Chapter 205: Heart

Sighing as she left the roof of the dorms, Pyrrha found herself leaning against the wall, her mind racing with the revelations just presented to her. Jaune, he'd cheated. Well, faked just about everything to get into Beacon. There had been this small inkling, an idea of something being wrong with him, he was by far the weakest in the entire school in both academics and combat classes. It was like he'd never fought before. Tonight, had just been enough to turn that idea, into truth.

Pyrrha didn't blame him. Shadows were basically all she had experienced growing up, she was always there in the shadows of her teachers trying to catch up to them. But Jaune, his shadows were his family, the lineage of warriors and heroes who came before. Frankly Pyrrha couldn't imagine how hard it must have been growing up as a normal person in a family like that. It would make her rip her hair out if she was anyone else.

Still, such a revelation did little to quell the frustration she was feeling with Jaune. Help. That's all she wanted to do, even now, even after learning he'd falsified his transcripts. There was something to Jaune, potential, she could see it, she was guessing Professor Ozpin saw it as well. Doubtful he or even Professor Goodwitch didn't notice falsities like those.

But, there was nothing to do. Jaune had been stern in saying 'just leave me alone.' He didn't want her help, he didn't want anyone's help. Idiot, stupid idiot. No chance he was going to get anywhere on his own, she didn't, she needed nearly a dozen teachers and nearly two decades of training to get to where she was and he was expecting to get there on his own? No, just, there was no chance.

"Oh, Jaune…" Pushing off the wall, Pyrrha turned back to the door half tempted to go in and tell him, 'no, you have no choice. I'm going to train you whether you like it or not.' All she could imagine him doing if she did was pushing her even further away than he already had and that would damage the team.

Her foot tapped a few times then stilled, nothing she could do about it now, just let him calm down and bring it up another day. Hopefully by then he'll be happy to accept her offer then. Trailing herself down the staircase and onto the upper floor of the dorms she went down another five until she got to the third floor where her room was. As she stepped out onto the landing and turned into the hall, she paused, her body shivered, and hairs went on end all across her body.

"Professor?"

Leaning against the hall with one foot extended and the other flat against the wall and with arms crossed, was Professor Evans. He was dressed in his usual attire and was smiling some unnerving type of vulpine grin. A cold sweat shot over her body that turned her palms clammy and her mind shot to what Jaune had said earlier, did the professor hear? No. NO! if he did Jaune would undoubtedly be kicked out, she couldn't let that happen, there was still time he could prove he belonged here.

"Did you hear?" she ground her teeth and pleaded he didn't. She may have believed Professor Goodwitch and Professor Ozpin knew and were ignoring him, but she didn't believe any of the other professors knew. Having just one dissenter would be rights to bringing it up to Ozpin and that would just start a massive issue where ultimately Jaune would be expelled.

"I did." That was it, that was all she needed for the wells walls to grow higher and hope for Jaune's expulsion to be assured.

"Please, sir, you can't say anything. Jaune made a mistake but he deserves to be here. He may be weak, pathetically so but he… theres something about him, he just needs time. Please, you can't tell anyo-"

Professor Evans held one hand up in a stopping motion and her voice was hitched at the back of her throat.

"I don't care. As far as I'm concerned, Jaune is a loser and a failure as a man. I've been considering what I should do about him for a while now. Getting him expelled is easy enough, make a big hubbub, call his parents tell them exactly what he's done and where he is." Pyrrha trembled, the idea of her team leader being forced to leave was unthinkable.

"What are you going to do?" she questioned, her nails digging deep into her palms threatening to rip through the skin if she wasn't unconsciously activating her aura.

The Professor chuckled and pushed off the wall to face her directly. "Who knows. I won't have him expelled, not yet if that's what you're worried about." It was a piteous sense of relief, shortlived as it was. "Doesn't mean I'm going to save him once I get to the more violent lessons I have planned for you all. He got himself into this mess, so he might as well see the truth of the matter. If he dies in the process, that's his own fault for thinking so little of this occupation."

"Stop that," Pyrrha rumbled, "he thinks highly of this profession, not little. That's why he did what he did in the first place. And you as a teacher, it is your duty to protect him. Just like you have for everyone else during your lessons. You never let anything go further than it has to, and I expect you to do just the same for Jaune."

She was stern, unmoving in her conviction.

"That changes now, Pyrrha. The longer this year goes on, the more dangerous things will become. If Jaune doesn't get a proper wake up call and leaves himself or gets his head out of his ass, he's going to die, or worse," Parc jabbed a finger into Pyrrha's chest, "he's going to get you killed."

"He won't. I know he won't."

"Do you? Do you really?" he backed away and chuckled derisively. Locking his eyes with hers Pyrrha was tempted to turn away, but she couldn't because if she did that would only prove that he's right. She couldn't let him be right.

"I do."

"Liar." The Professor hissed, "your heart is in the right place Pyrrha, but your mind, not so much. Jaune is a liability, a threat not just to yourself, but to everyone around you. A single mistake when it counts, and someone will die. So, I'm going to give you a tip. Cut Jaune off, teach him a lesson. Or wait and hope one day something will happen and he'll realize what an idiot he's been." His eyes sternly lingered on hers then shut when he turned, "now, it's getting late. Goodnight Pyrrha."

Marching into the cold lighting of the dorm, Pyrrha was left to chatter her teeth contemplatively. All his words, they were accurate. Painful. But accurate. She wanted to retort, say he's lying but that would be a lie itself. The professors form fading into the shadows left Pyrrha to slowly unclench her fists and let colour return to her fingers. Time is what she needed now, just to think things over and give Jaune the time to cool off before bringing this up to him.

Looking to the doorways of the hall she saw them still, unmoving. Who knew who had heard them, did anyone even notice? She shook those thoughts away and moved to her room and opened it with her scroll. Inside Nora was planted face first on the floor snoring as loudly as ever. Nora had a tendency of just falling asleep the moment she entered the room after lessons and getting her into bed was at the minimum a two-person job. The girl was surprisingly, yet understandably heavy for her frame. The sound of running water coming from the bathroom told her Ren was taking a shower like he normally did before settling into bed to read through a few dozen pages of whatever book he'd scrounged up this week.

Stepping carefully between the splayed appendages of Nora ensuring she didn't step on anything, Pyrrha found herself by her bedside where her pyjamas were neatly folded and ready for her to get dressed into. Another thing she could thank Ren for as he was the teams house keeper. Normally she preferred to shower much like Ren did every night, her training always tending to leave her sweaty and uncomfortable. In recent days though with the academia days rending her usual evening and night training sessions had left her with only her morning jog and exercises, and generally she showered after those to make sure she was fresh and comfortable for the coming day.

There hadn't been much activity this day, so she hadn't sweated much so as far as she or anyone else was concerned she was still clean. She'd just take an extra long shower in the morning once she got back.

Quickly dressing down and dressing up in her pair of long orange pyjama pants and a similarly coloured button up top, she sat on the edge of her bed. Glancing to Jaunes bed she ruefully mumbled.

"What am I going to do?"