in your stead and bring it to you, Do you want me to do that?" I say that while extending my hand towards her to recieve the wallet. I could've just bought it using my money but I want her to be in a situation that she'll have to trust me and once this trust is rewarded she'll start to increase the number of things that she can entrust me with.

"..." She looked at me with pitiful eyes and tightly clutched the wallet in her chest, but soon her complaining stomach overtook her doubt and she handed me the wallet, though I had to basically yank it out of her grasp since her hands refused to let go of it.

Taking the wallet and asking her to wait for me in that alleyway, I walked towards a nearby food-stall and bought some meat-skewers for her, when paying I used the stolen money without any reservations since the three bastards deserved it and the money would serve as a compensation for all they made her go through.

A few minutes later I was back at the alleyway she was waiting for me on, with the skewers inside a paper bag, as soon as she heard my footsteps or perhaps it was the smell of meat, she rushed forth and snatched the bag from me before she started eating all the contest with delight.

As she was eating for what could be the first time in a long while and decent food on top of that, I got to see a scene that truly brought a smile to my face. Her appearance was still haggard and she consumed the meat skewers without any concern for her manners, but despite all of that the huge smile that was on her face, the gratitude and relief that was reflected in her eyes along with the tears of happiness that she was shedding gave Jaune the first glance of how it feels to help someone in need.

And he's got to admit that even if he didn't have intentions to recruit her and gain one more ally, the gratification that he was feeling right now would alone make going through all of that worth it.

But to his surprise, she didn't eat all the meat skewers and instead tried to return the bag to him with a few still untouched. "For me?" He didn't resist asking, she in turn nodded her head confirming her intention.

*Growl*

This gesture left Jaune deeply touched, she is obviously still hungry and despite her own needs, she still insisted in sharing it with him as a show of her good faith.

"Don't worry, I'm not hungry. You can eat the rest and if you're still hungry afterwards then I can buy you some more. So eat until your belly is filled!" As I say that I push the bag back into her grasp and return to watching her as she voraciously gobbles up the food.

After all the skewers are finished, I question her if she is still hungry which she responds by shyly nodding, but instead of buying more skewers this time I give her another suggestion.

"How about a dessert? I think there is an ice cream stand a bit further, I could get you one from your preferred flavor."

"..?" She looks at me with a curious gaze, it would seem that to this day she hasn't ever eaten an ice cream. And considering that I already know that this is her favorite dessert from watching the show, I can only imagine what reaction she will have once she tastes it.

She eagerly nods her head, probably believing that whatever I will bring to her will certainly taste good, so I lead the way this time bringing her along with me since the place is farther and leaving her alone would be dangerous.

After walking a few blocks we reach the place that is thankfully still open and after telling her to stay a bit further back I go to the stall and order two ice cream for us. Mine was vanilla flavored while hers was neapolitan.

After quickly paying for the two cold treats using the rest of the stolen money, he returned and handed the napolitan flavored ice cream to the girl that was staring at it with expectant eyes.

After receiving the cup of ice cream she quickly took a spoonful and put it in her mouth.

Her reaction then was a thing to marvel at. Her face shifted into a expression of pure euphoria while her eyes that until then seemed kinda dull and lifeless started to sparkle and be filled with life making her rare heterochromic eyes become even more recognizable. Her body started to ceaselessly tremble as she was unable to stop herself from showing her satisfaction.

After a brief pause to savor her ice cream's flavor she then proceeds to hound the rest of the icy treat in a matter of seconds. I try to tell her to eat slower and warn her of getting brain-freeze from eating too fast but she promptly ignores me and continues eating unperturbed. At the end she is just fine as she apparently is immune to this condition, well good for her.

In the end I bought another ice cream for her to eat while we walk and while we walked on the streets, I make use of the good atmosphere, the good will and trust I've earned and ask the question that could change her fate.

"Ermm... By the way, do you need a place to stay? If you want I could lent you a spare room at the apartment I'm living and you wouldn't need to sleep on the streets. You could also take a bath while we're at it." I make her a proposition that would allow for her to leave the streets, I would still need my family's approval but I intend to persuade my parents to adopt her in the future.

"!!!" She momentarily stops eating her ice cream after hearing what I just said and just starts staring at me like she couldn't believe what I just said. In the end she doesn't show even a bit of hesitation and frantically nods her head to the idea.

...

A few minutes of walking later they arrive at the door of the apartment, Jaune mentally prepares himself to face his sister and explain the situation, and after taking a deep breath he unlocks and opens the door and both of them make their way inside.

"Jaune! Thank Oum! Why did you return so late? I was starting to get worried that something had happened to you!" Came a worried voice from his sister that immediately rushed to the entrance to see him.

"If you had taken any longer I would have started searching for you on streets, I swear that one of this days you will give me an heart... attack..." She stops talking as she reaches the entryway and sees the scene. Her eyes locked on the girl that was standing behind me.

I laught nervously at her reaction and only reply "H-Hi sis" already preparing for her reaction I meekly stand to the side.

"Kyaaaaaaaaa!!!" Comes the piercing shriek from my sister that makes the poor girl at the entrance become even more frightened.

'This will be a very long family talk.'

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-Next chapter will show Neo's POV and will delve deeper into her backstory.

-I'll be making a new backstory for her while maintaining a few aspects of her original backstory in order for it to better suit this book and allow for her to meet Jaune this early.