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Ruby stared down at her tray of cafeteria food and willed herself to keep her usual smile even as the sound of sickeningly sweet giggling filled the air around their usual lunch table. She could feel her eye right twitching slightly, mouth almost curling down into a frown. No, Ruby, she told herself! Be nice! Be happy! She was the cheerful one!
Even when she was dealing with the most obnoxious stuff possible.
There, in what used to be Jaune's normal seat, sat the most nauseatingly "adorable" couple in all of Beacon Academy. Cinder Fall - who Ruby was pretty sure was some kind of evil mastermind , call it gut instinct (plus her cackling about her evil plans all the time) - was perched delicately on Jaune's lap, holding a forkful of pasta up to his mouth with the kind of gentle care someone used to feed baby birds. Weiss looked absolutely mortified at how shameless the two were.
"Here comes the airship, my darling knight," Cinder cooed, raising the fork slowly, "Beacon's best Huntsman deserves nothing less than perfection." Jaune, bless his oblivious heart, opened his mouth and leaned forward to take in the offering, "Mmm, you're so amazing," Cinder's sultry voice practically purred as she held up another forkful of food toward Jaune's face. Personally, Ruby had no idea what was amazing about eating spaghetti. Even five year olds could do that.
"Not as amazing as you are, my beautiful, volcanic goddess," Jaune replied with hearts practically floating in his eyes.
Ruby's smile felt like it was being held up by sheer willpower and spite. Around the table, the rest of their friends weren't taking it any any better. Yang was staring at the couple like they personally told her that her hair was mid. Weiss had gone completely rigid, her fork suspended halfway to her mouth like her right eye kept twitching. Blake actually closed her book - closed her book - and watched the display with the morbid fascination of someone witnessing a train wreck in slow motion.
Even Nora, queen of chaos and castles, looked like she wanted to crawl under the table and hide. Pyrrha kept glancing between her food and the couple with a look that suggested she was questioning every life choice that had led her to this moment. Ren, meanwhile, had achieved a level of zen-like detachment that Ruby was pretty sure qualified as a minor superpower. He was completely checked out, eating food mechnically while staring over the right side wall without so much as a glance towards the pair.
"You work so hard, Jauney-poo," Cinder practically purred, running her fingers through his hair in a way that made Ruby's skin crawl from the sheer cringe, "My strong, handsome, heroic boyfriend." The way she said "heroic" sent warning bells clanging in Ruby's head, though she couldn't put her finger on why. Plus it was kind of...not true? Jaune was her best guy friend, but he wasn't exactly super heroic. Determined? Sure. But his grades and performance spoke for itself. Even after a year at Beacon with Pyrrha's training, he was still below average at best. 20 years old and even the first years were running circles around him.
"Come on, Cindy..." Jaune laughed but didn't disagree or push her away.
Ruby forced her smile wider, though she was pretty sure it looked more like a grimace at this point. There was just something about Cinder that set off every alarm bell in her head. Maybe it was the way her eyes sometimes glowed when she thought no one was looking. Maybe it was how she'd somehow transferred to Beacon mid-semester last year as a first year despite looking like she was as old as Weiss' big sister. Or maybe it was just the fact that she'd turned their sweet, bumbling Jaune into... whatever this was.
Ruby still had no idea how all...this started. One day, Jaune was his usual goofy self. Reading comic books, trying to ask out Weiss, the usual. And then he just started being gushy with Cinder. She remembered how happy Weiss was. Not that Jaune found love, but that it meant he wouldn't ask her out over and over again. She even shook her head and said that Cinder must've been crazy to date him but that she wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.
She changed her mind real quick after she saw how obnoxious the two were. They wouldn't stop kissing and grabbing each other (gross), and the pet names...ugh. Volcanic Goddess, Unstoppable Knight, Schnookie Bear, Honey Poo. It was like they were choosing from the widest variety to annoy everyone.
Ruby wanted to be happy for Jaune, she really did, but the constant PDA was getting on everyone's nerves. They acted like they were the only two people at Beacon. Cinder sat on his lap, they made out, they talked about how amazing each other was. She'd lost count of how many times Jaune talked about how sexy and powerful Cinder was or how Cinder talked about how he made her weak at the knees (gross, gross, gross!) and that he was the strongest Huntsman in all of Beacon.
"Your turn, my burn muffin." Ruby cringed. Jaune had talents, but coming up with nicknames wasn't one of them. He was the one who came up with Snow Angel for Weiss, "Here, say ah~" He grabbed a muffin (seriously?) and lifted it up to Cinder's face. Without any shame, Cinder nibbled on the treat before cuddling up to Jaune. Her eyes did that weird fire thing again. Maybe it was a Semblance, but it didn't feel like it. Kinda like when her eyes did that weird silver bright light stuff.
The two continued to coo at each other while the rest of the table desperately tried to ignore them, "Do they not realize everyone can see them?" Weiss asked with an expression like she licked a lemon.
"I don't think they care..." Ruby shrugged helplessly. The two of them were kissing now. Ruby focused on her pancakes while everyone else tried to ignore it too. Especially poor Pyrrha. She was stubbornly eating her salad and refusing to even look in their direction. Everyone knew she had a massive crush on Jaune (except Jaune himself). Seeing him do kissy faces with some weird 25 year old second year must've been really hard.
They were getting handsy now. Vale kissing while their hands went places. Ruby stood up along with the rest of the table, their food half-finished. Even Nora ignored the plate full of pancakes and just left. The lovey dovey couple was full on making out now. Ruby reached out and patted Pyrrha's shoulder. The taller girl gave her an unreadable look and Ruby nodded sympathetically. It was okay, her silver eyes seemed to say to her. There'd be other fish in the sea. Maybe she could bake her some cookies to help. That'd be nice.
It wasn't often that Pyrrha found herself annoyed. She tried to see the best in people. It was the way her parents taught her. Be kind, be generous, but don't be naive. It was the reason why she gave Jaune the benefit of the doubt and offered to train him when he confessed about his fraudulent transcripts. She could sense that there was something genuinely heroic under his...prideful exterior. She hadn't always been the polite champion she became two years ago.
But Cinder Fall was really getting on her fucking nerves.
At first, Pyrrha didn't really think much of the transfer student from Haven. Yes, it was odd that she was the same age as adult Huntresses in the field, but Pyrrha tried not to judge. Perhaps she'd simply been delayed due to personal circumstances. She herself had gone to Beacon rather than the expected Haven for her own reasons. As such, she did her best not to judge even as a few others snickered at Cinder's age (though they also complimented her looks despite that).
When she and Jaune started dating, she was happy for them. Truly. Yes, she had a crush on Jaune during those first couple of months at Beacon, but that initial bright spark had faded soon enough. He was clearly infatuated with Weiss despite her constant refusals and he also ignored Pyrrha's own signals of being interested. Eventually, her infatuation faded. While she still considered Jaune a dear friend, that was all he was then. A friend. What was that saying? Burn half as long but twice as bright?
It also didn't help that the initial spark came because he was the first person who didn't seem to know that she was the Invincible Girl. It was refreshing after so many years in Pharos and the tournament circuit. Of course, it turned out that seemingly no one at Beacon seemed to be aware of her fame. No one apart from Weiss, which explained their rather...strained first impression a year ago. The rest of team RWBY and JNPR treated her as if she was just Pyrrha, which was just grand. But it also meant that initial spark didn't feel quite as memorable and lasting.
Honestly, it was more annoying that people seemed to think she was a perpetually pining maiden. Even now, Ruby still gave her these pitying looks and sympathetic shoulder squeezes. Any attempt to tell them that she was not, in fact, pining and crying herself to sleep was met with pitying sighs and reassurances. At this point, she just stopped correcting people. Even WEISS thought she was still pining after Jaune. So much for that Schnee intelligence.
But the worst part of all this? Cinder.
She was already...off. She cackled to herself when she thought no one was listening (they were), she talked about how soon "they'd all fall", and she had these evil little smiles that showed up as soon as Jaune looked away. If the woman thought she was being subtle, she was sorely mistaken. Still, Pyrrha did her best to give her the benefit of the doubt. Jaune was clearly happy with her and she cared about his happiness since he was her partner and friend.
And then Cinder started pushing her buttons.
It started off subtle at first. Jaune started coming late into their training sessions. "Busy with Cindy" was the reason he'd always use. The first few times, she brushed it off. A new relationship, she told herself. He'd get better. He was still determined to be a Huntsman.
But the slacking attitude continued for weeks. Sometimes he'd skip training sessions altogether and it took everything she had to not slap him upside the head and remind him that he NEEDED to train. Cinder might've fallen for Jaune, but Professor Goodwitch didn't and she wasn't gonna accept "I was on a date with my Volcanic Goddess" as a reason for Cardin kicking his teeth in. Again.
It was both professional and personal. Personal because Jaune was her friend and she knew he could succeed, professional because Jaune was technically her pupil and any failure on his part reflected badly on her. It was a mindset she inherited from her own mentor.
Plus, she was spending her own time to train him. It was rather annoying when it felt like her time was being wasted.
The worst part was that Cinder seemed to relish in it. Whenever Jaune wasn't looking, she gave Pyrrha these smug little smirks like she just won some great victory. Pyrrha was used to people being antagonistc. Her fame and reputation meant that many had assumptions of about her before they even met. Assumptions about her being a snob, a fraud, a fame-hungry diva. Then they'd use it to justify hating and acting hostile towards her. She learned to get a thick skin and ignore irrational hate.
But something about Cinder just pissed her off. That cocky little smile, the barbed comments, the little twinkle in her eye. She wanted to throw Miló straight through her throat.
Pyrrha was in a foul mood as she readied herself for her and Jaune's training session. Another one he had a 50/50 chance of being late to or just outright skipping. Or it would've been if Pyrrha hadn't been more insistent. Jaune was many things - kind, oblivious, determined, prideful, caring - but he was never deliberately cruel. Reminding him that she was spending her own time to help him seemed to have knocked him out of whatever love drunk stupor Cinder put him in, at least for now.
"I'm really sorry again, Pyr," Jaune said as they walked towards the training room.
"It's fine," she said, giving him a comforting smile. It wasn't fine, but she was willing to let bygones be bygones even though she was still annoyed at Cinder, "But we'll need to train more to make up for the...deficiencies," she said diplomatically. She knew better than anyone that apathy was death when it came to training and exercise. The more you skipped and stopped, the more you started justifying more and more excuses. "Just a break," people say to themselves while cheat days become cheat weeks.
They rounded the corner to the training room and Pyrrha's mood got even worse when she saw Cinder leaning against the wall wearing that ridiculous outfit of hers. Who wore bandages in place of a bra? "Jauney~" Cinder cooed. Jaune's expression brightened and the two embraced, "I've been looking all over for you, stud muffin." Pyrrha's right hand clenched. She knew that tone, "I got tickets for that movie you wanted to see. Huntsman vs the Red Huntress. It'll be showing in an hour."
"An hour? Like, the next hour?"
"Of course, silly." She booped him on the nose. Somehow, Pyrrha could feel Nora screaming in a rage, "I know how much you were looking forward to it, so I got us front row seats. Plus I rented the whole theather. Just the two of us for some...mmm, private time." Pyrrha's eye twitched. She was right there and Cinder was treating her like wallpaper.
"Ahem, Jaune?" she cut in sweetly, "Don't forget that we have training for the next four hours. You've been slacking off lately."
"R-Right..." Jaune shook his head and gave Cinder and apologetic smile, "Sorry, Cindy, but I can't. I've been a real jerk to Pyrrha lately and that's not okay. She's been helping me out a lot. Maybe some other time?"
Cinder's frozen smile brought Pyrrha more glee than she wanted to admit, "Of course, honey bear. Always." She grabbed the sides of his face with both hands and pulled him into a deep melted into the kiss while Cinder...her eyes remained lock on Pyrrha's Gold eyes met green as Cinder shoved her tongue inside like she was staking a claim to Jaune's mouth. Pyrrha grit her teeth and forced herself to say nothing as Cinder moaned shamelessly before finally - slowly - pulling back from a dazed Jaune.
"How...sweet," Pyrrha's words were sharp enough to cut glass.
"Just giving my precious knight some motivation."
"Hm." She tapped Jaune's shoulder, "Jaune, could you set up the training room please? I want to talk with Cinder for a bit."
"Sure, Pyr..." Jaune walked inside in a daze, closing the door behind him. As soon as he was gone, the atmosphere around the two women turned glacial. The charming smile disappeared from Cinder's face, replaced with a chilling glare that would've frozen an Ursa.
And Pyrrha...did not apologize. Instead, she crossed her arms and glared back at the woman.
"I know what you're doing," Cinder hissed.
"I'm training Jaune-"
"You're trying to steal him from me," Cinder said, stepping closer till they were just a couple of feet away from each other. The older woman's eyes burned with fire and Pyrrha felt her Polarity flaring, ready to grab every locker in the hallway and smash them into that damn face, "I know all about your little crush. Invincible Girl thinks she can have whatever she wants because she can never lose." She chuckled. It was completely devoid of warmth.
"I don't have a crush on Jaune." Not anymore, though she didn't say that part out loud.
"Liar." Cinder hissed, "I see the way you look at him."
"He's my friend, I-"
"I see how jealous you get when we're together." Pyrrha blinked. Was that why Cinder insisted on those public displays of affection? Because she thoight that she was making her jealous? Pyrrha almost laughed at the absurdity of it, "It must burn you up inside"
"...You're crazy." Pyrrha shook her head and turned to the door.
"Maybe I should train him then." The words made something inside Pyrrha snap. It took everything she had to not turn every piece of metal in the hallway into jagged spears aimed right at her eyes, "I'm sure I could do better than a glorified tournament fighter. I've had to fight to survive while you were handed everything."
"You don't know anything about me, Cinder."
Her next laugh was just as cold and even more cruel, "I know exactly what kind of persion you are. I'll talk to Jaune about training him. I'm sure he'll be happy to have his schnookie bear training him instead of some immature girl with a crush."
"Are you quite sure about that?" Pyrrha looked back, her smile just as cold. She was done giving Cinder the benefit of the doubt, "Because I think you'll find that Jaune understands that I know him better than his precious firebug." Gods, these nicknames... "I've been training him for a year. I've set the pace and know his strengths and weaknesses. What are you going to do? Teach him how to use his tongue better?"
Pyrrha felt her heart ringing in her ears. For years she'd always been the polite one. The one who turned the other cheek. But now? Now she was done.
Cinder's face went into an interesting shade of purple while her eyes burned. For a moment, Pyrrha thought she'd fight here then and there. Instead, the other Huntress-in-training sneered and walked away, her body practically vibrating with anger and power. Pyrrha watched her go and released a breath she didn't even know she was holding. It wasn't fear she felt, more...intensity? It was the same feeling she had when she found a particularly distasteful opponent in the arena and she wanted to wipe the floor with them.
She looked at the door leading to the training room and suddenly felt a plan forming. A devious one. Cinder seemed so certain that Jaune was her's. How would she react if her certainty was punctured? She could almost see it now. The raging tantrum, the screams, the cries about how it wasn't fair. And Pyrrha...
She would not be sorry.
Pyrrha took a deep breath. Of course, she wouldn't forcefully take Jaune from her. That would be wrong...but what if he chose her of his own free will? Decided she was a better partner than Cinder? She didn't have her desparate crush on Jaune anymore, but the idea of dating him was...well, it was still appealing. Jaune was still charming, and he was becoming more attractive thanks to their training. She would've been happy to date him if he chose to ask her out.
And the look on Cinder's face...
She smiled softly and looked down at her attire. A basic t-shirt and jogging pants since today was about physical fitness. Almost unconsciously, she lifted the hem of the shirt and tied it till it was just under her chest. The firm abs lining her stomach were exposed to the open air and the tight knot only emphasized her...assets. Pyrrha was never shy about her body. She knew she was attractive and didn't see the point of pretending otherwise. She just didn't flaunt it. Her armor was because of her agent's suggestions. Otherwise, she preferred casual clothes like Jaune.
Perhaps it was time to change that.
"Alright, Jaune. Time for training," she said as she stepped inside. Jaune's eyes flicked down to her exposed midriff before focusing back on her face. It was more surprise than anything, but she still felt a little flutter in her stomach, "I think we should refresh our memory about sword forms." She walked behind him and placed her hands on his arms, gently guiding him while making sure to press herself against his back.
Pyrrha had never lost, and she had no intention of starting now.