"A second round."
"You want a second round?" Jaune turned his eyebrow, being confused more than anything.
"You bet I do." Yang smacked her fist into the palm.
"But why?" He couldn't understand. "You completely out-matched me by the end," He stated, putting on a pair of running shoes.
By the end. Those were the keywords. And a completely different reason as well.
"I'm not satisfied by the way I won. Think about it blondey, I had my weapons and even ended up using the semblance. Don't ya think it's a little bit unfair?"
Jaune's visage didn't really say so. "The reason why I didn't use my own weapons is because I'm bad at armed combat. And I would have used the semblance too, that is-"He looked at her, done with the change of footwear "If I could use one. So honestly, all the disadvantages I was facing were on my own fault. I simply used the best I had while you did the same." He frankly voiced his opinion, getting up to do a little stretch.
Yang's eyebrow twitched, though she partially knew that Jaune would say something along those lines. "Listen blondey, all I want is for us to get in there-"She pointed to the ring behind them "with no armor or weapons, just our bare fists and have a fight." Her fist raised to her chest, she narrowed her eyes a bit and spread her legs wider apart, showing that Jaune would not bypass this challenge easily.
Looking at her, Jaune's posture tensed visibly. He felt the pressure, though not the kind before their first duel. Of course, after the heavy beating he received after they first crossed their fists wasn't a pleasant sensation. Even while knowing that it was well worth it. But a little glimpse in the corners of his eyes showed a daring emotion. Perhaps a tiny flame which desired something.
"You won't take no for an answer, will you?" The hardening of her gaze already told him the answer.
"No." She proved her gaze to be correct.
Jaune sighed, even if he figured that much. "Fine." He mildly surprised her by agreeing with much less resistance than she anticipated to.
(Something feels different.) Yang felt alarming sparks spread across her body once. Even if seemingly normal, brawler definitely caught something which made her sharp instincts twitch in Jaune's blue as he passed her. His figure going straight to the old training gyms exit.
"Doing roadwork?" She slowed his pace by a step.
"Yea."
"How much?"
"20 miles."
(A little bit low.) She thought with suspicion. Sure, before the new rule was implemented into boxing regulations just a year or two prior to this, changing the sport, fighters to be more precise, drastically, a distance like that would be considered an over kill even. But by nowadays standards, not so much.
"Taking it easier today?" She asked before he would be gone for good.
"Not really," Jaune nonchalantly said "It's a decent warm-up before I'll do some actual training." He casually stated and left the room, leaving Yang stand there dumbfounded.
"Did he just….did….did he just call 20 miles a warm-up?" She questioned both her hearing and sanity. And judging by the ease of his tone, Jaune truly didn't seem to be joking either, meaning that 20 miles for him was truly only a warm-up. Yang's lips pursed, expression turning sharper. (This is it.) She knew. (This is the reason why….damnit.) She bit her lip and went for the exit as well. During the week they had before their second clash, Yang would try and erase that difference as much as she could.
Jaune took a sip from his glass of juice with grip being tighter than usual. The week sure flew by. He couldn't even taste his favorite apple drink, the main meal lingering half-finished on the table as the thoughts of fighting Yang again preoccupied him completely. Just mere, couple of hours left and he'd have to engage with her again in a battle. Can't really back out either. He took another sip, feeling how goosebumps wanted to cover his skin. As unusual as it may be, Jaune wasn't feeling so much scared as he was feeling some sort of pressure from within. Perhaps it was the fact that almost besting Yang was still an achievement he wanted to dearly hold onto. Yet since the second duel would soon happen between them, a new result would be born because of it. A new outcome which none of them could predict so….
Jaune's glass made an almost audible cracking noise. Stop lying to yourself. A few lines of cracks appeared on the glass. It wasn't the fact that the upcoming result could overshadow the previous one. He only assumed that because of his self-esteem. In reality, it's a second chance for me. A second chance to do better than he did. And he truly, genuinely wanted to. Which in return caused all these both pleasant and not emotions running through him. I want to try-no, I want to win. Knowing that they would compete in a boxing ring with-out any assistance of over-powered weapons or armors made his drive and desire to strive for the victory just so much more powerful-personal to him.
"Jaune…."
"Jaune…."
"Jaune."
"Jaune."
Blonde's head suddenly snapped to his right, only now noticing that he was called for. "O-oh, sorry. I guess I was spacing out."
"More than usual." Was the reason of his lover's concern "Is something bothering you?" Pyrrha released his grip from the glass of juice, holding his hand into her own two.
Jaune's eyes darted nervously, hesitant to admit right away. "I just….it's….it's Yang." He pushed her name out with a heavier breath, earning RWB gang's attention.
"Did she do something?" Even if Ruby wouldn't really believe so, her eyes were narrowed none the less.
"No, no, not really." He didn't want them to misunderstand, which also meant that it would be best if he were to just spill out the truth right away "Its just-she asked me to fight her again."
Pyrrha's emotions shifted the most from the revelation.
"Do you know why exactly?" Ruby already had a guess or two of her own. So did the rest.
"Well, she's not happy about the outcome of our first fight. Wants to compete again, not using any weapons this time around."
No one's expression showed that great of a surprise.
"Did you accept the challenge?" Blake asked.
"I did." Jaune calmly yet firmly stated, earning slightly mixed emotions from others because of it.
"Did you want to?" Ruby's visage showed the most concern.
No. That was the first reaction of his when brawler asked for a rematch. He wasn't too enthusiastic nor optimistic about it. Yet the closer that time to their second duel got, the more Jaune realized that in actuality the answer was yes. He knew that and with the drive which has been building up within him this whole week, would assure others as well. "Yes, I did." His voice shook only because of the anticipation. Suddenly, his head turned to the side as he felt someone giving him a light jab in the cheek. "You can do it." Even if Nora's grin was the same as always, her tone was certainly heavier and more serious.
Jaune nodded back with a smile. "Thanks."
"Since both of you will fight unarmed, this is your chance to win." Ren offered a friendly piece of encouragement.
Just hearing that made Jaune's heart skip a beat. "I know." His lips now gained slightly more confidence.
"Looks like someone is uncharacteristically motivated to prove himself again." Even if Weise's tone was mostly stripped off from kinder emotions, the little arc in the corner of her lips showed that she approved of his decision.
"I guess." Jaune scratched his head.
"Well, if you decided on your own, then go for it Jaune!" Ruby wished him the best of luck on this new obstacle "Though I guess this is definitely connected to Yang's absence this whole week. I mean we have barely seen her." Weiss and Blake figured the same.
"Maybe." Jaune nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders, again being drowned into the thoughts of upcoming rematch. I'll do it. He gripped Pyrrha's hands tighter. I have to see-I want to see how prepared I am. For the comeback match. That to him, was one of the driving forces as to why he so willingly agreed to fight her again. After all, just two more weeks were left before that. Two more weeks, yet his heart felt the weight of that statement the very moment old pops announced it to him. The heaviness of it only growing as the days passed by.
Kiss.
Jaune's lips were suddenly pressed against Pyrrha's as she turned his head and launched herself forward. "If you're so determined to do it, then do." She said after their lips separated, her hand gently pressed to his cheek, moving herself to kiss the blonde once more. "Do it." She said under his breath, enjoying the sight of Jaune confidently curving his lips to her, nodding back with-out hesitance.
"I will." Jaune voiced his determination and for good luck and his goddesses' irresistible charm, gave her back a single pack on the lips. Even if his cheeks were flushed red while doing so, indicating that kissing her in public still earned him a healthy dose of embarrassment.
"Ahem!" Weiss demanded their attention "I can understand it being hard to restrain yourself, but please, remember that we're in a dining hall. You can just wait until you'll get to a more private place."
Jaune scratched his head sheepishly while Pyrrha's expression barely changed at all.
"Looks like somebody's jelly now." Ruby giggled to herself.
"No I'm not!" Weiss fired back right away, making Ruby's giggle even louder.
With everyone else having a little snicker as well from the scene, Blake would be the first one to address a still missing but important piece of information. "When and where are you holding the fight?"
"Today, in the old training room though…I have this hunch that Yang wouldn't want any spectators this time around. Me neither honestly as it just…somehow feels personal so….." He didn't want to upset them, but hoped they would understand. Luckily, all of them did and would settle down for now. If only for one, unsatisfying pout from Nora though she too, wouldn't push her desires any further and even ended up having a cheerful grin curved into her lips the moment Jaune invited her to his comeback match. With one topic starting to change to another, all of them finished their meals and would await for the upcoming classes. Each one feeling differently about it.
"Come on! Show me some spirit!" A man holding the mitts tried to squeeze the last bits of energy out of his pupil.
A new sweat covering the older, dried one, the girl weakly nodded back as she would force herself to do as asked, no matter her body's relentless protests. Her limbs moving in one, almost perfect motion created a sequence of loud, explosive thuds crossing the area, each one leaving a dent of proof from how powerful they were.
*Beep, beep!*
"Time!" The couch yelled, skipping back.
"Pant…..pant….pant…..okay…..pant." She blurted out, dragging her feet to the stool.
"That was a nice rush you had there at the end. Really felt those punches through the mitts." Man eyed the equipment, being impressed to see the surface still being uneven, showing no signs of returning to a smooth form like it used to be.
With her back being pressed to the wall, she smirked through the nasty sweat "Believe me….I know." She took off her gloves, gazing at her wrapped fists. I know but…There was someone else. Her nails sank into the wraps, lips pursed together tightly. There was someone else whose fists were literal weapons.
"Will you be coming back?" He asked. "Would be a waste of talent if you wouldn't." Just in a mere week she showed so much promise for a bright, strong future in the sport. So much that he would feel blessed being her guide to it.
"Depends on what you want to hear-truth-or false hope." She made a dry smile. It's not like she wanted to crush a man's hope, but offering a fool's paradise was not something she ever wanted to do, if only it was an absolute necessity.
Couch sighed disapprovingly, giving her a stern look. Though he also knew better that forcing someone on a combat sports path wouldn't lead anywhere good.
"Give it a hard thought at least. Talents like you while still need to put in fair amount of effort, are also the ones who can reach the highest of peaks in the sport."
Yang's body tensed. Talent and effort. That's how it's supposed to be. She felt a stab to her gut. Changing her footwear to a casual one, she stood up. That is how it was supposed to be.
"I'll think about it," She nonchalantly said and went for the exit.
"Be sure to do." Yang heard him remind her.
Waving at him once, she stepped outside and went to a one more place before she would go to the Beacon. Had to pick up those new toys she ordered.
Late evening. Location-old training room.
"So it will be eight rounds?" Jaune wanted to make sure he got the settings on his scroll right.
Yang felt an urge to sneer at that, even if it was her idea. "On paper, sure." Her lilac switched to red and back, eyeing her opponent intensely. "But I don't think you believe either that it will last that long." She wasn't shy to hint that the fireworks would start the moment that first bell would ring.
Jaune's blue changed as well "So no easy way out." His tone was not something she would expect. It was calm, collected and showed no signs of fear or reluctance. He is different. Yang could feel her instincts sharpen and twitch just from the sight of her opponents gaze. Not that she could blame her guts. The blues Jaune had today were nothing like the ones he had before their first duel. In fact, if not for the identical looks, brawler wouldn't believe the person standing in front of her to be the same one she faced once already. So it's true. She remembered hearing of such phenomenon. That people could open up or change completely based on the shift of their surroundings or circumstances. Brawler never really payed much attention to it, but this-this she simply couldn't ignore.
'We're closer to my territory now. Thread carefully.' That is what his posture seemed to tell her.
Yang's lips pursed tightly. I worked my ass off this whole week. Even if not a long span of time, she didn't have any intentions of that effort being wasted. Even if under the thick layers of confidence and dignity, an unspoken truth dared to bare its fangs into the reality.
"You ready?" Jaune returned her fierce gaze daringly, both of them standing in their respective corners.
A beat of sweat reached her chin. He's totally different. "I am." She took her boxing pose.
Not wasting any time himself, Jaune's stance took its most natural form.
This will be different. One way or another one, but the second round of theirs wouldn't follow the first one's footsteps. How could it when the time itself seemed to slow its pace, trying to find a way to avoid both combatants whose eyes turned seemingly inhuman. Nothing but a sound of their heartbeats being hearable anymore as they awaited for that first bell to ring.
Splash.
The drop of sweat inaudibly hit the canvas, signaling that the façade of peace would soon meet its end.
…
*Ring*
One draw of a breath and Yang's body was next to his.
"HERE I CO-"
Her head brutally snapped backwards.
"W-what the?"
Shocked, she turned her head back to face him, her vision blurring again as the floor beneath them would soon taste her dropping spit. T-those jabs. She gulped. They were not the sort a human being should be able to throw.
Jaune's blue almost changed a color. Target practice.
Firing his left hand with such seemingly impossible quickness and mastery, the simplest of punch called a jab managed to rock Yang's inner core, forcing her to use the guard. Head slipping those strikes seemed to be a feast she wouldn't try to achieve. Or simply couldn't.
Blonde's foot slid forward, his next strike slipping through the smallest of gap between his opponents guard.
S-son of a. Brawler staggered backwards, the open cut in her lip painting the canvas with the raging blood of hers. I-it's not that-grnn-he's simply-hrrnn-faster than before. His punches were delivered with almost no predictable motions behind them as well, making a task of timing them down borderline impossible. Yang bit her lip angrily. E-even so-grhhh-I-hnnrr-have to attack! Being a sandbag was not why she worked so hard for this past week, so brawler casted the ever growing risks aside and opened up.
Unpleasant flashback.
The images of their first fight flashed through her mind as Jaune's body shot caught her right in the center, her back brutally knocked into the corner from the following left hook of his. With her knees still trying to absorb the damage done, all of her escape routes were cut off as Jaune rained his punches from all the possible angles. Leaving no room for her to deliver back anything at all.
She couldn't have expected this. Yang did knew that things would be different, but this was just something else entirely. Never before had she been this cornered, left unable to do anything. Hopeless. Hopeless…..hopeless…..cornered-unable to do anything. 'Just what the hell were you thinking about?! Do you even realize that if not for my help, both you and Ruby would have died right here?!' Yang felt that sudden stab in her gut again. I'm different. Her counless defeated opponents made her remember the truth. She wasn't that hopeless, weak kid anymore. No. Yang knew that the strength she carried now was on a completely different level, and no one would make a light work of it. Not even the opponent who was pounding her mercilessly, his each strike sending a clear message of-This is my victory! A message Yang didn't approve of, making her open up again to break his face.
The canvas soon tasted more blood-
She wasn't the only one who had disagreements. Jaune did too.
Yang felt how her toes lost connection with the floor from blonde's uppercut, the right hand almost sending her right back into that painful memory. Unpleasant flashbacks to her, yet the most pleasant ones to Jaune.
He was evolving, reaching for something, remembering. This is it. This is it. This is it! The more punches he unleashed, the more it was coming back to him. Even if this still wasn't pure boxing, each new strike earned him to remember the feelings he had locked away from the sport. The true passion and need for it in his life.
This side of me.
This side of me.
This side of me.
His fists kept telling the unspoken truth of he was-who he wanted to be.
Yang's eyes started to tear up. Her usually so strong, brave posture resembled none of that right now. Instead, her body turned into a miserable pulp, the time left for her to withstand this brutal assault shortening by each new strike she either blocked or simply absorbed. I-grrnn-do something! Her instincts echoed from within, desperately trying to save their wielder from breaking apart-from losing this fight! Damnit! Damnit! Damnit! Yang pierced her lip, the tears which previously showed her defeat suddenly evaporating into a confident, if also unsatisfying steam. Semblance. As much as she wanted to fight on equal footing, it simply wasn't possible. Their backgrounds and decisions made separated them too far apart.
A flash of raging red.
Jaune felt an unnerving chill ran down his spine, ending right at the tip of his toes. He saw it-felt how his opponent was changing right next to him. The berserk mode. With the terrifying flashbacks of her semblance's destructive power still fresh in his mind, Jaune knew that the closure was right here. The shift of emotions in his eyes made by the ever growing force next to him showed that as well.
Two, forceful pushes and Yang drove her opponent off of her, the ferocious flames covering her entire being only further proving her already more than clear intent.
"Have a load of this!" She roared at him, her body gaining unthinkable boost of strength, her fists already moving in blazing motion.
1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10….20. In about a mere span of 4 seconds, 20 fully loaded finishing blows were released.
Yang's eyes turned back to lilac.
Hands falling by the side, her knees were the first ones to touch the canvas, the rest of the body following shortly after.
"Sorry Yang, but with-out your weapons….you're nothing more than an alpha plus brawler with decent power. I have met your kind before. Defeated." Jaune voiced his past experiences, changing the boxing stance to a pure, unadulterated victory pose.
Brawler heard none of that. Nothing. Just like the rest of her main senses, all of them were unresponsive, crippled, unable to make her realize the situation she was in. Not even show her the outcome of their second fight. Only one thing. In this state of nothingness and ever growing darkness surrounding her, Yang could only see a glimpse of Jaune's blue anymore. She didn't know. Was it because for the first time ever, she actually looked from below to him or something else, but it hit her harder than ever before. His blue was different. 'Jaune's eyes were defeated and showed self-pity. Yang hated those sort of eyes and those sort of people.' The blue's Jaune had today reflected a completely different persona. Strength, unwavering confidence and straightforwardness. And the reason for it was a very simple one. Yang was right. The opponent she faced today was not Jaune Arc 'The vomit boy.' What her fists crossed with was 'Jaune, the dancing Arc angel.'
The side of him which was close to being reborn. Stronger than ever before.
Authors note-This time around, I'll start with answering reviews;)
DARKPHANTOM13-Well, not only did they have a talk, but a second fight as well so hey, that's a bonus in my book:D Anyways though, truly appreciate your words and hope that the rest of the story won't disappoint you, this chapter including.
Jkdelta38-Thanks! So glad to know that you thought that the chapter was awesome. Lately, I think I have put in a just a little bit more effort into my work so it's delightful to know that it pays off. As for revelations, Yang will have one too in the upcoming chapter so look forward to that I guess. Anyways, appreciate your review and until some other time;)
Xearthes(chapter 5 review)-Well, Jaune's past wasn't an easy one, I can agree on that. But hey, he has his present time and the future so things might change for better. Or worse…you can never really know, right?
Xearthes(chapter 11 review)-Warms my heart to know that you enjoy my work so much. I mean I know that I always say that but truly, I always mean it with genuine honesty. And don't worry. This story will continue right till the last chapter will come;)
Jaune hater-Well, just as honest as you are with me-I will be with you on your negatives, so here it goes-
Weiss being OOC. I think it can be debatable. Is she an elitist? Yes, but we also do know that she has a softer side to her, meaning that there is an open possibility of her saying something to Jaune. And if anything, I think she would exactly do that in an isolated place. Hear me out. We do know that Weiss and Jaune were not that fond of each other, Weiss more so than Jaune. After all, he had that sort of crush on her and was annoying her as a result of it. True. But in my story it is made clear that Jaune is completely in love with Pyrrha, so was he in the canon RWBY by the end of volume 3, but that's besides the point. What I'm trying to say is that the whole RWBY gang knows that Pyrrha is the only girl Jaune feels genuine love to, Weiss including. And since she knows that, it's clear that Jaune wouldn't annoy her nearly as much as he used to and their relationship would be improved because of that. So yea, I think she wouldn't really have any difficulties facing him alone in the room. Not anymore at least. Would she say all the stuff she did though? Not that is truly debatable. But like I have said before, I like to experiment with canon characters, trying to open up new possibilities for them while still trying to keep their most notable character traits or, if I do happen to break those as well, then it would be for a good reason.
Ren and Nora being missing. True they are. I guess I just wanted to focus on the characters which had the most importance in this chapter. Though I do acknowledge that I should have at least mentioned their presence being next to their leaders, so no real arguments there.
As for Yang, I will let you form your final thoughts on that after the next chapter, the one which will come after this one as all of its focus will be on Jaune and Yang. So I will wait until then.
As for the wall of text at the end. Yes. I have very little counter-arguments to that. Even if it contains Jaune's inner thoughts and actions, as well as little bit of Pyrrha's actions, it is just a wall of text in the end. I guess I just thought that it would work because Pyrrha would give him a fair chance to finish what he wanted to say, and only then would form words and arguments of her own. But still, I do know that for the sake of bettering that scene's flow, I should have included if not actions, then perhaps some inner thoughts of hers about the things he was saying. So yea, agree on that almost completely.
And as for the last negative, that Osama Bin Laden reference, honestly, I just included it for comical value. Now, I don't know how other readers felt about it so it's hard for me to judge correctly if it seemed funny to others or not. But for you it seemed out of place and I can get that, but really, I want you to know that it was just a real life reference I added in to attempt to add a laugh or grin or two. Nothing more than that.
Now-a few words on the positives you mentioned. Nice to know that in general, you liked the moment between Jaune and Pyrrha, and how they confessed their feeling to each other. As for him thinking of his mother, yes, I did include that because it's important for Jaune's character. After all, one of the main focuses of this story will be his relationship with her, and the struggles they will face to build a healthy bond. So it's almost a given that he would want to hear her praise him after anyone else did.
Pyrrha's dialogue, yea, I thought it was a good moment to showcase that she was fed up with his self-esteem issues so I naturally used it.
As for Yang and Jaune settling the score, well, they already did. Well, almost. I mean in the next chapter they will for good. And I think you won't be disappointed. Or maybe you will be:D Honestly, I can't tell but sadly they settled their score in the most old fashioned they possible. Just a pure rematch to see who is the best after all.
Conclusion-Please, don't mistake me thinking differently on some of the points you made being me against anyone criticizing my work. If anything, I truly appreciate your honesty and look forward to see what you will think of the next chapters. It's just that our thoughts or views don't agree on some points. And honestly, that's all there is to it. But really, as much as I may disagree sometimes, I do hope that you will continue being honest with your thoughts and won't shy away with them, instead will let me know.
And that would be the end of that.
Anyways though, I have nothing else to say besides the usual stuff. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, will be glad to see you all on the new ones, and like always and always guys-
Have a nice one;)
