(a/n- rainshadowartist/art/Professor-Peach-concept-extended-634394315 for reference, probably the best design of her I've seen. All credit to the artist, this isn't my character.)

"Took you guys long enough!"

Nora said, smiling as she saw team SNBL finally walking toward team RNJR. They'd been sitting down for maybe ten minutes, everyone barring Ren already done with their breakfast. That being said, they had almost fifteen minutes before their first class officially started. Team SNBL was in a similar position. The group sat down, Yang of course sitting near her sister with Pyrrha taking a seat next to her. Weiss -not wanting to take any chances- made sure Pyrrha acted as a barrier between her and the blonde brawler. Blake, on the other hand, sat in front of Nora at the very end.

The conversation between the two teams mostly consisted of Nora telling her stories again, Ren adding in the details like he did last time, and Yang occasionally chiming in with a bad pun or two. During the whole thing, Blake quietly ate, her eyes occasionally flicking over to Jaune and Ruby. They acted… well, what she guessed was normal for them. Ruby somewhat nervous but still bubbly and excited, Jaune alert but somewhat relaxed. She watched as Jaune ate, trying to search for even a hint of what or who he was through his actions.

"Blake." said girl turned, raising an eyebrow as she saw Ren to be the one looking at her. He nodded behind him, one that was nearly imperceptible to everyone else. Blake saw, of course. She waited, watching as Ren excused himself and went to toss his plate away, leaving Nora to tell her stories unhindered by his corrections -a rare opportunity for her. Blake waited about two minutes before she stood, throwing away her food -thankfully she was done anyway- before walking off the same direction Ren had.

"Mind explaining why you're watching my teammates?" Blake nearly jumped as she heard Ren's voice right next to her ear. She turned around, seeing Ren leaning against the wall, his arms crossed as he gazed at her impassively. She waited for a beat before she walked next to him, looking either way down the hall. "He's hiding something… I want to figure out what it is," she said. Ren slowly nodded… he wasn't terribly surprised Blake had come to that conclusion. She seemed a bit more perceptive than her teammates -more like himself.

"I'm not the only one who sensed it then. That Jaune and Ruby are keeping secrets," he said, casually leaning back and looking at the ceiling. Blake did the same, falling into the same pitfall as Jaune (despite doing it before Ren), Ruby, and Nora -to some extent- by trying to mimic his stance, only to do it far worse and far more unnaturally than he was. After a moment Blake turned to look at him, "Do you have any idea what it could be?" she asked. Ren frowned, scratching his chin… he had a few suspicions but, at the same time, he had nothing concrete. Nothing he could call more than a hunch.

"No, I don't," Ren said. Blake nodded a few times… she figured he wouldn't. He might be their teammate, but it wasn't like he and Nora would earn Ruby and Jaune's complete trust and loyalty within the span of just a day. Sure, they'd fought together during initiation, but it was going to take more than one battle before they'd all be close as kin. "Any guesses?" Blake asked. She had her own theories of course -most of which were easily proven wrong- but they were theories nonetheless. Ren nodded a few times… yeah, he had a few guesses.

"The two could be dating?"

Blake shook her head, "I thought of that but… they just don't have that look when they look at each other, you know what I mean?"

Ren nodded, "I understand… he could be teaching her. He's more skilled in aura manipulation than most other students."

Blake slowly nodded, "That would explain a bit… but why would they be keeping that a secret at all?"

Ren shrugged, "From what I gather, Ruby isn't that great with people. She could just be embarrassed about needing help. Given she came here two years early, she might not want to seem weaker than anyone else."

Blake nodded again, "Fair point… but when would they be training? I followed them up to the roof last night and they… well, they just talked. No training."

"Maybe they were planning to start training?" Ren suggested.

Blake shook her head, "No, they were talking about some sort of stunt Nora pulled with the light socket."

"..."

"..."

"I said light socket, didn't I?" Blake asked. Ren nodded a few times, a small smile on his face as he saw Blake's tint light pink. She looked away, hand reaching up and lightly patting her bow out of habit. Ren looked up, raising an eyebrow… he'd let it go. One secret at a time. Focus on Jaune and Ruby... for now. "You meant to say electrical outlet, right? Where she stabbed the fork into it to show off her electricity absorption semblance?" Blake's eyes widened, but she nodded nonetheless. She'd heard Jaune and Ruby talking about it but… she'd expected it to be sort of exaggerated. Then again, the look Ren was giving her told her it was very true.

"Though… they were also talking about something turning pink… that was normally white…" Blake's face immediately tinted said pink. Ren just smiled, slowly shaking his head. Well, he knew who had the dirtiest mind out of their two teams now… then again, Yang could probably give her some competition on that front. Ren pushed off the wall, starting to walk slowly to the cafeteria. Blake followed, walking right next to him. "They were talking about her aura. Jaune was showing off some sort of aura trick and amplified Ruby's aura. Hers was red, but it turned pink after Jaune amplified it. Apparently, that normally doesn't happen," Ren explained.

The two walked into the cafeteria, both splitting off and heading for their respective sides of the table, both left with some answers but far more questions. How many aura tricks did Jaune know? Why were the two meeting and talking in secret? Was Ruby just really shy and didn't want anyone knowing she needed help? Was it a pride thing? Were the two attracted to one another? Was it something else that neither of the two even suspected yet?

What were Jaune and Ruby hiding?

"Welcome! Welcome! Take your seats, everyone!"

Jaune smiled as he walked into professor Peach's classroom, Ruby, Nora, and Ren at his sides. He saw the pink haired woman standing in front of a chalkboard, tapping on the edge of her desk. Her hair was pulled back into a tight bun -held by what looked to be either a syringe or pair of scissors- made to keep her hair from her face, her eyes covered with a pair of safety goggles pressing into her mocha skin. Clad in the long, twin buttoned lab coat with the long, black rubber gloves, she was exactly how Jaune remembered, and exactly how Ruby pictured a mad scientist would look.

Team RNJR took their seats somewhere in the middle at Ruby's request. Far enough from the front to maybe not be noticed, and far enough from the back they didn't look like they were trying to get noticed. Jaune could tell pretty easily what Ruby was trying to do. After all, he'd practically wrote the introvert's classroom playbook through his many different trips in time. He and Ruby sat with Nora and Ren following shortly after as the rest of the class started pouring in. Looking off to the side, Jaune saw Cardin and his team sitting near the back. They were a bit more of a mixed bag than he'd have expected.

Only Dove was actually paying any attention to the teacher, given class hadn't started yet. Sky looked like he was about to fall asleep, likely having just got done with a sparring match in Goodwitch's class. Cardin and Russel were just talking about… something. Jaune couldn't tell from this distance. He turned around, looking back ahead toward the professor, watching as she walked out from behind her desk, revealing her to be wearing black, latex boots that ended in heels, along with stockings that disappeared into her lab coat somewhere. The professor walked around to the blackboard, writing down in big, scrawling letters the words 'Professor Peach' on it.

When the bell rang, she wasted no time, "Hello students! My name is professor Peach, and for the rest of this year I'll be your chemistry and dust studies professor!" there were a few students trying to be polite, welcoming the professor. A few of them were looking over at her lab station, no doubt somewhat curious. Some were even fiddling around with the strange contraptions Jaune had noticed on each other desks. Of course, he knew they were dust lines used to heat up certain projects, but still. "Now, before we actually get started, I'd like all team leaders to please come to the front of the class!" she said.

A few people stood up, but Ruby… well, laid her head down and covered her head with her hood. She was afraid of this. She did not want to try and introduce herself to a bunch more people! She'd barely gotten through it with Nora and Ren! "Come on Ruby! Get up there!" Nora whispered… well, whispered by Nora standards, which meant everyone within a twenty-foot radius heard it. Ren turned, nodding a few times at his shy leader. Ruby just shook her head, pulling her cloak closer to her. "Hmm… only three leaders? I swore I had at least four -let me check here…" Peach grabbed her clipboard, looking over the attendance sheet.

"Hmm… Ruby Rose? Ruby Rose, are you here?" she asked. She looked at a few of the other team leaders, two of them shaking their heads. Cardin, on the other hand, just casually pointed to Jaune. If he was there, Ruby would be somewhere nearby, despite the fact he couldn't see her. Peach looked up, raising an eyebrow… she had no clue what Ruby Rose looked like, but she was fairly certain Ruby was, in fact, a 'she'. The boy Cardin had pointed at did not look like a she in any respect. Noticing her look, Cardin elaborated, "He's her partner, if anyone knows where she is, it's him," he said.

"Ah! Thank you young man!" she casually pat Cardin's shoulder before turning to Jaune, "Now then, would you please explain where Ms. Rose is this morning? Terrible thing to miss the first day!" she said, a bright smile on her face. Meanwhile, Ruby sat up slightly, making the mistake of making eye contact with the professor. The second silver eyes met the reddish-pink ones, Ruby knew Peach knew who she was. The woman smiled, "Ah! There you are, Ms. Rose! Come on up and we'll get started!" she said. Ruby gulped… there was no getting out of it this time. She slowly stood, pulling her hood a bit further over her face as she walked past her teammates, down the stairs.

"Oh dust, everyone's looking at me! They're staring! I gotta act natural! Wait -no! Don't act natural! That's what got me into this mess to begin with! They're judging me, they're judging me, WHY didn't I just go up the first time!? At least then I'd have more than just ME making my way down!" Ruby was internally panicking until she got up to the front, looking up to see Ms. Peach over her. The woman smiled at her, motioning her to take her place next to another team leader on the end. The four lined up, the two girls on the end with the two guys closer to Peach herself.

"Now that we've got everyone here, I'd like the four of you to tell me your name and what team you lead! Let's start with you young man!" she said, gesturing to Cardin. Cardin stepped forward, casually introducing himself as the leader of team CRDL. As soon as he did he got a few shouts from his teammates, a few people laughing at Russell's enthusiasm. The other guy went next, swiping his hair out of his eyes. He introduced himself as Gray Golding, leader of team GOLD -fittingly enough. Next came the next girl, one Jaune recognized very well.

She smirked, slipping off her sunglasses. "I'm Coco Adel, leader of the second-year team CFVY," she said. A few people started whispering among themselves. Why was a second-year team leader in a first-year class? Had she just not taken it her first year? Was she an idiot and had failed it twice already? Coco glared at them before pulling her sunglasses back on, stepping back and lightly pushing Ruby forward. "Uhh… hi I'm uh, I'm Ruby Rose! I lead team RNJR," she said, pulling her hood further down. Jaune had to admit, she'd done better than he thought she would. He figured she'd freeze up or something.

"Excellent! You may return to your seats -oh! Ms. Rose and Ms. Adel!" both Ruby and Coco turned around. "For future reference, this is a science lab. Any head coverings such as your own aren't allowed during student involved experiments," she said, gesturing to Ruby's cloak and Coco's beret. Both let out a sigh before walking back toward the entrance. Ruby, of course, kept her cloak on. Coco, on the other hand, actually took off her beret, laying it in her uniform jacket. Ruby made her way back to her team, taking a seat next to Jaune before immediately planting her face into the table.

"I didn't sound too nervous, did I?" she whispered, looking up at Jaune. Jaune shook his head, giving her the most encouraging smile he could. Ruby smiled right back before she turned to the professor, watching her clear her throat, erasing her name from the board before grabbing a piece of chalk. She froze, dashing to her desk and grabbing out a little notepad, scribbling something down before setting it back, walking back to the board and clearing her throat again. "Now, before we get started, can anyone tell me the types of dust most often used in combat situations?" after getting over the shock of what just happened, a few hands went up, Jaune and Ren's included. She tapped her chin for a moment before pointing at Ren.

"Fire, Wind, Electric, Explosive, Light, and Gravity," he said. Peach smiled, clapping a few times at the boy's correct answer. She went to work drawing a diagram of each on the board, going so far as drawing little pictures of what each one was -flames beneath fire, a down arrow beneath gravity, etc. Peach walked back around to the front, making a few lines with chalk beneath each one. "Excellent! Now, there are many other types of dust, and a skilled huntsman can use almost any dust in a combat situation. For this first unit of class, however, we're going to be reviewing the major uses of these core six types of dust," she said.

"Weiss must love this class, huh?" Jaune muttered to Ruby. He got a little giggle out of her and a smile out of Ren. All of them figured the Schnee Dust Company heir would know just about everything about these types of dust, and likely the many different types that accompanied them. That being said… so did Jaune. He'd been around dust enough times he'd picked up a thing or two... or a thousand. Peach grabbed a yardstick, pointing at the fire dust, "Fire dust is most often the first type of dust huntsmen are trained with. Can anyone tell me the reason for that?" she asked. Again more hands went up. Peach called on Gray Gold.

"Its stability," he said. Peach nodded a few times, writing stability on there before asking for other things. More hands shot up, more people answered, more things were written down, some were corrected. In the end, there were three things written: Destructive power, stability, and post-impact damage. She moved on to the next one, going through the process until she got to gravity. "Now, gravity dust is very tricky dust to actually use. Unless, of course, you use it to slay a giant nevermore by running up the side of a cliff," she smiled at Ruby as Jaune, Ren, and Nora did the same. Ruby just covered her head with her hood more, giving a faint smile at the professor despite her blush.

"Now, I want someone to tell me what direction gravity dust pulls," Peach asked. Jaune raised an eyebrow… was that supposed to be a trick question? Gravity dust didn't pull in one direction, it pulled toward the closest surface. When Ruby smeared it on her feet, it clung to the nearest surface of the cliff. When she and Blake shot the nevermore's tail, it pulled to the temple's floor -the nearest surface. He held up his hand, the teacher calling on him. "Towards the nearest surface area," he said. A few people raised an eyebrow at him, some giggling slightly. Though, all were silent as the teacher nodded.

"Very good Mr. Arc! Most people believe that gravity dust pulls in the direction of gravity itself -that being down. In most cases this is correct, however, as you've pointed out, gravity dust will actually pull towards the nearest surface, allowing a nevermore to be pulled from the sky with enough dust, or a huntsman to stick to a wall with enough gravity dust on their hands and/or feet!" she said, drawing a diagram of a nevermore sticking to a wall, and then one of a person sticking to a wall right afterwards, each with arrows pointing the direction the gravity dust was pulling them.

Peach turned around, wiping away her diagrams as a few of the other students took notes rapidly -Ruby and Ren included. Jaune, of course, had all these notes and more stored away both on his scroll and in his memories. He and Nora were two of the few not taking notes that actually did care about the class. Peach kept writing a few notes on the board, Jaune paying attention. That is until he felt something coming toward him. His hand shot up like lightning, grabbing the piece of paper before it could land in his hair. He turned, Cardin smiling at him as he gestured for him to open it.

Jaune laid it beneath the desk, doing just that. He felt his face tint pink as he read the note: "My whole team's staring at Peach's ass, Russel thinks she should be teaching sex-ed." Jaune looked over, following team CRDL's (or at least team RDL's) eyes to find they were most certainly not on Peach's notes. Jaune looked back, shaking his head before turning back, ripping up the note and tossing it in the desk. He watched as Peach walked back towards the edge, writing a few more notes on the board before sitting behind her desk, searching around for something. Jaune felt another note coming his way. This time he let it land in front of him, Ren's eyes flicking over to see it.

Jaune opened it as subtly as he could once more, raising an eyebrow at its contents. "After school, our teams should spar. Wanna see what you, the ninja, the psycho sugar-bomber and the blushing red-girl can do." Jaune bit his lip to keep from laughing. He'd not heard such an accurate description of Nora in quite awhile… he had to admit, it was quite fitting. He slid that note into his pocket before turning around, motioning with his head to Ruby before shrugging. Cardin nodded a few times, turning his attention back to the board, actually trying to get the notes down (not that his teammates weren't, but they seemed more focused on something else of the professor's).

The rest of the class was rather uneventful, Peach going over more things he already knew. When he heard the bell that signaled the end of class, he calmly waited for the rest of his team to stand, waited for Ruby to step out into the aisle before he followed. As they walked, he looked up to see Cardin whispering to Russel. Russel nodded a few times, a small smile on his face. Cardin flashed him a look and a smile, one that told him 'be ready'. Jaune wasn't sure what for but, he had a bad feeling about it.

Sure enough, that bad feeling came to pass when Russel leaned back slightly, sticking out his foot right in front of Ruby's. Ruby stumbled a bit, face a few inches from the ground when Jaune dashed forward, wrapping his arms around her belly, and pulling her back up against him. "Oh shi- I am so sorry! I didn't see you there!" Russel said. To his credit, he was good at making himself look guilty. Ruby accepted the apology, of course, leading to Russel walking away to the rest of his team. Jaune looked up at Cardin, who only gave him a wink and a thumbs up. He looked down, blushing slightly as he realized he was hugging Ruby to him. "So that was his plan huh? Okay… better than what I was thinking at least," he thought.

With that, the four members of team RNJR made their way out, heading for a class Nora was very excited for. "EEEH! Do you think I'll get to blow someone up!?" she asked, nearly climbing up Ren's side. Ren just shrugged, not willing to commit an answer and deal with a disappointed Nora. He'd done that far too many times to ever want to deal with it again. Ruby was a bit less excited, but it wasn't exactly easy for her to keep her excitement contained like it was for Ren and Jaune. Jaune was more dreading having to fight anyone. Not because he didn't think he could win -in fact he was almost certain he could beat anybody barring the teacher herself- but rather because the more skillful he made himself seem, the more difficult it would be to hide.

As soon as they arrived, Jaune noticed an immediate problem: team SNBL was in their class. If he was paired up to fight with Blake, Weiss or even Yang fine but… fighting Pyrrha might require some more interesting techniques. Not to mention how he was going to swing that he could beat the four-time Mistral champion when literally no one barring his team had ever heard of him. The two teams took their seats next to one another, with Ruby sitting next to her sister on the end. Jaune turned to the small arena, watching Ms. Goodwitch slowly walk out to the center. She looked around for a moment, seemingly taking attendance before she, at last, nodded, tapping her scroll a few times.

"One thing will be made clear during your time at Beacon. Any class you have with me will not be an ordinary class. There will be no multiple choice tests. There will be no written response. There will be no true or false. The only kind of tests and homework you will have in this class, are entirely physical. This class is designed very specifically to push each of you to your limits and to train you to be better through combat with your peers. You will either grow to love this class or despise it, but keep in mind that everything done here is necessary for you to become the great huntsmen of tomorrow. Seeing today is your first day, a first-year team will be selected for the first sparring match," she said. Jaune grit his teeth… he was afraid of that. Though, not at all surprised. Goodwitch did have the habit of doing that.

She tapped on her scroll for a few times before a large screen above the arena showed two combatant slots, switching through pictures as if on a wheel. Jaune grit his teeth, hoping he wouldn't have to fight anyone. One slowed down on what looked to be Yang… then sped up just enough to move to Pyrrha. "Oh come on!" Yang said, falling back, hands flying back to her lap. Ruby pat her sister's shoulder, giving her a consoling smile while at the same time praying she wouldn't have to fight Pyrrha herself. Jaune watched, eyes widening as he saw it slowing between him and Ren. He grit his teeth as it slowly moved past Ren, at last stopping on him.

"Pyrrha Nikos vs. Jaune Arc!"

Pyrrha stood, along with Jaune. Both looked at each other, each giving the other a small smile, silently dreading facing one another. Pyrrha because Jaune was such an unknown, with the way he'd been able to maneuver with his strange aura tricks. Jaune because he really didn't want to use those aura tricks on Pyrrha and give himself more things to explain. Ms. Goodwitch moved to the center, smiling at the two, "Ms. Nikos, you report to the girl's locker room and get ready. You will do so in the boy's locker room, Mr. Arc." both combatants nodded, heading down.

"Fighting Pyrrha on the first day… tough break," Yang said, watching Jaune walk away. Ruby nodded, but for a very different reason. Jaune was trying to stay hidden -what with the whole time travel thing- how was he going to explain beating Pyrrha? Was he just going to put on a show and let himself lose so that he can hold up his image? But then again, he probably has way more aura than she does… how was he going to fake going down when he was literally one giant shield!? "This… this won't end well, will it?" Ruby thought, both dreading and highly anticipating the battle of behemoths.

The time traveler vs. the champion.

In five minutes, the combatants were set.

Pyrrha stood there, a sort of humble confidence about her stance, spear in hand. Jaune, on the other hand, was tense as could be. Everyone -barring Ruby- interpreted it wrongly as being nervous about fighting the strongest fighter in the grade. "Okay Jaune, just fight without using any aura tricks you haven't already used and you'll be fine… you can explain that… this could end REALLY badly," he thought, drawing his sword and shield in a basic stance. He waited, slowly moving to the right as Pyrrha moved to the left.

When Ms. Goodwitch started the fight, Pyrrha wasted no time in rushing for Jaune. Jaune simply waited, watching her, mind working a mile a minute as she charged. He could see a thousand outcomes in a thousandth of a second. When she jumped, Jaune took action. He dashed ahead, slamming his shield against her stomach, stabbing his blade up toward her head, just missing her by a hair. Literally. He cut a single hair from her head with his blade. She fell back, rolling up and aiming his spear ta him. Jaune crouched, using his shield to block the bullets before charging her. She held up her shield, only to stagger back as Jaune leaped at her, using his shield as a battering ram.

He sliced down into her armor, knocking her back before jumping away, swinging his blade back around. He looked up, seeing her aura at eighty-five, his still at one-hundred. Pyrrha dashed toward him, eyes laser-focused as she recognized him as a genuine opponent, a real threat. She stopped next to him, slamming her blade down. Jaune moved his shield back, forcing it into place against Pyrrha's semblance. Her eyes widened as her blade stuck against his shield. Jaune dropped his blade, focusing his aura into his hand before delivering a haymaker to Pyrrha's face. She staggered back as Jaune grabbed the blade, slicing at her undefended midriff.

She jumped back a few feet, taking a few breaths. Her eyes widened as she saw their aura counts. She was already in the yellow at seventy-five. Jaune was a ninety-nine still! "He's got a lot of aura… this is going to be a real challenge," she thought, going on the defensive. She couldn't beat him like this, his defense was just too solid. She'd have to change the game if she wanted to actually win it. She waited, Jaune slowly walking toward her as she circled around him, eyes flicking around him and trying to predict what he'd do next.

He dashed forward, but this time Pyrrha was ready. She stepped forward, slamming her shield low against his leg, slicing up with her sword. It pinged off his arms, catching his face and knocking him off balance. She went on the offensive, slamming her shield against his face before spinning her blade into a spear, stabbing his sternum before firing a round. Jaune fell back, his aura working only slightly harder than normal to repair the damage. He looked up, seeing his aura now at ninety-five.

Pyrrha stepped back, waiting on him to make the next move. He dashed forward again, sliding down this time and hooking her leg with his sword-arm. She staggered a bit as he spun around, taking his blade up against her leg before grabbing it in both hands, slamming it down on her back. Pyrrha fell to the ground as Jaune gave in to his instincts, stomping on her back a few times before she managed to turn around, blocking his foot before sending him up, off balance. Pyrrha followed it up by shooting him in the stomach, sending him back a few more feet.

Jaune stood wiping his brow. Pyrrha was at fifty percent, him at ninety. He frowned… that bombardment of stomping had been a mistake, he'd known it while doing it. While he was distracted Pyrrha dashed ahead, slamming his face with her shield before delivering a few bullets to his belly. Jaune staggered back, focusing as his aura started glowing bright white, making a makeshift suit of armor. Jaune made it as inefficient as possible, to make it appear like he had less aura than he did. He dashed ahead, the bullets simply pinging off the aura armor as he dropped his sword and shield, slamming his hands against Pyrrha's shield. He knocked her off balance before wrapping his arms around her, lifting her up and suplexing her into the ground behind him.

He turned, slamming his hands on top of her, focusing to send more and more aura through them, trying to get himself at least into the orange. "Mr. Arc! Enough!" Jaune froze, slowly looking up. His eyes widened as his armor dispelled itself, leaving him breathing a bit harder. Pyrrha was at twenty percent, in the red, while his plan had worked. He was at thirty, just out of the red himself.

"As you can see, Ms. Nikos's aura has reached the red level, and Mr. Arc's aura isn't far behind. It is at this point that an official would call the match. Ms. Nikos, you underestimated Mr. Arc at the beginning of the match, giving him an advantage. If you'd taken it as seriously in the beginning as you did near the end, you'd have likely won this fight. Mr. Arc, an impressive display of strength, however, you'd do well to work on sustainability. Your aura is incredibly strong, but it won't last against more than a few minutes at the rate of expense you're going. Mr. Arc wins the match!" Ms. Goodwitch said.

Team RNR were the only ones clapping and cheering, everyone else stunned that Pyrrha Nikos. The Pyrrha Nikos had just lost. It was a close loss (thanks to Jaune making it so anyway) but it was a loss nonetheless. Jaune held out a hand to Pyrrha, the girl gladly accepting it and standing. She smiled at him, "Mind helping the loser off the field?" she asked, leaning against his shoulder. Jaune just nodded, holding Pyrrha's shoulder and keeping the stumbling girl upright. Jaune frowned... he'd overdone it a bit. By the time they'd walked off the field, everyone was whispering about what just happened.

Pyrrha smiled as she looked up at Jaune, "I'm sorry for underestimating you… you're a lot stronger than I thought," she said. Jaune smiled right back, the two of them walking toward the girl's locker room through the tunnels. He didn't personally care. Being underestimated was one of the best things that could happen in a fight. Well, provided he was actually more skilled than they thought he was. His muscles were still crying out from the exercise… his soul and mind might've been used to it, but his body was not up to fighting at his prime level. "Need to hit the gym… build my body back up to standard," he thought.

He guided Pyrrha to the girl's locker room before turning, making his way to the guy's. The two of them were changed and heading back towards their seats by the time the next fight was starting. The reason Jaune knew that? He saw that Nora wasn't there. He walked past, sitting next to Ruby. It was exactly because he was sitting next to Ruby that he realized what the next fight would be. After all, Ruby had spent most of the time before his fight talking with her sister. Now, she was nowhere to be seen. His suspicions were confirmed when Ms. Goodwitch announced the next fight:

"Nora Valkyrie vs. Yang Xiao Long!"