Chapter 7: Hollow Men

"Many men are broken in spirit because of bitterness."

Block. Parry. Dodge. His eyes tried to lock onto Dove's blade—a mistake, as Dove's fist hit him across the jaw while he was looking away. Robin was knocked onto his ass. The scorecard was 14-0 in Dove's favor.

Dove offered a hand to help him up, but he ignored it as he dragged himself to his feet. He couldn't stall, not now. His hand grabbed his sword off of the ground, and he entered into a basic stance.

"Again." He spoke.

"Are you sure? We have class soon." Dove's face radiated concern, which sent his blood boiling.

"Again!" He snapped.

The two charged, not three minutes later. 15-0.

-2-

"Mr. Dubois!" A voice called out, causing Robin to jolt upright.

Shit, he had fallen asleep in class again. Doctor Oobleck didn't look happy, but he cautiously spoke anyway. "Yes, sir?"

"Would you care to answer my question?" Oobleck spoke unnaturally slowly for the usually fast-paced man. This wasn't going to end well.

"What was the question, sir?" Robin cringed as he spoke, drawing laughter from other classmates.

A glance to his left reveals Team RWBY staring daggers at him, minus Blake, who looked away. He thought they dealt with their troubles, what was their problem.

Oobleck's sigh stopped him from thinking further about it. "Perhaps considering wasting less time in Vale and more time properly preparing for class. See me at the end of the lecture; there will be additional readings for you."

Robin could only sigh and slump into his chair.

-3-

Lunch was shit, but when wasn't it. Robin poked away at his food, barely in the mood to eat. Today had been unnaturally shit so far, but that's how some days went. At least he hasn't had to deal with someone coming up to lecture or yell at him yet.

He felt something wet hit the back of his head with a thwack.

His hand reached up to grab whatever it was that hit him and came away to reveal a fucking spitball. What were they in middle school still?

Robin turned around, intent on finding out who did it. He was greeted with the sight of Nora whistling loudly, like some fuckin cartoon character. A brief glance at the table reveals a few shakes of disapproval, but no one actually acting to stop it.

Fucking typical. It's not like he could do anything about it, not with Blondie over there practically begging him to give her a reason to beat his face in.

-4-

Detention was a breath of fresh air compared to the rest of the day—no gremlins running around doing their damndest to make his life that much worse. No glares, no staring. Well, outside of Goodwitch's, but that was to be expected.

By the time it ended, it was already late. A good thing; it meant that he could probably just slink back to his dorm without his team even being aware. God knows they meant well most of the time, but it didn't make it easier to deal with them. So he wandered through the halls, tired to his very bones from this day. Not just the day but the whole past few weeks.

His path was interrupted by the sudden presence of the blonde who had been staring daggers at him all day. Violet eyes that were still glaring at him.

Robin can only sigh at her presence. "Goddamnit."

Was this going to become a regular thing? Just getting ambushed by one of these assholes. It had been exhausting the first time, and he was sure it would be this time. Tired eyes tracked her as she went to speak, but he held up a hand.

"Can we just not? I can guess why you are here. Spare the verbal or physical lashing for tomorrow at least." His posture was slouched slightly, which had become more common in the past few days.

"Nope!" Yang said, popping the p, which obnoxiously forced cheer.

Something inside of him tugged at her speaking, her attitude, her mere presence. His gut rolled with a mix of anger and exhaustion. He already knew how this was going to go; why waste time waiting for her to even start? Why let her have the damn satisfaction?

He spoke without even thinking. "Listen, I get what you're doing—cat and mouse thing. Beast and the Harlot act you got going on like a certain Babylonian broad of ill-repute. But I can take one look and figure out how it be." He vaguely gestured at her, ignoring the forced cheer falling off her face, replaced by just anger. "White flesh perfect and unblemished. Free from scars, burns, twists, and blades. Joints perfectly aligned, no broken noses, no cracked fingers, nothing to blemish you. Your poise–angry, annoyed. Nothing I ain't seen before."

He paused for a long moment, evenly meeting her glare with his own. "Inside, though? I reckon that's the place the scars stay. I think that inside, you're ugly, ugly like me."

She scoffed. "I didn't come here to start shit asshole. You fucked with my partner, I came to settle the matter."

"Shit was already fucking settled. There ain't no reason for me to sit here and take any shit from you. You got a grocery list of problems about two dozen miles long."

"Fuck you, asshole!" She shouted out, "You don't know the first thing about me."

"Oh, I don't? I don't know shit? Wanna gamble on that?" He grinned wildly, "Let's take a gander then; you got parental issues like every fucking person at this school. You always wanna be there or be square, and you get so fuckin pissed when it doesn't work out. God, I wish I had that fucking stupid energy you use to blow the shit out of stuff. I don't. Congrats. Hope you don't choke to death on your own moral grandstanding, miss knuckle dragger."

She stood across from him, every muscle locked. Rage was evident on her face. "I'm gonna give you the space of three breaths to shut up and sit down."

For a moment, he had a brief attack of self-awareness. That what he's doing is a terrible idea for his own health and that he shouldn't give her more reasons to make his life worse. He feels his muscles straining as she shouts, as she got angry. This rage is new; it's different. He hasn't felt like this since… since he landed in this shitheap in the first place.

"Has anyone ever told you," he said slowly, evenly, "that your mouth is too wide for your face? And that it seems to want to write it a check that ya ass can't cash. Go wherever your wind blows. I hate where I stand. But I don't reckon you got the answer. You got your own truth. And I won't stand in the way of the polite fiction you use to rationalize your daily bullshit." His words come out forced. He's trying to egg her on. To make it worse, somehow.

It worked; he didn't even see the fist fly toward his face till it had already landed. A sickening crunch filled the air as his nose twisted in a way it certainly shouldn't be. Aura flooded into his body as he forced his eyes open just in time to see the second punch sailing toward him. He managed a sloppy block, raising his arm in defense. However, he had left himself open as another hit sailed toward his gut.

He never really stood a chance. He could barely hold his own while armed and armored. Against an opponent that specialized in fist fighting? He had lost the moment he opened his mouth and started talking shit. The only conscious thought he's able to get through his head as he's thrown through the ringer is, yeah, I probably deserve this one.

Then his aura snapped. It shattered like a glass plane thrown from the top of a skyscraper; his entire body, his very being, screamed out. His blood boiled in his veins. At least that's what it felt like as he collapsed to the ground, every ounce of fight forced from his body.

A wiser man would have called it quits. A better man would have apologized. Robin was neither of those things. He gathered every bleeding muscle, every torn tendon, and slowly tried to force himself upright. If there was one thing Dove had taught him, it was every time you got hit, every time you went down. You get back up. So Robin got back up. Blood spilled from his nose as he forced a wide grin—blood on his dentals.

"That all you got?" He spread his hands out wide. It wasn't; a fist sailed toward his face, and there was no earthly way for Robin to block it. One moment, he stood, arms wide; the next, he was on the floor. Entire being exhausted.

Part of his mind vaguely registered a mix of shame, horror, and rage on her face as she stood over him and then very quickly ran off. The rest of him wondered when the floor got so comfortable.

He didn't know how long he laid there, heaving in breaths of air. His left eye began to puff up, making it nearly impossible to see out of. But eventually, he forced himself to his feet, leaning off the wall as he slowly limped back to his dorm.

It took him far longer than it usually would, and he was sure he looked like he just picked a fight with a bear, which wasn't far off from the truth, really. But eventually, he stumbled into his dorm room. Where his team was, for some god-forsaken reason, still awake—playing some stupid video game together.

His appearance caused everyone to still, the game entirely forgotten. Sky is the one that spoke first. "What the fuck happened to you?"

Robin walked over and then collapsed in his chair. "You should see the other guy." He spoke with a bravado he didn't really feel.

Eventually, Cardin snapped to attention. "Dove, there is a first aid kit under the sink; go grab it. Sky, get me a towel and some water." The two ran off, and Cardin approached him.

Cardin took a moment, thinking something over before he spoke, slowly and seriously. "Who did this to you?"

Robin groaned. "Everyone. Cardin… you can't fight the world."

"The fuck you mean everyone-" Cardin's voice rose.

Robin cut him off. "Everyone. The entire school. I don't care. It's over. I don't live my life for those fuckers."

Cardin went silent, and so did Robin—no more energy left to even talk.

A good man shouldn't be hated. It shouldn't bother him; he knew he wasn't a good man. He made his peace with it in a way. But on some level, as he sits there, he can't help but let it eat at him. A better man wouldn't have ended up in this position. A better man wouldn't have wound up Yang.

Robin was not a better man.

Note: Nother chapter, out way earlier than I thought it'd be, but this one sorta just clicked. So hope y'all enjoy, call out any errors, and have a wonderful day.