Chapter 18

…

The following week at Beacon was quite stressful for its students. Dealing with 3 huge assignments wasn't fun for anyone, and it obviously meant that quite a bit of time and effort was needed to finish what needed to be done. Jaune of course, wasn't an exception but luckily, teaming up with his friends, they all managed to do the work before them in a timely manner. Penny in particular was a lot of help, and her friends were left amazed at how smart their favorite oddball truly was. With the assignments done, Nora was the one to suggest that they all deserved a fun night to themselves. Games, snacks, and conversations about anything and everything.

"I'm sorry, I truly am, but I wish to visit my father."

Penny however, already had plans of her own, but she wished them the best of time still. So did they to her, and so, once Saturday evening came about, Jaune and his gang had their night of fun. Once games had been played, snacks had been eaten, they all settled down and started to talk.

"Okay, seriously, what's it like being the 4 time Mistralian champion?" Nora asked as she hugged her pillow close to her chest.

"Hmm." Pyrrha gave it a thought. "It may sound contradicting, but it actually helped me remain humble and determined. It wasn't easy to be a 4 time champion. My second time especially was extremely tough, and reminded me that there are other people who are as talented as I am. Some, may even more talented I am."

Nora grinned. "I dunno about that champ. 'Invincible girl' seems to be pretty damn fitting for ya."

Pyrrha struck a wry smile. "I'm not invincible. No one is. Talented, yes, and I've put tremendous amount of effort perfecting my skills, but even then, there are people out there who would be more than capable defeating me in a battle. And some of them may even be younger than me," She said, and Nora almost rolled her eyes.

"Alright, alright, Pyrrha 'The not totally invincible girl.' What about fame then? How does it feel that people can recognize ya pretty much anywhere?"

"It…can have its perks. But not all of it is perfect. It can be overwhelming at times, and…well, it becomes more difficult to form meaningful relationships. It's hard to tell when someone is genuinely interested in you, or simply wants to know you because you're famous," She said, and although her face didn't show it, her words carried a burden she so wished she didn't have to.

In response Nora threw her pillow right at Pyrrha's face. The redhead, due to her well-honed reflexes, caught it right as it almost smacked her in the face. And she then gave her friend a confused look. Nora brightly grinned at her.

"I can assure ya that we want to know ya for who you truly are. I'd even bet a thousand stack of pancakes on that," She said, and soon after, both Ren and Jaune nodded in agreement.

Pyrrha gave each of them a tentative look, and then her lips came to be a genuine, appreciative smile.

"Thank you," She answered with simple words, but words that mattered and suited just fine. And…to the surprise of everyone but herself, she then threw the pillow back to Nora. It hit her square in the face and on impact, exploded into a white, feathery mess.

"…"

A brief moment of stiff silence, before Pyrrha covered her mouth with her hands as she burst into a lively, seemingly uncharacteristic laughter.

"Buwhahaha!" She guffawed almost like a child, and showed absolutely no signs of remorse or guilt. Meanwhile, the mist of feathers had settled down, revealing unamused face of one Nora Valkyrie. She then coughed up the feathers stuck in her mouth and nostrils.

"Ren."

"Nora-"

"Ren."

He sighed, and then handed her his pillow, but not before adding, "You clean up the mess."

She merely nodded, and then threw herself at her still laughing prey. Her prey, Pyrrha Nikos, responded by throwing herself back and down onto her bed, and put up the best guard that she could. That of course, didn't deter Nora at all.

"Think ya can mess with me, huh?! I'll teach ya how that ends!"

She cried out with unrelenting determination and continued to smack her friend. Credit where its due, Ren's pillow withstood the hellish pounding like a champ, but eventually, it gave in and exploded into a feathery mist just like its fallen comrade before it.

Nora wasn't quite satisfied yet.

"Jaune."

The boy in question frowned. "Seriously? But this one's my favorite."

"Jaune."

"Aww, man." He wined, but gave it regardless. And the moment he did, she wasted no time before resuming her assault. And Pyrrha kept laughing about it.

…

Their room was a mess.

"So, uh…guys?" Nora turned to her friends with a begging look in her eyes. She noticed immediately that Ren wouldn't budge. After all, he did say that she'd be the one to clean up the mess. She tried her luck with Jaune.

"Forget about it. You murdered my favorite pillow."

She curled her lip like a wounded puppy.

"I have 3 sisters Nora. You'll have to try better than that."

She turned to her last hope. Pyrrha glanced around the room, and took in the absolute mess before her. With-out a doubt, cleaning this up would be a mighty effort. She glanced at her friend.

"At least third of this mess is my fault. Or course I'll help," She said, and Nora then threw her arms around her, holding her tightly.

"Yay! I knew I could count on my bestie!" She happily exclaimed, and a faint blush was visible on Pyrrha's cheeks.

Um…glad to help out my bestie. And her blush ever so slightly deepened.

…

2 hours later.

"Phew," Nora sighed in relief, as they finally finished cleaning their room. Pyrrha, having a second look around, nodded satisfied. They certainly did their job prim and proper. And even if she had to motivate Nora from time to time, all's well that ends well. Hence, she settled down into her bed to get some well-earned rest. Meanwhile, Nora opted to sit down on the bed closest to her, which happened to be Jaune's. As she did, she simply relaxed for a bit, but then noticed that their favorite blondie was reading something on his scroll with great interest. She got curious.

"What'cha reading there?" She asked, and Jaune seemed to be almost caught off guard by her voice.

"Oh, I, um, just an article really."

"What's it about?"

"…A recent fight. A boxing match, I mean."

Her eyes seemed to perk up hearing that.

"You like boxing?"

"I do, yea." He answered, and for a moment, she seemed to notice a genuine spark in his eyes as he said that. Something, which she had never seen while he performed his duties as a student at Beacon.

"Did ya box before joining Beacon?"

There was a slight pause before he slowly answered, "In the amateurs, yea."

"How'd you do?"

"Um…not too bad, actually. I had some talent for boxing, and I trained pretty hard so I…I did pretty good."

"And your record?" She asked with great interest, and even Pyrrha and Ren were starting to pay attention to their conversation.

Jaune almost bit his lip. If he told her the truth, without a doubt she'd ask him even more questions, and he just wasn't sure how much he was ready to talk about boxing with her. But then again, he did talk quite plenty with Penny so maybe…Fine.

"I had 165 fights, won 163 of them, and 112 were early stoppages."

Nora's eyes shot wide, and even Pyrrha and Ren had their mouths slightly agape hearing that.

"What?! Are ya kidding me?! That's insane!" She said with an elevated, excited tone of voice and Pyrrha decided to chime in too.

"That's amazing, Jaune. Did you participate in the Olympics?"

"I did, yea. But only got silver."

She visibly frowned hearing that. "What are you saying? Winning any medal is impressive enough, let alone in the Olympics. So please, never downplay your achievements like that," She said with a gentle, but also unwavering voice. Her emerald green eyes speaking of immense respect and perhaps even joy.

Jaune scratched his head, feelings sheepish and unable to find the right words to respond with. Nora smacked him across the shoulder. "That's right ya dork. All this time we had a legend of a boxer around us, and we didn't even know! What an asshole ya are!"

Jaune couldn't help but to chuckle at her ridiculous comment.

"Um, sorry, I guess?" And he chuckled even more.

Pyrrha set her hands neatly into her lap.

"Can I ask you something?"

He shrugged. "Shoot."

"Why didn't you turn pro?" She asked, and the moment she did, Jaune's lips spread into a troubled smile. A pained smile.

"I uh, well basically, not winning the gold at the Olympics disappointed me a lot more than it should have. I guess I lost faith in myself and, well, quit." He gave them a grossly oversimplified version of events, but a somewhat true version none the less. He just didn't feel like telling about his mother's part in it is all. And…some other things. Things that even Penny had absolutely no idea about.

Things that would remind him what an absolute scum of a person he used to be.

Nora feigned a pout. "Aww, come on, ya didn't get gold and quit? Seriously? Just like that? I mean geez, you don't rank up 165 fights just on a whim ya know. Ya had to be pretty passionate about it, right?"

Jaune winced a little. "I know it sounds lame but…yea, that's kinda it. And of course, I was passionate about boxing. I mean I still enjoy watching, but as far as boxing myself, that's all in the past now. Now I'm here, and on my way to become a huntsman, and I'm not complaining," He said, and to be fair, he looked and sounded quite convincing. However.

"Hmm." Nora hummed, seemingly in a deep thought. Before she cracked a dubious grin, and turned her look to Pyrrha. "Ya know, I think our blondie here could actually beat ya in a ring."

Pyrrha thought for a moment, and then nodded. "I'd have to agree," She said, and didn't do so to act humble or polite.

Jaune shook his head. "Come on, guys. Me against 4 time Mistralian champion?"

Pyrrha wasn't slow to reply. "Boxing and armed combat are not one and the same. And while I'm not entirely terrible at fighting unarmed, I much prefer to do so with miló and akoúo̱ in my hands," She said, and Nora then glanced at Ren. He got the cue quickly.

"I'd have to agree with the girls here. Your achievements speak for themselves. Olympics is the place where the top of the crop are fighting. And given you managed to earn a silver medal, you were one of the best."

Nora crossed her arms right under her chest, her look triumphant. "It's 3 against 1 blondie. I think you know what that means."

"That you're all wrong," He started, but then let out a sigh, and scratched the back of his neck. "Alright, alright, I get it. I was pretty damn awesome at boxing." He gave in, but Nora wasn't satisfied quite yet.

"And?"

"And what?"

She glanced at Pyrrha, then back to him. He got the cue.

"…And yea, I guess I could beat Pyrrha in a boxing ring," He said, yet somehow, Nora still didn't look completely satisfied.

"Alright! Let's see if that's true!" She said, and then turned her attention to their spartan. "Whad'ja say, champ? You're up for a fun, little spar tonight?" She asked, and admittedly, Pyrrha was at loss for words a moment or two. Jaune took it as a sign that she knew just how silly, perhaps even ridiculous of an idea that was. That is, before she cracked a tiny smile and nodded.

"I suppose so."

Jaune had to do a double take. Wait, what? Did I hear it right? He couldn't quite believe it since he always thought of Pyrrha as a reasonable type. Was he wrong to some extent? "You've gotta be kidding me. Guys? It's like 2 am."

"Then let's not waste any time!" Nora chirped with a carefree voice.

Meanwhile he was looking at his two other friends as he expected them to finally come to their senses. At least Ren should voice how ridiculous this was.

…Right?

He didn't.

"Okay you guys, keep it clean but exciting!"

It all seemed to happen so fast and in such a haze, he struggled to remember how he got in a ring. He even didn't quite get it why he was wearing a pair boxing gloves. And Pyrrha too. However, the moment he heard the bell ring, his mind became crystal clear. And something.

Something within him stirred.