A/N: Another day, another thank the gods that the day's over. Anyways, I'm glad some of y'all have been enjoying this. Hopefully as the chapters move on, there'll be more Jaune finding himself doing things he usually doesn't do. Well, ramble time's over, I should probably head to bed at this point. Enjoy!

Jaune cursed angrily at himself, pulling away the sharp knife a second too late as it slid across his knuckle. Reflexively Jaune pulled his hand up to check if he had cut himself. Of course, his aura protected was already healing him, but that wasn't like he was consciously using his aura for prep work. Although with the amount of cuts that he had already gone through, it was starting to look like a good idea to start. Setting down the knife, the boy sighed, deciding to take a small break as he looked across the kitchen, watching all of the chefs cook.

Several days had passed since Jaune's first introduction into the kitchens, and he slowly grew to learn more and more about his new work environment. One of the biggest things that completely boggled his mind was the food itself. Almost every single component was fresh.

It. Was. Ridiculous.

It must've been a logistical nightmare, but when Jaune brought it up, Grey puffed his chest up proudly, saying something about how only the best and freshest should reach the protectors of humanity. It was an impressive half an hour speech that didn't really stick with Jaune, although the effects of it were definitely felt by him.

Namely, by the immense amounts of produce he had to peel, chop, boil, and crush on a daily basis. It wasn't a surprise after Jaune had found all of that out to see that he had only been introduced to one kitchen out of four. Jaune thought that he would've been impressed about that, when all it really did was make Jaune thank the stars that at least his precious nuggets came out of a bag, and wasn't something he needed to prepare.

This wasn't even the main staff, which was something that Jaune could barely wrap his mind around. This early, every person that he saw was practically part of the prep staff, a lot of the food that the students eat actually made to order, if anything was actually ordered by the students. There was a whole other staff that busied itself when the day came. Jaune shook his head again as he went back to cutting up the mass of potatoes in front of him, humming to himself as he did so.

It didn't take much longer for him to finish the assigned prep work that was needed for him, checking off with the chef, who let him go. Washing his hands for one more time, Jaune wiped his fingers across his pants and left the kitchen, turning and walking through to the cafeteria, pushing open the doors.

There weren't many people awake at six o'clock in the morning, but Jaune could count a handful milling about, some sipping on their coffees and others blinking themselves awake. He could even see some of the staff in here, which was a rare sight for the blond boy. It made sense though, Jaune thought to himself. Teachers needed to get ready for the students, so they needed to be up, and have eaten before the rest of them did.

Jaune walked up to the line, deciding to switch things up and ask for some scrambled eggs, as well as some toast, sliding his way across as he grabbed a ceramic mug, pouring some coffee into it and blinking at the immense options that lay next to the coffee. Half and half, French vanilla, hazelnut and more types of creamers, along with more sugar types than he could count on one hand. Tentatively, he tried a few squirts of regular creamer, as well some sugar, sipping it and immediately putting the glass down, his tongue curling as he tried not to gag. Okay, not the right combination for coffee. He would've tried something else, but there was no way to pour out the nasty drink he had made, and there was already someone waiting impatiently behind him. Like the man that he was, Jaune swallowed his embarrassment and disgust, taking his breakfast and beverage with him as he sat down, fork in hand and ready to dig in.

Taking the first bite of his food, Jaune found himself enlightened to a surprising fact.

He was really enjoying the food that was laid out in front of him. The eggs were soft and fluffy, toast just the appropriate amount of crunch without breaking apart... They were delicious together, and the bit of salt and pepper were all that was necessary for him to practically moan as he took his first bite. Before he knew it, the plate was virtually cleaned, the only evidence that there had been food on it was a bit of melted butter that had been unfortunate enough to slide off of his toast. Jaune let out a quiet sigh, happy with the choice before he glanced at his... coffee. With another sigh, the boy took another sip, hoping that his taste buds would be okay with it this time around, only to find himself gagging once more, shaking his head and standing up to dump the coffee into a nearby drain, sliding his plate in the appropriate pile of dirty dishes.

Mentally deciding to treat himself, Jaune went back in line, ordering some more food for himself. He was a growing boy after all, and needed as much nutrients as he could handle. It was only healthy after all, and it would be an injustice for him to be underfed.

And so, with a plate ladled with bacon, sausages, and even a slice of warm ham, Jaune arrived back at the table that was set up for coffee, pouring himself another cup. This time, he tried the hazelnut creamer, along with a sugar labeled in pink, taking another tentative sip.

Again, no go as Jaune winced, putting the coffee down and sighing to himself. At least it wasn't as bad as the first one, he thought as he sat down again, picking up a slice of bacon.

"Mmmm."

Jaune didn't even try to hide the appreciate noise that came out of him when he started to eat, closing his eyes and enjoying the myriad tastes that assaulted him. With the same fork that had begun his journey, Jaune dug in, savoring every bite of food as he did so. Just like before, Jaune cleaned his plate, the food disappearing so fast that he wasn't really sure if he had actually stood up and gotten another plate or not. Leaning back a little, Jaune pat his belly, the body part making a noise of happiness as he did so.

And just like the first time, Jaune stared at the steaming cup of coffee, unsure of whether or not he should try another sip or not. Before he could really weigh out his options fully, the boy picked up the cup, taking another sip of regret, before putting it down and sighing.

"I should really just stick with black coffee." Jaune mumbled to himself.

"I didn't even realize that you drank coffee, Jaune."

The boy turned to find the leader of his sister team standing in front of him, a bright smile on her face.

"Heya Ruby." Jaune greeted, nodding at the girl as she slid next to him, a chocolate muffin and a glass of milk on her tray. The girl greeted him back before biting into her muffin enthusiastically, following it up with a sip of milk.

"What're you doing up so early Jaune?"

Jaune peered at the girl, seeing now underlying comment in the question, and answered back, sure that the girl was just being friendly.

"Just getting some early training in." He answered, his finger sliding across his plate as he debated on whether or not he should get another. "I mean, training with Pyrrha is awesome, but sometimes you just gotta do some things yourself, you know?" The brunette nodded, putting down her half eaten muffin.

"I know! Just the other day Yang was telling me that I needed to practice my hand-to-hand combat, and that since she was the 'best'," Ruby used air quotes to make sure Jaune understood that she certainly didn't think much of Yang's boast, "that I should be practicing with her! Blegh, no thank you." Ruby waved her hand dismissively before grabbing her muffin again. "I mean, first she's always like, 'you gotta do things yourself Ruby, you need to make more friends Ruby, stop trying to run away from me punching you in the face Ruby', and then she's all like, 'I need you to stay super close to me Ruby, don't go out of my sight Ruby, try not to let me punch you in the face Ruby'." The young girl sighed, slouching a little. "It's exhausting."

Jaune chuckled, nodding empathetically. "Yeah, I know what you mean. Pyrrha's kind of like that too. I always feel like she wants me to be a better Huntsman, but then she also feels like she needs to watch my every move to make sure that I don't trip and impale myself on Crocea Mors."

"Exactly!" Ruby exclaimed, throwing up her hands. "They definitely need to stop babying us. In fact, the next time Yang does something like that, I'm going to let her know what's on my mind." Ruby nodded decisively, a picture of a true leader.

"Oh really? Well, you might as well get it out of the way now then." An amused voice said behind the two of them, making them both jump.

"Y-Yang!" Ruby said nervously, eyes wide as she turned to face her big sister, who had a single eyebrow raised at the petite girl. "W-when did you get here?"

The blonde girl dropped her tray next to Ruby's, tapping her chin as she pretended to think about the question. Her other arm snaked out, grabbing Ruby who had rose up in an attempt to run away. With her little sister safe in a headlock, Yang answered conversationally.

"Not too long ago. Just enough to hear you try to imitate me. Badly." Yang grinned, shaking her head. "I definitely do not sound like that."

"You do too!" Ruby protested, trying to break out of the headlock. "Jaune, help me!"

"Uh..." Jaune glanced at Yang, who looked innocently at him, the smile on her face way too sweet to be real. A brief internal battle raged on in Jaune for a second, before he realized that there was only one option for him if he wanted to walk out of this one whole. Jaune liked to think of himself as a good tactician after all.

"I-I'm gonna go put my plates away." Jaune stuttered, standing up and heading towards the nearest trashcan, ignoring the cries of betrayal from Ruby. It was safer that way.

He loitered around for another few seconds before heading back, making sure to avoid the pouty Ruby's gaze, as well as Yang's victorious smile.

"So Vomit Boy, what're you doing up so early?" Yang asked idly, finally digging into her breakfast, popping one of her egg yolks with the tip of her fork.

"I'm not up early." Jaune answered. Yang glanced at him doubtfully, before turning to look at a nearby clock on the cafeteria's walls. "I'm always up this early," Jaune shrugged, resting his cheek on one of his hands. "I just decided to get an early breakfast."

Yang sighed in exasperation, throwing her hands up in the air. "Fine then. Why the early breakfast?"

"Maybe I just wanted to surprise you guys." Jaune said, giving Ruby a small smile and a wink, distracting Yang for a second as she turned to watch her sister hide a giggle behind her hands.

"Jaune?"

The boy jumped a little at the mention of his name, turning to find his partner, standing behind him with a small frown on her face, otherwise looking as immaculate as she always was.

"Oh, morning Pyrrha." Jaune relaxed a little, a small smile on his face as he pat the seat next to him. The girl sat down, greeting the other two girls politely, before casting a concerned look to Jaune, who tilted his head in confusion.

"Something wrong Pyr?" Jaune reached up to touch his face, checking to make sure there was nothing still stuck to it. The girl shook her head quickly, flushing strangely at the question.

"Nothing! Nothing." She repeated, fidgeting nervously. "I was just wondering when you got here is all. You woke up much earlier than you usually have this morning." She explained.

"I didn't realize you noticed that when I woke up every day." Jaune said, blinking rapidly at her. The girl's eyes widened, caught.

"I-I mean, well, that's just something that I notice about everyone on our team," Pyrrha said quickly, her bangs hiding her expression as she tilted her head downwards, eyes averted from her partner. "That's all." She squeaked out, before going silent.

"Oh." Jaune chuckled a little, gesturing vaguely in the air as he spoke. "Well, you know, I've been talking with Ren whose been giving me a few hints on how to... how to move like a ninja, you know?" The boy shrugged, a smile rising onto his face. "Maybe I'm getting better than I thought."

"But Ren's not a ninja." Pyrrha said, looking up uncertainly.

"I-I know." Jaune said, the smile shrinking a little. "It was a joke..." Jaune trailed off as Pyrrha's mouth opened, the blush returning to her face as her mind put everything together.

"Oh. Oh!" The redhead forced out a small laughter. "I'm sorry, I didn't realize that—"

"It's alright Pyr." Her partner shook his head, reaching over to pat her on the shoulders. "Not everyone can appreciate my humor so early in the morning." The champion laughed again, cutting it a second too short and letting the awkward silence take over once again.

"This is better than watching bootleg movies on our scroll." Yang whispered loudly enough for everyone to hear, getting another confused look from Jaune, as well as a shove from Ruby, telling her sister to shut up. Jaune opened his mouth to ask her what that was all about before being interrupted by Pyrrha, who stood up hastily, making an excuse to go get some breakfast. Yang let out a hearty laugh at that, shaking her head before finishing up the rest of her breakfast, standing up and going to put away her tray.

Blue eyes met silver.

"What was that all about?" Jaune asked, having no clue what just went by in the last two minutes he was sitting there. Furrowing his brow, he looked at his partner, who looked like she was holding herself a little lower than usual. "Maybe she's worried about something?" Jaune asked Ruby tentatively, probably reaching a little, but hey, it was a good idea to cover all of his bases.

The brunette just covered her face with one hand, mumbling something about how oblivious some people were.