II

"Ah, there you are, Weiss. Good. We need to talk."

"Whatever it is about, couldn't you wait a moment? I'm putting on makeup."

Yang stood next to her, so that her whole face would appear in the mirror, and she folded her arms behind her back.

"I see that. Believe it or not, I'm a girl too. But it can't wait. In fact, this is the perfect moment. I don't want Ren and Nora to know about any of this. Not because I don't trust them, but because it's about a personal matter.

Weiss sighed.

"It's not like you to beat about the bush. Let it out now, go on. It's the least I can do for you. Besides, this kind of thing falls under the responsibilities of a team leader."

"It's about Jaune Arc."

"I hope that will sound more sensible with the rest of the explanation," Weis whispered. "Because at the moment you're just making me think about running before you convince me to do something crazy."

"Ah, you don't twist your pretty face like that. He's not so bad. He came to apologize, after all, didn't he?"

Weiss remained silent for a while.

"I don't think he was sincere. He was looking at me, but it was as if he didn't see me. As if I didn't matter at all."

"Yeah, well." Yang couldn't protest. He had given her the same impression. "Then think of him as a rabid dog. He's intimidating, but he can't bite you while he's wearing his muzzle."

"And what is that muzzle? Because when he attacked me he gave me the impression that he is free to do as he pleases."

"One that can't be removed. Ruby, my little sister. But that's precisely what worries me. I don't know anything about him. Who he really is, where he comes from, what he thinks and why."

"Who he really is? What are you talking about?"

"I thought you would know. Supposedly, the Arc family, including Jaune Arc himself, died in a Grimm attack ten years ago."

Weiss tensed, arching her back.

"Well, Ozpin didn't accept him for no reason at all. He must have investigated his background. I don't think there's anything to find out."

"Ozpin is just a man. He's got some power and some influence, but it can't be compared to what your family's corporation has. We are both aware of that." She let her arms fall to her sides. "Please, Weiss. I need you. You're the only person I can depend on for this. All you have to do is make a call. Even if nothing comes out, at least I'll feel calmer."

Weiss turned even paler.

"Weiss?"

"I can't." She bowed his head.

"For what reason?"

If she thought it was simply because Weiss didn't want to, she would have exploded. But even she could see that it wasn't such a simple matter.

"I'm not in a position to ask my father for favors. I came to Beacon with his permission, yes, but I had to earn it. And I'm sure he let me go in the hope that I would give up, that I couldn't cope, and go back to Atlas with my tail between my legs. And anyway," she made a face, "he wouldn't want his employees to waste time on a 'whim' of his youngest daughter."

Yang clenched her fists.

"Are you sure there's nothing to do?"

"I'll try," she said slowly and after a while. "I can promise you that, but nothing more. I'm aware that many people envy me. They despise me because they think I was born with everything. But what those others see as luck is just a burden to me. I don't have everything I can dream of, nor do what I want. And this will continue until Jacques... Father dies. "

Yang didn't overlook that she had to correct himself. Evidently she didn't feel any affection for her father. It was hard for her to imagine that. Hers was constantly getting on her nerves, but she loved him anyway. She was also aware that, despite how much she had suffered, there were many people in this world who were less fortunate than she was. Of course. She was not so self-centered.

"Or rather, I will enter another cage," she continued, her voice was like that of a little bird. "But one less narrow, which is no small thing."

She left the brush down, to one side of the sink.

Yang took another step forward and gave her a big hug from behind. Weiss was soft and weak, nothing like the cold exterior suggested. He had soon discovered that. She was familiar with people like her.

"W-what are you...?"

"I understand that I'm not the person you want to hug you like this, and that you might think I'm a little unpleasant and too noisy, but it's not that bad, is it? Shut up and enjoy it for the moment."

Shut up and enjoy it for the moment.

Weiss raised her hands.

For a moment Yang thought she was going to push her hands away, but she just put them on top and squeezed them lightly. The bangs covered her eyes. Still, it wasn't hard to see that she was fighting back tears.

She was adorable like her little sister. And just as... fragile.

Yang smiled. She was hopeless. It's not that she blamed or despised her father for it, but the truth was that she had raised Ruby alone for nearly a decade, had become her father and her mother, and now that she could finally let go of her and allow her to spread her wings, so to say, she had found another little sister to take care of.

But she couldn't help it. She wasn't the kind of person who could ignore birds with a broken wing that wanted to fly.

"I'm sorry," Weiss said softly, almost a whisper.

"If you're talking about your first meeting with Ruby, you don't have to apologize. I understand you're insecure and fearful, not a bad person."

"But..."

"Nothing, Weiss. I've already forgotten and forgiven you, you know that, don't you? So don't keep tormenting yourself. I'm not your father. You don't have to crawl before me to prove anything to me.

She began to tremble in her arms.

"Easy," Yang whispered in her ear. "Don't worry. You don't have to be ashamed of crying. There's nothing wrong with accepting your own feelings."

Jaune looked around. At last he had a place to sleep, a shed not too clean and not entirely empty. But he couldn't complain. He had expected this since Ozpin told him that there were no free rooms left in the dormitories. Leaving that out, there weren't many more options left.

He slammed the door behind him. Night had already fallen, so it was practically dark, except for the moonlight that seeped through the slits in of the window. He dragged himself to his bed and sat on it.

His body felt heavy, as if he had been fighting almost without rest for a whole week.

He needed sleep, but was afraid to close his eyes.

He had rejected Ruby's kind offer because he knew it was best for her, but now he wanted her by his side. He only felt at peace when she was by his side, when he could hear her voice.

He covered his face with his hands.

He was not going to sleep well tonight. In that case, it would be best to take advantage of the time and train until dawn. That way he would at least get rid of the cold lethargy that threatened to dominate his body. And he wouldn't have time to think about things he shouldn't think about.

Jaune rose, went in search of his sword and shield, which had been returned to him by Ozpin a few hours ago. As he searched the darkness, not bothering to turn on the light, he heard a faint whisper. At first he thought it was the wind. He immediately realized that it was actually the door.

There, on the threshold, he saw Ruby Rose.

She wore the same pajamas as the day before the initiation test. He recognized that distantly, but somehow something had changed. Something was very different. Her skin seemed to shine with its own light, a light that eclipsed that of the fragmented moon. Her eyes were not only beautiful, enchanting, marvelous, but looked like portals to another world. A world that was at hand and, at the same time, terribly distant.

He opened his mouth to say something, anything, but he had run out of breath. Looking at her and smiling, she resembled more than ever...

No. No! No!

Jaune turned around, put his hand to his chest. His heart trembled. It wriggled like a worm. Each beat was painful. He was on the edge of a precipice, a mental collapse or a panic attack.

"Jaune?" She called him softly.

"What are you doing here?"

"You know that already. I don't want to leave you alone." She closed the door. "Before you say anything, we don't have to sleep in the same bed. I'll stay on the floor, to the side. Jaune, what's going on?" She put her hands on his upper back, leaned her forehead there. "Are you afraid? If I'm really bothering you, I'll leave without saying anything else. But I thought this was what you wanted."

Jaune remained silent.

"All right, I'll leave. I'm sorry."

"Stay. Please stay. But only for tonight. If you indulge my every whim, I will become a more selfish person than I already am."

"Look at me. Please."

That's what he did.

Ruby touched his face with her fingertips. For a crazy moment, he thought she was about to kiss him. For a crazy moment, he considered taking the plunge himself.

"Asking for help is not selfish at all. Nor is it a sign of weakness. I can't imagine the life you've led to make you seriously think that way, and I don't want to. But you don't have to live like that anymore. Hiding from yourself and others. At least not when you are with me. "

"A nice sentiment. It's very typical of you, but you don't know how I really am, or what I try to hide. You think that my hostility is nothing more than a poor façade built to hide the pain I carry inside. You couldn't be more mistaken. The boy who shouted savagely at Weiss, who put his sword to her throat, who had every intention of killing her right there... that's Jaune Arc. That, the face of an animal, is my true face."

"I don't believe you."

"Only because you don't want to."

"Because I don't want to and because I can't. Not long ago you were trembling and crying in my arms. How do you want me to believe that it wasn't real?"

Jaune didn't know how to respond.

"You can't," said Ruby, triumphant. "Of course not."

"Ruby..."

"Don't say anything. Let's go to sleep."

She started to walk and took it with her, pulling on his shoulder. A few meters ahead, she stumbled on the step. If he hadn't caught her in time, grabbing her by the waist, both of them would have fallen to the ground.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. "My eyes have not yet adjusted to the darkness."

It was obvious. His eyes, however, did not need time for such an adjustment. He saw with the same clarity under the light of the sun as in the darkest of nights. That skill had saved his skin not infrequently. So he could look down, he might see something, and Ruby wouldn't even notice. He was embarrassed to admit it, but he had to restrain himself.

He took her by the hand and guided her to the foot of the bed, but not in a straight line, so that it seemed that there were some obstacles along the way, enjoying every moment of that slight contact.

"I will not allow you to sleep on the floor. Take the bed, I'll stay here."

"I think you know me well enough to know how I'm going to answer that."

"I have slept many nights outdoors, and on harder and colder floors than this. Believe me, it's nothing new to me."

"All the more reason for you to enjoy a real bed. But I can't convince you, so which side do you prefer?"

"Okay. Okay."

Jaune laid down on the left side. Ruby, without saying a word, took the right side of the bed. He only heard this. He had stared at the wall and refused to move his gaze. It didn't do much good. He couldn't help but hear her breathing and feel it on his neck, feel the warmth of her body. If this continued, he would go mad. However, it was too late to turn back.

"Good night."

"Good night, Ruby," he said. But he couldn't sleep, he hadn't even closed his eyes.

The night was dead. Outside you couldn't even hear the murmur of the wind. In him took root the powerful sensation that at some point, somehow, they had been transported to a world just for them. How beautiful that would be. He was an abomination. In the world in which he lived there was not a trace of beauty. But by her side perhaps he would discover within him a piece of nobility, a spark of light.

Perhaps.

He glanced sidelong at Ruby. Her eyes were closed, but he doubted that she had fallen asleep so abruptly. He wanted to speak. He couldn't say everything if she wasn't asleep, but some things.

"Once someone wrote, «The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown»." Jaune dryly recited. "The night holds no secrets for me. Still, I'm afraid of the dark. Laugh at me if you want to. I deserve it. For someone with a role like mine to tremble over something only small children fear is ridiculous. But I can't help it.

When I close my eyes, I have the feeling that I am falling into an unfathomable abyss. Where there is no light to guide me. Where there is nothing but darkness and silence. But what I fear most is not what is at the bottom of the abyss, nor the fall itself. I have been in free fall for ten years.

With one hand behind his head, he lifted the other, the left, towards the ceiling, as if there was something to grab there.

"Yes. What I'm really afraid of is that it will never end." He dropped his hand. "Are you really sleeping?"

Ruby had opened her eyes.

"I don't know what to say," she admitted quietly. "You're talking about something concrete, not a formless fear. But even if I ask questions, you're not willing to answer them. I want to help you, but I don't know how."

"It's not that I wanted you to fix my problems. Just... tell someone, even if they were asleep."

"Do you feel better?"

"A little."

Ruby smiled sadly.

"Liar."

He looked into her eyes, devoting all his attention to her. He had forgotten the risky situation he was in.

"You know me that well?"

"No. I think I know you a little better than the rest of the world, but you don't want me to know you, you said it clearly before. So you close up, you make an effort to hide so many things I want to know. But some of those things, Jaune, cannot be hidden so easily."

Jaune sighed.

"I suppose you're right."

"Of course I am. After all, you can't take your eye off me, but neither can I. I've been watching you all the time lately."

Jaune turned around again, so that she wouldn't see him blush.

"For what reason?"

"I'll keep it to myself for now. I like secrets too."

His brain was running at full speed, dissecting every word that came out of Ruby's mouth, it had been doing s for a while now. He noticed that she was acting differently, but he didn't understand what was going on or why.

An equally strange idea crossed his mind.

He rejected it immediately, without considering it for a second.

"Let's go to sleep" Jaune said, his voice trembling. "I don't want you to make up for lost time in class tomorrow, you know."

"Yes. Sleep well."

"You too."

He closed his eyes.

He was tense and nervous, but, deep down, much better than before she appeared at the door of the shed. Even for someone like him it was easy to see why. That his heart trembled when he felt close to the girl he liked, when he allowed himself to believe she was flirting with him or at least trying to do so, were the normal feelings of a normal boy. Not a freak like him.

Of course, that was only a fantasy, a mirage. But there was nothing wrong with believing in it. And admire it as long as he could.

No, nothing at all.

A field of red roses. The fragmented moon. And the smell of blood permeating the air, so sweet, so irresistible, so painfully beautiful. In spite of everything, the boy knew the truth. This dreamlike place was a tomb for him and another person. Although he was undoubtedly still alive, this was where his life had ended in the past.

A mirage stood amid the roses. Red cape. Eyes like pure silver. The scythe behind her, its edge a fragment of the moon.

"Did you find what you wanted?" The woman asked him.

Under her cloak, her face was rotting. Her eyes were nests of worms. Although the shape drawn by her clothes suggested she was healthy, she was nothing but bones and dust.

A fantasy. A mirage.

"I want nothing," Jaune whispered. "I seek nothing."

"Did you find what you wanted?"

He lowered his head. He looked at his hands.

"Even if I had, I have no hands with which to hold it."

"Did you find what you wanted?"

The memory of 'someone' asking him that same question came to the surface of his mind. It was brief. At once it disappeared like bubbles in the sea when a person drowned.

"I'm already dead. What difference would it make, even if I had?"

Pain exploded in his chest.

Looking down, he saw, unsurprisingly, that the edge of the scythe had passed through him cleanly, from side to side. Well, maybe cleanly it wasn't the right word. The blood was gushing. In the hole that had suddenly appeared in his chest, he saw bits of bone and his soft organs threatening to spill out like water.

The hood fell, revealing the face of his attacker.

Jaune opened his eyes wide.

"Who are you? You are not..."

Upon waking up, Ruby took several seconds to remember where she was and what she had been doing before falling asleep, and a few more to gather the strength to move.

Jaune was turning constantly, that way he had managed to wake her up at this hour. His face was very red, his forehead beaded with sweat. His breathing was out of control.

She did not like to see him that way. She didn't know what to say, but to wake him up she didn't need to speak. It was enough to tap her on the shoulder and shake him. She had gone to bed with a boy she liked, although not to that, almost without hesitation. Why doubt now, when he needed her the most?

"...want..."

She jumped. But it was only Jaune's voice, of course. She approached to hear him better.

"Who are you? You are not..."

She vaguely remembered reading that people were especially suggestible when the moment of waking approached, or something like that. In any case, this could be her opportunity. She would try only once. If she did not respond, she would wake him immediately.

"Who am I?" Ruby whispered next to his ear.

"Don't leave me alone." His desperate plea broke her heart. "I will protect her for the rest of my life, so close your eyes and rest."

Then Jaune said a name. It was not hers.

Ruby's heart stopped.

"Ruby. Hey, are you listening to me?"

Ruby shook her head, as if to get rid of the thoughts that were distracting her. Her older sister had come so close, for the second time, without her noticing. But the surprising thing was that she could pay even a little attention to what was going on around her.

Tomorrow had come again and she was on her way to class, but how could she care about any of that?

She had ended up with more questions than answers. All thanks to the name he had pronounced at that time.

Summer.

She hadn't heard wrong. She hadn't imagined it. She was only fifteen years old, but she wasn't the kind of person who deceived herself because the lie was more convenient. No matter how much she didn't want to believe it, even if she denied it with all her might, the truth wouldn't change.

"No, eh? Well, I'll repeat myself. Your partners told me what happened last night. You didn't do anything bad with him, did you? Come on, please, don't be so quiet. You're scaring me."

"Humm. Sorry, I was distracted."

"Ah, I knew it! Tell me that at least you forced him to wear a condom."

Ruby turned red like a tomato and covered her sister's mouth with one hand, but of course, it was too late, the damage was done.

"How can you be so dumb? Keep your voice down, please."

Yang took her hand away easily.

Well, of course. If Yang didn't let her win, she wouldn't have any chance against her in a competition of strength.

"The coast is clear. And I'm sorry, mea culpa, and so on, but that's not what matters most to me right now. Did you or didn't you, Ruby? I'm serious."

"No, nothing of what you're imagining happened. And even if it had, if I'm old enough to hunt monsters, to live risking my life all the time, then I'm old enough to fuck."

As irritating as it was, she blushed even more when she uttered that word. Not only because of the idea it put in her head, but simply because she didn't like to say words that sounded so dirty. Being near her Uncle Qrow when he got drunk had made her develop a tolerance for all sorts of swear words and given her a wide vocabulary, but using it herself was a different story.

"But not with a boy you barely know."

"What difference does it make, when I could die tomorrow?" she replied coldly.

Yang stiffened. She looked at her with eyes that didn't look like her own.

"What's the matter with you?"

Ruby looked away.

Her sister put two fingers on her chin and forced her to look at her.

"Please. If you don't want to talk about whatever that is with me, it doesn't matter as long as you tell someone, okay?"

Ruby sighed deeply.

Telling her the truth wouldn't do any good. She loved her sister very much, and that meant that she was very aware of her personality and tendencies. In other words, she would immediately go after Jaune and get violent with him in order to get everything out of him, or at least to lessen that feeling of terrible helplessness produced by not being able to help her when she needed it most.

"I'm worried about normal stuff. If I'm really the right person to lead this team, what Blake and Pyrrha think of me. And Jaune," she sighed, "is a world of problems and headaches on his own."

"Is that really all there is?"

Why did she have to be so perceptive when it wasn't convenient?

"I gave myself to him and he rejected me. That was a big shock. I'm still trying to get over it."

"You haven't even tried hard to make it sound moderately believable. As I said before, if you don't want to tell me, fine. But don't treat me like a fool."

"... It's not that. Part of me wants to tell you everything, but I don't know how."

"And the other one doesn't want to."

"The other one," she replied dryly, "thinks there's no point in doing it, one way or another, because you should already know who I'm thinking about. It will pass. It always does. So don't insist, give me a break. Okay?"

It was a dirty move. But also the only thing that was going to make her give up, at least for the moment.

"I'm sorry. I never know what to say or how to say it."

"I know. I love you, Yang. That will never change."

"Same here."

Jaune sighed heavily.

On his first day, he had avoided participating in one of the training fights of Goodwitch's class because he was still recovering. The next few days, by pure luck. But luck, like all things, ended sooner or later. The time had come today.

Anyway, what was he going to do?

He was not used to taking orders from anyone, but here he was just a student. And he could not impose his will by force.

He had no interest in attracting attention or flaunting his abilities, least of all in front of a bunch of school children, but he disliked the idea of prolonging this boring spectacle longer than necessary. He would play with his opponent for a minute. Then he would crush him.

Except if it turned out to be Ruby, of course. He wouldn't be surprised. The fight between two members of the same team was often the first step in learning to fight together. In that case, his goal would be to lose in a way that wouldn't embarrass himself or her.

The image finally stopped spinning.

The chosen face was that of a boy he didn't know. Well, he knew very few people in this place. The really strange thing would have been recognized his opponent. It didn't matter anyway. Only the faculty could stand up to him and even then he had his doubts.

"Cardin Winchester," Goodwich called him, not looking away from her Scroll, which was heavy and difficult to handle, "come down to the arena."

Jaune looked at his opponent out of sheer curiosity.

Unlike some people, the photo of his face was a good indication of what the rest of his body looked like. He looked like an ape who had somehow learned to stand on two legs.

His weapon was a simple mace. Perhaps because he felt overconfident in his speed and strength, because he believed he could overwhelm any opponent with that, or because of lack of money. In any case, he wouldn't have to worry about hidden tricks. That made it even simpler.

Cardin reached the arena, with the mace resting on one shoulder and a slight smile pulling on his lips.

He did not like that expression.

Change of plans. It might be a bit of a problem, but he was going to make sure Cardin would not look at him that way again.

"Ready, set... go!"

Cardin threw himself at him.

Jaune did not move an inch from his position, and blocked the blow of the heavy mace with his sword at the last moment. It was a small demonstration of the unfathomable abyss between them, but it seemed that the ape could not even smell the truth even when presented with such a clear example. He seemingly believed that he had taken him by surprise, that he would overwhelm him in the same manner to which he was accustomed.

How ridiculous.

He would be a good nightclub bouncer, but he could stop dreaming of being a hunter right here, right now.

"You know, I was worried about you," Cardin said. "Having some sort of panic attack before the initiation test is not the most inspiring thing; we all thought that someone had made a serious mistake in accepting you, for sure. And on top of that you turn out to be the only student who got hurt during the test. But now you're here, like a normal student. I congratulate you from the bottom of my heart."

They exchanged a series of blows.

Jaune did not lose even a millimeter of terrain, but the same could be said of his opponent, as he did not concentrate on attacking.

"So," Cardin continued as if someone cared about his verbal diarrhea, "if you beg well, I won't humiliate you in front of everyone. Or is that what you want? An excuse to cry and squeeze yourself against that brat's small tits again?"

Jaune stopped. The mace crashed into his face, but he did not even feel it. He felt as if he were floating above his body, watching everything like a ghost.

He took a deep breath, released the air after a few seconds. Then he disposed of his sword and shield, throwing them out of the arena.

"Should I take this as a surrender, Mr. Arc?" Goodwitch asked.

"No," he replied coldly.

Cardin swung the mace again, this time holding it with both hands.

Jaune stopped the blow with his own hands and snatched the weapon from him before he knew it, with simple, fluid movements, only to throw it away in the same way as his own weapon. Like him, Cardin had no means to recover it without losing the fight.

It would be a humiliating defeat, but he doubted that even this opponent was stupid enough to forget the rules in his anger.

Besides, if that were to happen, neither Cardin nor the audience would accept his defeat. He had to make his superiority very clear. And what would happen to him if he talked about Ruby again in such a vulgar manner.

Cardin looked him in the eye.

"I am not helpless without my weapon," he said.

"Me neither." He felt the need to add that, even though it was obvious.

Jaune went on the attack.

He couldn't compare himself to a human whirlwind after seeing Ruby in action, or rather, not seeing her. But it was true that his speed was far greater than that of a normal hunter, as far as such a thing existed.

Unfortunately for him, Cardin was one of those hunters. He hid it well, but it was obvious to him that each of his punches made him tremble. He was like a person who could not swim trying to avoid drowning.

Jaune stifled his laughter.

Cardin fell to his knees. He was a little taller than he was. Like that,, however, he seemed very small and very weak. He grabbed him by the neck with one hand and pulled him towards him, leaning so that their eyes were more or less at the same level.

"I want you to know something," Jaune whispered. "I want you to burn it into your mind. This was no coincidence. I am superior to you in every way, and I will kill you if you ever speak about Ruby again, if you even dare to approach her. But not before I make you scream so much that you will forget the sound of your own voice. Of course, doing anything that troubles her is also forbidden. Do you understand me? Do my words reach your worn-out brain?"

"I understand you," he said slowly and after a while.

"All right."

He kicked it out of the arena.

In pain and on the ground, while Goodwitch proclaimed his crushing victory, Cardin lifted his head and looked at him with eyes full of hatred. With a murderous intent comparable to that of the Grimm.

He didn't understand. The example had not been enough for him.

Jaune let out a low, hoarse laugh that bordered on malignant.

"Stop it! That hurts."

A warm laugh, as if it were the best moment of his life.

"I told you they were real." That's when Jaune began to pay attention to that disturbance, for he recognized Cardin's voice. In two days he hadn't caused him any trouble, he hadn't even dared to look at him. Now he was doing his thing again, apparently.

Without stopping to eat, he turned to contemplate the scene.

Hearing that, the first thing that had come to mind was sexual harassment. But no. He and his cronies were simply messing with a Faunus rabbit.

He looked away.

Cardin had apparently regained his energy, but he had no intention, at least for the moment, of using it to get back at him or hurt Ruby. So that had nothing to do with him. He could be calm.

Jaune smiled.

Being in Beacon, with Ruby, who did not want to be separated from him either at night or during the day, made his new life full of an ordinary happiness that the being born ten years ago had never tasted. As for the others... well, he didn't care in the least, but he had to admit that they weren't bad company. He was even beginning to get used to that noisy girl. What was her name? Oh, yes. Nora.

"That's terrible," Pyrrha said. "I can't stand people like him."

Jaune snorted.

"What's so funny?" Blake asked.

"Hypocrisy. Pyrrha has won I don't know how many tournaments, as far as I know she is the second person in this group with the most experience in fighting against human beings. If it bothers her so much, she can get up and fix it at any time. Those words will not, however. And they won't be of any consolation to that girl, who can't even hear them."

Pyrrha bowed her head.

"What about you?" Blake nailed him with her gaze and put her hands on the table. Her eyes were more alert and alive than he had ever seen them before. "Do you think she deserves to be treated this way?"

"No. But I don't misunderstand, I don't care either."

A movement to his left.

Ruby. She had gotten up.

"What are you doing?"

She looked at him from the corner of her eye.

"You're right. Instead of talking, this has to be fixed."

Jaune grabbed her by the sleeve of her uniform before she could rush out of there to face Cardin. He knew that she was practically helpless without Crescent Rose, and it would take her too long to go to her locker and come back with the weapon, so he would have to do what had to be done in her place.

He didn't feel irritated. It was, after all, yet another opportunity to fulfill his duty.

He was going to leave the fork on the table, but he had second thoughts. With it as his only weapon, he approached Cardin and that girl. He released her a few seconds before he stopped in front of him, not because he had seen him coming, but by pure coincidence, but that was not going to save him.

He looked at him.

"What the hell is your problem?"

Jaune grabbed his head and smashed it against the table with all his strength. While he was struggling to free himself, he stuck the fork through his hand. The groan of pain he let out was even more comical than the way he twisted, like a worm in the earth.

His lackeys, for they were nothing more than that, got up and made a motion to take out their weapons... only to realize that they were not carrying them.

He removed the fork with the same force. The blood splashed on the table, on the floor, on his own hands.

The lackeys threw themselves at him, even though they were not armed. The first one he left on the ground with a kick in the solar plexus. He grabbed the second as if he were a sack of straw, with only one arm, and threw him back over his shoulder. The third and last one froze. His eyes told him he wanted to flee, not fight.

He made Cardin lift his head by pulling his hair.

"You didn't have enough, huh?"

"What are you talking about?" He protested. "You're crazy. I haven't done anything to that girl."

"Like I told you, doing anything that bothers her is also forbidden. Ruby doesn't like this. You've been warned. If I see you like this again, I'll break every bone in your filthy body so you can never threaten anyone again."

Having said all he had to say, he threw him to the ground.

Jaune looked at Ruby to see how she felt about what he had done. He thought she would praise him. That she would be smiling. But all he saw was cold eyes and a frown. He could not bear that gaze for more than two seconds.

When had things begun to go wrong? What mistake had he made?

Ruby had not liked the incident with Weiss at all, but he had learned his lesson and adjusted his response. The answer had to be proportionate. In other words, only violence demanded violence, and Cardin had cruelly pulled that girl's ears as if she was a life-sized toy. He deserved it!

Don't look at me with those eyes.

And she had asked him to take care of it. No doubt this was what she wanted, the only answer. Or did she think they could have solved things by talking? Words had no effect on people like him. He put his hands to his temples, he squeezed hard. He felt that his head was going to explode.

He deserved itdeserveditdeservedideserved it.

Who did?

He dropped his arms at his sides, limp. The girl approached to shyly thank him. He passed by, only vaguely registering her existence.

His feet led him outside. He inserted ten Líen into the slot of the vending machine and pressed a button. Pushed by the spring, the water bottle slid down, then traveled through the tunnel and reached where his open hand awaited.

Staggering, he crawled to a nearby bench. He uncorked the bottle and drank avidly. No doubt it was due to his state of mind, but he tasted like stagnant water. He felt like vomiting.

He closed his eyes. He poured the rest of the bottle over himself, as if he had run a marathon and needed to cool down as quickly as possible. The inside of his body had been transformed into a furnace. It was as if he was melting. No, he was really doing it. He looked at his hands, wet with sweat, which trembled slightly.

"Jaune." A voice. Was it just his imagination? Raising his head, he discovered that it was not.

Ruby. She seemed nervous and he didn't know why. He didn't even know something that simple. He thought he had come closer to Ruby in the past week, that he was closer to understanding her and becoming the knight she needed. But the distance between them seemed as wide as before, or perhaps even wider.

The boy bowed his head.

"Tell me, what have I done wrong? I thought it was what you wanted. I had no intention of making you feel bad or going against your wishes. Forgive me. Please. Please tell me what I did wrong and it won't happen again. "

"Don't talk like you're afraid of me. I know how important the promise is to you, but I don't want you to be my knight or anything like that. Only my friend."

"Are you going to abandon me?" The muscles in his face shook violently. Bitter tears, the feeling that his soul was slowly being crushed. If it weren't for the fact that he was sitting on a bench, he would have lost his balance and ended up lying on the pavement like a garbage bag.

"No. Of course not. Don't say that. We'll always be together, no matter what. And that will never change. I promise. But... you don't have to keep that wall between us. Look at me, Jaune. I am right here. If you extend your arm," she said, clutching one of his hands with herown. She placed it on her own face, gently, gently, as if she were touching a wound. "You can touch me. That feeling of distance is only in your head. Why don't you realize something so obvious?"

Jaune bit his lower lip hard, until the taste of blood filled his mouth.

"Because you're wrong. Though I know you would allow it, I do not deserve to stand by your side as an equal. And even if I did... I have forgotten for years how to do things that others take for granted, how a human being feels and acts."

"You are human."

Jaune shook his head gently.

"I have lived for a decade, for most of my life, like a common hunting dog. With no one by my side. No one to listen to me. I went out again and again to the land of the Grimm, to the ends of the world, as if seeking death. All in order to make me stronger, to prepare myself for the day when we would look each other in the eye for the first time. Even if you wish it from the bottom of your heart, I am not the person you want me to be. And of course, there's no chance I'll become him. I'm like a ghost. A stamp left by the thoughts and emotions of Jaune Arc at the time of his death. No more and no less."

Ruby did not respond.

After a while, she let go of her hand.

He promised himself that he wouldn't cry.

"I know everything," she said slowly and clearly, without a second thought. "Or at least I know enough to get a good idea of the rest. What happened ten years ago. Summer Rose... my mother died trying to save you and your family. And you made that promise to her."

Authors Note

I finished this chapter long before, but I was waiting for my beta reader to show signs of life before publishing it. She hasn't shown them yet. I think it's time to find look for another one.