Tu, 5/30

Tuesday, May 30th/ Morning

School is relatively calm early in the morning with students going to and fro down the hallways. Nothing really special happened other than some poor guy getting lectured in the middle of the hallway by Dr. Oobleck.

"Why is that man lecturing the dude with ancient history?" Someone asks from beside me. I turn to see the same turquoise-haired girl from the other day looking at me.

"For what I know, he probably stared at his helmet for too long," I sheepishly offer. "Or he might have just asked about it. I don't know."

"Uh-huh… Well, I always avoid teachers anyway. Already bad enough that they make exams to be so hard, right?" She says with a smile before sighing. "Well, gotta go to class. Laters."

The girl heads off down the hallway seconds before the bell rings, so I head to the classroom. Jaune isn't there today either, and I still haven't received a reply.

I try as hard as I can to focus on today's lessons.

Tuesday, May 30th/ After School

After classes end, Ms. Goodwitch asks me to wait before leaving the room. I am confused and trepidatious at first, but comply with her nevertheless. Once everybody has left, she speaks to me. "Ms. Rose, I'd like to speak to you."

I look at the door. "I don't mean to disrespect you, professor, but I have Track Practice."

"I've talked with Coach Port on this and you're excused for the day," she says matter of factly.

I frown. "Why? Am I in trouble?"

"Of course not." She gives me a handwave, as if to literally disperse that thought. "No, this is about your project partner, Mr. Arc."

Uh-oh.

"It has come to my attention that you two had a discussion this past Sunday at the public library, did you not?" she inquires flatly.

"I… yeah," I admit. "It wasn't a discussion though. He was nervous about the exams, so he got really upset about the whole thing."

"Did he say anything in particular?" She asks, her gaze unfaltering.

I bow my head. "He… he said he doesn't want to deal with school again. But he's just upset!" I quickly add. "I'm sure he'll come around!"

Ms. Goodwitch brow furrows. "We can worry about that in another moment, Ms. Rose. Did he say anything else?"

I look at her with concern. "I… no, that's just it. Why are you asking me this?"

Goodwitch looks at me for a few good seconds before sighing and crossing her arms. "Principal Ozpin received a call this morning from Mr. Arc's parents. The kid didn't return home on Sunday night," she reveals. I feel my breath catching in my throat. "Apparently, they told him that they didn't want to cause an alarm yet, so they asked us to help look into the matter discreetly. As if that'd be of any help."

"What?!" I all but yell. "He goes missing for two days and they are more worried about being discreet?"

"Trust me, I'm also displeased by this attitude, but the matter is that Mr. Arc might have very well run away from his house." She looks at me in the eye. "Do you think you have any clues as to where he could've gone?"

"He… he wouldn't…" I look at the floor, my body tenses up. "I've been trying to talk to him, sort things out. He couldn't just run away, could he?"

Ms. Goodwitch frown switches from stern to sympathetic. "It wouldn't be surprising, unfortunately. I'm sorry, you must be worried about him." She takes out her phone and frowns at it before turning back to me. "You could keep trying to reach him, but if you haven't got any reply yet…" She trails off before nodding once and starting to leave. "Good afternoon, Ms. Rose."

Even as she left, I start feeling restless about what I just heard. Jaune didn't even return to his home after we fought? Why would he just leave like that? What is it that went wrong?

I don't feel like going to practice anymore, but I don't think I want to go back home just yet, so I decide to wait by the gym for Yang's practice to be over. After she comes out I rush to her. "Hi Rub- Hey, is everything alright?" She asks after seeing me.

"Jaune is missing. I think he ran away."

"What?"

"I… I should've stopped him. I just let him storm off the other day, and now he's who-knows-where!"

"Hey, easy there," she says while placing a hand on my shoulder. "None of this is your fault, okay?" Yang then pulls me into a hug, and remains like that for a few seconds. After that, I feel a little less distraught. "Look, I'm sure things will be fine. Jaune is… not someone who will get themselves in trouble for no reason. I'm sure that he's safe at least." She suggests with a smile on her.

I take a deep breath and slowly let it out. "Thanks, Yang. That helped." I'm still worried, but Yang's got a point; Jaune wouldn't possibly do anything so reckless.

But then again, why did he run away?

"You're okay, right?" Yang asks again, at which I just shake my head.

"I'm just… still wrapping my head around this. Let's go back home."

It seems it is about to rain, so we make our way quickly to the bus stop.

Tuesday, May 30th/ Evening

Rain starts pouring just as Yang and I are crossing the door. "Whew! Just in time, huh?" Yang comments.

"Yeah," I look around the living room. "Where´s Dad, though?"

"Oh, right! I forgot. He was called early today to go to a meeting at the campus." Yang explains with a pained face.

"Yikes, guess he'll be held up again," I realize, mimicking her expression.

Yang takes her phone and dials his number. After a few seconds, it connects. "Hi, how are~ What?" Yang says, plugging a finger on her other ear. "I can't hear you!… Blocked?!… Alright, please take care!" She hangs up and looks at me with a grimace.

"Raining cats and dogs over there too?"

"Yep… he won't be coming home until tomorrow night again," she informs.

"Well, that sucks. What should we do now?"

"I usually eat and go to bed on days like this…" she trails off, picking up a pamphlet from the coffee table. "... or we could use our Webflick subscription and binge on some movies?" She suggests with a mischievous smile on her face.

"I… I don't know if that'd be okay. Wouldn't several movies be a bit too expensive?" I point out, at which Yang just laughs.

"Nah, you just pay for the subscription and watch as many movies or shows you want. It´s a pretty sweet deal," she explains.

"Oh, in that case, I guess there's no harm done," I finally concede.

After setting up our marathon and preparing some snacks we sit in the living room enjoying a number of movies that I've never watched before. Yang and I laugh at the comedic moments, joke about some scenes, and Yang makes fun of my reactions every time something shocking happens. We really enjoy this time well into the night.

In the middle of our fifth flick, Yang gets a phone call, so she pauses the movie and picks it up. "Hello?… Wha~?! Wait, I'll put you on speaker." She then presses a button on her screen and holds up her phone to me air.

"You all hear me?!" It is Ren. He sounds agitated!

"Yes, what´s wrong?" I answer back.

"There's been a peak! There are several Shadows congregating in one area of the Reflection!" He announces, much to our dismay.

"What?! What does that mean?!" Yang all but screams. "Did someone get killed again?!"

"No, or at least not yet; it'd been announced in the news. What I managed to find out is that a large number of Shadows left their usual territory to congregate on the same spot, similar to how Leon's bookstore was brimming with them. From the looks of it, it seems that they've been converging for a day or two."

Yang's face lights up in realization. "Then that means somebody's been pulled into that place!"

"Precisely! And whoever they are, they're still alive. That´s why we need to go into the Reflection tomorrow. If we're lucky, we can save that person before it is too late," he states with urgency.

'A day or two?' I repeat in my head. Suddenly, a knot forms in my stomach. "Ren, where in the Reflection are the Shadows gathering?"

"In the Public Library. Why do you ask?"

Yang snaps her gaze at me, and I shut my eyes tightly. "Oh god… It's Jaune!" I realize with dread.

"What?"

"Jaune Arc! He's the person that was abducted!" I explain. "He's been missing since Sunday afternoon, and I last saw him in the library. It has to be him!" I spring from the couch. "We need to go! We have to get him out now!" I make a start towards the door before Yang yanks my arm back. "Come on! We need to hurry!"

"Ruby, we can't leave!"

"Why-?"

*CRAAAAAAACKOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM*

"... Oh," I mutter as the sound of the thunder died out.

"And even without the weather, it is still dangerous to head into the Reflection at night. We have no choice but to wait until tomorrow," Ren says through the speaker.

I relent from going to the door and take a deep breath. "Okay then, but we go in right after getting out of classes, okay?"

"Yes, if we can save someone's life… We have to try.

"Okay then, we'll meet tomorrow to proceed with this mission. After you get out of class, just go directly to the HQ. We'll rendezvous along the way. Until then." He hangs up, leaving both Yang and myself in silence, with the sound of the rain falling outside.

"Well, I guess now we know where he is," Yang says sheepishly. "So much for a quiet month."

"Yeah… Hey, I think I'll go to sleep now."

"Me too. Goodnight sis."

"Goodnight, Yang."

I walk into my room and change into my pajamas before sliding onto my bed, not bothering with the covers. My heart is racing at the moment and I feel my body pulsing with adrenaline. I can't let Jaune get killed in that place.

I sit on my bed and look at the picture on my nightstand. Mom is smiling at me as she always has. I pick up the portrait and look at it for a second. "… Wish me luck, Mom."

I put the picture back on its place and curl up in my covers.