Sunshine

Chapter 27: Smile More

Jaune felt cold and realized that he was sweating, he got up and looked at his scroll and grabbed it, turning it on only to check the time, seeing that it was 7:00 in the morning.

Jaune didn't feel like he could sleep, not after the nightmare, so he grabbed Crocea Mors and headed out of the room and then proceeded to the backyard, and once outside, he began to train.

In front of him, he imagined Raven, She charged in with her sword swing back, prepared to slash at Jaune, however, Jaune ducked under the attack and quickly slashed Raven across her stomach, causing her image to disappear, however, appearing in front of him now was Bane-Saw, who charged at him and swung his chainsaw rapidly and wildly, jaune backed away and avoided many of the attacks, and then when one swing was too wide, Jaune quickly pulled his sword back and jabbed forward, stabbing the terrorist in his throat and like Raven, his form disappeared.

Jaune backed away and he felt... unsatisfied. He didn't know why, but he felt that the fights in his head, the image of the two opponents he projected were too easily defeated. Bane-Saw he understood, it didn't take long for Jaune to get the upper hand on him back in Atlas, but Raven... Raven should've been far more tough and powerful, yet with one fluid strike, he had killed her.

If Robyn had not told him about pushing his aura into his blade and amplifying it to cut through another's own Aura, then that attack would not have been lethal, but because he had learned how to cut through another person's aura, that single strike he delivered to the Raven of his mind, ended her life.

He trained along the road with Vernal and Oscar as much as he could and trained with the Huntresses and thanks to Robyn, he discovered something that gave him an edge over many future enemies. He had grown stronger, His Semblance allowed him to boost himself and others to a high degree, making him nearly invincible, it was thanks to his skill that he managed to survive this long, even against the odds.

Yet... there was a part of him that felt unsatisfied by this, but why? Why was he unsatisfied by easily beating people who were his enemies?

"What are you doing up so early kid?"

Jaune turned to the back door only to see Tai standing there, he was wearing a white shirt, sweat shorts, and slippers. in his hand was a mug, but Jaune didn't know what was inside of it.

"Oh, Uh... I couldn't sleep," Jaune replied.

Tai nodded and took a sip of his mug as he walked over to Jaune, "Nightmare?" He asked.

Jaune nodded, "Yeah..." He replied.

Tai nodded and stood in front of Jaune, a blank expression on his face, "Jaune, have you killed before?" He asked.

Jaune slowly nodded, "I have," Jaune said with a bitter tone.

Tai gave the younger blonde a soft smile, "I'm not judging you, Jaune," He told him, "Everyone on my team has taken a life at some point, including me, and I'll be the first to say that, it's never an easy thing, especially at your age, it can mess with you, in a way you never knew, but you should never hold those things in... talk about them to me, or to someone you can trust when you're ready, but don't keeping holding it in, because it can and will eat you up inside,"

Jaune nodded slowly, knowing that Tai was right, he needed to talk about this, needed to tell someone about what he was feeling, but he didn't want to put his burdens on anyone else, he didn't want to be looked at differently, to be looked at like a... monster.

"smile more, Jaune," Tai said.

Jaune looked at him with a raised brow, "Huh?" he asked.

"Smile more," Tai repeated, with a kind and loving smile as he walked back to the house.