Chapter 2 - Behold
Jaune met his first morning as a student, habitually honing his movement under the supervision of a slowly rising sun, in a place already looked after yesterday. Whatever lay ahead today, he was ready to approach it with style.
Was it a problem that by leaving so early, he could wake up someone from the team?
For him, no. He didn't care about the opinions of others.
Style doesn't fit, fits style.
...
For the sake of natural form and preparation for possible tournaments, Pyrrha has trained herself to get up very early. And so the sudden awakening from the sound of water was unexpected for her. For a couple of minutes she struggled with the desire to continue lying, but nevertheless she got up and blew her eyes sleepily, meeting the eyes of Jaune, who had just left the bathroom. As one might expect, no: "Good morning" or "Sorry to wake you up," she did not wait, and therefore she sighed softly and began to rise from the bed. Judging by the stirring, on the beds, Jaune woke up not only her, but Blake simply pulled the pillow over her head, continuing to cling to her son, and Weiss, feeling for the scroll, muttered something quietly, Pyrrha was ready to bet on what these were insults in the direction of their leader, and turning over on the other side, to suppress the rest of the sleep.
In general, he is supported by a spartan life, a minimum of things for personal life, even a suitcase is not typed.
Why is he staring at the wooden chair for so long?
Although, this is one of his oddities.
Well, at least, you should not think about the order of visiting the bathroom.
"Good morning," she said softly. Just because Jaune lacked tact didn't mean Pyrrha had to imitate him.
Jaune didn't answer, but at least turned his head in her direction. Progress, however.
- I see you're an early bird? - Pyrrha asked with a somewhat strained smile, getting up from the bed, - did you train? - not hoping for an answer, she continued her attempts to establish communication.
"Yes," Jaune answered curtly, igniting a spark of interest in Pyrrha. And not only because, for some reason, he bothered to answer this question, but also what exactly he did in such training. A peculiar form of expression of the spirit of rivalry - if you will. And although, as a person, Jaune was extremely ... controversial, but Pyrrha could not help but respect his efforts.
And to be honest, she would not mind testing her skills in a duel.
Jaune was skillful, which he clearly demonstrated during the battle, if a one-hit kill can even be considered a battle, with a nevermore and estimating her chances, Pyrrha could only say with confidence that the battle would not be easy.
Perhaps he will even be able to finally take away this oppressive title of "invincible" from her ... but there was one thing, but.
Of all the people, the last thing she wanted to give up this title was Jaune. It was a little haughty of her, Pyrrha could admit it. But did it matter if it was about a man who even seemed to be breathing haughtily?
She did not know the answer to this question.
But what she knew for sure was that she finally had the motivation to become stronger. No matter how absurd the reasons may sound.
...
The students had just begun to slowly fill the dining room when the four of them had almost finished their meal. The workers were probably extremely surprised to find the first-year students arriving so early, but they did not ask questions. Blake wearily chewed on her tuna sandwich, idly thinking about her first day at Beacon as a student. At the same time, adding one point in the comparison of partners, and this time Jaune lost the comparison: Adam also sometimes made her wake up early, but this happened either in the event of a sudden attack - and then it was no longer a matter of indignation, or notifying her in advance, allowing her to sleep off before that. And neither the light nor the dawn raised, not even trying to move quieter - unlike the others, she woke up even earlier, at the moment when he was just going to training, no matter what it was.
Blake squinted at Jaune, seated to his right, sipping his tea. The posture was so perfect that even Schnee, trained from childhood, could not find fault with it. But to the cloak that framed this posture, she was no longer so condescending. The screams were still in my ears:
- You are the leader! You can't break Beacon's rules by wearing a cloak instead of your issued uniform! Weiss was indignant, trying to call Jaune to account. Having come across, on, so-and-so expected reaction:
"You are not a leader," Jaune said indifferently, without even thinking about taking off his cloak, "you can't order me," after which he turned around and went out the door.
On the way to the dining room, they of course caught up with him, which was not difficult given that he was still maintaining a leisurely pace of walking. Weiss even hissed under her breath that Jaune got up so early, precisely because that was the only way he would have made it to the dining room.
And despite the fact that she agreed with most of the claims and tried her best to let go of her past in the White Fang, Blake could not deny that seeing Schnee enraged was extremely funny.
- Isn't it busy here? - Yang asked unceremoniously, sitting down next to them without waiting for an answer. The remaining members of the team immediately followed her, only slightly glancing at Jaune before that.
"I see you didn't have any trouble waking up," she continued, "because we almost slept through our first day as students if Ren hadn't woken us up."
- Yes, you can always rely on Rennie! - The girl sitting next to the named confirmed loudly, before stuffing several pancakes into her mouth. If Blake remembered correctly, her name was Nora.
"Yes, we are just a wonderful team," Ruby muttered somewhat embarrassedly, who, by the way, also violated the school rules with her outfit, "how are you doing?"
Silence descended on their table, which after a couple of seconds was broken by the sound of a cup placed on a tray - Jaune finally finished his tea and immediately got up from the table and walked away.
"Are we supposed to answer this question at all?" Weiss muttered with a sigh, looking at the back of the retreating team leader.
"Well, on the other hand," Pyrrha continued, "other than a little misunderstanding…
- You mean small? - Yang interrupted her, - "he's almost two meters tall," - smirking at the end, she gave Nora a "five".
"Apart from a slight misunderstanding," Pyrrha continued with a smile from the corner of her lips, "we have complete mutual understanding.
"Hatred unites," Schnee summed up.
...
Only ignorance could be called ignoring the opportunities that presented themselves on the path, no matter what they were.
Sitting straight at his desk, Jaune was waiting for the first lecture on the subject: "The Study of Grimms." The students who entered the auditorium kept looking sideways in his direction, not worthy of reacting to them. Soon his team also appeared, after a short delay, taking places near him. Soon, the professor appeared in the audience, immediately reducing his value with just one appearance.
"Monsters, monsters—Grimms have many names. But I… call them prey." He chose such words as an introduction, and the longer Jaune listened, the more clearly he realized that this activity still carried some benefit.
As an example of what not to do.
Exactly ten minutes after the start of the lesson, Jaune got up from his seat, which immediately attracted everyone's attention to himself.
- What are you doing?! - Hissed a short girl from his team, staring at him. But as usual, Jaune ignored her and everyone else, slowly walking towards the exit.
"Did something happen, my boy?" Do you need to go out? after a couple of seconds, the teacher finally asked, apparently too immersed in his stories to notice before.
This subject is not of interest to me.
"Yes, you're just, probably, rushing into battle - that's for me," the professor nodded, interpreting his words in his own way, "well, we also have a practical part of the lesson - the good old fight with makeup. And trust me it will be interesting.
"There isn't enough room here for this to be interesting," Jaune said flatly, without turning around as he walked out the door.
It was not a mistake to come to this class. It would be a mistake to stay.
...
It was clear from just one look of Weiss that she was simply furious. Fists are clenched to whitened knuckles, between inhalation and exhalation there is a break of exactly ten seconds. Students who walked past them down the corridor preferred to tone down their conversation, or even become completely silent and not linger near them for a long time.
Finally calming down a little, she said clearly:
"We should go apologize to the teacher for this… this…" deep breath, "for our leader." And Pyrrha certainly wasn't about to argue with her. And not only because of the possible reaction of a petite girl.
Yes, maybe Professor Port's subject turned out to be a little different from what she imagined, and the lectures were more like tales from her youth, but so impudently ignore the work he had done? It was beyond her understanding.
Blake just nodded briefly and, after waiting for the rest of the students to leave the classroom,
they went inside.
The professor did not look surprised, only gesturing for them to follow him into the back room.
"Sit down, at your feet," he smiled at a joke that was understandable to him alone, "there is no truth." And what brings you three to me? Do you really like the subject so much that you want additional classes?
"We've come to apologize for our leader," Weiss said before the conversation veered off into a completely different direction.
"As far as I understand, that's exactly what he should apologize for, you don't need to do this," the professor chuckled, "although, given his words, I don't think that I will ever cross paths with him in this office.
"We are very sorry that his behavior offends you and casts a shadow on our team," Weiss continued.
- And something tells me that the second upsets you much more? he asked with a smile, and before Weiss could begin to deny and make excuses, he continued, "don't worry, I understand your displeasure and foreshadowing your question, no, I don't know for what reason Ozpin chose him as leader.
"But either one of us would have been a better fit!" Weiss couldn't stand it, and immediately blurted out, "I beg your pardon.
"Perhaps you are right," Port agreed, "but having known Ozpin for many years now, I am inclined to trust him in such matters." I can only assume that he did so in order not to split the team into two parts.
- Sorry?
"Let's imagine for a second," he began, "that it was you who was appointed the leader. As a leader, you will have to issue commands, and given what you have already demonstrated, what do you think Mr. Arc will do if even one order is not to his liking?
"He… will stop listening to me altogether," Weiss admitted ruefully.
- Most likely, - the professor nodded, - and in the end we will have a team of three people and a team of one. At the same time, while Mr. Arc remains the leader, he ... bears some kind of responsibility for the integrity of the team. So I would like to say. But how he actually behaves, only time will tell.
"Thanks for the clarification," Weiss said politely, but it wasn't hard to guess that she wasn't satisfied with that answer.
- Always happy to help students. If anything, my doors are always open for you.
They probably left the office a little faster than necessary.
...
In the history class, Weiss was a living definition of phraseology "like on pins and needles", trying both to keep track of the lecture and look at their leader, who didn't even turn her head at all her claims about the inadmissibility of such behavior, and furtively glance at her watch. The closer she got to the ten-minute mark, the more nervous she became.
And when the second hand, finally, for the tenth time was opposite the number twelve ... a miracle did not happen.
Jaune Arc rose from his seat in the same way and slowly walked out of the auditorium, once again gathering the gaze of all those present. By this point, it could already be considered the standard.
Dr. Oubleck, who was different from his colleague, noticed the student's unusual behavior immediately:
"Something wrong, Mr. Arc?" he asked politely.
— I'm not interested in the subjective representation of history.
— What are you. For my lectures, I try to leave only clear facts. Of course, I won't mind if you do some in-depth research on the topic of the session and perhaps get to the bottom of previously unknown facts. Since you're leaving the auditorium so early, I assume you'll have enough time to give a 2,000-word presentation?
"Assume," Jaune said indifferently, looking past the teacher.
- Why did you even have to enter our academy, since you have been ignoring classes from the very first days?
"I ignore everything that is not worth my time," Weiss choked on air at these words.
- And what, you are not afraid of deductions? - Ublek tried to intimidate the student.
"To move on, you need to score a passing score either in theory or in practice," Jaune said, walking past the Doctor without even turning his head.
"I see you did read the rules," he nodded, "and I see you don't take confidence.
"I just know what I'm capable of," Jaune said before the door closed behind him.
...
Rumors spread like wildfire. Sitting in the dining room, Pyrrha constantly felt numerous glances cast on her, as it seemed to them "stealthily". Over the years, she had become accustomed to such attention, but Ruby, who was sitting next to her, was very uncomfortable, and she constantly tried to wrap herself in a raincoat more and more tightly. Yang put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, shifting her gaze to the culprit of such a situation. Jaune Arc absolutely indifferently, leisurely absorbed food, apparently considering it below his dignity to somehow react to what was happening.
They did not sit down - since such an action certainly indicated a split in the team. The very next day after its creation, yes. By tacit agreement, they decided that this would be equated with Jaune's victory and were not going to give up so easily.
"It would be more like combat training already," Yang spoke, most likely just to dilute the atmosphere, "I can't wait for the opportunity to fight someone," none of the six escaped Yang's nervous glance, thrown towards Jaune.
"Yes, it would be nice to have the opportunity to demonstrate the level of our skills," Weiss supported her, glancing slightly, but now at Nora, who had such an opportunity when destroying the barbotaska in Professor Port's lesson, which went somewhat chaotically after leaving.
- Let's break their legs! - Nora herself put in her thoughts.
"I'm afraid such an excessive display of power is not welcome," Ren said calmly. And unlike Jaune, he really was JUST CALM. Looking at Nora, one could quite easily understand the reason for this.
- Ai! A cry of pain came from behind them, drawing everyone's attention. And so strained smiles instantly evaporated when looking at the opened picture, - Please stop! I'm in pain!
"I told you they were real," came the scornful voice of another freshman. His name was Cardin Winchester - Pyrrha remembered this because the announcement of his team was immediately after them - warm even. Well, ugly! Standing in a semicircle next to him, his teammates laughed.
"It shouldn't be like this," Pyrrha said, and looking around the dining room, she continued, "and the worst thing is that the rest of us don't see anything wrong with this situation.
"Alas," Blake said, with some irritation in her voice, "it was repeated so often that both people and fauns were already used to this order of things.
"You can't just let him get away with this," Yang slammed her fist on the table, "we have to stop him."
"We intervene and make the situation only worse," Blake explained, "people like him don't let the victim go so easily - bullying will not go anywhere. We will stand up for her once, maybe twice, and the third time we will simply not be around.
"Maybe you're right," Yang shook her head, "but I'm not going to just sit back and watch this bullying. They are disgusting in themselves, and it is disgusting that no one wants to stand up for her. And who knows, maybe it will come to him the first time, if you embed it properly. And if not, - she cracked her joints, - from the second it will definitely come.
- Why do you think it is necessary to intervene in what is happening? - Jaune asked as he set aside his cup of tea. He surprised all seven of them a lot, because he did not utter a word from the entrance to the dining room, but immediately entered into a discussion.
"Apart from the fact that it's just disgusting?" We are hunters - we can't just sit back and watch this happen!
"She's a hunter, too," he continued without changing his tone, "although given what's going on, she should be kicked out.
- What?! What are you even wearing?!
"She can't even protect herself—how is she supposed to protect others? – Jaune didn't even raise an eyebrow, – if she doesn't have the motivation to become stronger, she is no better than garbage and deserves such an attitude.
"She may be weak," Ruby said softly, "but I'm sure she's a good person and will help others in any way she can." You can't just turn your back on her!
"She was the first to turn her back on herself," Jaune said, looking her straight in the eyes. It is unknown what Ruby saw there, but it made her lean back and shrink. Jaune himself, calmly and unhurriedly, got up from the table and went to the exit.
"What a bastard you are," Yang muttered, comforting Ruby.
Jaune didn't turn around.
...
Here comes the third session. And Jaune's first opportunity to show his style against the man. And yet there was no room for doubt in his mind. The path he followed did not involve defeat. Having already changed his clothes, he slowly approached the platform under everyone's gaze.
"You certainly act like the coolest of all, with all that slow walking," his opponent said with a sneer, who, by chance, turned out to be the same one who caused a stir in the dining room. Surprisingly complete. Either Jaune's speech was enough to dissuade them from intervening, or they just didn't have time. Or they were so weak - but I know that you walked here so slowly only because you were afraid to meet me in battle. Apparently, you are smart enough to understand your chances.
Jaune didn't react at all. One of the laws of style: if a dog barks at you, you don't lower yourself to barking in response.
"Since everyone has finally reached the platform," Glinda Goodwich interrupted the second portion of insults, which had not had time to begin, looking intently in his direction, "The battle will last until the aura of one of you is in the red zone or you find yourself outside the outlined ring. It is forbidden to continue the battle after this, and you will be punished if you ignore this rule. We started.
Jaune didn't budge and didn't take his blade out of its scabbard, still squeezing it calmly in his left hand.
— What, already gave up? A wise decision. If you continue to stand still like this, I will finish everything quickly! his opponent yelled before charging towards him, preparing to finish everything with one blow.
The mace began its move, about to crush Jaune.
Behold the style.
With a flick of his hand, Jaune parried the attack with his scabbard, once again ignoring the laws of physics. With a second movement, he slammed the hilt of his sword, which never left its sheath, into the center of his opponent's chest.
He flew out of the ring and ended up crashing into a wall.
The fight was over.
"The winner is Jaune Arc," Glinda Goodwich announced somewhat dumbfounded. And when Jaune walked away from the platform, she added, "Mr. Ark, do not leave at will, I have something to tell you."
"If I make mistakes, I will notice them first," Jaune said without even turning around. The sound of a falling body echoed through the auditorium as his opponent chose that moment to slide down the wall, sprawling on the floor.
And Jaune did not seem after the battle with nevermore. Now he, too, heard the sound of a guitar riff. True, it was much quieter and shorter. And, however, it was quite natural, given how weak his opponent turned out to be.
...
In this battle, Yang did not root for anyone. Yes, if you think about it, Cardin was still worse, but she could not force herself to root for Jaune after what had happened. Judging by the looks of the others, she was not alone in this.
A small wave of chuckles went through the hall as Cardin spoke. Jaune's behavior and slowness could indeed seem funny. But when Cardin flew off into the wall, everyone was sharply not laughing.
Damn it, Jaune. A decent dent remained on Cardin's armor, it is possible that several ribs were broken. Not to mention that Jaune had slammed him into the wall so hard that he was knocked unconscious and now Miss Goodwich was self-manifesting him into the infirmary. And all this despite the aura.
Yang felt her mouth go dry. She hadn't been this afraid in a long time. Not for myself, but for Ruby. Today's battles were between captains, and what if it was Ruby who got to fight that bastard? Cardin weighed a lot more and still slammed into the wall with ease, so what would happen to Ruby if she got hit? Jaune didn't look like someone who would hold back.
Involuntarily, she pulled her sister close to her.
— Yang?
"For today, the fights are already over for sure, so these are your hugs to the winner," Yang got out. Luckily, her voice didn't waver.
...
- It's just terrible, - Glinda crucified in the teacher's room, - we have not had such a student since ... yes, we have never had such a student!
"To manage to excel three times in one day, and even the first one, in three different subjects," Ublek shook his head, "is really a unique case.
"And what did the kid impress you with, Glinda?" Port asked with a smile.
— I had to repair the wall into which Mr. Arc sent his opponent. He's got four broken ribs and a concussion from just hitting the wall. For one hit.
"Ahem, yes," the smile faded on his face, "and what are you planning to do, because apparently he will only attend your classes.
- There were already strong first-year students who did not know their place. So let's do it as usual - he won't be able to handle a sophomore so easily. And since Mr. Arc's weapon doesn't appear to have a ranged mode, I have one candidate in mind. No matter how strong he is, all his strength will be useless if he cannot simply approach the enemy. And then we'll see who notices the mistakes first.
...
Koko jerked violently on the bed, nearly dropping the book she was reading.
- What happened? Velvet asked, looking at her leader in surprise.
"I have a feeling that I just signed up for something extremely dubious. And yet, - she thought for a moment, - am I not going crazy? Did you also hear how the music began to play and then the music stopped?
...
After the martial class, they all returned silently to the room. But Jaune hung in the doorway for a couple of seconds, and then, in the same even tone, he said:
- No good anywhere - and, turning around, went somewhere.
Pyrrha exchanged glances with Weiss and Blake, after which they shrugged at the same time as they began to change.
About an hour and a half later, the door opened again. Surprised glances crossed at Jaune, who carried a sword in one hand and an ordinary plastic chair in the other.
Without saying anything, he reached one of the wooden chairs, after which ... he cut it in half and threw it through the window, putting a plastic chair in the place where it stood and sat on it.
"Yeah, that's definitely much better," Jaune said, nodding to himself.
They didn't have an answer.
Everyone stared at Jaune and stared at him for a long time.
Once again, his action defies the logic of ordinary people.
