[6/11 (Wednesday) - Morning]
[Beacon Academy — Dorm Room]
Flicking open his Scroll, Clerval glanced at the time and date before snapping it shut with a smooth flick.
It had been a week since Cardin learned the truth about Jaune's forged transcripts. Ever since then, Jaune had noticeably distanced himself from both Team Ruby and Team Juniper, often disappearing before anyone could properly approach him.
He still hadn't found the right opportunity to confront him about it.
... Tomorrow was the trip to Forever Fall.
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[6/11 (Wednesday) - Afternoon]
[Beacon Academy — Classroom]
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"Remember, everyone! Your final examinations for this semester are rapidly approaching!" Professor Oobleck announced as students began funneling out of his class after the lecture ended.
"Please review both your notes and our previous lectures thoroughly! Examinations shall be held during the final week of the semester—Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday—with the subjects being Combat, Grimm Studies, and History, respectively!"
He suddenly paused, scanning the remaining students through the glare of his glasses.
"I expect every one of you to achieve at minimum a high B in History. Supplementary classes shall be considered for anyone scoring lower. Good day!"
With that said, Professor Oobleck blurred past the crowd and disappeared through the classroom doors with his belongings in tow.
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[6/11 (Wednesday) - Evening]
[Beacon Academy — Dorm Room]
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[Conversation with: PYRRHA NIKOS (Online)]
[Pyrrha: There are some circumstances that have made Jaune... indisposed, as of late.]
[Pyrrha: While I will not be the one to explain it in detail... I'm worried about him.]
[Pyrrha: He hasn't been sleeping in our dorm room for two days in a row now.]
[Pyrrha: Should I confront him about it?]
[Pyrrha: Actually... No. I won't.]
[Pyrrha: I trust that he will come back to the team.]
[Clerval: He will.]
[Clerval has sent a sticker of an ash-blond boy patting an ancient Mistralian soldier on the shoulder.]
[Pyrrha: Thank you.]
[Pyrrha: For letting me rant and all that.]
[Pyrrha: Sorry about that.]
[Pyrrha: Goodnight! See you tomorrow!]
[Pyrrha has sent a sticker of an ancient Mistralian soldier sleeping rigidly in a bed.]
[Clerval has sent a sticker of an ash-blond boy sleeping in a bed without a care.]
[PYRRHA NIKOS has gone offline.]
Just as he was about to head to bed early in preparation for tomorrow's trip, Clerval paused with his hand hovering over the switch that controlled the dorm's lights and cooling.
Jaune and Ruby—he recognized them almost immediately after a brief pause. Quietly, he stepped toward the door and glanced through the peephole.
"—lock yourself out again?"
"Oh! Uh, nope." Jaune fumbled for his Scroll before awkwardly holding it up. "Heh... got it!"
Ruby stared at him for a moment, unconvinced.
"So," she asked, folding her arms, "where have you been lately?"
"I, uh..."
Jaune glanced off to the side, hesitating before finally answering.
"I… messed up. I did something really stupid that I shouldn't have done. And now Cardin has me on a leash, and Pyrrha won't even talk to me." His voice lowered as he turned away with a frustrated sigh, hands settling on his hips. "I'm starting to think coming to this school was a bad idea..."
Jaune slumped against the door to his dorm room.
Then Jaune quietly admitted the thought he'd clearly been carrying for days.
"I'm a failure."
"... Nope."
"—Nope?"
Jaune lifted his head slightly to look at her.
"Nope," Ruby repeated firmly as she crouched down until they were eye-level.
"You're a leader now, Jaune. You're not allowed to be a failure."
"But..." Jaune hesitated. "What if I'm a failure at being a leader?"
"Mmmmm…" Ruby hummed thoughtfully, and she shook her head again.
"Nope."
That finally earned a small chuckle out of him as Ruby slid down to sit beside him against the hallway wall.
"You know," Jaune admitted quietly, "You're not exactly the easiest person to talk to about this stuff. You've already done way more as a leader than I have... and you're younger than me."
"Nope!" Ruby replied again with an easy smile.
"Jaune, maybe you were a failure when you were a kid... and maybe you were even a failure the first day we met."
Each blunt statement made Jaune sink a little further against the door behind him, but Ruby continued anyway.
"But you can't be one now," she said, her expression turning serious. "You know why?"
Jaune tried to think of an answer before eventually shaking his head weakly.
"Uhhm..."
"Because it's not just about you anymore."
Ruby rested her arms on her knees as she looked ahead.
"You've got a team now, Jaune. We both do. And if we fail, then we're dragging everyone down with us."
"I don't want that to happen. And I don't think you do either."
"We have to put our teammates first... and ourselves second." She turned back toward him with a small, sincere smile. "Your team deserves a great leader, Jaune. And I think that person can be you."
With that said, Ruby pushed herself back onto her feet and stepped toward her dorm room.
"Goodnight, Jaune."
... Very mature of her, he admitted. He brought out his Scroll, moving away from the door as he typed to her.
[Conversation with: RUBY ROSE (Online)]
[Clerval: That was nice.]
[Ruby: You were listening?!]
[Ruby: Ah.]
[Ruby: Your room was literally right in front of where we were...]
[Ruby has sent a sticker of a red-hooded girl hiding her face behind her cloak in embarrassment.]
[Ruby: ...Did I do okay?]
[Ruby: I kinda just said whatever popped into my head.]
[Clerval: Very mature.]
[Clerval: Well said.]
A few seconds passed before the typing notification appeared almost immediately.
[Ruby: Hehe, thanks!]
[Ruby: typing...]
[Ruby: Yeesh! That was Weiss yelling for me to go to bed. Gotta go, goodnight!]
[RUBY ROSE has gone offline.]
Clerval stared at the final message for a brief moment before typing out his own reply anyway.
[Clerval: ... Goodnight.]
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NEXT UPDATE: 10 June, Wednesday*
A/N*: I may be very busy next week, but I'll do my best to post!
P.S. I'll have a character sheet of Clerval once Volume 1 ends that shows all his social stats and Personas that he currently has.
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