I wanted to make a shorter chapter. Send help.
Anyway, thanks so much to everyone who voted. Apparently I'm an idiot who doesn't understand how polls work, but it came together in the end. My plan was to have you pick 3 people, and then I'd pick a 4th, but we had 4 different characters with 2 votes each (besides Ruby who got 3). Also turns out the person I wanted was among the most voted, so now you'll never know which one it was.
Writing this was a new experience. I'm still trying to figure out the best way to play it, so maybe next time it will be different. Don't forget to review ;)
Chapter 1.2 - The Calm Before the Despair
DING DONG DING DONG
"Gooood morning, everyone! It is now 8 am. Time to get up and face another day."
Like clockwork, Jaune got up and went to the shower. Against all odds, living in that strange academy had already become somewhat normal, even if it was only their fourth day inside. Perhaps having a routine to follow was a way to appease their minds, and sharing meals as a class helped strengthen the bonds between them, as well as ensure no one had fallen victim of that twisted game yet. Not that he felt worried in the slightest - they were strong together, and Monokuma's threats couldn't reach them.
After getting dressed, he exited the room and made his way to the cafeteria, where he knew some of the others were already waiting. The breakfast table was filled with food as usual, just like it had been every morning until then. Even if the blond boy would have been content with whatever was in the school's industrial-sized fridge, as he guessed most other pupils would too, Lie Ren insisted on waking up every morning to prepare the juiciest and most healthy meals imaginable. Honestly, he didn't understand how or why the cook had it in himself to be so dedicated to the exercising of his talent, but he chalked it up as something an untalented person like him would never comprehend, and accepted the fact with gratefulness.
He sat down, greeting the ones who had arrived before him, and grabbed a piece of toast, spreading some strange paste on it, that he knew nothing of except that it was delicious.
"So, how was your bath yesterday?"
Since the sauna could not be shared by decree of the headmaster, the girls had taken the space for themselves on the previous day, in order to enjoy a lengthy and relaxing bath. He would never admit it, but the topic of peeking on them had come up in between the four male students, although the idea went no further than hypothetical discussion.
"It was real nice; you guys need to try it out. The steam eases the tension on your muscles, like mmmmmhhhm." Yang, who was there uncharacteristically early, moaned with pleasure just recalling those blissful memories.
"Are you talking about the sauna, or masturbation?" Nora did not let that one go unpunished, but instead of clarifying it the blonde made a coy smile, putting a chuckle in both of their mouths.
"I wish Penny had joined us, though." Pyrrha made a worried expression.
"She didn't go? I thought it was the girls' afternoon out."
"She said she would rather stay in her room. It's not like we could force her to come along..." Ruby sounded just as disappointed, a feeling he could relate to. Their strength depended on unity, and despite the considerable strides the ginger had made, she was still somewhat avoidant.
"Speaking of which, hey Penny!" Velvet welcomed the girl with the flash of her camera, and gestured energetically with the other hand.
The mystery girl waved timidly, and sat down next to Jaune, earning her a smile in return. Out of all the class members, she appeared the most comfortable near him and Pyrrha, since they had been to ones to show her the most concern and kindness. She poured herself a cup of water, and quietly observed the others from behind the protection of the glass. He wondered again why she never ate, but since she didn't appear to be sickly, he postponed the issue once more.
Neo walked in with Sun, and they appeared to be having some form of conversation despite the language barriers. They sat down and kept at it, to the bewilderment of the pupils present beforehand.
Coco was next to come in, taking a seat between Penny and Yatsu. "I love your dress, darling. It's so… rustic. Did you sew it yourself?"
Penny nodded vigorously with a gratified smile on her lips, and the two chatted about clothing. He and Pyrrha traded a proud glance, like two parents happy about the growth of their child.
Emerald was the last to show up.
"Hey, uh… I ran into Blake, she said she's not feeling so well, so she's not coming."
"I bet she's planning something." Weiss blurted out her usual slander, but no one paid her any mind.
"Should someone check up on her? Bring her some tea or something?"
"I'll go." Velvet volunteered, no doubt eager to snap some photos of the inside of someone else's room, maybe even capture some less than decent stuff.
The class bantered for a bit, lingering about for lack of a better activity in sight. After leaving, Jaune found himself staring at the empty walls of his room. Without actually having classes, he was benefiting from plenty of spare time, more than he knew what to do with. There was only so much entertainment to be found with one's self, and being left to his own thoughts was the last thing he wanted, so he left his room and before he knew it he was ringing the bell to Pyrrha's. It had been a heat of the moment decision, and he immediately regretted doing it, but running now would've been childish. He breathed in deeply, and embraced the consequences of his actions.
The door clicked, and the redheaded girl appeared through the wide opening. She had a golden t-shirt and red shorts, looking quite casual.
"Hello, Jaune. Did you need something?"
"No, I just had some free time, and I thought… you and I…" Ugh, why did it feel like he was asking her out? He hadn't prepared for this level of anxiety, stumbling over his words like the idiot he was.
"Well, I was just about to head over to the laundry room. Do you want to join me?" She smiled at his blatant incompetence. At least it was funny for one of them.
He nodded, and she disappeared for a few seconds, leaving him in that unknowingly state of whether or not he was supposed to go in. When he was still trying to make up his mind, she came out again with a blue plastic basket full of clothes, and closed the door behind her.
Together, they went inside the laundry, a long but not wide room with white tiled surfaces. The front wall was lined with washing and drying machines, a disciplined battalion staring at him, judging him for still not having learned how to operate them. This would be his opportunity to observe someone who did, maybe he'd learn what living with his family had failed to teach him. The back wall had ironing boards – those he knew how to work, but he rarely actually used them. Maybe he should, if he wanted to fit in with the elite he had been forced to live with, but those were considerations for another day. At the center was a table with some magazines, and chairs around it.
"You still haven't asked me what my talent is." Pyrrha Nikos dropped her basket on the floor, and began loading the clothes into the machines, separating them by color to make sure nothing was ruined, her back turned to him.
"I… think I'd rather not know." He couldn't see her face, but, somehow, he knew she was frowning at that confession.
"You're still doing it, aren't you? Insisting on the foolish idea that you are less than the rest of us." She finished the task, closing the machine, before pouring the detergent and pressing some buttons. Then she went up to the table, and sat down on top of it.
He picked up one of the magazines, and saw Weiss Schnee on the cover, being praised for her singing prowess. He felt her eyes on him, but he couldn't face them. There was nothing he could say, she knew the truth too well.
"Have you ever thought that maybe we don't want to have these talents?"
"What?"
"None of us were born that way. We were made to train, to practice, pushed on some path since we were young. It became such a part of who we are that we can no longer do anything else. In a way, I rather envy you. You can do whatever you want with your life… while I'm destined to something I didn't choose."
"I never thought of it that way."
"Don't get me wrong, I love what I do, but… it's all everyone ever sees in me. Pyrrha Nikos, the undefeated. Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to be a normal high school girl." In that moment of seriousness, her face was a complete mystery, graced with a sad smile that didn't quite match the depth of her words. "Sorry, I didn't mean to drop all of this on you."
"No, it's okay. That actually makes me feel better… Does that mean I'm a bad person?" He sat down next to her, pondering on all he had just been told.
She giggled. "Of course not, Jaune. You're a great person."
"We've only met four days ago, you don't know me!" He faked indignation, making her laugh even harder. After seeing what she looked like when saddened, he didn't want to see her smile fade ever again.
The redhead leaned her head on his shoulder, and it took all his self-control not to yelp at the sudden contact. She was warm, a strange new presence so close to him, making his cheeks burn with sudden heat. Then, there was a ringing sound, and it was over.
Pyrrha jumped out of the seat, and kneeled in front of the machine, taking out her clothes back into the basket. Moving to the drying machine, she pushed them into it, and pressed the respective buttons, once again too fast for him to actually register anything – if he wanted to learn he would need to ask. She didn't return to the previous position, instead leaning on the rumbling machine.
"You still need to train your social skills, though. Don't think I forgot about that." She had an amused smirk, but the promise of more training made his blood curl.
"Who are you going to make me talk to this time?" He made his best puppy eyes, but it was not very effective.
"Hmm… How about Ruby? Yang's mentioned wanting to get her out of her shell, so maybe you two could practice together."
He sighed, thinking how much he'd rather just close himself in his room and play video games. Too bad Monokuma hadn't included those in their luxury stay.
"By the way, you might want to behave around her. You wouldn't want to anger the Ultimate Boxer." For some reason, he felt like the warning in her words wasn't merely about Yang's wrath, but he vowed never to discover why that was. He had enough drama is his life already.
The drying machine finished its job – the apparatus inside that room was probably top quality, considering how fast it worked, prompting the girl to pick everything up again. This time, she placed the basket on top of the table, and began getting each piece of clothing out, and folding it. He was observing her do it, struggling to come up with something to say, when he realized she was nonchalantly folding her undergarments in plain view. His face turned bright red, and he looked away embarrassedly.
He never figured out if she was purposefully torturing him or not, but after the work was done, they headed out. Just before her door she fumbled with opening the door, while he held the basket.
"Thanks, Jaune. We should do this again sometime." She giggled and went inside, leaving him frozen in the middle of the hall. The Lucky Student still didn't quite understand her motivations, but he felt like they had grown somewhat closer, and that was enough for him.
After lunch, the blond boy left the cafeteria in a hurry, trying to catch up to Ruby. He found her in the red hall with all the room doors, and mentally prepared himself for another round of socializing.
"Hey, Ruby!" He called out for her, and she stopped walking and turned her head. "Are you busy? I was wondering if you'd want to do something together."
She titled her head to the side, signaling confusion. "You mean like a date?"
"No, that's not what I..."
"My sister says I'm too young to date." Was she doing this on purpose? Had Pyrrha put her up to this just to make his life hell?
"I'm not asking y..."
"What are you waiting for? Come on!" She grabbed his hand and took off running. Jaune tried his best to keep up and not be left behind, but the girl was impressively quick on her feet.
He only half-registered what was happening, and it wasn't long before they crashed into a door. He fell on the floor, and she fell with him, letting go of his hand. His shoulder hit one of the tables, causing a spike of pain coursing through him. When he tried to get up, he saw a hand stretched out to him.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, fine." He accepted the help, noticing where the two of them had ended up. "Why are we at the AV Room?"
"I thought we could watch a movie. That's a thing people do on dates, right?"
"I thought your sister didn't let you go on dates..."
'Pfffffft, Yang's not the boss of me!" He had to remind himself that she was only fourteen, which would help explain the peculiar behavior.
"Never mind that, this is not a date."
"Awww, then you aren't going to lean over in the middle of the movie, whisper something romantic in my ear and then kiss me? I always wondered what all the fuss was about." She pouted, a little too cutely for his own good.
"What? Where did you even get all those ideas?"
She shrugged. "Books."
"Dear Oum, woman, what kind of books have you been reading?" His bewilderment towards the way she was acting knew no bounds.
"All kinds. My favorites are stories of knights fighting to save the world from an evil monster. They are just so thrilling and inspiring, I'd like to go on a world-changing mission one day."
He failed to come up with an answer, barely able to follow her reasoning.
"I'm boring you, aren't I? I should stop talking, I'm ruining our date."
What did I do to deserve this?
"Ruby, settle down. You're not ruining anything and you're not boring me. Also, still not a date." He placed a hand on her shoulder, forcing her to stop pacing around.
"Sorry, I'm just... not very good with people."
"Neither am I, so don't worry. We can practice together." He smiled at her, wondering how on earth he had manage to get in a situation where had to act like the calm and collected adult. Luckily, she seemed to react well to his bluff, sporting a smile of her own.
"Why don't you start by telling me something about yourself?"
"Like what?"
"Like, I don't know, what did you do to get the title of Ultimate Sharpshooter?"
"I shot really well at long distances, not much to tell there.'
"But how did you get into it? Can't say it's a very common occupation." It was true, even amidst all the peculiar little roster of talents their class possessed, hers had to be one of the most unexpected.
"Our uncle used to take me to a shooting range when I was a kid." Aren't you still a kid? "His work involved a lot of weapons so he went there a lot. I guess I just picked up a thing or two there."
"Huh..." He couldn't stop imagining a 10-year-old girl clumsily trying to hold a sniper rifle twice her size. Sounded like something out of a wacky anime.
"Plus, I see really well! Spotting through scopes and binoculars trains your eyes to see really far. It's pretty cool." Now she was just bragging, but he allowed her to. He had no doubt that if he possessed a talent he would want to brag about it as well.
"Now it's your turn to say something about yourself."
"Oh, I... Well, I have six sisters back home."
"Really? What's it like?"
"Loud and crowded. And braids, dear Oum, so many braids... My poor little hair." Ruby burst out laughing at his misery, but he didn't mind. Despite it all, he was having fun.
"I bet you'd look great with braids."
'Don't get any ideas, shorty."
"That's not fair, I'm normal size for my age! It's my fault you're all old as heck!"
As it turned out they were very good at teasing each other, so that went on for a while. Ruby was more mature than her age would indicate, but on the other hand Jaune could be quite childish, so in a way they were on equal standing.
The two browsed through the cinematic options available, but Monokuma's taste was questionable at best, so they ended up empty-handed. For lack of a better alternative, he asked her to show off her distance spotting skills, and was seriously impressed at the level of detail she could gather. He had a good time, and from what he could tell so did she, but as the time flew by, the moment to part ways inevitably came.
"Thanks, Jaune. This was a really fun not-date." She pecked him on the cheek, requiring to get on her tip toes for it, and then walked away.
He watched her go, weighing in the experience he had gained that afternoon. Ruby was certainly a... colorful character, but he guessed there was more to her than he had yet found out. Maybe another day he'd have a shot at knowing, but for now he was content. Content and tired.
Getting to his room, Jaune crashed on top of his bed, completely depleted of energy. It had been a long day, and he wanted to get some long-overdue rest. However, luck was not on the Lucky Student's side, and there were other plans in store for him.
DING DONG DING DONG
"All Beacon students are called to Gymnasium immediately. Failure to show up will be met with severe punishment."
Groaning in disappointment, he went to the bathroom and splashed some water in his face to keep himself awake. He left the room, and crossed the length of the school to the gym, noting how strange it was that he hadn't run into anyone. As soon as he walked in, the reason became apparent: everyone else was already there.
"Took you long enough, Pool Noodle." The students all looked at him, but it was Monokuma's voice that made itself heard. "Time to get this show on the road."
"What's going on?"
"The bear said he has an… incentive for us." Emerald's voice was hard pressed with anger, clearly wishing she was somewhere else.
"Silence, I'm speaking now! Ahem." The stuffed toy was standing on top of the podium, but this time he had his arms behind his back, in a seemingly military position. "I gave you kids everything. I gave you a roof, an endless supply of food and water, clean air, electricity, entertainment… I gave you all of that, and I only asked for one thing in return: for you to kill each other."
"Well, I guess it was not enough, was it? You spoiled brats can't follow instructions, you're the reason our world is falling to ruin! Your lazy butts can't even get this one thing done straight!"
No one talked. The animal's monologue was rather comical, but the way he delivered it was completely chilling. Something horrible was about to happen, and they could all feel it.
"But I am a gracious headmaster. I forgive you. And I bring you one final offering: a motive."
Jaune felt the dread building up inside him again. He had believed everything would be fine, but there it was again – the looming threat over their heads. He refused to abandon his conviction that one of them would be capable of murder, but if the bear was already impatient, it was only a matter of time until he started taking drastic measures.
"For that purpose, I have here something you will all want." He removed his hands from behind his back, revealing a handful of envelopes. "Letters from your families."
The class gasped, glancing between each other in an attempt to ensure they could trust the bear. It was clear in their eyes that they wanted to believe him, Jaune did too. They hadn't been inside the school for long, but the feeling of isolation was well buried in their minds.
"I hope you enjoy." With that said, he threw the envelopes in the air, and the group ran forward, pushing each other to try to get the prize made available to them. They picked up the letters from the ground, and hurriedly matched the names written on them with each student, before ripping open the seals and reading its contents. Jaune immediately recognized his mother's handwriting.
"My dear Jaune,
I'm so proud of you for getting accepted into Beacon. You've been searching for yourself for so long, for what makes you unique, and I know you'll find it there. We are rooting for you, you are the future of-"
The letter ended abruptly there, only a few lines right after it started. Below it, right after where it cut off, there was a picture of Monokuma smiling twistedly at him, and next to it seven words scribbled in red paint.
"Read the rest after the first murder."
"What is this bullshit?" Coco was the first to recover from the letter she had been given, evidently having gotten something just like his.
"That's your incentive to get some blood flowing! Don't you want to read the rest? Find out what happened to your families?"
"What do you mean what happened to them?"
"Upupupupupu, wouldn't you like to know… Well, you have a good solution: start stabbing." The monochrome bear laughed with the satisfaction of instilling in them the despair that had been dormant for the past few days.
"If you think we'll fall for this, you clearly have underestimated us." Yatsu spoke with such calmness that it was almost unsettling.
Jaune looked around to see the faces of his classmates. They were all shaken, but there was an aura of determination in the group, a will to bear through the headmaster's lies. Well, most of them; Weiss had somehow managed to get even paler, Penny looked like she had seen a ghost, and Neo was practically fuming with disgust and rage, ready to pounce at the first opening.
"If that's your choice, then fine! We'll see how long until one of you caves in. I can wait." Without expecting an answer, the toy animal jumped back, and, just like the first time, disappeared from sight.
DING DONG DING DONG
"This is a School Announcement. It's 11 PM. Nighttime is now in effect. The cafeteria doors will be closing soon, so make sure you're not inside. Have a good night!"
No one spoke a word. They went back to their bedrooms and did the best to forget what had just happened. Wallowing in it would bring them nothing but misery.
DING DONG DING DONG
"Gooood morning, everyone! It is now 8 am. Time to get up and face another day."
Jaune rolled out of bed, and dragged his numb body to the shower, where he could wash away the worries he had. His sleep had been convoluted, waking up every other hour, only to fall back asleep and find himself in the very same nightmare.
In it, he walked into his own room to find the dead body of one of his classmates, bloodied and maimed all over his bed, and when he noticed it there was a blackened knife in his hands. The first time it was Pyrrha, then Weiss, Ruby, Penny, Sun… Every time he would scream in panic, and the other students would come running, but as soon as they saw him with the knife they would restrain him and hand him over to Monokuma.
"As expected of a talentless idiot."
"Only he could stoop so low as to kill someone else."
He turned on the water as hot as he could, and forced himself underneath it, letting the burning sensation clear his mind. As soon as he began feeling better, he got dressed and left his room. Maybe some company could help him clear his head.
The cafeteria was silent, an odd tension in the air as they ate. He knew what was in all of their minds, he was trying his best to avoid the topic too: the letters. Every single one of them wished to know what the rest of the missives contained, but the price to pay was too high. It was hard to come up with conversation topics when it was all they could think of.
The breakfast did nothing to ease his mind, and Jaune begged the heavens for a distraction to get his mind off of all the drama. As he soon found out, fate was feeling playful that day.
Just as he was leaving the cafeteria, a bulky arm took hold of him in a death grip around his chest, and pulled him into the nearest corner. He felt his back being pressed against a wall, and when he opened his eyes he saw Yang's imposing figure casting a shadow over him.
"So, Jaune, I hear you've been taking an interest in my sister." Her lilac irises gleamed with blood-lust, making the boy doubt his conviction that no one in that school would kill another student.
He swallowed dryly, failing to convene any semblance of a word.
"What are your intentions with her?"
"I... Nothing, I was just... Pyrrha said it would be a good idea to..."
"A THREESOME? IS THAT WHAT YOU'RE PLANNING WITH MY SWEET, INNOCENT LITTLE SISTER?"
"No, no, no, it's nothing like that! I..."
"Come with me."
She grabbed his left arm and dragged him all across the school, just like her sibling had except the usage of force was much greater. When they passed by Velvet, the only other student to roam the halls at that time, he mouthed a 'Help me', but the faunus girl laughed and snapped a picture of them. They passed through the weird red door, the AV Room and the Infirmary, and Jaune found himself realizing she was taking him to a secluded location in order to murder him. He tried to make peace with his impending demise, but a part of him kept wondering how quick and painless could a Boxer make it.
Yang slammed the door to the gymnasium open and practically threw him inside. She stared at him menacingly, and then exploded into laughter.
"You should have seen your face! Oh, Oum, I should do this more often." She was holding her sides, barely containing her boisterous chuckles.
"So, you're not going to kill me?"
"Nah, I'm just going to beat the crap out of you."
Oh, like that's any better.
"Here, put these on." She dug through a duffle bag that had already been there and threw him a pair of soft pillow-like objects with straps on them, which she instructed him to tie around his arms.
"What are these for?"
She put on boxing gloves, and gestured for him to raise his fists to face level. "You're gonna help me train." He squealed in panic, but mercy was unavailable. "Unless you want to have a serious talk about my sister, this is happening, pretty boy."
She threw her fist at the protections, and he felt the force even through the soft surface. She did it again, and kept repeating the motion, falling into a rhythm.
The Ultimate Lucky Student whimpered, considering seriously if he didn't prefer death over that.
"If it's hurting, you could just try to dodge my strikes. Hitting a live target is always more fun than a punching bag." He was sure she didn't mean it in such a horrifying way, but the phrasing she had picked was just short of homicidal.
Taking her advice, he attempted to evade the incoming punches, ducking and side-strafing to his best abilities, but it soon became apparent that the effort was in vain. She could easily foresee most of his movements, and would strike nonetheless. That was the power of the Ultimate Boxer, a power he was feeling through his entire aching body.
After a relentless assault that seemed to drag on forever, his captor finally decided to give him a break, and handed him a water bottle. He happily accepted the drink, refilling all the hydration he had lost through the exercise, even though his arms burned all the while he raised it to his mouth. For some inexplicable reason, getting hit felt much more exhausting than any physical effort he had done recently.
"So, what's your story?"
"What do you mean?" She was stretching her muscles, not ready to stop moving yet.
"How did you become a boxer? Seems like a strange activity for someone your age." He thought to comment on the fact that she was a girl, but that girl had just made him sore all over, so he reconsidered that possibility pretty fast.
"Well, me and Ruby... we were pretty much all on our own, you know. Her mom died when she was 4, and dad... was gone when she reached 7. Someone had to look out for her, take some punches so she wouldn't have to. After a while I just realized I could hit them back, and as it turned out, I was pretty good at it."
"I'm sorry... You're half-sisters? I didn't know that."
"That's where we get the different surnames, idiot. She's Rose, after her mother Summer Rose. I was named after my mom too, Yang Branwen, but I changed it to Xiao Long, because I didn't want to take the last name of someone who had abandoned me."
"Oh..." He didn't know what to say, there was just so much family tragedy in their lives. Coming from a numerous family that had suffered no losses in his lifetime, he had no idea what it would be like to be in her shoes. "Your father... what happened to him?"
"Joined the army. It was tough providing for us all by himself, and they offered a nice salary that could help us stay well fed and clothed. He died in a riot, no one ever found out where the bullet came from." The serious tone of the talk forced her to stop stretching. There were no tears in her eyes, he suspected there hadn0t been any for years, but instead a dry, quiet darkness had befallen her face.
"Ruby mentioned you two had an uncle... Didn't he stay with you?"
"Qrow, he was everything that stood between us and an orphanage. I guess he felt like he owed us for his sister, so he took us in. He wasn't around much, work called him away frequently, but he helped a lot, especially Ruby. He's practically a father to her."
Jaune failed to come up with a response, completely dumbfounded by her retelling of their past.
"And that's enough backstory for now, you're gonna have to work a lot harder if you want to get to the juicy stuff." She winked at him. "Anyway, time to put 'em up again, Jaune-y boy."
"What?"
She gloved her hands and raised them up high. "Your arms. You didn't think all of that would be free, right? You owe me another training session."
He whined inaudibly and did as he was told.
As he slowly walked away from the gymnasium, or rather, as fast as his strained muscles would allow him, he reflected on all he'd learned that day. In that room of torture, he had gained two things: a newfound respect for Yang Xiao Long, a self-made woman that had been given nothing in life, and all she had she had made for herself, a woman who knew pain and loss but managed to stay strong for those she cared about; and a pain that seeped through to his bones with such intensity that he doubted it would ever go away.
It was in a state of half-consciousness that he made it to the white hall that led to the cafeteria, but before he could reach his room for a well-deserved rest, he bumped into someone. He felt his body fall, the sudden impact throwing him off balance, but a firm hand kept him from reaching the floor.
"Are you okay?"
He groaned at Ren, too exhausted to give him a proper answer.
"What happened?"
"Yang." Their roles seemed to be reversed, leaving the cook to do the talking for him.
"I was going to the sauna right now, so why don't you join me?" The chef gently placed his hands on his shoulders and guided him through the curtain to the changing room.
Having never been there, Jaune vaguely registered the inside of the room. There were two large cabinets on the right wall filled with lockers, plenty of which were already in use, so that the students could store their clothes while they used the facilities, and a long bench in the middle. The left wall had two doors next to each other, one led to the sauna itself, and the other to a couple of cold showers for afterwards. There were also a couple of decorative plants, and a cork board with the remaining keys to the lockers.
He grabbed one, and proceeded to get undressed. Inside the locker was already a towel, surely put there to make the first visit easier. Using the white cloth to cover his shame, he opened the sauna door and walked in, where Ren was already tinkering with the temperature controls.
They both sat down, and waited for the automated mechanism to do its job, seeing the steam beginning to build up inside the closed space. After a while he was already sweating profusely, the heat around him teetering on the verge of unbearable, but somehow managing to relax his pain. He felt the pressure evaporating with the fumes and out of his muscles. Whatever that hot mist had, it was pure bliss after the morning he had experienced.
"You were right, I feel so much better now."
The asian boy did not respond, reverting back to his quiet self, but Jaune noticed a subtle relaxed smile on his lips.
"Hey, Ren? How are you doing?"
"Hmm?"
"You're always working yourself to the bone making food for us, and with Nora and all... I don't know, I feel like I would've gone insane by now."
Ren chuckled softly. "Actually, it kinda reminds me of home."
"How so?"
"Where I grew up, people were loud... just like her. They ate like pigs... just like her. In a way, she's kinda like my family."
"That's really sweet, man."
"My family tried to kill me once. We're not on the best of terms."
"Oh... What happened?"
"That's... a story for another day." He couldn't tell if he had become serious, or if that was simply his regular mysterious self. He had managed to get so little out of the cook, but it was already a victory in his eyes.
"You must really like cooking, huh?"
"It's a means to an end." Dear Oum, why was that man so hard to read?
"What do you mean?"
"It's more about nutrition than cooking. Like that vitamin blend I make every day and none of you ever drinks." There was a slight trace of bitterness in his speech, almost undetectable.
"In our defense, does it have to be so green?"
"Green is the color of nature, what's wrong with it?"
"It looks... unattractive." Understatement of the year. "Maybe dye it a different color, like, I don't know, red?"
Ren did not answer, making him wonder if he had hurt the boy's pride. He spoke so highly of that blend, so he probably had, an error he desperately tried to fix.
"I'll try it tomorrow at breakfast, I promise."
His sauna compatriot smirked with his eyes closed, and allowed the room to fall into a comfortable silence. He wasn't going to be able to get any more information out of the chef, which was reasonable considering they had just met a few days ago. In fact, most of the students seemed strangely willing to talk about themselves with him, making building up connections that much easier. Maybe they were all really trusting, or maybe he had just gotten lucky with whom he spent time with.
Heh, maybe I am the Lucky Student after all. He almost cackled out loud at how absurd the idea was.
He took off from the sauna feeling much better, albeit still quite exhausted. Ren had proved to be interesting company, and he hoped to get another chance at cracking his mystery, but for now there was only one place he desired to be: his own bed.
He unlocked the door to his room, and, still wearing only a towel, threw himself on the soft and inviting mattress. The night announcement had yet to play, but by the time it did he was already deep in slumber. It had been a long but fulfilling day, and he had managed to completely get his mind off of the mastermind's incentive.
A lapse of the mind he'd soon come to regret.
DING DONG DING DONG
"Gooood morning, everyone! It is now 8 am. Time to get up and face another day."
He was woken up by the announcement, and jumped out of the bed energetically. His body felt reinvigorated, ready for another battle of endurance. He quickly pondered on whom he'd like to spend some time with that day. Maybe Pyrrha, it had been a whole since they had talked alone, and she was sure to be proud of how much time he had spent fraternizing with the other students. Well, it was a decision to be made after breakfast, and he was starving, only just now realizing he had missed dinner.
He got dressed in a hurry, skipping the bath since he'd spent the previous afternoon in a nigh-permanent bath, and opened the door.
The moment he stepped outside, he heard a panicked scream.
He instinctively sprinted to the cafeteria, the apparent source of the sound, and saw Ren and Nora by the entrance, their faces twisted with dread. Pushing past them, Jaune ran inside.
What he found inside would be engraved into his mind for the rest of his life, as would the sound that came with it.
DING DONG DING DONG
"A body has been discovered…"
TO BE CONTINUED
Students Alive - 14