The Bet Ch 5

“You mean, they kissed, and I wasn’t there?!” Nora shouted, jolting everyone’s attention as Team RWBY had caught Nora up with what they saw.

It was just their luck, however, that both persons of interest were nowhere to be found.

It had only been a few minutes since they got back to Beacon from Forever Fall, but already Jaune and Pyrrha were being whisked away by Professor Goodwitch. Jaune even only had the time to rinse his hair with hot water before he was being pulled away with a towel still on his head away from their sight.

Left without their leader and his partner, it was up to Team RWBY to catch up the remaining members of Team 

“Technically, we only saw Pyrrha mounting him and leaning down towards him.” Blake corrected, but Nora didn’t care about technicalities.

The Valkyrie had much more important things to worry about.

Namely…

“Then how do you know if they kissed or not?!”

Weiss, however, was not a fan of the topic.

“Enough with the kissing! Aren’t you worried that Arc seems to be fine with just kissing everyone?!”

Nora paused at that before turning towards Weiss with a raised finger.

“Nope! Not worried at all!” Nora smiled enthusiastically, and Blake resisted the urge to laugh as she saw Weiss start to shriek in frustration.

“Why you little-?!” She started, but Blake was already there to stop the Heiress from starting a fight.

“Okay, first of all, saying that he is kissing everyone is a stretch. He’s not kissing you for starters.” Blake pointed out, a knowing smile on her face as she put herself between Weiss and Nora.

Weiss, however, only fumed at that.

“It doesn’t matter if he’s not kissing me! First, he kisses Ruby on the cheek. Then he kisses Yang! Now he kisses Pyrrha too?!” She flushed, snapping back at Nora with a red face.

Again, however, Blake only shook her head amusedly.

“Again, Pyrrha was the one leaning down towards him. If anything, she was the one kissing him.”

“Oh yeah! Way to go, Pyr-Pyr!” Nora cheered as Weiss grinded her teeth.

“Am I the only one here who is seeing a pattern?”

“For all we know, Pyrrha could just have been helping Jaune clean the sap off of his face.” Blake only smiled at that, however, as she relished the frustration on the Schnee’s face.

“Why are you defending him, Blake?!” Weiss snapped, looking at her with angry eyes to which Blake only raised an eyebrow.

“Just stating the truth. Besides, why are you so affected, Weiss? Jealous?”

A cheshire grin crept up Blake’s face as she immediately saw Weiss turn red. Whether it be because of embarrassment or anger, it did not matter, because to her, riling Schnees up was always the right thing to do.

“I-what?! H-How dare you insinuate such a thing?!” Weiss sputtered, while Blake only hummed smugly.

“I don’t know, you seem pretty worked up about this to me.”

“I’m worked up, because nobody else seems to be!” Weiss then waved to Ruby and Yang who were each mumbling to themselves.

“Is it me? Am I not enough for him?” Yang whispered worriedly as she touched her lips.” We haven’t even really talked about it. Just sent each other glances.”

“Darn it. I would have loved to lick the sap off of his face. Should I be more aggressive, just as Pyrrha was?” Ruby nodded, pumping her fists as an intense gleam entered her eyes.

If Blake was being honest, she would have loved to lick the sap off of Jaune’s face too.

And then kiss him with it.

Blake could still remember the kiss they shared in the library, and she will admit, the passion surprised her. She couldn't help but heat up as she looked back on it.

------

“That….That was good.” Blake gasped as she broke the kiss between them.

She looked down, trying to avoid showing Jaune the blush he managed to call to her cheeks.

"H-How was that?" He asked nervously, and a smile crept up her lips as she heard the breathlessness in his voice.

In an effort not to look at him, Blake decided to take his Scroll instead to look at the picture.

She will admit, it was tasteful as Jaune hid her face well while still showing that they really did kiss.

Though….she thought it could be better.

She froze, however, when she felt something land on her backside.

Jaune had grabbed her ass as she kept on leaning against him while she looked at the picture. Her skirt was still on the way, but the way she felt his hands grasp was very very noticeable.

Blake paused, keeping her eyes on the Scroll but still addressing him as her heart thundered rapidly.

“What are you doing?”

Blale never planned for things to reach this far. In fact, she didn’t even plan on kissing him. 

Yet here they were.

Making out in the library just before bedtime.

More than that, however, she was actually enjoying it.

She enjoyed leading the experience and she also enjoyed Jaune trying to take control.

Emphasis on the trying part because really, she could hear just how loud his heart thundered in his chest as she still leaned against him.

Blake resisted the smile that crept up her face, and keeping her face stoic she looked up at Jaune.

“It’s for a good cause?” He gulped nervously.

This time, however, Blake could not resist the cheshire grin that crept up her face.

“Grabbing my ass is for a good cause?”

“It’s to stop Cardin from being a racist?” He squeaked out, blushing as a huff of laughter stole its way out of her mouth.

“Then grab away.”

“Cool, c-cool, cool, cool.” He stuttered out, even as he squeezed Blake’s ass to her laughter.

Fighting racism was always the right thing to do, and if she could reward this certain fighter by letting him grab her ass then that's what she would do.

It helped that Jaune looked boyishly cute despite being nervous. He had that boy next door charm so opposite of her usual type. The fact that she could beat Jaune in a fight perhaps, eased a lot of Blake’s worries.

In fact, with all those factors combined, Blake felt at ease with rewarding him some more.

“Now where is that confident young man who kissed Yang earlier today?” Blake asked breathily, smiling even as she positioned his Scroll to take a selfie.

“He’s here grabbing your ass?”

“He is, isn’t he?” Blake laughed. “Now go on and kiss me.”

That was all he needed.

He couldn’t keep the smile off of his face as he kissed Blake Belladonna.

Click!

--------

Lost in thought, Blake idly licked her lips as she remembered his taste.

More importantly, she thought of how else he could taste like.

The taste of the sap on his lips would probably have been amazing, and considering Jaune was surprisingly a good kisser, Blake saw it as a win-win situation.

Too bad she didn’t run into them by herself, if she did, well….she might’ve managed to convince Pyrrha to share.

Oh well, there was no use dwelling in what-ifs.

They ran into them with her whole team and Professor Goodwitch, and by then, there was no joining in with the disciplinarian briskly marching them back to the airship.

Still, she was going to have a lot of fantasies tonight. Blake resisted the urge to touch her lips lest she alert Weiss to her inner thoughts, and so, she only shrugged and answered Weiss’ question from earlier.

“They seem to be worked up to me.” 

“Ugh. The wrong way of being worked up, you mean.” Weiss groaned, slapping a palm to her face before dragging it down in frustration.

Finally deciding to have mercy on her teammate for the time being, Blake sighed and raised her hands comfortingly 

“Look, there’s no use thinking about it. We don’t even know what really happened.”

Nora, however, had something to say about that 

“Oh, I’ll tell you what happened. Cardin threw sap at Fearless Leader’s head!”

Her fists slammed against each other, and Blake blinked as she watched Ren lay a comforting hand on his partner’s shoulder.

“Which is why he is with them, talking to Professor Goodwitch.”

Cardin Winchester.

Blake never thought a Huntsman-in-training could be so repulsive as he, and yet here that man was, attending Beacon no less.

She smirked, however, when she remembered Jaune’s bet with him.

If Jaune really did kiss Pyrrha or vise versa, then Cardin Winchester had to stop being a racist and apologize to Velvet for bullying.

Blake would pay to get good seats to watch his apology to her faunus sister, but if he didn’t pull through….

Well, it wasn’t going to be the first time Jaune had surprised her, so she hoped he had something good in mind.

For now, however, she would have to satisfy herself with eagerly waiting to see Jaune again.

—----

Jaune froze as he saw Professor Goodwitch’s glare aimed at them from across her table.

“And just what were you doing instead of doing what I told you to do?”

Jaune could not answer. How could he when he felt as if he was a prey in front of a predator? With him already being in danger of having his transcripts found out, Jaune could only stay silent lest he attract the beast’s attention.

Still, with Cardin here, who knew what could happen?

The jerk smirked at him from the corner of his eyes, but it was at this moment that his bet with Cardin unexpectedly became useful. 

Should he expose Jaune’s secret, then he was going to drag him down by telling Professor Goodwitch the bet.

The original bet.

The one where Cardin tried to have him kiss Professor Goodwitch herself.

Their eyes locked onto one another, and as one, they both nodded in mutual understanding. Cardin wasn’t going to expose him, and Jaune wasn’t going to tell him. 

All that Jaune needed to do now was to not attract Professor Goodwitch’s attention.

And that meant staying quiet.

Cardin, however, did not have that problem.

“I was with my team, Professor.” Cardin said smugly, getting Pyrrha to actually hiss as she glared at him.

“With your team doing what?! Throwing sap at us?!”

“Gathering sap, of course. You saw me and my team doing just that after we pointed you back to your own team, or have you conveniently forgotten that?” Cardin, however, only tilted his head innocently at her hostility.

Jaune could actually see Pyrrha flush, fury overtaking her face as she clenched her fists tightly.

“You-”

Whip!

Before Pyrrha could escalate the argument, however, Professor Goodwitch’s whip cut through the air between them. Jaune blinked at the skill and control that their professor must possess to do that. 

“Enough.” Professor Goodwitch sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose and silencing the room in one action. “As no one was actually hurt-”

“Jaune was hurt-” Pyrrha interrupted, but this time, Professor Goodwitch silenced her by slamming her palm on the wooden table.

“I said enough!” She glared, watching as Pyrrha simmered, but thankfully remained silent.

Jaune snaked his hand to pat Pyrrha’s comfortingly, and relief flowed through his body as he saw her relax a bit.

Cardin, however, looked smugly at their powerlessness. That action, however, did not go unnoticed.

“Mr. Winchester.” Professor Goodwitch called out coldly, stopping Cardin in his tracks and wiping the smile off of his face. “You are dismissed, but remember, I will be keeping a close eye on you.”

“But we didn’t do anything!” Cardin shouted, bristling at the threat, even as Professor Goodwitch stared at him with an unimpressed look on her face.

“Then consider this a reminder not to do anything wrong, lest you suffer consequences. Is that understood?”

Cardin gritted his teeth, but even he was not foolish enough to class against Beacon’s Deputy Headmistress.

“Fine!” He huffed, standing up rapidly and stomping out of the room like a petulant child.

Jaune expected Professor Goodwitch to call him out on it, but he froze when his blue eyes met her emerald green ones.

Was this it? Was Professor Goodwitch finally throwing him out? Jaune could not say, but until she said it explicitly, he was going to keep quiet while hoping for the best.

“That’s it? You’re just going to let him leave like that?” Pyrrha asked incredulously, but Professor Goodwitch only nodded while still keeping her eyes on it. 

“Yes, Ms. Nikos. That is it. As it is your words against his, Mr. Winchester would be left off with a warning. A warning that should he ignore, will result in consequences.”

“But what about the consequences now?!” Pyrrha shot back indignantly, but Professor Goodwitch only sighed tiredly at her.

“Tell me, Ms. Nikos, how many students does Beacon have? How many people pass Initiation and have the chance to graduate from Beacon? We could hardly expel the future protectors of Remnant for what amounts to a schoolyard altercation.”

Now, Jaune knew they were talking about Cardin, but as Professor Glynda’s eyes bore into him, he couldn’t help but think that she meant him.

Because really, he did pass Initiation, and he currently had the chance to graduate from Beacon as one of Remnant’s future protectors.

“We really only expel students when they do something truly dire.” She continued, but while Jaune straightened at the professor’s words, the same could not be said for Pyrrha.

“That’s a load of bullshi-”

“Pyrrha, it’s okay.” Jaune said loudly, tightly grabbing her hand before she could finish cursing their teacher.

Professor Goodwitch, however, only cut in with a raised eyebrow.

“Oh no, it is not okay, Mr. Arc. We still have to talk about your behavior.” 

“Uhm…what?” Jaune gawked at that, Professor Goodwitch, however, only sighed tiredly at him.

“Mr. Winchester may or may not have thrown sap at you, but there was no reason for us to have to find you two so unguarded. What do you think would have happened if an Ursa found you while you were frolicking in the grass?”

Jaune blushed.

Really, he should have expected this would come up eventually.

And while Professor Goodwitch was tight-lipped about it on the way back to Beacon, this was apparently the time to bring it up.

“I-We weren’t frolicking in the grass?!” 

Professor Goodwitch, however, only raised an eyebrow at that.

“Still denying it, Mr. Arc? Team RWBY and I found you in a compromising situation. Would you like me to call them in to corroborate my story?”

Now that was the last thing he needed.

“...No.” Jaune could only blush as he looked away bashfully.

Seeing as she wasn’t going to get any more than that from him, Professor Goodwitch finally turned her eyes away from him and aimed it towards his partner.

“How about you, Ms. Nikos? I expected this kind of behavior from those foolish enough to engage in it, but I expected better from someone like you.”

Jaune felt like he got punched in the gut with the way Professor Goodwitch looked at him at the word foolish.

But if he already felt like getting punched then, then what Pyrrha said next felt like getting hit by a truck.

“I like Jaune.”

And just like that, Jaune’s head snapped towards his partner as she gathered his whole attention.

“Bwah?” He said dumbly, his eyes swirling as his head tried to process the words he just heard.

Pyrrha….liked him?!

What?! Why?! How?! Since when?!

These were questions Jaune wanted answers to, Pyrrha, however, avoided his eyes as she looked at Professor Goodwitch with a red face.

“I like him, and I mounted him! If you are going to blame anyone, then blame me!”

Jaune gawked, blushing as his mind went to places it never dared to.

Did….did Pyrrha actually like him?!

Or….was she just trying to take the blame so Professor Goodwitch wouldn’t look at him closer.

Professor Goodwitch, however, only groaned before looking at them exasperatedly.

It was as if she wasn’t even surprised.

She just look tired, and perhaps a little bit miffed of their actions.

“I am not blaming either of you.” She started, and both Jaune and Pyrrha only looked at her instead of each other. “What you do is your business, but as your teacher, it is my responsibility to tell you to do those kinds of things responsibly, and not out in the middle of nowhere where Grimm can happen upon you and kill you.”

Jaune knew he should feel something about that. Embarrassment, mortification, or even a little bit of fear at the possibility of Grimm killing them.

At the moment, however, he was still a bit stumped at the possibility of Pyrrha actually liking him that all he could do was nod slowly, even as Pyrrha shrank embarrassedly under Professor Goodwitch’s stare.

“Sorry.”

Professor Goodwitch, however, only sighed heavily at that before jolting him out of his thoughts.

“Just make sure it doesn’t happen next time. As of now, however, I have a bigger concern regarding your recent behavior, Mr. Arc.”

Being singled out was enough to straighten Jaune out and toss every single frivolous thought out of his head.

“W-What is it?” He asked nervously, all thoughts of Pyrrha liking him or not went out the window as Professor Goodwitch adjusted her glasses to stare him down just a little bit better.

There was a moment when she did not know what to say, but eventually, she sighed heavily and glared him down.

“Mr. Arc, it has come to my attention that not only do you have an affectionate friendship with Ms. Rose, but you’ve also kissed her sister, Ms. Xiao Long.”

And just like that, ice formed in his veins as his mouth stuttered fearfully.

“W-What?”

“Can you confirm if this is true?”

He could lie. Deny that it ever even happened, but he knew the truth. It was practically public knowledge out there. To lie now would just be digging his grave deeper, and so, Jaune Arc bowed his head with a small, quiet voice.

“It’s true.” He said ashamedly, refusing to look at Professor Goodwitch who only sighed heavily at him.

“Take note, that while Beacon generally has a hands-off attitude when it comes to students’ interpersonal relationships, we are familiar with how messy such relationships could be. History tells us it is not strange to find Huntresses and Huntsmen coming to blows when it comes to dating. Should we be worried about something like that happening?”

Girls….fighting over him?

The words sounded so strange in his mind that he couldn’t help but look up as his shame got overwritten by the incredulousness of the thought.

But still…..being able to kiss Yang Xiao Long, Blake Belladonna, and Pyrrha Nikos sounded ridiculous too.

“I…uhm…no?” He answered unsurely, tilting his head as he tried to process the possibility of that actually happening.

“You sound unsure.” Professor Goodwitch noted, but upon seeing Jaune still dumbstruck, she turned to Pyrrha. “What about you, Ms. Nikos? Considering you yourself just confessed to liking him, can you tell us if we expect violence in the near future?”

That’s right. Pyrrha did say she liked him. If there was going to be a fight, she would know. And mustering the courage to look at her past his embarrassment, Jaune saw a terrifying sight.

“I’ll crush them.” Pyrrha said with the most competitive face he had ever seen her with.

Her eyes hardened, her saw was set, and her nose flared as she bared her teeth at the prospect of a fight.

Immediately, Jaune’s skin paled as he suddenly stood up in horror.

“No! No crushing our friends!”

Thankfully, that snapped Pyrrha out of it, but his heart stopped when she looked at him.

“But Jauneeeee.” She whined, as if she was a dog begging for her master to let her do something.

Jaune, in the meanwhile, only crossed his arms to hide the shaking in his limbs as he tried to look sternly at Pyrrha.

“No, Pyrrha. That is an order from your team leader.” He said authoritatively, channeling every bit of his big brother voice that he used to cow his younger sisters.

Miraculously, it worked.

“....Just a little bit of crushing?” Pyrrha pouted, but seeing her enthusiasm for crushing their friends at least going, Jaune felt relaxed enough to throw his hands up into the air while rolling his eyes exasperatedly.

“Ughh, here I thought all I had to be worried about was Nora breaking some kneecaps.”

Pyrrha at least had the sense to blush embarrassedly at that, while Professor Goodwitch raised an eyebrow at him.

“While it is good to see you are not completely hopeless, that still doesn’t give me an answer. Just why are you kissing multiple women in the first place, Mr. Arc?”

He’ll be honest, Professor Goodwitch had him there. On the one hand, he could tell the truth about it being a bet, but that ran the risk of Professor Goodwitch digging deeper on why they had the bet in the first place.

On the other, he could lie, but anything he could say had the chance of turning against him.

Finding himself between a rock and a hard place, Jaune chose the option that would stir Professor Goodwitch away from his dark secret of faking his transcripts.

“Because……why not?” He shrugged, before wincing as Professor Goodwitch’s eyes sharpened at him.

“You’re a womanizer, then.”

Right, that went about as well as he expected. Still, he was in it now. There was no going back.

“I….am?” He tried to smile confidently, but all it amounted to was him looking a bit constipated, even as Pyrrha squeaked out beside him.

“Jaune has a bet with Cardin!”

His head immediately snapped towards her as he looked at her in horror.

“Pyrrha!”

“I’m sorry!” She shouted, looking away from him with a red face, but it was already too late.

Professor Goodwitch was already blinking incredulously at him.

“A…bet? You kiss women for a bet?”

Jaune sighed tiredly, he was tired of hearing those particular words in that order. 

First, he heard it from Blake. Then he heard it from Pyrrha. And now he was hearing it from Professor Goodwitch. Seeing that they were already here, however, Jaune decided to come clean with it.

One explanation later and Jaune waited as he watched Professor Goodwitch digest his words. He didn’t tell her about the original bet, but he did tell her about how he had to kiss a team’s worth of women in exchange for Cardin to apologize to Velvet and stop being a racist.

He could only hope that she would see the good in what he was doing, and not the….strangeness of it all.

Mercifully, however, Professor Goodwitch only nodded at them understandingly.

“I see, leave this matter to me. You two are dismissed.”

There was a moment when Jaune couldn’t believe his luck, and he couldn’t stop his mouth from questioning his professor.

“That’s it?”

“Yes, Mr. Arc. That is it” Professor Goodwitch said before perking up as a thought formed in her mind. “In the meantime, I suggest you explain the same thing to Ms. Xiao Long. We don’t want any misunderstandings, do we?”

Jaune froze at the smile she sent at him, but he could only slump in defeat and blame himself.

“Y-Yes, ma’am.”

Him and his big mouth, why did he even need to question her?

“Good, you may go.”

As Jaune and Pyrrha turned around, they missed the thoughtful look on their professor’s face. As it was, however, Jaune was just too busy trying to think of how he was going to explain things to a certain firecracker.

-------

Sorry for the late post! It has been a busy but a good week for me. My sister just graduated, and she's now off to med school. Parents came for a vist and played a lot with my baby. Interviewed and trained my replacement at work. Had a goodbye party from my laboratory!

Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this little filler, no new kiss for now but I'm here to tell you that instead of the planned 5 chapters for this fic, we will add another 5 chapters due to popular demand!

I call this next arc as Double or Nothing!

Jaune will kiss 4 more girls and Ch 10 will have the anticipated smut. ;)

P.S. Pineapple Jam will come in on Monday or Tuesday.