Ruby was practically bouncing off the walls with joy as she walked down the hallway, her enthusiasm a stark contrast to Jaune, who trudged along beside her.
"Come on Jaune! Isn't this exciting?! Our first leadership class!" Ruby exclaimed, her voice brimming with excitement.
Jaune sighed.
"I know... Sorry Ruby, but given how hard everything else is? I'm not feeling the enthusiasm."
Ruby tilted her head, undeterred. "Aw, come on Jaune! This is awesome! We're our team leaders! And yeah, you kind of suck at, well, a lot of stuff-"
"Thanks," Jaune deadpanned. Ruby winced and then continued.
"-But you're good at leadership! Come on! Be happy! For me?" She let loose her puppy dog eyes.
Jaune let out another sigh and then shrugged.
"I'll try."
"YAY!" Ruby beamed, and Jaune couldn't help a little smile at that.
They reached the classroom where Professor Ozpin awaited them. Cardin, already inside, winced upon seeing Jaune, who scowled back. With a sigh, Cardin gestured to two seats beside him. Ruby blinked.
"Eh? Hey, what's your deal?"
"I'm trying to be nice, pipsqueak. You got a problem with that?" Cardin replied gruffly.
Ruby shook her head and shrugged.
"No! I guess? And I'm not a pipsqueak! I'm drinking my milk!"
"Thanks Cardin," Jaune offered quietly, as they took their seats.
Ozpin looked around gravely before he addressed the room.
"Good of you all to join us. Simin Magister, as the leader of team SLVR and one of our senior teacher's assistants, I leave the rest to you. I have other matters to attend to."
Why'd he bother to come if that's all he was going to say? Almost everyone thought.
With that, he exited, and a handsome young man with dark red hair, tanned skin, and a long gray jacket stepped forward, smiling warmly.
"It's great to see so many new faces," Simin began. "Now, leadership of a team is more than just keeping it together in the field and fighting. There's a lot of hard work off the field too."
Ruby perked up immediately.
"Ooh! Ooh! Like training?"
Simin nodded.
"That is also important... But more important? Is paperwork."
Ruby's jaw dropped.
"Paperwork?!" She gasped.
Simin smiled in nostalgia.
"Yep! As team leaders you must account for your team's stores of supplies, types of supplies, finances, training room time, medical condition, and many other things! You must also demonstrate your ability to write mission reports and convey information properly that other Huntsmen, the police, the military and other organizations use when it comes to Grimm, the ground of your missions, and damages you cause or others inflict."
Ruby faltered, but quickly rallied with a smile.
"Well... Um... I-I'm sure it can't be that bad to start, right?"
Simin beamed, his teeth shining like knives.
"That's the spirit!"
Moments later, Simin dumped several large stacks of paperwork onto the leaders' desks. Ruby gaped.
"Wait, actual paperwork?!" She cried.
Simin grinned.
"It's so you can get used to the digital stuff later. Trust me, it will be a breeze after this!"
Ruby slumped, her face slamming into the stack with a moan. Jaune chuckled and patted her on the shoulder.
"Living the dream, huh?" Jaune asked.
Ruby moaned louder.
Hours passed, and Cardin grumbled as he filled out another sheet.
"Geez... I thought helping dad with his campaign finances was bad..." Next to him, Ruby, her eyes spinning, cried out in despair.
"Wha... What's an index?! WHAT'S A LEDGER?! WHAT IS ALL THIS?!" She slammed her face into the stack again and moaned, then glanced to her right at Jaune.
"Jaune? You okay there budd-?"
To her shock, Jaune was already up, handing his completed paperwork to Simin.
"Wha-He's already done?!" Ruby stammered. Cardin's jaw dropped.
"No way... It can't all be done properly-!"
Simin flipped through the stack before nodding in approval.
"Very good, Mister Arc! Everything checks out! You can relax until everyone else is done."
Jaune smiled, "Thanks, Mister Magister!" and returned to sit beside Ruby. He then looked over at her and Cardin, who both stared at him in utter disbelief.
"What?" Jaune asked innocently.
"Wha-How did you get all that done so fast and correctly?!" Ruby demanded.
Jaune shrugged, looking a bit proud.
"Well, I had to help my mom with paperwork at the hospital, help my dad with paperwork at the militia, help my sisters with paperwork for various reasons, did some accounting for my great-grandpa's restaurant..." He shrugged, "In comparison, this isn't too hard! Plus, Nora has to ask me for more money for Dust and she has to get the proportions just right, so she's pretty good at keeping track of things. Pyrrha buys most of her own stuff but she still reports it to me, and Ren is very good at math too. So, we're pretty set."
Ruby's soul seemed to droop and drag her down with it at every word.
"Oh… Oh…"
Jaune smiled and patted her shoulder encouragingly.
"I'm sure you can get it too, Ruby! I mean, Weiss is rich: She must know something about business? And Yang was like your mom so she has to know finances? And Blake... Um..."
Ruby nodded weakly, "Y-Yeah... I'm sure they'll be fine... Totally fine...!"
Cardin spoke up at last, his face very serious.
"Jauney-boy? I take back every bad thing I ever said about you. Mind helping me out? My team will train with yours... I'll carry your books? Set you up with my hot sister?!"
Coco Adel leaned over from the desk behind them, adjusting her glasses with an eager grin.
"Like hell he will! Arc, you help me out and I'll let you take Bun-Bun on a date! And I'll make sure she's extra sexy for you!" Jaune laughed a bit nervously and held his hands up.
"It's just paperwork, guys. Don't be so melodramatic. But! I will help you all out... If!"
"I get Weiss to go out with you?!" Ruby guessed eagerly.
Jaune flustered.
"What?! No! I want to do that myself! I know I'm wearing her down!"
"Ummm," Ruby coughed, "Er, well…"
"Should have offered her your sister, she's much hotter," Coco suggested.
"Look," Jaune interrupted, "I'll just ask that we all be friends. And I get some help with the stuff I'm not good at when it comes to Hunting."
Coco smirked.
"So... Everything then?"
Jaune winced, and slowly nodded. There was a hint of pride in his eyes though.
"... Yeah... Except for this."
Coco hummed and then nodded.
"Sounds fair."
"Seriously, offering him your teammate?" Cardin muttered.
"What? She's got a thing for big, dumb galoots!," Coco countered, lowering her shades at Cardin, "Maybe if you weren't a racist on top of that, I'd have set you two up!"
Cardin blushed.
"I-I would never be interested in her! N-Never! I don't think she has pretty eyes either!"
Much staring. Cardin scowled.
"I didn't say that!"
Ruby hummed.
"Well... I guess it's nice to have more friends who are as awkward as us."
"I am not awkward," Cardin grumbled. Jaune chuckled.
"Yeah, see? We're socializing more already!"
Ruby beamed at her best friend.
"Yeah! I... I think this is gonna turn out just fine!"
And then the fight with the White Fang at the Wharves happened...
The next day, after Teams RWBY and JNPR had battled White Fang at the docks, Ruby looked like death warmed over in the Leadership classroom. Jaune also appeared tired but manageable. Cardin and Coco joined them, taking seats nearby. Cardin gave them a wry look.
"Geez, you look pretty bad, Pipsqueak."
Ruby moaned and slammed her face into her Scroll,
"So. Much. Paperwork... And Professor Goodwitch put it all on me! Jaune's not allowed to help!"
Jaune rubbed the back of his head.
"I mean... I did call the police before we went in, so I guess she let me off easy?"
Ruby groaned. Coco patted her shoulder with a consoling smile.
"There there. Hey, at the very least, you stopped some terrorists and didn't get expelled."
"I hate Blake so muuuuuch," Ruby moaned. She then winced. "Don't tell her I said that."
Cardin raised an eyebrow.
"What, she got a thing against Faunus or something? Weird given she is one."
Ruby jerked upright, staring in horror.
"Wait what?! You know-?!"
"Well duh. Her bow twitches. She's hiding her ears," Cardin stated flatly.
"Yeah, she really needs to get better about that," Coco observed, "And that bow is so last year."
Ruby looked between them in disbelief.
"But-But why haven't you-?!"
"What, she wants to hide who she is with a cheap accessory? I'm not gonna call her on it," Coco said with a shrug. Ruby looked over at Cardin.
"And why haven't you-?!"
"Bullied her?" Cardin coughed, "I mean... Um... I stopped doing that anyway and..."
"She would kick your ass," Jaune deadpanned. Cardin scowled.
"Hey! She'd kick your ass too!"
Jaune nodded, looking just the tiniest bit smug. "I know."
Simin arrived, stepped up to the front, and began the class.
"This time, we're going to introduce the concept of tactical planning," he announced. "Now, while you are in charge of four-person teams, there are Hunter operations that can require much larger groups. As well as operations where you cooperate with law enforcement or military forces. As a result, you need to learn how to manage not just your teams, but how to work with other kinds of forces. No one person can defeat every enemy all on their own: That is why we work together, and figuring out how to work together is critical to protecting people and not losing your team to injury or worse."
He avoided looking at Ruby, but she winced nonetheless. Simin continued.
"As such, I'm putting each of you into groups of four and will hand you a tactical scenario. You will come up with a battle plan and then present it to the class next time. Rose, Arc, Winchester, Adel, you're first."
The team leaders split into their groups. Jaune, Ruby, Cardin, and Coco were assigned an urban combat scenario where they had rescued a Person of Interest and were holding out in a warehouse dock area until a Bullhead could extract them.
"So we're defenders then? That's new," Cardin observed. Coco looked it over, humming thoughtfully,
"Right... We stop these guys from getting our hostage until our ride gets here. Okay, fixed defense it is."
Cardin frowned and leaned over the desk on his elbow.
"What, just hide behind crates and shoot?"
"It works just fine for my team!" Coco retorted, lowering her ever present sunglasses in irritation.
"Yeah, because you have a minigun!" Cardin snapped. Coco shrugged.
"So?"
Ruby looked discouraged, but Jaune smiled and elbowed her gently. He smiled warmly.
"Mobile defense would take the most advantage of all four of our teams," he suggested. "Pyrrha, Nora, Yang, Fox, Weiss, Russel, Dove and Ruby are all very mobile. We'd want to use that."
Ruby brightened, as Coco and Cardin both turned from their argument towards them. She knew what she had to do here: Support her bestie and fellow leader.
"Y-Yeah... Fox is held in support with his telepathy Semblance. I can zip around and keep fire on them as a skirmisher, with Weiss supporting me!"
Cardin frowned, his anger forgotten as he considered things. He then gave Ruby a snort.
"Yeah, but one hit and you're down, Pipsqueak." Ruby pouted.
"Nuh uh!"
"Not one hit, Ruby," Jaune clarified, "but you can't take as much punishment as a tank. Besides, you're better supporting Ren and Blake, who would do recon and skirmishing to stack up and harass the enemy force as they entered the area. Weiss could become more engaged as they got in further and provide obstacles to further stack them up, while also skirmishing with you."
Coco nodded, a smile growing on her face.
"Right. Nikos and Xiao-Long could give them more punch."
Jaune shook his head.
"Except Pyrrha and Yang are our overall strongest fighters. We'd want to hold them in reserve. We'd split our forces into two main groups: Fixed and Strike. Fixed would defend the Person of Interest and act as the main objective the attackers strive for. Strike would at first engage and harass the enemy to help the lure while reducing their strength while they head for their objective…" He pointed at the map of the warehouse area in the scenario,
"Then when they're fully engaged with Fixed, we bring in Pyrrha, Yang and Nora with the rest of Strike to counterattack. And Coco with Velvet? You can rain hell on them to take 'em out while Cardin, Yatsuhashi, and me keep them pinned"
Cardin hummed, looking it over and thinking it through.
"Hmm... Yatsuhashi, me, and Jaune as the heavy shield part of Fixed, with Shades here as fire support. It would work pretty well."
Coco grinned and shrugged.
"Well, you meat shields would definitely make my job easier. Still, Xiao-Long's not very patient." Ruby winced, feeling the urge to defend her sister… And then discarding it.
"Yeah, she has a tendency to be impulsive... Blake too," she grumbled.
"We might need to pair them with minders," Coco suggested, "Or, maybe keep Yang on the Fixed Team? Her Semblance gets more powerful the more she's hit."
Jaune and Ruby looked at eachother, and then at Cardin. He nodded back, and Jaune smiled.
"Could work, and between us we could keep her focused. Russel might be good support for Weiss since he's also Dust focused, but he's tougher than her."
Cardin chuckled, "He'll be happy you said that."
Ruby was already imagining prim and proper Weiss dealing with foul mouthed, hot blooded Russel. She fought down a giggle, and got her focus back on the task at hand.
"What about Sky? What's his semblance?"
Cardin sighed.
"... He can perfectly imitate anyone or anything's sound."
Ruby gaped, as did Coco. The little reaper was the first to speak.
"Wha-Seriously?"
"Yup," Cardin stated.
Ruby grinned.
"That's so cool!"
"Yeah, not so much after the first hundred times," Cardin muttered. Louder, he said, "But, we could use him in Strike as a distraction and harasser, and support for Belladonna and Ren."
Jaune nodded, pulling out a stylus to mark areas on the map.
"Right... Let's establish the engagement areas too. We'd need to make some open areas to maximize line of fire..."
"We could just go higher on these crates for line of fire!" Ruby grinned, then faltered in realization, "But that would expose us... Urgh..."
Coco pointed with a finely manicured nail and a smile at the map.
"Hence the mobile defense part. By the way, who does your nails?"
"Me! And not Yang! Totally not her, I do it myself!" Ruby insisted.
"I see," Coco hummed, and looked over at Jaune's hands, "And who did yours?"
"My sisters," Jaune stated flatly.
"Sisters? Plural?" Cardin asked, "How many?"
"Seven," Jaune sighed. Cardin winced.
"No wonder you uh… You were crazy enough to join this school."
"But with very nice cuticles," Coco complimented him.
"That will totally help fighting the Grimm," Jaune deadpanned.
"Sure they will! … What are cuticles anyway?" Ruby asked.
Simin smiled faintly as he watched Cardin, Jaune, Ruby, and Coco collaborate.
Perhaps there's hope for them yet, he thought.
Then Cardin slammed a hand down on the table.
"HEY! All I'm saying is that if the Person of Interest is a hot girl, I should get the kiss at the end!"
Coco laughed.
"HA! She happens to have actual taste! So she'd kiss me instead!"
Jaune groaned.
"How did we even get on this topic?!"
Ruby let out a weary groan.
"Why do we need kissing at all? I bet it's yucky!"
Simin chuckled to himself. He was only a few years older than these students, and yet, it felt very long ago.
"Ah, youth..."