Jaune let out a grunt of effort as he felt the shells explode against his shield. He didn't have a way to fight her at range, but fighting her close up was just playing into her specialty. He was damned if he did and damned if he didn't. Still, it was better to go down fighting that just get whittled down slowly.

Raising his shield a little higher to protect his chest and head like Pyrrha had explained, he charged forward, sword ready.

Yang just smirked and ran forward to meet him. She ducked his sword swing before stepping forward into an uppercut. To her surprise her fist didn't meet Jaune's chin, but rather harmlessly flew through the air as he had leaned back. Pressing her attack, she followed up with two swift kicks on the right, both being met with his shield.

Stepping back a bit, Yang had to admit she was impressed with her fellow blonde. While still not able to properly pressure her, his guard had certainly improved. She had heard about his late night training with Pyrrha, and it seemed it was doing him good. Jaune was well on his way to catching up to the rest of them. But he wasn't there yet.

She hopped back as she avoided his counter, firing a blast from her gauntlets towards his feet. The explosion messed up his footing, disrupting his balance as she charged in. Combining her punch with another blast, she met his shield directly. Her strength proved greater and his arm blasted upwards as she broke his guard. Not willing to give up the opportunity, even if she was fighting her friend, she pressed on. A few quick jabs to his stomach, followed by an uppercut sent Jaune flying backwards.

She winced slightly as she saw him fall to the ground. It certainly looked painful, but that was the nature of sparring. It wasn't like she was undefeated, and the worst thing your friend could do would be to take it easy when fighting you.

It would be like a slap in the face to all his effort, and a potential risk when their lives were really on the line later on.

Yang crackled her knuckles, wiping from sweat from her forehead as she laughed. "Phew! You're getting better Jaune. One day you may e-" She was cut off as she suddenly leaned back. Her eyes widened as she saw his blade pass just inches from her face.

She hopped backwards, getting some distance as she stared at him in shock. It seemed the training did more than just help his guard, but his stamina and aura levels had also grown. Normally he'd be down for the count by now.

She prepared to charge back in, ready to end the fight when she faltered. Her hands lowered just a bit as she stared in shock at her friend. She had come to know her friend pretty well over the months, growing from merely knowing him as "vomit boy" to a leader and strategist that had earned her respect through his hard work and genuine care for his friends. But she had never seen him like this before. He looked... angry. Not just upset about nearly losing the round but down right murderous. The chilling part was his anger didn't seem to be directed towards her at all.

"Maybe we should call it here..." She offered a bit nervously. She wasn't afraid of him, but she was afraid for him. He clearly wasn't thinking straight, and he could get hurt if he sparred so recklessly. More importantly, the thought that something was bothering her friend to such an extent made her motherly side kick in. She was concerned, and wanted to sit him down and figure out what was happening. But judging by the look in his eyes. That wasn't exactly an option at the moment.

Across the field Jaune tightened his grip on his sword. He could feel the anger and frustration bubbling up in him. It gave his muscles a new sense of life, and whispered in his head "Attack. Attack."

He knew wasn't mad at Yang, she had done nothing to deserve his anger, but he needed a release. Holding a sword in his hand, against an opponent that just wouldn't lose to him was an awfully tempting target. Of course, he wouldn't dream of hurting her, even in his throes of frustration. Not that he could if he even wanted to.

That was what had him wrapped up in this situation in the first place. As he charged forward, he swung his sword with the full force of his anger behind it.

Yang either dodged or parried his swipes, still attempting to talk him down. He couldn't stand it though.

His team and Ruby's had spent the day sparring against each other in matches, mixing it up and practicing outside of their usual pairings. Most of the matches were close, it was usually hard to predict the victor, save for Pyrrha who was usually a safe bet. Or Jaune's opponent.

It wasn't a well kept secret that Jaune was playing catch up to the rest of his friends, but he had yet to land a solid victory. Every time the buzzer would ring signaling his defeat he felt another chip in his confidence, in his facade. He'd laugh it off, listen to their praise about his improvement, and promise to do better next time. That was his job, to keep their morale up, not be the focus of their concern.

Part of Jaune was fully aware what they were saying was true. He hadn't grown up attending combat school like Ruby or Yang, and he didn't grow up outside the kingdoms like Blake and learned to fight to survive. Ever since Pyrrha had taken him under her wing, it was like night and day how much he had been improving.

But knowing his improvement wouldn't dull the edge of the knife that dug into his heart every time he lost. Every time he knew he wasn't good enough for his team. The weakest link. The one could could cause a battle to swing the other way and end up with his friends hurt, or worse.

He just wanted to be stronger, to be better for their sake. He wanted to help them, protect them, be the one they could count on to keep their back safe. He didn't want to wait years for the training to pay off, it could be too late by then! What if he wasn't strong enough when he really needed to be?

He just wanted to win once! A scream of frustration tore from his throat as he swung his sword down towards Yang.

Bringing both arms up, she blocked the blow with both her gauntlets. Yang mumbled an apology as her hair began to glow and her eyes turned red. With a quick upward thrust of her arms, Jaune's sword was thrown back as he stumbled backwards off balance.

Before he could recover he felt two punches connect to his gut, before Yang threw a hook that connected to his cheek, sending him flying backwards. He bounced off the ground once before sliding to a halt as that God forsaken buzzer rang out, signaling his aura had dropped into the red again.

The rest of their team had been watching silently from the side. Originally they had been cheering on, alternating between Jaune and Yang. Of course, they tended to offer some more encouragement for Jaune since he was the underdog, knowing Yang would be the likely victor again. But when Jaune had gotten up before and charged Yang, they had fallen silent. They had never seen him act so brash before, and none of them was particularly aware of what to say.

By the time Yang had finished her final combo and sent Jaune flying, Pyrrha was already running towards his side. She couldn't exactly fault Yang, she knew if the battle went on longer an accident may have happened, and she needed a strong blow to end it once and for all. That didn't mean she was any less worried for her teammate that had just been sent flying though.

She slowed her approach as she saw Jaune just laying on his back, staring up at the ceiling with what she swore were tears in his eyes.

Yang just looked at Jaune, a frown on her face before she walked away. She really wanted to help him, but she knew her face was probably the last one he wanted to see at the moment. She hoped Pyrrha would have better luck with her partner, and she'd check on him later. She walked back, meeting the half-hearted compliments on her victory from her teammates as they all shot worried glances towards the blonde on the ground.

Jaune clenched his fist at his side as he tried to steady his breathing. He knew he had to get up. He knew he had to plaster on his smile and compliment Yang on her victory, reassure his team that he was fine. That he would be okay and get her next time. But he couldn't do it. He just laid there, fighting back the tears that were threatening to escape him out of frustration. At least until he saw her.

Her scarlet hair pierced into his vision as he saw her running towards him. That snapped him out of his spiral of anger and frustration, at least slightly. Immediately he forced himself to sit up, laughing weakly. He just have to play it off like before. After all, some part of him knew he was stuck in a bad mood and in a day from now he really would be back to normal. This crushing loss would just be another memory soon enough and he would be laughing with his friends.

"Jaune, are you okay? You... really held your own out there." Pyrrha offered with a concerned smile. It was true, Jaune had done far better than he had last time he was matched up against Yang. But that didn't mean his behavior at the end of the fight had been any less concerning.

Jaune nodded, opening his mouth to speak until he heard the first syllable of his sentence. He immediately shut his mouth, nodding again with a forced smile. His voice was shaking, and he knew he wouldn't be able to speak without it betraying him and he'd start crying.

Standing up, he put his sword away before walking past Pyrrha after putting a comforting hand on her shoulder. His gaze was glued to the floor as he refused to make eye contact. He moved over to one of the far benches that had his gym bag.

Pyrrha just held her hand against her chest, feeling a fist close around her heart. She felt helpless as she saw Jaune drape a towel over his head and stare at the ground, his face hidden. It was brief, but she had heard it. His voice was shaking.

She wanted nothing more than to run over, pulling him against her and hug him until he would be okay. She wanted to tell him how proud she was, how hard she knew he was working but her feet were stuck. She felt like it wouldn't help. Would he even want to talk to her right now? Maybe her reputation added pressure to the frustration of losing she knew he had to be feeling?

Numbly she walked over to the rest of her friends. They all seemed to be concerned as well, but no one knew what the best solution would be.

After a moment of awkward silence, Ruby awkwardly laughed. "Well... next up is Blake and Ren!" She declared the next fight on the list. She wanted to talk to her friend, but she wasn't sure what to say either. The one thing she was sure of was that standing around wouldn't make the situation any better. Maybe moving things forward would help him snap out of it.

Ren and Blake nodded, moving to get ready as the routine slowly started up again.

Pyrrha had watched the rest of the fights of the day, cheering half-heartedly for one side or the other, all the while her eyes constantly flickering over to her partner. He hadn't joined them yet. He hadn't even moved from his spot on the bench, the towel over his head as his fists were clenched tightly together.

Soon the time they had reserved the room for was almost up and everyone was exhausted.

Feeling her concern reach a fever pitch, she turned to the rest of her friends. "Let's end it here for today. I think you all did wonderfully. You guys go on ahead, I'll let Jaune know and clean up." She offered, pleading for them to listen to her with her eyes.

Getting the message, they all agreed and told her good job, calling out their encouragement to Jaune before clearing out the room to leave Pyrrha and Jaune alone.

Pyrrha made her way over to Jaune, pausing in front of him. "Practice is almost over." She said softly. She watched the toweled head nod, and a hoarse voice reply.

"Gotcha. Let's clean up."

Pyrrha shook her head. "Not yet. Fight me, Jaune."

Jaune's head snapped up as he pulled the towel down around his shoulders. He stared at her in shock, fight her? Sure they sparred nearly daily but now? He knew she understood him about as well as he understood himself, why would she want to do that now? "I don't think..."

"Jaune, fight me. Get ready." She repeated, an authoritative tone in her voice, one she took when trying to instruct him in their lessons.

Jaune just stared at her in surprise, but nodded. He couldn't fell any worse after all, might as well go along with whatever she was planning. Maybe she just wanted to try out a new move?

Soon the pair was standing across from each other on the field, the next round set up. To compensate for their lower aura levels the elimination bar had been set a little higher to be safe.

The round started as he just stared at Pyrrha. "So what are y-" He was cut off as Pyrrha's spear pierced the air next to his head before retracting as she charged forward.

Jaune barely had time to block as she began her assault with her sword.

Her hits were swift, varied, and powerful. Whenever he was able to block a few, she kicked him and move to a different spot, constantly changing to prevent him from getting a groove. Perhaps most annoyingly of all was she wasn't going for any powerful blows to chunk his aura down. No she seemed to be content chipping away at it slowly.

"Why aren't you trying?" Jaune snapped at her, feeling his frustration levels spiking again. Normally he understood she had to hold back to keep the sparring more productive for his sake, but it just felt taunting right now.

"I am, Jaune! Fight me!" She replied in a harsher tone, wincing slightly.

Jaune narrowed his eyes and pushed forward, creating some distance with a powerful sideways swing before he closed in on her, attempting to pressure her.

Pyrrha hopped back, switching to her rifle as she fired off a few shots towards his head. It forced him to raise his shield, and as he closed the gap Pyrrha dropped and swept his legs out from underneath him and toppling him over.

Jumping up, Pyrrha landed with her spear slamming the ground where he was a moment before he rolled away.

"Pyrrha. Wha-" Jaune started out, surprised by how aggressive she was being in the fight.

"Fight harder Jaune!" She cried out, charging forward.

Jaune felt his frustration peaking. Fight harder? Like he wasn't trying with everything he got? Like he wasn't aware he was disappointing her in this fight? He let out a scream of frustration as he charged forward again.

Jaune swung out with a powerful blow, but Pyrrha just ducked it and swiped at his leg, dropping him to a knee. Spinning, she planted a kick into his shield and knocked him down. "Get up!" She snapped as she spun the sword in her hand, biting her lip. "Fight back!"

Jaune had both hands on the ground as he stared at it an inch from it. He felt the sweat drip from his nose onto the cushioned floor as his fists clenched. Reaching, he grabbed his sword again and swung towards Pyrrha with a mighty blow.

Pyrrha brought her shield up, but at the last second braced it with her other arm as the blow connected. There was a lot of brute strength in that strike.

"I am fighting back!" Jaune snapped as he continued his assault, hammering towards her with powerful blows one after another.

Pyrrha continued to block and deflect them as she stared at him intently. "Fight, Jaune!"

Jaune just struck down another rage fueled strike. "I am! I'm fighting as hard as I can!" He snapped.

His guard was abandoned as he began to attack recklessly.

Pyrrha merely stared at him intently as she expertly blocked each blow, using her semblance when needed.

"I'm doing my best Pyrrha! I'm trying so hard! I will beat you guys one day!" He continued to rant as the strength slowly abandoned his strikes.

"I'm doing my best. I'm just trying to catch up! I just want to be stronger. I just want... to be there for you all! I just want to be useful."

By the time he had finished speaking, his strike barely made any noise at it harmlessly slid off the side of Pyrrha's shield. Tears were streaming down his face as he dropped his sword. Before the sword had hit the ground Pyrrha had closed the distance, her own weapons abandoned, as she crushed him in a tight hug.

She pulled Jaune tight to her, resting her hand on the back of his head soothingly as she tried to hold him together. She could feel the sobs wracking his body as she felt all the anger and frustration pour out of him as he cried his heart out.

"You're incredibly useful Jaune. You're so strong. I know you're doing your best. I know you're trying." She whispered softly into his hear as she continued to rub his back.

Jaune just clutched her tighter, feeling all the walls and frustrations in him just crumble. He couldn't keep himself together any more, and Pyrrha embrace was all that was keeping him strong.

"I'm so proud of you Jaune. You've come so far and you've done so much. There's no one I respect more than you here. You've grown so much. You're strong enough Jaune."

Jaune just continued to cry for a few minutes in her arms.

Pyrrha offered reassurances but was content just holding him. She'd hold him here until the end time if she needed to, anything to help her partner understand how proud of him she was and that she would always be there for him, one way or another. Slowly but surely, she felt his sobs stop as he seemed to piece together his composure.

After a minute she spoke softly. "How are you feeling?" She asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Tired." He confessed before sitting back.

Pyrrha could see his eyes, red from the tears but he seemed at least a little better. "Well you did spar quite a bit today, and I don't think I've seen you strike with that much strength before. We're going to need to up your weights." She offered, a small hopeful smile on her face.

She felt her heart soar as she saw the smallest smile grace his lips, the greatest sight in the world to her at the moment.

"I'm sorry I snapped at you." Jaune said awkwardly, his eyes shifting to the floor again.

Shaking her head, Pyrrha reached up and gently cupped his chin, making him look at her. "No, I'm sorry Jaune. I was the one who provoked you." She paused, trying to find the right words. "I could tell you were frustrated and angry. I wanted to help... sometimes we all need to just let it out. The best way I could think of would be in combat... so I'm sorry! I know you were trying." She had hoped forcing him to vent his anger and frustration on her would be the catharsis he needed. But that didn't mean that ever taunt didn't kill her on the inside, she hated saying anything rude to him. Especially when he had been so hurt and broken on the inside.

Jaune just smiled, reaching over to grab her hand comfortingly. "It's okay. Thank you Pyrrha. I think... I really needed that." Truth be told, he felt much better after that outburst. He felt like weights had been removed from his shoulders. He was glad it had happened against Pyrrha, someone he trusted and he knew wouldn't judge him. Also someone who was strong enough to keep either of them from getting hurt.

Pyrrha reached up and messed up his hair a little. She glanced to the side, seeing the door the gym open slightly as a head suddenly disappeared and it closed suddenly. She sighed slightly, clearly their friends hadn't given them total privacy.

"We should hit the showers and get you some food and rest. You've had a long day." Pyrrha offered softly.

Jaune let out a yawn before nodding. He was absolutely exhausted by this point, a shower would be what he needed to make it through the rest of the day, his current smell aside.

They both gathered their weapons before they made their way to the exit. Pyrrha took his hand as she lead him out the door, surprising 6 sets of concerned eyes. "Since you seem so concerned about us, perhaps you could clean up the gym for us?" She challenged with a smirk, before leading Jaune away from the group. Jaune and Pyrrha went their separate ways when they reached the locker rooms, promising to meet up and get food in 10 minutes.

Meanwhile Yang just let out a sigh of relief. It seemed like Pyrrha had gotten through to him. Still, to satiate her concern she'd check on him later. She wanted to see her fellow blonde back on his feet before long. Besides, he was no fun to tease when he was sad. Seeing Ruby started to sneak away, she grabbed her sister by the hood before pulling her in the gym. "We do still need to clean up."

By the time the 6 had finished cleaning up, they saw Jaune and Pyrrha walking away hand in hand, laughing about something. They decided to give them a little space, at least today they could afford to spoil Jaune and Pyrrha a little.

XxXxXxXxX

Hope you enjoyed reading this! It was a bit of a vent piece for me, just trying to let loose some frustrations I had. Moderately happy with how this story turned out, but I don't think it's my best work. Figured I'd share it here in case any of you happen to enjoy, if not I'm sorry! Still, I hope you have a wonderful day! :D