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Weiss POV

He was late.

My eyes panned over the rest of the room, lingering for a moment on Blake and Pyrrha's sleeping forms before they eventually settled on Jaune's empty bed again. If Blake was already back from their patrol, then Jaune should be as well.

Out of all four of us, Blake was perhaps the most fanatic about stopping the White Fang. The irony wasn't lost on me, that out of a Faunus and a Schnee, the Faunus was the more eager to put an end to the extremist organisation.

'Calm down. He's probably just playing guitar or something.'

Yeah, that must be it. I wasn't worried in the slightest.

Click

The sound of the door opening drew my eyes towards it.

"You look like shit."

And it was true. He was a mess. His hair was dirty and matted with sweat, while his skin had a greasy sheen that only layers and layers of dried sweat could give you. His clothes were torn in places, though none of the tears looked like they came from attacks. Just little rips from getting caught on branches and the like while fighting.

Regardless of how true a statement I had made, I was fully prepared for the comeback. So, prepared in fact, that I completely missed it when Jaune just walked into the bathroom without saying a word.

That honestly worried me more than any tardiness on his part.

Seconds later, the rush of water from the shower filtered through the door.

Something was wrong. I didn't know what had happened, or even how serious it was. One thing was for certain, though, I would get to the bottom of it. So, I sat and waited for the idiot to come back out. And when he did, well, I would get him to talk, whether he wanted to or not.

It didn't take all that long for the shower to cut off again. Not even ten minutes, had it been me, I might have been sat waiting for a lot longer. Perfection took time after all. And then the door creaked open shortly after, a few wisps of steam slipping out along the ground as Jaune walked through it.

He looked a little better now, his hair was a little damp and some of the locks clung to his forehead, but it was clean at least. He wore his Beacon uniform as well, and I could find no fault in it. And yet, there were still indicators that something was off. His skin, for one, was pale. I hadn't been able to see it, covered in dirt as it had been before, but after the shower, it was plain as day.

But the most glaring difference of all were his eyes. Jaune had blue eyes, but unlike her own pale orbs, they were a deep, almost sapphire colour. And until now, they had always seemed so focused. No matter what was happening. Whether they were playing a silly boardgame, studying, in class or even in the middle of a fight, his eyes always held a sort of focus that told you the boy was alert.

And now it was missing. Replaced by an odd vacancy as the boy stared but did not see.

"Jaune?"

When he didn't respond, I snapped my fingers in front of him. That, at least, seemed to get a reaction.

"Weiss?" He said, his eyes drifting over to mine from where they'd been focused on my outstretched hand. "I might look dapper in my uniform, but I'm not a butler. Get your own coffee."

I narrowed my eyes at him. Not because he insinuated that I was too spoiled to go and fetch my own coffee. As if the idiot would even know how to make a proper cup of coffee. It was more because the jab was weak. As much as I hated to admit that the blond was good at anything, you would have to be blind to miss his expertise at annoying people.

"As if I would trust you to prepare anything fit for human consumption."

"Hmm."

That was it? No witty comeback, no juvenile jest trying to rile me up. Just a hum of acknowledgement as he sat down and began to tie his laces.

"What's wrong?"

He looked up at me as he idly tied the knot and raised a brow.

"What?"

"What. Is. Wrong. With. You. Today?" I resisted the urge to grind my teeth together. Did I really need to spell it out for him?

"Nothing's wrong Weiss." He said, standing from his bed. He turned away from me and grabbed his backpack from where it rested on the carpeted floor.

"You don't seriously expect me to believe that drivel, do you?"

He opened the door and stepped out into the hallway, craning his head back to look me in the eye.

"I don't know what to tell you, I'm fine." He said, shrugging. "I'm going to go grab breakfast. See you there?"

"Yeah, see you there."

The door closed with a soft click of the lock. My eyes remained locked on to the spot where Jaune's head had been not moments before. Something was wrong, no matter what falsehoods he was trying to make me believe. What falsehoods he might even be trying to make himself believe.

I was going to get to the bottom of this.

And a Schnee never fails.

"Will Yang Xiao-Long and Jaune Arc please make their way down to the arena?"

It was the first class of the day, and I was glad that it was combat. I was even happier that I was fighting first. Already, I could hear the soft rush of blood in my ears. It was a pleasant alternative to the silence I'd spent most of my morning in after the forest.

I looked to my left and met the blazing eyes of my fellow blonde. The girl looked beyond excited, and I had to admit that I felt the same. The last time I had fought the brawler, it had been pretty close, and I had mostly won because I'd managed to avoid her semblance for most of the fight.

Only moments later, we faced each other in the arena, her pearly whites gleaming as she grinned at me. Yang didn't say anything while Ms. Goodwitch repeated the sparring rules again, but I tuned her out. The rules were always the same, with the only exception being people who used explosives, which Ms. Goodwitch had banned. From the way Yang's amethyst orbs were boring a hole in my own, I figured that she was doing much the same.

"3… 2… 1… Begin!"

As the countdown signalled the fight's start, everything but Yang fell away. My eyes sharpened on the brawler's form as Ruby and Nora's cheering was drowned out by the loud Thump-Thump of the war drums in my ears.

And then, with a blast of Ember Celica, Yang was upon me.

Instinctively, my shield came up, a black sheen over its surface as it blocked her first blow. I didn't wait for the second, simply leaning to the left to avoid the straight she sent at my nose. As the buckshot detonated not an inch from my ear, Crocea Mors tagged Yang in the side, crackling with lightning as it grated on her aura.

She ignored the light blow entirely, simply dropping down a couple of inches with a vicious uppercut aimed at my chin. I barely got my shield into position to block the hit. This time, I didn't dodge the follow-up, and I did my best to interrupt her combination entirely, pushing forward in a shield bash that took her off balance as I took a couple of steps back.

A glance at the aura meters showed me that even with me using some aura to power the dust in my sword, and to activate Chitin Shield, I had still won the exchange by a wide margin. While I had lost only 5% or so, she had lost more than double that, and none of my hits had been hard enough to trigger her semblance.

"Oh no, no, no. We're not playing this game again."

And then she did something I'd never even thought of. She put a fist to her exposed stomach, took a deep breath and then… BANG! She fired Ember Celica at herself, taking almost a fifth of her aura with it, but judging from the grin that split her face from ear to ear, she didn't mind.

Crimson red eyes met ocean blue, and then she was upon me again, her gauntlets blazing as bright as her hair.

I didn't have time to think.

I leaned back to avoid a punch, but I didn't escape the buckshot that slammed into my forehead, taking a chunk of my aura with it. Meanwhile, my shield came up to block the second strike, a left hook that might just have sent me flying out of the arena if its impact hadn't been negated by Chitin Shield. Judging by the tremor it sent through my arm when it made contact, it very well could have.

The smell of ozone entered my nose as I repositioned my shield to take another hit while I brought Crocea Mors into position to parry the next punch. Yang was faster than I'd thought, and the hit still slammed into my shoulder, knocking me off balance. I didn't waste any time getting back up.

Good thing, too, because Yang was already on me again.

I knocked her opening jab off course before quickly slamming my shield forward, straight into the cross she had been about to send at my face. The blow unbalanced her long enough for me to get a hit in, but I was too close to do anything with Crocea Mors. So, I took a risk.

I dropped Crocea Mors almost the instant my shield hit her fist before I took a page out of Yang's book, and I punched her in the face. Lightning quick, I reached down and grabbed my sword out of the air before it could fall completely. I spun with the motion, generally a bad idea in a fight, but she had little time to take advantage of the situation as her footing was all but gone.

I finished my spin by sending the edge of my shield flying at Yang's face, ready to end the fight. At least, that was the plan. She had recovered quickly, and by the time I brought my shield around, she had already ducked it and chambered her own hit. I was totally unprepared for the uppercut that slammed into my chin, snapping my head back forcefully, despite my aura.

I brought Crocea Mors forward in an awkward stab, but I wasn't trying to hit her. Instead, I pumped the blade full of aura. I had prepped the area already, letting the dust crystal heat up and ionize the air around us throughout the fight. Yang being on fire hadn't hurt either, so I was fully ready to unleash the dust attack.

Yet, Yang was already upon me, a fist ready to knock my head off. Her fist hit me in the jaw just as I was about to launch the attack. It had enough force behind it that I left the floor entirely. In flight, I tried to unleash the lightning bolt in full, but her blow had launched me too far, or maybe I had lost control due to the impact, I couldn't be sure, but the bolt that left my sword was a pale imitation of what I had sent out just the day before.

It struck, but the lightning fizzled on her aura as it connected, the energy dispersed.

"Winner, Yang Xiao-Long!"

I lay there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling in disbelief, but a glance at the aura meters confirmed it. I had fallen below 30%, either the aura I'd used to fuel my attack or the hit itself had taken me below, but one thing was for certain. I had lost.

And yet, as Yang walked over, sticking a hand out to pull me up, I couldn't help but grin back at her.

"Good fight, Vomit Boy."

"Good fight."

Showing Janue's mindset right now is a bit difficult to be honest. Lots of stuff going on in his head, and he knows nothing about it. I hope I'm conveying how he's feeling well, but of course, I'd love to hear what you all think.

Anyways, have a good one!

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