Chapter 160: 62
Chapter 62 - The Kicker Man
Blake caught her in the hallway, less than thirty minutes before her big match. Bear strapped to her belt, one arm outstretched, she called out the Champion's name. The redhead paused, turning to regard her with a friendly – if a little surprised – expression.
"Blake? What's wrong?"
"Ah…" How was she to say? It wasn't something easy to explain. "I'm fine. I was just… you seemed distracted last night."
"Last night?" Pyrrha tilted her head to the side, that ever-present smile in place. "Oh, during our little celebration? I just wanted some fresh air, there's no need to worry."
Blake bit her lip, wondering at not only the words but how they were delivered. So calmly, so easily… she instinctively wanted to believe them.
"Was that what you wanted to ask me about?" Pyrrha chuckled, "I must admit, it's not as though we've talked often. It's a little unusual to see you so worried."
"Well… you're a friend," Blake said, a little uselessly if she thought so herself. Pyrrha blinked at that but didn't give any sign of the words having hit home. "I'm just normally a quiet person," Blake added. "Just because I don't talk doesn't mean I don't care."
Pyrrha smiled, "I understand. For what it's worth, I consider you a friend too. If you'll excuse me I must meet with my team. You have your match today, do you not?"
Blake nodded.
"Good luck then, Blake. I'll be cheering for you."
"Yeah…" Blake said, watching as Pyrrha walked away. Once the woman was out of sight she sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Are you happy?" Blake growled, "I sounded like a complete idiot."
"That was it!? You're really bad at this making friends thing, aren't you?" Jaune floated behind her, arms crossed and clearly oh so unimpressed with her efforts. "You go from barely ever talking to ambushing her with concern in a hallway? That's convincing."
"I wasn't lying," Blake protested. "I do consider Pyrrha a friend… just a bit of a distant one." It wasn't her fault if she hadn't gad the most practice at making new friends anyway. Yang had been from eye-contact, Ruby and Weiss by association. Even Jaune had only become her friend because of a rather unbelievable series of events. "Besides," she argued, "I'm not even sure what I'm supposed to be supporting her in! Couldn't you give me something more than `she needs a friend right now`?"
Jaune didn't meet her eyes, "It's her secret to tell. Not mine. She told me in confidence; I'm not going to spread her secrets around."
"She didn't tell you in confidence. You eavesdropped."
"Unintentionally! She kidnapped and reverse-interrogated me. What was I supposed to do!?"
"You shouldn't have even moved." He rolled his eyes and she would have loved to continue, but it was an argument she knew she wouldn't win. He was wilful like that, despite how he always got away with it. "Whatever Pyrrha's problem is, if she doesn't want to share it, then there's nothing I can do. Nothing that either of us can do."
"I know," he sighed, "It's just that… I don't know. I feel like it's sort of my fault. Couldn't you have come up with a better reason?"
"What? That my teddy bear is possessed and listened to her vent? That he wants to help her out? Should I also warn her not to take a shower near you?"
"I haven't tried to peek in forever!" Jaune complained, "You could have just said you overheard her."
Blake crossed her arms, "So now I'm the one eavesdropping?" Even if she said that it would just take a mention to anyone else on their teams for Pyrrha to know Blake had been firmly stuck in that stupid game, certainly unable to hear anything over Yang and Nora's voices.
"Gahhh…" Jaune ruffled his hair wildly. "I don't know. I was never any better at the whole making friends thing than you. Just… hug her or something? Say it with confidence?"
"Say what with confidence?"
"I don't know – no one ever told me!"
"And you never thought to ask," Blake rolled her eyes, "At least I have a better excuse," Blake sighed, "I was a terrorist and didn't exactly have any strong parental figures."
"Can we not have a `who has the most tortured past` moment here? I'm dead and you're standing in the middle of a corridor talking to a stuffed animal." Blake looked about quickly, sighing when no one was close or paying attention. "Just… try and help her if you get a chance, okay?"
"I will," Blake promised. If it meant that much to him then she would, even if he still wouldn't give her the full story. Blake shook her head with a sigh. He'd been tight-lipped about the whole ordeal. Whatever Pyrrha had said, he wasn't willing to share. It was probably none of her business, yet at the same time it was bothering him. What bothered him bothered her… that was just the way things were.
"Isn't there any other way I can help?"
"Forget it," he sighed, "I guess we can't solve every problem. Damn it."
He was probably right, though that hadn't been the question she'd meant to ask. Wasn't there any way she could help him. He didn't understand her concern, however. She didn't repeat it.
The idiot.
"We have our match soon," Blake said instead, hoping it would calm him down a little. They'd received their schedule that morning – and for once the news was good. "Mercury Black… he fought against Pyrrha a few months ago, didn't he?"
"Did he?" Jaune looked confused, but thankfully no longer so distraught.
"During training?"
"Ah, right… I must have been looking at something else." Something else – when a fight like that had been happening? Blake crossed her arms and frowned. No doubt he'd been peeking up someone's skirt or otherwise ogling some random girl. "What's with that face? You're thinking something really nasty about me, aren't you?"
"Of course not," Blake hissed, "Let's just get this damn fight over with."
"That's not the voice of someone not in a bad mood, Blake."
"Shut up!"
/-/
Something was wrong.
It wasn't anything with her. The fight had been in her favour since it started, the silver-haired teen once more ducking back as she squeezed off three shots towards him. The dust rounds hit the ground, expertly dodged as he built distance between them. His clothes were scuffed, his left cheek bruised.
And yet his eyes held anything but frustration. He looked… pleased.
"You've got him on the ropes," Jaune boasted, "Another few passes and he'll be out of it completely."
"It's not right," she whispered back.
"What's not?"
Couldn't he see? "This is too easy. Their team cut their way through the earlier fights… he never had a problem with people before and he was picked as their best fighter. This shouldn't be so easy." Her aura was around seventy-five per cent, but even that had only been from a number of fairly small blows. Once she'd reached that level it felt like the pressure had let up entirely. What attacks he now threw were easy to dodge or deflect. "Something isn't right here."
"Does it matter?" She glanced at Jaune's spirit. He was free of the bear to make the next stage of the plan easier. "If they're planning anything then knock him out. I'll find out what it is after the fight."
"Right," Blake nodded. He was correct; it didn't matter. Whatever his game was, it wouldn't matter when Jaune had control of his body. He could find out what was needed, and better than that – he could pass the information onto her almost straight after. All she had to do was stay relatively close… enough so that he could escape to her when he had what they needed. Just in case, she would give him the bear when he had the new body. Whether his spirit would snap back into it, she didn't know. It was better than nothing. "Get ready," she whispered, unwinding Gambol Shroud and splitting it into two.
"Just make it count. His trick might be to lure you in… don't assume he's given up yet."
She nodded. That was something she had already considered – and she had her semblance prepared for just such an occurrence. Mercury however, seemed to have nothing. She closed in with a sudden burst of speed, ducking under a kick that would have taken her head off – had she been far slower than he knew she was. It doesn't matter, she thought, slamming the blade of Gambol Shroud into his thigh. He cried out in shock and stumbled back. Whatever your plan is, it doesn't matter!
She just had to reduce his aura low enough that he fell unconscious. If he wanted to make that easier for her then great.
He backed away onto his other foot, twisting his hips and aiming a kick over her shoulder. Blake rolled her eyes and let it happen, his foot missing without her even dodging. Grabbing his knee she kicked away at his support, sending him toppling to the floor. She would have finished him there but for a spark of life in his eyes, his legs kicking out as his weaponised boots flared to life.
"Guess he likes this even less than I do," she whispered, finally noticing his frown. It vanished a second later, replaced with that cocky expression once more.
"Okay," Jaune sighed, "I see your point now. Even I could have done better than that."
"Really?"
"Well… no… it's a figure of speech, okay?"
"Sure it is." Blake smirked, enjoying his grumbling as she readied her blade one final time. Mercury's aura was low, a little over thirty or so. One good assault would likely take him down into the red. "Shout out if he pulls any tricks. It ends on this attack."
"Got it," Jaune nodded, floating behind her.
"That all you got?" her opponent taunted, feinting towards her left before reversing and kicking at her leg. She grunted and let it connect, taking a small chunk out of her aura but doing little else. He didn't deserve her words if he wasn't going to fight seriously. She drove an elbow into his nose, knocking him back as she reversed the hold she had on her cleaver.
He ducked the horizontal sweep but failed to escape her kick, which caught him under the chin, launching him a few metres back.
"Shit," Jaune cursed, "I can't believe he pulled that."
"Pulled what?" she whispered, flipping Gambol Shroud back into position and charging in to finish him off.
"Bla- What are you doing? Stop!"
She flinched and leapt away instantly. Had Jaune seen something she hadn't? Yes, now that she looked, he was reaching into the back of his trousers, pulling out a gun she hadn't seen him wield before. How had she missed that? Never mind. It didn't matter. He was still drawing it and her aura was far better than his.
Gambol Shroud shot up, golden eyes glaring down the barrel.
"Wait – Blake, no!"
She pulled the trigger.
And the crowd gasped in horror.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone