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"Alright everyone, calm yourselves." Port stroked his beard, pulling out many different folded pieces of paper. "The results have already been randomly chosen. You will each come up and take the paper with your name on it. Inside is the name of another student! Whoever is chosen will become your partner for the next two weeks! You must find time to set aside to get to know them and learn to cooperate together."

Weiss immediately raised her hand. "Will this affect our grades?"

"Excellent question Ms. Schnee! And the answer is yes! Which is why you must strive your very utmost to truly connect with your chosen partner! Why don't you come up and be the first to see your partner?"

Weiss stood up walking to the front of the room. Taking a deep breath, she took the folded paper with her name on it. 'Come on...' she thought, wishing fervently with her eyes closed as she unfolded it. 'Pyrrha...Pyrrha...' However, when she opened her eyes, her expression became deadpan. "Russel Thrush..."

Some of the students gave Weiss sympathetic looks, however, there were a few chuckles from CRDL.

"Hah, you got the rich girl Russel." Sky said, elbowing his teammate. Russel didn't seem to mind, smirking down at his new partner from his seat. Weiss for her part lifelessly made her way back to her seat without another word.

"Excellent!" Port said, enthusiastically rubbing his hands together. "Who's next?" This time no one responded, most of them were a lot less enthusiastic after the first drawing. "Come now, no need to be shy." the professor laughed. "You, Ms. Nikos, why don't you go next?"

"Me? "Pyrrha gestured at herself for a moment before standing up. "Very well." Moving over to Port's desk, she hesitated before reaching and grabbing her paper. The rest of the class quiet to see who she had drawn. "Jaune Arc." the redhead murmured, reading the name aloud. Jaune looked up after hearing his name called. Seeing Pyrrha at the front of the class looking at him, he gave a weak smile before looking away once more.

The other students were called up one by one to draw their papers.

"Blake Belladonna." Nora's face lit up as she went back to her seat. "Oh we are gonna have the BEST time together! We can have a sleepover! Imagine it, staying up late, pillow fights and SO much girl talk!"

Blake's face seemed to wither at this, just barely managing to force a smile. "Yay..."

As per Nathaniel's meddling, a decent chunk of pairings in the class were because of him. Jacey was paired with Ruby in his efforts to try and help her overcome her doubts about being a leader. Pyrrha was paired with Jaune in hopes that would bring them closer together and fix the changed timeline. Sophie was paired with Cardin so that the fiery girl would learn what a REAL bad teammate was like and see how much better she had it with Pyrrha. And Nora was paired with a non-CRDL member as per her request. The rest however were ones he was too late to change.

Aero looked down at the paper in his hands. "Raelin Greene." The girl known as Pyrrha and her teammates turned to look at a girl sitting next to them with short muted grayish-brown hair. He smiled at her, walking back to her seat. "Nice to meet you, I'm Aero Cairn. I hope we can get along well together."

However, despite his efforts, this Raelin merely stared at him without uttering a single word. Sensing the atmosphere was starting to become awkward, Pyrrha spoke up. "Well, I'm afraid Raelin doesn't speak much. In fact, she hasn't spoken a single word to any of us since the exam. But I'm sure she's happy to see you..."

.
.

Once again, back in my house, and once again, back in this world. Sitting down on my blanket, I looked around the room which I knew too well. This place was my oasis in the desert. Somewhere that was supposed to make me feel at ease and comfortable after a long day and tiring day. Like it was somehow disconnected from the rest of the world. I've lived and slept in this room for a long time now. Despite that, I had only been gone for a month, and now felt slightly foreign. I sighed before falling back onto the bed.

"I wonder if Aero feels the same way as I do right now. "Who am I kidding? He's probably thrilled to be back home." I should be too, part of me was homesick after spending all that time away. "Aero probably wants to see his mom again, thinking she'd be worried sick about him." Speaking of being worried sick, I also had someone worrying about me in my world too. "Ugh..." I couldn't just ignore Cameron forever, I'd have to talk with him eventually...

I reached out my hand in front of Cameron's door to knock, but couldn't. My hand hovered in the air by the door silently as I went back and forth on what to do. Part of me wanted to just get it over with already. The other part of me wanted to simply turn around and leave. To sit in silence with each other and hope the problem solved itself. But that was the easy way out. No. It was the cowardly way out. I think...I think if I never went to Remnant, I might have done that. That's why I can't falter now.

Knock knock

There was silence on the other side of the door. No response.

"Oh no you don't."

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

I rapped my knuckles again on the door, this time harder than before. "Cameron! I know you're in there! Now hurry up and say something!"

There was a sigh on the other side of the door. "Come in..."

Taking a deep breath, I gripped the doorknob and turned it stepping into the room and stopping in the doorway. Cameron's looked a little like an office mashed together with a bedroom. Again the wall was a white countertop with drawers. The space between them had been removed to allow a chair to be put there making a makeshift desk with a lamp. There was a large group of shelves in the back with books and files stuffed into it. A ceiling fan hung overhead creating a gentle breeze with the window open. And on the bed sat Cameron wearing a resigned expression.

"Are you going to come in or not?" he muttered.

"To be honest, I'm still kinda working up the nerve." Despite my earlier bravado, I wasn't exactly as confident as I wanted to believe. By the looks of it, he wasn't exactly thrilled either. We both knew what this about, and neither of us were eager to talk about it.

Cameron chuckled, gesturing to the chair by the desk. "Let me guess, this is about what we talked about last time."

"Yeah..." I said, rubbing the back of my head.

"Figured."

"Listen...Cameron, I..." I paused, taking a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"Oh?"

"To be honest, I hadn't really been thinking about your feelings this entire time. I disappear to god knows where without warning, and you're left to just pick up the pieces. That can't have been easy or fun to deal with."

My roommate nodded. "You're damn right it wasn't, I was freaking out for the longest time. I didn't know what happened to you, or even if I'd ever see you again. On top of that, when you came back, I was so relieved for your safety. So glad to have you back, while you were so nonchalant about the whole thing."

"I know...I'm sorry."

Cameron sighed, shaking his head. "That said...I'm sorry too."

"Eh? For what?"

"For not listening to you. Honestly what you said back then, about wanting to go back was just nuts. Frankly, even after some time to cool down and rationalize it, I still don't get it. But...well, that obviously this means a lot to you and I didn't even hear you out. Crazy as it might be, I guess I should have at least listened to what you had to say."

"That would have been nice, yes. But I can hardly blame you, you were scared."

"I still AM scared."

"What?" I tilted my head in confusion. Why would he still be scared?

"You don't get it?" he asked raising a brow. "Don't forget, you disappeared without reason or warning, and then came back without reason or warning. How do I know it won't happen again, that you won't just up and disappear? How do I know it won't happen right now, this very minute? The next day? Next year? Next week? You and I know absolutely nothing about why this is happening."

"I...hadn't thought about it like that." He's right. From his position, I can see why he'd be so worried. Honestly, I'm lucky I want to go back. Because if I hated it in Remnant, I would be terrified, knowing any moment I could be snatched away from the home I love, and there would be nothing I could do about it.

Sitting there quietly, the two of us couldn't help but chuckle at the absurdity of the situation. "Truce?" I asked opening my arms.

"Nathan..." Cameron made an awkward expression, "Don't do this..."

"Truce?" I opened my arms wider, stepping closer to him, an ever-growing grin spreading across my face.

"We're good alright?!"

"Truce?" At this point my arms had opened so wide, I was practically T-posing, only a single step away from him.

Cameron sighed with a resigned look, opening his arms.

"Alright! Truce." I stepped in wrapping my arms around him as he reluctantly did the same. "Was that so hard?"

"Yes."

I couldn't help but laugh as Cameron gingerly pulled himself from the hug. "Alright alright, it's late, so I need to get to go to bed, enough mushy stuff. And you've got work tomorrow, so I suggest you do the same."

.
.

Aero sighed, shutting the door to his dorm, a sense of defeat welling up inside of him. After the class had ended, he had gone to try and get to know Raelin a bit more. He had spent two hours trying to converse with her or find out anything she liked. The end result was...nothing. The girl hadn't spoken a single word to him, or barely even acknowledged him for that matter. It felt like he had spent his entire time talking to a brick wall.

"Aw, what's wrong?" Nora asked, noticing her teammate's sullen expression. "You get rejected by Yang?"

"What?" Aero gave her a puzzled expression. "No. It's just, my partner does not seem to want to speak to me, and I don't have the faintest clue why."

"Hmmm." The girl scratched her chin. "Maybe she just doesn't like you?"

"Do you really think so?"

"Nora..." Ren frowned at her, shaking his head. "That's not helpful."

"OH!" Nora sprang to her feet. "Let's ask Ren! He's almost always quiet, maybe he knows what's going on!"

Aero shrugged. "It could not hurt my situation to try. Do you have any insights you could possibly share with me?"

"Huh?" The woman wrinkled her brows at this. "Are you alright?"

"I suppose I am decently so, why do you ask?"

"I dunno, you're acting a little...different." Nora titled her head, seeming to scrutinize Aero. "I haven't heard you make a single sarcastic remark all day." She shrugged. "Anyway, Ren, can you give us your silent sage wisdom?"

Ren shook his head. "Everyone is different, what works for one person might not for another. Besides..." He smiled at Nora. "I think you do plenty of talking for the two of us."

"Hehe...well, sorry Aero, looks like you're just gonna have to keep trying.

"I will, I'll try harder next time. She is bound to eventually acknowledge my efforts if I keep at it right? Persistence is key." Aero said nodding to himself and pulling out his homework. He was a bit glad to have a distraction from how he was going to bond with Raelin. Finishing his work after an hour, and heading to bed.

.
.

"Huh?" I found myself once more in the strange empty void I had experienced last night. "This again? Just what is going on!?" Contrary to last time, instead of being face to face with my own body, I found myself looking at Aero's body hovering several feet from me. He wore a similarly confused expression, looking me up and down. "Are you...Aero?" I asked. "The real Aero?"

The person in front of me blinked in surprise before nodding his head. "I am. Going by your question, would that make you Nathaniel then?"

"Yes! It's you!" Finally! I don't know what was going on, but I had had so many things I wanted to talk to him about! I paused, looking at our surroundings. "Let's hurry and not waste a moment. Last time we spent too long gawking at each other and this opportunity ended."

"Agreed." Aero's brows furrowed. "Time passes quickly in a dream. First, I want to ask you. Do you know why this is happening to us?"

"You...you don't know?" I could feel my heart sinking into my chest. "I was going to ask you the same thing...so much for that."

"Mmm, I had a feeling that was the case, I just wanted to confirm it." His expression softened. "I'm sorry that you got caught up in my mess, it couldn't have been easy surviving Beacon's exam."

"It really wasn't..." I muttered. "Still, it's not like you could predict we'd suddenly switch bodies. And to be honest, I envy your life. You can make a difference in so many people's lives. You're someone who actually matters."

Aero shook his head. "This life wasn't one I chose for myself. I envy YOU."

"Me?" Why on earth would Aero be jealous of me?

"You can do whatever you want. You have so many options available to you, even if you don't know it. Though I've only lived your life for a month, it's been a liberating experience."

"That's my line..." Aero and I looked at each other for a moment, before the two of us chuckled. Suddenly there was a tug on my body as I was being pulled back. "W-what?"

"Seems we're out of time again." The distance between the two of us started to widen as we were both pulled in different directions.

Twenty feet.

"Wait! Aero! I need you to give Cameron a message from me! Please!"

Forty feet.

"I need you to tell Cameron..." The two of us were so far, it was hard to see him.

Eighty feet.

I shouted my message to him, desperately trying to fight against the invisible force. I waited in silence, hoping he heard me, the seconds feeling like hours.

Two-hundred feet.

"I got it..." I could just barely hear the faintest response in the empty space. However, it was enough to wash away my fears. At this point, Aero was barely even a speck in the distance, before vanishing from sight. The empty white void around me was suddenly plunged into darkness, leaving me alone.

"...up."

"Huh?" I could hear a familiar voice faintly echoing. For some reason, I couldn't breathe, the air refusing to enter my lungs. Beginning to panic, I struggled to get air.

"Wake up!"

At once, the darkness was gone and a familiar red-headed girl with short hair entered my view. Her hand was pinched over my nose preventing me from breathing. Slapping away her hand, I gasped for air, my chest heaving in and out. "Hey, it worked!" Nora seemed oblivious to my plight, innocently smiling. "Guys he's up!"

"N-Nora?"

"Huh? Of course it's me, who else would it be?"

I...I was back in remnant! That in and of itself wasn't too shocking. If I was taken to Remant once, it wouldn't be surprising for it to happen again. No, what was really puzzling was that it had happened so soon. I had been in remnant for about a month after being taken there. But after being taken home, I was only there for a day before being whisked back?

"This makes no sense...what's the pattern here?"

"Uh Aero, you alright? Sounds like you had a strange dream or something."

"S-sort of..." I shook my head. It was rather weird to fall asleep alone and wake up surrounded by three others. Even if I knew them, it was still quite jarring. "Well, anyway-"

"Can we get going?" Jaune opened the door pausing at the exit. "We don't have time to listen to your dreams if we want to be on time."

"Sheesh, who crapped in his cornflakes? Nora, you know what his deal is?"

Nora seemed rather taken aback for some reason, staring at Aero before turning to her teammate. "Um, Ren?"

Ren however shook his head, heading out the door. "Now is not the best time for this."

"Yeah...I guess I can try and explain it later."

"The heck?" Why is everyone acting so strangely? Just what happened while I was gone..."

"I DID WHAT?!" At my shout, a few people in the cafeteria jolted, everyone turning to look at me. "Uh..." Faced with countless stares, I lowered my head. "S-sorry..." There were a few chuckles at my expense. I few of them kept staring for a while before returning to their meal. Turning back to Nora, I repeated myself, this time whispering loudly. "I did what?!"

"Yep!" Nora poked her mashed potatoes with a spoon, carefully molding it into what looked like a shabby looking Ursa. At the table with me was Ren and Nora, for whatever reason Jaune was absent, off doing something else.

"Explain everything that I did yesterday."

Nora tilted her head. "Um, why? Aren't you the one who did all of that?" She gasped. "Unless! That was a fake evil clone you!" She stabbed her spoon through the mashed potato Ursa, cutting off its head and scooping into her mouth. Then pointing her spoon at me as if it were a weapon. "How do I know you're the REAL Aero?!"

"Uh...well."

"C'mon." Nora laughed, taking another bite of her food. "It's just a joke no need to take it so seriously. Still, why do you want me to tell you what you did yesterday?"

"Of course...a joke." Nora actually scared me for a moment there. She'll never know that her crackpot joke wasn't actually that far from the truth. "Well, I want you to tell me what happened yesterday as a test."

"A test?"

"Yeah. I mean your memory isn't that great sometimes. You tend to forget half of the class lecture, only an hour after it's over. This is good practice."

The girl frowned. "I'm not THAT bad am I?" she paused, turning to the silent teammate so far. "Ren?"

"..." Ren looked surprised, suddenly put on the spot. He didn't respond, avoiding eye contact with Nora, instead, picking up his carton of milk and drinking it as if he hadn't heard her.

"Ugggggh...finnnnnneeee." Crossing her arms in a pout, Nora relented. "Okay...let's see..." Nora recounted the actions of the real Aero yesterday as far as she knew. And the more I heard, the worse I felt...

"Uggggggghhhhh!" I moaned, covering my face in my hands. Why did he have to go and do that?! Am I still dreaming? Please tell me I'm dreaming...

Before, it wasn't that hard being Aero. Aside from awkward moments around his mother, no one at Beacon actually KNEW Aero. This meant that I basically had a clean slate and could do whatever I wanted. Aero doesn't like a particular food? Who cares? No one here knew him well enough to judge. But now, things had changed.

"Why did he have to go and show off..."

The problem was, now that Aero had shown his strength, everyone would naturally expect me to be able to do what he did. They would also expect me to have a semblance...which I don't. Up and till this point, I never really had to 'Live up to Aero'. I was already trying to catch up to him, and now I NEEDED to do it, and fast. How am I supposed to learn to fight like Aero in such a short period?! I mean it's not like he'd just show me how to do it whenever I asked!

"Wait...show me?"

Actually...why couldn't I do exactly that? Glynda's class has cameras to make sure fights never get out of hand. If a student got too unruly in the spar, it can be used as evidence against them. Since that's the case, wouldn't that mean I could get a recording of both of Aero's fights?! I mean, that wouldn't automatically solve my problem, but it was a hell of a lot better than trying to copy his style from a journal.

After break ended, I spent the next couple hours brainstorming how to ask Glynda about getting a copy while in class before heading back to the dorm with my team. Jaune had been quiet the entire time. I noticed him sneaking glances at me throughout class as if he wanted to say something. When we had gotten back to our room, he finally spoke.

"Aero...can we...talk for a bit?"

Ah, looks like Jaune's ready to talk to me about what happened yesterday... "Yeah, I'm always open to talk. What's up?"

Jaune stood there for a bit, turning toward Ren and Nora before back to me. "Alone?"

"Er, sorry..." I weakly smiled at Ren and Nora. "You two mind?"

"Uh, hey, Ren." Nora said, tugging on his sleeve. "I just remembered I left something in my locker, will you help me go get it?" Ren nodded, the two of them leaving the room, and shutting the door with a click. After they had left, Jaune paused, not knowing where to start. Seemingly unable to say anything. Wanting to help him along, I decided to start.

"So, this about what happened yesterday?"

"Well, no. I mean, yes but..." He growled and shook his head.

"Take your time, I'm not going anywhere."

Jaune looked frustrated, however, he composed himself, and started again. "This problem has been around for a while. I just...I never saw it as an issue until yesterday."

"Why don't you start at the beginning then? Neither of us are in a hurry right now."

"Alright." Jaune took a deep breath, steeling himself. "When...when I first came to Beacon, I didn't know WHAT to think. Everyone's weapons here seemed so unique and special for them, when all I had was a hand me down. I didn't even know what aura was, and you ended up saving my life twice during the entrance exam. Even though I ended up passing, it really felt like I didn't belong here. Like I wasn't good enough."

I, for my part, merely nodded. Sometimes it was better to just let someone speak when they have a lot on their mind.

"Do you remember our first spar? Back then, I was so excited when I beat you. It gave me hope, made me think if I could beat someone like you who led us to defeat the Deathstalker then maybe I really did belong here. After that, you said we would fight three times a day. Honestly, it made me happy. Made me think that we had a connection, that you also understood what I was going through, and wanted to get stronger. That you and I were...well, rivals. And that I had to do my best to get better so that you wouldn't overtake me. And sure enough, it seemed like you were starting to catch up with me, so I pushed myself even harder so I would keep winning. But...soon enough I did lose. I wasn't upset though, I thought that if I kept pushing myself that I'd catch up to you soon enough. As time passed, the gap between us kept growing, but I didn't quit, convinced that if you could grow, then so could I. That is...until you beat Russel and Cardin without a moment's rest."

Except that wasn't ME, that beat the two of them. Problem is, that's not exactly something I could just explain to him.

"It was such a big difference from when you fought against me or the others. Far more skilled than before, using new techniques. A semblance." He paused, looking down at his feet. "You had a semblance this whole time. If you had fought that way against me, I know I wouldn't have stood a chance. All this time, you were holding back against me. You even held back when fighting against Ren and Nora so that I wouldn't find out.

"Jaune...I wasn't holding back, I-"

"Please..." he interrupted me, shaking his head. "Stop. I don't know why you did that, but it's shown me that I really shouldn't be here. That it was pointless to come to Beacon in the first place."

"It wasn't pointless."

"I faked my transcripts okay?!" Jaune suddenly yelled, turning to me. "I didn't have the qualifications to enter this school in the first place! Do you get it now?! I don't know how I even lasted this long!"

Jaune panted after that outburst, visibly agitated. He looked at me with a weary expression, quietly waiting. Trying to see how I would react. Would I be confused? Disappointed? Angry? He seemed to waiting for the inevitable backlash. However, I wasn't planning on giving it to him.

"Yeah, I already know about all of that."

"You...you what?" Jaune blinked in surprise.

"I've known that you forged your transcripts for a long time. Honestly, I knew even before you arrived at Beacon. And before you ask, psychic, remember?"

Jaune staggered back, his face incredulous. "You-you knew?! This entire time?! Then...why didn't you-"

"Turn you in? I did think about doing that. To be frank, I thought about it a lot. But..." I don't have a right to criticize Jaune for his actions. I don't belong here any more than he does, but I didn't let that stop me. As much as I hate to admit it, turning him in would make me a complete hypocrite. "I...kinda sympathize with you wanting to grow stronger, I understand the desire to do so. So, I'm gonna give you a chance now that you've come clean and told me."

"A chance? What kind of chance?" Jaune asked uneasily.

"You have two options. One, you can leave this team of your own volition, either coming back next year, or moving on with your life to do something else. Or two." I lifted up a second finger. "You can stick around and keep working for your dream as a huntsman. BUT! If you stay, I guarantee you that it'll be boot camp from here on for you! A team is only as strong as its weakest link, so if you're staying, I'm not gonna let you be weak! I will REALLY put you through the wringer, got it? So, what's it gonna be?"

Jaune thought about all of this for a while, the two of us standing in silence as he mulled it over. All of a sudden, his eyes lit up, and he looked at me with a shocked expression. "I get it now! You've been rooting for me all this time!"

"...what?"

"I'll do it, I'll stay on this team!" Jaune reached out, grabbing my hands and holding them in both of his. His eyes were locked onto mine, filled with deep respect. "I know it's going to be hard on me, maybe even grueling, but I still want to try! I have to do this because you believe in me so much!"

"What?!"

"All this time, you knew that I cheated my way into Beacon, but you didn't tell anyone."

"Well yeah, I knew but-"

"And you held your skill back for my sake, letting me beat you. Sparring with me all this time so I'd improve."

"Wha? No I-"

"I get it now, all this time at Beacon you were looking out for me and trying to motivate me to be the best I could be! Even NOW, you're still trying to convince me to stay, telling me you're going to put in more effort to train me to help me become strong!"

I... REALLY don't know how Jaune connected the dots in such an unusual manner. Is that what my actions looked like to him? This is incredibly embarrassing. To act like I've been some sort of mother hen, watching over him all this time. But...if it motivates him, I guess there isn't a reason to correct it. "...yes...that. Looks like you found me out..."

"I knew it! I won't betray the high expectations you have for me!" Jaune shook my hands, his expression hardening. "I promise you!"

I didn't sleep well that night. Aside from still trying to process Jaune's misunderstanding, and worrying about how I'd continue to be Aero, I was terrified the moment I fell asleep, I would wake up back in my world. I sighed, turning over in my bed.

"This is a special kind of torture..."

Working hard, and becoming attached to something, only for it to be snatched away from you. Then given back once more, and not knowing if you could truly keep it or not. I wonder if this is how Don Quixote felt? A knight who lived in a fantasy world, pretending to be something greater than he really was. It was all he had. When it was stripped away from him, he had nothing left and died of grief.

"Shit, this is just making it worse."

I ended up with insomnia late into the hours of the night, unable to do much about it. I don't know when I fell asleep, but to my overwhelming relief...I was still here when I woke up. Still exhausted from last night, I ended up skipping Port's early morning class. Falling asleep after I realized Remnant wasn't going to be taken away from me. After which, I called up a meeting with Jaune who was unusually peppy today.

"It took some digging, but I found some people suitable for you to learn from." I said, rubbing my eyes, and yawning.

"Seriously?!" You hired people to train me?!" he asked incredulously.

"Not quite." I pulled out my scroll, showing a video on the screen. On the scroll, there was an image of a man wielding a longsword fighting against a girl with Tonfa. "This is your first 'teacher', Ebony Marx. He's a contestant from one of the past Vytol festivals who made it to the semifinals with just his weapon skill alone. You are going to watch every single one of his fights in the tournament until you can flawlessly replay it in your head, then you are going to try and replicate his moves, footwork, and stance." After getting the idea to learn from Aero's fights with Russel and Cardin, couldn't Jaune use something similar?

"Him?" Jaune rubbed his chin "Getting to the semifinals is impressive but...well, he doesn't use a shield like me."

"Ah, that's right. Speaking of which, until further notice, you're not allowed to use your shield."

"What?!"

"Your swordsmanship is okay, but honestly not that great. Your shield is able to cover for your mistakes, but you can't get used to that. If I take away your shield, you're going to have to learn how to fight with just your sword. Learn to not make mistakes. From now on, in every battle, you're banned from using your shield until you reach the level of my approval."

My teammate frowned, pulling out his shield and giving it a longing look before closing his eyes for a while. When he reopened them however, they wore a determined expression.

Jaune paused for a moment before nodding. "Understood." he said, handing me his shield. "If you say that's what I need to do, then I just need to do it."

Wow, that was easy. "Er, well I appreciate you willing to trust me to hold onto this. But you really don't need me to take your shield Jaune. Just maybe put it in your locker or something."

"I know." My teammate nodded, wearing sort of a sad smile. "But, I still want you to take it." He turned to the shield in his hands. "I cheated my way into Beacon, and I relied on you to save me twice during the exam. It's strange but...I feel like I have to earn these weapons, you know, earn my place here. This test of yours is like my REAL exam. If I can pass it, I can prove my worth as a huntsman...as a person."

He grinned, unsheathing his sword. "But before that, how about one last spar for old time's sake?"