Phew! Who would've thought high school was so hard?! Things have been a bit slow but I just keep getting one idea after another!
Why didn't anybody tell me being 13 years old was going to be so hard?!
Anyway, welcome to the new chapter little Arclings!
The young Arc boy was just standing there, breathing heavily, while Winchester smirks in an attempted confidence boost.
Most may not notice it, but Winchester is also quite out of breath, in the two weeks I have seen Jaune fight, he has a gargantuan amount of aura, even more then the average student...and that's without a breathing style.
Honestly however, I believe it's quite wasted on the boy. Every single time he battles, every single damn time!
He just runs away!
By the time this match ends, we will only have time for another battle, this has went on for over half an hour!
Winchester quickly gains a short burst of energy through frustration in order to catch up to Arc. I should note this, it seems if Winchester has the right motivation, he may have better combat prowess.
Arc appears confuses and above all else, afraid of the charging Winchester, he panics and quickly shakes his head from side to side in order to look for a way out.
As expected, Arc recieves a direct blow from Cardin's mace. An overhead strike Arc attempts to block, but fails as his armour is too heavy.
...His armour is too heavy? Wouldn't someone with aura like Arc with the added bonus of the strength from a breathing technique allow Arc to easily move around?
No matter how unskilled Arc is, he should at least be able to see Winchester's attacks coming.
Hmm...
"This is the part where you lose!" Winchester mocked "Say your last words!"
"U-uh!" Arc is caught off guard by the comment "O-over my dead body?"
It seems Arc at least attempts to look cool in front of his teammates, wouldn't take my experience to know Arc is scared out of his boots however.
Ozpin would probably push this off as Arc attempting to be more confident in himself, however I am not as naive as my superior.
Winchester knees Arc's gut, who grunts due to the lack of air in his lungs rather then by injury.
Arc's armour is also apparently extremely thick, most may have seen Arc grunt out in pain, however when a sudden object pushes against your lungs would you not at least have difficulty breathing?
Arc is at a disadvantage as his breathing is getting difficult, I told him that he wasn't allowed to use his electricity anyway as it bypasses aura.
Winchester is about to aim for another overhead strike, with both of his arms this time...wait, that could be fatal with how low Arc's aura is!
"Winchester, that's enough." I state while turning on the lights after a buzzer goes off, showing everyone Arc's aura is in the red.
I nudge Winchester slightly with my semblance, he makes a safe distance away from Arc, but the flames of hatred for the Arc are clear in his eyes.
"As you can see, Arc's aura is in the red. In a tournament setting, this will indicate the end of the match." I declare "The official would declare the end of the match, Arc, please refer to your scroll during battle. Knowing how high your aura is will help you choose the best decision in combat, whether offensiely or defensively."
This is rather heavy information for students on the first day, revealing such information to young minds would risk leading them in the wrong direction.
If I nitpick on the flaws of teenage students, they might ignore me due to personal beliefs, whether that is due to arrogance or pride.
I should end this on a more positive note, a simple joke would lighten the situation wouldn't it?
"We wouldn't want you to be eaten by a beowolf, now would we?" I attempt to smile...that sounded much better in my mind.
"Hmph, speak for yourself..." Winchester places his mace on top of his shoulder and walks away.
"Beowolf?! Where?!" Arc seems to have ignored Winchester's comment...or maybe he is more afraid of the possibility of a beowolf eating him.
Unbelievable. However, it could have been much worse. I've seen many cases of people not willing to accept their flaws.
Arc hurries to the changing rooms, but as a teacher I should ask about his armour...no, I cannot give out favoritism, whether in a good way or a bad way, after the lesson I can confront Arc about his choices in armour.
My my, it seems we no longer have anymore time for the last match! And some students are itching for a fight...
The most peaceful course of action is to satisfy their violent urges without letting them do any violence somehow...perhaps something to look forward to?
Oh, the Vytal festival is perfect! Now then, make your voice as genuinely happy as possible!
"Remember everyone!" I say a bit too loudly "The Vytal festival is only a few months away! It won't be long before students from other kingdoms will start arriving in Vale, so keep studying and practicing fighting by yourself or as a team. Those who choose to participate in the tournament will be representing all of Vale."
I see various students make their characteristic reactions, the bell then rings.
"That will be all, class dismissed." I declare.
From the corner of my eye, I notice Nikkos look sadly at Arc, is she dissapointed in him and in his abilities? No, knowing her she cares more about Arc's mental health.
Speaking of Arc, I head towards the changing rooms and enter his room. Now, first you may wonder why I freely entered the changing rooms.
First of all, I am a teacher, he is a student, I feel no reason for there to be sexual tension.
Second, I was the one who kept an eye on all of the students as they changed and slept in the ballroom on the first day, I have repeated this cycle many times so I do not see the appeal in male bodies when it is not appropriate.
"Oh, Miss Goodwitch! Where did the Beowolf go?!" Arc looked around in a panicked fashion.
"There is no Beowolf Arc." I state while sighing, it slowly turns into a smile however. I need to keep up the smile so I am able to help guide students, Arc is one of the more taxing students I have come across.
"O-oh." Arc turns to me.
"It was merely a joke." I smile the smile I give to the other students every day.
"..." Arc looks at me uncomfortably "If you want to say something to me, just say it truthfully."
"What do you mean?" I ask, did he see through my smile? Was I too friendly or pushy?
"I uh...don't want you to sugar coat it either." Arc looks to the floor.
"...Do you truly want to know what I think?" I ask, I drop the smile and look at him sternly.
"Yes." Arc answers instantly "I know I'm weak, I'd die if I were by myself. So, if there is anything you can tell me to improve on, I will do it!"
"...Alright. First however, answer this. Why do you want to become a huntsman?" I ask.
Now I'm no master in psychology like Ozpin is, I'll just repeat what Arc says to me to Ozpin. I would surely know what kind of person Arc is if Ozpin tells me.
"Well. I guess I want to make money, to be honest." Jaune answers.
Hardly a honorable goal. He wants to join up as a huntsman for that reason alone?
You know, not too long ago, Ozpin and I had a little disagreement. Ozpin claimed that team RWBY's motivations to become huntresses were not good enough.
Now I'm not sure how Ozpin would think that. Rose had wanted to be a huntress for the adventures that would come with it, she helps people as her wish is to become a heroine of sorts.
Schnee wants to bring honor to her family name, her family hardly has a good reputation, not only does she strive for an honest work, but she is also making a name for herself, as Weiss, not a Schnee.
Belladonna works towards equality for faunus and humans, a global task which can be world changing, a truly noble task which can put an end to racism and the new White Fang.
Xiao-Long's motivation is to seek the thrill out of the life of a huntress, most may say this is selfish, however what I see is a woman with large amounts of potential, her heart is in the right place.
Ozpin told me that the only reason these girls with noble desires chose to be a huntress because it was the most easy job decision to make at the time. How outragous!
Yet he tells me Arc's motivation inspires other people!? The boy only wants money Ozpin!
"I have to pay what I owe after all." Arc says.
A debt?
"What you owe?" I insist him to carry on.
"Yeah, I was in kind of a pickle. I made some mistakes because I wasn't cautious enough. Because I was too bold, too afraid." That contradicts his constant offensive strategies "I don't know what ditch my body would be rotting in right now if Gramps hadn't found me. He paid off all of my debt so I vowed to pay him back."
Kumajima Jigoro, the man who was once known as the strongest demon slayer. To think he would be reffered to as a casual 'Gramps'. It's honestly quite funny.
"As useless as I may be. I'm proud of the fact that the Arc's never go back on their word, so I plan on giving the money to Gramps." Arc says "Nothing scares me more then what I would be if I wasn't me anymore."
"What?" That last part didn't make immediate sense.
"Ah, nevermind. It just means, if I ever go back on my word, I wouldn't be Jaune Arc." Arc says "That also means however, if I wasn't a coward, I wouldn't be Jaune Arc either." he laughs.
"How would you grow as a huntman, or a a person no less?" I ask, this way of thinking is just contradictory.
"Well, being weak makes me Jaune Arc, so it's simple. Jaune Arc needs to get stronger so I can say I can got stronger." Arc replies.
Oh?
"I am Jaune Arc, no more no less, and I never would be anything other then myself. I can only say I have gotten better as a person if I actually have, if I actually taken the steps to progress." Arc says "If I become the worst person in the world, then I am. If I become the best person in the world, so be it."
...I doubt it. I doubt he means such words. It's easy to spout nonsense, I don't buy your words Arc.
"Flaws are what make me, well, me." Arc declares "I embrace any and all traits I have and will gain."
Whatever excuses make you feel better about yourself, so be it. As far as I can tell, you are far beyond help.
"I see-" The second bell suddenly rings.
The sudden noise surprises Arc.
"YAAAAAH!!!" Arc flies onto my arms, as if we were Shaggy and Scooby.
"..." I make a deadpan stare towards Arc. I swear I'll one day be the wnd of him.
"Uh..." Arc stares back "Sorry."
I drop Arc onto the floor wirh a thud and cough to steady myself "Back to the root of the question, what will you do after you pay your debts to this 'Gramps' of yours?" Surely the debt will not be his pure motivation for the rest of his life.
"Well...I dunno." Arc replies "I guess I-"
Suddenly, we are cut off as there was a sudden hole in the wall.
"WOOOO FUCKING HOOOO!!!" Valkyrie was currently crashing through walls, sitting inside a cardboard box.
"GAH?! Nora?!" Arc yelled.
Valkyrie held onto along piece of string, which was tied around on of the straps of Lie's wooden backpack. Speaking of which, Lie was currently holding onto the backpack for dear life, which contradicts his emotionless face.
"Watch your profanity." Ren states calmly.
How in the hell?
"Ren?!" Arc stood there stunned.
"Wait! Slow down!" Nikkos was running after Valkyrie and Lie, she jumped through some of the holes in Hope's to catch up.
"Pyrrha?!" Arc called for Nikkos who stopped to see Arc and waved "Hello again!"
There were some more explosions and screaming which brought Nikkos back to reality "Ah, wait!" She ran off again.
Arc then throws his armour off of his body as he quickly changes shirts "Sorry Proffesor! But my team needs me right now!" Arc runs off "Ah geez! What kind of team do I have! I am gonna die at this rate!"
I feel a slow migraine on my forehead as I place my hand on my head slowly.
Arc, I swear I'll be the end of him one day.
Ohhh Oum! Thank goodness Proffesor Goodwitch only gave us a lecture! I was so afraid of what would happen...
At least I can let all my worries die down for a little as I dig into these dinosaur shaped chicken nuggets!
"So, there we were..." Nora began "In the middle, of the night."
AS IF!!! WHY DO WE HAVE TO SHARE SCARY STORIES AT LUNCH?!
"It was day." Ren countered.
Oh really?! Oh thank goodness-
"We were surrounded by Ursa..." Nora continued.
WHAT?!
"They were Beowolves." Ren states.
THAT DOESN'T MAKE IT ANY BETTER!
"DOZENS OF THEM!" Nora yelled.
EEEEHHHH?! HUNDEREDS?! THOUSANDS?! MILLIONS?!
"Two of em." Ren sighs "She's been having this recurring dream ever since we got to Beacon."
"I-it's only a dream?" I stutter out hopefully.
What? You expect me not to shiver from that story from the horrors of hell itself?!
"Yes, it's only a dream Arc." Weiss sighed "Honestly, what doesn't scare you?"
"My team for one." I answer defilently "...For the most part."
"That wasn't what I meant and you know it." Weiss smiled slightly.
Weiss' soul...it sounds more peaceful, kind of enlightened. She's more positive now it seems.
"Jaune, answer honestly." Pyrrha started.
Huh? That was sudden.
"Are you ok?" Pyrrha asks, what a weird question though.
"Uh...yeah?" Wait, now that I look around, Pyrrha and Ruby are looking at me with concern.
Actually, everyone is looking at me with concern!
"It's just that, we don't think you're ok." Ruby says.
"Eh? Why would you think that?" I don't look sick don't I?
"Hahahaha!" A group of boys can be heard laughing, its familiar...
Oh yeah, team CRDL!
"Jaune, Cardin has been picking on you since the first day of school." Pyrrha says while putting a hand on my shoulder "Doesn't that bother you?"
"Huh, well of course it bothers me!" I state "Whanever he goes for an overhead strike, even when I put up my shield, I can't defend at all! It's quite scary." I cross my arms.
"How can you be so casual?!" Weiss cries out "Don't you see the blatant bullying?!"
How do I reply to something like this?
"Look, even if that's true. I can't fight back, I can't stand up. I'm me, I can't do anything even if I tried." I say.
"Then let us help!" Ruby cries out.
"We'll break his legs!" Nora cri- what?
"Jaune, you know if you ever need any help, you can just ask us." Pyrrha says.
"Yeah, I'm sure if we tell Proffesor Goodwitch then-" Yang starts.
"Oh, it's ok." I reply "I am afraid of Cardin, but he doesn't bother me at all. Besides, think of it this way. If I'm his main target, he won't hurt anyone else, even better since I don't mind it."
"Look that's not the point." Pyrrha starts to look frustrated.
"Even if you are trying to get his attention, Cardin's a jerk to everyone, not just you." Blame chimes in.
"..." Ren stayed silent thoughout the whole conversation with his eyes closed.
"Ow!" Someone's hurt! "Please stop it!"
"Hahaha! I told you they were real!" Cardin laughs.
Th-that girl is in trouble! I can't just stand by!
...But it's Cardin, what can I do but stand by?
No no! That girl is in trouble!
"What a freak!" Russell laughs.
That's it!
I stand up, this needs to stop! This needs to-
"..." Cardin glares at me...he's, he's gonna kill me if I do anything!
I slump down back onto my chair.
Damn it!
"Eh? Ren?" Pyrrha says, all eyes turn to Ren.
Ren was suddenly just beside tean CRDL, he wrapped his left hand around Cardin's arm which was tugging against the girl's hair.
...Ren was crushing Cardin's armour.
"..." Ren didn't say a word.
"Gah, what the hell!" Cardin quickly let go of the girl's ears, the moment he did, Ren let go as well.
"Why you-" Dove stood up, he was about to punch Ren.
"Dove, stop." Cardin says as he takes off the piece of broken armour, he stands up fully and stares at Ren "I'll take him."
Before anyone could realise, there was a large shockwave which got everyone's attention if not already. The girl already close, had accidentally dropped her tray, but it was caught by a crouching Ren with one hand.
Cardin had seemingly attempted to make a straight punch towards the squatting Ren, his fist coated in flames.
Ren however blocked without any trouble with a single hand, with a fist surrounded by water.
"...Tch." Cardin withdraws his fist and sits back down "Lie Ren..." His eyes open as if he came to a sudden realisation "If it's you of all people. I'll stop for now."
Ren nods silently and sits back down again, the girl looks timidly around with some confusion before walking.
Damn it, I can't look at her eyes.
The girl stops behind me "...I appreciated the thought." She carries on walking afterwards.
"...Don't thank me." I said to myself quietly "I didn't do anything." I stand up and leave to put my food away. I'm not hungry after that display.
"Atrocious!" Pyrrha spits out "I hate people like him."
"She is not the only one." Blake states, seemingly sadly at this point "Although, Ren. Do you know why he stopped?"
"Must be hard to be a faunus." Yang sighs "On another note though! Ren, I gotta fight you next time in class! I didn't know you can coat yourself with water!"
I walk away and stand by the trash can and finish my drink slowly, the way Cardin is staring at me...it's an unpleasant ringing.
I close my eyes, I didn't do anything positive since I got here. I'm not even supposed to be here.
"Velvet!" The concerned voice of another girl rung loudly in my ears.
"Oh, hey Coco. What's up?" The sound of this timid soul...it's the bunny girl from earlier. She's trying to sound casual...
"What's up? WHAT'S UP?! Well, what's up is that I've been hearing you let some first years beat you up! Who was it!" Coco yelled.
"What I want to know is, why didn't you fight back? Even without your semblance and weapon, your marital arts are more then enough." A boy say, his voice is gruff and quieter then the rest.
"Yatsu! I already told you!" Velvet whined "If I fight back, then they'll just twist it to make me the badguy. That wouldn't help the image of the faunus."
"That doesn't mean they should be able to bully you!" Coco cried out.
"As much as I'd hate to admit it. We should either take it to the proffesors. Fighting for ourselves will just make it worse. Velvet, I heard there was a new addition to the school desert, do you want to take a picture when its available?" Another boy spoke.
"Wha?" Coco exclaimed "We shouldn't just let it go like this!"
Velvet ignored Coco... "No way Fox, my camera needs the space for other things. You know how it is."
"Oh, how important exactly?" Fox asks.
"Well, one side of it I couldn't care less." Velvet said shyly, she sounds embarrased "The other...well to be honest."
"Spit it out then." Yatsu kinda sounds amused for some reason.
"It's more important then my life." Velvet almost yells.
...Really?
Coco gives an audible sigh since no one was lostening to her, she perked up however "Oh, so your secret porn stash will go with you to the grave. Gotcha girl."
"COCO WHAT THE HELL?!" Velvet suddenly screamed, I flinched because of how loud it was.
"I see now." Fox says "Bunnies are well known for their sexual capabilities."
"FOX?!" Velvet screamed again "WAIT! YATSU?!"
Everyone within the friend group and me were waiting for some sort of response, I was too.
"..." Yastu was still silent "...Heh."
"NOT YOU TOO!!!" Velvet cried to the heavans.
Coco laughed and Fox giggled. I can practically see Yatsu's grin seeing how giddy his soul sounds.
The overall mood lightened. That must be the Velvet's team if I'm guessing, they have good souls.
...Such conviction to keep her camera safe though...she should save such conviction for someone she will love.
What a waste.
I sight and finish my drink, I drop it into the sink and wander around. I can't meet with my team or team RWBY like this, I'll make them negative.
Call me self-centered if you want to. Afterall, how can one man simply force people to feel sorry for them when they are down, proud when they are up? No one can, and that is what makes me worse then Velvet's team.
I'm just Jaune Arc, insignificant compared to everyone else here. Whether they are good or bad, I just stick out like a sore thumb.
Now that I think about it, I'm not a demon slayer or a huntsman.
I just woke up at the end of the demon slayer exam.
I got carried by my team to be a huntsman.
...I'm not even sure if I'm a civilian. Huntsmen work for free, so they don't get tax and many other benefits. Since I'm going to a hunstman school, that applies to me too.
Isn't that just the same as taking advantage of my position!
I really am the worst...
NO!
NO BAD THOUGHTS! JAUNE!
Think! If you are thinking negative thoughts then grimm will attack!
That's much more scary and important!
I'm thinking too much again. Just calm down.
I slap my hands onto my face as I'm about to turn the corner, geez Beacon has been a rollar coasters of emotions! Especially depression!
"Hey guys!" THAT'S CARDIN'S VOICE!!!
I quickly place my back against the wall, he's just past the corner!
"What's up cap?"
"Sup Cardin."
"Oooo, what you find there son?"
HIS ENTIRE TEAM IS HERE!!!
I have to leave! I have to leave now!
Sneak away now, sneak-
"So, remember the mutant, bunny freak? I took it upon myself to find out what locker she owned." Although I couldn't see it, Cardin clearly was smashing his mace onto one of the rocket lockers "Let's show her that she's not welcome here. What right do freaks have in a school for heroes?"
I don't know why, but I still didn't do anything.
I didn't tell them to stop, yet I didn't run away either. Why?! Why am I just standing there?!
But, if I stop them...Cardin would...Cardin would-
"Eh? A camera?" Dove says "The fuck does she have this for?"
"Just toss it, looks ancient. Just trash the locker would you." Sky shrugged.
"Sure thing then." Dove answers nonchalantly.
A camera?
Velvet's camera?
Wait, why does that stick out to me-
"It's more important then my life!"
...That's right, it's her camera
...But...Cardin would...
Grrrrr...damn it.
Damn it.
DAMN IT!
DAMN IT!!!
I used full concentration breathing...and...
I ran.