Weiss walked into the dining hall to the sounds of excited chatter. It took a moment for her to figure out what was happening, but she eventually identified the cause for the commotion as a game of ping pong being played over on of the tables. She couldn't help but smile at the sight of a two on two game. On one side she could see Pyrrha and Dove struggling to stand against the stronger team of Blake and Jaune.

After another loss, Dove pointed his paddle at Jaune accusingly. "There's something fishy about you right now. There's no way you're actually this good. You're just lucky today."

Jaune stuck his thumb to his nose and wiggled his fingers before explaining himself. "I'll have you know I won the world ping pong championship at my school when I was five."

Blake hid her face behind her paddle. "And I am a ninja."

Pyrrha caught the ball as Melanie tossed it to her, the other girl having gone to retrieve it. She turned back to the game. "Jaune... the world championship at your school?"

Jaune nodded. "No one in the world that went to my school could beat me. Now serve and be served."

Weiss watched another short round play out, ending with Blake an Jaune laughing victoriously as Pyrrha groaned in defeat and Dove simply shrugged it off. The ball rolled over to her, so she snatched it off the ground before Melanie could run out to get it. She walked over and tossed the ball to Pyrrha, then went to sit with the audience. The thought it was odd that only Melanie and Cardin were present besides the competitors.

"Where's everyone else?"

Cardin answered when Melanie jumped up to retrieve the ball again. "Ren's in the kitchen making supper, and Ruby's helping him. We're sorta just waiting for the others."

Just as he finished, Velvet walked through the door. She yawned loudly, then glared across the room at Weiss. She lazily moseyed over and sat down beside the heiress, flopping over onto Weiss' shoulder. "Why'd you go and let me fall asleep on your floor?"

Weiss shrugged, nudging Velvet off of her in the process. "We were both pretty tired, so when I woke up and saw that you had fallen asleep on my floor I decided to let you get your rest."

Velvet wiped the last bits of sleepiness out of her eyes and fixed Weiss with a serious look. "That's mighty thoughtful of you."

Weiss rolled her eyes and turned away. "Forget about it."

They watched the game for a few rounds before Velvet spoke again, this time so that only Weiss could hear. "When are you going to tell everyone, then?"

Weiss didn't even take her eyes off the game. "Tell them what?"

Velvet poked Weiss' shoulder. "About last night. What happened. Remember?"

Weiss sighed, giving Velvet a quick glance. "I was going to do that this morning, but then everything got out of hand. Part of me wants to just not bother to tell anyone."

"Well, you gotta tell them all sometime. Or..." Velvet leaned forward so she was sure Weiss could see her. "You could just tell me exactly what happened and I can explain it to everyone else for you."

Weiss waited until Melanie ran off to get the ball again before responding. "No, I think it might be best to just try and forget about it all."

Velvet was about to object, but Weiss gave her a look that told her there would be no arguing. She bowed her head, letting her ears flop in front of her face. "Alright. If you think it's for the best."

They sat and watched in silence as Dove and Jaune switched teams, and another few matches proved that Pyrrha was inept at the game. A few minutes later, Ren and Ruby came out of the kitchen pushing the trolley. The game was quickly postponed as the players went after the food. Weiss let the others all go ahead, waiting until they had all seated themselves around the two tables that had been set up end to end in the center of the room.

Weiss stood up, glad to see that there was a considerable amount of food remaining, and started heading for the trolley. Suddenly, Miltia pushed the door open and walked in. She made her way to the trolley and filled up two plates, quickly turning and walking out again. Weiss watched her go, then looked over to Melanie questioningly.

Melanie shrugged. "Maybe she's taking some food to Sky."

Weiss nodded, reaching out to gather some food for herself. "Yeah, sure."

They hallway lights had gone out, shut off for the night hours. All was quiet, save for an ungainly shape moving down the hall. Upon closer inspection, if anyone had been there to inspect closer, someone might recognize the shape as one person dragging another. Walking backwards, with their hands hooked under the other person's arms, dragging them backwards, the two moved as quietly as one could drag a limp body.

The scene was made stranger as the one doing the dragging spoke. "Quit complaining. It doesn't hurt that much. You'll be fine."

There was no response.

Yet they answered as if there had been. "Don't talk to me about being hard to figure out. You're the one that doesn't make sense."

Again, no response from the limp form.

"Well, you're gonna have to get used to it. And don't worry. I'll take care of everything. You'll be fine."

The silence in the halls was almost oppressive.

"This would be a lot easier if you stopped being a lazy ass and moved yourself. This is why we can't have nice things. Look... I'll head back to the infirmary and get some more in just a moment. I know, I know. I love you too."

The next morning, after Melanie and Blake served breakfast, ten students found their way to the gym. Cardin had apparently decided that the lot of them were going to be playing some sports while things seemed a bit more calm. He went into the equipment closet to get the things they were going to need. He came out carrying a basketball net over his shoulder, proceeding to stand it up and secure it in place.

After a trip back to their rooms, the ten students returned to the gym having changed from their school uniforms into gym shorts and t-shirts. Variations included Velvet and Weiss wearing tank tops, Cardin removing his shirt altogether, and Blake wearing some skin-fitting shorts and a sports bra.

A quick vote determined that the two teams would be captained by Pyrrha and Cardin. After selecting their teams, Pyrrha ended up with Jaune, Ren, Ruby, and Weiss. Cardin's team consisted of Blake, Dove, Melanie, and Velvet. With that, the game started.

Unsure of what exactly he was supposed to be doing, Jaune ended up mostly ducking out of the way when the ball was thrown in his direction. One of those times, the ball flew past him and right into Blake's hands. She threw the ball up and over his head, halfway across the gym, and straight through the hoop. He turned to look at her, and she grinned slyly.

"Didn't play any Basketball world championships at your school, Jaune?"

Pyrrha stepped in front of him before he could come up with a retort. "Jaune, you do know how to play Basketball, right?"

He gave her two thumbs up. "Yeah, sure I do. Do you?"

She shook her head and walked past him, patting him on the shoulder. "Get in the game, Jaune. We can't play four against five."

Cardin shouted. "Go!" Suddenly, the ball was in play again.

This time, Weiss grabbed the ball and dribbled it expertly past Dove and Velvet. She stopped and looked for an opening to pass, but Cardin was blocking Ren, Melanie was blocking Ruby, and Blake was blocking Pyrrha. She groaned, seeing that Jaune was the only one open. She couldn't wait for one of the others to break free, because Velvet was almost on top of her, so she called to Jaune.

"Jaune, it's yours!"

Jaune saw the ball headed his way, but instead of dodging he put his hands up and caught it. It took him a moment to realize just what had happened, but once his mind caught up with the situation, he turned and saw the rest of his team. He could pass to Ren because Cardin was behind him, but then Ren wouldn't be able to shoot. Pyrrha would have a clear shot, but Blake was preventing him from being able to pass it to her.

Realizing the best tactic, he threw it to Ren. "Pyrrha!"

Ren caught the ball, understanding what Jaune had said, and quickly passed it on to Pyrrha before Cardin could stop him. Pyrrha caught it, shooting for the hoop right away. The ball looked about to go in when Dove jumped up to the hoop and grabbed the ball out of the air.

Blake stepped in front of Jaune, sticking her tongue out and flipping the bird. "Can't even get one goal?"

Jaune saw Pyrrha knock the ball out of bounds. He grinned back at Blake. "Oh, you just watch. We're gonna dunk on your ass."

Blake laughed. "On my ass?"

Jaune shook his head. "Uh, no, your team's ass. Your collective ass."

THIS CHAPTER IS UNDER MAINTENANCE.