(A.N: And so, welcome to the first Chapter of Hajime no Yang, Fists of Flame! Of course, this is a Hajime no Ippo AU, mostly stemming from Yang's Dempsey-Roll on Junior in her first Trailer. Make sure to check out my first story Into the Dark for more consistent (?) updates. Either way, get your boxing gloves on, light your eyes up with fightin' spirit and enjoy!)
Hajime No Yang, Fists of Flame
Chapter 1
Yang, throw your first boxing punch!
"Yang... what did I tell you about using your fists in the streets?" Taiyang asked sternly, angrily even. Yang huffed and crossed her arms, wincing at the slight bruise on her face. It was one hell of a fight, beating three guys into submission when they just refused to stop harassing her. All of them were currently in the hospital still being treated for broken ribs, arms, and generally being fully fucked up. "... I mean, they started it," She muttered back haughtily. "Yes, but you know you didn't need to finish it that way!" Taiyang argued back. "Look, just because you're as strong as your are doesn't mean you can just go violently dismembering people, even if they start something."
"To be fair, I didn't tear off anyone's limbs," She shot back with heavy snark.
"That's not the point Yang!" He shouted, silencing her. He sighed and turned around, massaging his temples and trying to think... and then something came to him. "Yang, you know that Ruby's been taking boxing lessons, right?" Curious and suspicious at the sudden change in topic, Yang nodded slowly. "Well, how would you like to join her? Her coach Ozpin of the Beacon Boxing-Gym is a good friend of mine, I don't have a doubt in my mind that he wouldn't turn you down. How does that sound?" Quickly, Yang's mood changed from bad to worse, her eyes heating up. She had a bit of a sore-spot for boxing, as her mother had abandoned her and her father at a young age to pursue her dream to become the world champion. "Look, I know that you aren't fond of your mother for what she did. But, if you took up boxing with Ruby, hey, you just could go pro. I mean, with that strength of yours, you could probably give Raven a run for her money!" Yang was genuinely surprised, her interest peaking. "So... you're basically giving me permission to punch mom really hard?"
"Well, that's one way to put it," He chuckled, sitting down next to her. "For now, I'm thinking of it as a way to channel your anger. Obviously, it'll help with your fitness at well, and who knows, you actually make a good pro if you. So, whadda you say sunshine?" She thought about it for a few seconds, her pulse starting to race at the thought of blasting into someone (specifically mother-dearest) with her raw power. It was a tantalizing treat, and it was one that she took. "Alright. I'll give it a try."
(A few minutes later...)
'So this is a boxing gym huh?' She thought, sniffing the air. 'Smells... surprisingly clean.' The place was quite tidy but very spacious, a traditional boxing-ring in the center, a row of heavy bags to one side, benches on the other, the works. One noticeable thing about the place was the color-scheme, being a nice blend of emerald green with white accents, from the walls to the floor to even some of the doors. Looking around, she saw Ruby working on the skip-rope. What surprised her was how blindingly fast she looked, her feet blurs of motion and the rope making a constant whirring sound like a fan switched to it's highest setting. Ruby's eyes saw Yang and she smiled, stopping and putting down the rope, running up to her. "Hey sis, what are you doing here?" She asked, clearly happy to see her. "Dad suggested that I join you and try out boxing." Still, Yang's eyes moved around, switching over to the heavy-bags in one corner of the room. On it was a rather slim girl with pale skin and pure-white hair. She didn't seem particularly strong, but her movements around the bag were immensely fluid, her hands snapping out and hitting the bag with an incredibly precise *PAK* sound. "Oh, that's Weiss. She's been around longer than me, and she sometimes sees to my training too. She's super-skilled, not the kind of person you can just brawl it out with."
"Unless it's me," Yang bragged, smirking and flexing. Ruby snorted and punched her arm, and it was then Yang noticed something: Ruby had been here for at least an hour, and assuming that she was working for that hour straight, she was barely sweating. "Ruby... how long have you been working?"
"Oh, since I got here. Did a lot of running, some bag-work, mitt-work with Coach Ozpin, the works," She said casually. "Damn, and you haven't even broken a sweat yet? How many cookies did you eat before getting here?" Yang joked, earning an embarrassed pout from Ruby. Once again Yang's eyes drifted, stopping on the ring and the two people in it. First was a man in a green t-shirt and dark green jogging-pants, his hands covered by black mitts as he moved around the accommodate the second person. Said second person caused Yang to stare: the girl's back was facing her, but her black hair was glossy and slightly damp with sweat, her attire consisting of black shorts, white sneakers and a grey top. 'Those clothes don't hide how well-toned she is, from her legs to her arms... oh and her butt too. Especially dat booty,' She thought, licking her lips before paying attention to what the girl was doing.
"Continue to use your flicker-jabs Blake, but I'm not seeing your crosses!" Blake's movements were a mix between Weiss' footwork, Ruby's speed (granted, it wasn't as fast), but her punches were powerful. Yang was enthralled by the black-haired beauty's attacks, her left hand flying out at strange angles but slamming into the pads with a beat of *POW-POW-POW*, followed by a blinding right, Ozpin's hand being blown back slightly. A buzzer went off and Ozpin yelled "Time! Go rest now Blake, we're done for today. Good job overall, just remember to use your right more often." Blake nodded and silently exited the ring, her golden eyes widening slightly as her and Yang's eyes met.
Yang sent a flirty wink her, Blake returning a slightly embarrassed smile as she sat on a bench and drank some water. "Who's she?" Yang whispered, motioning towards Blake. Of course, being a Faunus with an extra pair of ears meant that she heard everything pretty clearly, granted Ruby and Yang were terrible at whispering. "Oh, that's Blake Belladonna. She can be pretty quiet, but she's currently the best out of me and Weiss. Those flicker-jabs of hers are so frustrating to defend against, even Weiss has trouble getting past them."
"Flicker...?" Yang asked, completely lost.
"Oh yeah, you don't know too much about certain punches. Lemme teach you since it's your first day." Ruby stepped into a fighting-stance, her right foot and hand forward. Yang was looking on mildly interested, not expecting much until Ruby's hand and shoulder relaxed. Her hand shot out so fast, she swore that she blinked. "Basically, you have to-!"
"Yang, come over here for a second." Taiyang called over. Yang quickly hugged Ruby and jogged over to Taiyang and Ozpin, both of whom were talking by the corner of the ring. Ozpin gave Yang a quick once over, his face blank as he said, "So, this is your eldest, hmm? She takes after her mother." Yang's teeth instantly ground against each other, that was twice in a day her mom was brought up, not exactly the formula for a happy Yang. "Ah, she seems to have quite the temper too, kind of like you when you were younger, wouldn't you say Taiyang?" The man was about to speak before Ozpin quickly intervened. "Anyway, put on some gloves, headgear and get ready, your going to be sparring. Blake! Are you fine to fight?" Everyone was caught off guard, staring at Ozpin. Blake was the first to recover though, nodding and quickly putting on her gloves. "Oz, you can't just do that!" Taiyang whispered (he was also terrible at whispering), "She's at a clear disadvantage."
Yang snorted, catching the attention of both men. "Of course she's at a disadvantage, she's fighting me." Ozpin raised a brow with a small smirk and Taiyang went quiet, looking like he wanted to say something. Yang may have been a hot-head, but she was far from stupid and caught the meaning of the silence. "Wait... you think that I can't win against her?" She asked, incredulous. "Well, get in the ring and attempt to prove me wrong," Ozpin said back calmly. Yang scowled and went over to strap on her gear after being directed by Ruby. "Wow, you're going to be straight up sparring, against Blake too!?" She squealed as she put on Yang's gear. "Please, it'll be over in a flash," Yang said confidently, Ruby shooting her a serious look. "Yang, this isn't a street-fight or a brawl. Honestly, I want to give you some advice, but I think it's best for you to learn." Yang grinned and pat Ruby and the head. "Please, if anything, you'll be the one learning just how strong I am."
When she climbed into the ring, Blake's back was facing her as she lightly bounced on her toes. "Yo," Yang called. Blake turned, her own face calm, "Hey, nice to meet you," she returned, holding out her black glove. Yang looked at it for a second before she knew what the gesture meant, touching her red gloves to Blake's. "Sorry 'bout this, but I've gotta set an example for my little sis down there. I'll beat you in no time!" Blake raised her eyebrows and smirked to Yang's surprise. "Good luck with that." With that, she walked over to her corner of the ring, leaving Yang slightly stunned. She'd never encountered someone with that kind of sass towards her, yet it didn't frustrate or anger her... it made her smile as she put in her mouth-guard.
"Alright then ladies," Ozpin said as he motioned for them to listen. "No punching below the waist, no punching the back, and no punching the back of the head. When someone is knocked down I will give that person ten seconds to stand up unless it's a slip. When the round his done I expect you to go back to your corner. This match is only going to be four rounds, best of luck Xiao Long." With that he raised his hands into the air and yelled "Box!"
In that moment, Yang took a second to process what was happening. She was currently in a boxing-gym for the first time in her life, about to fight some random stranger, just because she beat up some guys who harassed her, all within a handful of minutes. 'Straight to the point then,' She thought with a grin, dashing forward and rearing her right hand back. 'I'll end this in one punch!, she initially thought. Blake looked like she was bouncing on the spot, her face calm until her left suddenly flashed out, striking Yang full in the face. Yang's eyes glazed over for a moment before she regained consciousness, stunned as she stumbled backwards in an attempt to stay on her feet. She looked back up at Blake, shocked at how someone had managed not just to hit her, but to nearly send her to the floor with a single well-placed blow. Of course she got very, very pissed within the following seconds.
Again she charged forward and swung wide. She swore that she hit her, but her fist just seemed to pass through empty air where Blake once was a moment ago. Blake watched on calmly, her guard still up but her body relaxed. With another great swing at her head came another miss. 'Come on, all I need is one shot!' Yang thought as she continued to swing, following Blake as the Faunus slowly backed up while dodging and viciously countering with calm accuracy, each shot fired into Yang's face and body. 'Yes, I've almost got her to the ropes!' Blake's back soon touched said corner, but Yang was still given that calm, cool expression. Yang ignored it and swung again, fists plowing through the air and about to tear through Blake's guard... only for her to miss once more, Blake having smoothly stepped around her.
With all that momentum however, Yang's fist still smashed into the corner's board with a deafening *BANG*, the entire ring shaking from the blow. Everyone stared in shock as Yang removed her fist, it had actually caused the wood to nearly snap in half. Even Blake stopped moving, her eyes wide at Yang's display of strength. When Yang turned around, she saw something incredibly off with the gorgeous, wild brawler; her lilac eyes had turned into a bloody shade of red. Fear paralyzed Blake, and gave Yang the opportunity she was waiting for. This time, Yang shot her right fist straight forward directly into Blake's face. She was sent flying backwards, her body bouncing off the floor. "Down!" Ozpin yelled, getting in between Yang and Blake. "Go to your neutral corner!"
Blake's vision was completely hazy and her head was swimming. Her nose wasn't busted, thankfully, but she felt a searing pain in her left cheek. 'Damn... that was the hardest punch I've ever taken,' She thought with a groan, slowly lifting herself off the canvas, legs wobbly and numb. 'Great, now I can't move around as much anymore.' She looked at Ozpin and raised her fists into a fighting-guard, nodding to signal she was ready. Ozpin nodded back and yelled, "Box!" Yang coming out of her corner, rearing to take Blake down. 'She's definitely the hardest puncher I've ever faced, but her level of skill is based solely on her emotions and instinct. I know exactly what to do: time to take it up to top gear.' Yang's walk was halted when Blake took up an entirely new stance, her right hand still up by her face but her left now hanging close to her waist, swaying slightly.
Weiss's eyes narrowed as she crossed her arms as soon as she saw Blake pick that stance up. "Hmm. I'm actually impressed." Ruby who was sitting right next to her, heard her and asked, "Why's that?" Weiss pointed to Blake in her new stance, one Ruby had never seen before but hadn't given it much thought. "Yang actually forced Blake to fight seriously, and so she's switched to the guard that's favored her the most: the Detroit Style."
"Detroit, as in the city up northern Vale? What does that have to do with Blake's stance?"
"The style was made by famous Champion Thomas Hearns, also called the 'Hitman style', his style of punching with his left from that lower angle made it harder to predict, and always set up his devastating right hand. With Blake having excellent flicker-jabs and being a perfect counter-fighter, on top of using the style, I don't think Yang has any chance of just brawling it out with her." Out of nowhere, the bell sounded and Ozpin stepped in between them. "Round's over, go to your corners." Yang and Blake stared at each other for a moment before walking away, sitting down on their stools. While Ruby walked up to Blake, surprisingly, Weiss was the one to walk up to Yang's corner.
"Haah... haah... oh shit..." Yang panted, noticing how exhausted she was. Her face was sore, and her legs felt heavy. "Stay still," A new voice interrupted Yang's thoughts. She looked to the right and saw Weiss holding a water-bottle close to her face. "Sip a bit, don't gulp." Yang did so and felt herself revive, if not just by a little bit. "How do you feel? Can you still fight?" Weiss asked. 'Straight to the point huh? I like her,' Yang thought with a small grin. "Yeah... that girl's punches are... pretty weak. So why are they... hurtin' so much?"
"Every time you swing wildly, you're leaving yourself wide open, and with all that weight you put into those punches, it's all being used against you with every counter-punch that Blake throws." Yang was intently listening to Weiss now, caught off guard by the knowledge that Weiss had. "Wow, you're pretty knowledgeable in this stuff," She complimented, earning a small smile from Weiss. "Any suggestions?"
"Don't charge in recklessly and don't swing recklessly, you're only falling into Blake's trap if you do that. Keep your hands up by your face and carefully watch what she's doing, breath in deeply and exhale slowly while you regain your stamina. That stance she picked up right before the round ended favors her style the most, you get caught in that and you will go down no matter how tough you think you are. You remember that punch that your little sister taught you just before you were called into the ring?"
"The... jab?" Yang asked. "That's it. With your strength, something as simple as a jab should be pretty damaging to Blake."
"Seconds out!" Ozpin called, Weiss nodding and whispering, "Best of luck in there Yang." Yang smirked and said, "Thanks for the help." Blake had more or less fully recovered, even if the side of her face was still pretty damn sore. She picked her hands up in her Detroit Style, ready to put Yang's charge to a halt... except Yang didn't charge in. It was Blake's turn to be surprised, Yang had picked her own hands up in a solid, traditional guard, her eyes calm as she watched Blake, slowly shifting her feet forward. 'Her foot-work is amateurish, but her guard looks quite effective. Has she been hiding this?' Blake wondered as she bounced lightly, waiting for Yang to come. 'Still, her punches could still be slow and wild, I just have to wait for that moment.'
A moment later, Yang's left came flashing out, hitting Blake square in the face. 'Yeah, got her!' When Yang removed her fist however, both fighters were confused: no damage had been done. Blake took her chance, and her left hand just seemed to multiply on itself as they hit Yang in the face rapid-fire. Yang grimaced as one socked her right into the eye, another on the chin making her knees wobble. 'Why didn't that do any damage? It should've hurt her!' Yang started to loose her cool as she jabbed again, Blake once dodging once more with ease as she fired off another one of her weird jabs from below, slamming right into Yang's jaw. When Yang stumbled, Blake didn't hesitate, her right cracking across Yang's face.
"Down! Blake, to your neutral corner!" Yang was absolutely stunned: never in her life had she been knocked down the thought served to piss her off even further. "One! Two! Three!" Yang struggled to get to her feet, wobbling and falling onto her butt again. "Five! Six! Seven!" Yang grunted as she smashed her fist into the canvas, the force enough to propel her up and onto her feet from her kneeling position. She put her hands up and looked at Ozpin, who stopped the count. "Can you continue?" Yang stayed silent and nodded quickly, regretting the decision as her right eye began to throb, the eyelid beginning to swell up. "Box!" Blake to everyone's shock flew out of the corner, striking Yang with another lighting-fast cross.
Yang desperately kept her hands up as she was driven into the corner, Blake using a quick combination of hooks and uppercuts to knock Yang around and keep her in the corner. 'How did Ruby throw that punch? Come on, try to remember!' The thought furiously, replaying the image of Ruby showing her the punch. The image was shattered as Blake's left embedded itself in Yang's liver, the blond doubling over as agony rocked her body. Despite that, she stayed up and her mind was still clear, back to remembering what to do. 'It... she didn't push her hand out, it was more like..." Yang tried it this time, her left shooting out far faster than before and making a loud *SNAP* sound on Blake's face, stopping her assault and sending the Faunus reeling.
Blake grit her teeth and went back to pinning Yang in the corner. 'That one hurt, but she's lost all of her strength, she can't hit back like she did before. End this before things get bloody,' she though as she drilled Yang with flowing combinations. 'No, it was still slow, that wasn't exactly it. Ruby... she did this...' Her left shoulder and arm relaxed, her fist no longer clenched, 'And then she did this!' Blake was caught completely off guard by the explosion of a jab that blasted across her face, her entire neck twisting as she stumbled all the way to the center of the ring. 'Yes, that was it!' Yang cheered internally, managing to drag her feet forward. 'I can fight with her evenly now!' Blake didn't know what to think. With two punches, one wild and one precisely powerful, Blake was feeling the damage from the top of her ears to the tips of her toes.
'How does she make a jab so damn powerful? Hell, how did she learn something while in the middle of a fight!?' Blake thought, her own face contorting into anger. 'I am not about to let some brawling rookie beat me, not after all that hard work I've done to get into Beacon boxing!' Blake unloaded a storm of Flicker-Jabs, crashing into Yang's face without any mercy. Still she moved forward, another jab flashing out and nearly catching Blake. Yet despite Yang's newfound punch, Blake wasn't one to stand still, she quickly darted around Yang while pummeling her with jabs and the now frequent right-hand. Yang was starting to get dizzy, her nose and upper-lip felt wet for some reason after Blake's right smashed into her face, but she ignored it for the most part. 'I can hit her, I can hit her, I can hit her!' She chanted to herself, sticking to her guns and firing off her deadly jab as much as she could.
She managed to catch Blake again as she drifted to the right, another *SNAP* echoing as it hit Blake above her left eye. 'I've got you right where I want you!' Blake roared to herself as a left blasted into Yang's liver, Yang bending over from the sheer pain only to get caught across the jaw with another right, her eyes rolling up into her head as she dropped to the floor. As Ozpin started to count and Blake went to the corner, she thought, 'That's more than enough to put her down.' Her jaw nearly dropped to the floor as she saw Yang rising, her arms shaking and sweat pooling around her. Her eyes were glazed over, completely lifeless even she blinked, lilac turning to red once more as she put her fists up, blood dripping down her nose and cut lip.
Again Blake shot out of the corner, wasting no time as her right split Yang's weak guard wide open, glove crashing into Yang's face. Yang jabbed back yet again, but this time it had no power, just a weak push. 'Go down! Go down already, please!' Two hooks to the face sent her to the floor again, her body dropping like a wet sock. Yet again she rose, dead eyes searching for Blake until they landed on her. Ozpin didn't even get to count as Yang stumbled forward again. Blake could just barely hear Yang say something under her breath along the lines of, "I can hit her... I can hit her...!" Over and over again, jabs weak and soft, but still being fired out constantly. 'That's enough, I have to end this before she gets seriously hurt. Sorry for this!'
Blake raised her right hand high into the air, Yang still unable to notice it, and she brought it down mercilessly into the brawler's neck with an almost sickening *CRACK*. Finally, Yang's body gave in on itself as she collapsed face-first on the floor, completely unconscious. Ozpin waved his hands over his head, signaling the end of the match. Ruby, Ozpin and even Blake rushed into the ring, trying to call out for Yang. They didn't get any response, of course.
(Sometime later...)
Yang shot awake, sitting upright and regretting it as she felt pain shoot through her. "Ow..." She groaned, lying back down on one of the benches. "God... everything hurts..." She muttered, gingerly touching her cheek. "Good to see that you're not in a coma." Yang arched her head back slightly, catching sight of Blake. The girl had a nasty looking bruise on her left cheek, and her left eyelid pretty swollen. "...I kinda wish I was," Yang chuckled back. "You're the first person to ever beat me, especially this bad. I've gotta say, you've impressed me." Blake gave her a curious look. "I impressed you? Should be the other way around, you fought well for your first time."
"...my first time was with you, eh?" Yang said cheekily. Blake didn't understand for a few seconds before her cheeks went a bit red as she glared at Yang. "Oh shut up, you know what I mean. All that aside though, I'm Blake Belladonna," she said, holding out a hand. Sitting up slowly, Yang clasped her hand, shaking it. "Yang. Yang Xiao Long." Her eyes drifted up to the pair of cat-ears on top of Blake's head, staring at them for a bit. Blake noticed and was instantly defensive. "You... don't have a problem with Faunus, do you?"
"Me? Nah," Yang said as a genuine smile came onto her face. "Besides, they look good on ya." Blake couldn't help but blush a bit at that. "Thank you."
"So you're awake then," Turning away from the shake, Yang's eyes met Ozpin's own. "How did that feel Xiao Long?" Yang couldn't help but grin, holding up a fist. "Felt like hell, but it was fun. The most fun I've had in a while, come to think about it." Ozpin himself was quite surprised. He'd expected the loss of this flame-tempered brawler to severely dampen her ego, but it seems that he found a very rare breed of fighter: the kind who just wanted a good fight. "Interesting... So, would you be interested in joining my Gym?" Yang smirked and nodded with a thumbs up. "If I can get fights like that all the time, then hell yeah, sign me up!"
(A.N: So, how did I do? This story most likely won't get regularly updated, but depending on how much attention this gets. Anyway, Follow Fav and Review is you like what you see, and be sure to check out my other story Into the Dark. See ya!)