The vast Beacon Ballroom had finally quieted, filled only with the soft sounds of restless students settling into their sleeping bags. Jaune was lying down, pretending to sleep, when a silent shadow fell over him.
He opened his eyes to see the girl he'd playfully called 'Kitty' standing there, her expression guarded but intense.
She moved with an instinctive quietness that transcended a normal human's ability.
"Who are you?"
The girl finally spoke, her voice a low, melodic whisper that cut through the silence.
Jaune sat up, not startled, but a little surprised she'd risked the conversation.
"My name is Jaune Arc. I'm sorry that I haven't properly introduced myself to you. I saw that you didn't seem to want to speak with anyone earlier, so I didn't push."
The girl's pale, amber eyes bored into his, searching for any flicker of deceit.
She was sizing him up, judging his honesty.
"Then why did you call me Kitty? You shouldn't know that I am a Faunus."
Her question was a challenge, delivered with quiet intensity.
She deemed his introduction to be honest, but she wanted to know why he had seen through her careful disguise.
"I saw your bow twitch a little when Yang was shouting, and you just... reminded me of a cat, so I thought you were a Cat Faunus. I didn't mean anything rude or intrusive by it,"
Jaune explained, genuinely regretful that he had inadvertently exposed her secret.
He sighed internally. He really should mind his speech more.
The girl's expression softened slightly, realizing her confrontation had been unwarranted.
She looked down for a moment, then backed up at him.
"I apologize. That was rude of me."
"And what is your name?"
Jaune asked, giving her the chance to introduce herself properly now that he had been entirely forthright.
"My name is Blake, Blake Belladonna,"
She replied, her voice remaining low.
With the formality satisfied, she gave a short, curt nod and moved back to her spot, settling down instantly and continuing to read her book as if the intense conversation had never happened.
Jaune shook his head, learning a vital lesson in subtlety.
He went back to sleep and waited for the next morning to come.
The next morning, everything went the same as in his previous life.
Students were milling about, preparing for the initiation.
Jaune saw Weiss talking with a tall, red-haired girl with a spear—a girl who was, at that point, still a stranger to Weiss.
Jaune decided to intervene again, wanting to avoid the initial frosty interaction between them.
"You are at it again? Why do you always trouble people around you?"
Jaune asked, walking up to Weiss and cutting across her increasingly condescending tone.
"What?"
Weiss was genuinely surprised to see Jaune, especially after he had abruptly walked away from her the day before.
"Are you talking about me? What do you mean I always trouble people around!"
Weiss became angry, her voice rising again.
"Do you know who I am?"
She demanded, resorting to her haughty defense mechanism.
"Why should I know about you? I'm Jaune Arc, by the way. Oh, wait, I do know someone who has the same surname as you. Do you know Pearl Schnee?"
The effect of that name was instantaneous and devastating. Weiss's anger drained away, replaced by profound shock and fear.
"Pearl…"
Weiss whispered, her eyes wide.
"Where did you hear that name from! And where is she! She is my long-lost cousin! We thought she and her family were gone forever!"
Weiss gripped his arm, acting completely different from her usual, composed self; she was desperate, pleading with him.
"Well, I know where she is, but I will not tell you where exactly she is until I get permission from her,"
Jaune stated firmly.
He had to protect the sweet girl from potentially being exploited or overwhelmed by her.
Weiss understood the protection of privacy.
She quickly let go of him, her mind already racing.
"I'll give you my number, Jaune Arc. When you get permission from Pearl, please, let me know immediately."
Weiss then turned and hurried away, completely forgetting the girl she was talking to.
Jaune turned to the bewildered girl standing alone.
"Hi, umm. Are you Pyrrha? I remember you from my favorite cereal,"
Jaune said, trying to recall anything about her.
Pyrrha was confused at first, then a slow realization dawned.
She used to be the face of a certain brand of cereal—though that was a marketing campaign long ago.
"Yes, I am Pyrrha Nikos,"
She said, her voice warm.
"And do you know anything more about me?"
She asked, a familiar, resigned sadness creeping into her voice.
Jaune tried to think very hard, straining his memories of the original timeline.
"Umm, you are a champion of something. A big fighting tournament, right? Sorry, but I don't remember much about it."
Jaune sighed.
His memories of that traumatic time weren't good, so he didn't remember the details of her fame.
He thought that Pyrrha might be disappointed that he couldn't recall her accomplishments.
But to his genuine surprise, the opposite occurred.
Pyrrha's face cleared, and she beamed at him.
For once, she had met someone who looked past the legend and saw her as just a normal student.
"That's perfectly fine, Jaune,"
Pyrrha said, her tone filled with sincere pleasure.
"It would be good if we were to be on the same team."