Jaune's day started like any other. Wake up, shower, brush teeth, get dressed, and head to class. First, he went to Professor Port's class for a quick nap, then to Professor Oobleck's to be completely confused, then to Professor Peach's class for Herbology and Survival. Honestly, Jaune actually liked Professor Peach's lecture. They kind of reminded him of home.
She talked about wildlife and herbs, how to survive living it up in the woods. It was kind of like living back on the frontier, joining his dad for a hunt or two for the weekend. Just thinking about it took him back, the wild wind against his face, the sound of trees blowing against the breeze, watching his step for anything that might make a crunch, and being there to help drag whatever unlucky game they caught back home.
After that, it was down to skinning and draining the carcass, something that he was sure he could do with both hands behind his back and blindfolded. Granted, he was sure if he did that, Dad would be there to whack him upside the head and show him how it was done. The secret? Holding the knife with his teeth.
But he was getting sidetracked.
Then came the most dreadful part of the day; combat class. It wasn't like anything bad happened every day, but there was always that inkling of a thought. What if he got called up to the arena today? Would he get his butt whooped, or would he actually put on a show before losing? Because winning was just not in the cards anymore, he knew that.
Luckily, today was more theoretical than practical. You know, something he didn't suck at. If a group found themselves surrounded, the goal was not to fight until there was nothing left to fight, but to find a gap in the surrounding and break free. To reorganize and regroup. Should whatever enemy a team is facing break through the center of a formation, the flanks should envelop and punish, giving the center a chance to recover.
Easy things, really.
But just because combat class was easy didn't mean that he could slack off. No, because he had something else to look forward to today.
As soon as Jaune got to his dorm, followed in suit by his partner, he wasted no time trying to get changed. He walked over to his nightstand, pulled out a gray shirt- courtesy of Valean tax dollars if the Vale insignia had anything to say about it- and set it on his bed. Next were his shorts, loose, black, and made from polyester, they were made for air circulation and mobility. After all, he checked, and that's what it said on the site.
Though as soon as he set his shorts on the bed, he noticed Pyrrha staring at him with a curled brow from his seat on the carpeted floor. "Um, Jaune, I don't mean to insult your intelligence, but… You do realize that combat class is already over, right?" She asked.
Jaune, for his part, only laughed as he stood from the floor. "Yeah, I know." He said, unbuttoning his blazer before pulling his arms from their sleeves. "Just figured I'd go out and put a couple hours into training for a bit. You know, cardio and stuff." After all, he'd promised Yang that he'd reserve them a room.
Pyrrha's brows shot upward as she stared at her leader. She wasn't sure how to feel, truth be told. On one hand, she was glad to know that he was finally putting the effort in without anyone telling him to, but on the other, she was worried he might push himself too far. And as his partner, the last thing she wanted was for him to need too much care.
A quiet part in the back of her brain hoped she could still coddle him a bit.
The red-headed young lady cleared her throat, pressing a fist to her mouth. "Well, that's good. I'm glad to see you're putting forward the initiative for a change." A little bit of ambition would do Jaune wonders! If he managed to gain a bit of confidence, he might actually begin to believe in himself as much as she did. "Though, I do have to remind you that you should still pace yourself. And remember not to run your aura for too long, otherwise your-"
"Gains won't go through because I'll heal too fast. I know, Pyr." He said, finishing her quote as he pulled the improvised noose from his neck. Okay, he knew it was called a tie, but he wasn't about to call a spade anything but a spade. "Besides, it's not like I'm going to be training alone, so I'll have someone to help me keep my tempo."
This made Pyrrha blink. "I… didn't know you trained with anyone else?" Her words cautiously left her mouth. Since when did Jaune train with anyone but her? It wasn't bad, but she was allowed to be curious. "Well, who are you training with today? Ren?" It was a wild guess with no basis, but it was possible. After all, Ren had to have fairly good stamina to keep up with Nora.
Jaune hummed as he moved on to taking off his sweater, and goodness was that thing hot. Why did they even bother making them wear sweaters under the blazer anyway? It was late spring! "Hey, that's not a bad idea, but no." He quickly responded, tossing his sweater on top of the growing pile of uniform on his bed. "I actually got to talking with Yang around a week ago, and she offered to help me train with footwork and cardio."
The green-eyed girl furrowed her brows, staring at her slowly undressing… partner. She turned around, coughing into her hand as she looked away. "I didn't know that you and Yang talked." So maybe she was a little curious about the relationships of her partner, was that so bad? "How'd that come up?"
The blond boy smiled, unbuttoning his white button-up before throwing it into the rest of the pile. "Oh, it's a story for sure." He said, reaching for his training shirt before throwing it on. "But basically, I went to Yang, hoping she'd give me tips on how I could ask out Weiss-" He started, not noticing how his partner's figure stiffened. "And one thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was taking off my shirt."
"Y-you had sex wth her?" Pyrrha sputtered, her face a deep crimson color.
Jaune's cheeks felt warmer as he shook his head. "No! I mean, I thought I was going to, but- It's complicated." He said, rubbing his hand against the back of his head, trying to push away the worst parts of his mind. "There was a little misunderstanding, and before I knew it, we were going over footwork and hand-to-hand combat. After a little bit of training, I actually mentioned that I meant romantic advice, and she agreed to help me on that front too." He carried on, grabbing at the shorts on his bed. "By the way, you mind turning around for a sec?"
Pyrrha didn't question his request, making a 180 as a means of hiding her crimson-shaded face. "Right," she started, her mouth shaking as her nails dug into her palms. "So… she helps you with combat and romance?" Was Yang trying to drag her competitive side out? Combat training with Jaune was supposed to be something that she did! No, she wasn't jealous! What would someone like her be jealous about?
The sound of a zipper filled her ears before the sound of clothes crumpling to the ground followed soon after. "That's just about the gist of it, yeah." Her partner responded. "We already had a little 'mock date,' I guess. Supposed to help me get on my feet with the whole dating thing or something."
A mock date?! Pyrrha thought. There are other girls for you to have mock dates with! Preferably a red head, maybe on your team? Her thoughts strung along, a frown forming on her face as her cheeks darkened in color.
Throwing on his shorts, Jaune didn't wait to put on his sneakers, slipping them on before stretching his legs out in front of him. "Mock date?" Pyrrha asked, her words carrying their typical mother-hen… ness. Mother-henly tone? What would he even call that? "How did your mock date go, then?"
Jaune only shrugged, flopping backwards onto his pillow as a smile spread across his face. "Pretty good, all things considered. We met up at a coffee shop, took a walk around the commercial district near the plaza, and stopped by an aquarium." He said. Well, to call Vale Central Aquarium just 'an aquarium' was like calling the tallest mountain in Atlas 'a hill.' "Oh, we even took pictures."
The red head's embarrassment slipped away for a moment, replaced by a deep abyss of not-jealousy. "You took pictures?" Her previously even tone slipped away, making way for a quiet whine.
The blond boy rummaged through the pockets of his uniform slacks, digging out his scroll before unfurling it. It wasn't long before he pulled up his photo gallery, showing off his latest pictures.
Pyrrha slowly strutted over to his bedside, leaning over to stare at his screen. "Here's the one where we were looking at the seahorse enclosure. Uh, don't tell her I took this one, I kinda snuck it." He said as he showed off the picture. It was exactly as he said, showing Yang leaning forward, staring at a tank filled with different colored seahorses. "Oh, and here's one with one of the other tanks. It had some pretty weird fish in them, if I've gotta be honest."
The red headed girl took each image down to the excruciating detail. Images of bright fish and dull fish, strange fish and normal fish, and everything in between. But one of the constant factors was that Yang was in every picture. It was almost concerning.
Then came the last picture.
A picture with both Jaune and Yang in frame. It was taken at a higher angle, both of them smiling at the camera as a touch of red lingered on their cheeks, a shark in the background staring curiously at the camera, and all of it illuminated by the light blue of the tank.
Whatever non-existent jealousy Pyrrha was definitely not shoving away returned in full force.
"It sounds like you had a lovely time." She said, smiling through gritted teeth. "You even took such nice pictures." Pyrrha placed her hands behind her back, if only to hide her aura flaring in her hands. It turns out that nearly drawing blood from stabbing her palms with her nails was a bad thing.
The blond boy chuckled, pushing himself to a seated position as he pocketed his scroll. "Oh, like you wouldn't believe. It was my first time going to an aquarium, so I'd say it was pretty memorable." Seeing so many different fish, walking through tunnels engulfed by water, it was awesome. "But as nice as it is to think about it all, I should probably get going. We've got a session here in about 20 minutes, and if I don't leave now, I'll never hear the end of it."
The redheaded girl watched as her partner stood up from his bed, her embarrassment trickling away as Jaune brushed his shirt off, smoothing out the wrinkles. "Um," she started, watching her blond leader look over his shoulder. "Just checking, but… We're still good for our training too, right?" She didn't want to say it out loud, but she was panicking! If Jaune's training with Yang went better than hers, then her private time with her leader was gone! Up in smoke!
Jaune blinked, only to smile. A laugh slipped from his lips as he closed the gap, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Who else am I going to get swordsmanship training from?" He rhetorically asked, smiling down at his partner. "Besides, I wouldn't trade training with you for the world." He got to spend quality time with his partner and one of his closest friends! What was there not to love?
Pyrrha paused, looking at Jaune as a familiar warmth spread across her chest. It was a better feeling than any adrenaline rush she'd ever have, it burned hotter than any fever, and most of all, it left her head fuzzy. She couldn't stop herself from closing her eyes, quietly giggling.
"Okay," she started, her words weightlessly rolling off her tongue. "Have a lovely training session. If you need anything, be sure to call." He wouldn't trade her training for the world. She was so over the moon she wanted to squeal.
Jaune only patted her shoulder again, laughing as he walked towards the door. "Will do." He said, giving her a wave. "And the same goes to you. If you need anything from me while I'm out, just give me a ring."
Pyrrha only quietly giggled. Oh, wouldn't that be a day? A day where Jaune would give her a ring? The kind of day where he'd confess that he'd like her to spend the rest of her life with him.
The blond boy walked out of the dorm room, the door clicking behind him, leaving Pyrrha standing exactly where she was. He could only shrug, Pyrrha was kind of weird like that. The only thing weirder than that would be if she was still standing that way when he got back.
Either way, Jaune made his merry way to the training rooms. It wasn't a long walk, but he liked to take his time meandering through the campus. There was just something about walking along the paved paths of Beacon. The sound of birds chirping as the afternoon air quietly whistled, brushing its phantom hand against his cheek.
If he closed his eyes, he was sure he'd be back on the dirt trail with his Dad, walking back home with a fresh haul from a hunting trip, covered in grime, sweat, and a fair bit of dirt. And at the end of the trail, there was the house. A two-floor home made up of planks from the local woodlands, his Mom silently waiting on the porch as his youngest sisters played in the yard.
But when he opened his eyes, he was back on campus.
He let out a sigh, making his way towards the entrance of the main building. "I'll have to give Mom a call sometime soon, if only to check in on the little grimm-spawn." Jaune muttered, smiling to himself.
A short time later and a couple of turns, Jaune found himself at the reserved training room. It wasn't anything crazy big, but it was enough. An arena in the center of the room, a couple of benches along the walls, enough light to see in front of him, it was great. All that was left was to wait for 'Coach.'
So, he found his seat on one of the benches and started flicking through his scroll. There was hardly anything too crazy, just a couple of websites spouting all sorts of nonsensical news. Some of it was politics, other bits were weather reports, maybe some odd article about celebrity garbage, just white noise, really.
Of course, there was also a bit of news to do with a couple of subjects that Jaune excelled in. Articles on the latest comic developments, along with a bit of video game stuff sprinkled in, made for an easy wait. So, he let his eyes go over the article, a small smile on his face as he waited for the inevitable meat grinder that he was throwing himself into-
"Aw, what? They're delaying T.R.A.C.K.E.R again?" The words slipped from his lips. Jaune brought a hand to rest on the back of his head as he let his eyes fall to the floor. "I mean, I guess it makes sense. It's not like making a game is easy." But even if he understood, he couldn't help but feel disappointed.
Before he could grumble any further about delayed releases, Jaune heard the sound of the door to the training room swinging open, thudding against the wall. His eyes flicked towards the source, watching as a single figure marched through the door.
Yang marched down the short ramp from the entrance, dressed in a short orange tank top, black shorts, and her hair pinned up by a scrunchy. Her long strides did nothing to keep Jaune's eyes from wandering, her hips rocking from one side to the other with each step.
He watched as she raised a hand, smiling as she walked towards him. "What's up, Champ? You ready for me to absolutely ruin you today?"
The blond boy laughed, pocketing his scroll as he stood up from his bench. "Is this the part where you break me down to build me back up, or are we talking in innuendos today?" A smile came over his face as he rolled his shoulders. "Also, uh, what's with the bag?"
Yang smiled wider, closing the gap between herself and her fellow blond as wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "This, dear Champ, is the next big step." Letting the duffle bag fall in front of her, she nodded to it. "All you've gotta do is pull down the zipper, and inside you'll find euphoria like you've never seen."
Jaune blinked at the description. "That's… a weird way to put it, but okay." He muttered, taking a knee before bringing his hand to the zipper. A slow pull slowly peeled open the bag's innards, revealing- "Oh, boxing equipment! That makes way more sense." And here he thought Yang was going to pull out something crazy.
Yang smirked, clicking her teeth. "And just what were you thinking about, hmm?" A brow rising on her face as her smirk grew. "Don't tell me you were thinking vile thoughts about your Coach? I come to help you out of the goodness of my heart, and you go around thinking of people like-" A hand pressed itself deeply into her side, digging at her ribs. "Ah, fucker!"
The blond boy chuckled as he pushed himself onto his feet. "Sorry, were you saying something?" He wasn't really paying too much attention. You know, on account of the fact that he was just so busy looking over the equipment.
"Yeah, I was saying how much you suck." She shot back, her lilac eyes shooting a dangerous glare. "But, lucky for you, I managed to dig up some old gear when I was talking with my Dad over the weekend. Told him I needed to borrow it, so he dropped it off." Man, she really needed to find a way to treat her Dad to something nice, and soon.
Jaune smiled as he stared down at the duffle bag. "Well, that's awfully nice of him. Did you ever tell him why?" Now, maybe it was because he grew up in the middle of nowhere, but nothing was ever as simple as just asking for something. There was always some kind of vetting process.
Borrowing the car? Where are you going? Oh, the general store. What for?
And so on.
Yang only shrugged, stuffing her hands into her pockets. "He never asked." She said, grabbing the duffle bag before digging through it. "Now stop asking stupid questions and put these on." She tossed two rolls of cloth at him.
The blond boy fumbled to catch the bundles, almost juggling them for a moment. But after managing to get a decent grip on them, all he could do was stare down at them. "Uh, what am I supposed to do with these?" He asked, turning his head to face the blonde boxer.
Though as soon as he turned his head, he got his answer. He watched as Yang took the rolls and stuck her thumb in a loop on the end. It wasn't long before he watched Yang absolutely blitz through wrapping it around her hand, leaving little more than her fingers shown as a thick pad of cloth covered the rest of her hand.
"What's wrong Champ, never seen a hand wrap before?" She asked, staring at him from the corner of her eye.
Jaune chuckled, bringing a hand to the back of his head. "Well, no, I have. I've just never seen them like this before." He'd seen them in the martial arts movies he used to watch with his sisters growing up, but aside from that? Not once. "Never really had to put them on growing up, but it's not like it'll kill me."
Before Yang went through the process of getting started on her other hand, she watched as Jaune started to wrap from- "Woah, don't do that." She said, pocketing her spare hand wrap for a moment. "If you start from the palm of your hand going towards the back, your wrap will come undone in training."
She watched as the blue eyed boy blinked, an awkward smile on his face. "I'm just not exactly sure what to do here, you know?" He said, gesturing to the hand wrap that loosely hung from his hand. "Never had to use hand wraps when I was training with my sword, so this is really new to me."
Yang hummed as she nodded. "Well, that's an easy fix, so no harm done. Here, let me see your wrap." She said, using the free fingers on her wrapped hand to usher him towards her. As the blond boy stepped in front of her, she smiled, grabbing at the wrap. "Alright, so here's how it works. You never want to start wrapping from the front because it'll come undone. So, you start from the back, wrapping around your wrist three times."
Going over the process was easy, wrapping it around the back of his hand three times. "Now, after this, you're going to go over these knuckles here." She followed up, trailing a finger just below his knuckles.
But Jaune was in a weird place. It was already hard focusing around Yang, not because she was hard to follow, but because dealing with pretty girls was already hard. The only thing that made things easier was if he thought of her like one of his sisters. After all, she was blonde, kinda weird, and always amped up, so she roughly fit the mold.
Yet even with that coping mechanism in place, he couldn't account for one thing. He didn't think Yang's hand trailing against his own, even if they were just for hand wraps, would be so distracting. But worst of all was the way she smiled as she stared down at his hands. It was so comforting, like a bonfire in the woods.
His heart pounded against his chest, a bead of sweat trailing along the back of his neck. The smell of her shampoo trailing into his nose was nothing short of uncomforting, the scent of chocolate taking center stage in his mind. At least, he imagined it was her shampoo, as opposed to perfume.
His eyes flicked between her smile and his hands, watching as she went through wrapping the cloth between his fingers, only to follow back along his knuckles again. Man, why did it feel so weird to have someone just touch his hands?
"You know," Yang started, her eyes glued to the wrap. "It's kinda funny, but this sort of reminds me of what my Dad and I used to do." She said, her smile widening. "I always figured I'd have to teach Ruby about this, but you'll do fine."
The blond boy chuckled as he looked away. "Sorry if it's not exactly what you had in mind." That's right, this was just for training. It wasn't anything special. "But still, I really appreciate it. It would've probably taken me a while if you didn't explicitly go out of your way to show me."
Yang only snickered, staring down as she started finishing off the wrap. "Don't worry about it, this is just a little bit of fun for me, and you're improving. If anything, it feels like my good deed for the day." A giggle followed her words as she put the last of the wrapping on the velcro strap, keeping it in place. "And that's a wrap." She said, snickering to herself. "How's it feeling? Too tight?"
Jaune gave his hand a flex, curling his fingers and thumb as he clenched his fist. "No, actually. The pun could've used a little work though." He started, staring down at his wrapped up hand. "It fits pretty good. Though I'm still confused why you've got me putting these on now."
Yang shook her head. "Safety first, Champ. We're going to be going through a little more than just footwork today, and I want to make sure you don't end up breaking your wrist because of bad form." Last thing she ever wanted was to witness a fractured wrist ever again. That was a rough couple of weeks for her. "So, while we're going to be going over your footwork, I'm going to see if we can't, y'know, get you on your feet."
The blond let out a hum as he stared down at the wrap. "Oh, so it's kind of like safety equipment?"
"Of a sort." Yang snipped back, shrugging her shoulders. "We're only going to be using them for now, and once you've got good form down, you won't need them. I'd still like it if you wore them, but that'd be your choice." It was a good habit to have, prioritizing safety as much as training. If you don't do it right, don't do it at all.
Pulling out the other wrap from his pocket, Jaune stuck his free thumb through the loop. "I guess I'll try to get started on this one myself. Just tell me if I'm doing anything wrong, alright?" He said, getting started with the wrap. Three loops around the back of the hand. One, two, three.
The blonde boxer smirked, crossing her arms as she leaned on the wall next to him. "I don't think you'll need it, but I'll let you know ahead of time." If he paid even half-attention to when she did it herself, he'd be fine.
So, Yang watched as her charge went through the process of wrapping his hand. Sure, there was the odd pause and question, but things moved pretty quickly after that.
Training for the day wasn't much to really speak of. At least, not at first. There was a lot of footwork to go over, constant repetition of basic movements, stepping forward, sidestepping, shifting feet to reposition, simple stuff. But once she was sure that Champ could handle it, Yang had him do it over, and over, and over again.
Yang, for her part, watched as he went over the process, occasionally stepping in to force him to adapt to new situations, if only so he didn't get too used to each movement. Muscle memory was a useful tool, but it often had unintended consequences. Do something enough times a certain way and the body will do as it always did.
It couldn't just be muscle memory, it had to be cognizant. Otherwise, it was just useless.
She threw hands with him for a little while, though it was at half the speed she'd normally go. It was purely for the sake of figuring out Champ's reaction times, but it also helped get that muscle memory going. Yang had him use a couple of the combinations that he went through earlier in their light sparring.
While they may not have been perfect, they did what they were supposed to. A jab to measure distance, to feel for the target, a cross to force a reaction, finishing with a step towards her outside followed by a left hook. If there was a big book of boxing, Yang was sure that Jaune was not too far from the textbook.
Of course, there were still holes in Champ's style, but it was still developing. She'd either help him fix them herself, or he'd figure it out. But still, it was tons of fun helping Champ get into shape. But there was only so much she could help him with before it was just muscle memory.
So, Yang found her seat, watching quietly as Champ went through the warmup that she had set aside for him. Checking her scroll, she saw that it- woah, it had already been an hour?
Her eyes flicked between her scroll and her fellow blond, watching as Jaune went through the cycle of footwork- "Hey, keep those hands up!" Yang yelled, watching as his arms started to fall. "I'll step in there and throw hands with you again if you don't!"
His arms came right back to where they were supposed to be, his left hand leading as his right hand stuck close to his face. "I know, just… How long has it been now?" He asked, trying to focus on his breathing. "It feels like it's been forever."
The blonde girl rolled her eyes, pocketing her scroll as she stood up from her bench. "It's only been an hour, you big baby. You'll be fine." She said, waving him off as she walked towards the arena.
Jaune, for his part, only groaned. "My legs are like jelly! They need rest to work!" He loudly complained, reluctantly going through his paces.
Yang sighed, shaking her head. "No, what you need is water." She shot back, bringing a hand to her forehead. "Well, an hour's still pretty good for muscle memory. Fine, take a breather, I'm gonna go get some of the water bottles out of my bag."
"You had water?" He whined, collapsing onto the floor beneath him. Sure, it may have scuffed his knee, but at least his legs didn't feel like they were on fire. "Why would you only bring that up now?" Oh God, what he wouldn't give for a swig of water.
Jaune watched from the cold floor as Yang strutted over to her duffle bag, pulling out a pair of plastic water bottles. "You didn't ask." She easily replied, shrugging her shoulders. "Also, you're gonna get dirty if you stay on the floor like that."
"I'm already covered in sweat." He mumbled, bringing his arms to rest under the side of his head. "What's a little dirt going to do to me that sweat already hasn't?" Splotches of dark gray staining his shirt, mostly around his neck and beneath his arms.
But even with all of his complaints, Yang walked towards the arena, the water bottles in her hand nearly as mesmerizing as the way her waist shifted from side to side. "Oh come on, have a little pride. You worked up a good sweat!" She yelled out as she stepped up onto the arena, squatting next to him. "Now, how about I give you one of these and we talk about what we can do to get you in better shape?"
Jaune's eyes followed the plastic water bottle in her hand as she shook it in front of him. His heart was thumping against his chest, a thin sheen of sweat on his brow as his legs screamed in agony. But that bottle of water would make it all worth it.
He reached a hand out to grasp the water bottle. "Okay, yeah, just… gimme a second to catch my breath." He muttered, only to feel Yang's hand grab at his.
"Nope," she said, smiling down at her fellow blond. "On your feet, Vomit Boy." Her hand tightening around his as she slowly pulled at his arm. She wasn't about to force him to his feet, but he needed to at least get off the floor.
Jaune pulled against Yang's hand as he stood up from his comfy floor. "Oh man, my legs, they feel heavy."
Yang snickered as she let go of Jaune's hand, exchanging it with a bottle of water. "Come on, Champ, let's get you to a seat." She said, wrapping an arm around his shoulders as she led him away from the arena. Honestly, she wasn't sure what to think.
She figured he might have been able to go a little longer than that, but not having his aura going was going to be an obvious hamper for his endurance. But if she had to relate him to someone that wasn't a Huntsman, she'd say he did pretty alright.
Yang felt the extra weight as he leaned against her, not bothering to suppress a giggle as she walked him over a nearby bench. "Aw, what's the matter? Can't go the extra mile without a little aura?" She joked, shaking his shoulder with her arm around him.
A small smile tugged at the side of his lips, a quiet chuckle soon following. "Honestly? Not really." He muttered, doing his best to trudge alongside the buxom blonde. "A big aura is all I've got. That, and my team. But everything else? Yeah, that's not really going places."
The blonde girl quirked a brow as she led him to the closest bench, gesturing for him to take a seat next to her. "Well, that's what I'm here for, right? To help you get that extra mile. Once you do that, you won't need to worry about that ever again." Her smile shrunk, but it kept its optimism.
Jaune sighed as his shoulders slumped forward. "I guess so." He replied, twisting the cap from his bottle of water before taking a long swig. He let out a breath as he brought the bottle away from his mouth. "But still, I can't help but feel like I should be better than this."
A crease formed between Yang's brows as she tilted her head. "What are you talking about, Champ? It's not exactly like you're in a bad place." Sure, he may have needed a bit of training, but who didn't? "I mean, think about it. You're at Beacon Academy, one of the most kickass schools in the world. You've got awesome friends, your grades are alright, and you're not half bad looking. Things could be way worse, right?"
Jaune blew away a loose strand of hair that stuck itself to his forehead, shrugging. "Well yeah, but don't you see what's wrong with that?" He asked, looking towards her as his brows curled upwards. "Sure, I may be at Beacon, but I'm one of the worst students here. I can barely hold my own in a fight, my grades are barely mediocre, and I'm…" He paused.
Yang blinked. "You're what?"
A second ticked by, then another, then a third.
"I'm just… me." He muttered. "Just good ol', normal Jaune."
The crease between her brows deepened as she stared at Jaune, his arms resting on his knees as his head hung low. So, what? He was just going to beat himself up because he wasn't moving along fast enough?
Yang couldn't stop herself from fully slugging him on the shoulder, a loud snap bouncing off the walls of the training room.
"Ah! Why?" He yelled out, rubbing his shoulder as it slowly reddened. Though, when he turned to face Yang, he found a dangerous glare on her face, her eyes turning a deep red.
"Are you stupid or something?" She asked, her voice filled to the brim with heat. "Do you honestly believe half of the horse shit you've spat out of your mouth? Or are you actually that braindead?" She was dumbfounded! Absolutely baffled!
"Wh-what?" He muttered, watching as her golden hair began to shine. "I don't know what you're-"
"Oh, of course you don't!" She shot back. "You've got no idea how much of a prick you've just been!" All of the time, effort, learning, all of it insulted!
"Wha- prick?!" He yelled out, furrowing his brows as he stared down the burning blonde. "Me recognizing my own faults, faults that I'm trying to correct, mind you, is me being a prick? What, do you want to just ignore all of these problems and act like nothing's wrong?"
"No, you moron!" She yelled, grabbing at the collar of his shirt as she shook him. "I'm talking about you! For someone who's trying so hard to fix himself, you've got a really bad thought process for it! Do you have any idea how much it takes to not just get through the vetting process for Beacon, but to then pass initiation and then keep studying? This takes years of training, years that you or I will never get back!" She ranted.
Was Jaune a normal guy? Compared to everyone at Beacon, most definitely. But he would never be normal again. He'd already done so much, struggled so hard just to be where he was. To ignore that was to disregard his efforts.
Jaune watched as the red in her eyes slowly shifted back to lilac, the embers from her hair trickling away and subsiding. "You are a lot of things, Jaune Arc, but mediocre is far from one of them." Her grip loosened on his collar, her hands coming to rest on his shoulders. "Being able to admit that you've got problems is good, but you went the extra mile and asked for help. That's not something even I would've done."
The blond boy felt his heart come to a slow, his eyes trailing down to his lap. "Asking for help was easy, but deserving it is a whole different thing." He mumbled. So maybe he was being a massive baby, it didn't keep him from being honest. "What good is someone if all of their strength didn't come from themselves?"
Even when he was training with Pyrrha, despite wanting to be a better fighter, there was always that voice in the back of his head. The voice that told him that he didn't deserve the help. That he should do it on his own, so that no one would have a burden as great as Jaune Arc.
Yang couldn't keep the sad smile from her face. "Does that mean that I'm no good to you, Champ?" She asked, her voice no louder than a whisper. Loath as she did to think about it, but Jaune reminded her of herself when she was younger. "It took a lot of people to mold me into the fighter I am. Does that mean that they're no good either?"
The crippling inadequacy, the need to improve, the drive to be better than she was the day before.
She watched as his eyes shot wide open, staring back into hers. "No way, not a chance." He quickly replied. "I mean, look at you and then look at me. You're Yang Xiao Long, one of the toughest, fastest, strongest, and prettiest girls in the school. And I'm just-"
"Jaune Arc, leader to one of the most well organized, badass teams in Beacon Academy?" She asked, interrupting him entirely. "Your problem is that you're trying to compare yourself to people. You don't need to be like anyone else, Champ. You just gotta find the way for you."
The blond boy took the moment to look Yang in the eyes, pausing for a moment. "...But what if being like someone else is the only way I'll get it right? What if just being me isn't good enough? It wasn't good enough for anyone before. Shoot, it wasn't even good enough to get Weiss' attention."
He heard Yang snicker as he felt his shoulders get jostled. "That's not because you aren't good enough, stupid. It's because you were trying so hard to be someone you're not. That fake confidence suited you about as well as a sombrero and fake mustache." Jaune couldn't keep himself from laughing at the image. "C'mon, Jaune, what's this all really about?"
Jaune let out a sigh, bringing a hand to the back of his head as he stared down at the floor. "It's just… What if, someday, we're all sent out on a mission, and I'm caught alone? What if I don't come home? I'm going to end up leaving a hole in my team, a hole in my family, it'd hurt the people that care about me. Without my team, I'm…"
Yang blinked, staring at the side of Jaune's head. "You're afraid of not coming home." She muttered. A part of her understood exactly what that felt like. "I think we've all had that thought, one time or another."
"How do you deal with it?" He asked, staring at her from the corner of his eyes.
This time, it was Yang's turn to sigh. "You've got to accept it for what it is. It's that part of your brain that tells you that you don't want to die, but it's not like you can just run away from the fight." She replied, letting go of his shoulders to let her hands rest on her lap. "So, we've just got to keep improving until we're sure we won't die." It sounded easy when she put it like that, but it was the truth.
"Then how long before I get any better?" He asked, furrowing his brows. "By the time we start our next year, we're going to be going out into the field practically by ourselves. So unless I start getting better soon, I'm stuck being dead weight." A heat lingering in his voice.
The blonde girl tapped the back of her hand against his shoulder, smiling as she stared at him from her peripherals. "Oh, get over yourself, you big baby. You really think you're not going to get better while you're with me? Yeah right, I'm gonna work you to the bone." She would do it, but not because she found it fun, and not because she felt obligated.
But because, in a weird way, she found someone that was just like her. In a weird, roundabout sort of way.
Jaune glared at the floor beneath his feet, the crease between his brows growing deeper. "How? I can't even beat Cardin the way things are going." Cardin was far from a refined fighter, more of a hunk of mass if nothing else. It should have been easy for anyone with a functioning brain to beat him. Yet there he was, bottom of the totem pole. "I mean, have you met me? It's not exactly like I'm going to take the world by storm here."
A familiar weight sat on his chest, the monument of all of his sins crushing his chest and emptying his lungs, leaving him breathless. All of his lies, his fraud, his forgeries, all of them weighed on him. He didn't deserve half of the help he was getting, and it only added to the weight.
But then he felt Yang's hands rest on his cheeks, like a feather's touch, pulling his head to face her. "Then let me tell you something, Vomit Boy." She started, a smirk on her face. "If you're so worried about not performing up to snuff, then we're going to up the intensity. I'm going to leave you a babbling mess by the end of every training session, and you're going to love it. Wanna know why?" She asked, a light shimmering behind her lilac eyes.
Part of him wanted to shrink away, to curl into a ball and not answer. But he couldn't stop himself from nodding.
"Because by the end of every session you're going to be sore in all the right places. Your muscles will ache, your bones will scream, but by the end of it all, you'll be bad enough to flip the school on its head." An absolute certainty resting in her voice. "I'll chisel from fucking stone if I have to. But for that, I want your everything, you hear me?"
Jaune blinked, letting her words sit on his mind. She was going to make him better in just a year? Was that even possible? "But how-" He started, only to feel a finger rest on his lips.
"You let me worry about how, alright?" She replied, her smile growing wider. "What I want from you is to just say yes. Tell me that you want me to tear you apart and build you back up. The sooner you do that, the sooner we'll get to work." She'd been holding back up until now, only letting him worry about footwork.
But now? All bets were off. She was going to make him go the whole nine yards.
The blond boy sat in silence, the feeling of Yang's finger pressed against his lips subsiding for a moment. Her lilac eyes bore into his dark blue as he searched for any sign of humor. But for all of his searching, he found nothing of the sort. All he found were honest intentions.
So, he nodded, feeling her finger pull away. "Alright." He started, his expression hardening as he stared back at his fellow blonde. "If you can make me better than I am now, I'll give you all I've got. Come rain or shine, you call me down and I'll come running." He didn't care if it would hurt anymore, because she was promising him something he never thought was possible.
The chance to truly be better.
Yang's smile grew wider as a laugh slipped from her lips. "Great, then finish up your water and catch your breath, because for the next four hours, I own you." She said, showing off her toothy smile as she pulled her hands away from his face.
She watched as Jaune blinked, tilting his head to the side. "Uh, I thought we were only training for three hours today?"
"Change of plans, Champ." She shrugged, picking her bottle of water up from her lap. "If we want to get you good and ready for the end of the year, then we're going to need to really up your intensity. That means we're going over more than just footwork, but we're doing some real workouts. Strength, cardio, footwork, some grappling, the works." She listed off, a digit rising on her hand for each part of the list.
Suddenly, she felt a pair of arms wrap around her shoulders, pulling her closely to Jaune's chest. Looking up, she could see just how tightly shut his eyes were, wrinkles forming on his eyelids. "Thank you." He muttered, squeezing her tighter. "I mean it, you know?"
A knot formed in her chest as she was swamped by Jaune's size, her head resting around his chin. She couldn't keep herself from chuckling as she patted his back. "Hey, what are friends for, right?" She asked. Yeah right, some friend she'd been. If she was really his friend, she'd have actually paid a bit more attention to him sooner.
But she didn't get an answer from him, only feeling his arms wrap tighter around her. Her heart loudly thumped against her ears, heat rushing to her face as she tried to make herself comfortable in the embrace. It was a new feeling, being hugged by a guy that wasn't her Dad. It was a little uncomfortable, honestly.
But it was far from bad.
Yang cleared her throat, ignoring the heat on her cheeks. "You can let go anytime you want, Champ. Besides, you should save the thanks for when everything works out." There was still training to do, and if she was going to make good on her promise, they needed to get to work. "Heh. Works out. I'm funny."
As Jaune let out a laugh, the blonde girl felt the vibrations in his chest. "You're right, I suppose I should." He said, a wide smile on his face as he pulled away from the hug. "It's just… you're amazing. You know that, right?"
Yang's brows shot up at the sudden compliment. "You say that like I'm the only amazing person around. Besides, you're pretty cool too. I mean, not as cool as me, but we'll get you there." She said, walking towards her duffle bag. "Now then, if you can go around and hand out hugs like that, it must mean you're all rested up."
The blond boy shrugged, setting aside his bottle of water as he stood up. "I don't hurt quite as bad as I did before, so I think I'm ready for round two." If he wasn't ready now, he never would be.
He watched as Yang knelt down, digging through the bag for a moment. "Great, then that means we can get to working on something I've been meaning to show off for a while." She said, pulling out a pair of… pads? "Buckle up, Champ, because I'm about to take you for the ride of your life."
"And what are those supposed to be?" He asked, leaning away from the blonde boxer.
Yang put the padded black gloves on her hands, smiling widely as she stared back at Jaune. "Oh these? Nothing crazy." She started, shrugging. "Just focus mitts. Now then, get your butt in the arena, because I'm about to put you through your paces. For real, this time."
He awkwardly chuckled, an uneasy smile on his face. "Um, go easy on me?"
The slightly sadistic smile on her face morphed into something sickly sweet, her eyes shut as she tilted her head. "Aw, c'mon Champ, whatever happened to 'come rain or shine?' You're really going to leave a girl hanging after such a nice proposal?" She shot back. "The rain's tapping at your window, Champ, and it's not asking nicely."
The blond boy awkwardly chuckled. "You know that's not what I meant when I said that."
Yang only shrugged. "Yeah, I know."
The next few hours were a bit of a blur for Jaune. There was a lot punching and dodging involved, and a lot of tripping and scuffing his knees, only to get dragged back onto his feet by his slave driver of a coach. Those parts were a little easier, honestly. The worst part came in the form of grapples.
He didn't bother keeping count of how many times he was thrown around after 27, he just rolled with it and kept getting back onto his feet. His muscle ached worse than ever before, his joints screaming as red marks lined his whole body. But still, he kept getting back up, doing as Yang instructed.
For the longest time, Jaune didn't realize just how much went into getting the right kind of punch. A lot of hip movement, a lot of footwork, a lot of sweating. It would have been a great workout if it didn't suck so much.
But what really killed him was the warm ups that Yang had him go through. Bouncing on his toes just to get him used to the movement, warming up his legs, moving his arms in long, full circles to wake up his shoulders. Then there was stretching out his legs with the alternate hand, alternate foot stuff that Yang had him do. Something about hamstrings?
Either way, by the end of the warm up, he was already feeling it.
By the end of hour four, Jaune was on his knees, taking in as much air as he could. His chest rose and fell faster than he thought was possible, his heart loudly and quickly snapping against his chest, sweat pouring from his head and shoulders.
But from where he was sitting, Yang was just fine, a light sheen of sweat on her forehead as her hands rested on her hips. "So, how are you feeling, Champ? Feeling like a winner yet?" She asked, her chest rising and falling slowly and evenly.
Jaune coughed into his hand, his lungs feeling like they were just set on fire. "Remember when I said that I couldn't feel my legs earlier?" He asked, staring up at Yang as he wiped the sweat from his brow. "Yeah, I was lying, at least then they felt like they were on fire. Now I'm just numb." He continued, taking in as much air as he could.
Yang quietly laughed, taking a knee before falling onto her backside, crossing her legs. "Feels great, right?" She asked, her brows rising as her smile widened. "Nothing's better than a good workout. Not partying, not drinking, nothing." The feeling of her muscles pumping and aching, it was better than any other vice in the world.
The blond boy chuckled, a bit of coughing making its way into the mix. "I'm sure it'll grow on me. Y'know, like a tumor." He mumbled, teetering over onto his side, laying on the floor. "I can't believe I made it through the whole four hours."
Yang crossed her arms, giggling to herself. "Honestly? Neither did I. I'm half-surprised you didn't collapse after hour two." She was honestly surprised he made it through the grappling too. Granted, boxing wasn't supposed to include grapples, but Hunting was serious business. "Good job, Champ."
The lanky swordsman gave her a thumbs up. "Only half? I appreciate the confidence." He mumbled, his words slurring from having his face pressed against the sweet, loving cold floor. "Wouldn't have gotten that far without your encouragement." The mild threats, the compliments and belief put into him, they all carried him forward.
The buxom blonde waved him off, rolling her eyes. "If some pretty words from an equally pretty girl can get you that far, I'm worried about how strong you'd get if Weiss helped you workout instead." She joked, leaning backwards with her arms supporting her. "You'd probably beat P-money in a spar in less than six months."
Jaune could only laugh. "Nah, there's no way. I'd be too embarrassed to train with Weiss." If Weiss could see him now, she'd probably talk about how pathetic it was watching him catching a breath on the floor. "It's different with you. You push me way harder than anyone else."
Yang curled a brow as she tilted her head. "I didn't know you trained with anyone like this? Any pretty girls I should worry about, stealing my training buddy?" A smirk on her face as she squinted her eyes. "Because you've gotta keep your eyes on the icy prize."
She watched as he waved her off, pushing himself to a seated position. "My partner, she helps me train in Swordsmanship. It's mostly form and stuff like that, but it's still kind of tough." Ooh, lucky him, he got to train with a real Champion. "But our sessions never really last longer than an hour, maybe two at most. Kind of hard to train that late at night."
The blonde boxer only shook her head. "Honestly, you've got no idea just how lucky you are. You've got not just one, but two pretty girls helping you train, and one of them is a real Champion!" She yelled, pulling the scrunchy from her hair, letting it come loose. "Oh, that's the ticket." Her toes curling as she pocketed her scrunchie.
Jaune could only silently stare as Yang's hair came undone, a wave of locks trailing down her back as a content smile came over her face. In a way, she was right. He was lucky to have a pretty girl as a training partner. He probably wouldn't have tried so hard to stay on his feet if it was anyone else.
Yang was right, she was a pretty girl.
"Ain't that the truth." He quietly shot back, his heart rate coming to a slow pace. "Hey, weird question, right?"
Yang hummed, cracking open a singular eye. "Shoot."
"How about you and I go get some breakfast tomorrow? My treat, you pick the place." He offered. It was the least he could do for all the effort she was going through to help him. "Consider it as me saying thanks."
The blonde girl giggled, sitting up straight as she crossed her arms. "What did I say about saying thanks?" She asked, curling a brow. "But if you're offering, there's this little place on Patch that I've been wanting to visit for a little while, if that's cool with you?" A family diner on the path that led to home.
Jaune rolled his neck from side to side, searching and finding the pop he was looking for. "That sounds great, actually. How's 8 AM for you?"
Yang shrugged. "My schedule's pretty clear, tomorrow being a weekend and all. Unless Ruby feels like springing surprise training on us again." A hint of bitterness seeped into her voice as she pouted at the ground.
"Sweet," He started, smiling to himself. "It's a date. Well, not a real one, but you know what I mean."
Maybe it was the fact that they'd just got done with such a killer workout, but Yang felt a tinge of heat touch her face. "Simmer down, Tiger. You get one week of training and advice, and all of a sudden you're throwing the word date around like it's nothing." She joked, ignoring the touch of red on her face. "You keep this up, I'm afraid you'll forget that you're after just Weiss.
Jaune could only laugh. "I'm pretty sure it's just because I'm exhausted. I don't think I'd have the confidence or lack of care to ask you out if I wasn't." Not that he would, mind you. After all, this was just so that he could get some training, and so that Yang could have her fun. It was just a mutually beneficial workout plan. "Why, you scared I'll stop needing dating advice?"
Yang snorted, shaking her head. "Oh no, whatever will I do to keep you from walking out of our training sessions? It's not like we just talked about why you want to train less than a few hours ago." Sarcasm gripping her voice like a beast in a bear trap. "Now, I think we're done for the day. We could both use a shower after this."
"Separately, I hope?" Jaune joked.
"Obviously." Yang shot back, pushing herself to her feet before stumbling over to her fellow blond. "Now, how about you help me pack up all of this equipment so we can get to our dorms?" She asked, offering him a hand.
He didn't hesitate to grab her hand, being hoisted up to his feet. "Sure thing. Man, what time is it?" He asked, reaching into his pocket as he fumbled to grab his scroll.
But before he could check the time, Yang was already ahead of him, unfurling her scroll. "Oh, would you look at that, it's already 7." She said, curling her lip before flicking the scroll shut. "Yeah, we should probably rush back to our dorms before anyone gets any funny ideas."
"Yeah, probably." The words fell out of his mouth as he followed behind her, rushing to pick up and stash away all of the equipment they'd gone through.
Before long, they'd torn off their hand wraps, rolled them up, tossed them in the duffle bag, picked everything else up, and made their way for the door. Walking out of the training rooms was easy, and with the halls being vacant for the day, it was all the more easy. The less people with a functioning sense of smell, the better.
Stepping out of the main building, they were both met with the cool evening breeze, the sun's slow descent towards the horizon nearing completion. The sky was an orange-purplish hue, devoid of all clouds. The lamps set up along the walkways to Beacon came to life as they walked the concrete path, the sun dipping behind the ocean on the horizon.
By the time they'd finally made it to the dorm building, they were both beyond exhaustion, standing at their respective doors.
Shoving his hands into his pockets, an awkward smile came over Jaune's face. "Alright, well uh, I'll pick you up sometime at around 8?" He asked, curling a brow.
Yang, for her part, patted him on the side of the shoulder, smiling back. "It's a date." Not a literal one, but a date nonetheless. "A date where I help you figure out how dating works, but you know how that goes." She rambled, trying to ignore the tight feeling in her chest, or that weird spinning in her stomach.
She listened as a laugh came from her fellow blond. "Man, hearing either of us say that isn't getting any easier, huh?" No, not at all. If anything, it got harder to listen to. Not because it was bad, but because it made her feel funny.
The buxom blonde let her hand rest on her hip, quirking it to the side. "I'm sure it gets easier. I mean, the more you say it, the less it means, right? And the second you get past that awkwardness, you can ask out Weiss. Easy peasy." She said, trying to rationalize it, if only to get the weird chest pain to go away.
A wide, almost childish grin spread across Jaune's face as he raised a hand. "I'll make sure to make the offer more often then." He joked, chuckling. "But anyway, it's getting to be that hour, and I feel gross. You have a good night, Yang."
Yang couldn't help but smile back, softly slugging him on the shoulder, not failing to spot him wincing. "You too, Champ. Get some rest, you've earned it tonight."
With that, she watched as the blue eyed boy stumbled into his room, closing it behind him. All that was left was for her to do the same.
So, she opened her door, walked through, and closed it behind her. She didn't even bother to check if her teammates were in the room before collapsing on the floor, using the door to prop herself up. Her hands plastered themselves to her face, muffling a groan.
Yang Xiao Long, she thought. You are one special kind of idiot. After all, it took a special kind of idiot to get worked up over some nice, tall blond boy who lived across the hall.
Typical formalities include me saying how you should follow, favorite, review, et cetera, but I've been awake for nearly 20 hours now that I'm finishing up revisions and edits, and I'm tired. So yeah, I'm going to bed.
I will also acknowledge that an additional hundred or so followers showed up since I last updated, so that's pretty cool, I think. Went from 200 and some change to just about 330. That's a pretty significant jump, I'd say.
Either way, I'm too tired to really ramble about anything today, so I'm just going to say how you should check out the Goblin Industries discord, and how you should buy Leonid Afremov paintings. Yeah, that's about it.
Ciao, y buenas noches.
Discord: 7ksPCNs3ZM
Update date: Fuck, I dunno. Whenever I feel like it again.