Hey everybody, how are you? Not much to say about this chapter, aside from that it exists and I'm happy to get it up here. I haven't had much time to write with renovating my room and such. Honestly, this could have been done a while ago.

Enjoy!

Beta: Knight of Cerberus

"Plans are useless. Planning is invaluable."

Blake's eyes twitched back and forth as she watched a man likely twice her age zip back and forth across the room, about five times faster than she believed possible for anyone to move. The man stopped dead, the girl certain his neck should have snapped from the momentum, except it didn't.

The girl blinked, and the Beacon professor disappeared from her sight once more. Blake sighed, looking down at her notebook. It was completely blank. It wasn't that he was too fast to keep up with; she just couldn't spare a second to write when he was just so active.

Blake snapped her head back up, Doctor Oobleck – not Professor, but Doctor – back standing behind his desk. The instructor spoke so fast she actually had to focus, or else all she'd probably pick up would be a word here or there.

The man slammed his pointer into the board behind him, pointing at Vale on the map pinned to it. Blake shook her head again, as she tried to focus on the slew of words coming out of the man's mouth.

There was a hefty sigh from next to her, and Blake's attention turned from the front of the class to her partner.

The blond boy who was also the leader of their team didn't look too well, resting his head atop his crossed arms, using them as a chin-rest. He'd been sweating and awfully pale when he'd come back from his trip to the bathroom. Perhaps he wasn't feeling well?

Blake thought about asking the boy if he was okay, then abandoned the idea when he closed his eyes and took a deep breath.

It looked like he at least had it under control. It was a little respectable in that sense, that he didn't want to miss a lecture over his sudden illness – even if he didn't take anything away from it.

"I guess I deserve this…" Jaune muttered, barely audible.

Blake cringed in solidarity. Must have been something he ate, considering he'd been fine just beforehand. She tried to recall what it was so she could avoid it herself if it was served again for dinner, but she couldn't picture what he had on his tray in her head.

"…And you can clearly see here, how the natural defenses of the Valean Valley also make it rather ideal for agricultural growth. Irrigation systems were easy to implement, and farmers could grow their crops in relative safety..."

Blake turned her head back to their instructor, but occasionally glanced towards the blond next to her. She had to give the boy credit: However ill he was, the only real sounds he made were repeatedly stressed sighs.

As the lecture went on, Jaune seemed to get more and more agitated, and Blake couldn't help but pity him. She considered raising her hand and asking for permission to take him to the infirmary, but she didn't know if that was a good idea.

She didn't know the boy well enough yet. Would he be mad that she called him out, and got him out of the lecture when he was trying so desperately to hide that something was wrong? Was he too nervous to say something himself?

Her leader glanced over, out of the corner of his eye. He tilted his head slightly, acknowledging her with a confused look.

"Is something wrong?" he whispered, his words coming out with just the slightest tinge of nervousness, "You're staring."

Blake shook her head briskly, annoyed she'd been so distracted. "No, it's nothing."

He's trying to hide it from me…

Had he been feeling ill the other day too? Blake had thought the blond had been acting rather strangely, like he was hiding something. Had he been putting up a tough front because he'd been under the weather, and she was just noticing it now?

The girl brushed a stray strand of hair out of her eyes. He'd been picked as leader of their team over herself, Pyrrha Nikos, and that Ren guy. Had one of the professors who'd been monitoring them notice what he'd been doing, and that's why he was chosen for the position?

While everyone else had simply performed at their best, he'd acted normal when he was at his worst. And if he was sick yesterday, all the way through to the present, that meant he fought the Boarbatusk under the same conditions.

Blake hummed, turning back to Doctor Oobleck's lecture. It was admirable.

If I were in his situation, what would I appreciate the most? He's obviously sick, but he doesn't want anyone to know…

Would the best thing to just ignore it? To act as if there was nothing wrong?

After taking a brief moment to consider it, Blake nodded to herself.

Yeah, that would be best. Just ignore it.

She could do that.

The boy took in a shuddering breath as he put one foot in front of the other, walking down the hall. He looked to his partner, the girl walking alongside him, matching his stride.

Goodness, how he wished she'd say something. Anything, to get his mind off of what he'd just experienced before class.

He rubbed at his jaw, which his sister had gripped tight as she stared into his eyes, stressing each word as she spoke to him. It was like he could still feel her grasp, her fingernails resting lightly atop his skin, though they felt like claws ready to rip and tear at any moment.

"Eight o'clock, the dorm roof. I'll see you there."

The boy clenched both his hands into fists and let out a long sigh. He really hoped he didn't seem too nervous or anything. He wanted Blake to talk, not ask questions; even though he already knew how hard it was to get her to do either.

"So, sparring class next?" Jaune asked, hoping the girl would answer that at the least.

"That's right."

Blake showed no signs of continuing on her statement, so Jaune just grit his teeth and let out a grunt to acknowledge that he'd heard her. He looked down at the map, and plotted out their path to the locker rooms. They'd have to get their weapons.

There was something else he had to worry about too, in that case. Was there anything special about sparring that he should know? Some kind of, like, code? He'd only really sparred with his sister, once or twice and those times were rare enough already, nor did they resemble anything official.

Jaune raised his head as he realized there was something he could have Blake distract him with. "Hey, if you don't mind…"

The girl turned towards them as they walked, a questioning expression on her face.

"How do you fight?"

"…what?"

Jaune was confused by the response, before he realized his question wasn't quite what he meant to ask. "I mean, how do you fight? I'm not saying you did nothing in initiation but like I didn't see you do anything, you know?"

The girl seemed to ponder that for a second, her lips drawn tight as she thought of a response. "I suppose you didn't, no. It's... hard to explain how I fight."

Jaune hummed. "Yeah, I suppose it would be. Thinking about it, I would have had a hard time answering that if you'd asked me too."

Less so because it was hard to explain, and more so that he couldn't explain it in a way that sounded good.

"That reminds me," Blake started, surprising the blond, "what was that thing you did with your sword earlier? With the Boarbatusk."

The what? Oh. Jaune opened his mouth to respond, but hesitated for a moment as he didn't exactly know how to explain that either. He could explain it away as something his sister taught him, but then that would beg the question how his sister knew – which in turn would lead Blake to his sister.

And that could be bad, depending on his meeting tonight. Hell, he could be out of Beacon in a couple days anyways.

With that in mind, he supposed it didn't matter.

"It's a... type of Aura manipulation – you know what that is?" Blake nodded. "I mostly use it to make dull things sharp, because that's what I'm good at."

"From what I saw, it looked like more than that." The girl said. "The sheath of your sword is just blunt metal, isn't it?"

"Yeah." Jaune responded, not sure what she was trying to say.

"So you're giving an edge to something that otherwise has no edge." With the way she said it, it sounded like she knew what he'd done better than he did. "Why not just use it on your sword itself instead?"

Shit. "I, uhh... The sheath gives a heavier strike." The blond turned away, embarrassed by the flimsy excuse he gave his partner.

Yeah right, she would never buy that.

"That makes sense, actually."

…you're kidding.

"The extra weight behind the strike is probably what gave you the power to cut through the tusks. I see…"

Jaune just smiled awkwardly to himself as the girl seemed to think about that. There was no way he was going to be able to change his excuse now.

I probably should have just told her the truth.

"Still, it looked a little awkward, you having to sheath your blade like that in the middle of a fight…"

The girl trailed off, and after another couple seconds of silence, Jaune turned back towards her, only she was a few steps behind, having stopped mid-stride. "Blake?"

The girl looked up to him, her eyes glowing dangerously before she blinked, adopting a more natural expression. "Yes?"

"Are you okay?"

The girl blinked again, before she walked forward, then past Jaune. "Yeah, I'm fine. Was just thinking about something."

Jaune frowned as he moved to keep up. Blake showed no sign of wanting to continue the talk, and, oddly, that was fine with him. He needed to think, but at the same time, he didn't want to. He'd spend nearly the entire class before just thinking.

He didn't know what he could do, what he had to do, or what he wanted to do. It was pretty simple, really.

His sister hadn't said anything to the faculty, which Jaune was thankful for. But when had she found out?

Jaune sighed as he ran a hand through his hair. Of course. When else? Their damn teams were announced to the entire student population of Beacon. He hadn't realized because he'd just been so caught up in the moment. He'd thought it worked. He'd thought he'd made it in, no complications.

He didn't think that, even for a moment, she would have obviously known he'd snuck in.

Looking back on it, it was the thing he'd been the least concerned about. He'd been more worried about sticking out to the professors and his fellow first-years.

And now, his sister wanted to speak to him, on the dorm roof, late in the evening. Alone. He could only imagine the earful she'd give him before she dragged him to whoever she had to report him to. He turned to Blake, the girl with a far-off look on her face.

Well, it had been fun.

The boy pushed his way into the locker room, Blake following in behind quietly. As the boy wove between the lockers, he noticed that Blake was still following him. He slowed to a stop, the girl stopping with him.

"Don't you have to get your things from your locker?" he asked.

The girl looked up at him. "Sorry, what?"

"Your locker. Don't you need your weapon?"

Blake blinked, looking around her. "Right. Uh, I'll see you again in class."

With that said, the girl took off in the direction from which they came. She walked slowly, Jaune noticed, her mind clearly elsewhere.

The boy hummed as he turned in the direction of his own locker. It didn't take very long to make his way there to get his own weapon, clipping it to his belt.

After closing his locker, Jaune gripped the sheath with his left hand and tugged. The entirety of Crocea Mors in his hand, he repeated the process of clipping it on and off. It was an awkward motion, a slight tug on his belt before the sheath came free.

His father had always worn it on his belt, but for some reason, having the sword at his side felt wrong.

It was probably the easiest place to keep it. He couldn't really have it over his shoulder, or retrieving the sheath could be an issue. Across his lower back was out too. If he was going to be using the Aura technique his sister taught him, he was going to have to be able to retrieve his sheath as quickly as possible. Having to tug on it multiple times to free it wasn't going to suffice.

Jaune blinked as he held the sheath to his side, resting where it would normally be clipped, except the boy didn't attach it. Would that work?

The boy scowled as he just clipped the sheath on. It wasn't really the time to reconsider such a thing. It wouldn't be his sword for much longer, anyways.

It'd be his father's again, once he found out.

He grinned darkly to himself. Maybe that's why…

The sword never was his. That was why it rejected him. Why he couldn't coat it with his Aura.

But then, why did the sheath work?

Jaune turned, with the blade at his side, and felt his shoulder bump into something.

"Eek!" The blond shrieked, jumping away in surprise. His eyes settled on a mass of orange hair, and he tried to calm himself, breathing both heavily and rapidly. "How long were you standing there?"

The girl put a finger to her lips in thought, even as her other hand balanced a hammer taller than she was over her shoulder. "Hmm… I think around the time you started playing with your sword." The girl paused for a second. "That didn't sound right, did it?"

Jaune looked up to her, tilting his head. "It sounded fine to me." The boy straightened his legs out, standing tall. "Nora, right?"

"I'm nobody else." The girl answered convolutedly, smiling. "How's Ren?"

The boy blinked, caught off guard by the sudden question. "Ren's uhh… fine?"

"That's good. He has a tough time on his own. He's always had me around, so it's probably kinda hard for him to fathom the two of us being apart, so I just wanted to make sure things were going well with him. He's probably going to come off as a little moody, but he's a real sweetheart on the inside."

Jaune just stared at the girl. "Okay."

Nora just continued to smile happily, leaning forward as her teeth glinted in the light. "If you make him sad, I'll break your legs."

Jaune stood up even straighter at that, the cheerful smile seeming infinite times more malicious than it had been before. "Okay."

"Perfect!" the girl exclaimed happily. "That's all I wanted to say. See you later!"

"Right…" the blond breathed, a bead of cold sweat rolling down his forehead as the girl skipped away, the large hammer she carried slung over her shoulder.

Beacon was a bad idea. Like, a really, really bad idea.

Ren blinked once, then twice, his eyes watching the slender form of his teammate, Blake, as she dashed back and forth across the arena floor. She wasn't nearly as fast as that girl earlier – Ruby, if he remembered correctly – but he had a feel for what she was doing.

Her opponent, a boy named Dove, turned to face her head on every time she moved. To anyone else, it would have seemed like Blake was wasting her energy, while the boy who'd been standing still had been conserving his own. It would look like Dove was the one playing it smart.

But after a while, Ren was starting to see a pattern. He was sure the black haired girl saw it as well.

"She'll make her move soon. Before he does."

Ren looked over at his partner, the girl's red hair in a high ponytail, dressed in the bronze armor and leather outfit she'd worn when they'd first met during initiation. It seemed Pyrrha had noticed it as well.

"You don't think it's bait?" Ren asked. That had been the first thing to run through his mind: the boy was setting a rather elaborate trap, in exaggerating his movements so much. In leaving such wide openings.

"No." she responded. "If it was, it would be a little less obvious. This is almost like he doesn't even notice he's leaving his entire left side open."

Ren nodded.

"…I have no idea what the two of you are talking about."

Ren – and Pyrrha – turned towards the blond boy who was seated on the opposite side of Blake's vacant spot, the furthest from Ren. He seemed genuinely confused by what was occurring on the arena floor.

Pyrrha shuffled in her seat. "You don't see the openings he's leaving?"

Ren turned back to the match, seeing Blake squeeze a couple of shots off at Dove, who managed to dodge one and deflect the other with his sword. The girl's handgun didn't seem all that powerful, he noted.

"No, all I really see is Blake tiring herself out when she could have beaten him down already."

Ren hummed. Sure, it certainly looked like that when he thought about it, but he himself would err more on the side of caution in the same situation. An unfamiliar opponent, who may or may not be luring him into a trap… it would be better to wait for the best opportunity.

Blake dashed to her left, but when her feet hit the ground, she moved forward, firing a shot towards her opponent.

"Finally…" Jaune sighed.

The girl closed the distance quickly, Dove already moving to the side to dodge the bullet she shot at him. The moment the boy's feet touched the ground, he tried to backpedal, but Blake was already on top of him, swinging her more slender blade towards his head.

"He lost." Jaune stated.

Ren blinked in confusion. First, his team's leader hadn't been able to pick out what was the most obvious of weaknesses, and then he called the match before the blow even landed?

…in the blond's defence, however, the match was indeed over. In the amount of time Ren was able to word an answer to the Jaune, Blake had summarily disarmed, threw, mounted, and put the edge of her blade to Dove's throat, the boy letting out a meek "I surrender".

"Yeah." With how quickly that had ended, all things considered, Jaune might have been right about just rushing the boy right from the start. He put up very little resistance.

"Gee, that really didn't take long, huh." The blonde a row beneath Ren noted. What was her name… Yang? Whoever she was, she was a member or Nora's team…

Speaking of Nora… Ren turned her eyes to her, sitting next to Yang – so right in front of himself. She'd been quiet. Oddly, unusually, forebodingly quiet. The boy knew she was thinking. Hard.

But about what? And, perhaps a better question, why? Nora was straightforward, and followed her heart and instinct like a ravenous beast followed a piece of meat. That she was giving something serious thought wasn't necessarily strange, but certainly rare. At least, he thought. Even after all their time together, he knew her better than anyone, and she still surprised him.

"For our next match..." Professor Goodwitch began, silencing and getting the attention of all the students in the hall. The blonde professor Ren remembered from the first day stood to the side of the arena, the woman having explained that today was to strictly be an exhibition of the student's abilities against each other, so she had a baseline to work with in evaluating them. They were to fight as they would normally, returning to their seats after, but she ensured that after future fights, she'd be giving detailed analysis of their matches. Including feedback with which to improve themselves.

"Can I get Nora Valkyrie and Jaune Arc to the floor please?"

Ren let out an interested grunt. A fight between his leader and Nora. He looked between the two of them – Nora hopping to her feet while Jaune stood abruptly – and started imagining how a match between the two would play out.

The boy didn't doubt Nora's ability to win. In fact, he was fairly certain there wasn't anyone among the first years who could take her on when she was serious. That could have just been his bias, though. Jaune, on the other hand... Ren sneaked a look to the boy as he made his way to the stairwell, an arm resting between his sword and his side, where the sheath was slipped through his belt. Blake, who was coming up the stairs, offered him a smile of support, though Ren couldn't see the boy's own expression.

He'd proven he was somewhat skilled, in taking down the Boarbatusk Professor Port had let loose in their morning class. Cutting through one of their tusks – nevermind both – was an impressive feat. Ren had to wonder what else he could do, considering that was all he knew the blond could do.

"I'm worried." Blake stated casually as she sat in the seat beside Pyrrha.

Ren tilted his head. Worried about the match, he assumed. That made Ren think.

"Why?" He inquired, leaning forward to look past the redhead between them.

Blake blinked in response, her uncertainty somewhat clear on her face. "Jaune..." The girl paused to gather her thoughts. "...earlier today, before our class with Professor Oobleck, he went to the bathroom. He didn't look so great when he came back."

"He's ill?" Pyrrha practically demanded an answer. "Should we say something?"

The black haired girl shook her head quickly. "No, I don't think we should say anything." Blake turned out to the arena floor, where Jaune moved towards the starting area. "It seemed like he was trying to hide it. I'm sure it was because he wanted to stay for the lecture... not that he was really able to pay attention to it. He seemed really distracted."

"Really?" Ren wondered aloud, looking at the blond on the floor below. Even from where they were sitting in the upper viewing area, he could see the truth in Blake's statement. Jaune did look uneasy.

Ren turned his head slightly. It could have also been the size of Nora's hammer that caused that reaction. Hard to say, really.

"Now that I think about it..." Ren spoke up, Blake and Pyrrha turning towards him. "Didn't he seem a little apprehensive about fighting the Boarbatusk earlier as well?"

"He did." Pyrrha confirmed.

"I'd figured that had been because he hadn't fought a Boarbatusk before." Blake said, before she shrugged. "Honestly, he might even have been sick yesterday too. I mean, I don't know him, but it seems like he's hiding it."

Humming, Ren brought a hand to his chin in thought. As Goodwitch repeated the same instructions regarding the match as she had for the previous bouts, he thought back to meeting Jaune in the cafeteria with Nora.

He had seemed fine then.

"Why would he hide it?" Ren pondered aloud, not getting an answer. The girls were probably wondering the same thing.

Jaune drew his sword and said something to Goodwitch; probably declaring that he was ready. Nora held her hammer Magnhild tightly, nodding when the professor turned towards her.

It seemed the match was about to-

"Begin!"

Nora dashed forwards, the heavy head of her hammer held behind her as she crossed the distance between her and Jaune. Ren frowned. Nora would have noticed Jaune had no ranged weaponry. Why not force him to close the distance with her instead, keeping him at a distance with her grenades?

Unless...

Nora swung Magnhild low, forcing Jaune to step back. The boy held his sword with both hands, the point towards Nora. Jaune having dodged the first swing, Nora spun, twirling the long haft of her hammer.

Ren sighed. He couldn't be one-hundred percent sure, but it looked to him like Nora was trying to show off.

Not that she wasn't trying, oh no. If anything, she was trying harder: her swings were quick and precise, and she tried to go for the isolated limbs rather than just swinging for the center of mass like she usually would when she felt like sending Grimm – or people, Ren supposed – flying.

Jaune was retreating – what Ren would probably do in his situation. The blond ducked below a horizontal swing that was a little too high, and quickly dashed past Nora, not retaliating. He probably realized he was getting too close to the arena's edge.

Nora pressed her attack, seeming to swing recklessly, though she wasn't; like he, Jaune, and Pyrrha had discussed earlier, she was leaving openings on purpose. Baiting Jaune.

Nora preferred to simply overpower her opponents. It was what she was good at. But that didn't mean she couldn't fight smart when she wanted to. Had she maybe overheard their earlier conversation?

Had that been what she'd been thinking so deeply about?

Ren's childhood friend swung Magnhild around from the left. Jaune didn't move in on the open side as the massive head passed. Nora pulled Magnhild back down. Jaune didn't take the opportunity.

Right in the seat next to him, Ren heard the sound of flesh smacking against flesh, and took his eyes off the fight for a brief moment. Pyrrha sat, with her hands covering her face.

"We're stupid." She stated with a sigh. Ren turned his eyes back to the match, though he gave her a questioning hum.

"We both thought he was just completely oblivious to the openings Dove was leaving in the last match, and how you weren't reacting to them as they were bait." The redheaded girl said the last part to Blake specifically.

"But..." She continued. "He'd when he'd fought the Boarbatusk in Port's class, he-"

In that moment, Ren came to the same conclusion Pyrrha just had: "He waited for an opening... and the openings that were too obvious he didn't pursue. He fought the Boarbatusk as if it were a person. As if it were trying to trick him."

Jaune treated everything he fought as if it were as intelligent as him – if not more.

Ren crossed his arms, leaning forward in his seat.

The match below just got even more interesting.

I'm so screwed. I'm screwed. I'm s-c-r-e-w-e-d.

Jaune backed away, the force of the wind put off by the massive hammer's head blowing his bangs back into view. Nora took a moment to recover, and Jaune moved even further back, pushing his hair back to the side. How the hell was he supposed to get close enough to hit her when she was swinging that thing around?

Not again!

Jaune stepped to the side as the shorter girl swung the hammer down at an angle. It impacted the arena floor with such force, he could swear it cracked. He winced reactively as he imagined what it would feel like to get hit by that.

Hell, it hurt more than enough when he'd been building that bird house and hit his thumb by accident. That hammer was probably fifty times smaller than the one swinging for his head, too, and he wasn't nearly as strong as the girl swinging it.

Well, so far his strategy of not getting hit was working, but there was nothing he could really do.

Nora swung her hammer viciously, and Jaune took a step back. He couldn't look towards the professor, because then he'd certainly get hit. He considered surrendering, but killed that line of thought instantly.

'You're not getting any mercy from me, understand.'

The memory from his training disturbed the flow, and he tried to backstep again as Nora swung low. The boy stepped on his own foot, and stumbled back. He afforded a glance towards his feet, and Nora fell upon him with her hammer raised high.

Jaune had to force himself from closing his eyes as the heavy metal came down. He brought his sword up in an effort to do... anything.

The boy locked every one of his joints, but bent his knees. He winced at the shrill screech of the hammer rubbing up against his sword as it feel, finally reaching the cross-guard of the blade.

Even with Aura, the strike hurt. His arms, his shoulders, his wrists, his back. Everything hurt.

He looked up, the massive weight coming down on the cross-guard. His arms strained against it, but it didn't continue.

I stopped it.

Everything felt numb, and he let out a gasp as he pushed back meekly. He extended his legs, straining against the weight.

Now what?

The head of the hammer seemed to explode with concussive force, and Jaune closed his eyes reflexively, his sword knocked out of his hands. For a brief second he couldn't hear, his ears popping and the air pressure from the explosion pushing down on him.

Momentarily blinded and deaf, Jaune stepped forward. He blinked his eyes open, his vision swimming. Finally not being concerned with the weight of the hammer's head about to crash down on him, he saw his opponent's face as he blinked away tears.

The girl looked genuinely surprised, but her expression quickly changed: Nora's face morphed into a look of intense concentration. Her eyes met his, and Jaune wasn't sure what he'd saw in them – though he'd seen those same eyes before.

They were the eyes of someone focused purely on the fight before them. And they brought Jaune back to the moment.

His arms high above him as they'd pushed back against Nora's downward strike before he was disarmed, he couldn't spare even a second to consider his options. It was the best opportunity he had, and he was already stepping forward.

Jaune just did what felt right.

He turned his body as he continued forward, driving his shoulder into Nora's chest. He took another step, pushing against the girl until she took a step back to steady herself. He pushed off her when she did, and she brought the haft of her hammer around to separate them.

Jaune didn't think. He grabbed for the hammer's haft, managing to push back against it with both hands. With his hand around its width, he tugged, and pulled Nora towards him. The girl struggled, but his split-second decision gave him the upper hand. Though his balance was precarious, he pulled one leg up as high as he could, and kicked. Nora stumbled backwards, while the weapon he held was uncomfortably heavy in his hands. Now she was disarmed, while he had a...

He looked down at the thing in his hands. "It's a grenade launcher?" He asked himself aloud.

There was a feminine roar from in front of him and he looked up to see Nora sprinting at him. The boy turned the grenade launcher in his hands to fire at Nora.

Only to find he was holding it backwards.

Nora jumped when she got close and fell backwards, her feet in front of her. Jaune stared at her in despair, and saw something peculiar: a black, white and red print of what looked like the cutest bear-Grimm he'd ever seen, before the girl's two feet planted straight in his face.

Jaune coughed as he hit the ground, staring up above his head smacked against the floor. Before he could push himself up, Nora was above him, her weapon in its hammer form. She put the weight against his armored chest, and simply pushed down. He was effectively pinned to the ground.

The blond boy couldn't help but glance up her fluttering skirt. No, he had not imagined that at all.

Nora gasped. "Where do you think you're looking?!"

Jaune quickly turned his head to the side, face beet-red. Nora didn't seem to accept that as an answer, and removed her hammer for a moment, before pressing its weight against the side of his face, pushing it into the ground.

"I shurrender!" Jaune called out as best he could with the great hammer grinding his jaw into the ground.

"The match is over." Jaune heard. "Miss Valkyrie..."

"What?"

"You can remove your hammer from Mr. Arc's head now."

"Oh! Right!" The pressure was gone, so Jaune sat up, rubbing at his jaw. He looked over to where Nora was standing, to see her fold up the hammer into its other form, before putting it on her back. The girl herself was blushing, giving him the stink-eye, and being extra careful in making sure her skirt did not move all at once.

"Well fought. The two of you can return to your seats."

Jaune pushed himself up to his feet as Nora began to walk towards the stairs. She didn't give him a second glance. First, their meeting in the locker room, and now this? The boy jogged to catch up, and the girl stopped before she began her ascent.

She turned and glared at him. "You go first."

The blond tilted his head at Nora's offer. Wasn't it polite or something to let ladies go first? "No, it's fine. You can go first."

Not a second later, the girl's blush returned as she grit her teeth, and Jaune realized his folly. "On second thought, I'll go first!" Jaune offered in a hurry, stepping past the girl. Nora's eyes followed him the whole way.

Jaune reached the top of the stairs, and looked back down at the girl. She was still staring at him, and she waited for him to move. He kept his sigh to himself, and instead walked towards his team, feeling her boring holes in the back of his skull with her stare.

The blond grimaced. Did his team notice? He could already picture Blake and Pyrrha's faces, twisted in disgust, while Ren looked down his nose at him, sneering.

Jaune blinked when all he was met with were light smiles and reassuring nods. He even got a pat on the back from Pyrrha as he sat.

I guess they didn't notice. Jaune let out the breath he hadn't known he'd been holding as he leaned back in his seat, closing his eyes.

"That was an interesting match." Pyrrha mentioned. "You reacted quickly when you were disarmed."

Jaune just nodded slightly to show he acknowledged her comment. Despite how relaxed he felt in his seat, he felt a chill.

The boy opened his eyes again, and looked over to where Nora had been sitting. The girl continued to stare at him. Jaune closed his eyes again.

Crap.

Pyrrha let out a long groan as she arched her back, throwing out her chest as she stretched. Releasing a content sigh, the girl fell back into her bed, relaxing among the sheets. "Wasn't bad for a first day, was it?"

She didn't ask the question of anyone in particular, mostly just putting it out there. Her partner Ren was in the shower, so the only people who could answer were Jaune and Blake. When silence was all that resounded, the redhead propped herself up on her elbows.

Jaune was sitting on the edge of the windowsill, staring off into the distance as far as Pyrrha could tell. If he really was ill, as Blake suggested he might be, the cool, fresh air might be good for him. He must have been thinking of something as well, as he had a rather deep look on his face.

Past Jaune, laying back on her bed, was Blake. The girl was already in her yukata, as everyone had pretty much agreed they weren't planning on doing anything after they came back from their dinner. She seemed invested in a book she was reading.

Both her and Jaune radiated the feeling of wanting to be left alone, regardless, so Pyrrha didn't feel like repeating her earlier question. The girl drew her lips tight as she fished into her pocket, pulling out the coin she'd picked up during initiation.

She looked at it closer. It must have been old, as Pyrrha couldn't remember seeing any kind of metal currency before in her life. She'd heard of coins though, at least. From what she could remember there had been two different kinds: cheap metal rounds that simulated wealth, and actual precious metals in the shape of coins. The latter were now worth quite the amount to collectors, while the former were simply replaced by Lien cards and forgotten.

The piece she held in her hand had few markings, so a part of her half-hoped it was one of those rarities. But it could have also been just a simple coin, its silvery face long since worn.

She flicked it into the air with her thumb, catching it. It was tails. The girl looked to the bathroom door, feeling slightly guilty about what she'd done to her partner before. She flipped the coin again, only this time she reached out with her Aura, feeling it as it fell.

She grabbed it quickly. Tails.

As she waited patiently for Ren to get out of the shower so she could take her own, Pyrrha continued to flip the coin. It would seem miraculous to anyone but herself that she managed to get tails thirty six times in a row, before she made a mistake and accidentally left it heads.

Well, you can't win them all.

The girl grinned to herself at the thought, and then shot that down immediately. She looked at Blake and Jaune, the two of them distracting themselves.

Pyrrha floated the coin above her hand, spinning it in place. She frowned. When she'd fought that Ruby girl in class earlier, she'd come close on more than one occasion. It was actually impressive, forcing Pyrrha to use her semblance so much in a fight – even if all she did was manipulate the girl's scythe a little.

The annoyance had been clear enough to see on her opponent's face. The girl let her hair down as the coin continued to spin, picking up speed.

Is my semblance really cheating?

The sound of a door opening startled Pyrrha, and she dropped the coin. It landed right in the palm of her hand, and she looked up at Ren, the boy wrapped in naught but a towel.

Ren didn't say anything as he entered the room. Had he seen? If he did, Pyrrha hoped that he'd only have seen the coin falling. Ren showed no indication of having caught her in the act however, simply meeting her eyes and nodding his head back in the direction of the bathroom.

Pyrrha called out a quiet "Thank you", and put the coin on her nightstand. She stood up shortly after, grabbing a fluffy cotton bathrobe and heading into the adjoined room.

The girl stepped in front of the mirror, wiping it down as the steam had left it foggy. She smiled at her reflection, before brushing her hair out a bit. Once she was satisfied, she turned on the shower, and stripped as it warmed back up.

Pyrrha looked at the drain and hummed. She turned back to the bathroom door, opening it just enough so that she could stick her head out. Ren looked at her curiously.

"I'm going to have a bath instead." Pyrrha mentioned. She looked over to Blake, who nodded – even though it could have just been her nodding along to something in her book.

Jaune didn't seem to hear her.

"I'll let him know, don't worry." Ren called out.

"Thanks." Pyrrha smiled, getting a nod and a smile in return.

Ren was nice. There was more to it than that, obviously, but if Pyrrha had to pick one word to describe him, that would be it. He was quiet, respectful, intelligent... A good partner. At least, as far as she could tell.

As Pyrrha closed the drain, she began to think more about the others, as well. Blake spent a lot of time in her books, but she'd proven to be a good conversationalist when the topic interested her. Thing being, Pyrrha didn't exactly know what kind of topics did interest the black haired girl. She supposed she could always talk about books – that particular topic being the one that Pyrrha knew Blake had an interest in – but not really being one for leisurely reading herself, Pyrrha didn't think that would last very long.

Maybe she could just ask her for recommendations or something then? Hopefully nothing too heavy.

Her team's leader, on the other hand... Pyrrha liked him. He seemed very genuine. Like, an all-around good guy. Much like with her other teammates, however, she only had a day and a half or so to go on. But from the day and a half she'd known Jaune, he certainly seemed okay.

For some reason, what Blake had said about him acting fine when he seemed ill stuck out in her head. She could understand the motivation, in a way, but it still seemed odd to her.

The champion dipped a foot in the hot water, turning off the tap. She climbed in the tub and slid into it until the water reached her chin. She let out a long breath, and leaned back against the lip of the tub.

Oh well.

Jaune glanced down at his scroll, taking note of the time. He sighed and scratched at the back of his neck, shivering as a stiff breeze hit him.

Well, I suppose it's time.

The boy grabbed his hoodie off his bedpost, and pulled it over his head, Pumpkin Pete proudly displayed on the front. Just looking down at the cereal mascot brought to mind the image of a cute looking Grimm emblazoned on a pair of white panties.

Jaune shook his head vehemently. That was what he had to think of right now? No! It wasn't the time.

"Going somewhere?"

"Uh..." Jaune turned to Ren, actually forgetting he hadn't been alone in the room. The other male member of his team was seated cross-legged on his bed, dressed in his pajamas. "Yeah, going to head out for a walk. Clear my head."

"Fine by me." Ren nodded. Jaune slipped into his shoes and made his way over to the door.

Shit, would he even come back to this room?

The blond looked over to Ren, the boy's eyes closed. What was he doing? Jaune turned to Blake next, the girl still reading. As she usually did.

If he was leaving – for good – should he say something?

Nah, screw it.

"Oh, Jaune?" Ren called out as the he opened the door. The blond turned back to his teammate, the boy still sitting there with his eyes closed. "If you're not feeling better, you should probably head to the infirmary and get some medicine."

The blond scrunched his face in confusion. "Okay...?"

Ren nodded, and Jaune exited the room, closing the door behind him.

That was weird. So... the rooftop, then.

Jaune stood at the bottom of the stairs headed to the upper floors. The blond's feet were heavy, and he looked to the set of stairs headed to the ground floor instead. Maybe he should go for that walk instead? He sighed, clenching his hands into fists. No, this wasn't something he could avoid. He took the first step up the stairs, and then the next.

It felt like he was climbing up the execution platform.

Realistically, he knew the absolute worst that could happen: She would report him, no questions asked. But, if she'd wanted to do that, she could have done it already.

The alternative? Blackmail. It wasn't something he'd considered at first, but it was a very real possibility. She'd hold it over him, and have him do whatever she wanted.

Was his sister the type to resort to blackmail? Hell no, there's no way on the three continents that she'd do that. But there was a chance; he hadn't seen her for a year, after all. Who knew how she could have changed.

Finally, after what honestly felt like the thousandth step, he was at the rooftop access. He took a deep breath in through his nose. Trying to calm himself.

He pushed the push bar, and the door unlatched. Jaune swung it open, careful not to make a sound.

There she stood, her silhouette framed by the full moon – there was no way she hadn't planned that. Even if he hadn't been expecting to meet her here on the roof, the moment he saw her, he'd know it was her. Jaune stepped out on the roof.

His sister stood there with her arms crossed defiantly, her head tilted forward so her bangs covered her eyes. She didn't say anything as Jaune approached.

The boy felt nervous. Hell, he almost felt naked as he walked across the roof. A breeze whipped its way past him, and he shivered. His sister stood there, either unaffected or uncaring.

She looked up at him. "So... you've come..."

Jaune swallowed the lump in his throat. "Hey sis..."

It had been weird seeing her in Beacon's uniform, back in the hall, but whatever the hell she was wearing now... it suited her. "Did you miss me?"

The question came as quite the surprise to Jaune. "Couldn't you have just asked me back in the hallway, when you ambushed me?"

She snorted in amusement, before she stepped forward. "Oh, come on, that was kind of fun, right?"

Jaune almost reflexively took a step back, but stood his ground as she approached him. "Fun?"

The blond didn't get an answer. His sister didn't speak again until she was just a couple feet before him.

She snickered. "I'm still taller than you."

Jaune could almost feel the tension leave his body as she said that, looking down into her eyes.

"Your ears don't count."

The girl took two quick steps forward, and in a surprising move, wrapped her arms around him.

"I've missed you."

Jaune smiled. "I've missed you too Velv."