Chapter Text
A very short multi-chapter for all of you. (4-5 chapters max)
What would you do to get a bully off of your back?
It was a question that Jaune Arc was surprisingly prepared to answer.
Apparently, living with seven sisters who loved messing with their only brother would do that to a person, and so it was with uncharacteristic confidence that Jaune did enter Team CRDL's dorm room.
Credit where credit was due, however, Cardin wasn't just a dumb brute who let things fly past over his head. He actually noticed Jaune's unusual demeanor and glared meanly at him for it.
"What do you want?"
Experience told Jaune not to falter, and so he held his head high as he stared cooly at Cardin's eyes.
"Cardin, I have come to bargain."
"What?"
Yup, the most reliable method he's had when dealing with his sisters, especially when they pile up on him, was to bargain for his life.
Sure, he would have to suffer a bit, but it was just a you win some and you lose some kind of situation. He just had to choose what he was willing to do to stop them from bullying him, and he said as much to Cardin.
"What would it take for you to stop messing with me?"
Cardin, however, only laughed cruelly at that.
"What makes you think I want to stop? I could just rat you out with your fake transcripts and get you expelled."
See, Jaune already expected he would say that. Rarely was the time that a perpetrator would willingly give his victim a way out.
Unbeknownst to Cardin, however, Jaune had his own way to circumnavigate that condition.
Mutually assured destruction.
"I guess we're both leaving Beacon, then." He sighed dramatically, getting Cardin to narrow his eyes at him.
"What do you mean?"
Yet again, drawing from his own experience of living with seven sisters, Jaune pulled out the ultimate card.
"I'm telling my team."
That's right. His ultimate card, his sisters knew it as telling mom, but in this case, it was telling his team.
"Uhm, what? Sure, go ahead. You'll still get expelled." Cardin reeled back confusedly at that, but Jaune only shook his head.
"Sure, I might get expelled, but what do you think Nora would do when she learns you're the reason I got expelled?" He whispered, leaning forward as he let a grin slowly crawl up his face. "She would break your legs!"
"Uhm, she does seem the type of crazy to do that." Russel looked worriedly at Cardin at that, even as Jaune nodded in agreement while crossing his hands.
"She does, and do you know what else?"
"What?"
"Pyrrha!" Jaune threw his hands up, causing everyone to back away from him with wide eyes. "She would break you! Every time Professor Goodwitch asks for volunteers in Combat Class, she is going to raise her hand and point at you!"
Cardin paused at that, and even his teammates nodded their heads thoughtfully.
"He's got a point." Russel crossed his arms.
"Do you think he knows….why Pyrrha would do that?" Dove tilted his head at him.
"Nah, if he did, then he would have started with her." Sky shook his head meaningfully.
Jaune tilted his head in confusion at that. Wasn't it obvious that Pyrrha was going to do that because they were friends and partners?
To Jaune's relief, however, Cardin began to frown at him as he finally took him seriously.
"Alright. What do you want?"
"Like I said. A bet to end it all. I do something for you and if I manage to do it, you stop messing with me and my friends." Jaune answered, staring straight into Cardin's eyes as his bully only crossed his arms.
"A bet to end it all, you say?"
"Yup." Jaune let a smile come to his face, even as Team CRDL took a moment to look at each other.
It took Sky shrugging to break the silence as he looked at the rest of his team.
"I mean, I am getting bored messing with him. This, at least, would be entertaining."
Mutters of agreement rang out from the rest of his team, while a smirk crept up Cardin's lips.
"Alright, Arc. You've got yourself a deal."
"Cool, cool, cool! Now what would it be?" Jaune asked as scenarios ran through his head. "Remember, as long as it's not illegal, won't mess with my friends, or get me kicked out, then I'll do it "
His own sisters' dares to him typically ended up being embarrassing or as a prank to their mother or father, so naturally, his thoughts went in the same direction.
Was it going to be a public stunt that would embarrass him? Or was it going to be a prank on Professor Port, or even Professor Goodwitch?
Yet he forgot, this was Cardin.
Everything was worse with Cardin.
It was a prank, alright, but it was no simple prank, Jaune's blood turned to ice in his veins as Cardin opened his mouth.
"I want you to kiss Goodwitch."
The rest of Team CRDL whistled, even as Jaune froze in disbelief.
"Damn, man, how did you even think of that?" Russel asked as he shook his head.
Cardin, however, only barked a laugh.
"Goodwitch needs to get rid of the stick up her ass. If Arc manages to kiss her, then we know we could-"
"No."
The world fell silent as Jaune uttered the word coldy.
There were things he would do to get Cardin and his team to stop bullying him.
This was not one of those things.
"What do you mean, no? I thought you wanted to do a bet." Cardin narrowed his eyes, but Jaune only scoffed at him.
"Yeah! To stop you from messing with me! Not to freaking die! Do you even know what Goodwitch would do if I did something like that?! Not to mention, that's just plain wrong!" He waved his hands frantically.
Goodwitch was hot.
A student's wet dream kind of hot.
But that was it, she was only a dream.
Jaune had no doubts that if he even tried anything with Goodwitch, she was going to expel him at the least and kill him at the most.
Which, now that he thought about it, wasn't applicable to only him.
"In fact, why don't you give me one reason why I shouldn't tell her about this and get you expelled?" Jaune smirked, and wide eyes met his at that, before Cardin looked at his teammates unsurely.
There came a time when Jaune could turn things on his sisters. A time when he could nullify the bet and get what he wanted in one single stroke. He only needed an advantage, a slip of the tongue, a leverage to turn the tables.
And this was-
"Uh, because you'll get expelled as well?"
-apparently not that time.
Damn it, he was right.
Still, the key to a good bluff was for the other person not to notice he was sweating, so Jaune kept his cool.
"Oh yeah? You were already blackmailing me with that anyway." Jaune shot back, crossing his arms to hide his nervousness.
"The fuck you want to do, Arc? You came here to make a bet, but when I give you one, you chicken out." Cardin glared, standing up to tower over him. "Do you want a beating with that expulsion?"
Jaune shook, but he only gritted his teeth to express his frustration.
This was bad, this was going bad. His attempt to turn things around backfired, and it was now biting him in the ass. Sometimes, however, one just needed to stick it through to avoid the worst outcome.
"I'll do a bet, but not that bet. Do you really want to be expelled with me, Cardin?"
Mutually assured destruction, the greatest deterrent there ever was.
"Uhh, dude? Maybe we should make him do something else?" Dove offered, scared at the prospect of getting expelled with his teammates.
Cardin, thankfully, only gritted his teeth at that before blowing out a huff.
"Fucking fine!"
Jaune didn't let himself breathe a sigh of rlief.
This was Cardin.
He learned his lesson earlier
Jaune felt relieved at that, but he kept his guard up. Cardin had already shown him how surprising he can be with ideas to make Jaune's life harder.
His thought was only vindicated when Cardin raised a finger.
"One, just one! If you kiss one team's worth of Huntresses, then we'll stop messing with you."
Public humiliation then.
No way could Jaune kiss one team's worth of Huntresses. He was already having problems trying to get with one woman.
He shivered as he thought how Weiss would react if she found out Jaune was trying to kiss four women.
Jaune really would have no chance with her then.
Not to mention, how the rest of their peers would react about it. Jaune would be the ultimate pariah!
Truly, Cardin knew how to make Jaune's life harder.
Something on his face must have alerted Cardin to his true feelings because he smirked as he crossed arms while looking at Jaune.
"You're not backing out, are you? You're the one who wanted this bet."
"Yeah, but four women?! Can't it just be with one?" Jaune pleaded, but Cardin only barked a laugh at him.
"Nope! One would be too easy! You could just ask your partner for that!"
The rest of Team CRDL only nodded sagely at that, to Jaune's utter confusion.
He didn't know how Team CRDL could think Jaune asking Pyrrha for a kiss would be too easy.
Sure, he could ask her, he could even say he needed it to get Cardin off his back, but she would surely lose all respect for him!
Not that he was that respectable in the first place, but that was not the point!
The point was Jaune wanted Cardin off of his back, not to have Pyrrha think he was a pervert or someone trying to take advantage of her!
Nope, no way!
Jaune was never going to ask her for that.
His despair was visible on his face, which only made Cardin smirk crueler.
"Ha! You were right, guys! This is fun!"
"Oh, come on! It should at least be something I could do if we want to make this a bet!" Jaune complained, groaning as Team CRDL only laughed at him.
"Can't make things too easy now, can we? Wouldn't be a bet then, don't you think?" Cardin replied, and he was right.
Jaune hated it when he was right.
"At least give me something doable, this is just impossible!" He pleaded, and wasn't that grating.
He came in here ready to make a bet to end everything, yet here was, suffering.
Cardin only grinned at him.
"But this is doable, Jauney-boy! Tell you what, I'll even sweeten the deal for you. Name something else you want!"
That got Jaune to pause. It wasn't exactly what he wanted, but it was at least something. His thoughts ran fast to see what else he could squeeze Cardin for.
"You'd need to leave my friends alone." He started.
"Done." Cardin nodded, and Jaune blinked at that.
That was easy, he looked into Cardin's eyes and saw no deceit, only joy at his misery.
No, he could not let it end like that. At the very least, Cardin had to lose something if Jaune was going to accept this bet. It was only fair, after all.
That meant, however, thinking what Cardin had.
What could Jaune take away from him that would make him uncomfortable?
And immediately, an answer came to mind.
Victims. Those were what Cardin had as a bully.
And who were his victims?
Jaune and Velvet.
"You should also apologize to Velvet and stop being racist against the Faunus."
Anddddd he was right, Cardin's joy melted off of his face.
"The fuck, Arc?" Cardin looked at him incredulously, but in this, Jaune remained resolute.
"If you want me to accept this bet, then you need to bet something too."
"I'm already betting to leave you and your friends alone." Cardin scowled, but Jaune only shook his head.
"Not enough. I have to try and kiss four people, Cardin. That has got to be worth more than just leaving me and my friends alone!"
"You're already getting to kiss girls. That's worth enough." Cardin frowned, Jaune, however, only blinked flatly at that.
"I appreciate the confidence in me, but I beg to differ. Do you know the social suicide I would be committing if I fumble this?! I might never have friends again."
The thought of Team RWBY and even the rest of his team hating him, including Ren, was already giving him doubts.
Regardless, he was already here. He had made his bed and he needed to lie in it if he wanted to stop Cardin messing with him.
He saw Cardin, assess his words, murmuring against his teammates and whispering despite the closeness. Jaune could only hear mumbles though, eventually, however, they fell silent.
As one, Team CRDL looked at him, and Jaune blinked as Cardin stretched out a hand.
"You've got yourself a deal, Arc."
He looked doubtfully at Cardin's hand before reaching out with his own.
"So if I do this, you'll leave me and my friends alone, stop being a racist, and apologize to Velvet?"
Cardin's eye twitched, but he nodded his head.
"Yes."
Jaune breathed a sigh of relief at that, before he could even let go though, Cardin pulled him closer.
He stumbled, before freezing as he heard Cardin growl at him.
"Until you do it, though, I don't want to hear anything about trying to stop. No telling your friends or the professors either!"
He gulped, only nodding silently as he turned pale.
Shit, shit, shit! Fuck shit!
"Understood?!" Cardin barked, to which Jaune flinched a bit.
"Y-Yeah."
"Say it! Promise it, Arc!"
Fear entered Jaune's heart at that, but caught in Cardin's tight grip, he could only nod.
"I-I promise."
"Good." Cardin grinned before letting Jaune go with a shove. "In the meantime, go do our homework!"
Papers were immediately pushed into Jaune's hands, and he could only stare shakily as he processed what just happened.
He was in for it now.
Arc's word, and everything.
He'll admit it.
Cardin played him.
And wasn't that galling?
Yet it was the truth.
Now if Jaune wanted to have any chance of taking control of his life, he had to kiss four women.
...Damn.
Jaune should've let himself be beaten up.
If he had, maybe he wouldn't be stuck in this stupid bet!
How could he even kiss four women when he couldn't even kiss one?!
And so he thought about it.
And then he overthought about it.
Eventually, after two days of overthinking it over the weekend, Jaune decided…..to just give up.
He was prideful though. He didn't want to admit it.
And so he stayed silent, getting bullied by Cardin, while still doing his best to act normal with his friends.
It was the day after the weekend when the solution came to him.
He was having breakfast with his team when Team RWBY came skipping along. As per their routines, they sat with them, and Jaune watched as lips crashed into cheek.
Mwah!
Ruby had kissed Yang on the cheek as the blonde bombshell gave her sister a tall glass of milk for her cookies.
"Thanks, Yang!"
"Aw shucks! It was no problem, Ruby! Here have some more!" Yang laughed, giving Ruby more cookies even as Weiss rolled her eyes exasperatedly.
Jaune froze.
It was quick.
It was sweet.
And it was utterly brilliant.
Unbeknownst to him, a crazy grin crept up his face as emerald green eyes looked at him in concern.
Ruby Rose grinned as she skipped her way into a classroom.
"Good morning everyone!"
Leadership Class.
Four hours of training and planning with Beacon's best?
What more could a girl ask for?!
It was no wonder it was one of her classes Ruby Rose was most excited for.
Things were only looking up for her when Headmaster Ozpin entered the room and announced a surprise exercise.
Ruby squealed internally as Headmaster Ozpin then led them to another room, which, now that she took the time to look at it, looked more like a gaming room!
Cubicles littered the room, and each cubicle had an interactive screen and a table in them! According to Headmaster Ozpin, it was state-of-the-art technology used by Atlas in their command and control headquarters.
Able to generate any kind of scenario while still being free to tweak its conditions to their liking while using advanced AI to replicate behavior of Grimm and people alike.
Her eyes twinkled, immediately flashing towards one of them as Headmaster Ozpin gave them permission to.
"Looks like someone's excited."
Ruby's head snapped towards the source, and there on her left was her bestie towering over the walls of her cubicle.
"Jaune! How could anyone not be excited?! It's Leadership Class! Leadership Class, I tell you!"
Jaune chuckled but he winced as he heard a snort behind him.
Ruby pouted at that and she frowned as she saw Cardin Winchester behind her bestie.
"Jaune, is he messing with you? Because if he is, you should tell-"
"No!" Jaune cut her off before shaking his head left and right with a light blush on his face. "No, ah. I've got things under control. I have a plan." He grinned conspiratorially.
Ruby froze as she looked at her male bestie. His embarrassed eyes, the blush on his face, and the shaky grin of his lips.
Ruby Rose received 2+2 and somehow got a 5 with it.
"Oh. You like him?"
Ruby's eyes widened, and her hands immediately slapped her mouth shut. Dad said it was rude to point that kind of thing out of nowhere without the other person telling you themselves, and true enough, horror filled Jaune's face in her eyes.
"Sorry! Don't worry, though, your secret is safe with me!" She squeaked before her face scrunched in disgust. "Even if it is with Cardin."
Ruby didn't understand how Jaune could like such a person as Cardin, but hey, her own dad fell in love with Raven. She didn't have room to judge, not that she should in the first place.
"No, no, no! It's not like that, Ruby! I like girls! Girls, I say!" Jaune denied loudly, gathering eyes on him even as he shook his head vehemently.
"Sure, Jaune, sure." Ruby only rolled her eyes at that, there was no need for him to be embarrassed with her.
They were besties, after all.
And hey, at least now she had a gay bestfriend.
Jaune moved to answer back, but by then, Headmaster Ozpin was already clearing his throat loudly to gather their attention.
"Ahem!"
And just like that, Jaune's denial was drowned out by Headmaster Ozpin's voice.
Ruby snapped her eyes forward, listening as Headmaster Ozpin told them that they could connect their Scroll to their screens to interface their team's data with the system.
Her eyes brightened as Headmaster Ozpin then began to explain the scenario.
A town called the Kobayashimaru called for aid, and it was their job as Huntsmen to answer.
Better yet, they would complete the mission with two teams, meaning she would have to work together with someone else.
As more often than not in reality, however, Huntsmen teams would arrive separately during different periods of the crisis and would lack complete information about the situation.
And almost always, they wouldn't know who was coming to help them.
Which is why they were apparently separated into cubicles, so that no team would have complete knowledge of the situation of the others.
Still, Ruby Rose was excited to meet the challenge. After all, since Team RWBY was going to be supported by another team, she had no doubts they could take on whatever problem they would face.
Ruby Rose would like to apologize.
Less than 5 minutes into the start of the simulation, and it was clear she had underestimated what the worst-case scenario could be.
She thought it was just going to be another Grimm elimination assignment or defending the town from bandits like the previous exercises were, but it was worse, it was so much worse that it wasn't even funny.
What was supposed to be a simple assessment of the problem and moving to solve it, suddenly turned into a desperate fight with the whole town in the line.
Not only were they facing a Grimm horde surrounding the town of Kobayashimaru, but they were also facing saboteurs from the inside.
Gates were opened, walls were broken, and Ruby watched as Grimm started to slowly stream into the inside.
Why someone would help the Grimm destroy a town, Ruby did not know, but it was apparently the case for the scenario, as she heard screams of complaints from other team leaders.
Still, there was a blessing.
Team RWBY's partner for this exercise? Team JNPR.
Ruby watched the screen as Jaune directed little representations of Pyrrha and Nora hold the chokepoints while he and Ren evacuated the people deeper into the town.
Her own team weren't idle, however, she had Yang and Weiss hold back another part of the horde from overrunning them while she and Blake hunted the down the saboteurs to stop them from opening up more fronts.
And yet it was futile.
With a Grimm horde coming in endless waves and their only mode of transport a small bullhead, it was only a matter of time before they were overrun.
Ruby watched in despair as she saw Yang and Weiss fall back, she was just about to accept their defeat when she saw it.
Lights bloomed from deeper inside the town, and before she knew it, people were rushing to fight the Grimm back.
She watched as sheriffs and police officers faced down Beowulves and Ursae, tanking hits that should have killed them in one shot.
It didn't stop there, however, because she gawked as complete civilians joined the fight with improvised weapons, again taking hits that should have killed them but didn't.
It only took her one second to realize what was common between all of them.
Aura, they had Aura.
"I awakened their Aura." Jaune's voice came from the screen and the cubicle beside her.
How?! Ruby didn't even know they could do that!
Ruby knew Jaune had ridiculous amounts of Aura, but even he shouldn't have been able to do this.
That was until she realized, this was just a game and somehow, someway, Jaune managed to game it.
She watched as slowly and surely they began to push the Grimm back, and ten minutes later, they had managed to get them out of the town.
They were still coming in droves but with the amount of people lending their weight to the battle, the Grimm couldn't spawn fast enough to break through the defenders.
Eventually, Ruby and Blake managed to catch the saboteurs, and then…..the scenario just continued.
Grimm spawned, Grimm died, and all Ruby had to do was watch.
Before she knew it, Headmaster Ozpin's voice was coming out of the screen.
"Everyone, please exit your cubicles and gather around the entrance."
There was a moment when Ruby paused, unsure whether she should just leave the scenario running as it was, but she shrugged as she exited the cubicle.
There, she saw both Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch looking at a screen of their scores attached to the ceiling.
"Are you seeing this, Glynda?"
"I am, Ozpin." Professor Goodwitch nodded, her mouth open as she looked up.
Survival times littered the screens. The shortest lasted four minutes, and the longest was…theirs and still increasing.
People gathered to watch, looking at them awestruck and skeptically, as Ruby suddenly heard Jaune step beside her.
"Uhm, what is going on?"
"You, Mr. Arc, is what is going on."Professor Goodwitch answered, pointing at Jaune who only pointed at himself with wide eyes.
"M-Me?"
"Did you know the current survival record for this scenario is 45 minutes?" Headmaster Ozpin asked, and everyone watched as theirs climbed up to 20 minutes.
It wasn't near yet, but it was continuously closing in.
"The record was set by General James Ironwood of Atlas using a team of four Specialists."
Ruby was impressed. Their class was already working on the scenario using 8 people, and some of them didn't even last 5 minutes. To hear General Ironwood lasted 45 minutes with only a team of four, now that was impressive.
"Do you want to know how he did it?" Headmaster Ozpin chuckled, looking at their impressed faces even as nods came from their class.
His smile died down, however, and his face took on a severe look as he opened his mouth to answer.
"He did it by sacrificing the town piecemeal. He lured the Grimm into killzones by using the townsfolk as bait."
"That's horrible!"
The words left her mouth before she could even think about it, and her eyes widened even as Headmaster Ozpin looked at her.
"It is, but there is a lesson here. Sometimes the odds are so stacked against you that all you could do to delay the inevitable are terrible things, and yet that is all you could do, delay."
He spoke as if it was from personal experience, and Ruby shivered as his old eyes bore into hers. She snapped out of it, however, when she heard Jaune beside her.
"Yeah, but that's not happening with us though."
The answer was clear, resolute, and firm.
Jaune pointed his thumb upward, and again Ruby looked to their survival time.
22 minutes.
Almost halfway to General Ironwood's record.
And yet they did not sacrifice a single one.
Her eyes brightened, and she couldn't help but give Headmaster Ozpin a smug smirk.
"Curious, isn't it? How did you achieve such a situation?" Headmaster Ozpin only hummed, however.
Jaune faltered at that before shrugging as he looked at them in confusion.
"I-uhm-just awakened everyone's Aura. Since we were all going to die, what's the harm in everyone trying?"
"You shouldn't be able to do that." Professor Goodwitch pointed out before turning towards Headmaster Ozpin. "He shouldn't be able to do that."
"And yet he did."
"Cheating, then. And you know the punishment for cheating." Professor Goodwitch only narrowed her eyes towards Jaune at that, and inexplicably, Ruby's hand found his for comfort.
Suspension, remedials, Ruby knew depending on the severity, a student could even be expelled.
And judging by Professor Goodwitch's face, any kind of cheating was severe.
Jaune turned pale and Ruby felt his hand tremble through hers. She felt it her responsibility then, to face them for him.
"What's going to happen now?" She asked, watching as Headmaster Ozpin hummed thoughtfully at them.
Professor Goodwitch leaned towards Headmaster Ozpin, whispering even as she and Jaune gulped together hand in hand.
Suddenly, Headmaster Ozpin snapped his fingers, and her bestie stiffened. Lazily, almost torturously, their Headmaster fished out his Scroll.
He tapped, he hummed, and after a frustratingly long time, slipped his Scroll back into his pocket.
Ruby held her breath.
Jaune tightened his hand.
And Headmaster Ozpin gave them a thumbs up.
"A perfect score."
Professor Goodwitch snapped towards Headmaster Ozpin at that, but her reply was drowned out by another sound.
Someone was squealing, and it took her an embarrassingly long time to learn it was both her and Jaune. She didn't even think as she latched onto him. Her heart soared when Jaune hugged her back, hopping and jumping and joy as there would be no punishment for him.
And then Ruby's eyes widened.
Jaune lifted her up and kissed her.
On the cheeks.
Right in front of everyone.
She saw Cardin gawk at them from the corner of her eyes, and Ruby couldn't help but blush as she rapidly turned to face Jaune.
"I-bwah!"
"R-Ruby! I-I'm sorry! It just happened! I didn't mean to!" Jaune panicked, blushing himself and that was enough for Ruby to know that he truly didn't mean anything bad by it.
Part of her wondered why he kissed her, Despite the high emotions running through them, it seemed uncharacteristic of him considering everyone knew he liked Weiss.
Still, watching Jaune blush apologetically at her, Ruby couldn't help but laugh even as she patted his own cheek while he still carried her.
"It's okay, I think you kinda earned it after thinking of a way to beat General Ironwood's record."
Jaune visibly deflated at that, but the relieved smile he gave her, despite the ever reddening blush covering his face, told her everything was okay.
In fact, it was more than okay because speaking of earning something…..
She smiled, looking at his face and before she could even stop herself, leaned down and kissed him.
On the cheeks, of course.
Just to show him that it was okay for besties like them to do that.
Jaune, however, squeaked, and Ruby suddenly found herself falling back to the floor as he zoomed past her.
He barrelled past both Headmaster Ozpin and Professor Goodwitch, and it was that moment Ruby realized something.
Maybe Jaune did like girls after all.
Someway, somehow, it sent a thrill through Ruby's spine that she was the one to be able to do that to him.
—-
Jaune's heart was still beating out of his chest as he entered Team CRDL's room.
He didn't even pay attention to Cardin's growl as he kept screaming at himself internally.
That was the riskiest, stupidest, and craziest thing he had ever done!
Well, maybe not, considering he attempted to go through Beacon's Initiation without even unlocking his Aura.
But still!
He could have lost Ruby as a friend!
Still, he could not calm his heart down as he remembered Ruby smiling down at him with a blush on her face.
Jaune thought she was adorable.
But there was adorable, and there was ADORABLE.
And then she kissed him back?!
Granted, it was on the cheeks, but Jaune felt like he was burning!
And yet why did he want more despite that?
No, Jaune knew why, and to distract himself from such impure thoughts, he glared at the cause of it all.
"That did not count." Cardin growled but galvanized by his recent success, Jaune stood his ground.
"That so did." He growled back, but Cardin only poke at his shoulder with a scowl.
"The deal was for you to kiss four women!"
"And I did with one!" Jaune
"On the cheek!"
"Still a kiss though!" Jaune shot back but Cardin only scoffed before a cruel smirk appeared on his lips.
"If that's your idea of a real kiss, Jauney-boy, then I pity Weiss Schnee! Good thing she's already rejecting you, huh?!"
Jaune will admit it, that hurt.
It hurt a lot.
And yet he only gritted his teeth as he looked at Cardin.
"Come on, Cardin, do you really want to see me makeout with Ruby?"
"Ruby? He kissed Ruby Rose?" Dove blinked and both Jaune and Cardin finally looked at the rest of Team CRDL.
"On the fucking cheek."
The rest of Team CRDL looked at each other at hat before shrugging at the same.
"I mean, dude, she is underage." Sky pointed out even as Russel frowned at them.
"Not to mention, it feels a little cucky if I had to watch them makeout."
"Ignore Russel, he's got a crush on her." Dove finished, slapping his teammate on the back of the head even as he dropped a bomb on Jaune's head.
Russel Thrush?
Liking Ruby Rose?
Jaune blinked.
The idea refused to compute itself inside his brain and yet…..Russel's blushing face was evidence enough that what he heard was true.
This was the first time he has ever heard about this and it seems like it was for Cardin too because he snapped towards his teammate with wide eyes.
Russel, however, only blushed as he raised his hands up defensively.
"What?! She's a gamer girl and she's pretty cute too!"
"Well, now you know she isn't above kissing-"
"Don't talk about her like that!"
It took Jaune a moment to realize that he was the one who jus shouted right in the middle of Team CRDL's room. As eyes gathered on him, however, Jaune gulped before glaring back.
"Or what?" Cardin barked as he glared at him.
Normally, this would be the part Jaune would back down on account of Cardin having blackmail on him.
And yet he didn't.
Because there were just some hills you had to die on.
And this was one of them.
He narrowed his eyes, staying silent as he and Cardin looked at each other.
Eventually, one of them had to give and Jaune was proud to say that for the first time ever, it was Cardin who broke eye contact first.
Cardin scoffed, looking away from him before eventually glaring back.
"The next ones should be real kisses. On the lips, Arc. No more loopholes like what you did today."
Jaune knew this was coming the first time he thought about the loophole.
Yet despite trying his best, he couldn't find anyway to get around it.
And all he could do was now.
…Still, Ruby did say he earned that kiss on the cheek.
Maybe he could earn some kisses on the lips from the others too?