Author's Note:

Guess who? Well, me, obviously. Anyways, figured out the period shit. Almost crashed out over it, but the period problem from before is gone. That sounds kinda fucked without context. That's besides the point, you can thank me later. Or never. Or now. Up to you. One last thing, welcome to actually new content! Insert confetti! The past couple chapters were just ones that had been previously posted by my friend, but hey, we did it! Anyways, from here on, I'm going to slow down on this rapid posting, and actually get to work on the other chapters. Enough rambling though, let's do this.

As Tuesday morning rolls around I feel half decent. I can't feel my bones or my own mortality anymore, and I think I can get through the day without an energy drink, so hey, progress! I'm still going to drink one, but still, the sentiment is there.

After I go through my morning routine of brushing my teeth, getting dressed, and responding to any texts, I leave my room. Thankfully, the walk to the cafeteria is yet again uneventful. However, when I get closer to the cafeteria, I pass by some students who are not so discreetly mumbling about an argument between two of the first years. I just fucking wonder which two dipshits they could be referring to…

Upon pushing open the doors to the cafeteria, I see my friends sitting in their usual places, and decide to join them. They're midway through a conversation, so I stay silent while trying to get the gist of it. To be specific, Pyrrha's in the middle of speaking to Weiss, "…hard on you. I'm sure you'll warm up to him eventually. He's a good guy, really."

Weiss scoffs and quickly replies, "He's been a jerk to me since day one. I don't owe him anything! He might as well kiss my ass for all I care!"

Yang snickers, before speaking in a sing-song voice, "Don't test fate, he might take that as an invitation…"

Lukas' voice echos out from the table over, where he was talking with someone I can't quite see, "Excuse me!?"

"Guys, guys, please calm down!" Ruby says, attempting to keep the peace like always.

Yeah, as expected they're talking about how Lukas and Weiss are at each other's throats, and Ruby's playing peacekeeper. Ruby's face has anxiety painted all over it, and I'm gradually losing my already extremely limited patience with Lukas and Weiss.

Blake sits down, takes a sip from a cup of tea, and turns to face me. I notice her bow twitch after we make eye contact. It's honestly so damn adorable when that kind of happens, to the point where the current situation slips my mind. "Well, you look better this morning. Did you finally go to bed at a decent hour, or am I asking for too much?" she says with a soft smile.

After rolling my eyes I respond, "Not even a good morning?"

She smirks over her glass, "It isn't like you deserve one."

I roll my eyes again, "Damn, ok, love you too."

We both turn back to the conversation, with her sipping the tea, and me taking occasional sips of an energy drink.

Weiss half shouts, presumably after a little back and forth with Lukas that I didn't bother to tune in to, "You would be privileged to even get that close to me, you street rat!" She's is burning with anger and pride. Probably some embarrassment too, truth be told.

"Don't make me give you another nosebleed, Snowflake." says Lukas, the smile gone from his face.

I decide to intervene, "Alright, alright, no. I'm not putting up with your fucken' shit today. You have two choices, either you two get a room, or cut it the fuck out. Some of us are trying to make it to Port's class without having a mental breakdown, y'know."

Lukas and Weiss both look equally appalled about my 'get a room' comment, but who knows? Maybe they have soft spots for each other that their egos refuse to let them show. Or maybe I'm just hopeful for an enemies to lovers type ordeal.

Silence befalls the table, thank goodness. I take a breath, and cool off for a moment. Everyone's looking a little awkward, also trying to cool off, or they're Jade. Jade is starting off into space, and is either pondering the theoretical implications of her own mortality, the stereotypical act of her being a rabbit faunus and eating carrots, or nothing. I'm rather inclined to believe it's the third based on the vacant look on her face.

Jaune taps Jade on the shoulder and speaks in a concerned manner, "Uhh, Jade? Are you ok?"

Jade snaps out of whatever trance she was under, and her voice fills the room, "Hello, friend Jaune! I'm doing well!" She then looks around the table, noticing the current atmosphere, and speaks in a less chipper tone, "Uh, friends? What's wrong?"

I open my mouth to inform her on the situation, but knowing I was going to say something snarky, stupid, or both, Blake quickly puts her hand over my mouth and explains the situation, "Lukas and Weiss got into another fight. Everyone's a little tense about it, but we'll be ok."

Now, me being the cheeky bastard that I am, I open my mouth to attempt to bite Blake's hand. She immediately withdraws it, glares at me, and smacks my shoulder.

"No." she scolds, trying not to smile.

After attempting and failing to force a pout without snickering, I go back to leaning on my hand. Ruby giggles a bit, then checks her scroll, and stands up. I check my own scroll, and it's around 7:55. "Alright, well, we should probably get to class. I wouldn't want anyone to be late, alright?" a much more relaxed looking Ruby says. I really need to figure out how she manages to destress so quickly. I mean, hell, I can decompress somewhat quickly, but never that fast.

Everyone gets up and leaves, and as Blake finishes the last sip of her tea, I pat her shoulder. "I'll see you later, alright?" I say, letting my hand fall back to its resting position against my leg.

She smiles up at me and nods, "See you later."

I make the decision to accompany Lukas on the walk to class, since we both have Ooblek first period. I've always enjoyed history, being a massive sucker for it, so I'm not going to complain too much about it being early in the morning. Could be math or something.

"So…what was that about?" I inquire.

Lukas doesn't sound the least bit apologetic, "She was being stuck up, so I put her in her place."

"Really now? Because it looks like you both lost this time." I say between glances at my scroll.

Lukas shrugs while taking a sip of his coffee. We spend the rest of the walk in silence. Silence, minus the students chattering. From people trying to promote their music, cracking jokes with friends, and of course, the obligatory gossip. Apparently, that Cardin Winchester asshat is back on his bullshit. All I'm saying is, if he does something to any of my friends, and I hear about it, they're going to be lucky if there's enough ashes left of that birdbrain to scoop into an urn.

Once in class, we take our usual seats, and I put my head down. The great thing about today is that Blake isn't in this history at this hour, so she can't get on my ass about sleeping in class. I know she only does it because she cares, but I'd rather not worry her with my shitty life choices. I still remember the first time she said, "I love you." My immediate response wasn't "I love you too." No, it was "Why would you do that to yourself?" That's not what I said, obviously, but it was the first though that ran through my head before I responded.

With my head down, I listen to a mixture of Ooblek's lecture, and random students talking. After a bit, I just put in my earbuds and drown everything out. I make a mental note to grab a cup of tea or coffee to wake myself up at lunch, but keep my head down for the time being.

After a few minutes of failing to sleep, I pick my head back up. I look around the class, while my right eye is slightly blurry. I feel a hand tap my shoulder, and turn to see Ruby. She looks a bit worried, and I take out an earbud.

"Yeah?" I ask, my voice slightly confused.

Ruby asks me, "Are you ok?"

I give her a small nod, "Just a bit tired. It's nothing serious."

She ponders this for a moment before continuing, "Well, maybe try going back to sleep?"

Guess she thought I had managed to sleep in the first place. I shrug and respond, "I've been trying, but I can't. That energy drink I had earlier must not have worn off yet."

"Hmm… it has only been half an hour or so. Anyways, I hope you feel better?" she uncertainly says,

"Thanks, Rubes." I smile a bit.

Ruby gives me a slightly worried smile and turns back to the lecture. As I put my earbud back in, I think about her worried look, and it makes me feel a little bad, but I shake it off as best as I can. Class continues to pass on at unbelievably slow speeds, but I just keep listening to music. Once the nearly two hour period is up, I grab my belongings, and head to professor Port's class.

Once again taking my usual seat, I yawn a bit, and listen as Port goes on and on about his "good old days." It's entertaining enough, but it's also enough to make me want to fall asleep. His voice drones on and on, and my eyelids feel heavier and heavier. At this point, the only thing remaining of that energy drink is a minuscule stomach ache. And as I said, very minuscule.

Just as I start to feel sleep overtake me, and my eyes become half lidded, I hear Yang's voice to my left, "Hey, can you look at me real quick?"

I do so, not even bothering to ask why.

"That's neat, your eyes did turn grey." she says.

"Huh?"

"Blake was telling me how she noticed your eyes have been turning grey instead of blue over the past few weeks. Wanted to see for myself. They're kind of pretty."

She beams at me as she tells me this, and I don't really know how to respond. I get a little curious the more I dwell on it. "Take a picture if you don't mind, I want to see." I say.

Yang quickly produces her scroll, and takes a photo, with the flash on. To anyone who doesn't know, blue, and especially grey eyes are extremely sensitive to light. I recoil, and put my arm over my eyes.

"Gah! Damn!" I exclaim.

"Shit, sorry! I didn't mean to!" explains Yang.

I shake my head and wave off her apology. It wasn't really that bad, so I don't want her to get caught up over it. "It's fine, really... Anyways, how did the picture come out?"

With that, she shows me her scroll, and sure enough, my eyes look more grey than blue. It's neat, I guess. Matter of fact, I remember reading somewhere that eyes can turn grey from genetics, diseases, trauma, or medications. Take your pick at whatever of those could be the culprit, or hell, maybe it's all of them. Wouldn't surprise me in the slightest.

I hand her her scroll back, and she slips it back into her pocket. Seemingly having gotten what she wanted, she turns back to face the front, and I do the same.

Once I've started to give in to the sweet call of sleep and laid my head down, I hear Yang once again, "Aww, look who's exhausted! Guessing you still haven't caught up on your sleep. When are you ever going to take Blake's advice?"

My voice is low and tired, "Please, don't tell her I stayed up late. I'm genuinely begging you, Yang, just don't. She doesn't need to be worrying about me."

Either out of pity or kindness, she agrees not to, "Alright, alright, fine. I won't tell Miss Dark and Brooding that her 'emotionally action packed' other half is refusing to sleep at an acceptable time again."

I'm rendered speechless, not because I'm offended, but because I'm impressed. I mean, what the fuck do you even say to that in response? Anyways, remember how I said I went to bed at a decent time? Yeah, I… kind of lied? To be fair, I went to sleep at two in the morning, which is good for me, so I technically told the truth. Blake would still be pissed to know I had stayed up past midnight, though. I just give Yang a slight nod, and go to sleep.

So. This is the shortest chapter out of all of the ones I've written so far. Yeah, it's all up from here, don't worry. Honestly, thanks for even getting this far. I'd give you a cookie, or kiss you, or whatever else (no not that) if it was feasible. It's not though, but hey, you have this message, so that's something, yeah? I'll see you guys next time, assuming I don't get hit by a bus or something.