Professor Arc

Chapter 47

Jaune stood in the open door to his office, the four students arrayed behind him as he stared at the remains of what had once been his home away from home. It was unrecognisable as such now, with cupboard doors torn off their hinges, sofas upturned and papers strewn about the floor. It looked like a bomb had gone off. He felt someone push past him and reached out to try and stop Yang. "Wait – it might still be dangerous!"

She didn't listen, nor did the other three who stepped past when it was clear nothing was going to happen. They fanned out, hands on their weapons as they inspected each corner of the room. Jaune followed after quickly, if only to offer aid if they found anything that needed fighting. "It's empty," Weiss said, "Whoever did this... they're long gone now."

"But why do this at all?" Yang growled.

He had no idea. Glass clinked beneath his boots as he stepped into the kitchenette and looked around. The coffee table was ruined, glass smashed and the frame thrown against a nearby wall. It looked like someone had taken to his alcohol stash as well – a true loss – for amber liquid stained the kitchen's tiles. Even the wallpaper had been slashed in places, either by a blade or a claw.

The latter should have been ridiculous but he couldn't shake it. If this was the work of Cinder to try and find some information on him, then there was no way she'd cause this much damage. It honestly looked like someone had smuggled a Beowolf into his office. Was this a prank gone wrong from Peter? No... if he wanted to sic a Grimm on Jaune for fun, it would have been while he was asleep... and honestly, Neo would have dealt with it in the most brutal of fashions. One did not interrupt her beauty sleep. Not twice.

"Your desk is ruined," Blake called, "It looks like whatever they wanted, they thought it might be in here."

He ducked over to have a look, wincing at not only the drawers that had been torn from it, but the paperwork strewn across the floor. He'd be paying for that in time and sweat, he just knew it. But what was the point? I didn't have anything here other than papers to grade and some lesson plans. The only other thing would have been the details Blake gave me on the White Fang, but I passed those onto Ironwood weeks ago. Nobody knew about those, either, and didn't someone need to know what they were looking for to try and find it?

Could it be the White Fang? If so, they'd gone a little far in trying to find information... unless they thought he might had hidden it in literally every piece of furniture imaginable.

"Why do so much?" Ruby asked. Her voice was quiet, as though the damage pained her. Jaune patted her shoulder absent-mindedly.

"Probably to send a message," he said without thinking. He flushed when he noticed them all stare at him. "Ah well, I mean, that's just what I would imagine. Everyone knew I wouldn't be in my office today because of the tournament and if they wanted to find something, then there wouldn't be any reason to make as much noise as this must have."

"True," Blake knelt down to push over a piece of broken chair. There were more papers strewn beneath it, some stained with half-drunken coffee. "The way this was done as well... if you wanted to actually look for something, you'd be a little more organised about it. It's hard to find something if you're throwing everything onto the floor... documents especially."

"Unless it was something obvious," Weiss pointed out. "Something that they would know the moment they saw it. If it's not too much to ask, professor-"

"I have nothing like that," Jaune answered honestly. His office really was nothing more than a place to work, sleep and be beaten up by Neo. Well, there were the counselling sessions too, but it wasn't like he kept paperwork or documentation on them. For one, he wasn't a qualified psychologist – but for the most part he just wasn't insane enough to create yet more paperwork. "About the only thing I can think of that anyone would even want is marked papers or those yet to be graded."