𝐈𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐖𝐢𝐥𝐝𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦𝐬 (English)

Chapter 39

Well, shit.

Jaune floundered as Pyrrha stared at him like a sheepdog at a pack of misbehaving animals. The look in her eyes said she wouldn't be deflected by petty talk or a change of topic. This was Pyrrha Nikos at her most determined, and her muscles were tense, ready to propel her up and after him if he tried to run. He'd never felt so hunted.

"I must have heard about it—"

"My agents quashed everything," she said, hand shooting out to grip his wrist. "They even worked to remove Ashley's name from any articles online. It was like she never existed, like we were never friends at all." Her fingers squeezed. "How did you know? How? You couldn't have found out on your own and no one would have told you."

"It's... ah... I must have overheard it."

"Jaune." Pyrrha didn't sound angry, not yet, but there was a definite note of mounting frustration there. "Jaune, please. Don't lie to me."

Trapped. He felt trapped. Caught between Pyrrha's hurt expression and the hand holding him in place, he couldn't think of any good excuse for having known. He'd known this was bound to happen eventually. There were too many little things he knew about people, too many little nuggets of information he wasn't meant to have, and one was bound to slip out in conversation sooner or later. Sometimes it was hard to keep track of what he was supposed to know and what he wasn't.

And he'd always intended to tell his team sooner or later, hadn't he?

Maybe this was to be his trial run – whether he was ready for it or not.

"It's... It's my Semblance..."

Jaune glanced away as he said it, making sure no one was within hearing distance. Beacon's early risers were up and about, but they were training, jogging, studying, or just making out with one another away from their suffering teammates. No one was listening to two more people sitting on a bench.

"The one that left you with a slit throat in your bed?"

"The same. I've... I've not been entirely honest about what it does." He wanted to get the apology out first, because he wasn't sure if she'd stay to listen after she heard the explanation. "It's not something I asked for and it's not something I can control. That's why I've been taking extra lessons and sessions with Doctor Oobleck. The teachers are aware of it and what it does, and they're doing their best to help me control it, but it's not been easy."

"And your Semblance lets you pick names from a person's mind?"

"Not quite. First of all, my Semblance only works when I'm asleep. I've never been able to use it while awake and I can't consciously use it while I'm sleeping either. Which makes sense, I guess, because the whole point of falling asleep is that you're no longer conscious, so of course I can't consciously control it."

Pyrrha hummed, accepting but impatient, wanting – needing – to know more. At least she didn't interrupt him, probably guessing that would only drag this out.

"That's the reason why my aura kept running low before. I was using it every night whether or not I liked it. Things have gotten better there because Doctor Oobleck has taught me how to know when I'm using my Semblance and minimise the aura usage, even if I can't stop it entirely."

"Doesn't turning your aura off work?"

"No. I've tried that. Hell, you must remember those mornings I woke up with little to no aura at all. Theoretically, my Semblance should cut off when my aura runs low but it doesn't. We're not sure what would happen if I fully ran out. The Semblance would probably end before my body could be hurt, but we're not sure. A big part of my sessions with Doctor Oobleck have been on controlling how much aura I use, and things have been getting better."