Sure enough, I didn't get a single minute's sleep after the nightmare last night and woke up exhausted, with bags under my eyes and pissed off. The only thing that eased my anger was Ren's pancakes that he made up for us in our dorm. I moved my sleeping bag out of the way so that he could work properly. Everyone sat on their own beds eating their breakfast while Ren was still making another batch and I was sitting at my/Ren's desk.
"It's a good thing you're such a good cook, Ren. Otherwise I might've put another hole in Cardin's shoulder." I said with a light laugh.
Pyrrha gave me a cautious look. "You have quite the morbid sense of humor, Joseph." She stated with her voice bordering on menacing as she dug into her own plate of the fluffy food.
"Yeah, sorry about that. It's just that I grew up in a place where death wasn't uncommon and I've failed to realize that you guys aren't the people I used to hang around with." I said sheepishly.
Jaune must've seen my saddened expression and changed the topic.
"So anyways, what are you guys planning on doing today?" He asked everyone.
"Me and Renny are going to head down to the firing range because I wanna test out my new high-explosive grenades!" Nora said happily.
"I'm really there to make sure that she doesn't destroy anything other than the targets." The stoic said with a hint of humor.
"But that's the only way it's fun!" The Grenadier protested.
Pyrrha let loose a laugh at our bubbly teammate, her earlier seriousness towards me forgotten. "I'm going to get some training in and have some maintenance done on my weapon. I think that Milo is starting to slow whenever it shifts, but I'm not too sure." Our resident Champion said.
"Alright, how about you, Joe?" Jaune asked me.
"I think I'm just going to try and get some sleep. I didn't exactly sleep very well last night." I explained to everyone else as Jaune shot me an understanding nod..
Ren looked up from the next batch of pancakes he was making. "If you'd like, I could teach you some relaxation methods to help you sleep." He offered.
"Thanks, but I think I'll be fine." I hope. "How about you, Jaune?" I asked. "Do you think you'll be able to find time today to work on that project I asked you to do for me?"
"Wait, what project?" Nora asked. Ever the curious one. I thought.
"I'll tell you later, Nora." She nodded at me and went back to devouring her pancakes.
"I uh…" Jaune held a saddened expression on his face. Like a little kid who's parents just told him that his pet goldfish died.
He plastered another fake smile on his face as he continued. "I've just got to run into Vale to grab a few things." He said.
"Okay then, just make sure you take a few of those motion sickness pills I gave you." Pyrrha said to her partner.
"Yeah, thanks for those by the way. They seem to help quite a bit." Jaune thanked the champion.
I was about to say something along the lines of Pyrrha going with Jaune to Vale but an announcement over the loudspeakers from Professor Goodwitch interrupted me.
"Joseph Taren, please report to Professor Ozpin's office."
I let out a sigh. In the headmaster's office twice since I've been at Beacon and it hasn't even been two months yet. I quickly ate the rest of my pancakes and left my plate in the sink.
"Leave the dishes for me. Great pancakes as always, Ren!" I called out as I headed into the bathroom to shower and change from my sleepwear into my casual clothes with Castor and Pollux clamped onto my forearms.
I took a quick shower and headed over to the top floor of the massive tower that served as the headmaster's office.
Once again, the elevator stopped at the top and Ozpin called for me to come in. I hit the button that said 'open' and walked in.
The headmaster sat behind his desk with his ever-present cane and coffee mug. I wonder if that actually is coffee he's drinking. I thought.
"You wanted to see me, Professor?" I asked.
"Yes Mr. Taren. I also wanted to talk to you about two things, but first, please take a seat." He gestured to the empty chair in front of his desk, which I sat in.
"First of all, I would like to address the issue of staging an unsupervised sparring session on Beacon grounds."
Fucking great. Here comes the expulsion. I thought. "What about it, sir?" I asked with a sigh, letting to my eyes fall down to the gears within his desk.
"Miss Goodwitch informed me that she walked in on Cardin Winchester and yourself locked in combat and she stated that you delved one of your blades into his shoulder after his aura was depleted." He paused and interlaced his fingers, his gaze never leaving my eyes. "Is this true?"
I nodded.
"However, I have heard claims from several students that Mr. Winchester quote: 'had it coming'. Can you please clarify these statements for me?"
I looked up from his desk and stared him dead in the eyes; rage returning as I remembered what sparked the fight.
"Headmaster, before I said to Cardin that we should fight in the arena, he was mocking a rabbit faunus in the cafeteria and pulling on her ears."
"So you took it upon yourself to sow what you thought was justice?" Ozpin stated.
"Yes sir, and I don't regret my actions. I'll go pack my things." I said, turning the chair around and starting to get up.
"And just why are going to do that?" He asked me. I spun the chair back around and clasped my hands together on his desk.
"Because you think that what I did was too rash and undeserved and you're expelling me?" I asked rhetorically.
"Mr. Taren, while I do not support the actions of Mr. Winchester in any way, I believe that you merely did what you thought was right." He pulled out his scroll from his pocket. "Ms. Goodwitch gave you one month's detention, correct?" He asked me. I nodded back. "How does two weeks sound?"
My eyes were probably the size of baseballs right now. Ozpin's actually going to reduce my punishment? I thought dumfounded.
"It-uh… it definitely sounds better, Professor." I replied astonished.
He nodded back at me and smiled at me as he tapped on his scroll and put it back in his pocket.
"Very good, now that that's dealt with, I would like to address the second issue I brought you here for."
"And what might that be?" I asked.
His expression turned more serious as he continued to look me in the eyes. "Your mental health."
I scoffed and leant back in the chair. "You think I'm crazy?" I said with a smirk.
His expression remained serious as he talked. "No Mr Taren, I am concerned about the fact that you might have post-traumatic stress disorder." I just looked back at him. "You've been having nightmares lately, haven't you?"
"How did you know about that? Did Jaune tell you?" I asked, leaning forward in my seat.
He shook his head. "Mr. Arc told me nothing. As I told you before; I know what it's like to lose someone close to you and despite what some students might think; I am still human and have had my fair share of sleepless nights." He kept his fingers laced together and his gaze fixed on my eyes as he spoke.
I took a deep breath. This guy knows exactly what's going on in every inch of this school. I thought.
"Yes, Professor, it's true. I've been having them ever since initiation day." I said. "What do you suggest I do?"
"I will send you to counselling with Professor Port on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays for one hour after classes. I strongly recommend that you attend."
"I'll try, Professor Ozpin. Was there anything else?"
He shook his head. "Nothing further. You are dismissed." He said, taking a swig of whatever was in his coffee cup.
I got up and hit the elevator button for the ground floor.
Maybe Ozpin's right, maybe I do need that counselling. I thought as the elevator descended.
I exited the elevator and headed back to my dorm, accidentally literally running into the rabbit faunus that I recognized from the cafeteria a couple days ago along the way. I offered her my hand and she shyly took it as I helped her up.
"Sorry about that, I wasn't watching where I was going and I'm half asleep right now." I said with a chuckle.
"No, it's my fault, I was distracted." She said with an accent that I couldn't quite place. Her gaze never left her feet as she apologized.
"Okay, how about we compromise and say we're both sorry?" I said with a smile.
She looked up at me with a pair of beautiful brown eyes and smiled.
"Sounds good. I'm Velvet by the way."
"Joseph." I replied.
A frightened expression replaced her happy one as she noticed Castor and Pollux on my arms. "You're the one who fought Cardin." She said quietly, looking back down at her feet.
"And you're the one he victimized." I stated.
"You really didn't have to do that, you know. My team probably would've gone behind my back and issued him a death threat."
I took a step back from her and rubbed the back of my neck sheepishly. "I-I'm sorry if I caused you any trouble, but I just couldn't stand idly by while he bullied you like that."
Velvet looked back up at me. "You don't like bullies?" She asked.
"I don't like bigots." I replied, crossing my arms. "And while I admit, I think I might've gone a little overboard, I don't regret what I did. Physical scars are a lot easier to heal than emotional ones."
"I guess that makes sense." Velvet replied.
"By the way, which team are you on?" I asked. They must be pretty protective if they were willing to issue a death threat to Cardin.
"I'm part the second-year team: coffee." She declared proudly.
Oh, so that girl I ran into the other day must've been on her team. "Do you have another girl on your team, she's kind of short, wears a beret, glasses and black and brown clothes?" I asked curiously.
"Yes, that's our leader, Coco. Why?" She replied.
I shook my head. "No reason, I've just seen her walking around the school a couple times." I lied, somewhat happy that a second-year team approved of my actions. "Anyway, hopefully I'll see you around, Velvet."
"Have a good day." She said politely, walking past me.
'Hopefully I'll see you around'? I asked myself. Where did that come from? I unlocked my dorm room and rolled out my sleeping bag on the kitchen floor, hoping to catch up on some much needed rest, and oddly enough had no nightmares during my sleep.
I woke up just before five in the afternoon to Nora excitedly chatting about how well her grenades performed with Ren as they entered the room.
"Nora, please be quieter, I think Joe may be trying to sleep." I heard Ren say quietly as he opened the door.
"Not anymore." I said with a smile, getting up from my prone position on the floor.
"My apologies, Joe. Nora was just talking about how well her tests went." The stoic said, glaring at Nora who only grinned in response.
"There wasn't anything to pick up." She said evilly.
"So I take it that they performed well?" I asked the ginger-haired girl. Normally we avoided each other, but for some reason I was just in a good mood right now.
She bobbed her head up and down and I smiled at her enthusiasm. Pyrrha walked in as Ren took out his Stormflowers to polish and maintain.
"Hey, Pyrrha." I addressed the redhead. "Was anything wrong with Milo?"
"No, as it turns out, the delay between shifts was just my imagination." She replied, placing her weapon and shield on her desk.
"Either that, or you're getting faster." I added with a smile, which she returned.
The four of us sat in silence for a few minutes with myself reading a book about grimm anatomy on my sleeping bag, Ren and Pyrrha working on their weapons and Nora jumping up and down on her bed.
"Hey, Joe?" I heard Nora ask.
"What's up?" I replied, putting down my book.
"What was that project that you wanted Jaune to help you with?"
"Well that depends."
"On what?"
"Do you want for me to tell you now, or do you want it to be a surprise?" I said with a grin, knowing what her answer would be.
She grinned back and covered her ears. "Surprise, surprise, don't tell me!" She pleaded with me, still jumping on her bed. She uncovered her ears and her grin disappeared. "How come Jaune gets home so late?" She said, looking at the clock on her nightstand. "Doesn't he know we have a field trip tomorrow? We need our rest!" She exclaimed as she landed spread eagle on her bed.
"He's become rather scarce ever since Cardin started picking on him." Ren stated.
"He said he was going to Vale today right?" I said. "So maybe he just got turned around for a while."
"You're right, I'm sure our leader knows exactly was he's doing." Pyrrha stated, but something in her voice almost sounded… sarcastic?
Whatever, probably just my imagination. I thought. Seconds later, I also thought I heard the close and Jaune and Ruby's voices but again, probably just my imagination. Man, do I ever need those counseling sessions. Maybe I really am going crazy.
(AN:So, what do you guys think so far? Worst story ever, not bad, decent, good? Reviews are more than welcome!)