Ever Happened

It was supposed to be another standard group study session.

Weiss Schnee had already mentally prepared herself for handling Jaune Arc’s incompetence.

After all, history dictated that Jaune would somehow make it a gag.

But then… he didn’t.

And that was baffling.

It had started with Professor Oobleck’s class, where he had randomly assigned Jaune, Pyrrha, and Weiss as a study group for the next research paper.

Which, naturally, Weiss was already protesting.

“Professor, I truly think it would be better if someone else—“

“Schnee!” Oobleck interrupted, practically vibrating. “Teams must learn to collaborate in unpredictable situations! Now, off you go! Study! Research! Expand your minds!“

And before she could argue further, the professor zoomed away.

Weiss let out an exasperated sigh, rubbing her temples. “Of all people, why was Jaune assigned as the study leader—“

“Let’s do it,” Jaune said flatly.

Weiss froze mid-complaint.

She turned, blinking at him. “What?“

Jaune, standing next to her with his hands in his pockets, gave her the most disinterested look she had ever seen. “You’re gonna complain about me being assigned leader, right? Fine. Get it out of your system. Then let’s get started.“

Weiss blinked again.

Pyrrha, standing awkwardly beside them, let out a small, nervous laugh. “Jaune?“

“What?” He was already flipping through the assignment materials.

Weiss opened her mouth—then closed it.

Because…

Jaune didn’t sound defensive.

He didn’t sound bothered.

He just… didn’t care.

“You’re not going to try to convince me you’re capable?” Weiss asked, still somewhat baffled.

Jaune raised an eyebrow. “If you think I’m not, that’s your problem. We have stuff to do.“

Weiss stared.

Pyrrha also stared.

Jaune, completely ignoring their confusion, picked up every material they needed and walked off toward a study table. “Let’s go.“

Pyrrha shot Weiss a look, giving a confused shrug before following him.

Weiss stood there for a moment, processing.

Then, wordlessly, she followed too.

Jaune…

Was taking notes.

Like a normal student.

Not just pretending to take notes, he was actually listening.

Writing things down.

Flipping through books.

Occasionally glancing up to ask Pyrrha and Weiss for their thoughts on certain points.

Like an actual leader.

Weiss was baffled beyond belief.

Pyrrha, bless her heart, was also struggling.

“Jaune, you’re, um…” Pyrrha laughed awkwardly. “You’re taking this seriously.“

Jaune, calmly reading, nodded. “Yeah? It’s a study session. What else would I be doing?“

“I mean…” Pyrrha fumbled for words.

“It’s just…“ Weiss added, trying to phrase it properly.

Jaune set his pen down and looked at them. “Did you two actually expect me to be fool around with this? It’ll be our grades at stake here!“

Silence.

Weiss and Pyrrha shared a look.

Pyrrha, being Pyrrha, tried to save face. “No! I mean, it’s just different from—“

“Yes,” Weiss interrupted. “Yes, we expected that.“

Jaune sighed. “Okay, fair. But seriously, can we just work?“

Pyrrha nodded immediately. “Yes! Of course!“

Weiss hesitated…

Then slowly sat back down.

Because, truth be told…

Jaune was doing just fine.

And for the first time, she had no reason to argue.

Somewhere along the way, Weiss forgot she had an issue with Jaune being the study leader.

It wasn’t that he was ordering them around—he wasn’t.

He just… naturally kept them on task.

Pyrrha would make a suggestion, and Jaune would take notes on it without question.

Weiss would correct something, and Jaune would adjust accordingly without arguing.

If there was a disagreement, Jaune would calmly find a middle ground.

And…

It worked.

It worked so well that Weiss didn’t even realize she had stopped caring about who was leading.

Because Jaune was leading.

And he was good at it.

Weiss hated how natural it felt.

Pyrrha, sensing her hesitation, nudged her. “Weiss?“

Weiss blinked, realizing she had been staring. “Huh?“

“You stopped arguing with Jaune.“

Weiss scowled immediately. “I was never arguing with him!“

Jaune didn’t even look up from his notes. “You totally were.“

Weiss glared. “Do you want me to start again?“

Jaune smirked. “Nope.“

Weiss huffed. “Good.“

Pyrrha just giggled.

Jaune kept working.

Weiss, somehow, just went along with it.

And that was the most baffling thing of all to their friends.

Jaune Arc had given many presentations in his time in Beacon.

Most of them were disasters.

But this one? This one was different.

For one, Weiss wasn’t insulting him every five seconds.

For another, Pyrrha wasn’t awkwardly covering for him.

And, most importantly—

He actually knew what he was talking about.

“Alright,” Jaune said, standing at the front of the classroom. “For our research, we analyzed the economic effects of large-scale Dust production in Atlas, with a focus on Schnee Dust Company operations and their influence on the market.“

Weiss nodded, adding, “We compared past records to the current policies and production trends, cross-referencing export data from Mistral and Vale.“

Pyrrha, smiling as she adjusted her notes, continued, “And finally, we looked at how trade agreements were affected by these shifts, especially post-war relations.“

Oobleck nodded approvingly. “Excellent work! Proceed!“

Jaune glanced at Weiss before continuing. “So, as Schnee explained—“

“Shut it,” Weiss interrupted immediately in a quiet voice. “Like I said, just call me Weiss.“

Jaune paused.

Blinking, he gave her a slow nod. “Alright. Weiss it is.“

He continued like nothing happened, completely unfazed.

Weiss did not make a big deal out of it.

Pyrrha, beside them, simply smiled knowingly.

The presentation went smoothly, better than any of them expected.

They wrapped up with their final points, and Jaune, standing in front of the entire class, straightened slightly before looking at both of them.

“Thanks,” he said, formally, genuinely. “I appreciate both of you helping with this.“

It was such a simple statement, said so naturally, that neither Pyrrha nor Weiss reacted much.

They just nodded.

The rest of the class, however?

Absolutely weirded out.

The moment class ended, Jaune, Weiss, and Pyrrha returned to their seats, completely at ease.

Meanwhile—

Across the room—

Ruby, Yang, and Nora were staring.

“Okay,” Ruby muttered, watching Jaune sit back down like a normal person. “What the actual hell was that?“

Yang, arms crossed, narrowed her eyes. “Yeah it was weird.“

“I know!” Ruby whispered aggressively. “He sounded all…smart! And serious!“

“And polite!” Yang added. “He thanked them! Like, properly!“

Nora, bizarrely quiet, just squinted at Jaune.

Something was wrong.

Something had changed.

Jaune Arc was not supposed to be this normal.

And they did not know how to handle it.

For a solid hour, Jaune Arc had been normal.

Too normal.

So normal that Weiss, Pyrrha, and the entire class had almost started to believe that this was just who he was now.

Then it happened.

“Man, I’m starving,” Jaune groaned, stretching in his chair. “I could eat a whole plate of—actually, no, wait, I’d probably mess that up too.“

Weiss, still organizing her notes, paused. “Mess up what?“

Jaune grinned sheepishly. “Oh, y’know. Just… some of the points.“

Weiss frowned. “What points?“

Jaune tapped his chin. “The one you made about Dust monopolies? Kinda changed that a little.“

Weiss narrowed her eyes. “Changed what, exactly?“

Jaune scratched his head. “Uhhh, the whole ‘external tariffs’ thing? Kind of made that irrelevant.“

Weiss’s eyes twitched. “Excuse me?“

Jaune pointed directly at one of her main arguments. “Yeah, this part right here? Kinda undercut itself. But I figured you wouldn’t wanna hear that mid-presentation.“

Weiss’s brain stalled. “You— what?!“

“It’s fine!“ Jaune waved her off. “It still sounded smart! The Professor said it was good!“

“That is NOT the point!” Weiss snapped, turning fully toward him. “Why didn’t you tell me sooner?!“

Jaune laughed, leaning back in his seat. “I dunno, it was kinda funny?“

Weiss’s outrage grew. “Kind of FUNNY?!—“

Jaune, seeing danger approaching, threw up a quick hand sign toward Ren.

Ren, completely unfazed, returned the exact same gang sign.

Across the room—

A group of second-year boys immediately responded with the same sign.

Blake, watching from the corner, narrowed her eyes.

“Wait a minute,” she muttered. “What the hell was that?“

Jaune, sensing imminent death-by-Weiss, immediately stood up. “Welp! This was fun Snow Angel! Gotta go!“

“DON’T YOU DARE RUN, ARC—!“

Jaune ran.

Weiss chased.

Ren sipped his tea. “Unfortunate.“

Blake, still watching the second-year boys, grew even more suspicious. “What. Was. That.“

The second-years refused to speak.

Jaune, meanwhile, was halfway across Beacon by the time Weiss stopped screaming.

Jaune Arc had many titles that many knew.

Leader of Team JNPR.

Vomit Boy (according to Yang).

Beacon’s resident idiot (according to Weiss).

Occasionally, a competent fighter (according to Pyrrha).

The Pyrrha Nikos Fan Club’s #1 enemy (according to anonymous boys and girls).

And, most importantly—

Unofficial Founder of the Cabin Club.

What had started as a simple hangout had evolved into something much bigger.

First, it was just Jaune, Ren, and a handful of second-years.

Then it expanded.

Now?

Now, the Cabin Club had multiple branches scattered throughout the Emerald Forest.

First-years, second-years, even some third-years were involved.

And today, the entire club was mobilized for a mission.

Jaune and the boys were ducking under the back of Beacon, slipping through the shadows like a group of questionable delinquents.

Ren landed quietly beside them, completely unbothered by the chaos he was actively enabling. “Is everything in position?“

Jaune grinned, glancing at the second-years. “We good?“

One of the third-years nodded. “Everyone’s set.“

Jaune pumped a fist. “Alright, let’s do this!“

They moved into position, the exchange students included (because somehow, even the foreign students were dragged into this nonsense).

And then—

At the center of it all—

One of their own stood, looking like some knock-off Prince Charming, petals floating in the air, the setting sun casting the perfect glow behind him.

It was stupidly dramatic.

And somehow…

Weirdly romantic.

The target of his confession, one of the first-year girls, blushed furiously, caught completely off guard.

Then, after a painfully long pause—

There was a hug.

And then—

A hand sign of success.

The moment the sign was given, the Cabin Club erupted in cheers.

“HE DID IT!“

“THAT’S OUR BOY!“

“WELCOME TO THE CABIN CLUB ROMANTIC DIVISION!“

Jaune, standing with his arms crossed, nodded proudly. “And that, gentlemen, is how it’s done.“

The newly confessed couple shared another hug, the girl still confused about the sheer number of people secretly 'supporting' the confession.

And then—

Jaune grinned and clapped his hands and rubbing it.

“Alright, and we got the Lien too!“

Ren sighed. “Of course we did.“

One of the first-years handed Jaune a stack of Lien, grinning. “Called it, boss! We bet on the confession going well!“

Jaune laughed, stuffing the Lien into his pocket. “Hell yeah. Drinks are on us tonight!“

The Cabin Club cheered louder.

Ren, still eerily calm, took another sigh “I refuse to acknowledge the legality of this.“

Jaune just winked at him. “Too late, Ren. We’re already criminals of fun.“

Ren sighed again.

Blake, standing at a distance, watching everything unfold, narrowed her eyes suspiciously.

“What the hell did I just witness?“

The Cabin Club, as always, refused to answer.

Dispersing before the Headmistress found them.