~Chapter 6:  Manners Maketh Man~

Cardin and Jaune stood on stage donning their armor and weapons as they partake in their combat class. 

Jaune looked to have been worse for wear, leaning against his weapon to help catch his breath while Cardin perched his mace on his shoulder, not an ounce of fatigue shown on his features. 

Jaune looks at Cardin, who laughs at his opponent's tiredness and gathers his strength to charge forward and swing his blade at Cardin, only for him to jump out of the way. Jaune looks back, surprised, as Cardin's mace sends Jaune's shield, and himself,  flying back. 

Now only armed with his sword, Jaune continued to try and attack but is blocked by the mace's hilt. Their weapons locked, Cardin forces himself up, towering over a struggling Jaune.

Cardin: "This is the part where you lose"

Jaune: "Over my dead-!"

Jaune is cut short as Cardin knees him in the gut, making Jaune drop his sword and fall to the ground in pain. Cardin raises his mace and is about to slam it down on a worried Jaune.

Y/n: "That's enough!"

Y/n called for the fight to end just as the buzzer was buzzed and the lights flashed back to life. 

With the fight stopped, Cardin begrudgingly stood down as Y/n walked forward to the center of the stage.

Y/n: "Right...as you can see, Mr. Arc's Aura has now dropped into the red. In a tournament-styled duel, this would indicate that Jaune is no longer fit for battle and that the official may call the match"

Y/n looked over at the defeated Jaune, who took out a tablet that displayed not only his aura but the aura of his teammates as well.

Y/n: "Mr. Arc. It is to my knowledge that it's been a few weeks since you first began training here at Beacon. Might I suggest you refer to your scroll during combat? Gauging your Aura will help you decide whether to go in for the attack or to stand your guard. Not everyone is invincible"

Cardin: *scoffs* "Speak for yourself"

As Cardin exits the stage, Y/n looks back, seeing Glynda standing far back as she gestures for him to continue.

Y/n: "I'm also told to remind everyone that the Vytal Festival is in a few months"

Many students stood eagerly upon the announcement, some pumping their fists or shaking their arms in excitement.

Y/n: "I know each one of you are excited about the festival, but I urge all of you to continue your training. Not only for your future responsibility as huntsmen but for the upcoming combat tournament as those who WILL participate, will represent all of Vale. That is all, and may fortune favor us all, for we are brave"

Upon their dismissal, the students slowly begin to flood out of the room. Y/n then turned back to the sulking Jaune before offering a hand. 

Jaune: "Thank you"

With a light tug, Y/n pulls Jaune to his feet. He then starts to dust himself off before feeling Y/n's eyes on him, observing.

Jaune: "Is there something you want to say to me, sir...?"

Jaune looked hesitant upon his inquiry, hesitation that was soon relieved as Y/n bore a small smile. 

Y/n: "I see a lot of myself in you, Jaune"

Jaune: "Stop it..."

Y/n: "I'm being honest"

Jaune: "No offense, sir. But I could NEVER be like you. I-"

Before Jaune could continue, Y/n placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

Y/n: "Vale isn't built in a day, Jaune"

From the corner of his eye, Y/n spots Pyrrha standing by the doorway as she looks at both him and Jaune.

Y/n: "Why don't you head back with your team, maybe retire for the day?"

Jaune: *nods* "Thank you, sir..."

Sighing, Jaune steps out of the stage. Pyrrha gave a comforting look before departing with her leader. 

Y/n: "So...how did I do?"

Y/n looked back to Glynda who had marked something down on her tablet. 

Glynda: "Your teaching approach is...present"

Y/n: "That is very vague, Glynda"

Glynda: "You show empathy towards your students and tend to have more of a hands-on method of teaching. Just this show match I had to forcefully stop you from intervening with Mr. Arc's fight"

Y/n: "It was such a one-sided fight. You saw it"

Glynda: "I understand your frustrations, but we shouldn't always meddle in situations that a student is undergoing, we shouldn't show favoritism. We are Professors, not their parents. These hardships are a way for them to show their inner strength, if we intervene-"

Y/n: "Then they won't learn. Yes, I see your point now"

Y/n nods, pausing as he dove deep into thought before posing another question.

Y/n: "But what about those students who couldn't? That despite action they would always have a sense of powerlessness"

Glynda: "Then, and only then, will we put our foot down. Adversary nurtures growth, not Oppression"

Y/n: "Amazing...how do you do those deliveries"

Glynda: "Practicing in front of a mirror can help"

Glynda then gathered her things before taking her leave as Y/n stood dumbfounded. 

Y/n: "I couldn't tell if that was a quip or a genuine advice"

After class, Team RWBY and Team JNPR are gathered around a table, eating their meals as Nora leads the group by retelling her story about her adventures with Ren. 

Nora: "So! There we were, in the middle of the night..."

Ren: "It was day"

Amidst her storytelling, Blake paid no attention to Nora, opting to invest it into her book. Weiss took the time to file her nails. Yang leaned forward, perching her chin on her palms, hanging onto Nora's every word, Pyrrha and Ruby sat silent as they politely listened as Jaune continued to poke at his food.

Nora: "We were SURROUNDED by Ursai..."

Ren: "They were beowolves"

Nora: "Dozens of them!"

Nora stood up excitedly.

Ren: "Two of them"

Nora: "But they were no match... And in the end, Ren and I took them down and made a boatload of Lien selling Ursa skin rugs!"

Having concluded her story, Nora sat back down, smiling, as Ren sighed exasperated.

Ren: "She's been having this recurring dream for nearly a month now"

Then, from Ruby's point of view, she sees Y/n enter the cafeteria with a box in his hands.

Ruby: "Mr. Y/n!"

Hearing his name being called, Y/n looks over to see Ruby waving him over to his table to which he accepts the invitation.

Y/n: "Hello, Ruby. Everyone"

Everyone's eyes were now on the newly arrived Headmaster in training, apart from Jaune, who continued to sulk with his food.

Ruby: "Care to join us for lunch? We'd love to get to know you more"

Yang: "Yeah! I heard you're the second-most-rated fighter in Sanctum. Right next to Pyrrha!

Ren: "We're open to hearing your tales during your time in the competition"

Nora: "Or how you beat those Grimm with one punch!"

Y/n: *chuckles* "Though I appreciate the invitation, I'm merely here to retrieve some condiments"

Blake: "You make your own meal?"

Y/n: "Yes"

Weiss: "What did you make?"

Y/n: "Just boiled chicken and porridge. It's not much but it fills the stomach, though the blandness leaves more to be desired, which is why I'm retrieving condiments"

Pyrrha: "You know I'm open to helping you prepare your meals"

Yang: "I didn't know you could cook, Pyrrha"

Pyrrha: *nods* "Y/n and I often train together, that would also mean having the same routine and diets"

Y/n: "Thank you for the offer, Pyrrha. But I'm not allowed to accept handouts from students. I wouldn't hear the end of it from your Professor Goodwitch, and we all know opposing her will spell disaster"

As the group shared a round of chuckles, Y/n looked over at the quiet Jaune. 

Y/n: "Are you okay, Jaune?"

Now having the attention redirected to him, Jaune looked up from his plate to see everyone staring at him.

Jaune: "Huh? Oh, yeah! Why?"

Ruby: "It's just that you seem a little...NOT okay..."

Jaune: "Guys, I'm fine. Seriously! Look!"

He holds up a thumb while laughing nervously.

From a table further down,  members of Team CRDL stood around a girl with brown rabbit ears jutting from her hair as Cardin laughed at her and one of his teammates held up his hands to his head in a mock interpretation of her unusual features.

Pyrrha: "Jaune, Cardin's been picking on you since the first week of school!"

Jaune: "Who? Cardin Winchester? Nah... He just likes to mess around! You know, practical jokes!"

Ruby: "He's a BULLY"

Jaune: *scoffs*  "Oh, please! Name one time he's 'bullied' me"

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Jaune is seen on the way to class as Cardin is going the other way down the hall. When the two pass, Cardin knocks his arm into Jaune and makes him drop his book, then continuing on his way with his hands out as if daring anyone to challenge him.

Jaune: "Ah, come on!"

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Jaune and Cardin are about to pass through a doorway, but Cardin clicks on Jaune's sheath and extends it into its shield form as he's going out, causing him to run into his own shield and have it block the exit.

Jaune: *grunts* "Come on...!"

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Glynda is in the locker room with several students, gesturing at the devices.

Glynda: "Each of you will be assigned one rocket-propelled locker to store your weapons and extra armor. Additionally, your locker can be sent to a custom location based on a six-digit code"

Hearing this, Cardin looks at Jaune, who's standing between him and the only open locker in the room, pushing a shocked Jaune into the small dark space and closing the door on him.

Jaune: "What?! No, wait, wait! You have to get me out of here! Please! Don't! Don't! Don't do it!"

Ignoring his plea, Cardin begins pressing random buttons on the pad right after that which sends the locker rocketing up and away with a burst of blue fire coming from its base as he watches as the locker slowly soars across the sky.

Jaune: "Ahhh, coooome oooooooon...!"

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Jaune: "I didn't land far from the school!"

Pyrrha: "Jaune, you know if you ever need help, you can just ask"

Nora: "Ooooh!" 

Nora shoots up with excitement.

 Nora: "We'll break his legs!"

Jaune: "Guys, really, it's fine! Besides, it's not like he's only a jerk to me; he's a jerk to everyone"

They all look over as the laughing grows louder, mixed in with cries of pain from the rabbit girl when one of her ears is tugged on by Cardin.

Rabbit Girl: "Ow! That hurts!"

The girl grimaces in pain as Cardin laughs together with his team.

Rabbit Girl: "Please, stop..."

Cardin:  "I told you it was real!"

Russel: "What a freak!"

Y/n: "Mr. Winchester!"

Team RWBY and JNPR were shocked, looking back beside their table to see Y/n nowhere in sight as he now stood in front of Cardin and his team instantly.

RWBY & JNPR (thoughts): "How did he get there so fast!!??"

Y/n: "I demand you cease your actions at once!"

Cardin: *scoffs* "Are you really standing up to this freak?"

Cardin then tugs on the rabbit's ears once again, prompting a wince from the girl.

Y/n: "Faunus or not, what you're doing is hurting a student of Beacon Academy. And that is not to be tolerated"

Cardin: "Oh yeah?"

With a snarl, Cardin lets go of the Faunus's ears before standing up to try and tower over.

Cardin: "And what are you gonna do about it, pretty boy"

Y/n: "Beacon staff are prohibited from laying their hands on students"

Cardin hums before turning his back to Y/n.

Cardin: "Good for me then!"

Cardin then pivots back, winding his fist to sucker punch Y/n in the face. Only for him to sidestep the incoming attack before putting his foot forward to trip Cardin. 

As he begins to fall, Y/n retaliates by bringing his knee up to Cardin's face, hitting him directly in the nose which causes him to stumble backward and trip over the bench.

Y/n: "Although, the rules didn't explicitly say anything about other parts of the body"

Russel: "Bastard!"

Cardin's teammate vaulted over the table and dove toward Y/n for a counterattack.

Sensing a small fight to break out, Y/n gently and politely pushes the rabbit girl away, handing her his boxed lunch in the process. This gave him ample room to spin on his backfoot before delivering an elbow to the current student in mid-air. 

This redirects his flight, sending him upwards for Y/n to perform a back kick hurling Russel to another table.

The two remaining members stood from their seats to aid in the fight. An attempt foiled by Y/n as he kicks their table to their abdomen. 

They manage to catch the table before it can hit them, but that's when Y/n kicked the closest edge of the table, sending the other side to shoot upwards and hit the members in the face, knocking them down. 

Y/n: "You know what they say. Manners maketh Man"

After making quick work of Team CRDL, Y/n walked back over to the rabbit faunus, taking back his lunch which she held out of shock. 

Her trance was broken when she felt something in her ear yet again. However, instead of agonizing pain, it was a soothing feeling, as she saw that Y/n had begun massaging part of her ear. 

Y/n: "That should ease the pain for a bit. Are you alright, Ms. Scarletina?"

The rabbit faunus, named Velvet Scarlatina, looked at Y/n in shock.

Velvet: "Y-You know who I am?"

Y/n: "Of course. I was given a round down on present students of Beacon once I joined, you caught my attention out of all of them"

Velvet: *blush* "T-Thank you for the compliment, S-sir"

Y/n: "Take care of yourself now"

As Y/n walked back to Team RWBY and JNPR, Y/n checked his scroll for the time. 

Y/n: "It looks like I don't have time to get my condiments"

Yang: "Charming and Good at fighting. Is there anything you CAN'T do, Mr. Y/n?"

Y/n: "Hmm...I haven't done crocheting yet"

Upon his leave, Team RWBY along with Nora and Ren stared at Y/n as he left, in deadpan. 

RWBY, Nora & Ren (thoughts): "Is he for real!?"

Once Y/n has left, so will Jaune, making his quick and quiet exit to hopefully go unnoticed by his teammates, unknowing that Cardin is watching his walk of shame with a sinister grin.

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Do you guys know we're already in episode 11 of RWBY Volume 1? It's quick, isn't it? It gives you perspective on how quick these RWBY episodes were back then.

Anyway, no long message for today, just the usual.

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And I'll see you when I see you

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