Jaune wasn't sure how he was supposed to react to this sort of situation. Having grown up around seven sisters both younger and older than himself, he'd learned one thing quickly: avoid drama. Avoid it like it wanted to suck the marrow out of your bones. You'd never win if you got pulled into it, and thinking you would, typically ended in screams and pulled hair. He would know, he was typically the one having to grow it back afterwards. Enough clumps of missing hair and earfuls from his mother had got the message through to him clear enough. Avoid drama, and keep your nose someplace where it won't get punched.

Standing there, surrounded by reporters, he couldn't help but feel someone neglected to teach them the same. Unfortunately, this wasn't a problem he could solve by just socking one of them in the nose either. Beside the fact that it wouldn't have been appropriate, he didn't need to be given an earful about it later.

Besides, Pyrrha looked like she was handling it well.

After the paparazzi had managed to surround them, the two hunters in training had found themselves brought to a standstill. It had taken a moment to overcome the initial shock of their appearance. But even after they'd begun to push past them, the crowd of would-be journalists continued to hound them. Buzzing and flashing around them like some particularly annoying fireflies. Except that wasn't accurate to him either, because he actually liked fireflies. They were more like flies… with cameras.

He sighed to himself. Analogies weren't a strong suit of his.

Regardless, they'd found themselves slowed to a crawl for the last several minutes, the paparazzi following them in a loose cloud. Haranguing them, or more specifically Pyrrha, with questions and prompts. Trying to get her to say something that he was sure they'd twist for a headline. But Pyrrha, bless her, handled it like a champ. She merely forced a smile onto her face, waved, and politely declined at every request they made. Unfortunately, every step they attempted to take away from the circle of cameras only had them followed. The paparazzi shifted and shuffled to keep whatever camera angles they felt.

Jaune was more impressed by the amount of pictures they were taking. They had to run out of camera space eventually. Yet the fact they were still taking pictures proved otherwise.

He was starting to wonder if it was possible to go blind from repeated flashes. He had more spots in his vision than a sponge. Except sponges had holes, not spots.

"Alright, I think it's time for us to get going." Pyrrha announced, trying to get the cameramen to let them pass.

"Aw, you can't be leaving yet, you haven't answered any of our questions!" One of the reporters jeered. "Come on! Throw a dog a bone would ya?"

"We prefer steak, but bones work too!" Another reporter, an aggrieved looking canid faunus, added.

"I'm afraid there's nothing to tell." Pyrrha said, still trying to move with Jaune out of the circle. Again, it merely shifted to follow them. Which drew a scowl from Pyrrha, something the camera men took amusement from.

Which irked Jaune greatly. The two of them were just trying to investigate a terrorist cell, was it too much to ask that they do it in peace? Well, naturally it was, but the trouble shouldn't have to come from a bunch of nosey jerks. The more time they spent trying to get past all of them, the more he felt reminded of Cardin. Bunch of jerks with nothing better to do with their time. Difference being, they were going to sell whatever pictures they could to the highest bidder.

'Did Pyrrha have to put up with this normally?' he wondered. Because he couldn't imagine what it must have been like if she had.

Calmly, Jaune walked up to Pyrrha, who looked at him curiously. But her curiosity quickly turned to surprise when he offered her his arm.

"Wanna keep moving?" He asked. "Things seem a bit crowded here."

"…" Pyrrha blushed slightly. "I would certainly like to try. But I don't think we'll lose them that quickly."

"Worth a shot, isn't it?" Jaune asked, as Pyrrha hooked her arm around his. "Worst that happens, we walk the block until we give them the slip, right?"

Pyrrha paused for a moment, but no more. She gave Jaune a smile he knew could sail a sheet of flips, or a ship of fleets, and he took that as a cue to start walking with her. Unfortunately, as expected, the moment their arms linked, the camera's started flashing even faster. Also as expected, they traveled with them as they tried to build an even pace. As they kept to the side walk, the cameramen moved and conformed. Though not without issue. Some of them would trip over themselves, or their surroundings. Getting caught on benches, bumping into street lights. He saw one step into the street and get plowed by a delivery truck, disappearing into another world. Somehow, no one else seemed to notice besides him.

"Are you sure this was a good idea?" Pyrrha asked softly, smiling. "If any of these pictures take, people will think we're dating."

"Pff, no they won't." Jaune said reassuringly. "We're just friends, that should be pretty obvious."

"…" Pyrrha's smile gained a hard edge to it. "Friends. Right."

He was relieved she agreed, because he was slightly worried about the same thing. Though it was a worry that slowly began to grow the longer they walked. He kept an idle track of how far they walked the entire time. First a block, then a second. The entire time they never seemed to lose anyone, outside of the one. If they went much further, they'd have to lap the dance hall like he'd thought they would. Coming back wouldn't be impossible, but if they couldn't lose the crowd, the matter was only going to get worse. If they only had some sort of distraction.

As these thoughts went through his head, he noticed that a part of the circle of cameras began to shuffle and shift oddly. He looked toward it, curious, and watched it begin to shift. After a moment, a small arm popped through the crowd, followed by a shoulder, torso, head, and the rest of a body. A small one, dressed in a sundress and looking nor more than maybe ten. A young red haired girl with orange eyes. She had a timid look about her that Jaune couldn't help but think made her cute as a button. Like those pictures Saphron had sent of his nephew Adrian, when they'd brought him home. Except less like a small, wrinkly old man.

Unconsciously, Jaune felt himself stop, bringing Pyrrha to a halt with him. She looked past him curious, until her eyes fell on the little girl.

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Mustering some courage, the little girl approached them.

"H-h-… hi." The little girl said.

"Hello there." Pyrrha said, her smile softening once again.

The girl froze, like an ice cube, trying to figure out what she should do. After a moment, she began to fidget. But Pyrrha, still hooked to Jaune's arm, waited patiently, still smiling.

Eventually, the girl found some measure of courage, and asked "You're Pyrrha Nikos… right?"

Pyrrha nodded. "Yes little one, I am."

"…" The girl's arms rose up from her sides. Revealing a slip of paper and a pen. "Can I have an autograph?"

Pyrrha made a soft sound, something Jaune was sure he was the only one who could hear. Something like a delighted chuckle, throaty and warm. Briefly he allowed his eyes to scan over the crowd, past the flashing lights. And, yes, there was a woman standing just outside the ring of cameras. He could see the relation to the girl by the color of her hair, and the embarrassed look on her face as she watched.

Jaune felt Pyrrha release his arm as she stepped towards the girl. He watched as his partner knelt down in front of the girl, speaking softly to her. Pyrrha took the pen and notepad, still speaking to the young girl as she did. Getting a name, asking how she was doing. Making polite conversation to someone who was so starstruck.

Jaune couldn't help but smile, himself. His partner, Pyrrha Nikos. The Invincible girl. Champion of the people. Hero to small children.

Really, really nice girl.

Pyrrha finished scribbling on the paper and handed it back to the girl. As she did, the young girl looked up, cocking her head to look past Pyrrha, at him.

"Are you her boyfriend?" She asked over the clamor of the cameras. Who suddenly grew very quiet at the question.

Jaune noticed the way Pyrrha seemed to grow very stiff and still. He knew she'd been worried about this. But he was prepared for it.

"No, I'm not." Jaune said sheepishly, offering a friendly smile "We're just friends."

The young girl looked at him, confused. "… Why not? She's Pyrrha Nikos!"

"…"

Jaune suddenly found himself much less prepared than he'd thought he'd been. "Uh- eh heh, well-" he stammered, trying to find an answer. This was one of those 'Stork' questions young kids asked and- gods was this what it had been like for mom and dad? He didn't want to say the wrong thing here, embarrass Pyrrha even further. Last thing she needed was for everyone to think they were dating. Or that he was rejecting her or something. He couldn't just say the first thing that came to his mind and run with it like it would just make sense.

An unfortunate circumstance, as one of the reporters decided to fill the void for him.

"Because she's way out of his league!" the paparazzo belted.

Then the rest started laughing. Jaune felt his cheeks warm up slightly, and couldn't help but notice Pyrrha was looking a bit warm herself. Something about her seemed to tense in an unfamiliar way. Jaune didn't know why, maybe it was the older/younger brother in him, but he had the distinct urge to walk over to the one who said it and punch him into the street. Hopefully be the next one to meet the delivery truck. He'd hit hard too, Pyrrha had been making sure their time together wasn't wasted.

Unfortunately, he was Jaune Arc. The only thing he was a master of was the ancient shoe-in-mouth conversational style.

"Uh-hey look! It's Crazy Steve!" he shouted, pointing across the street.

All of the reporters paused, turning to follow the way he'd pointed. Even Pyrrha and the young girl did, looking across the street. He briefly looked himself-

Right in time for the Courier and Ruby Rose to come barreling out of an alleyway, running full-tilt down the street. The both of them dragged someone Jaune wasn't familiar with, a girl with coppery hair.

A small part of him marveled that it'd actually worked. The reporters weren't looking at them right now.

The rest of him was too busy running up to Pyrrha and grabbing her by the arm.

"Time-to-go!" He said, quickly, hauling his partner to her feet, leaving the girl behind as they barreled forward.

"Hey wait!" The girl called. "You didn't answer my question!"

Without hesitation, the two barreled through the line of reporters and hit the ground running out the other side. By the time the reporters seemed to realize what was happening, there was already a wide berth between them. Before the cameramen even had a chance to try and make up the ground, Jaune guided Pyrrha around a corner. The two then bolted through a crosswalk right as the light changed color. Even with those things on their side, however, Jaune didn't stop running for another block and a half. Long enough that Jaune knew, even if they were followed, the pair would have a few minutes of privacy.

The two stopped to catch their breath.

"Man, how did they even find us?" Jaune asked between breaths.

"I don't know." Pyrrha answered, breathing much more evenly, though her hair had fallen out of place slightly, in all the running. "I swear there's someone watching me. This isn't the first time it's happened."

"You've been caught walking around with other guys?" Jaune asked.

"N-NO!" Pyrrha snapped, blushing brightly. "That- that was new…" She calmed herself slightly, fixing her hair. "They've caught me off guard before, ambushed me really. Always in the most inconvenient places. Always."

Jaune nodded, doing his best to try and understand. Those guys had been relentless. "Sorry about not picking up on things quicker. We probably could've dodged the whole thing."

"It happens." Pyrrha sighed. "Besides, they'd been waiting ahead of us. They'd clearly been tailing us for a while. Hopefully they didn't pick up on everything else on top of it."

"Can you imagine?" Jaune asked. "Six would be pissed."

"I imagine that Blake wouldn't be too happy with us either." Pyrrha agreed. "Hopefully it isn't a slow news week, and whatever pictures they took will just disappear."

"How often does that happen?" Jaune asked.

"Never." Pyrrha sighed. "There's always one. Hopefully it's benign… The autograph was pleasant enough at least, those don't happen as often."

'Are you her boyfriend?'

"You looked happier." Jaune agreed, trying very hard to repress the whole event. It had been awkward for everyone, well not everyone, mostly just him and Pyrrha. He looked around, quickly checking the street signs, before double checking his scroll. "Doesn't look like we're that far off. C'mon, we can get there before those guys find us again."

"R-right." Pyrrha agreed.

Jaune turned and started down the street. Knowing that if they didn't keep moving, some little birdy would have them found out again. As he did though, he noticed Pyrrha didn't rush to catch up with him. Instead, trailing behind him. He thought it odd, but didn't pay much mind to it. Perhaps she was just embarrassed, feeling self-conscious about the whole ordeal. A notion that became more concrete in Jaune's mind the next she spoke.

"…Jaune?" Pyrrha asked.

"Yeah?" He answered.

"Just…y'know just… as a question… am I out of your league?"

"…"

The question had Jaune pause for a moment. He hadn't truly thought about Pyrrha in that way before. They'd been together since initiation, it just wasn't something that crossed his mind, really. With how his life had been going, trying to become the kind of huntsman he'd dreamed of being, it just hadn't. The idea of Weiss being interested in him was there because… well, she'd said something to the effect.

'… Why? She's Pyrrha Nikos!'

Pyrrha though?...

"…If I had to go off what other people had to say?" Jaune asked. "… Yeah, you probably are."

A silence hung between them after he'd said those words. He hadn't meant for it to be there. But he'd needed a moment to find the words to convey his thoughts on the question. That's all it was anyway, a question.

"…But if I had to go off what I know?" Jaune asked again, breaking the silence. "About you, and who you are, and how hard you work, and just how awesome you are?... I still wouldn't be… But I'd be trying very hard to be there with you."

Jaune felt his ears warming as he said the words. He could picture his sisters giggling at him, if they'd been there. There would've been no end to the amount of grief they'd be giving him.

It was just an answer to the question. Nothing more. He knew Pyrrha. She didn't see him that way.

…

The two continued their walk towards the dance hall, under the growing yawn of evening, silence blanketing them. Smothering like some vastly untouchable blanket. Entangling them.

Pyrrha was grateful for it.

She'd have leapt at Jaune if it wasn't.