Jaune sat with his hand propping up his head as he sat listening to yet another Team Leader of Beacon rattle on. At least Ruby was next to him, leaving him with at least one friend to suffer with him throughout. He hated these school meetings where they gathered all of the Team Leaders to discuss things like proper conduct during the upcoming Vytal Festival, changes in training arena hours, and paperwork that needed to be done for the Tournament. Things like registration for the Tournament were coming to a close so it was time to start rushing about to get everything finalized.

There were several dozens of Team Leaders in attendance to this particular meeting that Jaune and Ruby had decided to go to. There would be several more meetings throughout the day because there were too many Team Leaders in Beacon to cram into one room for a single schoolwide meeting. The arrival of other Teams from the other Academies didn't help either.

Professor Goodwitch stood to the side, only giving her input when she felt the meeting was beginning to get off track. Most of the Team Leaders were mature enough that she didn't need to say much to keep the meeting flowing smoothly. She checked her watch and clapped her hands once to grab everyone's attention.

"Our time for this meeting is almost up, ladies and gentlemen. We should wrap everything up for the day. Are there any last minute notices or reminders?"

Coco stood up and raised her voice for all to hear. "Just a reminder to the first years. Make sure you get the paperwork turned in on time." Her eyes settled on Ruby, who blushed at all of the gazes that settled on her because of Coco. "Make sure we can actually read your handwriting." She looked in the back corner at Cardin who scowled and looked away. "And no ketchup stains on the forms...Jaune."

"Why did you only mention my name specifically?!" He asked, standing up.

A few laughs at Jaune's expense were heard before the Team Leader meeting was called to a close. Jaune walked next to Ruby and folded up the registration forms before putting them in the pocket of his hoodie.

"Do you have training with Blake again tonight?" Ruby asked Jaune as they began walking towards their dorms.

"Yeah." Jaune answered with a nod. "She didn't make me do anything last night since everyone was kinda tired when we got back to our dorms."

He remembered being dragged around by the girls for hours as they all tried on set after set of clothes before they only bought a few things out of the hundreds that they had tried on. A complete waste of time.

"So who's a better teacher? Blake or Pyrrha?" Ruby asked with genuine curiosity.

"Well, I guess they both have their good points. Pyrrha is very understanding when I mess up all of the time and takes things slow for me. On the other hand, Blake only has to correct me once before I make sure to remember it and it feels like what she teaches me is a lot more practical."

"That's a pretty lame answer." Ruby said looking unsatisfied with his answer.

"I've only been training with Blake for a few days, Ruby. It'll take time before I know for sure. Besides neither of them are 'bad teachers', they just have different ways of teaching."

"That's another way of saying that you don't know, isn't it?" Ruby deadpanned.

"Yeah, that's pretty much it." Jaune sighed.

It was hard for Jaune to decide which of the two was a better teacher for him. Pyrrha was nice and always corrected him every single time he messed up. But with Blake there was this silent pressure that made him feel like little screw ups weren't an option.

"You'll make up your mind eventually." Ruby said with a pat on his back. "Anyway what do you have planned for the rest of the day?"

"Avoid trouble for as long as possible." Jaune made his resolution to have a peaceful weekend before tomorrow clear to the world.

"I'd say you failed already, Jaune." A new voice cut in.

The two first year Team Leaders turned to see their senior Leader, Coco, standing right behind them. She lifted her shades and gave the two a cocky grin. "Sup?" She greeted them.

"Not much." Jaune responded, grabbing Ruby's hood before the sparkly eyed girl could get too close to Coco's handbag.

"So is my opinion in your choice of style. Seriously, how long have you owned that hoodie?" Coco made a jab at Jaune while holding her bag out of Ruby's reach in the air.

"Long enough for me to love it!" Jaune wrapped an arm protectively around his beloved clothing article.

Coco rubbed her head in exasperation. "I wish you'd get a girlfriend already. She'd take it from you for sure."

"Says the girl who doesn't have a boyfriend." Jaune muttered softly.

"I'm alone by choice, slick."

Jaune paled. He hadn't expected her to actually hear him.

"By the way, Ruby," Coco looked down at the girl who had actually begun to jump up in an effort to reach Coco's handbag. "Can you stop trying to steal my weapon? My arm is getting tired."

"Then lemme-"

"NO!" Coco rejected the request before Ruby finished. She knew what to expect from Little Red. She had been all over Coco after the Breach because she wanted to take a look at Coco's weapon.

"Anyway Coco, what's up?" Jaune asked while tightening his grip on Ruby's hood.

"I'm bored out of my mind." Coco confessed. "Between class work, getting ready for the Vytal Festival, the Breach, and dealing with all of the missions my Team has been sent on lately I haven't had a chance to relax."

"Where's your Team?" Ruby asked, still trying to reach Coco's weapon.

"They don't always have to hang out with me, Red. They have stuff to do sometimes."

"Did you ever think that we may have stuff to do?" Jaune questioned.

Coco rolled her eyes. "Please. Between the two of you I'd say you have more free time than a sales clerk on a slow day."

"Hey!" Ruby and Jaune yelled in sync.

"Don't think I didn't see you two dozing off in the middle of the meeting."

"I've been busy!" Ruby shouted.

"M-me too." Jaune agreed.

"Doing what?" The unmistakable voice of Blake joined the fray. "Being Team RWBY's leash holders?"

Ruby looked at Blake for a moment, who was wearing her uniform even though it was the weekend, before turning to Jaune. "What is she talking about, Jaune?"

Coco's eyebrows were raised behind her shades. "That seems fairly accurate." She gestured to Jaune who was still holding Ruby by her hood.

"Anyway Ruby, Yang was wondering if you wanted to help her and Nora out with...something. Don't ask what it is. I've learned not to ask by now." Blake informed Ruby.

"Guess I gotta go find her then." Ruby smacked Jaune's hand away from her hood. She made one last grab for Coco's weapon, which Coco evaded, before speeding off down the hall in a flurry of petals.

Jaune spit out a stray rose petal that had made its way into his mouth. "Where do those things even come from?" Jaune asked while gesturing to the rose petal path that looked like something from a cheesy romance movie.

"That's something we all would like to know." Blake brushed a few from her hair. "I was also looking for you too, Jaune."

"Me? What for?"

"Sun and I are going to go see that movie he was telling me about today. But he neglected to tell me that. So imagine when I looked at my Scroll and saw that he had bought us tickets for today during when we were going to be training." Blake's annoyance was painfully obvious as she explained this to Jaune. "So I was wondering if you would be fine with training earlier than we had planned."

Jaune took a second to think. "Sure. I have nothing going on at the moment."

Blake breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it." Jaune waved his hand. "You're the one who's taking the time to train me."

Blake nodded and shrugged her shoulders. "True. Then meet me in the training arena in twenty minutes. Make sure to change into clothes more suitable for training. You don't want to get any more dirt on your precious hoodie."

Jaune's eyebrows lifted somewhat. "Wait. How long were you listening to us exactly?"

Blake shrugged with a glint in her eye that Jaune could only call mischievous before nodding goodbye to Coco and turning away.

"Last I heard, you were training with Pyrrha Nikos, Jaune. You two having a fight?" Coco asked, butting into Jaune's business.

"No! Nothing like that. Pyrrha just thought that I could benefit from a different teacher for a while." Jaune denied Coco's question.

"Hmmm." Coco continued to walk with Jaune for awhile as he headed to his dorm to change. "I say be careful around that girl."

"Blake? Why?"

Coco actually shivered a bit before she wrapped her arms around herself. "She looks like the type that'd be into voodoo."

Jaune laughed at what he thought was a strange joke from Coco. "Oh man, that's good. Blake into voodoo." Jaune continued to laugh before he noticed that Coco looked as serious as ever. "Oh my gosh! You're serious! You think Blake practices voodoo."

"Who knows what's in those books she reads?" Coco asked nobody in particular.

"Riiiight." Jaune said as he now stood in front of his dorm room. "Anyway, I need to change. It was cool talking to you, Coco."

"Wait a second!" Coco grabbed Jaune's shoulder before he entered his room. "I'm still bored!"

"Then find Yang, Nora, and Ruby. Whatever it is they're doing could probably use your help." Jaune suggested.

"Fine." Coco said with a sigh before shoving her finger in Jaune's face. "But if you see any plushies of me, be sure to grab them and don't use them."

"Coco, do you seriously have a fear of voodoo?"

"I'm not scared!" She denied the accusation. "I'm just cautious."

"Riiiiight." Jaune rolled his eyes as Coco left.

About fifteen minutes later, Jaune was running around the practice arena with Blake on his tail. He resisted the urge to look behind him to see if she was still chasing him and if his shield was still where he had dropped it on the ground.

With only his sword to defend himself, Jaune was in a rough spot. How was he supposed to beat her now?

Blake on the other hand looked cool and collected but her mind was racing.

He has the blood of heroes. She remembered Pyrrha telling her. I'm sure you'll see what I mean when you're training him. He just needs...a gentle nudge every now and then.

Blake was skeptical. Maybe what Jaune needed was a shove. If it worked for teaching baby birds how to fly, then why couldn't it work to teach Jaune? Blake had deliberately robbed Jaune of his shield and was intent on making sure that he wouldn't be getting it back during the fight.

Now what will you do, Jaune?

Blake put on an extra burst of speed to pressure Jaune into making a move. His curiosity had gotten the better of him and he had looked back just as she started to close the gap between them. With a panicked expression, Jaune slowed down flailed his sword backwards to try and hit Blake. Blake managed to duck underneath the swing and kick Jaune in the stomach as she skidded to a halt. She turned quickly and lunged at him with Gambol Shroud. Jaune managed to get his sword up in a two handed grip and protect himself from the blade that could have seriously injured him. Crocea Mors and Gambol Shroud generated sparks as their blades scraped against each other.

"Don't slow down mid-swing, Jaune." Blake ordered as she tried to push him back with little success. There was no denying that he was definitely much stronger than her physically. "Don't think I didn't see you slow down at the last second." She had seen his swing falter just before she had ducked underneath it.

"I'm trying." Jaune insisted with frustration written across his features. He applied some pressure to Gambol Shroud and Blake took several steps back so that she didn't fall back.

Blake scowled before she relented her pressure on Crocea Mors and sidestepped quickly. Jaune began to stumble forward before Blake stuck her foot out and caused him to fall on the ground. Just as Jaune was about to get up, he felt the cool feeling of Gambol Shroud on his neck.

"Jaune," Blake's voice sounded close to him. He looked to the side to see her crouching next to him. "A creature of Grimm or a combatant in the Vytal Festival wouldn't be so nice that they'd let you get away with what I am. You can't hold back at all."

Jaune simply sighed and rolled over so that he was lying on his back. Blake noticed that the look in his eyes was the same dejected look that he had when Cardin gave him a hard time. "Blake, why did you agree to train me?"

Blake was caught off guard by the question. She didn't really think that Jaune would ask that question before. But it was an understandable question.

Blake sat down cross legged on the ground. "Well I guess it would be because of what you said before. About the White Fang and the Faunus." She clarified when she saw his questioning look. "It's hard for the Faunus. I'm lucky that I'm a member of Team RWBY. If I wasn't then I don't think I'd be able to tell another Team about my being a Faunus. I guess I was just glad that you and your Team also didn't seem to care."

A moment of silence passed before Jaune spoke. "Sooo are you calling me your friend?"

Blake rolled her eyes before smiling. "Yeah. I guess I am. But don't think for a second that you're getting out of training."

Jaune groaned. He didn't think that she would forget about his training but would it hurt to slow down? But she was in charge while they were training, so he couldn't complain.

"But I suppose we can take a short break to talk about what you need to improve on." She offered.

"Why do I have a feeling that we're gonna be talking for awhile?" Jaune asked nobody in particular.

"I don't think it's as much as you think. Just some stuff you need to work on. First," Blake held up a single finger. "You need to work on your speed. You aren't always slow but you aren't always fast either. You should strive to improve your reaction time."

"Any suggestions on how to do that?" Jaune asked as he sat up with a determined expression.

"Open your eyes. Don't think too hard. There's a reason people say that you should trust your instincts and gut feelings. That's because they're usually right. I'm not saying that planning during a fight is a bad thing but you need to learn how to trust yourself, Jaune. If you don't know what to do in a fight, just let your instincts take over."

"Is that what you do?"

"Sometimes." Blake answered while shrugging her shoulders. "But it's not about what I do. It's about what you do."

"I'll try t- I mean, I'll do it."

Blake couldn't help but smirk. "Next, you should work on your basic footwork. Nobody graduates from the basics, Jaune."

"So you mean in twenty years I still have to practice the same forms over and over?" Jaune looked disgusted at the thought.

"Yeah." Blake chuckled through her nose. "I bet Pyrrha even practices the same stuff she learned when she first started to learn how to use weapons."

"I wouldn't be surprised."

"Third, you need to learn when you need to go all out and when you need to hold back a little bit. If you're training or in a fight, then you should always go all out. How can you improve or win a fight if you're only giving it forty percent? But you should hold back when you're trying a new fighting tactic so that you can look for any mistakes with it."

Jaune sighed. "Yeah. I've been told that before. But what if I hurt someone?"

Jaune looked like the thought truly bothered him deeply. Blake knew he was a not a malicious person by nature, but she didn't know that it was to the extent that he would hold back and possibly get himself hurt in a fight or while training. Most people wouldn't hold back like he seemed to do.

"You just need to learn how to relax during a fight." Blake offered her advice.

Jaune fiddled with his shoelaces as he looked down. "I don't know, Blake. I mean, Yang always looks like she's having a blast when she fight and Nora does the same thing. Even awkward little Ruby has an easier time fighting monsters than making new friends. They seem like they're having fun rather than fighting for their lives." Jaune looked at his with a somewhat humorous smile. "I bet that even you and Ren would rather be dropped in the middle of a pack of Grimm than be locked in a room with people."

Blake inclined her head to the side to indicate that Jaune's statement wasn't necessarily wrong.

"I guess what I'm saying is that I don't know if I have what it takes to be as cool as everyone else." Jaune confessed. He didn't know why he was being so forward with Blake.

"You say 'cool', I say a pack of misfits." Blake offered her opinion to Jaune. "I mean, what else would you call the eight of us? There's two sisters who don't look alike at all and one is here two years before she should be. An heiress of a corporation who's here for...some reason, I'm sure. Ren and Nora, the two who nobody knows much about. A tournament fighter who probably could've had a pretty posh life if she stuck to tournament fights. A Faunus. And of course, you. No wonder people see JNPR as RWBY's leash holder. We're all a bit too much for other Teams to handle."

Jaune scoffed. "Wow. Kinda harsh to everybody, don't you think?"

"Maybe." Blake stood up and looked down at Jaune. "But they won't mind too much, I guess. Can they really argue against it?"

"Guess not." Jaune stood up too. "Let's go again. Maybe this time I can beat you!"

Jaune pointed Crocea Mors at Blake before taking his stance. Blake wondered what the harm in humoring him a bit more could be before she took a few steps back and readied Gambol Shroud.

Instead of taking time to observe her like he usually did, Jaune charged at Blake the instant she nodded her head to indicate that she was ready. She expected Jaune to go for an overhead slash or a quick thrust like he usually did, and so when she felt Jaune's leg kick out slightly and hit her front leg and throw off her sense of balance she wasn't prepared for it. She stumbled slightly as Jaune swung his sword horizontally at her torso. Reacting on instinct, Blake grabbed Jaune's hand that clenched his sword and jumped up, slamming her knee into his chin. Luckily he didn't bite his tongue and fell back a few steps clutching his now bruised chin.

Blake knew better than to allow Jaune to regain his senses so she rushed over to him and sidestepped around him so she was facing his back. She slashed downward at Jaune's back, being careful not to actually try and cut skin, but her caution wasn't needed as Jaune whirled around and intercepted her blade with his sword.

Jaune began to deliver a series of quick strikes to drive Blake backwards, effectively putting her on the defensive. Blake gritted her teeth and leapt back leaving a shadow clone in her original position that Jaune recognized and sliced through without hesitation this time. Blake made a quick decision and mechashifted Gambol Shroud into a firearm before she fired two shots at the ground by Jaune's feet, a trick she had learned that was useful for making some opponents back off. He immediately froze and raised his sword up on instinct, as if he thought he could deflect bullets with his current speed.

Why didn't I think to pick up my shield when I suggested another round? Jaune asked himself. He chanced a glance over at where his shield was on the ground and dashed for it without a second thought.

Blake saw Jaune moving like she had never seen him move before. His legs were a blur as he sprinted for his shield.

I've already shot at him now, so I might as well throw something else his way. Blake thought to herself.

With a swing of Gambol Shroud's blade, Blake sent a wave of energy at Jaune. He got to his shield and looked up just in time to see a purple arc of energy speeding toward him. Jaune held his shield up and tried to hide his whole body behind his shield before bracing himself for the impact. It surprisingly didn't pack as much force as Jaune was expecting end dissipated when it hit his shield.

"Woah." Jaune whistled as he peeked from behind his shield at Blake. "Can you teach me how to do that?! That was awesome!"

Jaune's eyes lit up as he looked at Blake with a new sense of awe.

"Maybe." Blake replied with a shrug. "But let's first try and get you to the point where you're not asking your opponent to teach you their moves." She gestured for Jaune to prepare himself again.

Jaune took his stance and felt more confident now that he had his shield. Ok, Jaune. He told himself. Blake's way too fast for you to beat normally. I don't want to have to go so far as to use underhanded tricks. Maybe I should use some feints to throw her off. Yeah! That's a legitimate strategy.

He rushed at Blake and attacked with a sloppy horizontal strike at her right arm. She moved her blade to block it as expected, but Jaune abruptly stopped and spun of his feet before swinging his sword low at Blake's left leg with the flat of the blade.

Blake managed to see Jaune's attack with her incredible vision. So he was using the flat of the blade? Blake allowed a spark of amusement to pass through her mind for only a millisecond. Looks like even after all the advice she tried to give him, he still couldn't truly attack her when he thought he could win.

For what seemed like the millionth time since he began training with Blake, Jaune's jaw dropped in disbelief. As quickly as the blink of an eye, Blake had raised her leg that was about to be struck with the flat of his sword before slamming her foot down on the blade just as quickly. She had effectively pinned Jaune's sword that he still held to the floor with her foot. Jaune raised his eyes to find himself staring down the barrel of Gambol Shroud in firearm mode.

"Oh come on!" Jaune whined. "That's just not fair."

Blake lowered her weapon and raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"You bringing a gun to a swordfight. It's just not right."

Blake removed her foot from Jaune's sword. "You bring your own weapons in a real fight, Jaune. A big, bad Beowolf isn't gonna be considerate enough to let you call the rocket propelled lockers to get your stuff."

"Fine. I'll buy that." Jaune huffed, sheathing his sword. "But just know that if my sword had a pump-action shotgun or something built into it...I'd probably still be toast, wouldn't I?"

"Now you're getting it!" Blake smiled cockily and responded with the same tone of voice his mother used on him. The kind she reserved when he finally understood a simple concept after not understanding it for a long time. "There are some Hunters, even in this day and age, who don't use guns in their weapon designs. They're just normal tools for hunting Grimm."

Blake proceeded to exit the practice arena with Jaune on her heels. Their training session hadn't been very long but Blake still needed to get ready for the movie she was seeing with Sun...and it wouldn't hurt to catch up on some reading.

"But you gotta admit that the idea of a railgun built right into my shield is pretty cool, right?" Jaune gave a goofy grin as he patted his sheath/shield and his eyes sparkled as he envisioned it.

"Yeah it might be, Jaune." Blake responded with the same tone of voice she used when she was humoring Ruby. "It'd also be impractical since your shield would be even heavier than it is now and you'd probably have to lug around a generator on your back that weighs a ton."

Jaune's smile faded. "I just felt the dreams of hundreds of weapons engineers shattering into dust because of your cold logic."

"They'd have to realize it sooner or later. I'm just gently nudging them into realization."

"Y'know I'd hate to have to see what kind of mother you'd be in ten or fifteen years. I bet you'd laugh if your kid told you he wanted to be a superhero." Jaune told her.

"Are we still going to be in contact after so long?" Blake asked, realizing that this question was yet another test of the sort that Weiss had mentioned her family pulling.

"Sure." Jaune said with a clenched fist. "When I'm a hero I gotta remember the little people who helped me get there."

Blake rolled her eyes. "Gee I can't wait to receive an honorary mention in your autobiography. Mind if I get your autograph?"

Jaune shrugged and turned his nose up. "Be sure and talk to my publicity agent for any concerns about my autograph."

So it's been a loooong time since I updated the story. And for that I can only say I'm sorry. School got even harder for me after Christmas. Here's a tip for people who procrastinate, DON'T TAKE ONLINE COURSES!

I also will probably not update for another few weeks because finals will be coming up soon for me and I'd really like to focus on them. But once summer rolls around I hope to get back to this story and finish it. Anyway, this chapter was a bit short but the next chapter will focus on Blake's date with Sun and hopefully serve to kick start Jaune and Blake's relationship a bit.

Anyway, I can only hope that you enjoy the story!