Chapter 43

"Huh? Of course it's me, who else would it be?"

I...I was back in remnant! That in and of itself wasn't too shocking. If I was taken to Remant once, it wouldn't be surprising for it to happen again. No, what was really puzzling was that it had happened so soon. I had been in Remnant for about a month after being taken there. But after being taken home, I was only there for a single day before being whisked back?

"This makes no sense...what's the pattern here?"

"Uh Aero, you alright? Sounds like you had a strange dream or something."

"S-sort of..." I shook my head. It was rather weird to fall asleep alone and wake up surrounded by three others. Even if I knew them, it was still quite jarring. "Well, anyway-"

"Can we get going?" Jaune opened the door pausing at the exit. "We don't have time to listen to your dreams if we want to be on time."

"Sheesh, who crapped in his cornflakes? What's his deal?"

Nora seemed rather taken aback for some reason, staring at me before turning to her teammate. "Um, Ren?"

Ren however shook his head, heading out the door. "Now is not the best time for this."

"Yeah...I guess I can try and explain it later."

"The heck?" Why is everyone acting so strangely? Just what happened while I was gone..."

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"I DID WHAT?!" At my shout, a few people in the cafeteria jolted, everyone turning to look at me. "Uh..." Faced with countless stares, I lowered my head. "S-sorry..." A few people chuckled at my expense, but I ignored that. A few of them kept staring for a while before returning to their meal. Turning back to Nora, I repeated myself, this time whispering loudly. "I did what?!"

"Yep!" Nora poked her mashed potatoes with a spoon, carefully molding it into what looked like a shabby looking Ursa. At the table with me was Ren and Nora, for whatever reason Jaune was absent, off doing something else.

"Explain everything that I did yesterday."

Nora tilted her head. "Um, why? Aren't you the one who did all of that?" She gasped. "Unless! That was a fake evil clone you!" She stabbed her spoon through the mashed potato Ursa, cutting off its head and scooping it into her mouth. Then pointing her spoon at me as if it were a weapon. "How do I know you're the REAL Aero?!"

"Uh...well."

"C'mon." Nora laughed, taking another bite of her food. "It's just a joke, no need to take it so seriously. Still, why do you want me to tell you what you did yesterday?"

"Of course...a joke." Nora actually scared me for a moment there. She'll never know that her crackpot joke wasn't actually that far from the truth. "Well, I want you to tell me what happened yesterday as a test."

"A test?"

"Yeah. I mean your memory isn't that great sometimes. You tend to forget half of the class lecture, only an hour after it's over. This is good practice."

The girl frowned. "I'm not THAT bad am I?" she paused, turning to the silent teammate so far. "Ren?"

"..." Ren looked surprised, suddenly being put on the spot. He didn't respond, avoiding eye contact with Nora, instead, picking up his carton of milk and drinking it as if he hadn't heard her.

"Ugggggh...finnnnnneeee." Crossing her arms in a pout, Nora relented. "Okay...let's see..." Nora recounted the actions of the real Aero yesterday as far as she knew. And the more I heard, the worse I felt...

"Uggggggghhhhh!" I moaned, covering my face in my hands. Why did he have to go and do that?! Am I still dreaming? Please tell me I'm dreaming...

Before, it wasn't that hard being Aero. Aside from awkward moments around his mother, no one at Beacon actually KNEW Aero. This meant that I basically had a clean slate and could do whatever I wanted. Aero doesn't like a particular food? Who cares? No one here knew him well enough to judge. But now, things had changed.

"Why did he have to go and show off..."

The problem was, now that Aero had shown his strength, everyone would naturally expect me to be able to do what he did. They would also expect me to have a semblance...which I don't. Up and till this point, I never really had to 'Live up to Aero'. I was already trying to catch up to him, and now I NEEDED to do it, and fast. How am I supposed to learn to fight like Aero in such a short period?! I mean it's not like he'd just show me how to do it whenever I asked!

"Wait...show me?"

Actually...why couldn't I do exactly that? Glynda's class has cameras to make sure fights never get out of hand. If a student got too unruly in the spar, it can be used as evidence against them. Since that's the case, wouldn't that mean I could get a recording of both of Aero's fights against Russel and Cardin?! I mean, that wouldn't automatically solve my problem, but it was a hell of a lot better than trying to copy his style from a journal.

After break ended, I spent the next couple of hours brainstorming how to ask Glynda about getting a copy while in class, before heading back to the dorm with my team. Jaune had been quiet the entire time. I noticed him sneaking glances at me throughout class as if he wanted to say something. When we had gotten back to our room, he finally spoke.

"Aero...can we...talk for a bit?"

Ah, looks like Jaune's ready to talk to me about what happened yesterday... "Yeah, I'm always open to talk. What's up?"

Jaune stood there for a bit, turning toward Ren and Nora before back to me. "Alone?"

"Er, sorry..." I weakly smiled at Ren and Nora. "You two mind?"

"Uh, hey, Ren." Nora said, tugging on his sleeve. "I just remembered I left something in my locker, will you help me go get it?" Ren nodded, the two of them leaving the room, and shutting the door with a click. After they had left, Jaune paused, not knowing where to start. Seemingly unable to say anything. Wanting to help him along, I decided to start.

"So, this about what happened yesterday?"

"Well, no. I mean, yes but..." He growled in frustration at himself and shook his head.

"Take your time, I'm not going anywhere."

Jaune looked frustrated, however, he composed himself and started again. "This problem has been around for a while. I just...I never saw it as an issue until yesterday."

"Why don't you start at the beginning then? Neither of us is in a hurry right now."