I feel like I forgot to mention this here: all murder cases have been decided since the start, so voting in the polls will not influence them. Tbh I expected a bigger response in the poll - the follower count tripled since last time yet only 2 more people voted. Oh well.

Chapter 2.2 - Consumed by Despair

His eyes scrolled franticly through the text, but nothing about it seemed real. "Radiation"? What are they talking about? Did something happen outside? He dug through his mind, but he simply couldn't remember anything that could explain those words, disaster or otherwise.

His head felt light and dizzy, disoriented as if the body around him wasn't his own. What was all that about? What had happened to his family? Were they okay? He had more questions than before reading the letter, and his omen about the headmaster's intentions had proven correct. His heart was thumping in his chest, threatening to burst out, his breath rugged and his stomach bubbling with nausea. He couldn't form a coherent word, the panic robbing his ability to think of anything other than the contents of that envelope.

The first thing he heard coming from out of his own head, a sound originating not from his anxiety, but from elsewhere in the room, was paper being torn and ripped to shreds. He glanced up and saw Weiss Schnee turning her letter into tiny insignificant fragments of white. Her face was frozen in an expression of dry anger, but he could still her livid skin betraying that semblance of composure.

"I take it you didn't like what you read, Ms. Schnee?"

"Nice try. If you think I'll believe a word of that nonsense you are sorely mistaken, bear."

"Huh? What do you mean? You act like I wrote it..."

"That's exactly what I'm saying! The Schnee family is strong and powerful, and you expect me to believe *that* is what's left of them? I refuse to listen to your lies!"

"She's right, this is bullshit!" Emerald joined in, her red eyes filled with rage.

"Are you sure about that? Haven't you wondered why you are trapped inside this school? The answer is right there in front of you, upupupupupu." The bear hid his mouth behind his paws, chuckling manically at their reactions.

"What?"

"Are you saying..."

"I'm saying the reason you are imprisoned inside the academy, why the windows are barred, is not to keep you from getting out. It's to keep what's outside from getting in." The room fell silent, as the animal toy laid all that exposition on them. "I mean the fallout from the bombs, of course. I'm sure your families mentioned something of the sort, but the outside world is... less than pleasant right now."

"Did he say bombs?"

"What's he talking about?"

"Did something happen?"

"I was planning on saving all of this for the final twist, but oh well, cat's out of the bag. This school is a bunker made to keep you safe."

"Safe from what?"

"Radiation, looters, you name it. The outside is a veritable wasteland since Atlas dropped a couple of nukes on Vale. It's ugly out there, upupupupu."

"What?"

"Why are we even listening to this? It's just another one of his lies!"

"Y-Yeah, it's all made up!"

Is it, though? Somehow, in his mind, it made sense, too much sense in fact. Why the windows were barred, no, isolated. Why no one had come to their help, not the police nor their families, despite them being inside for a whole week now, effectively kidnapped. Why that letter they'd found in the library had mentioned the school being closed, yet there they were. In some twisted way, the pieces of the puzzle fit together in his head, as in everyone else's despite the heavy denial happening.

"You don't believe me? You don't even believe the words of your own families, that you literally just read? Today's youth really is rotten to the core, so prideful that they can't accept the world for what it is. I'm doing you a favor by keeping you here!"

"You're making us kill each other!" Jaune exploded, joining the crowd in its anger.

"Hey, I didn't make you do anything! I merely provided an incentive, Ms. Adel is the one to blame."

He closed his mouth, boiling under the surface rather than outwards. It was true in a way, Coco had been the one to pick up the metaphorical knife, but that did not wash the blood on the bear's hands.

"It's not her fault!"

"She was just worried about her family, she was a good person... Is that what you were going to say? The tone of scorn in the headmaster's voice was almost palpable from its intensity. " Excuses! She killed someone, and that's that! Wasn't Penny your friend? Robot lives don't matter, is that what you're saying?"

The murmur did not stop, but for a while none of them answered the stuffed toy directly. There was truth in his insane rhetoric, but admitting it was too painful. Coco had killed somebody, betrayed them. One of them had found the potential to do something so vile, how long would it be until another came across that very same dark impulse?

"Ahem." Blake cleared her throat loudly, prompting the bear to stop cackling manically, and the remaining students to turn their attention to her. "How long were we out?"

"Huh?"

"He said Atlas bombed Vale. If that had happened, we'd know about it, right? That is, unless we were unconscious, which makes sense considering none of us remembers how we got here."

"Upupupu how perceptive of you, Ms. Belladonna."

"So, I'm right?"

"Now, now. Don't expect me to give you all the answers, not yet at least. You'll have to live through a couple more trials if you want to know the whole story. Spoilers are no fun!"

The dark-haired girl backed off with a pensive expression, as if she'd been given much more information than what the rest of them had heard. More questions raised and no new answers only served to put the crowd in a further state of powerlessness. Voices were heard once again in protest.

"This is madness!"

"Bullshit, I refuse to believe any of it."

"SHUT UP!" Yang's voice roared above everyone else's, forcing the class into a sudden silence. Her face was distorted and mad, but there was a strange clarity in her lilac eyes. "Can't you see this is exactly what Monokuma wants? It doesn't matter if it's true or not, he's only doing it to break us."

"She's right." Pyrrha agreed from the back of the group. "We can't afford to be divided right now."

"Is that what you're choosing? To ignore the truth?"

"No, we're choosing to kick your ass!" The brawler didn't move to make good on her threat. "We'll beat your game and make it out of here, and then we'll find out if what you're saying is true or not."

"Well, look at you. Bold words, for a second you almost sounded like a protagonist there, blondie."

"Get. The fuck. Out." Jaune could almost see fire bursting out of her skin and hair, such was the overwhelming rage carried by those words.

"Fine. Kids can't even say thank you anymore, bunch of spoiled little brats." The headmaster stomped his little feet to the cafeteria door with a sullen expression, mumbling under his breath the whole time, only fragments of it distinct enough to be understood. "I bring them a treat... only complain... not even killing..."

When the large grey door closed, the class turned around from it, facing each other once more. There was doubt in their faces. Fear. They didn't know what to believe, who to trust. No one said a thing, until the silence was broken by the sound of sobbing.

Ruby fell down sitting on the floor, tears flowing freely out of her silver eyes. She looked like a fragile little girl, acting more like her age than she had so far.

The sudden outburst of emotion caught everyone unaware, but the sniper's sister acted before anyone else could, running to her side with unparalleled speed. She embraced the girl in her strong arms, stroking her back softly.

"Uncle Qrow..." The youngster spoke between sobs, failing to construct full sentences. "He can't be... He's all we..."

"It's okay, Rubes, I'm sure he's fine. That drunk bastard has survived worse."

Worse than nuking? What the hell does their uncle do for a living?

"I'm scared..." That last part was just a murmur, but Jaune was narrowly able to hear it, and so did Pyrrha to his left, telling by her worried look.

"Don't worry, we'll make it through this. I'll get us out of here, whatever it takes."

He forced his eyes off the healing family, feeling like he was intruding in a private moment, and glanced at the other students still standing around the dinner table.

"So, we're just gonna ignore what Monokuma just told us?" Velvet timidly raised her voice.

"I mean, why the hell not? It's all lies anyway." Emerald put her foot down, signaling determination.

"Works for me." Neo agreed as well.

"But what about our families and friends? Don't you guys wanna know?" Sun looked a little less ready to abandon the notion, probably worried about those he had left back at home.

"I mean..."

"It doesn't make a difference right now." Ren was calm as ever, distressingly so. "Truth or not, we still need to find a way out of here. Nothing he said changes that."

"Yeah, Ren's right!" Nora pounded her fist on the table, making forks and knives fly everywhere.

"It does seem like the smartest plan." Pyrrha nodded with a subtle smile.

At least they're agreeing on something for a change.

"Then... Now what do we do?"

"Oh? Our great leader is asking for instructions?"

"Can you please stop calling me that, Nora?"

"Of course, whatever your highness desires." There was just no seriousness with her, was there?

No one laughed, the tension still all too present for any jokes to tear through. It felt like every night brought nothing but sorrow in that fateless school, from incentives, to deaths and trials, and now elaborate backstories.

They simply stood there for a while, watching minutes fly by into nothingness. Being idle was easier than dealing with all they'd been told, despite that very same idleness trapping each and every one of them in a spiraling whirlpool of doubt. The pact to pretend Monokuma's story hadn't been uttered aloud stayed in place, and it would remain that way for the foreseeable future.

As the group scattered, too consumed for any other evening activities, Jaune headed for his room, where he already knew no rest would await him. Even of his classmates has decided to pretend like nothing had happened, he still found it hard to get his mind off of it. How were his parents, and his sisters, doing? Why had Atlas decided to start a war with Vale? And why did the bear think that was the appropriate time to tell them all of it? What was he scheming this time?

The countless doubts were swallowing his brain, making it very clear that he was in for yet another sleepless night. He whimpered in silence, feeling his tired brain complaining about the overnight shifts it had to pull off so frequently, and laid on his bed, resigning himself to his fate.

DING DONG DING DONG

"Gooood morning, everyone! It is now 8 am. Time to get up and face another day."

Jaune groaned audibly, and got up. After over a week on the inside, the morning announcements were getting increasingly annoying. It wasn't just the repetition, or the fact that nothing good ever came from hearing Monokuma's voice. Somehow, it always felt like they were just a little too loud, tuned to perfection by the headmaster so that it was hardly possible to sleep through them. No, the students had to wake up at that hour, and they had to be miserable about it.

As he left the room, showered and freshly-clothed, the reminder of the previous night struck him like a walk of shame through a crowded street. He had succeeded in clearing his head of those intrusive thoughts for a solid fifteen minutes, but now they were back in full force. At the very least they kept him distracted from the tragedy of the class trial – but he would never realize that benefit.

The cafeteria was quiet, an atmosphere of stillness hanging over their heads. None of the students felt much like eating, and neither of them said a word, such was the price to pay for their pact to ignore the new information.

One by one, they left the premises after a very uneventful breakfast, failing to feel better about any of their circumstances. They would have to find solace elsewhere. Jaune found his in filling his free time with the company of someone else. It had brought him joy previously, so there was no reason it wouldn't do so now.

He was heading back to his room, wondering who to target this time around, when he saw Lie Ren exit as well, just the two of them in the white corridor. In a fit of impulse, he turned to the boy and engaged him.

"Hey, Ren."

"Hi, Jaune."

"Are you doing anything?"

"Not right now." Dear Oum, man, throw me a bone here, I'm trying!

"So, wanna do something?"

"Like what?" AAAAAARGH!

"I don't know... You picked last time."

"Exactly why it's your turn." You are enjoying this, aren't you, you horrible person.

Before he could answer, a voice shouted out from a nearby corner. "Yeah, if you wanna take him on a date at least do it right!"

The blond looked confusedly around them, and just narrowly managed to spot an orange mane and two green eyes peeking out from the wall where the corridor turned towards the Laundry Room.

"Is that... Nora?"

"She does that..."

Peeking at you like a stalker? Jaune racked his brain trying to a way out, when his brain offered just what he was looking for. "Library!"

"Sounds good." The chef smiled as thanks, and they left the ginger behind, climbing to the second floor.

Only at the top of the stairs did he feel safe again from prying ears, and it was then that he decided there was more information he could get out of the dark-haired man on that matter.

"Is that normal? Nora, I mean?"

Ren shrugged "I wouldn't know."

"But why is she following you around like that?"

"She took a liking to me since we got stuck in this school, I guess. And she refuses to actually ask me out directly."

"That... doesn't make much sense. Have you tried talking to her about it?"

He did not get a response apart from an odd look. Right, talking isn't really up your alley, is it?

They made their way to the library, and walked inside. Silently, the two boys each walked up to a shelf and started looking at the options laying atop it. Jaune had already made up his mind that he wasn't going to find anything up his alley, but right now he had other plans. He hadn't come here alone, so his entertainment was not the most immediate concern. He slid a finger through the bookcase as his eyes peered through it, until he found the target of his search.

"Rordon Gamsey's Ultimate Home Cooking, how does that sound?"

Lie Ren glared at him with his pink irises. He would have to get used to non-verbal communication if he was going to spend any more time with the cook. I bet this is what hanging out with Neo feels like. Regardless, it was evident that he was not going to get any proper reaction, unless he demanded it by force, so that was exactly what he did next.

"What? Too weak for your otherworldly talents?"

"Well, yes."

"I thought Ultimate talents meant you were the best at what you do for a high schooler, not that you were the best in the world." Not that he would know, he was just a random talentless guy.

"Sure, but right now I'm cooking for other high schoolers. The bar isn't exactly set very high."

"We do eat pretty much anything, don't we?"

"And that's why I said I care more about nutrition than food. Watching all of you eat salted noodles for a week would drive me insane."

He laughed nervously, thinking back on his long and loving relationship with cup noodles. They were cheap and effortless to prepare, what else would he need?

"Is that what your family eats as well?" He recalled last time the boy mentioning that he had grown up with less than healthy meals.

Ren chuckled.

"No, they were much worse. I once caught them eating meat that was more raw than cooked."

"Oh, what the hell?"

"Exactly."

There was something bothering him, however, and not just the mental image of uncooked flesh. "You talk about them in the past tense, did something happen?"

The chef looked at him with a surprised expression. "They're still alive, as far as I know. The letter said as much too. I just don't live with them anymore."

"You mean before all this, right?" His companion waved his hand affirmatively, even if rather dismissive.

He did note a tinge of bitterness, or something of the sort, and thus decided not to continue questioning. He had already gotten quite the chunk of new information out of the boy, and in a way he knew him better now. Ren was definitely an interesting person, with an even more curious background, and a company he enjoyed.

Of course, there was more he wanted to know, to pry deeper, but maybe he'd get that change later. For now, he picked up the least-boring book he could find and sat down next to the dark-haired man. It would be an interesting test of his patience and perseverance, if nothing else.

Jaune closed the door to the library behind him, and paced by the hall. He was a tad sleepy, but otherwise happy. The 'date' with Ren had gotten his mind off the worries consuming him, leaving him lighter and liberated.

He was strolling by the door to one of the classrooms when something stopped him. You could say it was fate, or maybe his Luck talent telling him to, or maybe he heard something coming from within. The fact is, he pushed the entrance open and walked in.

In the classroom he found Yang Xiao Long sitting on top of the teacher's desk. Her legs were crossed, and her hands joined in what distinctly looked like a meditation pose. Her breathing was slow and steady, although her back was too upright to be sleeping.

The unremarkable boy thought twice about disturbing her, but curiosity took the best of him.

"Hey, Yang."

"Jaune. Looking for another ass-whooping?" She kept her eyes closed, speaking with a playful tone that was not at all threatening.

He pondered for a second, then shrugged his shoulders. "Sure."

"Oh, I... did not expect you to say that." As the boxer raise her head and stared at him, she appeared slightly thrown off balance by his response, which a weird way felt like an accomplishment to him. "Alright, let's go then!"

The boxer leapt out of the table and reached for her saddle bag lying on the floor after the first student desk. Do you bring that thing with you wherever you go? Jaune was already regretting his decision. Sure, he had nothing planned, but he could find something else in a pinch, he didn't need to get beat up! Why was he even doing this, it was not like some transcendent cosmic entity had voted to force him into that company. Regardless, it was too late. Yang had taken his challenge, and all he could do was his best to survive.

She retrieved her gloves and the protections for him, but placed them on top of a nearby desk instead of handing them over. First, she took off her jacket, and then stretched her arms out, slowly rotating them backwards. Her joints cracked loudly with the gesture.

Noticing he wasn't moving, she scolded the misbehavior. "What are you waiting for?"

"What are we doing?"

"Stretching! Gotta get in shape before practice! Didn't we do this last time?"

"No…"

"Crap, did I forget? I mean, I do my stretches every morning after I wake up, but you need them too." Wait, was she doing it only for his benefit? That was… uncharacteristic of her.

He was forced into numerous stretching exercises, first his back, then knees, arms, shouders. By the time it was over he felt rejuvenated even if a little sore – and the exercising proper hadn't even begun. But above all, he was astonished. She did this every day, sometimes even twice? That was much more preparation than he'd envisioned the girl to do, especially when she usually came off as so hot-headed. This required premeditation, method.

"So." She gave him the protections, then slid the two yellow boxing gloves over her hands, and tied them in place. "What did you wanna know this time?"

"Huh? What do you mean?"

She threw a punch at him, which he blocked with all his might. "I'm guessing you didn't come here to get beat up. Unless you're into that sort of stuff, you frickin' weirdo."

"No, I'm not..." He ducked to avoid the next hit, covering his face behind the protections.

"Which is why I assume you're looking for another Q&A. I did promise you juicier stuff after all." She stuck out her tongue playfully, but kept hacking away at him. "So, what do you wanna know?"

As soon as he opened his mouth, she cut him off. "And don't you dare ask the size of my bra. Juicy has its limits."

What the... "Is that something you get asked a lot?"

"You wouldn't believe..."

He had to admit, she was quite well-endowed, quite probably the bustiest of the girl in their class, but still, to outright comment on that in front of her... what kind of boundary-less person would think that was a good idea?

As she punched him once, and then twice, even behind the protective foam, he could feel that the topic needed changing post-haste.

"Well, maybe I just wanna get better a fighting." A white lie, even though not completely untrue. He did pity the fact that he was physically unremarkable, something that had not at all improved since being placed in the midst of so many apt and able teenagers.

"Oh? Looking for a few tips from the master herself?" The brawler cocked left fist back, but, when he had his eyes focused on it, struck him with the right one on the stomach. He could tell she was going easy on him, but it hurt nonetheless, where he was not protected by the foam.

While he whimpered, the purple-eyed girl took off her gloves and threw them at him. The two objects struck him in the face, before falling flat on the floor. He looked inquisitively at her, wondering the meaning of such action.

"Don't you want to learn? Well, come on, put them on!"

He did as he was told, taking off the protective gear and wrapping his fists inside the bright boxing gloves. It felt intrusive to be wearing the same gloves she used while training, like he was interrupting an intimate moment, but it also felt somewhat encouraging that she deemed him worthy to be donning them. That very same encouragement was promptly dampened, however, but noting the fact that she had tossed aside the forearm pillows he had stripped off. Clearly she didn't think he was a threat.

"Alright! First lesson is correcting your stance." She approached him, and pushed the inner part of his ankle outwards. "You want to have your feet wide apart, to give you more stability. Now raise your fists in front of your face."

She exemplified, and he mimicked her actions.

"Great. Punch me." Her balled hands stretched out, which he took as a target for his training.

Jaune threw his right arm to the front, colliding with her palm, and felt pain coursing from his knuckles all the way too his shoulder. How was he supposed to know she was so sturdy?

"Okay, here's what you did wrong. Don't cock your wrist back." She grabbed his wrist to illustrate the point. "Always keep your fist straight, or you risk spraining something."

"Next, you only moved your arm. A punch should use your entire body. It helps put more force into it, it avoids getting all the recoil in your shoulder blades, and it makes you less of a wide target. Got all, that?"

"I think so."

"Awesome, now do it again. Remember, step forward with the punch, stay mobile."

There was, as it turned out, a lot more to boxing than simply hitting things very hard. Not that he could hit hard at all, but he ended up spending nearly as much time punching as he did learning basic form and technique. Yang had dropped her jaw when she realized he had no self-defense whatsoever, and promptly showered him with tips on how to fend off attackers. Provided none of said attackers had the muscle mass she did, naturally.

It was both fascinating and jarring to him that she found all those things to be essential knowledge. She certainly had taught them to Ruby as well, meaning the young sibling was more outfitted to fight than he was, with or without a rifle. The feeling he had when spending time with any of his classmates returned, that peculiar sensation that they lived in completely different planets, that his plain and unremarkable life was so removed from the worlds in which the talented inhabitted. Sure, they weren't the boogeyman he had made them out to be, time and again he was proven to that teenagers were teenagers regardless of skill level, but he still felt inferior, mostly just like he had been missing out all his life. There were incredible, and led incredible lives, and just being with them, hearing their tales and living vicariously through them, it was a rush of energy he never knew existed.

After a while, he had no way of telling how long, he found himself lying on the floor, panting. She had worked him to the bone, even harder than last time. It was unbelievable how idiotic he could be for having accepted her challenge. He didn't even feel stronger. If anything, he felt weaker, like every muscle in his body had died.

"You must really love this to do it every day."

She laughed. Not just a chuckle too, but full blown laughter that filled the whole room. Of all his classmates, that was something only her could do: laugh with such abandon. It was contagious, all of her was.

"It gets less painful with practice, you know?" Oum, I hope so. "And after a while, it gets… I don't know, addictive. The rush, the adrenaline, being in the ring with someone else, watching their moves and trying to find a way to beat them, there's no feeling like it. You have to react fast, think fast, so much happens in just a couple of seconds. It's amazing."

"Sure sounds nice." Being strong.

"Having these beautiful guns doesn't hurt either." She touched her biceps tenderly. "Keep this up for another month and you might have some of your own too. Imagine all the ladies you could get, huh? Or dudes, I don't judge. Hell knows I can't…" She coughed conspicuously.

A month?!

"Do I get a question now?"

"Sure, man. After that workout, I'll give you three." Yang chuckled again.

"Why were you here? I meant to ask, not the best place for a workout."

"I come here to meditate. Classrooms are good for that, not a lot of people come by. Especially not these ones on the second floor."

"Meditate? I didn't know you did that…"

"I build up a lot of adrenaline when I'm fighting. Mediation helps cleanse all that stuff out, and clears my head. The thrill is awesome, but managing it, not being consumed by it, is also very important. Also, try to sleep after a whole day of power-training, and then we'll talk."

"Never thought of it that way,"

"Of course not, small padawan. You still have much to learn." She threw a bottle of water, striking him square in the forehead. Great, because the rest didn't ache enough "Drink that, it'll help."

He obeyed.

The other two question ended up being wasted, but it was okay – he already had quite the fill of learning for one day. Yang sure was a box full of surprises, and no doubt there would be more some other time. For now, he needed to get some food in his system, and then a bed was looking increasingly seductive.

Jaune pretended not to hear the morning announcement, and went to have breakfast. Spirits seemed to be higher that day. Sun and Nora had a competition over who could catch the most grapes with their mouth in a row, prompting a little display that was only mildly disgusting. Pyrrha chatted with Weiss, who was strangely responsive that day. Blake bothered no one, as did Emerald, while Neo gleefully checked the photos in the memory of Velvet's camera. Ruby, however, seemed more quiet than usual. Apparently, she still wasn't quite feeling up to speed after her breakdown two days before.

It was with that in mind that, after the meal was over, he decided to track down the sharpshooter. His mood had greatly improved since, by the merit of Ren and Yang, and he wished to do the same for her. Despite them not being that close, he still felt affected by her sadness. Ruby was a joyous girl, and he wanted to return her to that state as much as he could.

She entered the dressing room for the sauna, just across from the cafeteria. He went after her. Which was a mistake.

As soon as his foot touched the inside of the changing room, all nearby monitors – one inside, and two in the corridor – turned red.

"PERVERT ALERT! PERVERT ALERT!"

Ruby turned around, halfway through removing her hoodie, and saw him. Evidently, she screamed. It was all downhill from there.

"What's that noise?" Yang showed up, that was when he realized he was a dead man.

The blonde woman took a second to register what the monitors where yelling, and then stared at him with confusion in her eyes.

"What did you-"

"Yang? Is that you?"

As soon as she heard her little sister's voice, her face turned red and murderous.

"Jaune…" She spoke very slowly, almost as if she was containing every word from being screamed and stabbed into his flesh. "What were you doing to my sister?"

"Nothing, I…"

"Were you peeking on her?"

"No, I was just…"

Yang breathed in deeply, closing her eyes, completely immobile. He decided not to wait for what was coming next.

Jaune sprinted off into the distance as fast as his legs would take him, adrenaline pumping into his blood for that extra edge. He dared not look back, terrified of what he'd see closing in on him. Crossing the entirety of the red hall with the rooms, taking the long way around, he skipped past his own door, only realizing the mistake after it was already too late. Continuing along, he came across the little alley before the cafeteria, and in a fit of madness he turned towards it.

The luckster reached the door in the middle of it, and twisted the knob, practically leaping inside. He slammed the door shut behind his back, and breathed out in relief, celebrating his victory a little too early.

"Hiding from someone?"

He looked up, and was surprised to find Blake in the storage room with him, sitting on top of a pile of cardboard boxes, together with her faithful book.

"Yang. She thinks I was peeking on her sister in the bath..."

"Were you?" Somehow, he felt like there was an unspoken threat looming over that question.

"No! It was just a misunderstanding, I'm innocent! Not that she wants to hear any of it."

"That's rough, buddy."

"What about you?"

"Sun."

"Seriously? He seemed like a cool guy."

"Oh, he is, really. But every now and then, a little time to one's self is very much appreciated." She nonchalantly flipped a page.

"Then why aren't you in your room? Wouldn't that be the most private place possible?"

She waved a hand to gesture at the space around them. "My room has a doorbell. A very loud one. This one doesn't."

"Ah, right... I guess having an extra pair of ears has its disadvantages, huh?"

The raven-haired girl chose not to react, focusing on the pages in front of her eyes. Even Jaune, in all his occasional cluelessness on matter of behavior, could tell it was a clear signal to leave her alone.

He slowly peeked out into the hallway, hiding most of his face behind the safety of the wooden door. It seemed safe, empty. Well, except for...

"JAUNE AAAARC, WHERE ARE YOU? I WILL FIND YOU!"

He quickly retreated inside and sealed the entrance, profusely sweating from nothing more than adrenaline. He hadn't seen her, which meant she probably hadn't seen him either, but the danger was still very much present.

"Welp, I guess I'm stuck here." The boy hadn't meant for Blake to hear those words, but he underestimated the reach of her enhanced hearing. She sighed deep and loudly.

"This is not my problem." She stated in a rather dry tone, closing the book she had in her hands and leaping away from the stacked boxes. Her golden eyes were unamused as she made for the exit.

"What? Wait, no, don't leave me here alone! What if she finds me!"

The cat faunus stared at him with an expression that could only be described as a mix between soul-crushing annoyance and bewilderment. "Are you serious?"

"I mean, you have... *combat experience*." His voice was pleading and high-pitched, just a teensy bit panicky.

"You're more afraid of Yang Xiao Long than *me*?"

"...yes?"

She took her hand off the door handle, and her ears twitched with curiosity, although her face didn't change. "I don't get it."

"Don't get what?"

"You know who I am. You know the talent that got me into this academy. How can you not be afraid of me?"

"I... don't know. You just seem like a nice person." Blake snorted in a very uncouth manner. "What, am I wrong?"

"Very." She paced to her previous spot, climbing atop the pile again.

"Why? I mean, you can't have done something so bad that..."

"What part of terrorist do you not understand? Believe me, I've done plenty of horrible things. Too many..."

Jaune swallowed dryly. Every sentence he uttered only seemed to make that conversation harder and more awkward. He was learning about her, but it was getting hard to savor that new knowledge.

"You helped us solve Penny's murder." He ignored the stinging that sentence still left in his heart.

"And you think that is enough to atone for the things I've done?" *Can you be a little less emo?*

"No! I mean... I don't know what you did, but... well, that's exactly it: I've never seen you do anything, like, evil or anything. All I know is you helped us."

Blake's lips contorted oddly, almost like she was trying to smile but was not yet fully convinced.

"Weiss Schnee helped too. Does that mean you trust her as well?"

"I... What is your issue with her? Did you two know each other before coming here?"

"Not personally, no. But we knew *of* each other. The Schnee family is known for employing unsafe and slave labor, their fortune was built on the backs of our people. That made them a target for the Fang."

"It sounds a little more personal than that. She *really* hates you."

The dark-haired faunus looked down, in a distinct expression of shame, and her furry ears laid flat against her head. He immediately regretted the question, sensing the can of worms he had just opened.

"We... They..." She hesitated on what pronoun to use for the circumstance. "Her brother, Whitley Schnee, was killed by the White Fang."

"Oh..." What else was he supposed to say?

"We had been hitting their shipments, robbing some and destroying others. Jacques Schnee thought we wouldn't dare to touch his son, so he sent him to escort one. He was wrong... I didn't pull the trigger myself, but it's not like I stopped it either."

He stood there in utter silence. There was no reasonable way he could ever answer that. Maybe he was a prick and he had it coming? He didn't know that. Maybe it wasn't Blake's fault, and she needed to stop blaming herself? He didn't know that either, and there was a chance she was very much to blame, or that she had killed others herself. He was afraid of delving too deep into that matter, not knowing what he'd find out. And so he stayed quiet, for lack of a better option.

"I've already said too much." The terrorist left her perch and, like a feline, dashed to the door. "I'm... sorry I dropped all of this on you."

He stretched his hand out to stop her, but she was too quick, and had already disappeared through the door.

Jaune was about to give chase when he heard a familiar voice coming from the hall.

"Oh hey, Blake! Have you seen Jaune?" So, the blonde was still after his blood. That was... unfortunate, to say the least.

"I think he said something about going to the library."

"Thanks!" He thanked her too, while still cowering inside the room.

"Hey, Yang? Don't go too rough on the poor guy."

"Nah, I just like putting the scare in him. It's just a little too easy." He heard the Ultimate Boxer chuckle, and then run off.

Feeling that the coast was already clear, he left the storage room. Blake had vanished for good, but he had managed to learn I great deal about her, a great deal that he wasn't sure how to feel about. Some people just lived in a world so removed from the little bubble he inhabited that it was impossible to understand their struggles and inner turmoil.

There was something off about her, something he had yet to figure out. Maybe another time he would get there. But that would have to wait for another day.

TO BE CONTINUED

Students Alive - 12

So yeah, no one dead yet. Next one will still be deling with FTEs, there are more than usual this time. I just wanted to get this one out before the v4 finale tomorrow. THE HYPE IS KILLING ME.

Also, please leave a review if you can. I know I say this every chapter, but it really helps. Even if you don't have much to say, just a couple of words can do a great deal to power me up to write the next one.