You know, if there was anything that Yang was honestly thankful for, it had to be the training rooms. Not only did it give a girl a place to vent her frustrations, but it gave her the room to actually focus on self-improving. And it turned out that she was using it more and more as the week went by.

Beyond venting her own jumbled mess of emotions, she still had to train Champ into fighting shape. Coupled with the fact that her sister was upping the team's training regimen, she was easily spending more time fighting than not.

A year ago, Yang would have loved that thought. Not anymore.

So instead, she focused. Focused on the fight in front of her. It wasn't anything more than a one on one spar with some old droid. Courtesy of Atlas, according to Weiss. But at the end of the day, Yang was going to make sure it was scrap metal.

It was hardly menacing, but the droid played its role. With sword in hand, it closed distance, the sound of gyros whirring as it slashed and stabbed at her. Yang felt the wind from the strikes brush past her, slipping between each slash as she found her way outside of its guard.

Her fists thumped against its metal chassis, leaving small dents with every jab, hook, and cross. The bot stumbled from the sudden shift in its balance, and with a simple pivot and a reeling of her fist, she knocked the head of the droid off its shoulders.

Watching the droid slump to the floor like a puppet without strings, Yang let out a sigh. Dabbing her forehead with her palm, a familiar - yet dissatisfying - dryness remained. "Nope, not yet." She mumbled, a frown taking to her lips. "What's a girl gotta do to work up a sweat around here?"

Looking around the rest of the training room, Yang watched as her teammates did their own things. Ruby was busy tinkering with her 'baby,' Weiss was jumping between her glyphs for some reason, and Blake was… sitting around, reading a book. Why was Yang not surprised?

Quickly kicking the head of the decapitated droid off the arena, the head rolling next to the others, Yang jumped down from the platform. "Hey, Blakey?" She asked, waving a hand as she smiled. "Whatcha up to?"

Blake's golden eyes tore away from her pages, looking up to catch hers. "I was reading a moment ago." She monotonously snipped before flicking to the next page. "It's a good book too."

Nodding, Yang let out a hum. "So does that mean that you're free to join us for some training?" A single brow rising on Yang's face. "Or is your book just a part of your training?"

Blake blankly stared back at her, silently watching before letting out a sigh. "I'm just not sure why we're training. Forgive me for sounding a little arrogant, but there's not exactly a whole lot to prepare for." Blake was there to learn how to kill Grimm, and she felt fairly prepared. "At least, not in any way that would matter physically."

Yang felt her smile droop. "Okay, and? It's not about preparing for anything specific, it's just about being better every day." She easily shot back. Training was more than fighting. It was about instilling habits, about getting up every day and stepping in the ring. "Come on, the book's not going to go anywhere. Least you can do is join me for some two on twos, right?"

The blonde boxer watched as her partner looked between her and the open book in her hands. Blake's eyes flicked between the open pages for a moment longer, only to snap the book shut.

"Fine." She said, reluctance filling her voice as she pushed herself to her seat. "I just don't understand why we have to train so much. We've already doubled our usual hours this week." Blake said, talking in her usually Blake-y tone.

For the first time in an hour, Yang heard her sister squeak, the sound of her metal tool falling to the floor. "Because," she started, standing up from her spot on the floor. "The last thing we need is to get shown up by anyone else!" Ruby said, a look of determination on her face.

Yang blinked as she stared back at her sister. "Rubes, I don't know if you've noticed, but we're pretty undefeated in most cases. That is, unless we're fighting against P-money, but she doesn't count." Beyond the fact that Pyrrha was a crazy fighter, counting losses from friends felt bitter. It was simply better not to count them.

Weiss, who was busy still training with her glyphs, bounced in front of Yang, skidding to a halt. "It's precisely because you're saying that that we need to train! As much as I loathe to admit it, Team JNPR has been… more competent than usual." Weiss said, rolling her wrist as she placed another hand on her hip. "And so, I thought it would be wise if I made a suggestion to our team leader."

Yang, along with her partner, turned to stare at the red-cloaked girl among them, curling their brows. Okay, Yang knew that her sister and Weiss had already made up, but now they were working together to suck the fun out of training? Something felt off.

But Ruby only awkwardly laughed under their stares. "Look, Weiss is right. If we're going to stand any chance in team fights against Jaune's team, we need to be on top of our game!" She explained, holding her fists in front of her in excitement. "As great as our sister team is, we can't lose to them! We're Team RWBY!"

Amused, Blake smiled as her brow rose higher. "So you're telling me that the reason we're out here training so much is because you don't want to lose to Team JNPR?" She asked, her previous monotony making way for something softer.

Weiss huffed, crossing her arms all the while. "It's not that I mind losing to, say, Pyrrha, or Ren, perhaps even Nora. But if I have to see our team record show that we trailed behind the team led by a certain blond dunce, I'll never live down the shame."

Yang couldn't stop herself from narrowing her eyes, quirking a brow. "What's the matter with losing to Jaune's team though?" Sure, Champ may not have been the best fighter yet, but he was getting there. "Besides, the Headmaster picked him for a reason, right? Same reason my sister got picked. I mean, it's not like they roll a number and pick the leader."

Sighing, the heiress brought a hand to her forehead. "And I'm sure he was, but my problem isn't necessarily him. It's the growth of his team." Weiss elaborated, massaging the bridge of her nose. "If the trend continues, they're going to leave the rest of our year behind in the team fights. You can back me, can't you, Ruby?"

Ruby rocked on her heels and toes as she patted her skirt. "Well… yeah, if we don't do something, Jaune's team is going to leave us in the dirt." She mumbled, a moment passing before her eyes shot open. "N-not that that's a bad thing! I mean, it's good that his team is doing so well, and I'm happy for him, but, uh, I want to win."

Yang had to keep herself from laughing as she watched her sister's cheeks grow red from the embarrassment. "I didn't think you'd be so competitive about it. Then again, a little rivalry between friends never hurt anyone." She said, smirking as she wrapped an arm around her little sister. "Just remember to keep it in the ring."

The younger sibling swatted away Yang's hands, a pout on her face. "No duh." Ruby mumbled, frowning as she pulled away from her sister. "Even if I want to beat them, they're still our friends. Jaune's been texting me every other night about his progress, and I'm glad he's so excited, but it's getting a little annoying to wake up to."

Before Yang could say anything, she watched as Weiss' brows furrowed deeply. "Hold on, he's been texting you about his progress? What has he been saying?" The heiress asked, tilting her head.

Ruby blinked, curling a brow of her own. "Oh, not a whole lot, really. I mean, he said that his footwork has gotten better, and that Pyrrha's help… ful. Uh." Her voice trailed off, her eyes going wide as she stared at the floor. "Do you think that-"

"Pyrrha is helping train the entire team?" Weiss interjected, her voice rising in volume as she brought her hands to rest on her head. "Yes, as a matter of fact, I do! Even with that blond dunce being as incompetent as he is, if he's training with Pyrrha Nikos, then we're worse off than we thought."

Yang could only roll her eyes, staring at her partner. Blake only shrugged, gesturing to their teammates. "Alright, alright," Yang started, bringing her hands up in surrender. "No need to freak out, it's all fine. All we've got to do is focus on our team fighting and we'll be fine. So less talking, more training, yeah?"

Silence reigned over the training room as Yang found herself being stared at by her entire team. She could only blink as her eyes flicked between them, taking in the looks of shock. What? Did she say something weird?

"Uh, Yang?" Ruby started, turning her head to lean away from her. "Did you just say something productive? Like, actually helpful?" What?

Yang watched as Ice Queen brought two fingers to rest on her neck, her brows furrowed in confusion. "Wow, I can't believe I lived to see the day that Yang would rather train with us than go and do… whatever it is she does." Okay, seriously, what the hell? Why was everyone giving her flak?

Yang turned to look at her partner, bringing a hand to rest at her heart. She figured it would help with the pain, but no such luck.

Blake only shrugged, a smirk on her face. "You can't blame them for being surprised." She said, amusement obviously on her face. "I can think of several times that you've just gone off and done your own thing. A few times this week alone, actually."

Yang scoffed as she glared at her teammates, but it barely held heat. "So what? I can totally be productive when I feel like it!" She exclaimed, throwing her hands up as a heat boiled in her chest. "You know what? Screw you guys, I'm going to go set up a team fight on the arena settings."

And so she did. She set up the arena for a team fight, bringing four bots up and using her scroll to program the settings needed. She'd show them who was being productive or not. But there was just one slight problem with that, right?

Uh, in hindsight, she may have overdone it a little.

See, Yang thought it might have been best to put her teammates against opponents that clashed with them. You know, throw them against settings that would make them work for a win! A grappler to chase Ruby down and force her into close distance fights, a skirmisher to harass Weiss with gunfire and force her to actually get into the fight, and a straightforward bruiser for Blake.

It may not have been more than a few months of being with her team, but even Yang knew that her teammates needed improving. Hey, maybe helping Champ learn to fight was teaching her a thing or two about teaching?

But for Yang, the settings of her bot were a little trickier. She knew her offense was solid, as did everyone else in the first year. But her problem was breaking through a rock-solid defense. So, she put herself up against a bot with a steady shield arm and great counterplay capabilities.

Yeah, maybe she shouldn't have cranked the settings so high, because they got wiped. Not because the bots were crazy tough, but because they kept stumbling into one another's fights. But just because they lost once didn't mean they didn't run it again.

If there was one thing Yang knew about her sister, it was that she was stubborn. So they ran it again, and again, and a third time. By the fourth fight, they actually got used to the dynamic, breaking through their respective walls and finding work-arounds. But honestly, Yang was too tired to sit there and think about it too hard.

She was tired, drenched in sweat, and sore. Yeah, it was a good training session.

Yang followed her teammates out of the training room, her arms resting on the back of her head as she yawned.

"All I'm saying is that a little bit of warning in regards to the difficulty of the bots would have been appreciated." Weiss snipped, obviously glaring at Yang from over her shoulder. "But no! You just had to show us up."

The blonde boxer snickered, rolling her eyes. "Actually, the bots showed you up. I was just there to watch you get thrown around." Yang joked, sarcasm bleeding into her voice. "Besides, it worked out, didn't it?"

Ruby let out a hum as she wrapped herself in her cloak. "I mean… Yang does have a bit of a point. Even if it's not what she was going for, there's a great lesson to take from this." She said, smiling as she walked alongside her team.

Blake curled a brow as she curiously stared back at her leader. "There is?" She mumbled, clutching her side as she put one foot in front of the other. "Is it a lesson on how to deal with pain? Because I get the feeling that we've got that one under control."

The silver-eyed girl sighed as her shoulder slumped forward. "No, but that one's pretty close, honestly." She said, groaning as she rubbed the side of her head. "There's going to be times where we'll have to fight people. People that we won't know a thing about. See where I'm going?"

A moment ticked by, and Weiss mirrored her partner's posture. "You're saying that, despite how awful that fight was, it taught us how to identify styles and adapt accordingly?" Weiss shot back, quirking a brow. But when Ruby tilted her head, Weiss continued, looking none too pleased. "Learning to fight someone despite knowing nothing about them."

"Oh," Ruby mumbled, her eyes shooting open in understanding. "I knew that."

Weiss only scoffed, playfully rolling her eyes in response. "I swear, you do that on purpose." Eh, Yang could see it going either way some days. Some days her sister was a goblin, and on others, she was genuinely dumb. "Either way, I call dibs on the first shower."

"Absolutely not." Blake cut in, giving a cold glare to the heiress. "If anything, I argue that you should go second to last." She said, watching as Weiss raised a finger to argue. "Not because of your training, but because you take too long to shower. Along with someone." Blake said, shifting her gaze towards Yang.

Yang looked over both of her shoulders, only to point at herself. "Oh, you mean me?" She didn't think she took that long. "Hey, I don't take that long. I mean, sure, I take my time and all, but it's nothing too crazy."

Blake only deadpanned, walking alongside her partner. "It takes you at least an hour to just get out of the bathroom." She snipped, her words coming off as cold and emotionless. "I don't understand what's so hard about just using soap and conditioner. It is the most basic thing."

The blonde boxer could only shrug. "You'll understand once you try something a little more. Besides, it's like being extra clean. That, and the hair demands a bit of special attention." So what if she liked to take a little longer than usual? It was no one else's business but her own.

Weiss smirked, staring at her broody teammate. "Don't worry, Blake. I'm sure using five Lien shampoo definitely won't have horrendous side effects in the future." She snipped.

As Blake rolled her eyes, she heard Ruby giggle. "Well, I don't use all of that gross girly stuff, and I still look pretty good!" Ruby yelled out, stretching out her arms and doing a quick spin, walking down the empty halls of Beacon. "I don't think it's as important as they make it sound."

The white-haired heiress giggled, picking up her pace as she closed in on an upcoming corner. "All the same, I'm more than happy to take third place in the shower order if it means that a certain boob goes last." She snipped.

Yang couldn't keep herself from snickering. "Ooh, careful Weiss. If you keep throwing words like boob around, you might end up hitting puberty." The last thing Yang needed was for the Cutting Board of Beacon to start talking about boobs.

Before Weiss could retort, she went to turn the corner, only to bump face first into a wall, tumbling to the floor beneath her.

As Yang turned the corner, she found a certain blond boy standing there, leaning against the wall to find his balance. But that didn't last for long, his eyes shooting wide open as he looked down at the floor.

"Oh, shoot. I'm sorry, Weiss." He quickly said, pushing away from the wall to stretch out a hand. "I should have paid a bit more attention." Jaune laughed, awkwardly smiling as he looked down at her.

Weiss' icy blue eyes stared at his hand for a moment, only to sigh, accepting it. "You're lucky I'm too tired from training to be angry." She said, letting the fatigue bleed into her voice. "There's no harm done, so I'll let you off with a warning. Be grateful you caught me in a forgiving mood."

Helping Weiss to her feet, Jaune laughed, stuffing his hands into his pockets. "Well, it sure is nice to be in the company of such forgiving people." He joked, smiling brightly as he shrugged his shoulders. "But yeah, I was just on my way to the training rooms. So I won't take up too much more of your time."

The heiress blinked for a moment, nodding. "You won't find me holding you up. Best of luck with the training, though." It was only right to wish him luck, especially after he helped her to her feet. "Though you should probably recalibrate the bots before you use them. Yang has a twisted take on difficulty."

Jaune snorted, taking a moment to catch Yang's eye. "So I've heard." He snipped, maintaining eye contact with his fellow blonde. "Welp, I'll see you ladies around." Jaune said, moving to brush past them. But before he stepped past Weiss, a contemplative look took to his face.

Weiss readied herself for the worst. Here it went, his typical offer to go on some kind of date with him, trying to get to know her better and so on. But that's okay, she expected that sort of thing by now.

But instead, Jaune smiled softly. "By the way, you look nice today." He said, only to walk by without another word. "Later, ladies." Waving as he walked away.

A deep pit formed in Yang's stomach as an unfamiliar chill rested in said pit. She couldn't stop herself from staring at him as he walked away, keeping a blank expression as the light dimmed behind her eyes. As she turned back to look at the rest of her team, Yang noticed the very obvious confusion that lingered on Weiss' face.

Ruby turned to look at the rest of her team. "Uh, I'm not the only one that witnessed that, right?" She asked, her eyes flickering between her teammates. "I'm not just on a sugar high, right?"

Blake, looking mildly surprised, rolled her eyes at her dark-haired leader. "Ruby, I'm fairly certain you can't get high off of sugar. You'd have found out by now if you could." She snipped, her bow slightly bobbing before returning to its immobile state. "But that was pretty… interesting to see."

"Interesting?" Weiss asked, curling a brow as she crossed her arms. "This is the first time in weeks that he's not bothered to openly court me, and the first thing you have to say to that is that it's interesting?" She continued, entirely unamused if the frown on her face was anything to go off of. "If anything, this is wonderful news. It means that he's not going to pester me so much."

Yang pushed away that frigid chill in her stomach as she stuffed her hands into her pockets. "You liked the compliment, didn't you?" She asked, not an ounce of teasing in her voice.

Weiss' icy blue eyes shot open as she moved to open her mouth, only to close it again. With a sigh, she shook her head. "Whether I liked it or not is entirely irrelevant. After all, there's no way it could be genuine, considering we just finished training." Her hair was a mess, her dress was dusted and filthy, and her posture was barely up to her own standards.

The blonde boxer shrugged. "Maybe he just likes you enough to ignore all of that?" She asked. Yang knew that Champ was head-over-heels for Ice Queen, and considering the kind of genuine guy he was, she was probably on the money. "Besides, you've said it a few times today, he's a 'dunce.' He probably doesn't care about that sort of thing."

Blake hummed as she eyed her partner, an indifferent expression on her face. "I don't know, Weiss isn't the girl that went out to get breakfast with a certain blond a week ago." She stated matter-of-factly.

Yang's lilac eyes glared at her partner for a moment, only to tear themselves away from her. "He said he owed me a favor, and he offered to take me out to breakfast. As friends, he said so himself." Well, that wasn't actually what he said. No, he said something more along the lines of how it wasn't a real date. "Besides, what I do in my free time is my business."

Blake's questioning brow only rose higher. "And that little line you dropped about him looking handsome?" How did she even hear that? There was a whole door separating them!

But still, Yang kept her cool, using the last of her energy to force the heat away from her face. "Hey, Vomit Boy can clean up when he feels like it. Besides, if you could hear us through the door, you could obviously tell that we were joking." Yang snipped back, a small smirk tugging at her lips. "We've gotta get you some reading material, Blakey. Those books are rotting your brain with those kinds of expectations."

Blake's face went flush, words failing to find her as her golden eyes went wide.

"What kind of books?" Ruby asked innocently, tilting her head.

The smirk fell from Yang's face as she had to handle one of Ruby's famous awkward questions. "Uh… we'll talk about it when you're older." Yang said, brushing off the question. Okay, so maybe the answer didn't hold as much water as when Ruby was a kid, but she was the older sister! Her words were as close to law as they could get.

Her silver eyes rolled as a groan slipped between her lips. "I'm sorry, do you see any little girls around here? In case you forgot, I'm 15! I know about all sorts of things that I shouldn't know."

Weiss, dusting off her dress, smiled. "Oh really?" She started, curling a brow. "Then what's menopause?"

Ruby deadpanned, staring blankly at the heiress. "When a lady gets old and the stork stops visiting. Duh." Ruby shot back, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. In a way, she was right.

Sighing, Yang ran a hand through her hair. Great, she just got done training for the day and she still felt like she needed to punch something. "And like that, I think I'm gonna go. I've got a bottle of water and a snack waiting for me in the cafeteria." She said, turning around and heading down the hall they just came from.

"Wait, but you're going back towards the training rooms!" Ruby yelled out, cupping her hands around the edges of her mouth.

Yang only shrugged. "I'm taking the scenic route." She shot back. It totally wasn't because she had ulterior motives. Nope, not her. And even as she looked back, she ignored the curious stare she got from Blake.

She retraced her steps back towards the training room, silently walking through the empty halls. Just what was she doing anyhow? She'd already finished training for the day, and now she felt nauseous and cold. Was she getting sick? Probably.

All the same, she eventually made her way back to the training room, hearing the sound of clanging steel and hollow thumps. In the arena stood a certain blond swordsman, going on and exchanging blows with a particularly aggressive bot. It was a fairly standardly equipped one too, only using a training sword.

Yang found a seat to lounge on as she watched Champ dodge glancing blows and block with his shield, a look of grim determination on his face. The bot's gyros whirred loudly as it raised its sword arm, poised to slash. But with a quick step forward, Jaune brought his shield to intercept the arm, knocking the blade aside as his sword stabbed at the bot's neck.

The arena display buzzed as soon as Jaune's sword reached its mark, the lights kicking back on as he let out a breath. Taking a moment to breathe, Jaune brought his shield up, running a hand down his face.

As the bot picked itself back up, it stood up rigidly and mechanically. "Reset." Champ said, waving it off as he brought his scroll up. Soon enough, the bot found its place on the opposite end of the arena, a timer counting down on the display.

Yang silently watched as the blond leader repeated the process over and over again, feeling her brows scrunch up the more she watched. "Just what the hell are you doing, Champ?" She mumbled under her breath, not bothering to get his attention. He was obviously training, but it was so against what they prepared for.

As nice as it would be, Hunters didn't exactly get many opportunities to end fights in one strike. Where there was one grimm, there were many. Her lilac eyes narrowed as she watched him repeat the fight again, and again, and once more.

But each time that he fought, he was more tired, exhausted from the fight before. The surprise came from the fact that he was able to keep fighting, barely managing to keep his shield up to avoid otherwise fatal strikes. His sword arm grew less and less reliable as the fights went on, barely managing to scratch the paint on the training bots, but they managed to count for his win.

And yet, after so much time sparring, after spending so much energy, there was just one spar he couldn't win at. Eventually, the bot slipped its sword beneath Jaune's guard, the tip of the blade bluntly impacting against his chest.

As the arena buzzed and the bot went rigid, Champ groaned as he collapsed his shield, hooking it to his belt before sheathing his blade. "Just great." He loudly complained, throwing his hands up as he paced around the arena. "If I can't fight for that long, I might as well be minced meat."

Yang curled a brow as the lights kicked back on, staring up at the display. Jaune had an easy seven wins under his belt, and he was complaining about the eighth fight? The one fight he lost? Some part of that made Yang want to smile.

She couldn't keep her laugh in check as she threw her head back, clutching at her stomach as she watched Champ's sulking morph to surprise. "I dunno, Champ. From where I'm sitting, it didn't look like a half bad display." Yang snipped, pushing herself to her feet. "You look good out there."

Jaune's mouth opened, but no sound came out as he blinked. "I… uh, how long were you watching for?" He asked, his brows tilted upwards.

Yang snickered, stepping away from her seat as she slowly walked over towards the arena. "Long enough to know that you're starting to kick some ass." She said, smiling up at him as she leaned against the elevated platform. "Sure, you've still got a few issues, but this is a good place to be."

A sigh left Jaune's lips as he took a seat on the floor, running a hand through his sweaty mop of hair. "Yeah, for a guy with a horrible affinity for combat, I guess beating bots doesn't look too bad now, does it?" He asked, slightly sarcastic in his delivery. "A few more months of training and I might actually be a worthwhile combatant."

Yang rolled her eyes as she placed her hands on the platform, lifting herself onto it before taking a seat next to him. "Why have you got to be so negative all the time? Think about how much you've been improving lately. It's been a month, dude!" She yelled, a wide grin on her face as she playfully shook his shoulders. "Your training with P-money is starting to pay off. Don't think too hard about it, okay?"

She watched as his blue eyes flicked toward her for a moment before settling on the floor beneath them. "I'm sure it is, it's just… I can't tell, some days. That, and Pyr's been having less and less time to train with me, so here I am." He said, gesturing to the room around them. "But hey, I can't expect her to always help me, right? It's not realistic."

Yang's smile fell as she stared back at him, a familiar cold, empty pit resting on her stomach again. "I'm sure she'd like to be, Champ." She offered, patting his shoulder. "You're right, sometimes you can't always rely on one person to help you. But it's a good thing you've got so many friends though, huh?" You know, like her sister, or Ren, or Nora. Or her.

Jaune slowly smiled back at her, shrugging off her hand as he laughed. "Well, you're right about that. I never knew I could be so lucky in that regard." He muttered, his eyes softening as he stared at his fellow blonde. "So, I don't suppose you just showed up to watch me spar, did you?"

Snickering, the boxer rolled her eyes. "Well, I was supposed to go back to the dorm with my team, but after seeing your little flirting with Weiss, I figured I'd come hang out for a bit." She wasn't exactly lying, it just wasn't the whole truth. Then again, she didn't really know the whole truth either. "You really caught her off guard with that, by the way."

Jaune's brows shot up as he hummed. "Really?" He asked, sounding more than a little surprised. "I didn't say anything special though. All I did was say that she looked nice."

Yang shrugged, her smiling fading as she stared at the floor. "Well, simplicity's your strong suit, Champ. If you try to play things up too much, it's hard for anyone to take you seriously." At least, that's what Yang thought when she first saw his flirting in action. It felt more condescending than anything else.

Sighing, the blond swordsman brought a hand to the back of his head. "Why does everything have to be so confusing?" He mumbled, shaking his head. "Whatever, it's best not to think too hard about it. Anyway, I did come here to train, so… I dunno, you feel like running me through some more hand-to-hand for a bit?"

Yang curled a brow, smirking as she stared at Champ from the corner of her eye. "I really shouldn't. After all, you fought eight spars without rest." She said, smiling teasingly. "Rest is important for a growing boy, you know."

She watched as he deadpanned, his mouth curling to the side. "Oh come on, it was just a bit of light sparring. It's not like it was actually high-intensity stuff." Champ snipped.

"It totally was." Yang shot back as she lightly slugged his shoulder, a hiss escaping him. "You fought eight consecutive fights without rest, what part of that isn't high-intensity?"

Jaune only sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "Pyrrha would have been able to fight for longer."

Yang shot a heated glare in his general direction. "Hey, I thought we already had that discussion." She said, nudging her elbow against his side. "No more comparing yourself to other people. If I catch you doing it again, I'll up your training." He didn't need to be anyone else, what was so hard to understand about that?

"I know." He whispered, dragging his hand down his face. "And you're right, I'm sorry. It's just- old habits die hard, I guess." Jaune just couldn't help it, especially when there were things that he knew that Yang didn't.

"And those go away with time." She explained, her face softening as she brought a hand to his shoulder. "Now, just what were you thinking, running the bot on a setting like that?" A brow rising on her face as a smile tugged at her lips.

Laughing, Jaune couldn't help but scratch the back of his head. "Oh, that." He mumbled, awkwardly smiling. "Well, I figured that it'd be good to train for a case if I ever run out of aura. Sure, you know, I've got a lot of it, but there will be days when I don't. Might as well be ready, right?"

Yang's brow only rose higher. "Yeah, as nice as that sounds, I don't think I believe that, Champ." She snipped. "There are better training settings than what you were doing for that kind of thing. So come on, what were you thinking?"

His shoulders slumped forward as he shook his head. Why did he think that flimsy excuse was going to work? "I guess I was just training for a day if I had no aura at all. If it had to come down to one clean hit, I wanted to be the guy to walk out of it." He had too much to go back to, too much that he didn't want to give up. If it came down to it, he wanted to win.

The blonde boxer stared at him for a moment, blinking in silence for a brief moment before smiling wider. "Then it sounds like you're going to have to get used to saving your aura first. And that means better defense." She said, scooching away from the edge of the arena before standing up. "How about a little spar? Just you and me."

Jaune let out a 'huh' as he turned to look up at her. "Wait, where'd this come from? Weren't you just telling me to catch my breath?" He asked. Seriously, why the sudden shift?

Feeling her arm slink under his own, he quickly found himself hoisted to his feet. "If you're rested enough to mope around, you're rested enough to fight." Yang shrugged her shoulders as she brushed off his hoodie. "Besides, would I really put you through the ringer without having it be a learning experience?" She said, beaming a smile in his direction.

A second ticked by, then another, and finally a third before Jaune's sighed for the umpteenth time today. "Okay, what are the rules for our spar, Coach?" He asked, sarcasm oozing from his voice.

"The rules are simple, Champ." She started, placing her hands on her exposed hips, smirking. "I'm going to set a timer on the display, and whoever has the lower aura loses. That way, you've got to worry about not just defending yourself from me, but you'll actually have to hit me back if you want to win."

The blond boy stood silently as he brought a hand to his chin, tapping his foot against the floor. "I mean, it's not the worst idea I've ever heard for training." He replied. Jaune would be lying if he said he was content with that though. "I was just hoping to get my parrying and riposting down, but I can work with it."

Snorting, Yang pulled up her scroll, tapping away at the screen as she got to work on the settings. Nothing crazy, of course, just the timer and the aura tracking. But even still, she couldn't keep the smile from her face, an ember in her chest slowly smoldering.

But as she tapped away, she heard Jaune cough across from her. "Hey, uh, I really appreciate you doing this for me." He awkwardly said, laughing to himself. "I know this is just something fun for you to do, but it means a lot. So, you know, thanks."

The smoldering ember nearly found itself snuffed, replaced by a different kind of heat. A kind of heat that lingered on Yang's cheeks. "Hey, what did I say about saying thanks? You shouldn't thank me until stuff starts working." Honestly, it felt like Champ was just forgetting what she told him on purpose.

"Nope." He quickly shot back, holding his head up high as he smiled. "I've decided that you're getting my thanks whether you like it or not. You've done more than enough to warrant it, so you better get used to it." After all, if he didn't thank her, she'd basically be doing it for no reason other than because she can. And for him, that just wasn't enough incentive.

Yang's smile dipped as she focused on her scroll. "It doesn't feel like I have. There's still more for you to learn, and more for me to teach you. Until that's done, I don't deserve your thanks." It was the same teachings that her Dad taught her. Sure, it sounded a little rough, but it was worded that way for a reason. "Until anything that I teach you sees action, it's just pretty words and a bit of discipline."

Sighing, Jaune brought his hands to his hips, shaking his head. "Well, you've pushed me harder than anyone else has to be better. I can't say that for a lot of people, Pyr included." He loved his partner to bits, but even with all his aura, she treated him like… like he would just break under pressure. "You throw me around and pick me back up, showing me what I did wrong. And best of all, you don't apologize for it."

Yang's eyes sharpened as she looked up from her scroll. "And if you could have gotten this from anyone else?" She snipped, her words carrying a bit of edge. "If you could have gotten it from Weiss, what then?"

Jaune moved to retort, but he watched as Yang thumbed her scroll, the display showing that it was loading the arena settings. With the little time he had, he pulled his Crocea Mors from his hip, letting the weight rest in hand. With a deep breath, he tore the blade from its sheath, deploying the shield in rapid succession.

Across from him, Yang pocketed her scroll before letting Ember Celica wrap around her hands, her gauntlets cocking loudly. Taking her stance, she watched as Jaune did the same, his blue eyes hardening as they peered around his shield.

For a spar like this, she wasn't going to leave him with anything to thank her for.

As soon as the timer sounded, Yang leaped ahead, quickly closing the distance with her charge. Throwing jabs, hooks, crosses, anything that could possibly crack his guard, Yang threw as much punishment as she could at him. She was annoyed with him. The problem was that she didn't know why.

Each punch landed either against his shield, or his sword just so happened to sweep her strike away. But with every parry came a slash, or a stab. For the first time ever, Champ put her reactions to test. Her gauntlets clanged against his blade as they moved around one another, trying to find a way into one another's guards.

But soon enough, Yang found her rhythm, slipping between slashes as her fists thumped against his shield. A fire slowly built in her chest as a grin tugged at her lips. With a few fancy hits, she managed to get him to bring his shield up, just enough to cover his eyes.

With a quick pivot, she was outside of his guard, a strong hook slamming into his side. A breath slipped from his lips, but he wasn't about to let her get it for free. And so, he did the only thing he could.

Yang felt a solid slab of steel smash into her face. More specifically, his shield.

Dazed, Yang quickly dropped back, keeping her guard up as her vision pieced together. But the moment it did, she watched Champ hold his shield up, his sword comfortably resting against his shoulder. Some type of new guard or stance, perhaps?

All the same, Yang felt the fire in her fizzle for a moment, but she leaped back into the fray. Soon enough, the fire was blazing again, their dance of combat resuming. Metal clanged as the two of them slipped between one another's strikes, trying to pry openings in each other's guards.

It was safe to say that Champ's footwork training was paying off, because she had seen him trip over himself once. And she could even see a semblance of his boxing training in there too, considering how he kept his shield covering his upper body, his midline obscured. But there was just one problem.

Yang didn't just have to hit above the waist.

Narrowing her eyes, Yang pushed ahead, throwing a punch against his shield. And just as he brought it up to intercept, Yang feinted her strike, slipping into his guard and throwing a shot of double-aught buck into his thigh. As she watched him grit his teeth in pain, she almost felt bad.

A shame for him, because it was about to get worse. With the pain of buckshot fresh in his mind, Jaune found his leg being swept out from underneath him, quickly falling to the ground. He didn't even have the time to widen his eyes as Yang joined him on the ground straddling his hips as she raised a fist, a smirk on her face.

Gritting his teeth again, he braced for impact. But before anything could come of it, the buzzer sounded off.

Peeling open an eye, he watched as Yang's head slowly turned to look towards the display. The sound of her panting being the only thing he could hear, her chest slowly rising and falling. He would have appreciated the sight more if he wasn't exhausted. Jaune let the back of his head rest against the cool floor, turning to look at the display.

Both of their auras were in the yellow, but Yang barely had enough to keep ahead.

Jaune groaned, letting his sword clatter to the floor next to him as he closed his eyes. "Well, you can't win them all." He muttered, swallowing as much air as he could. A funny thought came to mind. "Was it as good for you as it was for me?"

Yang giggled as she slumped forward, lying against his chest as she sighed. "You've got a way to go, but you could definitely be worse. A bit more experience, and you might be worth dancing with a little more often." She joked, trying to catch her breath. Yang could even feel Jaune's breath tickling her earlobe. "But hey, it's a good place to be."

The blond boy's chest ached as he laughed, groaning soon after. "Hey, I'm not going to say that I'm much better than before, but it's a start, right?" He asked, smiling as his heart beat steadily began to slow down. "Maybe I won't look like an idiot anymore."

He felt a hand pat against his chest, a familiar giggle drifting into his ear. "Good start?" Yang asked, laughing a little harder as she rolled off of his chest, resting her head against his shoulder. "Shoot, a couple more months of this and you'll be up to the mediocre. That's beyond a good start, Champ. You're doing good."

Jaune smiled, staring up at the ceiling as his chest swelled with something warm and fuzzy. It wasn't pride, he knew that much. Pride was a tight, but ultimately heavy feeling. This was… something else.

"I hope you're right. Not saying I doubt you, but I feel like I could be doing more." He mumbled, running a hand down his sweaty face. "I've been trying to keep up with Pyrrha's training, but it feels like we've been getting less and less time." And he knew why, but it didn't make him feel any better. Sponsors, job listings, appearances, all of those things took up his partner's time.

Yang only smirked, staring at her fellow blond from the corner of her lilac eye. "Oh my, is a certain Vomit Boy jealous that his partner can't always be around?" She joked, roughly patting his chest. "You player, you."

Jaune rolled his eyes, chuckling. "No, nothing quite like that. I admire Pyrrha, she's amazing at everything for sure. But I feel like it'd be wrong to think of her like that, you know?" It was almost like looking at Nora with romance in mind. It just wasn't possible for him. "The team's like a family to me. You know, brothers and sisters in arms." He said, laughing quietly.

Nodding, the blonde boxer hummed. "Well, you can't expect P-money to be free all the time. She's your partner, sure, but she's also got her own stuff going." After all, being a several time champion had its own share of commitments.

Jaune sighed as his eyelids grew heavy. "And I know that, I do. But still, I can't help but feel a little worried, you know? Like I've… pushed her away somehow." Pyrrha just couldn't seem to sit still around him, like he was making her uncomfortable sometimes. Was it something he said? Something he did? "I dunno, I'm just a little worried is all."

Yang's smirk fell as nestled her head deeper against his shoulder, getting comfortable against the swordsman. "Well, it sounds like you're just going to have to do some research on your own for a bit." She said, shrugging her shoulders. "I'm sure you could probably find something in the library for swordsmanship, right?"

Well, there was a thought, he supposed. "Wouldn't be too hard to take a look around." He muttered, smiling as he turned his head to look at Yang. But as he turned to look, he found his breath taken away.

Yang was busy staring up at the ceiling, so she hardly noticed him staring at her, thankfully. He just never noticed how pretty she actually was. Like, sure, she was definitely attractive, but he never paid much attention to her golden hair, or her soft lilac eyes, kind face, that sort of thing. And why was she lying on his arm? He figured she'd have wanted to get away from him, considering the smell.

He watched as Yang sighed, an inkling of a smile on her face. "Well, Champ, how are you feeling? You good for another round?" She asked, turning her head to face him. Had Yang's nose always been so close, or was he just overthinking things?

Probably.

Laughing, Jaune smiled back at his trainer of the day. "Is this one of your famous euphemisms, or are you trying to spar again?" He asked, sarcasm obviously hinting his words. "Either way, I'm game."

Yang rolled her eyes as she sat up, ignoring the heat that lightly dusted her cheeks. "Uh huh, you're a real comedian. Just for that, I'm extending the time by an extra minute." She snipped, her voice deadpan as she jumped to her feet, pulling out her scroll.

Jaune went silent for a moment, sitting up he stared at the blonde girl. "Is it too late to say I'm sorry?"

"Yup." She snipped, smirking as she stared at him from the corner of her eye. "C'mon, Champ, on your feet."

The next hour or so was filled with combat, punches, slashed, and bashes flying as the pair of blonds did their best to force the other into submission. Of course, it was never easy, but it made for a good workout.

Yang was actually surprised to find that Jaune had barely managed to squeak a win out during one of their matches. But out of the maybe ten matches they had, she supposed she could live with that loss. After all, it was about getting him up to snuff.

But by the time that they were both running on fumes, it had already turned late. The sun had most definitely set by that point, and there they were, leaning on one another as they sat on a bench in the training room.

"Hey, Yang?" He asked, leaning against the back of the bench as he gasped for air.

"Yeah?" She mumbled back, her eyes shut as she leaned against him.

"I think I'm going to challenge Cardin to a fight tomorrow."

Blinking, Yang stared at her fellow blond, her brows furrowed. "Huh?"

Alright, that's gonna be it for this chapter. Gonna take a few weeks for myself, hopefully learn some new things about a skill I'm hoping to learn, and I'm going to work on a few other projects. If I'm gone for a while, I'll tell you now to not be surprised.

Follow, favorite, review, do whatever the hell you want, really. I don't particularly mind. Just make sure you drink water, tell your loved ones you love them, and get some proper sleep. Been finally able to do those three a lot more lately, and I'm happier for it.

Ciao, y buenas noches.

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