Beacon was everything Jaune had been hoping it would be, and not, at the same time. A few weeks had passed since the incident at the beach, and classes continued onward, and he was having the time of his life. Things at home had calmed down, Blake throwing herself into her studies. Kali had asked permission to expand her education and Jaune had seen no reason to deny it, he knew how much Blake used to love to read, and had even helped Kali pick out relevant material for her to learn.

He’d even sat in a few times, and had helped. In those moments, it almost felt like the old days. Back when they’d sneak into his father’s office and read the books within, lost in their own little world, apart from everyone else.

“So you carry the four, and – that’s it,” Jaune grinned as Blake finished the little quiz her mother and he had helped put together. Blake knew her numbers, it was something his mother had allowed so she could better serve, but it had only ever been the basics.

What they were working on now was a little more advanced, but it hadn’t taken her long to pick it up. Blake was a smart girl.

It also helped Jaune. Math wasn’t his strongest subject, so brushing up on some of the things he’d learned a few years ago was a good thing.

“That was easy,” Blake bragged, though he’d been helping her along as she went. Despite her words, she watched Kali worriedly as she went over the quiz and marked it with a red pen.

Out of twenty questions, she’d gotten eighteen of them right.

“You’ll have this down in no time,” Jaune praised, and he felt good when she smiled, her pretty face opening up.

Jaune wished she would smile more.

When it came to History, they stuck to older events like the Great War, the unification and signing of the treaty of Vytal, things like that. The Faunus War hit a little too close to home, but Jaune knew she was reading about it when he wasn’t with her. Blake was always a little subdued after those lessons, and even Kali wasn’t quite her usual happy self.

He couldn’t blame them. It did make him a little uncomfortable, though.

Life was good, as good as it could be. But every so often, there was a lesson at Beacon that reminded him that for all the Grimm slaying and saving the lives of others he would be doing in the future, there would be the occasional faunus subjugation mission to be completed. They’d had a few more trial runs in the Emerald Forest, and extra lessons had been assigned on how to efficiently combat faunus that proved more difficult to subdue.

Those lessons were overseen by Professor Peach, just as she had been the one to oversee them during their outdoor lessons.

Today, she had that same Blake lookalike girl with her, using her as a teaching tool. The poor girl had been stripped down to the bare essentials, a pair of plain cotton white underwear protecting her modesty and not much else.

Even though his classmates viewed faunus as nothing but animals, more than a few of the guys were leering at her pale, exposed skin, and admiring her curves. She was more than aware of their stares, as well, looking like she wanted the floor to open up and claim her.

“Depending on the faunus, their weaknesses can vary dramatically,” Professor Peach lectured calmly, as if there wasn’t a half-naked girl standing next to her, shaking like a leaf. Jaune saw none of the defiance she had shown him when he’d been tasked to capture her, utter defeat writ on her face. “Their animal traits give us clues on how we can exploit their physiology to our advantage. For example, this is a fox faunus,” in her hand, Professor Peach held a teaching pointer stick which she used to draw their attention to the girls large ears. “And as you can see, her trait is manifested in a pair of fox ears.”

“Hard to miss those,” Cardin said under his breath but still loud enough for everyone to hear in the silent classroom.

“They’re sensitive to touch, and can be used to control them should you manage to get your hands on them,” giving the ears a light prod, Jaune watched as they reacted instantly, flicking, the girl flinching but not pulling away.

Jaune remembered touching Blake’s ears a long time ago, and how she’d practically turned to putty. She’d been cross with him afterwards but for the few minutes he’d given her scritches, she’d been completely defenseless, even rubbing against his hand, as if asking for more.

If he rubbed them now, would the same thing happen?

“But more importantly is the sensitivity of her hearing,” Professor Peach explained while pulling a small object out of her pocket. Jaune couldn’t see what it was until she placed it by her lips, and blew into it with a single, harsh exhale.

None of them heard a thing, but the reaction from the faunus girl was violent. She jerked as if shot, her head whipping back, her face twisted in pain as she collapsed to her knees, hands hastily clutching as her ears. A startled, pained cry escaped her, and when Professor Peach blew into the whistle again, she writhed in agony on the floor, whimpering.

Jaune felt his mouth go dry.

“Faunus that exhibit their traits through their ears can, depending on the animal, be subdued easily through the use of this,” she held up the whistle for all of them to see.

It reminded Jaune of a dog whistle, long and slender, though the tip was pressed flat and flared wide.

“A simple blow is more than enough to cause extreme pain. A sustained whistle can incapacitate them completely.”

Jaune was worried she was going to blow on it again to demonstrate, bracing himself for the sight but it never came. She pocketed the whistle and continued with the lesson.

“Every faunus is different but one trait they all share is what?” she asked the class at large.

Weiss instantly raised her hand, and Professor Peach nodded to her in acknowledgment.

“They can all see in the dark,” Weiss answered promptly, voice clear for all of them to hear.

“Correct,” Peach said. “They can all see in the dark, and thus have eyes much more sensitive to light than humans do. Some faunus have even better sight, if their traits are concentrated in their eyes, but every single faunus has this strength – and weakness.”

Again, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small, slender object. Holding it up, she pressed on the end of it and Jaune watched as a concentrated beam of light shone on the ceiling. It was a laser pointer, though rather than red, it looked like the sun passing through a magnifying glass.

Jaune didn’t like where this was going.

“This is one such tool used to exploit their sensitive eyes. There are others, of course. A common one is a light grenade that utilizes Lightning Dust as a catalyst. You must remember, however – even though our eyes aren’t as sensitive to light, these items can still be effective and even damaging to humans, so caution is advised. Now, girl – on your feet.”

Professor Peach’s order was almost gentle on account of her soft voice, but the girl obeyed instantly, climbing to her feet as if she’d been shouted at.

“Do not close your eyes,” Peach warned before addressing the class. “Now, observe.”

It was difficult to watch. Jaune wanted to look away but he couldn’t, transfixed. Professor Peach shined the light into the faunus girls eyes, and her shrill scream of agony was burned into his mind as she jerked away, clutching her face.

It had been for less than a second, and yet it was enough.

“Such short exposure will not cause permanent damage,” she continued as the girl started crying, almost tripping over her feet as she huddled behind Peach’s desk. “Though as you saw, it can cause extreme pain and temporary blindness. Longer exposure will damage their sight, so depending on the parameters of your mission, it may cost you.”

Jaune was scared that she was going to hand out these tools and bring in more faunus for them to practise on, but that didn’t happen. The rest of the lesson was the continuation of her lecture, for which he was grateful, but Jaune couldn’t stop glancing at the girl as she remained quaking behind the desk, weeping as she clutched at her face.

When the bell signalled the end of the lesson and the beginning of lunch, Jaune wasn’t very hungry at all. Homework was assigned, and then Peach released them with a smile.

There was something very off putting about that woman. To look at her, she was an attractive woman of slight size, soft spoken, attentive and open to conversation with her students. But the way she so casually engaged in harming that faunus was frightening.

Weiss and Pyrrha joined him in the hallway, and he saw that they were unaffected by the lesson. In fact, Weiss appeared to be in a good mood.

At his curious look, she explained haughtily, “The Schnee Dust Company manufactures many of the suppression tools used to control faunus. It was the first time I’ve seen them in action, though. Father will be pleased that they are catching on. They’re a relatively new product.”

“They were very effective,” Pyrrha said, no doubt extremely interested in their utilization. Anything to do with combat, she was all in. “What did you think, Jaune?”

It was hard to keep his true feelings off his face. It took him a moment to think of an appropriate response, and he felt slightly sick even saying it.

“It’ll make our job easier. That’s a good thing, right?”

Weiss nodded. “Indeed. I’m glad you understand the value, Jaune. I was afraid you wouldn’t understand their impact. The more tools we have at our disposal, the more options we have when dealing with unruly animals.”

They made their way to the dining hall. The food at Beacon was top tier, and the smell alone was usually enough to coax his appetite into being, but this time, it only repulsed him, his face twisting as his stomach cramped.

“Jaune?” Pyrrha asked, concerned, stopping. Weiss paused, her face clearly showing how annoyed she was at the hold up. “What is it?”

“Uh – I’m not feeling so good,” he said truthfully, grimacing. “Go on without me, I’ll be there soon.”

Pyrrha looked worried, though Weiss nodded, grabbing Pyrrha’s hand and pulling her along before she could offer to stay with him.

“Come along, Pyrrha,” Weiss said. “He’ll find us easily enough. We are hard to miss.”

Jaune watched them go before turning away, finding the nearest bathroom. It was empty, just as he’d hoped, and approaching the sinks, he splashed his face with cold water, rubbing at his eyes.

That… had been horrible.

He loved Beacon, but then there were moments like that . Moments that completely flipped everything on its head, and he began to have doubts about what he was doing here. That girl, he couldn’t help but see Blake in her place. The way she’d cried out, and the way she’d huddled behind the desk, tears streaming down her cheeks…

Jaune dried off, taking deep, slow breaths to calm down. After a few minutes, he felt a little better, though his gut still roiled uneasily.

Turning, he entered one of the stalls and closed it, leaning against the door, wanting a moment to himself where no one could see him or find him. Within that stall, it was just him. Just Jaune. Alone with his thoughts.

“Shit,” he whispered.

He was reminded of that faunus who the police captured, and how they’d been treating him. Jaune was all that stood between Kali and Blake potentially suffering such a fate. What if another family had purchased Kali, all those years ago? What would have happened to them?

It was upsetting.

The door to the bathroom suddenly flung open, and Jaune stiffened as he heard someone enter. After a moment, another person followed, their voice low but frantic.

“Nora, wait!”

“I can’t take this. What are we doing, Ren? This place…”

Lie Ren and Nora Valkyrie.

He’d never spoken to them beyond brief greetings in passing. They kept to themselves, glued at the hip, always together. Nora was an interesting character, full of life and chaotic to the core while Ren was much more reserved, her polar opposite. The best of friends but they couldn’t be more different, yet it was clear to anyone that saw them that they cared deeply about one another.

What was going on?

“Nora, please,” Ren said urgently. “Calm down.”

“Calm down?” she almost shouted. “How can I calm down ? You saw what that horrible woman did!”

Her voice cracked. She sounded almost hysterical, and Jaune jumped as something crashed against the wall. Some rubbish spilled under his door, and he realized that she’d thrown the trash can.

“Nora, please,” Ren said soothing.

“I just – we thought things would be better here,” her voice lowered, harsh. “But it’s just more of the same.”

A sudden silence enveloped the room, Jaune waiting with baited breath.

What were they talking about? Something serious, no doubt. Nora sounded very upset, at the end of her rope, while Ren was desperately trying to cool her down.

Without success.

“Everyone just sat there as she – she hurt her,” Nora spat, voice dripping with disgust. “Some of them were even smiling! And the things they say about them… as if they aren’t people at all, not even  animals  – something worse! Cardin Winchester, did you hear what he was saying?”

“Nora…”

“ I’d take her for a ride, even though she is a mutt, ” she mimicked Cardin’s voice poorly. “ I bet animal pussy feels good, especially when they struggle. ”

...Jaune wanted to say he was surprised Cardin would say something like that, but he wasn’t. He still remembered how he’d wanted to swap faunus with Jaune during their first lesson in the woods, which so happened to be the exact same girl.

It took a few seconds for Nora’s words to fully set in though, and with a start, he realized that Nora was upset about the treatment of faunus.

She was angry… on behalf of the faunus…

Jaune was so shocked to hear someone stick up for them that it had taken his brain time to compute.

“I know it’s wrong—,” Ren tried but Nora laughed bitterly.

“Wrong? Wrong? ”

“Nora, not so loud,” Ren hissed.

“I don’t know if I can do this, Renny,” her voice shook. “It might not be as bad as Mistral was, but it’s still the same shit . Why is this considering okay?”

Because this was how the world was. Because the faunus had fought a war for their rights, and they lost . And in retaliation for daring to stand up for themselves, for rising up and taking human lives, the victors decided to enslave them so they could never again lash out.

It was sad, but that was the truth.

“You know I feel the same way,” Ren said quietly. “But if someone overhears you saying this stuff, you know what will happen.”

“What if I don’t care?” Nora snapped, agitated that Ren was trying to talk her down. “What if I want to go out there and find Cardin Winchester, and punch him in his dumb stupid face?”

“And what does that accomplish?” Ren asked. “Other than making you feel good for a few seconds.”

“It’d make me feel good for a whole fucking week!”

“And then?”

Silence was his answer.

“If you don’t wont to be a Huntress any more, we can leave right now and never look back,” Jaune heard someone move, and Nora began sniffling. “We can go back to Anima and find a place to live, and do whatever you want.”

“...But I do want to be a Huntress. I want to help people, Renny…”

“Then we’re going to have to stick it out. We came to Vale because we’d heard things were a little better here… and they are, even if there is more of a the same. You saw how bad it was in Mistral.”

Jaune thought it was pretty bad here, so for Mistral to be even worse…

“I know, I know,” Nora said, voice thick with emotion. “ I know , but it just makes me so angry . When she was doing those things to that faunus girl, all I could see was little Amarilla and Rosa. Do you… do you think they’re doing better now?”

“They met up with more of their kind, I’m sure they’re looking after them. We just have to have a little bit of belief.”

They went silent other than a few sniffles coming from Nora. Jaune knew that eavesdropping on such a private conversation wasn’t a nice thing to do, but he hadn’t really had much of a choice. So far they hadn’t noticed, but a feeling of dread slowly washed over him as the silence stretched.

They’d been so consumed in their conversation but now, there was nothing to distract them from the fact that one of the stall doors was shut and locked. The door would even say ‘occupied’ on the lock. Jaune froze, holding his breath, listening carefully.

Silence.

Even Nora’s sniffles had abated.

Jaune slowly leaned off the door and carefully turned around. He wasn’t sure why but he took a step back, and not a moment too soon when with a bang, it was kicked open. Jaune flinched as the flimsy door crashed against the side of the stall, and a green blur rushed him.

Jaune managed to raise an arm to protect his face, a hand clamping down on his forearm instead of his throat. He was forced back over the toilet, slammed into the wall hard enough for the tiles to crack, his head bouncing off the wall. Tensing, Jaune instinctively pushed back.

A pair of cold magenta eyes bore into his own, Ren’s face blank as they struggled.

“Hey, woah, stop,” Jaune shouted.

Ren was pretty strong from a guy who was so slender, and quite a bit shorter than he was. Jaune strained against him, and with a hard shove, he pushed Ren back only for Nora to charge in and grapple him.

He stood no chance.

One moment he was on his feet, and then the next, he was being flipped over. His world tilted and flipped before his back hit the ground, the air driven from his lungs. Jaune gasped as he saw the flutter of Nora’s skirt, and he caught sight of something which should have remained private, the expanse of her creamy thighs and her cute, pink panties.

Jaune’s cheeks flushed with color.

Ren grabbed him by the lapels of his jacket and hauled him up, slamming him into the wall near the sinks.

“He heard everything,” Nora said worriedly. “What do we do?”

Ren’s mouth pulled taut, but otherwise, he was expressionless.

“Can you stop throwing me around for one second,” Jaune snapped, curbing his instinct to fight back against Ren’s hold as he gasped for breath.

“You were listening,” Ren said, voice devoid of anything.

“You didn’t exactly give me much choice,” Jaune clapped back instantly. “I didn’t ask you two to come in here and vent.”

Ren had nothing to say to that, but Jaune could see the turmoil in his eyes. Darting a quick glance at Nora, he saw the panic beginning to blossom, thick and fast.

They were at a stalemate. He’d overheard them, and there was no mistaking their sympathies towards the faunus. Sympathies that were unwanted in this world, and would label them as outcasts. Jaune wasn’t sure what sort of consequences there were for holding this kind of opinion, but he knew that it was very likely that Beacon wouldn’t take it lightly.

Would they want to train people who held such beliefs?

And that wasn’t even taking into account how their classmates would react.

There was a reason why Jaune didn’t advertise his thoughts and feelings, and he kept his ownership of Kali and Blake a secret. On the surface, owning them wasn’t a problem. It was how he treated them that would cause backlash.

So they felt they needed to silence him. But how ? They couldn’t kill him – right? That would be ridiculous, even though the cold look on Ren’s face was a little intimidating. And they had nothing to blackmail him with.

They were stuck.

And so long as they were stuck, he was stuck. Ren wasn’t going to let him go.

But what could he say? What would convince them that he didn’t care? That he even shared their views? Even if he said it, he doubted they’d just take his word for it. But if he said it, then they’d have something on him .

This was a giant mess.

It was Nora that broke the silence.

“You can’t tell anybody,” she begged. “Please. I’ll do anything. Anything you want.”

“Nora,” Ren said sharply.

Jaune swallowed.

“You don’t have to do anything,” he said, nipping that in the bud. Jaune didn’t even want  to think about what she’d meant by that. “Just let me go, and I don’t tell anyone.”

“Forgive me if I don’t believe you,” Ren replied, tightening his hold.

“I won’t,” Jaune said slowly. “You’ve got no reason to trust me, but… what are you going to do? Hold me here until what? Someone walks in and finds us? I can’t change the fact that I overheard you, but I can promise you I won’t tell a soul.”

A long moment of silence stretched out – and then, finally, miraculously, Ren released him, stepping back. The pair watched him warily as he straightened out his jacket, adjusting his tie.

“You need to be careful where you say such things,” he chided, and Nora looked ashamed, her shoulders drooping.

“If you tell anyone…” Ren let it hang.

“I won’t,” Jaune said. “You have my word.”

He could tell they didn’t really believe him. They were preparing themselves for the worst, but Jaune had no reason to make their lives miserable. He even agreed with their sentiments.

Taking a deep breath, Jaune squared his shoulders, and offered a hand.

“We haven’t really met properly,” he said, and they both blinked at him dumbly. “I’m Jaune. Jaune Arc.”

It was a little awkward, standing there with his arm extended for so long, but he refused to put it down. It didn’t really matter to him if they took his hand or not, but he was trying to put them at ease, to show that he held no ill will.

Ren was the one that moved first, slowly extending his hand and grasping Jaune’s firmly.

“Lie Ren,” he said, voice holding a note of curiosity.

That prompted Nora into action, and she leapt forward as soon as Ren released his hand, grabbing Jaune’s in both of hers and pumping it up and down vigorously.

“I’m Nora,” she said loudly. “Nora Valkyrie.”

“Nice to meet you, Nora, Ren,” he said.

The door to the bathroom opened suddenly. Dove Bronzewing – a classmate of theirs – stepped in, caught sight of them and froze like a deer caught in headlights.

The three of them stared back.

His eyes darted between them, resting on Nora several times, his eyes widening more and more as his mind ran wild, trying to piece together what he was looking at. It was then that Jaune realized that Nora was in the  men’s bathroom , surrounded by two guys.

Oh.

“Uh,” Dove said, retreating. “Sorry for interrupting.”

And just like that, he stepped out, the door swinging shut.

Jaune met Ren’s eyes, and in that moment, they likely had the same thought.

“That’s not good,” Jaune muttered.

Nora blinked innocently. “What isn’t?”

This was how stupid rumors started. Jaune had a feeling it wouldn’t be long until the whole school heard about this.

They went their seperate ways after that, though not before Nora begged for his contact information. Jaune wasn’t sure if it was because she genuinely wanted to become friends or for another reason, but obliged. There was still tension in Ren’s shoulders, and Nora wasn’t quite as chipper as she usually was, but hopefully when they saw he wasn’t about to out them to everyone, then maybe…

He still didn’t have much of an appetite but he made his way to the dining hall regardless. The buffet today was Mistralian themed, and he searched for something light on the stomach. He picked up a few summer rolls, and a bottle of water before searching the sea of heads.

It wasn’t difficult to find Weiss and Pyrrha. Their distinctive hair may as well have been a beacon. What he didn’t expect was for Yang Xiao Long and Ruby Rose to be sitting with them.

“There he is,” Yang spotted him first, raising a hand in greeting. Jaune waved back as he made his way over, and Ruby beamed at him happily, patting the seat next to her.

“Are you feeling better?” Pyrrha asked, eyes filled with concern as he sat down next to Ruby. She eyed his plate, and no doubt noticed it was much lighter than usual.

“A little,” he said.

“Yang was just making a proposal before you interrupted,” Weiss said, as if he’d done it on purpose. “You may continue.”

Yang shot Weiss a funny glance before shrugging. “I was just saying that we’ve been here awhile now, but none of us have really hung out or anything. I thought it’d be cool if we planned a get together, you know, make friends and stuff. We don’t have to invite everyone  – but we could turn it into a whole thing, get to know each other better. It’ll be a blast.”

“Networking is important,” Weiss agreed, nodding her head. “Though I suggest we thoroughly screen who we invite. I don’t need admirers bothering myself and Pyrrha.”

Yang laughed, finding it funny. “Sure, we can keep the horn dogs away from you two. That shouldn’t be a problem. So, Pyrrha – you in?”

Pyrrha nodded, smiling. “It sounds like fun.”

Yang shifted her gaze to Jaune. “And what about you, big guy? Wanna hang out with a group of hot girls?”

Jaune laughed awkwardly. “Er – sure.”

Weiss rolled her eyes, but that didn’t dampen his spirits. Hanging out together away from classes would be a nice change of pace, and it would give him an opportunity to see Weiss in a different setting. Maybe this way, they could become a little closer…

He was getting ahead of himself but he couldn’t help it.

“Sweet,” Yang grinned. “I know a girl in second year, her name is Coco. She’s really cool, I’d bet she’d be down to hang. If you guys think of anyone, shoot em an invite, so long as Weiss Queen here agrees.”

Weiss frowned. “Excuse me, what did you just call me?”

“Weiss Queen – you know, like Ice Queen?” Yang smirked. “I’m hilarious, aren’t I?”

Ruby groaned. “Please ignore her, she’s dumb sometimes… most of the time… nearly always.”

“Psh – you wish you were half as witty as I am,” Yang shot back. “No need to be jealous.”

As the sister’s bantered, Jaune picked up one of his summer rolls and bit through the rice paper, and into the crisp, fresh cucumber, carrot and lemon grass within, and the juicy pork that accompanied it.

He put their previous class out of his mind, and lived in the moment.