Ephemeral Dream

XI: Quest and Cooking

I was flustered.

I would freely admit it. I was feeling incredibly flustered as I walked with Miyuki, showing her around town. And, based on her expression, so was Blake.

The girl was just so beautiful. I would call it unnatural if her beauty just wasn't so very natural.

Miyuki had a radiant smile on her face as she looked around, taking in the sights of Vale. I'd lived in the area my whole life, so I didn't get the fascination, but Miyuki was looking at everything as if they were all things she'd never seen before.

"So..." I cleared my throat. "This is your first time in Vale, right Miyuki?"

She looked at me and kept that smile on her face. "Yes, I only arrived yesterday. I thought I would familiarise myself with the town today and tomorrow, though having guides certainly helps!"

I fought down the blush that was rising to my cheeks. Damn it, calm down Jaune! She was just a very gorgeous girl; you were around Yang and Ruby all the time now!

Wait, where did that last thought come from?

I shook my head to clear those thoughts from my head. "If you don't mind me asking, where are you from?"

"I'm from Mantle, or Atlas as it is better known," she told us. "My father got promoted from his job, and is heading the Vale Branch of the company, so I had to move. I was happy to do so, I don't have too many friends in Atlas, so I'm hoping moving to Vale will let me make plenty of them."

I nodded at her words, my blush dying down as we began a proper conversation. "You said you were going to be attending Signal starting Monday? Well, I hope we end up in the same class if that's the case."

Her eyes lit up as she looked at me. "Oh, you're a student at Signal too? What year are you in?"

"Second year."

She smiled. "So am I! Oh, I hope we end up being classmates! It will be nice to have a friend in class with me!"

I felt the blush rise onto my face, shaking my head. "Yeah, it would be nice to have you in class too."

Miyuki looked at Blake. "What about you? Do you attend Signal?"

"Ah, no," she finally found her voice, shaking her head. "No, I live in Mistral. I'm just visiting with my family right now; I'm heading back next week. I attend Sanctum Academy."

"Oh..." She frowned. "That's a shame, I would have liked to attend with both of you."

Blake's blush got hotter. "But I uh... I do plan to attend Beacon around the same time as you and Jaune, and Jaune is a good friend so I'm planning to visit Vale when I can and catch up with him. It'd be nice to see you too."

Miyuki's eyes lit up. "That's wonderful! I wish you the best in your studies and I look forward to seeing you during school breaks, Blake!"

Blake only nodded, looking down at her feet. I could tell she didn't trust herself to say any more.

"So, where do you want to visit first, Miyuki?" I asked her, trying to take the attention off of Blake.

"I was wondering if you show me the way to Signal first," she told me. "Then, I'd like to know where the grocery store is for shopping!"

I raised an eye. "Forgive me if I sound a bit insensitive, do you not live with your dad?"

"I don't," she admitted. "My father is very dedicated to his work, especially since my mother and brother passed away in an accident. He truthfully has another house in Vale that he plans to live in, and I'll be living on my own. He used the reason that I 'needed to learn to be independent for when I attend Beacon,' but I know it's truthfully because it hurts for him to look at me because I'm so similar to my mother."