A/N: Nothing to see here. Enjoy.
INFLECTION POINT
5. A Battle for Confirmation
Yuno finds the cool spring air invigorating after a morning of willing his fatigued body to execute basic tasks, and willing himself to control his typically even temper. It is especially difficult to do the latter standing within a crowd of noisy magic knights, his head pulsing from the raucous chatter which was causing him a fair bit of agony and irritation, making his already barely sufficient social skills even worse. Nevertheless, he had been roped into some peripheral socializing as he was standing far too close to the Black Bulls, who were continuing to antagonize Asta by praising Yuno for his victory, while collectively guffawing at the unfortunate, faint remnants of a terribly misshapen penis drawn on his dear rival's right cheek.
Much to his own irritation, he finds himself passively searching the crowd for Noelle, and after some time, finally finds her standing next to Mimosa and a few other Golden Dawn members. Though he had seen her several times this morning, she hadn't shot him her usual scrutinizing gaze once. Her lack of nervous attention to him enables him to lean into his hypothesis that last night's salacious activities with the royal had indeed been part of some strange drunken dream. Recalling her fingers in his hair, the look in her eye, the roll of her hips against his, he figured any alternative was simply an impossibility, their relationship, or lack thereof, considered.
Upon waking, this had been Yuno's first conclusion. His head and body heavy, mouth dry from his excessive alcohol consumption, he had immediately noticed his soiled pajamas, which was the only evidence contrary to his "dream theory". However, even this could be rationalized. While wet dreams had not been frequent for him, he had indeed had them a few times before—though up until now, he could only recall details of the first, which he'd had when he was much younger (it had unfortunately been of Sister Lily, which had him avoiding both her and Asta the day after). Since then, he had been unable to remember the content of any subsequent dreams—save for last night's dream starring Noelle, which he remembered in vivid detail upon opening his eyes.
After reasoning that one piece of potential evidence away, Yuno had been fully convinced of his dream theory, until he began to dress for the day and noticed a very slight sting on the back of his right shoulder. Upon gently running his fingertips over the area, he had felt small crescent shaped marks, and tiny bumps with the texture of scabs embedded in his skin, mind suddenly flooding with visions of darkened magenta eyes wide beneath mussed silver bangs, swollen rosebud lips agape, a soft hand clenching his shoulder.
Even with the potential secondary bit of evidence, he had decided to reason away that they were probably bug bites—and he had conveniently "forgotten" to check the mirror to confirm as much.
Otherwise, the morning's events had been normal enough, aside from the inordinate amount of effort it took to do anything and everything. He had dragged his hungover self down to the dining hall and downed perhaps a gallon of water to adequately hydrate, and had taken his breakfast out onto the deck—though not before locking eyes with the bratty royal that had inhabited his disturbingly crude dream. The gaze had lingered very briefly—and he had used the absence of any reaction from her as evidence to further bolster his theory.
And now, standing in this crowd, staring on at the royal, she doesn't turn to meet his gaze at all. At this, Yuno is fully convinced of his hypothesis and decides to put the matter to rest, looking back towards the lodge.
"Heard about your debaucherous night," he hears Klaus' voice approach, his conviction in his rationale almost immediately shaken.
Yuno throws his senior the sharpest glare he can muster, body suddenly tightening and on alert.
"What did you hear?" he demands immediately, cranky from his exhaustion and hangover, and on edge from what he had just definitely correctly identified as a strange dream.
"Uh, just your drinking contest with Asta," Klaus stammers, motioning over to his rival who was still whining about the markings on his face. Yuno sees that Noelle has joined the rest of the Black Bulls, taking her place next to Asta, appearing to do her usual lecturing, arms crossed, nose stuck up in the air.
"Probably not the best idea for an early morning like this, hmm?" Klaus says, cutting into his thoughts. Yuno rips his gaze from the royal once more, turning back to his senior with a nod, his faith in his theory now slightly shaken as he begins to doubt whether his night had actually truly ended with the drinking contest.
"I'll be sure to refrain from such activities next time," Yuno agrees curtly.
"I'm only kidding," Klaus says warmly, with a smile. "You never do things like that anyway. It's alright to let loose once in a while."
Yuno does not return the smile, and merely nods.
It is after a few more minutes, that seem to last hours, that the captains emerge from the lodge to read out the group assignments. He subsequently hears Asta assigned to Group A, and when the roll call is done, they are told those remaining are assigned to Group B. He takes a look around to suss out his group for the day, finding Klaus by his side, his eyes eventually, and unfortunately, landing on one magenta eyed, silver haired royal.
After a short down-mountain hike, the pack of magic knights eventually arrive at a vast, flat field of green, pristine mountain stream and the forest's edge in the near distance. They come to a stop, chatter bubbling back up, until Captain Yami takes his place before the group.
"Though we may be on different squads, you all know full well by now that out there, the badge and the robe you wear doesn't matter. Not when you're getting thrown around by the enemy. At the end of the day, we're all ultimately fighting the same fight," the gruff captain barks, as he paces.
"Second, time is of the essence in battle. The winning blow can happen in a matter of seconds, and it can also all go south in a matter of seconds—but I shouldn't have to tell you that at this point."
He comes to pause, crossing his arms.
"For this exercise, we're putting your ability to play well with others and work against the clock to the test. Sounds fun, yeah?" he chortles, taking a drag of his cigarette. "We're gonna do two-on-twos, and you're gonna be paired with someone from the other squad at random. To win, you gotta pin down each member of the opposing team for twenty seconds to take them out of the game. The battles will have a time limit of seven minutes—I'll call out when it's one minute to time's up, and of course when the match is done."
Yuno withholds a sigh, now viewing what would normally be a simple and quick exercise as an unappealing chore.
"No killing allowed, of course. And last, losers have to climb to the peak of Mount Virhorn carrying the victors on their backs."
There is a pause and a few murmurs as Yuno stares out into the field, wishing he was in bed recuperating rather than out here on a glorified playground.
"Hah, just kidding. If you lose, the only punishment you get is the crushing feeling of inadequacy," Captain Yami says nonchalantly, before unfurling a scroll.
"This should be interesting, hmm?" Klaus says, cutting into Yuno's exhausted stupor. "Kind of reminds me of the Royal Knights exam."
Yuno fondly remembers his first public and successful usage of Spirit Drive—subsequently growing tense at the memory of carrying Noelle into the sky.
"Hah, it'll be half as difficult," Yuno mutters.
Captain Yami had already begun calling out names, and Yuno's his ears only pique when he hears his own.
"... team seven, Luck Voltia and Klaus Lunettes versus team eight, Yuno and Noelle Silva," comes Captain Yami's gruff voice. "Uh—Noelle Silva and Yuno. Whatever."
Yuno feels his entire body tense. It was just his luck that he'd have to work with her after having an uncomfortably erotic dream about her. Even so, ever the professional, he accepts the charge despite his discomfort, eyes scanning the crowd until they land on Noelle—who is standing just a few feet away, her hand already raised up in the air.
"Captain Yami," she calls out firmly. "I'd like to request a change of partner."
Around them there are some murmurs, and Yuno cocks an eyebrow, looking back at the captain, more curious than upset at the sudden request.
"Huh. Why's that?" the gruff captain inquires, taking a drag of his cigarette.
"Our ability levels are too high together," he hears her say. "It won't be a fair fight."
At that, he looks back at her, finally finding her magentas fixed on him, challenging and fierce, taunting him by saying nothing at all. He is slightly taken aback by the weight of her gaze, as she had barely paid him any notice all morning. It is at this moment that he feels even more doubt about his theory from the very particular tension in his body that arises, his stomach fluttering.
"Hmm okay. Luck, you go with this guy then," Captain Yami waves him off. "Four eyes, you can go with Noelle."
Klaus shoots the captain a scowl before heading over to the royal, who does not shrink from Yuno's gaze, despite their lack of interaction the entire morning. The stubborn and cranky wind mage does not back down for a second—not even when the crowds disperse and she is striding toward him, coming to a stop before him, a few paces away, and all of the anxiety and tension he felt from just making eye contact with her heightens.
"You said you wanted to experience me in action, didn't you?" Noelle taunts, the smug glower on her face betraying the light flush of her cheeks.
Yuno looks down at her, deep in thought, only giving pause when he remembers the praise he had let slip by the fireplace the night before. He remains silent, embarrassed to have even revealed such a thing and is in no state to deflect, his wit coming in slow.
"Well, here's your chance," Noelle says, exhibiting the confidence she had carried towards the tail end of their conversation last night.
With that, she flips a pigtail over her shoulder and walks away, and Klaus raises an eyebrow at Yuno before turning to follow her.
"Luck," Yuno's mouth moves on its own, eyes still fixed on Noelle's receding form.
"Yeah?"
"Noelle is mine," he declares sternly.
"Aw man," Luck whines. "Fine, but when I take down her partner, I'm going after her too!"
It is with anxiety and admittedly a bit of excitement that Yuno awaits his turn. He recalls the match they'd had a few weeks ago—and while Noelle had been swift and challenging, her performance hadn't truly lived up to the hype he'd heard of the Battlefield Dancer. However, he had caught her off guard, and she had been significantly hungover—which he now understands is an awful handicap that he had truly underestimated. Perhaps today would be different.
As teams five and six fight, his anxiety takes precedence as he begins to recall last night with more detail. The memory of their conversation in the study had been strangely forthcoming, and even at some points playful, and it all made him deeply uncomfortable, if only for the fact that he had actually somewhat enjoyed the exchange. And then there was also the recollection of his cringeworthy praise of Asta, which he didn't so much enjoy.
Then he remembers the moments just before Noelle had stormed out of the room, and he feels his excitement fade into panic.
"Aw Yuno, are you worried about this match?" Bell asks, cutting into his thoughts.
He ignores her, now looking across the field at Noelle, recalling the flicker of the fireplace reflecting off of magenta eyes, just before they closed, her breath hot on his mouth, hand tugging him forward by the uniform—then, the little sprite flies into the center of his field of vision, hands on her hips.
"Are you alright? It's only that bratty royal and four eyes guy—shouldn't be difficult at all!"
Yuno says nothing, now staring past the sprite, who continues to fly into his line of vision wherever his eyes dart off to.
"Yeah," he finally responds, once irritated enough.
"Good!" she chirps cheerfully. "You have me, so there's nothing to be worried about," she says, pinching his cheek.
With the wind spirit out of his way, his gaze falls back on Noelle, who is talking to Klaus—who looks briefly at Yuno, then back at Noelle, with a nod.
Shortly thereafter, his name is called, and he is standing on the field opposite Noelle, receiving her challenging and intense scowl. Normally he would smirk or taunt or do something to show how nonchalant he was about facing an enemy. However, in this moment, he can only focus on the way she is looking at him, and how his exhausted body comes alive with excitement, his adrenaline already pumping.
"Aaaand… GO!" Captain Yami bellows.
In a flash Noelle is armed with her valkyrie armor, and in another blink she is gone—then half way across the field, then gone, then five paces in front of him.
Yuno immediately ascends to the sky to watch her stab her lance into the place he had been standing, her eyes immediately meeting his as she looks up and glides through the air towards him.
'Too fast…' he begrudgingly thinks as he watches her continuously disappear and reappear far too close to him.
So this was closer to her full capacity—while she had been a handful during their sparring match, he can't help but think she might've been going easy on him that day because she is now keeping him on his toes—badly enough so that he is stuck trying to dodge her, unable to go on the offensive at all.
"Bell!" he immediately calls out, letting his ego take a backseat, if only temporarily.
"You got it!" the wind spirit exclaims.
"Spirit Assimilation: Spirit Drive!" he calls out as he zooms forward to dodge another one of her blows.
Noelle slings a rapidly spinning disk of water his way, which he dodges as the green glow envelops his body, magic surging through him. Yet still, he is affected by his poor alcohol-related decision making last night, as he feels nowhere near as powerful as he usually does upon activating Spirit Drive.
Though concerned, he is certain he at least looks as intimidating as he usually does, when he catches a shift in Noelle's gaze—a flicker of fascination and a moment of reprieve from her scowling.
"Wind Creation Magic: Towering Tornado!" he exclaims, and the spiral of wind that takes shape is far wider and spinning far faster than it would have without the boost of both his mana and Mount Virhorn's combined. The tower of wind howls loudly, extending up into the sky, his robes flapping in the wind, as he wills it to cross the field in Noelle's direction—and he notes the teams below strengthening their stances to keep from blowing away at its sheer power.
Then Noelle disappears from sight—but in the next moment, intermixed with the spiral of wind is water, widening its circumference significantly, forming a monstrosity of their combined elements, spiraling violently, wind and rain dominating the field and darkening the sky. Now he is cold and wet, the spray of her water raining down on him, whipping in his direction, and the sky begins to darken as he wills the hurricane-like structure away from himself.
"YEEEHOOOOOOOO!" he hears what sounds like Luck exclaim from below, and he doesn't even have time to look down before the large spiral begins to crackle with the lightning mage's magic.
Then, he blinks and—
"—Pay attention."
A flash of magenta eyes and blue armor appear too close to his face, before the pain of being hit in the chest by the side of her lance is registered, his body flying down towards the ground from the unexpectedly heavy impact.
Yuno bares his teeth and quickly blankets his back with wind to halt his descent as he stands himself back up in the air, searching the now darkened and grey space for her, the torrent from their mixed wind and water disorienting even him.
Tuning into his senses, he feels her presence at his back, and immediately zooms out of the way.
"TURN THAT DAMN THING OFF!" he hears Captain Yami holler from the ground, over the thunderous howl of the wind and water. "I SHOULDN'T HAVE TO TELL YOU INCITING NATURAL DISASTERS IS ALSO AGAINST THE RULES!"
Finally taking note of the worsening situation and the teams below now shielding themselves with various barriers made from their own magic, Yuno halts his tornado, the tower of water immediately disappearing with it.
"Mana Zone: Spirit's Hushed Dance!" he says just in the nick of time to dodge another of Noelle's water discs.
And then she is gone and they are both flickers in the sky to all those on the ground watching, there and gone, there and gone, bodies a blue and green blur, moving past each other, away from each other, towards each other.
"Water Creation Magic: Sea Dragon's Roar!" Noelle cries, and he turns to his right to find her several paces away, the dragon bursting forth from the tip of her lance in his direction.
"Wind Creation Magic: Swift White Bow!" he yells in turn, the dragon weaving to the right, the arrows coming out far larger and faster than usual, rapidly embedding themselves in the beast's body as it slithers away into the sky.
Yuno almost smirks in satisfaction, but then she has disappeared again, which he takes as his queue to as well. And then he feels her close in on him once more, and he narrowly dodges the swing of her lance as he moves back.
"Getting tired?" Noelle sneers as she sends a blast of water his way, which he swiftly dodges.
"You wish," he says, sending a blast of wind her way, which she immediately evaporates with her spiraling lance before taking another swing at him.
Again she appears behind him in a blink, and he feels increasingly more irritated and impressed at her speed as he rapidly runs out of stamina himself.
"You're going to have to learn to fight in close quarters at some point!" she taunts, again disappearing from sight, appearing right next to him, another swing at him narrowly missed.
"Remember that you asked for it," he retorts before flying several feet back to put some space between them.
"Wind Spirit Creation Magic: Spirit of Zephyr!" he calls out, the majestic, glowing green saber appearing in his hands.
He doesn't have to wait very long until she is swinging at him again—but this time, he blocks the hit with his sword.
Catching her eyes where their weapons cross, he backs away and swings the sword down towards her, her spiraling lance coming to her defense as she keeps his blade at bay.
And now as the blade rests atop her lance, its erosive qualities at work, beginning to cut through the tip of the spiraling cone—and her eyes grow wide in response, clearly not expecting such an effect.
He smirks—but not for long, as a giant blast of water sends him flying back. Irritated from letting his guard down, he straightens back up and tunes in to feel her close once more, stopping her attack with another swift and well placed swing of his sword.
"You're not going to get anything past this," Yuno taunts as they clash weapons. Already she has taken his own weapon's capabilities seriously, never leaving her lance pressed to his sword for too long.
"I wouldn't get so cocky," she laughs, jumping back and blasting a spinning disk in his direction—which he easily cuts through, only to have her lunge towards him again, his arms working reflexively to swing his sword up to block her attack.
And then she is gone in a flash, and he quickly turns around to find her descending upon him again, eyes bright and fierce as she stabs her lance in his direction, his sword parrying it out of his way, and pressing down on it so she stumbles forward, their faces now close, amber and magenta meeting in an another heated gaze. At this, unwanted visions of exposed neck and collarbone and bare shoulders and flushed cheeks flicker across his mind, and it is so frustrating that he finds himself pressing down harder on her lance, ironically drawing her even closer, his leer intensifying.
"You're going to lose again," she says, seemingly unfazed at their proximity, even leaning in as though she's telling him a secret, voice low as she burns into him with her gaze.
"I think your memory's off," he scoffs, also outwardly unfazed by her very close proximity, though his heart is pounding harder, and not all owed to the physical effort of their battle. "I've never lost to you."
And then he freezes completely, still as stone when she leans in close, mouth at his ear, hot breath felt against his skin.
"You came first."
He is completely winded, paralyzed, eyes growing wide, shell-shocked at the sudden confirmation of what he had been denying all morning. Now, unable to move, time seems to pass in slow motion as Noelle backs off, magentas dark, a smirk on her lips, and it's the last thing he sees before the shock of actually physically being winded takes over, her form receding into the distance as he is swept away, belatedly registering that he is caught between her dragon's teeth and rapidly hurtling down towards the battleground.
With a growl, Yuno spins and slices through the beast with ease, blade in hand, still shaken from the mental, emotional and physical shock. Even with Spirit Drive activated and Spirit of Zephyr in hand, he had not managed to land a single hit on Noelle. On some level he even suspects that in his current shape, she didn't even need her valkyrie armor to defeat him—not when his power levels were this low, and she had been armed with an immobilizing secret weapon like that the entire time.
Teeth grit, he spots her high in the sky and zooms back up in her direction, but she sends a blast of water his way, which he cuts right through, only to have her appear before him and ram into him with the side of her lance, his sword blocking her advance as she blasts full force ahead, launching them both back down towards the battleground, the feeling familiar and almost welcome as he stares up into her smug, magenta leer, glowering all the while, unable to think about anything else besides the fact that last night's activities had indeed occurred.
But then as the ground grows closer, Yuno snaps back to his senses and conjures a spiraling floor of wind beneath them as resistance so as to prevent their rapid descent, and takes note that his sword is slowly whittling away at her lance—which, much to his dismay, only refreshes and regenerates with more water, now that she has caught on. Today, she is far too strong and confident, willing her magic and strength into overdrive as she presses forward through the resistance, his wind caving in under her will.
Yuno bares his teeth and tries harder, feeling himself sweat as he glowers into her equally challenging gaze, his exhaustion finally taking over.
And in the next second, he finally registers the disappearance of his wind beneath his back, Noelle's spinning lance in his face as he feels her weight seated atop him once more, eyes fixed on his.
Again they are panting heavily, the air sparking with their heated competition, palpable disdain and begrudging respect for one another. It does not help that the sight of her sitting atop him, neck and shoulders bared, her dress peeling off just so, flickers across his mind as he registers the embarrassing conclusion of their battle.
Yuno catches his breath, and the green glow dissipates as he finally accepts defeat, as does her armor, leaving her wand pointed straight at his face.
"HAH! Alright Noelle! His big shiny sword was still no match for you. Very impressive," Captain Yami chuckles, and Yuno is left ruminating on the poor word choice as his eyes remain fixed on hers.
"But," Captain Yami continues, "Neither of you win. The match ended five minutes ago. In fact, I'd say you both lost, since you failed on both the time and teamwork fronts."
He wonders how they had managed to miss the ending of the match, as does she, judging by the shock on her face at the fact.
At this moment, he finally registers her cheeks tinted pink, expression somewhat bashful, and at that is quite literally floored at the confirmation of last night's activities, feeling his own face uncharacteristically begin to burn, much to his chagrin.
"Still—good job, Noelle. Feel free to get off him whenever," Captain Yami says. "No need to rub it in."
Another poor choice of words—and the way Noelle's cheeks color further tells him she has the same thought. After a beat, she finally rises up off of him, and he takes a moment before standing up.
Once he is up, they have yet another stare down—he can hear Luck say something about their team having won anyway due to his victory against Klaus, but it is all background chatter, mind still acclimating to the reality of last night's events as he plays back through them, everything coming in far more vividly as he stares into her eyes, a satisfied scowl on her face.
Unsure of just how to feel at the news, and in no state to attempt to decipher what her gaze means, Yuno turns and walks away, Klaus in tow.
A/N: We'll get a glimpse into Noelle's perspective later on, but please enjoy this frazzled and begrudgingly horny Yuno for now :)
Thanks again to all who left reviews. Y'all really make my day.
Sidebar, for some subtle Yunoelle deliciousness, an anon on my tumblr notified me of the latest 2020 Black Clover popularity survey, where our ship is sitting close, clothes color coordinated, looking hot. Please do yourself a favor and take a peek.
See ya next time!