BRFs

Chapter 2

Quick Note: Had to update it slightly, realized I posted a version of this chapter that hadn't been saved. Fixed it a few minutes ago. Sorry!


The rollercoaster that was yesterday had finally winded down. After getting all of Yang's boxes in, Yang had taken the time to settle into her room and organize all her belongings. Yang was absolutely loving it. After years of sharing a room with Ruby it was nice to have her own personal space. The apartment was amazing; large living room, decently sized kitchen, washer and dryer, one bathroom but that wasn't a deal big of a deal, it even had its own little garage for her to store Bumblebee. Jaune had hit the jackpot with this place and by association, now Yang had. This idea of hers was getting sweeter by the second. All she had to do was get a job, train the noodle, and by this time next year she's be in Beacon kicking ass.

Jaune and Yang had taken some time last night to set aside some grounds rules. Normal things; no going into each others rooms without permission, ask before having friends or family over, keep the shared spaces clean. Jaune was used to living with girls so it was easy to compromise. The fact Yang was also blonde made it feel like he would be living with one of his sisters. Until Yang came out last night in her pajamas. It wasn't anything too revealing, she came out in a pair of black shorts and tank top, but it had Jaune's heart racing all the same. Yang was drop dead gorgeous. Thankfully he learned from his mother and sisters at a young age to be respectful. He knew how to control himself from inappropriate looking. If anything this was good practice to prepare him for the potential coed dorm living of Beacon.

There was one personal thing, Yang had put extra emphasis on. Don't mess with her hair or there would be consequence. While she didn't say what those consequences were; when Jaune had seen the look on her face when she said it, he vowed to never find out what those consequences were.

It was early Monday morning and the two new roomies were having breakfast together. Jaune was eating his favorite cereal; Pumpkin Pete's, while Yang had made herself some eggs.

"You work today Jaune?" Yang asked before taking a bite of her eggs.

"No, Saturday and Monday are my days off." Jaune answered. As Jaune had told her last night, he worked at a small book store a couple of blocks away. "Sundays I usually work half a shift." Jaune quickly added.

"Perfect, There's this gym I'd go too when I'd visit Vale on the weekends. They got a ring in the back I would reserve all the time. I was thinking after breakfast we could go there. I'll use my guess pass so you and me can have a little friendly spar, I can gauge your skill level, and from there we can work out a game plan on training." Yang suggested before adding, "It's actually walking distance too; we can get to know each other more on the way."

Jaune personally thought they should have gotten to know each other a bit more before becoming roommates but that quickly went out the window so might as well do it now.

"Sure, sounds like a plan."

...

"So, tell me about yourself Jaune! What's life like on the frontier?" Yang asked as they walked side by side the bustling noise of the busy Vale streets surrounded them.

"Well, I come from a small village called Ansel; it's the kind of village where everyone knows each other, not a lot of good service out there only was able to catch local channels. My dad is the local huntsman for the town, everyone respects him. My mom stays at home takes care of everything. I have seven sisters-"

"Seven!?" Yang shouted cutting him off.

"Yea... I get that reaction a lot." Jaune said scratching the back of his head.

"Gods, I have a younger sister and I'm just imagining the chaos of six more of her." Yang shivered at the thought before looking at with a mischievous grin. "Damn, your parents like to get busy don't they." Yang laughed as she caught him wince in disgust at the thought.

That was as another thing commonly brought up in response to hearing about how large their family is, much to the dismay of him and his siblings.

"It can get pretty hectic sometimes, me and my older sister, Saphron were basically like second parents; helping around and taking care of everyone else when mom and dad were too busy." Yang knew the sentiment all too well, having basically helped raise Ruby after their mom, Summer died.

"There was always a lot of love to go around though. What about you Yang?" Jaune asked.

"Born and raised on this small island off of Vale called Patch. I've always wanted to be explore the world and kill Grimm so becoming a huntress seemed like the natural course for my life. My dad is a semi retired huntsman; he taught me everything I know, actually teaches at Signal too. I'm pretty sure you saw my sweet ride yesterday."

Jaune did remember the yellow motorcycle Yang parked in the garage.

"That's my baby Bumblebee. Got her as a gift for good grades. I have a younger sister named Ruby; she's the best, most adorable girl this side of Remnant. She's a total weapon nut too. Loves everything about them, and I mean everything, you could get her started talking about ammo and she'll be talking for hours. She's so gifted she was asked to attend Beacon two years earlier. She's having her first day now!" Yang said excitedly. Masked underneath was a hint of envy.

"Woah!" Jaune said in amazement. That was super impressive, only 15 and already in a Huntsman Academy. "You're not worried about her, skipping ahead and being by herself?" Jaune asked.

"Nah... well, yea a little. I mean, she's my younger sister. I'm always going to worry and care about her, but Ruby's a tough cookie! Besides she's always been a bit social awkward... would usually just hang around me instead of making new friends. Maybe being without her older sister is just what she needs to break out of her shell."

Yang had stopped slightly ahead of him. "We're here!" Yang exclaimed as they stood before a dojo styled building. There was a dainty sign up front that said, 'Gus' Pump Up'. It didn't like that much of a gym. As Yang walked in, Jaune followed closely by.

Sitting at the front desk was this bushy browed grey haired old man, reading a newspaper. Behind him was a row of treadmills, more than half of which were occupied. This gym was much larger then the outside of the building made it seem.

"Yo Gus!" Yang greeted the scruffy fellow like an old friend. "I'm gonna be using the ring for a bit with my friend here." Yang pointed back to Jaune. Gus simply grumbled and nodded as the two walked past and through the crowded gym. Following Yang to the back, they walked through a series of hallways before reaching a sealed metal door that had a number pad by the handle.

"Huntsman and huntresses use this ring all the time so it's safe to use our weapons inside." Yang said as she typed in a code unlocking the door. The metal doors slide open and revealed a very large yet empty training room. The metal walls were adorned with scorch marks, bullet holes, and the occasional cuts and scratches. The fact all the damage remained inside the room and not out was a good sign. In the center of the room was a decently sized ring and on the side was a small terminal and tv screen.

"Okay, let's start with your weapon. I see you got a sword. What else can it do?" Yang asked.

Jaune unsheathed his sword, and transformed the scabbard into a shield. "Umm just that. It's named Crocea Mors; it was passed down through my family since my great-great grandfather." Jaune revealed.

"Okay, one of the ole classics then, nothing wrong with that. These are Ember Celica." Yang's bracelets activated transforming into a pair of gauntlets that covered her hands and forearms. "They pack a mean punch." Yang coked them once for show. She then pointed at the the terminal on the side. "Hand over your scroll so we can link it to the terminal. I'll set it up so our Aura levels will show."

"Aura?" Jaune asked.

Yang stared at Jaune, blinking rapidly. "Jaune? You do have your Aura unlocked right?"

"Uhhhh... Sure! Of course I do, PFFT!" Jaune tried to play it cool and wave it off before asking, "Just a quick reminder though, what is Aura again?" Yang looked at him in disbelief before shaking her head. Of course he didn't know that Aura is or have it unlocked. Why make it easy on her.

"Aura is the manifestation of our soul. We can manifest it around us and use it for a wide variety of things. It can be used as a shield to protect us from attacks, it can also oppositely be used to enhance our attacks as well, it can help heal injuries faster, and even takes form in special ability unique to each individual called a semblance. Everyone has it, even animals." Yang gave him the low-down run on Aura.

"Do Grimm have it?" Jaune asked.

"No, Grimm lack a soul so they can't. That's our advantage as hunters and huntresses against them." Yang explained. "Now, usually an Aura can unlock naturally under times of distress or danger but I'm going to unlock yours manually for you. So come here and close your eyes." Yang ordered.

Jaune did what she said and approached closing his eyes as she placed her hand on him.

"For it is in passing that we achieve immortality. Through this, we become a paragon of virtue and glory to rise above all, infinite in distance and unbound by death." Yang placed a hand on Jaune's chest and continued. "I release your soul, and by my shoulder protect thee." Yang recited the words taught to her in Signal. After she finished her aura flickered yellow and she hunched slightly.

"Yang! You okay?" Jaune asked as a white glow shimmered over him.

"Yea… I just used some of my Aura to unlock yours." She straightened back up like reenergized. "Now, it's all yours! And damn, you got a lot of it. Never seen someone with Aura levels like that." Yang said.

"Woah." Jaune said. As he looked himself over the white glow slowly disappeared.

"Now that you have it unlocked let's link your scroll and get to sparring." Jaune handed Yang his scroll and watched as she set it up to the machine. "And there we go. Step into the ring noodle boy."

Jaune stepped in and held his sword, Crocea Mors, and shield at the ready. Yang stood opposite and cocked her gauntlets. The bell rang signaling the match.

It was over in seconds.

Two punches had knocked Jaune flying backwards. His Aura was still more than half but from the way he was knocked back onto the floor he was clearly out of it. Yang's arms had slumped not expecting much but more than whatever just happened. She walked over to Jaune and looked down at him on the floor.

"Jaune? How exactly did you train back home?" She asked.

"Mostly on training dummies and a few friends with training swords." Jaune answered and he leaned up supporting himself by his elbows.

Yang blew hot air and put her hands to her sides. This was going to much harder than she thought.

"No worries!" Yang clapped her hands together. She had an idea. "We're gonna do this again but this time I'm gonna hit a bit slower. I want you to focus on defense and blocking. If you think you can land a few hits in between great!" Yang didn't know how to fight with a sword but she could teach him how to tank some hits, get that newly found Aura of his churning. Maybe from there he could learn to fight back, maybe even discover some semblance that could help him fight back. It was worth a shot!

Yang helped Jaune back up to his feet and the two stood opposite another once again. "You ready?" Yang asked.

Jaune looked like he was still recovering from the blowback but nodded and readied himself again.

'Well at least he not a quitter.' Yang thought. The buzzer rang again and Yang charged forward.

Jaune could feel deaths cold embrace clutching him tightly. He was laid out in the corner on the couch resting his aching body. They had gone at sparring for well over 3 hours. Everything felt sore; his arm went numb after the repeated punches to his shield, his legs wobbled weakly as he tried to support himself up after it was all over. He barely even gotten a single swing in. Yang was an absolute beast in the ring, it was no wonder she graduated top of her class in combat school.

This Aura thing was working like a charm though. He should have had injuries all over his body with the amount of times he was hit but zilch, nada, nothing, not even a single scratch. If the worst was he felt some mild discomfit and soreness, then he could get used to it. They had been sparring so long cause apparently his large Aura reserve kept him going. Sure, he kept getting knocked down and around but he got back up just as quickly.

Jaune remembered Yang making a joke about that saying, 'You know what they say about guys and large Aura right.' She even threw in a flirty wink at him too. It was torture, he was blushing slightly now thinking back to it. Thankfully she had dropped the teasing and then taught him about semblances in between sparring. He still had no idea what his semblance was, but Yang said it would come in time eventually.

Speaking of Yang; she was in the other room talking with her sister about her first day at Beacon.

"She said WHAT to you!" He could hear Yang shouting from the other room.

Yang barged out the door scroll in hand and started pacing through the apartment.

"How dare she." There was a pause. "No! I don't care if you don't mind, where does she get off saying that to you. She's being a whiny brat." Yang sounded livid. Jaune noticed her eyes had changed to red. "If i was there, I'd have some words for her, maybe even some from Ember Celica too." There was another pause. "UGGGH fine! Have a good night. Love you, Rubes. If things don't get better, please let me know." The call must have ended cause Yang pocketed her scroll and gave an exasperated breath.

"Uhh… your eyes were red there for a little bit." Jaune pointed out.

Yang turned towards Jaune remembering he was there. "Oh, just a part of my semblance. When I'm angry my eyes change color, my hair can ignite on fire too." Yang said like it was no big deal.

"Neat." Yang had mentioned to Jaune that Semblances also sometimes have weird or extra side effects like how Yang's sister can move super fast but she creates rose petals where ever she goes when using it. "What happened?" Jaune asked.

"It's my sister, her partner is being a whiny little brat and diminishing my sister because Ruby was made leader and she wasn't." Yang walked over with her scroll to show him a picture. "Ruby's the one in red and black, her partner's the white-haired bitch."

Looking at the picture on her scroll, Jaune saw four girls standing together. On the far right was a girl dressed in black and wearing a bow on her head. To the left of her was a red headed girl wearing brown and gold armor. Then to her left was what Jaune assumed was Ruby; wearing a mostly black outfit with a red cape, she had matching black hair with red tips, and her eyes were silver colored. Jaune had never seen someone with silver eyes before. Lastly on the far left must have been Ruby's partner, a white-haired girl, wearing a white outfit and a had small scar on her face.

"She's pretty. OWWWWW" Jaune shouted as he was smacked upside the head.

"Bad Jaune, keep it in your pants." She smacked him again, lighter this time. "We hate her!" Yang shouted.

"We hate her?" Jaune asked as he rubbed the back of his head..

"Yup, she's an ice-cold bratty bitch. Got it!" She wasn't giving him an option.

"Got it." Jaune squeaked out.

"I wanna hear you say it." Yang ordered.

"She's an ice-cold bitch." Jaune said with no emotion.

"With feeling this time!" Yang demanded.

"She's an ice-cold bitch!" Jaune shot up and exclaimed with passion this time.

"That's the spirit!" Yang said as she joined him on the couch. She grabbed the remote and turned on the tv. She flipped through a few channels before she turned towards him, the expression on her face had softened. "Hey, I know sparring today was a bit... rough, but don't worry I got an idea!" Yang said causing Jaune's eyes widened at the word idea.

'Oh gods' Jaune thought. He could only imagine what other crazy and ridiculous ideas she could come up with. Jaune would be sure to think about this one more than he had with her first idea.

"No offense... but you need a lot of work." Jaune winced at the words. He knew it but it still didn't feel good hearing it. "I need to come up with a way to training you with your weapon, but until then we can work on getting you some muscle noodle boy, and I know exactly how." She pointed at herself grinning before handing him a flyer.

Jaune grabbed the paper and read it to himself.

'Do you want gains? Do you want your friends to look at you in envy? Then join Gus' Pump Up!' There was a crudely drawn image of a muscular guy at the bottom.

"A gym membership?" Jaune asked confused.

"Yup." Yang said with an audible pop. "You think I got this smoking bod just from combat school?" Yang asked as she gave a little strut showing off her body. "Nuh uh! This came with hard work, dedication, a well balanced diet, and a intricate workout regimen."

"Huh." Jaune thought about it and that wasn't a bad idea at all. Jaune never really worked out in Ansel, and didn't even know where to begin about proper workout etiquette.

"Think about it like this too. Since we're living together I can make sure you stay on top of it. It's perfect!" Yang added.

"I gotta admit, that is actually a pretty good idea. Let's do it." Jaune agreed getting a wide toothy smile in response from Yang.


Author's Notes: I'm going to try and commit to a chapter every Monday for BRFs. I have some other dragonslayer story ideas I'd like to get to eventually. I hope you enjoy!