Why did you make Miss Rose and Mr. Arc leaders, Ozpin?

      Ozpin sat at his desk in his office, sipping cocoa and reading documents sent by the council - all sorts of new requirements and other serious matters. Why was Ozpin drinking cocoa and not coffee? Why didn't he delegate this work to Glynda?       Well, contrary to popular belief, Ozpin doesn't always drink coffee and doesn't always hand over all his work to Glynda. Okay, there's some truth to that, but only about 70%, as Ozpin tells himself. If he had the nerve to calculate his average coffee consumption and create a drinking chart, Ozpin is sure that coffee wouldn't account for more than any other beverage. Ozpin is so certain of this that he won't bother checking or counting.       Regarding the matter of delegating duties, Ozpin won't tell you how much he handles himself and how much he gives to Glynda, but in his mind, he claims he gives Glynda only 50... no, 40% of the academy director's work. Ozpin isn't the slacker everyone thinks he is, especially Glynda. Silly Glynda, she thinks Ozpin is an irresponsible idiot, HA! Well, he's not. Ozpin will now show how responsible and thoughtful an adult (old man) he is. Speaking of Glynda...       "Ozpin, I had a question," Glynda said, entering the office. "Am I interrupting?"       "Of course not, Glynda," Ozpin said happily, pushing the papers aside because his eyes were tired of the boring letters. "What's wrong? A fire? A terrorist attack? Interpersonal teenage drama?"       "You sound like you're looking forward to it more than anything," Goodwitch said, looking at Ozpin with reproach.       "No, no, what do you take me for? A bored senile old man who eats popcorn when chaos erupts?" the headmaster asked with a touch of playful foolishness.       "Alright, I'll overlook that and get to the point," she said, pinching the bridge of her nose and closing her eyes. After she finished massaging it, Glynda asked, "Why did you make Miss Rose and Mr. Arc leaders, Ozpin?"       Ozpin was a little surprised by the question. He wasn't in shock, just a little taken aback that Glynda would ask such a thing. As far as Ozpin could remember, Glynda hadn't asked questions like that since she first started working at Beacon. Glynda used to ask all sorts of questions, wondering why things were a certain way and not another. It was thanks to her curiosity that Glynda achieved her high position. Ozpin simultaneously loves and hates curious cats. He loves them because it's always nice to share something you know with someone who's alive, it creates a feeling of a weight lifted off your shoulders and makes you feel less alone in this empty world. He hates them because they often ruin his image as a wise and cool headmaster, leading to conflicts between him and his subordinates. And sometimes, these curious cats sniff out things that even Ozpin doesn't want to know or think about...       "Ozpin!" Glynda exclaimed.       "Huh?" the headmaster snapped out of his thoughts. "Sorry, I think I was half-asleep," Ozpin said, rubbing his eyes with his fingers. "Can you repeat that?"       "Why did you make Miss Rose and Mr. Arc leaders, Ozpin?" Glynda repeated calmly, understanding Ozpin's strange reaction.       "I can tell you why, but I need to know why you want this information?" Ozpin asked, resting his hand on his chin and looking at Glynda thoughtfully.       "I don't doubt your decisions... most of them, that is," Glynda admitted. "However... Miss Rose and Mr. Arc don't seem..." Glynda paused, searching for suitable neutral terms.       "Very mature for such a responsibility?" Ozpin suggested.       "Yes," Goodwitch agreed with his interpretation. "I wasn't against you inviting Miss Rose to the initiation; she's not the first 'prodigy' to join the academy early. And I reluctantly accepted that you let in Mr. Arc with his fake documents. They both ultimately showed themselves in the best light during the Nevermore battle," Glynda beat around the bush before looking away, her eyes filled with apprehension and fear. "But leadership is no small responsibility, a psychological burden for an underage girl and an untrained boy."       Ozpin hummed thoughtfully, nodding. He understood her. There had been many incidents where team leaders simply couldn't handle the leadership role, and they either left the academy or... let's just say, Glynda would never forget how the story of the team consisting of a faunus-phobe, an anthro-phobe faunus, a fundamentalist, and a timid girl ended.       "I understand your concerns and feelings, Glynda," Ozpin said honestly. "So I'll answer you directly and without secrets." Ozpin noticed her ears perk up and her eyes sparkle; she was genuinely curious. Ozpin raised his hand and waved it dismissively. "Because I couldn't come up with any other team names," Ozpin replied.       Glynda stared at Ozpin as if he were a freak, in the most ridiculous sense of the word. Glynda couldn't form coherent words in her head to describe what she had just heard or felt.       "You're joking, right?" Glynda asked, with disbelief and the fear that the most important infrastructure and social institution was being controlled by an idiot, no, a PSYCHOPATH.       Ozpin looked into Glynda's eyes with an impassive, serious expression, which was frightening, until he let out a chuckle.       "I'm kidding, of course. I'm not an idiot for everything to be decided by 'What name will sound better'," Ozpin laughed to himself.       "Phew," Glynda sighed in relief. "Don't joke like that, Ozpin."       "Sorry, sorry," Ozpin smiled. "Actually, the arrangement of the first letters of their names reflects their relative suitability as leaders."       "So, in Team JNPR, Miss Valkyrie is more suitable as a leader than Mr. Ren and Miss Nikos?" Goodwitch asked with great skepticism.       Nora was a chaotic, hyperactive girl whose essays and reports were pure mental chaos that made you shudder. Glynda didn't believe Nora was a better leader than the reserved and quiet Lie Ren or the experienced and reliable Pyrrha Nikos.       "Don't look down on her," Ozpin chuckled. "I'll explain now why I appointed Rose and Arc as leaders, and you'll understand why the others aren't suitable."       "I'm waiting," Glynda said, crossing her arms and drilling her eyes into Ozpin, implying he'd better not mess with her.       "Ruby is mature, and Jaune is fearless," Ozpin said easily, as if it were a self-evident truth.       Glynda looked at him with even more skepticism. Ruby is mature and Jaune is fearless? Just this morning, Glynda saw Rose picking her nose and Arc diligently avoiding a sparring match. If Ozpin considered that maturity and fearlessness, Glynda was afraid to find out what he considered childishness and cowardice.       Ozpin could read his deputy's mind perfectly. No, he wasn't a telepath; he was just good at reading people, especially their eyes. Ozpin chuckled at Glynda's confusion and decided to explain the situation in more detail.       "Yes, perhaps they aren't perfect examples of maturity and fearlessness, but no one can be a perfect standard. This is chosen by the method of comparison. Ruby Rose and Jaune Arc are indeed more mature and fearless compared to their teammates." Glynda wanted to interject, but Ozpin cut her off. "Yes, I know their behavior in class and how their colleagues behave, but that's just an external facade that doesn't reflect reality." Ozpin got up from his desk, picked up his cup of cocoa, and walked to the window to look at the view. "To make it clearer, I'll explain sequentially, starting with Team RWBY from the back. Miss Xiao-Long is Rose's older sister, isn't she?"       Glynda nodded. They both knew who Yang Xiao-Long was - the daughter of Raven Branwen and Taiyang Xiao-Long, and Ruby's older half-sister. She was spirited, strong, and talented, but in Goodwitch's opinion, flighty and not serious. She wasn't surprised that Yang's name was at the end of the team name, if Ozpin's statement that the letter placement reflected leadership suitability was true. However, Glynda was very curious to know Ozpin's reason for considering her the least suitable for a leadership position.       "Even though Xiao-Long is Rose's older sister and takes care of her accordingly, it doesn't reflect her maturity. Xiao-Long is a child abandoned by her mother," Ozpin stated, not caring how he sounded. "Xiao-Long may seem cheerful and shine like the sun, but, like the sun, she seems close, but in reality, the distance to her is much, much, much farther than it seems," Ozpin said with a touch of sympathy in his voice.       "What do you mean?" Glynda asked, worried about Yang's mental health. She wasn't a psychologist who could see through people and their problems, and Glynda didn't want to, because it would interfere with her professionalism and pedagogy. However, for context, she now needed to know Yang's background to understand Ozpin's thinking.       "Xiao-Long seems to have friends, but they're not really friends. Acquaintances at best. Xiao-Long doesn't form deep connections with anyone; everything ends in superficial connections and relationships without obligation. Xiao-Long is a loner who thinks alone and acts alone. She's afraid of feeling the same abandonment that Raven left behind when she left the family, and Taiyang, when he neglected his children and fell into depression after Summer Rose's death. Yang never grew up from that moment. She still can't grow out of that state."       "I see," Goodwitch nodded. She understood that Yang wasn't just flighty, but a relationship-avoiding child, which is why she wasn't cut out to be a leader. "But what about Belladonna? She's more distant than Yang, who at least pretends to be socially friendly."       Blake Belladonna was the daughter of Kali and Ghira Belladonna, the founders of the White Fang. Yes, Glynda and Ozpin were well aware of Blake's past, but unlike Jaune, whose documents were a laughable farce, Blake's were much more respectable, and she had actual combat experience to become a Huntress. Beacon Academy also had an unwritten motto: "Everyone deserves a chance to become a hunter," so they didn't care that Blake was once part of the White Fang.       "Belladonna has a funny story," Ozpin chuckled. "Yes, Miss Belladonna is similar to Yang. She avoids relationships, preferring books to people. However, because she was a high-ranking member of the White Fang, she compensates for her lack of social skills with teamwork experience, even if it was with a terrorist group."       "However, she is also not mature, preferring to run from problems rather than face them head-on," Glynda suggested, anticipating his next thoughts.       "Exactly," Ozpin praised, looking at her with a smile. "You've grasped the essence of the problem. Although Blake can boast of more mature thinking and a deeper ability to connect with someone else compared to Yang, in addition to her habit of running from problems, she also suffers from an obsessive idea of justifying her favorite villains and demonizing her unloved characters," Ozpin said sarcastically, using an allegory for Blake's attitude toward the White Fang faunus and the Schnee family. "She may claim to believe in gray morality, but internally, she tends to think in black and white, which is very immature."       "The more I listen, the more I want to go and feel sorry for them," Glynda said with frustration and a migraine, massaging her temples. Glynda was aware of her reputation among the students, as if she were some kind of monster, but she didn't care; she even cultivated that image in their minds. Glynda wanted to make them strong enough to survive in this cruel world, so the role of the academy's monster suited her.       "We can take a break; I have a lot more to say about Team RWBY and JNPR," Ozpin offered, motioning for Glynda to sit in a chair. Ozpin understood how difficult it was for someone to grasp the profound depths of another person.       "No, no, it's fine. I just should have expected that it wouldn't be so simple," Glynda said, grabbing a glass, pouring water from the cooler, and sitting in the offered chair.       "Then I'll continue," Ozpin said, sitting in his headmaster's chair. "Where did I leave off? Ah, yes, Weiss."       Weiss Schnee was probably the most pleasant of Glynda's students. Of course, her straight-A-student syndrome lowered Goodwitch's view of Schnee, but that didn't diminish the fact that Weiss truly studied, practiced, and took her craft seriously, for which she earned Glynda's respect for her diligence and attitude. So, Glynda wasn't surprised that Weiss was the second most suitable for the leadership position after Ruby. But given what her deputy had heard, she was starting to wonder about Schnee's deeper flaws, since she was considered less mature than Ruby.       "I assume we're talking about more than just her immature temperament, right?" Goodwitch asked.       "Yes, Miss Schnee is certainly prone to temperamental outbursts and speaking before she thinks," Ozpin nodded. "However, as the heiress to a mega-corporation, she knows how to step out of her comfort zone and interact with people she may not like. So, if Rose were absent, Schnee is capable of taking responsibility into her own hands," Ozpin acknowledged Weiss's talents and merits. "But she is still less mature than Ruby."       Glynda wondered which of Weiss's personality traits was that "immaturity." Glynda had long noticed these flaws in her: impulsiveness, perfectionism, snobbery, hypocrisy. No, Weiss wasn't a bad person in Goodwitch's opinion; the combat discipline professor had a file of flaws for every student in her mind.       "Weiss Schnee..." Ozpin said dramatically, sipping his now-cold cocoa. "...Irresponsibility."       "What?" the blonde was bewildered. She was sure that of all four, Weiss was the most responsible.       "As I said earlier, don't believe what you see," Ozpin said, reading the emotions on his deputy's face. "Weiss is a diligent student, but we're talking about a different form of responsibility. Let's imagine a situation where Weiss is the leader, and her team, let's say... trashed a classroom. Tell me, would Weiss take the blame herself or would she deny her involvement?"       "The latter," Glynda replied after a moment, fully understanding what Ozpin meant. "Miss Schnee is unable to take responsibility for others' actions and decisions. She doesn't take into account that her team members aren't robotic soldiers; they're people with flaws."       "Exactly," Ozpin confirmed, snapping his fingers. "But she is also irresponsible for her own life."       "Do you mean her dependence on her father's resources?" Glynda suggested.       "Oh, no, that's not the biggest problem," the headmaster shook his head. "I'm talking about the path she has chosen. Do you know about Winter Schnee?"       "A Specialist, practically James's right-hand woman, and Miss Schnee's older sister," Glynda quoted as if it were standard information.       "Yes, the younger sister, inspired by the older one, imitates her in everything and strives to be like her. Sweet, isn't it?" Ozpin chuckled, but his smile immediately faded. "But imitating her won't make her strong. Miss Schnee is closing off other paths of development for herself, except for Winter's path. The only independent decision she made was choosing Beacon instead of Atlas to be further away from her father. Weiss Schnee isn't trying to find out what her own inner essence is; it's easier for her to follow Winter's example and shed the responsibility for her life's path."       "I see," Glynda nodded. "So, Miss Rose is more mature among them. Rose is capable of forming deep emotional connections, which Xiao-Long can't. She's able to face conflict head-on and accept gray morality, which Belladonna couldn't do. And she's capable of taking responsibility for all of her team's actions, even if she had no part in them, which Schnee can't boast of," Glynda summarized.       "Precisely," Ozpin nodded with satisfaction, walking over to the machine on his desk where he refilled his cup of cold cocoa with hot water.       "Alright, I can accept that Miss Rose is the leader of her team because the rest of the team is incompetent," Glynda admitted, adjusting her glasses. "What I can't understand is Jaune Arc. Not only did he get in through fraud, but he also has no initial foundation; no one trained or taught him. The fact that he quickly oriented himself and coordinated the others doesn't make him a leader. Strategists don't necessarily have to be generals; they can be their right-hand men," Glynda explained her position, or rather, she made it up, because the real reason was her personal acquaintance with Jaune's father. If the boy died, Glynda wouldn't be able to look the elder Arc in the eye, even if they hadn't seen each other in a hundred years.       "As I said at the very beginning, Jaune is the most fearless on his team," Ozpin reminded her, understanding how absurd the statement sounded.       Jaune Arc was a Huntsman from a long line of Huntsmen in the Arc family. Ozpin and Glynda knew his father well, but after he started a family, the patriarch of the Arc family had severed all ties with them, yet they were still remembered and revered as some of Beacon's best graduates. So, Jaune was the opposite of his father: strength, charisma, and skill were all things his father had and his son completely lacked. Glynda, to be honest, thought Ozpin's reason for accepting Jaune was that he was the son of that Arc, and Ozpin secretly always wanted to go against the will of his former student and take Jaune on as an apprentice. However, as Ozpin assured, he only gives choices, he doesn't decide for others, to which Glynda could only roll her eyes. Yeah, "gives choices," like when Ozpin gave James a choice between "you supply me with your computers" and "you are responsible for the deaths of 1,000 orphans." Without context, it sounds strange, but it's a long story that Glynda didn't have time to recall.       "Alright, if I'm to believe your words about the letter placement, then Ren is the least fearless on the team, right?" she said with more skepticism in her tone than in all her previous questions.       "Precisely," Ozpin replied without a hint of doubt. Noticing Glynda's look, Ozpin was quick to explain, "Mr. Ren may seem like a stoic rock, but he is not. It's enough for me to look into a person's eyes to know everything about them."       Glynda relaxed, and her mistrust disappeared, because she believed in Ozpin's gaze. Ozpin could indeed read a person's soul just by looking into their eyes, which was both amazing and frightening to her, as it was to Ozpin himself. Ozpin hadn't asked for such an ability, but it wasn't magic or a gift from the gods; it was simply a result of a vast amount of experience and interaction with hundreds and thousands of different people. It was an inevitable acquisition.       "I also initially thought he was a stoic who could overcome his fears and overwhelming feelings, but I only thought that until I met his gaze personally," Ozpin recounted. Glynda felt the atmosphere around them become more negative and somber compared to the part where they discussed Team RWBY. "In the boy's eyes, I saw so many emotions, feelings, and fears. He didn't overcome them; he didn't overpower them; he simply suppressed them. Suppressing fear is not the same as defeating it. I admit, it's impossible to simply get rid of fear, but you can rise above it. However, Mr. Ren doesn't do that. He is like a child who closes his eyes when walking past a very, very dark room, not wanting to look into it," Ozpin described.       "But what makes Jaune fearless, unlike him?" Glynda pressed on with her questions, still not believing what she was hearing.       "Do you remember Jaune walking through the hall in his pajamas the day before initiation?" Ozpin asked. "Or how he confessed to Miss Schnee, making a romantically embarrassing fool of himself? Or how he screams like... any other time?"       Glynda would be lying if she said she didn't remember. That's probably what made Jaune the most popular person at the academy, in an embarrassing way. She had personally criticized students to their faces for laughing at Jaune behind his back for his pajamas and girly screams. However, Glynda didn't try to completely protect Jaune from bullying, only from the incidents that Jaune and his team were completely unaware of. Glynda wasn't a mother to coddle everyone; students had to deal with problems themselves.       "That's what proves Jaune's fearlessness," Ozpin continued. "He's fully aware of his unpopularity, or rather, its exact opposite. And he doesn't care; he's not afraid to be a fool. He's not afraid to make a mistake." Ozpin emphasized the last point. "Ren is very afraid of making a mistake, which is why he's afraid to admit his true feelings, both to his friends and to Miss Valkyrie."       Glynda nodded sadly and sighed. She saw the budding romance between Ren and Nora, as did others. However, she also saw the fear in their eyes, the fear of ruining everything; they were afraid to take a risk. In that regard, Jaune was indeed braver than they were. Only by taking a risk can you develop relationships, and that's not just in a romantic sense. It also applies to friendly and team relationships. Jaune isn't afraid to look like a goof and is self-deprecating about it; he is sincere in his feelings, which makes it hard not to be drawn in, hard not to grow fond of him.       "Alright, I understand you, Headmaster," Glynda said. "However, what makes Miss Nikos a worse leader than Miss Valkyrie?"       Pyrrha Nikos was the golden prodigy of the new generation of Huntsmen, a champion for 4 years straight; she could easily demolish an entire team from her class. Glynda had to call in second-year students to find someone who could match her, but even they couldn't defeat her in a counter-attack. No, Glynda didn't consider her a leader just because of her strength; Goodwitch saw her, to put it bluntly, as the team's cannon fodder along with Nora. However, considering the latter more fit for leadership than the former was nonsensical to her. How could someone lead a team when she manages to change topics 10 times in one conversation?       "Pyrrha Nikos may be our candidate for the new Autumn Maiden, but as a leader, she's... meh," Ozpin shrugged, so dismissively as if Pyrrha were a sheep to be shorn for socks.       "Could you please not drag it out?" Glynda asked, tired and rolling her eyes.       Ozpin didn't reply and walked over to a document cabinet. He opened the one he was interested in and quickly flipped through each folder, looking at their letters, and pulled out two special folders. Ozpin placed them open on the desk - they were the recommendation documents for Pyrrha and Jaune's admission.       "Tell me, what's the main difference between these papers?" Ozpin asked.       Glynda could have answered anything, from the presence of achievements to the schools, but she knew the main difference.       "Mr. Arc's documents are fake," she replied, not particularly impressed and not understanding what the headmaster was getting at.       "Exactly!" Ozpin announced enthusiastically, which baffled Glynda. "Mr. Arc had the courage to create a fake document for ME, the head of the entire Huntsman institute in Remnant."       Glynda couldn't help but snort at such an extravagantly exaggerated self-aggrandizement.       "That's what makes Jaune Arc different from Pyrrha Nikos. He's fearless in that he's not afraid to do a low deed," Ozpin praised, as if it were a human virtue. "Tell me, Miss Goodwitch, has Miss Nikos ever used dirty tricks in her fights?"       "No," Glynda replied instantly, because it was nonsense to say 'Pyrrha is a cheater'.       "And can you imagine Pyrrha stooping to some low vices, especially... anger?" Ozpin emphasized, looking at Glynda with curiosity.       "No," Glynda replied just as impassively. "However, she can feel annoyance and slight resentment, but she never expresses it except..."       "In a fight," Ozpin finished the sentence for her. "She redirects all her emotions and feelings into combat. Disappointment that she can't confess her feelings to Jaune? She'll just beat up another student in the ring. She sees unfairness but can't say it to their face? She'll just smash their face into the floor of the ring. That's her problem; like Ren, she's afraid to show her flawed feelings and emotions. She's used to wearing a fake mask so as not to cause problems for anyone."       "And Nora Valkyrie and Jaune Arc can," Glynda finished the thought, realizing Pyrrha's major flaw.       "Precisely," Ozpin confirmed. "Nikos will be a good Huntress and Maiden, but not a leader."       To be honest, Ozpin chose Pyrrha as the Maiden's successor primarily for her flaw: wearing a smile and suppressing her emotions. These were the main criteria for selecting successors. Ozpin wasn't proud of it, but he had to...       "Ozpin," Glynda called him. "You've drifted off again."       "Huh? Yes, I'm sorry. I'm having trouble concentrating today," Ozpin admitted. "Let me finish the explanation and we'll call it a day, get some rest."       "Agreed," Glynda said, tired of delving into the students.       "Nora Valkyrie, as you understand, is the second candidate for the leadership position after Jaune. But the question is, what makes her different from Jaune, since she's only second?" Ozpin asked rhetorically to add some fun and dynamism to the conversation.       "Because... Arc thinks normally?" Glynda tried to guess, saying the first thing that came to mind.       "No, they both think normally, but you're close enough," Ozpin indicated. "I've seen all sorts of chatterboxes in my life. Every one of them couldn't be quiet. It seemed to me that their minds were a center of chaos, as absolutely incomprehensible thoughts would come to them at first glance. For example, like trying to skip class by sticking a pencil up their nose to their brain."       "Don't remind me of that," Glynda shuddered, remembering Nora's antics.       "But over time, I finally realized the root of their chaos, energy, and talkativeness. Nora Valkyrie..." Ozpin said dramatically, "...is afraid to hear her own thoughts."       "Afraid of her own thoughts?" Glynda repeated. "I don't understand."       "Recall her biography. She doesn't know who her parents are, lived in a village clearly without anyone's care until the village was razed to dust by a Grimm horde attack, and for the next 10 years, she survived with Mr. Ren in the cruel forests and cities of Sanus. In my opinion, Sanus is just as criminal as Vacuo."       "Alright, alright, I get it," Glynda stopped him. "So, she says and does random things to distract herself? To not think about her traumas?"       "Yes," Ozpin replied sadly. "Like Mr. Ren, she's afraid to face her inner darkness. They are all afraid of their inner darkness. Ren is afraid of making mistakes. Nikos is afraid of her feelings. Nora is afraid of her thoughts. And Jaune Arc? Heh," the headmaster smiled a light smile. "Jaune Arc is fearless. He's not afraid to make mistakes, even the most embarrassing ones. He's not afraid to step over himself and commit low and reprehensible acts, expressing sincere emotions. He's not afraid of his thoughts; every day he thinks he's the worst person in the world, but he still gets up and continues to pursue his goal."       Glynda's eyes widened at the description of Jaune. He reminded her of his father. Jaune wasn't a master like his father, but his strength of spirit, endurance, and purposefulness were an exact replica of his father's. Glynda finally accepted Jaune.       "I understand you, Headmaster, but before I go, I have one more question," Glynda said.       "Ask away," Ozpin chuckled, sitting at his desk.       "Is everything you said about the teams true, or did you just make it all up on the spot?" she asked.       Ozpin smiled, drinking his cocoa.       "What do you think?"