Author's Note:

Hello and Welcome again to another chapter.

So, last time we ended with the confrontation with Weiss and Joseph, and it leads to new developments.

If you can get the idea of the chapter from the title props goes to you.

Anyways, I hope that you'll enjoy this and as usual please leave a review.

- Lor

Chapter 6: Cold Blues

There she was right in front of me, Weiss. She was dressed in a white night gown and her hair was untied and flowed behind her. Her eyes focused on me and seemed to be assessing me. She did seem malicious as she had her arms crossed. "Well?" She questioned, holding out her hand and expecting me to answer.

"Er …" I stuttered. I was still holding onto my trumpet and the brief case.

"Are you going to tell me? Or are you just going to stand there?" She pressed on.

"I, I went out," I stated.

"To where?" She pressed onwards; her voice seemed to get tenser and stronger.

"To," I began before sneezing loudly. "Vale."

"And what were you doing in Vale?" She further questioned.

I bit my lip, it was getting harder to lie, she was very stern and the aura that she seemed to be projecting was heavy. I felt my throat dry up before I decided to speak again, "Why do you care?" I questioned; I tried to shift the focus away from me and onto her.

"Well … because you're my teacher!" She explained.

"Huh, really," I stated, phew, I thought in my head. I was now on the superior ground rather than her.

"Well," She began; I raised my eyebrow in anticipation, urging her to try and answer. "Fine! See if I care!" She huffed before treading up to her room.

I breathed a breath of relief, at least she wasn't going to be on my case tonight, I thought. I began to walk towards the stairs before I felt a sneeze, it was loud and huge. "Man, must be the cold, hopefully I'm not sick," I said to myself.

I began to walk up the stairs when I sneezed yet again, I ran for my room as mucus began to stream from my nose. I went over to my table and pulled out a box of tissues, and began to wipe my nose. "It better not be a damn cold," I muttered to myself.

I got changed and went to take a nap; I hoped to god that I didn't catch a cold. Oh how I hated the common cold, it was the one thing that plagued me, it was terrible! I hated getting my nose stuffed so that I couldn't breathe at all. It also came with that fever phase where I couldn't register anything properly.

I hope I don't get friggin sick, I hoped as I turned over in my bed.

But boy was I wrong.

I woke up to find my throat all scratchy, when I swallowed it felt like my throat was made out of sandpaper. My nose was also stuffy; when I sat up on my bed it began to become runny. Great! Just, great! I shouted in my head. It also came with a fever and I felt that everything was a blur around me. Even! Better! I turned over to check the time before falling asleep and flat on my underside.

Weiss was sitting in the classroom yet again, she waited for Joseph to come out of his room and begin teaching her. Where is he? Weiss wondered as she began to stare across the room. She waited tentatively for another three minutes, her hands on her lap as she waited. Eventually she began to grow impatient as it was now 6: 00, he better have a good reason for this!

Weiss got up and went over to the door leading to Joseph's room; she decided to give three knocks on the door. She did so, and waited, and waited, expecting some kind of response like, alright, alright, I'm coming, or, why are you so loud?

But there was nothing, nothing but silence.

She heard loud coughing from inside and decided to open the door; you'd better not be sick idiot!

I heard the door creak open slowly, for a moment I forgot that I had a class. That was until I saw Weiss' white dress and hair, then I remembered that I was supposed to teach her. She saw me and made her way over.

"You idiot!" She scolded before placing her hand on my head.

I covered my ears, "Wais, I, I dod, achoo!" I sneezed yet again.

"You've got a fever!" She scolded.

"I cun gu, we'v god a lasson," I told her before I sneezed yet again.

"You're sick, stay in bed and rest," She told me sternly.

"Bu-d, bu-d," I stammered.

"No buts!" She scolded before turning away. She picked up one of the room service phones and called for the kitchen. "Hello? Yes, it is me Weiss Schnee. I need vegetable soup up here in Joseph's room now." She instructed.

She put away the phone and turned back towards me, she felt my head again, "Whie are yub so concerned?" I asked.

"Shush you, I'll be right back," She instructed before leaving the room.

I merely laid there on the bed, aw jeez, I feel like sh-, my back's sore and my head felt like flaming hot water was poured over it constantly! I heard the door open yet again; Weiss came in holding a platter with soup and medicine in it. She pulled a chair from the next room and sat next to me; she placed the platter onto the side of the bed and scooped up a spoon of soup. Why though?

"You, dobt, hob to," I said, moving my arms to get to the soup.

"Just open your mouth," She ordered.

I did so and she began to feed me the soup, she then gave me my medicine after I finished the soup. "Get lots of rest," She told me before leaving.

As she was taking care of me all I could wonder was, why? Why'd she decide to take care of me? She didn't seem all too concerned about me before. In fact, just a few days ago we were on hateful terms. What changed? I mean, I couldn't have possibly made that much of an impression on her a few days ago, right? I thought, before falling into sleep once more, my body was too tired to think at all today, as all of my energy was spent on the cold.

I came about hours later, my mouth felt dry and I smacked my lips together. I got up and went to the mirror in my bathroom, I still looked dead. My face was as pale as Weiss' hair and my nose was as red as a cherry. I tried to breathe from my nose but it still felt extremely clogged, I rubbed my eyes and they were also very irritated. I looked above the door and found a clock, it was already five.

Weiss is gonna kill me! I thought at first. I headed out of the room and got changed. I approached the door and sneezed, it sounded like a roaring hurricane. "Bleh," I spat out into my hands. I ran over to the washroom and washed my hands of the mucus.

I stepped out before heading into my classroom, I opened the door and found Weiss staring straight into my face. "What are you doing!" She scolded. "You should be in bed!"

"Bud, the lessun," I began.

"Go, to bed!" She ordered, turning me around and pushing me back into my bed.

"Bud I'm fine-b," I protested.

"No buts!" She yelled back.

She laid me down on my bed through my squirms and tucked me in. She tied the blanket to the underside of the mattress. I began to move my arms, "Lat me gu!" I ordered.

"I'm not leaving until you fall asleep," Weiss replied.

I sighed before posing the same question from this morning, "Whu'd youb care?"

"Is it wrong to care?" She questioned very quickly.

"Nu," I began.

"Then shush!" She barked.

I laid there for what must've felt like an hour, I tried to get back into sleep but it was very difficult, it didn't help with the fact that I had a fever and that my body felt like it was dying with heat. Weiss came over to me with a moist towel; she folded it and placed it on my head. She also came back with a glass of water as well as a straw. She held the straw up to my mouth, as she urged me to drink it. I looked up at her face and she had a stern look. I gave in and drank the water from the straw.

When I finished I laid my head back as Weiss took away the cup of water and sat back down. She went away for a few moments into the classroom only to come back with a pile of books. She sat back down next to me and got to work. She was very determined to make sure that I'd get to sleep.

I felt the wet towel seep into my skin as it seemed to cool me down a bit. This eased the heat and allowed me to fall asleep.

Weiss looked at the sleeping form of Joseph; after she'd noticed he'd fallen asleep she'd decided to leave the room. While doing so she was shaking her head, idiot.

I came back again four hours later, right at the time that I would normally be seeing Neo right now, aw darn. I thought, I needed to inform the four of them that I couldn't come today. I wiggled my hand out and reached for my phone on my desk.

I struggled as the blankets tied me down, but, after several minutes of wriggling out I managed to grab my phone. Picking it up I dialled Neo's number first, I sneezed before I held up the phone to my head.

"Hello?" I heard Neo's voice.

"Hey-b, it's me," I began before sneezing again. "I-b can't make it-b tonight."

"Joseph? A-Are you okay?" Neo asked. Before I could respond I hacked out a very loud cough, "Joseph!"

"I'm fine, listen. Could you call the others and tell them that I can't make it today? Also make sure that you guys get together, our debut is in a month. Get them to practice So What, Sing Sing Sing, and our other rep as well," I told her.

"Okay!" She answered almost immediately.

"T-Thanks Neo, I really appreciate it," I thanked her before hanging up the phone.

Replacing it back on my desk I laid back, I hoped that our performance would be good but at the same time I wondered why Weiss took care of me so much. Could it be that she felt pity? No, that couldn't be, then what did she feel? She masked her emotions quite well, I'll give her that, but what is truly behind the cold face that she hides? I wondered as I laid there.

I tossed and turned trying to get back to sleep, I heard the door creak and I turned around to see what it was I saw a set of blue eyes peer through the light before it closed the door, all too hastily. I figured that it was Weiss checking up on me.

She didn't open the door for several minutes but when she did she came back in with another platter of soup. This time it was chicken noodle soup. I began to slowly undo the grip of the blanket from my waist, wriggling myself up so that I could sit up.

Weiss once again fed me the soup, I tried to convince her that I could feed myself, but she insisted on it. After she finished she checked on my temperature once more, she set me down and placed another moist towel on my head. Why go to such length? I was thinking.

"Hey-b Weiss?" I asked.

"Yes?" She answered.

"Why doob yo-b care about me-b so mub?" I asked.

"Because I do," She simply replied.

I looked at her for a few moments, she looked down at the floor and merely sighed, "I, you're my friend right? Is it wrong to help you?" She asked.

"Nobe, butb," I sighed, "Thanbs Weiss."

"You're welcome," She replied before leaving, before she closed the door she wished me good night.

"Goodb night," I replied with a small smile.

I then turned around and fell into a deep sleep. This sleep was very nice and blissful, I dreamed of blues songs from the café that we'd be performing at. It was going to be a great opportunity for the girls as they'll get to meet real Jazz musicians and greet them. I can't wait to hear the absolutely cool and relaxing blues and soft tunes that the musicians would be playing. I also couldn't wait to see Ruby's face when she hears the absolute grace of the drummer; she always seemed to be entranced whenever she heard Jazz drummers.

Yang would probably be off goofing off with Blake. Much to Blake's vocal displeasure, but she was usually the liar in those situations smiling as Yang petted her head. Lastly I wondered what Neo would be like, most of this was new to her and well, she was very shy, no doubt about that. If anything Ruby might be hitting on her, I chuckled at the thought of it, Ruby would probably be gripping Neo quite tightly after the performance, cheering her on and complimenting about how great she was. All while Neo would be blushing and saying that she wasn't that great.

I wouldn't lie; I was smiling as I was dreaming about the night a month from now. And, well, I also drooled in my sleep, but thankfully nobody would find out. I was still a young adult after all.

I woke up the next day feeling very refreshed, it seemed that much of the cold had blown over, mostly the sore throat and the constant running nose at least. All that was left was a stuffy nose and coughs. So, at least I felt that I could get up without keeling over.

I looked around the room and saw the morning lights creep in. I sat up on the bed and stretched my arms, I checked the clock and it was already six in the morning, that's odd, Weiss should already be awake by now. I thought to myself, I put on a change of clothes and checked the classroom, maybe she's already inside, I hoped.

I opened the door and expected the heiress to be sitting in her seat, ready to scold me at a moment's notice. I expected her cold annoyed voice to ring through the room as she would scold me on how late I was. Then the ever normal reaction from me would be, alright, alright. I would then look at her before sighing and returning to my desk and our lesson would begin.

Instead what I found was a gruesome sight.

Well, gruesome might be a bit harsh, but I saw Weiss bundled on the student chair. She had a white blanket over her head and she seemed to be shivering. I began to walk closer, I noticed the white blanket seemed to drape over her arm as she seemed to try and write.

I approached closer from behind her and tapped her shoulder, she turned around suddenly, causing the blanket to drop onto the floor, "Ah! Achoo!" She sneezed.

I looked at her face and I could tell that she caught my cold too, her nose was red like a cherry and seemed to be stuffy as she tried to breathe in from it. Her blue eyes were now surrounded by red from irritation, and her usual pale complexion looked even paler, dead even.

"Weiss, are you okay?" I asked, I noticed that my voice was a lot clearer now.

"I'm-b fine," She began before another sneeze occurred.

"You're not fine," I told her. "You should be resting."

"Like-b how you-b should'b been resting?" Weiss questioned.

I could see in her eyes that she wasn't letting up, I honestly didn't want to pressure her into doing anything today at all, she seemed tired enough as is. But she wasn't giving up, she was determined to have the lesson today even at the cost of her wellbeing. "Point taken," I replied with a surrendering smile.

"So-b, let-b begin," She stated.

"Did you take medicine?" I asked.

"O-b course I-b did," Weiss snapped back in return before sneezing yet again.

I sighed; I guess I'll take it easy on her for today. I sat at my desk and looked over my notes on what we accomplished yesterday. We did theory and the usual, which would be content for any musician. As I looked at the notes I forgot to include one more thing, the idea of introducing other genres, though I'm sure that Weiss herself had already known about all the other kinds of genres and had her own list that she approved.

But, this would be a nice Segway into the different types of chords that I'll be introducing in harmony. Especially if I used Jazz music as they would include intricate chords like sevenths, ninths, thirteenths and the occasional fifteenth.

I decided to look in the room to see if a music player was set up, I then looked to the side of the desk and found a small cd player. I brought it up to the desk as I searched my drawer for my collection of CDs; I found my Jazz collection and decided to open it.

"Now, we're gonna be listening to some music," I began, I saw Weiss begin to huff out a retort. "Before you go all ballistic on me, let me explain. I'm going to be introducing new chords today, and this music is going to show you the use of it."

Weiss settled down thankfully, as I was setting up I could hear her sneeze and blow her nose. I decided to put in some blues tunes. Finding the disc with a collection of Duke Ellington's blues I placed it in, and circulated to Jeep Blues.

It was a brass centric piece with rhythm section providing much of the support. Immediately when I began to play it I could see a lack of confusion on Weiss' face. Most likely she either A would find the music terrible and out right say it. Or B, she would say out right that it was terrible but secretly like it.

She did the later, "What-b is thi-b racket?" Weiss questioned, putting an irritated face on.

"It's blues music, and if you can hear the piano there should be seventh chords throughout this entire piece," I told her.

"It-b sounb so-b … uncibilized," Weiss replied.

"Well, it is a very good example, I'm sure you'll like it," I told her.

"I doub it-b," Weiss denied.

I decided to let the track play despite her protests, and sat back down. It wasn't long before I heard her tapping on her desk, despite what she said she was paying attention to it. I pressed the stop button and decided to begin the lesson.

"Alright, now that you've got an idea of some seventh chords I'm going to introduce new chords to you," I told her. I was holding a piece of chalk at the chalkboard before I turned around to face Weiss, "You know, you should listen to more blues. It's very relaxing," I told her.

She sighed in return, "I'll try."

"Good, it might make you feel better," I replied.

I proceeded on with the lesson; I did a very light course and only made Weiss exercise her mind. Since using her voice would only butcher it at this point. When we finished, Weiss began to collect her things to leave.

"Hey Weiss?" I called for her; I wanted to thank her for taking care of me the last day even if she did get sick in the process. "Thanks Weiss."

"You're-b Welcome-b," She answered with a bow.

"Also, sorry for getting you sick," I said.

"Just-b dob't do-b it again-b," Weiss said.

"Will do, and take care Weiss," I finished.

"See you-b tonight-b," She answered before leaving.

I guess I was really thankful for her, despite her cold and driven behaviour she was kind. Although she didn't want to show it, she did care about me in particular. She didn't have to do anything for me but she did and I was thankful for her. It might be my sickness influencing my mind but I think that she was actually a very kind person deep underneath her cold exterior. Though why it's hidden is unknown to me, it could have something to do with her father or something else entirely.

Either way, I was thankful for her kindness, I leaned back on my chair looking over the papers on my desk as well as my notes, I guess you're not as cold as you think you are.