Lisa Lavender, Ace Reporter (Revised)
AndrewJTalon
Experienced.
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- Apr 24, 2015
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Jaune Arc froze in the bustling courtyard of Beacon Academy, his eyes locked on a peculiar sight bouncing towards him and Ren.
"...Is that Lisa Lavender in a school uniform?" he muttered, disbelief coloring his voice.
Ren, ever composed, glanced over with a slight nod. "Looks like."
Jaune's brow furrowed as the woman strutted toward them, her Beacon uniform improbably snug and her lavender hair barely contained under a beret.
"And… no one's stopping her?"
"Looks like," Ren repeated dryly.
Lisa Lavender, Vale's most relentless reporter, closed the distance with a dazzling smile, her notepad clutched like Ruby clutched Crescent Rose.
"Hello, fellow students! Are you Jaune Arc and Lie Ren?"
Jaune exchanged a wary glance with Ren. Ren gave the barest shrug possible before Jaune answered.
"...We are."
"Can I have a moment of your time?" Lisa chirped, her voice syrupy sweet. "Just to confirm some rumors? Since I'm a transfer student I wanna stay on top of the social sea!"
Jaune sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "We know it's you, Ms. Lavender."
Lisa's jaw dropped, her composure crumbling.
"Wha—But—My disguise is perfect!"
"I mean, it's very…" Jaune hesitated, his face flushing, "um, sexy, but that's also the problem since you're clearly not a teenager."
Somewhere, Cinder Fall sneezed, her own undercover schemes momentarily disrupted.
Lisa's confidence faltered, but she rallied with a desperate edge.
"Oh, come on! Look, I need a case. A story. I'm desperate here!" She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
"I'll even let you touch my boobs?"
Jaune's eyes widened, his hands flailing in panic.
"N-No thanks! I mean, it's—Uh, no!"
Lisa tilted her head, batting her lashes.
"Oh? Are you sure~?"
"Very sure! I-Ren?" Jaune turned, only to find empty air where his teammate had stood moments ago. "Traitor," he grumbled under his breath.
Lisa, undeterred, whipped out her recorder, her reporter's instincts kicking into overdrive.
"Sooo… You're the leader of Team JNPR, with Pyrrha Nikos on it. How's that going for you?"
Jaune shifted uncomfortably.
"Fine, thank you."
"Are you and Pyrrha romantically involved?" Lisa pressed, her pen poised like a dagger.
"Wha—No!" Jaune sputtered, his cheeks flaming. "Of course not! We're just friends!"
Lisa held up a stack of grainy photos, her grin wicked. "Are you sure? She's definitely hugging on you a lot in some of these!"
"She's holding me up after training!" Jaune protested, his voice cracking.
Lisa's eyes gleamed as she pivoted.
"All right, what about you and local bad girl, Yang Xiao-Long?"
"Also friends!" Jaune said, his patience fraying.
"Her little sister, Ruby Rose?"
"FRIENDS!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the courtyard.
The interrogation dragged on, Lisa firing names like bullets—Blake, Weiss, Nora, even Velvet. Jaune's responses grew increasingly frantic, each denial more emphatic than the last. Finally, she threw a curveball.
"And your father and Isabel Arc?"
Jaune blinked, utterly baffled. "Happily married!"
Lisa snapped her notepad shut with a triumphant flourish.
"Okay, that's all I need! Thanks, Jaune! See you again soon~!"
"Haha, yeah, I don't think so," Jaune said with a forced smile, waving back at her nervous.
He sagged with relief, wiping sweat from his brow as she disappeared behind a pillar.
"Phew… Finally. It's all over," he muttered. He had been as boring as possible, and truthful. What would she possibly make out of that?
That evening, Teams JNPR and RWBY sprawled across the common room, laughter and chatter filling the air as they unwound. Jaune was on the couch, reading through the latest issue of X-Ray and Vav. Ruby collapsed next to him, sighing in exhaustion.
"Scoot over, gimme," she mumbled, scooting up against him to read the comic over his shoulder. Jaune chuckled and patted her shoulder.
"What a week, huh?" Jaune asked. Ruby groaned.
"Ugh… Tests are evil. Pure evil."
"Tell me about it," Jaune chuckled. Pyrrha was trying to play a video game with Yang, and losing. Pyrrha's eyebrow twitched even as her smile remained.
"One more round," Pyrrha stated.
Yang looked over at her.
"Uh, Cereal Girl, you all right there-?"
"One. More. Round," Pyrrha said tightly, her smile downright terrifying. Yang coughed.
"S-Sure! Sure!"
Jaune winced.
"It's amazing that Yang can bring out her competitive side," he muttered.
"She can bring all sorts of things out of other people," Ruby giggled.
Weiss was eating some candy while reading a book. Blake was reading across from her. Weiss sighed and finally looked up at Blake.
"I will admit the prose is… Good. The narrative is well constructed and the characters are well defined… But…" She blushed deeply. "Is… Is all the smut necessary?"
"Erotica," Blake said flatly, "And while I admit I can appreciate the classics, is The White Whale really something you need to read three times over? It feels rather dated in many ways."
Weiss sniffed.
"Oh, a story about the dangers of obsession. I can see why you would miss the point."
Blake and Weiss began to argue again. Ruby giggled.
"Like clockwork," she murmured.
"Yeah," Jaune sighed. Ren and Nora were cooking. Well, Ren was cooking. Nora was hovering around, eagerly awaiting his latest pancake-based creation.
Jaune smiled and leaned back. This? This was what it was all about. These happy moments at peace with all his friends.
The holoscreen, which was showing the end of some trashy TV show that was serving as background noise, switched to Vale National News, and Lisa Lavender's polished voice cut through the room like a siren.
"Lisa Lavender of VNN! Our top story: Is Beacon Academy a hotspot of teenaged debauchery?" Several images of various students with their eyes and faces blurred appeared, including Jaune, Weiss, Pyrrha, Yang, Blake, Ruby, and Ren.
"Excerpts from a student reveal he is in a polyamorous relationship with his team, another team, and a boy on his own team! In this newscast, we will explore the spicy and steamy underbelly of Vale's elite Hunter training school!"
"Oh… Shit," Jaune muttered.
His eyes widened and his face paled as his friends' heads all swiveled toward him. Pyrrha's game controller clattered to the floor. Yang choked on her soda. Weiss's face paled in unfathomable rage as Blake's jaw dropped. Nora cackled uncontrollably, while Ren, the traitor, merely raised an eyebrow.
Jaune slowly looked to Ruby, hoping for some kind of help. No such luck: She was staring intently at him, her face caught between confused and appalled.
"Jaune? What did you do?"
"...Fuuuuuuuuuck!" Jaune groaned, burying his face in his hands as the common room erupted into chaos, Lisa's broadcast blaring on, oblivious to the storm she'd unleashed.
"...Is that Lisa Lavender in a school uniform?" he muttered, disbelief coloring his voice.
Ren, ever composed, glanced over with a slight nod. "Looks like."
Jaune's brow furrowed as the woman strutted toward them, her Beacon uniform improbably snug and her lavender hair barely contained under a beret.
"And… no one's stopping her?"
"Looks like," Ren repeated dryly.
Lisa Lavender, Vale's most relentless reporter, closed the distance with a dazzling smile, her notepad clutched like Ruby clutched Crescent Rose.
"Hello, fellow students! Are you Jaune Arc and Lie Ren?"
Jaune exchanged a wary glance with Ren. Ren gave the barest shrug possible before Jaune answered.
"...We are."
"Can I have a moment of your time?" Lisa chirped, her voice syrupy sweet. "Just to confirm some rumors? Since I'm a transfer student I wanna stay on top of the social sea!"
Jaune sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. "We know it's you, Ms. Lavender."
Lisa's jaw dropped, her composure crumbling.
"Wha—But—My disguise is perfect!"
"I mean, it's very…" Jaune hesitated, his face flushing, "um, sexy, but that's also the problem since you're clearly not a teenager."
Somewhere, Cinder Fall sneezed, her own undercover schemes momentarily disrupted.
Lisa's confidence faltered, but she rallied with a desperate edge.
"Oh, come on! Look, I need a case. A story. I'm desperate here!" She leaned closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper.
"I'll even let you touch my boobs?"
Jaune's eyes widened, his hands flailing in panic.
"N-No thanks! I mean, it's—Uh, no!"
Lisa tilted her head, batting her lashes.
"Oh? Are you sure~?"
"Very sure! I-Ren?" Jaune turned, only to find empty air where his teammate had stood moments ago. "Traitor," he grumbled under his breath.
Lisa, undeterred, whipped out her recorder, her reporter's instincts kicking into overdrive.
"Sooo… You're the leader of Team JNPR, with Pyrrha Nikos on it. How's that going for you?"
Jaune shifted uncomfortably.
"Fine, thank you."
"Are you and Pyrrha romantically involved?" Lisa pressed, her pen poised like a dagger.
"Wha—No!" Jaune sputtered, his cheeks flaming. "Of course not! We're just friends!"
Lisa held up a stack of grainy photos, her grin wicked. "Are you sure? She's definitely hugging on you a lot in some of these!"
"She's holding me up after training!" Jaune protested, his voice cracking.
Lisa's eyes gleamed as she pivoted.
"All right, what about you and local bad girl, Yang Xiao-Long?"
"Also friends!" Jaune said, his patience fraying.
"Her little sister, Ruby Rose?"
"FRIENDS!" he shouted, his voice echoing across the courtyard.
The interrogation dragged on, Lisa firing names like bullets—Blake, Weiss, Nora, even Velvet. Jaune's responses grew increasingly frantic, each denial more emphatic than the last. Finally, she threw a curveball.
"And your father and Isabel Arc?"
Jaune blinked, utterly baffled. "Happily married!"
Lisa snapped her notepad shut with a triumphant flourish.
"Okay, that's all I need! Thanks, Jaune! See you again soon~!"
"Haha, yeah, I don't think so," Jaune said with a forced smile, waving back at her nervous.
He sagged with relief, wiping sweat from his brow as she disappeared behind a pillar.
"Phew… Finally. It's all over," he muttered. He had been as boring as possible, and truthful. What would she possibly make out of that?
That evening, Teams JNPR and RWBY sprawled across the common room, laughter and chatter filling the air as they unwound. Jaune was on the couch, reading through the latest issue of X-Ray and Vav. Ruby collapsed next to him, sighing in exhaustion.
"Scoot over, gimme," she mumbled, scooting up against him to read the comic over his shoulder. Jaune chuckled and patted her shoulder.
"What a week, huh?" Jaune asked. Ruby groaned.
"Ugh… Tests are evil. Pure evil."
"Tell me about it," Jaune chuckled. Pyrrha was trying to play a video game with Yang, and losing. Pyrrha's eyebrow twitched even as her smile remained.
"One more round," Pyrrha stated.
Yang looked over at her.
"Uh, Cereal Girl, you all right there-?"
"One. More. Round," Pyrrha said tightly, her smile downright terrifying. Yang coughed.
"S-Sure! Sure!"
Jaune winced.
"It's amazing that Yang can bring out her competitive side," he muttered.
"She can bring all sorts of things out of other people," Ruby giggled.
Weiss was eating some candy while reading a book. Blake was reading across from her. Weiss sighed and finally looked up at Blake.
"I will admit the prose is… Good. The narrative is well constructed and the characters are well defined… But…" She blushed deeply. "Is… Is all the smut necessary?"
"Erotica," Blake said flatly, "And while I admit I can appreciate the classics, is The White Whale really something you need to read three times over? It feels rather dated in many ways."
Weiss sniffed.
"Oh, a story about the dangers of obsession. I can see why you would miss the point."
Blake and Weiss began to argue again. Ruby giggled.
"Like clockwork," she murmured.
"Yeah," Jaune sighed. Ren and Nora were cooking. Well, Ren was cooking. Nora was hovering around, eagerly awaiting his latest pancake-based creation.
Jaune smiled and leaned back. This? This was what it was all about. These happy moments at peace with all his friends.
The holoscreen, which was showing the end of some trashy TV show that was serving as background noise, switched to Vale National News, and Lisa Lavender's polished voice cut through the room like a siren.
"Lisa Lavender of VNN! Our top story: Is Beacon Academy a hotspot of teenaged debauchery?" Several images of various students with their eyes and faces blurred appeared, including Jaune, Weiss, Pyrrha, Yang, Blake, Ruby, and Ren.
"Excerpts from a student reveal he is in a polyamorous relationship with his team, another team, and a boy on his own team! In this newscast, we will explore the spicy and steamy underbelly of Vale's elite Hunter training school!"
"Oh… Shit," Jaune muttered.
His eyes widened and his face paled as his friends' heads all swiveled toward him. Pyrrha's game controller clattered to the floor. Yang choked on her soda. Weiss's face paled in unfathomable rage as Blake's jaw dropped. Nora cackled uncontrollably, while Ren, the traitor, merely raised an eyebrow.
Jaune slowly looked to Ruby, hoping for some kind of help. No such luck: She was staring intently at him, her face caught between confused and appalled.
"Jaune? What did you do?"
"...Fuuuuuuuuuck!" Jaune groaned, burying his face in his hands as the common room erupted into chaos, Lisa's broadcast blaring on, oblivious to the storm she'd unleashed.