Jaune woke to the sound of a faint, but shrill whistle.

This was not accompanied by shouting, screaming, curses or the sudden actions of a man whose last memory was dying with varying degrees of quickness.

No, this was the slow, pleasant waking after a solid night of fulfilling sleep. In team JNPR's room. Where he currently found himself.

Upon coming to this stunning realisation, Jaune propped himself up on his elbows, and gazed around, as a wide grin slowly broke on his face.

"Yes! I did it!" Jaune cheered loudly, startling Pyrrha awake. She looked around quickly, before settling on Jaune with a confused look on her face. Nora snorted herself awake, and groaned the groan of the waking dead.

Ren didn't move a muscle.

"Jaune... what was that about exactly?" Pyrrha asked gently. She spoke politely, despite her evident bemusement at her situation. Jaune froze.

"Uh..." By this time, Nora was staring at him, arms pushing her upright. "I'm just... really excited that I made it here I guess," he finished unconvincingly. Despite this, his words brought a smile to Pyrrha's face.

"Yes, you should be proud! You've earned it." She spoke honestly and openly, and it caused Jaune to blush, and give a mumbled, embarrassed "Thanks" in response.

"Awesome. Well, now that's all settled," Nora says, interrupting Jaune's self-consciousness by sheer brazen presence, "I just want to say we're all gonna be really best friends! But maybe not more bester than me and Ren. Because we've been friends since FOREVER. Also, if you keep waking up like that, am I gonna need earplugs? Or are you just our new alarm?" Jaune stared wide-eyed at her, glancing at Pyrrha to check and see if she had the same expression on her face.

She didn't. She still had a smile, but it seemed frozen. She gave far less away, and Jaune suspected it was from deliberate practice during what he can only assume were years of television interviews.

Ren meanwhile appeared to still be asleep. Nora jumped out of bed and leant over him, with an almost-serene smile on her face. Before poking him sharply in the forehead. He opened his eyes and blinked, before sitting up and looking around, for all the world like he'd been awake for long enough that all trace of tiredness was removed.

"Good morning." Ren spoke pleasantly, without a trace of weariness. Jaune's eye twitched. "I hope Nora didn't wake you too soon."

"Uh... no. I was the first to wake." Jaune shook his head. "Hey, uh... Ren? Do you normally wake up like that?"

"Nora usually wakes me, yes. You should probably get used to it. I have spent years trying to change her methodology, but I have been unsuccessful."

"No, I uh... I meant..." Jaune trailed off, unsure how to proceed. However, when he saw the corner of Ren's mouth quirk into a subtle smile, his eyes narrowed. "You know exactly what I'm talking about." Ren snorted in a semblance of a laugh.

"Yes. It's something of a gift, albeit one acquired over time. Nora tends to be... full on." His eyes shifted to the girl who was currently flitting about the room, throwing her items into various states of tidiness with wild abandon. "You quickly adjust to her pace. It's either that or get left behind. Speaking of which, I intend to get dressed. If you will excuse me." Ren stood and gathered some clothes from his bags, before entering the dorm's bathroom and locking the door. Jaune looked back to Pyrrha, and she smiled.

"I like them." She said simply. Jaune chuckled.

"Yeah... me too."

It took a while for them to all dress, during which time they heard a strange cacophony of noises coming from the dorm room opposite... RWBY's, if Jaune remembered correctly. The sounds of drilling, hammering, and occasional screeching were coming from within, until a short silence occurred. At the end of which, one dread phrase was uttered in a shrill tone.

"It's eight fifty-five you dunce!"

JNPR leaned out of their dorm room to watch Weiss run down the corridor and disappear around the corner. The remainder of RWBY looked towards JNPR, catching their eyes.

"To class!" Ruby spluttered out, before running off with Yang and Blake in tow.

"...class?" Jaune spoke, before his team fell on him out the door. He quickly scrambled up and in a shouted in a panic. "We're gonna be late!"

JNPR ran after RWBY, during which they managed to make close the distance and catch up with even Weiss. Privately Jaune thought, as they passed under the watchful - and in one case disapproving – gaze of Professors Ozpin and Goodwitch, this was an unfair comparison as she was in heels. Then again... so is Pyrrha... and Blak- wait, they're in normal shoes. Slash that, I'm awesome.

Jaune was surprisingly not at the back, although he wasn't at the front either. Still, it was a big improvement for him. They made it to class on time, just, and quickly found their seats.

Within minutes of Professor Port starting his... lesson... Jaune's eyes were drooping. Being impaled by a Deathstalker would have been a better way to learn about the Grimm than this... and he should know! He'd done it!

At least he wasn't alone. Looking around Jaune saw that many of the students were in much the same position as him. He wondered how-

"I do sir!" A shout snapped him out of his thoughts. It seemed Weiss was getting frustrated.

"Well then, let's find out!" Port spoke boldly, before gesturing at the cage that had seemingly appeared from nowhere. "Step forward and face your opponent!"

As Weiss left to change, Jaune found himself focussed on the cage.

"Hey... Pyrrha? When did that cage get there?" He sounded nervous.

"I... have no idea. I'm just going to ignore it until I see something otherwise." She spoke quickly, as if she wanted the subject changed.

"Yeah, sounds good, let's do that." Jaune agreed nervously.

A few minutes later, Weiss was dressed in her combat uniform. She prepared herself for the trial she was about to face, while being spurred on by her teammates.

"Goooo Weiss!" Yang cried out exuberantly. Blake was more subtle.

"Fight well!" She had managed to obtain a small flag with "RWBY" on it, though Jaune had no idea when she'd managed to do that. Did JNPR get one? Ruby's ecstatic cheer snapped him back to the fight.

"Yeah, represent team RWBY!" Weiss glared at her.

"Ruby! I'm trying to focus!" Weiss tone was snippy.

"Oh, um... sorry..." Ruby looked sheepish. Jaune furrowed his eyebrows. Ruby was only being supportive...

Port stepped up to the cage with an... axe-thing in his hand. "Allllright! Let the match... begin!"

With that, Port brought his axe down on the cage's lock, freeing the grimm inside, which immediately charged forward. To Jaune, it looked like some kind of boar, though he wouldn't be able to guess its na-

"A boarbatusk. Difficult for a lone fighter... especially one requiring finesse not force..." Pyrrha mumbled. Huh, thought Jaune, that was convenient.

"So you're saying Nora would have an easier time of it than Weiss?" Jaune asked.

"Mhmm. Most definitely." Pyrrha replied without taking her eyes off the fight before them.

Weiss, meanwhile, had managed to dodge its initial charge by rolling to the side. They charged together, but Weiss misjudged her strike, and the blade of her rapier became lodged in its tusks. While struggling, Ruby called out encouragement.

"Come on, Weiss, show it who's boss!"

However, this served to distract her, as she simply glared at her leader. This allowed the grimm to fling the rapier out of her grip, and into the stands.

While this was obviously unfortunate for Weiss, who was frantically looking for her weapon, it was far more so for the unlucky student that the blade had managed to hit.

Jaune gurgled, loudly.

This drew the attention of everyone in the hall, and even the boar-like creature at the front.

His blood pooled from his throat, around where Myrtenaster was lodged; it was also pinning him to the desk behind.

All eyes were on him as he choked and clutched the sword, and even the Boarbatusk seemed stunned until one blow from Port crushed it with barely a sound.

It was the longest he had been alive after a mortal blow, and he locked eyes with Pyrrha as his life's blood leaked away. Hers were wide and in shock, green flashing brilliantly in the classroom light.

Jaune gave a grotesque, choking chuckle, before giving a thumbs up at her. His eyes rolled back and he slumped, hand falling down to his side while the other still gripped the sword.

Port cleared his throat.

"Class dismissed."

Jaune coughed loudly as he woke up, sitting upright quickly.

Normal people, having technically died, would be understandably upset.

At this point it should be clear that Jaune was far from a normal person. As a result, his actions were a little different, upon waking up to the sound of a shrill whistle. He first gasped, then coughed loudly, before sitting up, and looking around.

He grinned.

"It worked! I'm still here!" He cheered, although more quietly than the previous time. His coughing was still loud enough to wake Pyrrha, however. She groaned, but since she had not been startled as much as yesterday - if yesterday was even the right word - she was far less concerned about Jaune's antics.

""You seem happy, especially so early." She smiled at him, her emerald eyes glistening, but tired. "What's the reason for that?"

"Heh..." Jaune rubbed his head. "Just happy to be here I guess... didn't really expect to do that well." She wasn't to know he was talking about waking up after dying again, and what's more, he wasn't waking up in that damned great hall, and having to go through all that again! No more launch pads for this guy!

"You did well, you should be proud! You have more than earned your place." Pyrrha spoke kindly, as she always did. He flushed, and rubbed his head again.

"Thanks Pyrrha. I just hope I can live up to your standards." Pyrrha's smile grew, even as she slumped back onto her pillow, but Jaune froze as he realised what he'd said. Oh no, he thought, "Live up?" Yang is contagious... I'd say kill it with fire if I hadn't LITERALLY seen her set herself on fire in anger.

He remembered the previous attempt he'd made at this day, and decided they'd need to get ready a little faster. He woke Nora, and then gestured at Ren to her. She saluted.

"Aye aye fearless leader, I shall wake him immediately!"

As before, she sharply poked him, and as before, he went from asleep to wide awake instantly.

"Good morning."

Jaune sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose. "Ren, how long will it take to learn that trick?" Ren chuckled – he actually chuckled – before answering.

"For me? A year. For you? We'll manage in a few weeks. With Nora's help of course."

Pyrrha and Jaune paled. They locked eyes, before slowly looking at Nora. She had a maniacal grin on her face, and she saluted smartly.

"I am always ready to help my teammates!" With that, she cracked her knuckles loudly. Jaune and Pyrrha gulped comically, before Jaune cleared his throat.

"Right... um... yes... anyway, w-we should get ready, classes start soon and we don't want to be late." The remainder of JNPR agreed, and before long, they were all fully dressed and prepared to leave. Jaune smiled. It might just work...

They stepped out of the dorm room, and locked it behind them. Funny... I don't actually remember if we did this yesterday. Oh well, if I can change one thing, why not more?

In this line of thinking, he stepped over to RWBY's door, where he overheard an excited voice announce their intentions.

"-replace them with bunk-beds!"

Jaune smirked, and knocked on the door. It was opened by Ruby, who stood looking expectantly.

"Hey Jaune, what's up? We were just organising our room, do you need anything?"

"Not really, but it's like, 8:50 I think? So uh, you can maybe do your beds later, 'cause we've got class at 9... I just thought I should let you guys know..." He trailed off as he caught sight of Weiss' eyes widening. Ruby followed his gaze, before turning back to the waiting JNPR. She held up a finger.

"Uh... to class!" It was easily the least authoritative order Jaune had ever heard, but it got the point across, and the two teams walked briskly towards the classrooms, but not before Jaune had reminded Ruby to actually lock their doors.

Upon getting there just as the bell rang Ruby poked Jaune in the side.

"Thanks for the heads up, fellow leader!" Just behind, unbeknownst to them, Weiss bristled, but Jaune smiled.

"Anytime, we've got to stick together, right? Except right now, 'cause seats..." He trailed off after the lame parting, and they went their separate ways. Jaune was tempted to sit in a different place, but realised that wouldn't solve much. If he changed too much, he'd have no idea what would happen, and surely that could only make things worse in the long run.

Port began his long-winded lecture-cum-self-promotion, and Jaune slumped. God... not again...

Nora groaned. "This is sooo booooriiiing! I could be killing Grimm or eating things instead of this..." She grumbled quietly. Jaune grunted in agreement.

"It's even worse the second time around..."He mumbled under his breath. This was an even better reason to not die. He'd probably kill himself just to find a way to avoid the class. And apparently, considering Ruby's antics, he wasn't the only one who was bored out of his mind. Weiss was looking increasingly frustrated too. I guess this is the reason she did-

"I do professor!"

-that.

...

Oh damn it, there's that cage again! Magic, I swear!

Weiss once again – to Jaune at least – stood before them, and began fighting the boar. Ruby was acting exactly as before, so Jaune prepared himself for the inevitable...

...

Now.

He jerked his head to one side quickly, and winced as the blade scraped his neck. But this time, it didn't impale him. More importantly, he was still alive.

Pyrrha looked over, wide-eyed, as the blade stuck quivering between them. Jaune yanked it out, and tossed it back to Weiss. It clattered on the floor due to his poor aim, but she nodded in thanks anyway, not taking her eyes off the beast before her.

It charged as she rolled for her weapon, narrowly missing her. With Myrtenaster in hand, she stood ready, waiting. It rolled once more, but she put up a glyph to stop it, and it bounced off. Using yet another snowflake-glyph, she powered towards it, impaling it in a way that Jaune found disconcertingly reminiscent of his own prior death. As Port congratulated Weiss – before she stormed out with Ruby following closely behind – Jaune rubbed his throat, wincing.

He found it was damp and sticky.

He grimaced as he pulled his hand away, and saw it was red with blood. Not a lot, but easily noticeable. Pulling out a tissue, he dabbed at the cut. His actions made Pyrrha look over, before she did a double-take, gasping.

"Jaune! What happened, are you OK? What about your aura, why are you so low!" She continued blurting out questions as he tried to answer spluttering, until-

"Pyrrha! I'm fine, it's just a small cut!" He announced with a smile. "The sword just scratched me is all, nothing bad. See?" He took the tissue away to show her a slight nick. It had bled a lot, making it seem far worse than it was. Not like I haven't had worse... Jaune thought wryly.

Pyrrha did not seem placated however. "But Jaune, why did it happen in the first place?! You aren't devoid of aura!" She held up her scroll as she said this, as evidence of her claims. Jaune grimaced.

"I guess... Aura's meant to protect us right? Kinda like a forcefield?"

"If you want to look at it that way, I suppose." She frowned as she replied. "But there's more to it than just that... and clearly it hasn't worked for you!"

"Yeah... it never does." He sighed. "I don't really know why. I haven't exactly had it unlocked for long, so I'm not used to it. I just know it doesn't work like that." He grimaced at that. "For me anyway."

"I think it would be worth discussing this with a teacher then. Perhaps Miss Goodwitch? She seems knowledgeable in these areas. I'm afraid I simply can't help you there."

"Eh… I'll think about it." Jaune hesitated. He realised that seeking help could put him –and his transcripts – under greater scrutiny, and if he was discovered, it would all be in vain. "But I want to try and sort it myself first… OK?" Pyrrha looked uncertain, but nodded.

"If… you think that's best. But be careful Jaune, you could get hurt! You've been lucky so far, but it might run out!"

Jaune made a noise that seemed a cross between a snort and a choke. Oh Pyrrha… you have no idea.

"Maybe, but, uh, I'll be careful, so don't worry ok?" Jaune flashed a smile full of confidence, even if all of it was fake. Pyrrha seemed unconvinced, but didn't press the issue.

They made their way out of the room to see the tail end of Ozpin's discussion with Ruby, although she didn't look especially happy. Pausing on their way back to the room, they waited for Ozpin to leave. Ruby started walking back with a pensive look on her face, before Jaune stopped her.

"Ruby? You OK? Weiss was being… well…" He trailed off, unable to think of an appropriate word without being excessively harsh. Ruby blinked, and nodded.

"Yeah… I just need to show her I can do this I guess. I don't blame her for being angry, it's not like I expected to be leader. But I guess… no. I have to try my best. For me and for her." She frowned, before brightening up. "So I'm gonna go work on that now… I'll be in the library if you need me, or anyone asks."

Jaune smirked, while Pyrrha smiled brightly.

"Sounds like a good plan. See you around… nerd!" He laughed good-naturedly as Ruby pouted, before waving as she walked off towards where Jaune thought the library was.

They watched her go, before returning to their dorm.

"I'm not really a good judge of this… but I think she's gonna be a great huntress one day." Jaune spoke as they walked.

"I can't help but agree. I hope we all will be."

"Yeah… hopefully."

…

Hopefully.

So, this probably helps set up a few of the "rules" for Jaune's... thing. I don't want to call it his semblance, but I guess that works too.

This means that the little section at the end of last chapter was an OMAKE, for anyone who didn't actually realise that. I'm not THAT cruel. But, if I was...

OMAKE

With a tired sigh, Jaune opened his eyes.

He was exactly where he knew he'd be.

Right in the middle of the ballroom, exactly like he had every single time before.

He'd been here so often, he knew it better than his family home. He didn't know how long he'd been living this day, over and over again. Years, decades... centuries? He had no way of knowing. He'd lost count, or stopped caring. He wasn't sure, but cared less. What was the point of counting to infinity?

He stood up.

It wasn't like there was much point anymore, he might as well have stayed in bed. But what else was he to do? The only time he'd attempted to sleep through initiation, Professor Goodwitch had thrown him out the window.

It was either that or be pounced on by Ruby. She could be a little enthusiastic.

He smirked. She's not exactly innocent though...

At some point, Jaune had given up on simply trying to get through initiation perfectly. After the time he had murdered every single creature of Grimm in the forest and still woken up in exactly the same place. Hell, he'd even tried staying awake all through the night, only to wake up back in the ballroom as soon as the clock hit six A.M.

Yet another fruitless endeavour.

So instead he turned to more... lecherous pursuits. Consensually, of course. Quasi-immortal he might be, but he had standards damn it!

And now, he'd seduced every single woman he'd met. Within reason of course, he wasn't exactly going to take advantage of anyone.

He'd learned how to get under the skin of every woman he knew, including Professor Goodwitch. Despite her interesting choice of weapon, she had fairly normal tastes. Blake on the other hand...

Jaune shuddered. Some memories were better left alone.

Over the course of his misadventures, he'd even run into some interesting people, who he doubted he'd ever meet normally. One such person seemed obsessed with ice cream, while another had an odd penchant for fire... still, it was an experience to say the least.

And more recently, the most... disturbing person he'd ever met.

If he could ever call her a person.

It had happened while he was trying to find where the Grimm came from, if only to satisfy his own curiosity.

What he'd found... had terrified him. But since he couldn't exactly die, he'd thrown his hands up in the air and gone for it.

And yet he was still here, in this same god-forsaken ballroom. He almost despised it, except he knew that was foolish.

Why couldn't he just continue with his life? He'd done everything, fallen in love and been loved by everyo-

Wait. Jaune's eyes widened.

There was one person still left.

Jaune stood at the edge of the cliffs, overlooking the sea. It had been nearly fifty years since he'd last awoken in that ballroom.

Well, technically less if you counted that party Yang threw, but since he wasn't really referring to that one time, who was he to care?

And now he was here, staring out across the edge of the world. He'd been wonderfully, ecstatically married for most of those years of freedom, since he'd finally fallen in love with the right person. And he couldn't possibly have been happier.

Their children had grown up so loved, and they'd had an amazing career, filled with success.

He smiled, as the person he loved most in this world leaned their head on his shoulder.

"I love you, Jaune." They spoke, in a low voice. It didn't matter. Jaune heard.

He turned to face them.

Their hair had long since turned to grey, but the streak of pink remained, and their pink eyes were as full of life as they'd ever been.

"I love you too... Ren."