Their Own Sides
Jaune Arc had seen Weiss Schnee worked up before.
But this?
This was something else.
She sat across from him, arms crossed, brow furrowed, foot tapping against the floor with increasing intensity.
Her expression was a perfect mix of frustration, stress, and something dangerously close to panic.
Jaune, leaning back in his chair, raised an eyebrow. “Alright, Weiss. What’s up?”
Weiss inhaled sharply.
Then, with all the seriousness of a military general briefing her troops—
“We have a mission.”
Jaune blinked. “Yeah. So?”
Weiss’ expression tightened.
“So? So?!”
And then she began ranting.
“This isn’t just any mission, Jaune!” Weiss exclaimed, gesturing wildly.
“This could be dangerous! What if someone gets injured? What if you get injured? What if the Grimm overwhelms us? What if we don’t have enough support? What if we—”
Jaune, holding up a hand, sighed. “Weiss. Breathe.”
Weiss ignored him.
“And worse, what if Ruby gets reckless? What if Yang and Blake get reckless?! What if Nora gets reckless?”
Jaune exhaled. “Okay, now that one’s fair.”
Weiss kept going.
“We’re not just playing around, Jaune! This isn’t some casual sparring match! We could get ambushed! Injured! What if—”
Jaune picked up a pencil from the table.
And threw it at her.
Weiss caught the pencil between two fingers, mid-rant.
Then slowly, deliberately—
She threw it back at him.
Jaune caught it.
Then, without hesitation—
He threw it back.
Weiss caught it again.
They sat there, silently tossing the pencil back and forth, Jaune looking smug, Weiss looking mildly irritated but playing along.
Minutes passed.
Weiss, eventually, exhaled, wiping her face, calming down.
She leaned back, watching the students pass by, her fingers drumming against the table.
Jaune smirked. “See? You’re calm now.”
Weiss sighed. “I despise your ways sometime.”
Jaune grinned. “I know. But it works.”
As the students walked by, whispering, glancing toward them, Jaune couldn’t help but laugh.
“At this rate,” he joked, “we’re making it really clear we’re kinda… well, together.”
Weiss raised an eyebrow.
Then in the most chilling, casual tone imaginable—
“Why is that even a question?”
Jaune froze.
The air shifted.
Weiss’ eyes darkened slightly, the light in them fading just a little too much.
Then, with a soft smile that somehow felt dangerous—
She tilted her head slightly.
“…Jaune,” she murmured, voice unnervingly smooth, almost sweet.
“You’re mine.”
Jaune blinked. “Uh.”
“And I’m yours.”
“…Okay?”
Weiss leaned forward slightly, fingers tapping against the table.
“So tell me,” she continued, her smile just a bit too sharp.
“Who exactly thinks they can change that?”
Jaune, now mildly terrified, cleared his throat. “Uh. No one?”
Weiss nodded, satisfied.
“Good.”
Jaune exhaled, running a hand through his hair.
Weiss leaned back in her chair, arms loosely folded, watching the students pass by with mild disinterest.
“And besides, being formerly dead made me have a zero care about who’s gossiping,” she said flatly.
Jaune set his cup down, tapping his fingers against the table.
“...Hey, Weiss.”
Weiss glanced at him.
Jaune hesitated. Then quietly, carefully—
“If I wasn’t me. If I didn’t remember you—”
He looked down at his hands.
“...Would you still try?”
Weiss was silent for a moment.
Then just as quiet, but certain—
“No.”
Jaune blinked.
Weiss sighed, running a hand through her hair.
“Knowing you’re my Jaune makes it okay,” she admitted. “But beyond that? It’s not.”
Jaune watched her carefully.
“...Because they’re different?”
Weiss nodded, expression unreadable.
“I’m not ignorant, Jaune. I know they aren’t our friends.”
She exhaled, fingers tapping against her sleeve.
“They aren’t the ones we traveled continents with.“
She looked at the students again.
“They aren’t the ones we fought beside.“
Her voice lowered.
“They aren’t the ones we bled with.“
Jaune said nothing.
Because she was right.
They both knew it
“But,” Weiss continued, shaking her head slightly, “that doesn’t mean I wouldn’t worry about them.”
Jaune tilted his head slightly.
“...Is that why you’re panicking?”
Weiss exhaled, leaning her chin against her palm.
“Kinda.”
She tapped her fingers against the table, gaze distant.
“Even if they aren’t who we knew…”
Then, with a soft smirk, her usual confidence slipping back into place—
“Doesn’t mean I wouldn’t raise hell for them.“
Jaune chuckled, shaking his head.
“Gods, Weiss. You’re terrifying.”
Weiss smirked.
“And you’re slow for only realizing that now. You do recall I am the sole heiress of a company that is the lifeblood of Remnant, right?”
Weiss then tilted her head, eyes narrowing slightly, her expression shifting into something almost unreadable.
Then, with the softest, most unsettling tone possible—
“Jaune.”
Jaune froze.
“...Yeah?”
Weiss smiled.
“If I wasn’t the Weiss you knew…” she murmured, fingers lightly tapping against the table.
“If I wasn’t your Weiss…”
Her eyes darkened slightly, her smirk eerily sharp.
“Would you try?”
Jaune blinked.
Then, with absolutely no hesitation—
“No.”
Weiss froze.
Then—
“…Excuse me!?”
Jaune blinked again, confused. “What?”
Weiss sat up straighter, now fully glaring.
“You wouldn’t?”
Jaune scratched his cheek. “I mean—no?”
Weiss scoffed, dramatically throwing a hand up.
“Ah, I see!” she huffed, glaring daggers. “So it’s Pyrrha, then!”
Jaune choked on his words. “What?!”
Weiss leaned forward, her aura practically flaring.
“Oh, I get it now! The great Jaune Arc, once again, falling for his precious Pyrrha Nikos!”
Jaune frantically waved his hands. “Weiss, that’s not—”
But Weiss was not done.
“You absolute—IDIOT!” Weiss ranted, jabbing a finger at him.
“You have the audacity to sit there and say you wouldn’t try for me, but I had to suffer through your whole ‘Oh, Weiss, I could never forget you’ speech last night! Liar!”
Jaune, exasperated, groaned. “Weiss—”
“Oh no, I get it,” Weiss continued, dramatically placing a hand on her chest.
“It’s Pyrrha this, Pyrrha that, oh how tragic, oh how noble! The valiant Jaune Arc, forever in mourning for his love!”
Jaune dragged a hand down his face. “That’s not what I said.”
Weiss ignored him.
“And here I was, thinking we had something special, but no!” Weiss exclaimed, throwing her arms up.
Jaune groaned. “Gods, Weiss, calm down.”
“Oh, I will not calm down!” Weiss shot back, pointing an accusing finger at him.
Jaune, leaning back in his chair, sighed.
“…This is why I said no.”
Weiss blinked. “What?”
Jaune smirked, gesturing toward her. “This. Right now. This is why.”
Weiss crossed her arms, huffing. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Jaune grinned.
“Oh, sure. You’re completely sane and not acting unhinged at all.”
Weiss glared. “You’re supposed to say yes!”
Jaune sighed, running a hand through his hair.
“Weiss, come on,” he said, motioning for her to stand.
Weiss, still glowering, hesitated before finally pushing herself up.
Jaune exhaled, placing a hand on his hip.
“It wouldn’t be right to try,” he said plainly. “Considering how… complicated my situation is.”
Weiss rolled her eyes. “You still should have said yes.”
Jaune tilted his head. “But that would be inappropriate!”
“Inappropriate?” Weiss huffed. “Jaune, I would flattered!”
Jaune blinked. “Huh?”
Weiss, gesturing dramatically, continued, “If Pyrrha was here, and you still chose to have a crush on me, then that would mean I was the apple of your eye!”
Jaune stared.
“…I feel like I missed a few steps there.”
Weiss crossed her arms. “You did, but that’s beside the point!”
Jaune sighed, remaining firm. “Look, Weiss, I stand by my answer.”
Weiss was silent for a long moment.
Then—
She smiled.
No—she grinned.
No—she cackled.
Jaune took a step back. “Weiss?”
Weiss’ eyes darkened slightly, the light in them fading just enough to be unsettling.
“Oh, Jaune,” she murmured, her voice almost too sweet.
Jaune tensed. “…Yeah?”
Weiss leaned in just a little.
“If you do try…”
Her lips curled into a smirk—
Then, softly, ominously—
She laughed.
Jaune swallowed.
“…You’re doing that thing again.”
Weiss tilted her head, smirking wider. “What thing, Jaune?”
Jaune, exasperated, sighed. “You know exactly what I mean.”
Weiss just laughed again.
Jaune wasn’t sure whether to be concerned or terrified.
Probably both.
Because Weiss Schnee, in all her elegant, pristine, and sophisticated glory, was looking at him like a predator sizing up its prey.
Her eyes, sharp, cold, yet burning with something possessive, locked onto his with unwavering intensity.
She stepped closer.
Jaune, instinctively, took half a step back.
Weiss smirked.
“Oh, Jaune,” she said softly, almost sweetly.
Jaune gulped. “Yeah?”
Her fingers lightly tapped against the table.
Then with the smoothest, most dangerously affectionate voice imaginable—
“No cheating.”
Jaune froze.
Weiss’ smile widened.
“No. Straying.”
She tilted her head, the light in her eyes flickering dangerously.
“No wandering eyes.”
Jaune, sweating slightly, raised his hands. “Weiss—”
“No hesitation, no second thoughts, no ‘maybe I should try something else’ nonsense.”
Her voice was velvet, wrapping around him like a chain, light, teasing—
But deadly serious.
“Because you, Jaune Arc…”
She leaned in slightly, her smirk turning sharper.
“Are mine.”
Jaune blinked rapidly. “Uh—”
Weiss narrowed her eyes.
“…And I am yours.”
Jaune, heart pounding, exhaled sharply. “Okay. Got it. Loud and clear.”
Weiss smiled again, satisfied.
“Good.”
Jaune sighed, dragging a hand down his face.
“Weiss?”
“Yes, Jaune?”
“…Never do that again.”
Weiss tilted her head. “Do what?”
Jaune groaned. “You know what.”
Weiss smirked.
Jaune rubbed his temples, still recovering from that or whatever prompted this behavior from her.
Weiss, meanwhile, looked completely at ease.
Then, casually, as if she had just forgotten what she had said.
“To be fair,” she mused, twirling a strand of her hair, “if I were a man… who wouldn’t fall in love with Pyrrha?”
Jaune blinked.
Then blinked again.
“…Okay, where did that come from?”
Weiss shrugged. “Just saying. Objectively speaking, she’s the ideal warrior type. Strong, graceful, composed.”
She sighed dramatically.
“And yet… it is still a mystery why she had a crush on a dolt like you.”
Jaune, deadpan, folded his arms. “This is coming from someone who just went full-on ‘No Cheating’ mode not even two minutes ago.”
Weiss shrugged, completely unbothered. “To be fair, it took me a while to be this way.”
Jaune rolled his eyes.
Weiss hummed thoughtfully, examining his face.
“Alright to reinforce my affections,” she said smoothly. “Can you age up a little and give me the best look you have?”
Jaune raised an eyebrow. “Weiss, what? How the hell am I supposed to do that!?”
Weiss waved a hand dismissively. “You heard me. Get older. Let’s see if you can really pull off the ‘mature’ look again.”
Jaune, groaning, shook his head. “We have time for that.”
Weiss paused.
Her playful demeanor faltered, just slightly.
Then, softly—
“…Perhaps we do.”
Jaune stopped.
Because for a split second—
Weiss wasn’t joking anymore.
And something about that hurt more than he wanted to admit.
He exhaled, running a hand through his hair.
“…Yeah,” he said quietly. “Maybe we do.”
Neither of them spoke after that.
For once, neither of them had a word to make.