Welcome back everyone! I hope you've all been well. It's been awesome to see favorites, follows, and reviews come in! Thanks so much for the support.
As I'm sure you've noticed, we've got cover art! A friend of mine from a discord server made this for me and I think it looks amazing.
Let's get it started!
Beta: Wolfy
Cover Art: Gyanguirus
Chapter 2 - Battle of the Blonds
Bzzzzzzzzt!
Jaune stifled an exhausted groan as he was ripped from his slumber by the familiar sound of his scroll buzzing. His muscles were still a bit stiff from last night's loss, but the pain was almost gone. Rolling over towards his bedside table, he considered groping around in the darkness for his device. His hand drifted sleepily towards where he'd usually put his phone down to charge before he paused.
Maybe it's just an email or a reminder, he reasoned, No need to rush things. I can get a few more minutes, easily.
Content with the decision, he flopped back over to his right and let his tired eyes drift shut. His hands fell to his waist as his fingers gripped soft heavenly cloth as he pulled the sheets back up to his shoulders with a small smile.
All was good in the world once again.
Bzzzzzzzzt! Bzzzzzzzzt! Bzzzzzzzzt!
Ok. Maybe not. He was happy to ignore one buzz, an indication of a simple and easily ignorable text message. A bunch in succession however, was sadly his silenced ringtone. Flinging his pillow over his face to absorb an exasperated yell, Jaune eventually made the heartbreaking decision to roll over once again and switch on his lamp, bathing the battered old room he called his in light and wrenching his scroll off the bedside table. He put it to his ear to see who or what exactly had ripped his slumber away from him.
"Hello?" He questioned, voice a bit hoarse.
"Hey man!" The familiar friendly voice on the other side greeted. "Sleep well?"
Despite his best efforts to rebuke the person who'd disturbed his slumber, a good amount of his annoyance evaporated right there. "I was until about three minutes ago, Sun." He shot back, his voice thick with fake distaste. "Thanks for that."
Sun laughed on the other side of the call. "You know you can't stay mad at me, bro. But you're welcome to try."
He had him there. Sun was right. Despite how crazy or over the top he could be, Sun always found a way to bring a smile to Jaune's face. He grinned as he recalled a few memories of those times. They'd met in a similar manner to how he met Ren, but rather Sun was a bit of a rival in their classes. The two frequently were paired against each other, due to their similar height and build. He'd hated him at first, but unfortunately, he found that was a herculean task. He was just too much of a bro.
"As nice as it is to hear from you," he started, "Why exactly are you calling me at–" He slid upwards on his scroll to peer at the time. "Eight in the morning?"
"Because I heard someone's down in the dumps after a talk with the boss and needs a quick training sesh!" The other man crowed back. Damnit Ren. For as incredible as his quiet friend was, he had a knack for bringing up things said in private. Whether it was that he couldn't read the room, or some sadistic way of instigating, he couldn't say.
"You'd be right, I definitely need to hit the gym." He replied. "But that doesn't answer my question of why you decided to call me right now."
"Because I'm outside and ready to take you on a grindset adventure!" Sun cheered. "Now get your lazy ass down here so we can get it started."
Bwuh?
Still clutching his scroll to his ear, Jaune sat up in bed and pulled the curtains away from the window. Rolling onto his aching knees for a better view, he peered out in disbelief as he saw the familiar minivan painted with an almost disgustingly bright shade of yellow parked outside his apartment complex. Sun was wedged halfway out the window, waving his hands like an idiot with a dopey grin on his face.
Jaune's lips stretched into a tired smile as he sighed and swung his feet over the side of his bed. "Okay, okay, I'm in, but did you really have to pull up in the Bananawagon? I can't imagine what my neighbors might think if they saw it." He watched as Sun's smile shone brightly up at him and cupped his hand over his scroll.
"Uh, duh! She's my baby. Now get some sweats on and let's do this thing." Sun said. Before Jaune could reply, he heard the sound of a beep disconnecting him from the call. That was Sun for you. Impossible to predict, goofy, but always with the best intentions. Jaune stood out of bed and headed to the bathroom to wash up, after all, it seemed like he had a big day ahead of him.
/
No matter how many times he'd been there, the sight of the Vytal Wrestling Company's official performance center always filled him with a sense of childlike wonder. It was massive, the building having been fashioned out of an old warehouse. There were rows upon rows of squat racks, barbells, benches, and any gym equipment you could ever want. Despite it only being 9:30 in the morning, there were already plenty of wrestlers that dotted the weight-training side of the gym, filling the air with the sound of heavy iron plates clanging against the floor.
The conditioning portion of the gym was just as spectacular, with treadmills creating a wall of glossy black plastic at the leftmost wall. There were heavy tractor tires people could flip over, and large, thick ropes people could swing back and forth to train their stamina. While he'd spent a fair bit of time on both sides, mostly working on his strength, his favorite part of the performance center lay right in front of him.
In the center of the building there were seven fully equipped wrestling rings arranged in a large circle with one TV quality ring smack dab in the middle. The ornate logo of the VWC was stamped all across the canvas, as well as the ring apron that covered the lower half of the ring. He couldn't help but feel a chill go down his spine. It was the perfect place to improve. A kiln that would forge a new and better Jaune as it became his home for the next few months in preparation for his redemption.
A hard clap on his back shook him out of his wonder as he staggered a few steps forward. He turned around with a quizzical expression towards his gym buddy for the day. Sun Wukong was ready for the ring if his outfit was anything to go by. His friend wore bright yellow shorts and a fitting black tee that hugged his muscles. The company's logo was stamped on the front. His black and yellow sneakers were also from the company's vast selection of clothing options. If he was being honest, the guy looked like a walking advertisement for the VWC's merch store.
"Still trying to get that sponsorship huh?" Jaune joked. Sun just grinned back and took a sip from his water bottle.
"You know it! One of these days they're gonna put these abs in a commercial. Just you wait."
Jaune couldn't help but let out a quiet chuckle. Man, he wished he had confidence like Sun's. The guy could've walked in wearing a trash bag and owned it to the point where people might just join in. Even wearing sweats Jaune felt out of place. Sun was just too cool.
"Maybe one day," Jaune said, stifling a laugh and choosing to switch topics, "I know you didn't wake me up for some basic stuff Sun, got something in mind?"
Sun raced forward so he was right in front of Jaune, pointing a finger into his chest. "I'm glad you asked Jauney boy! I was thinkin' we do a little warming up, get the blood pumping, then you and I go hand-to-hand for some sparring."
Jaune felt his muscles tense at the memory of the last time he'd stepped in a ring, still a little sore from last night. "I don't know, Sun, I've sparred plenty. Goodwitch told me I needed to change it up. I'm not sure how getting my butt kicked two days in a row will help."
"So that's what she wanted you for," Sun started, "Ren just said she called you in." His hand came up to stroke his chin as he took a second to think. "Wouldn't hurt to get some more practice in." He said with a reassuring edge to his voice. His expression then turned mischievous. "Besides, I know your aura's already got you all healed up, so I don't wanna hear any excuses for this buttkicking." He punctuated the last word with a wag of his finger, his tail coming up to mimic the motion behind him. "I can at least give you some tips after. And besides, this is the last chance I get to have some one-on-one time with my bro before I head back to Haven tonight."
Jaune's eyes widened. That was right, Sun was heading back to Haven with his tag partner to train for the tournament. He felt warmth pool in his chest. Despite leaving in a matter of days, after hearing about Jaune's predicament Sun had dropped everything to lend a helping hand. No way he was turning it down.
Besides, what did Glynda even mean by "innovating his training?." Sure, he was in a slump but he'd won matches before. If anything, sparring more could only help him get better at wrestling other people. Dad didn't need a glorified "time out and reflect" session to win his belt. His brows drew down at the thought. Yeah, screw it. He'd spar with Sun and see where it went from there.
"Let's make the most of your time then." Jaune finally replied, reaching out to bump Sun's fist. The man in question let out a quick whoop, before grabbing Jaune's wrist and hauling him towards the conditioning side of the gym.
They spent the first 30 minutes with a typical warmup, making sure to stretch dynamically to try and mitigate any danger. An injury was the last thing he needed right now. The two continued to slowly ramp up the intensity until he and Sun had worked up a slight sweat.
With the warmup over they headed towards one of the empty rings. Sun waved his hands and flagged down a girl standing near the ring as they approached. She had long auburn hair, and was dressed in the performance center's black and white staff attire.
"Hey Octavia," Sun called out flashing a grin her way, "You mind reffin' for me and my boy?" The girl in question beamed a shy smile back at him.
"S-Sure Sun, I'd be happy to. I'm sure you know the rules."
"Yeah yeah," Sun said in a relaxed tone as he lazily rolled under the bottom rope into the ring. "Yo Jaune, only pins and submissions to win work for you?" Jaune nodded up at him as he climbed the steel steps adjacent to the ring and ducked through the middle rope.
"Works for me."
He slid his scroll out of his pocket and opened the VWC's aura app, making sure to sync himself to the ring so he knew when he was running low before dropping it outside the ring. No point in going too hard in a friendly spar. As Jaune moved to his corner opposite Sun, Octavia entered the ring. She slipped a small silver bell out from her belt, a far cry from the large ring bells he was used to on a show, but here it made more sense to go with the smaller option.
"Sun, are you ready?" She started, gazing over at the monkey boy. Sun flexed his arms and fell into a battle-ready stance. "You bet I am."
"Jaune, are you ready?" She said, switching her gaze to him. He took a quick breath and relaxed his shoulders, heart beating faster as he put his lead leg in front of him and anchored himself with the other. "Ready."
Octavia nodded at him, before lifting the bell above her head and giving it a ring.
"BEGIN!"
At the third clang of the bell Jaune made his move. Racing forward towards the center of the ring with his arms out in front of him, ready to intercept whatever Sun had in mind. His opponent had a similar idea, and the two collided right in the middle, boots on top of the VWC logo stamped to the canvas. Jaune's left hand darted behind the back of Sun's head to grab at his neck, while his right shoved directly forwards to grab his shoulder. Effectively locking up the monkey boy's movement with the hopes to land a takedown.
Sun's eyes narrowed as he recognized the classic maneuver, his own hands reaching forward to grab Jaune's wrist with one, and his own shoulder with the other, turning Jaune's leverage into a test of strength. The two railed against each other, and Jaune could feel his muscles trembling as he tried to force Sun back into the ropes, eyes darting down every few seconds to make sure the other man wasn't trying to sweep at his legs. When he looked back up, he saw Sun was grinning at him.
"Going for ol' reliable huh?" He growled in exertion, gritting his teeth and pushing with renewed strength. "Let's see who's stronger then." Jaune watched in dismay as the leg Sun used to anchor himself lifted for a moment, before stomping forward. Jaune couldn't help but arch his back as Sun's stronger physique began to overpower his own.
I can't let him get me to the ground. He thought. He didn't like it, but with no other choice, he relented and let himself get pushed back into the ropes. It was a rock or a hard place, but he couldn't afford to be in a position where Sun could attack down at him. The man in question bulldozed Jaune into the ropes and just as his back slammed into the unforgiving wire chords, he felt himself being flung in the opposite direction as the monkey boy used the hand still clutching Jaune's wrist to whip him towards the other side of the ring with impressive force.
Jaune flew towards the other set of ring ropes at alarming speed. If he let himself bowl into them, he might end up going over the top. Closing his eyes for a split second and letting muscle memory take over, Jaune turned his back to the ropes and let his arm go over the top while he planted his feet, anchoring himself. He felt the cables bend with his body as he let them slingshot him back into the center of the ring.
Unfortunately, his opponent had been expecting it, and Jaune found himself face to face with Sun. "Gotcha Jauney boy!" he cheered as he threw his right arm forward, catching Jaune across the chest in a devastating clothesline. The world went sideways as the impact swept his legs out from under him, his momentum coming to a crashing stop as his back impacted the mat with a crash.
Shaking the stars out of his eyes, Jaune looked up to see Sun's shoe darting down towards his midsection for a stomp. His hands flew up to block, but reconsidered as Sun got closer, electing instead to catch Sun's ankle. Holding on to his opponent's leg for dear life, Jaune managed to get his legs under him and get up. Sun could only hop up and down on his left foot to avoid falling over as Jaune fought back to a standing position. He threw Sun's leg to the side as hard as he could, the monkey boy turning with the force and ending up off balance.
There! Jaune thought as he stepped forward with his left foot and threw a haymaker over Sun's guard and caught the blond man on the jaw, sending him staggering back. Knowing he had only seconds to follow up, Jaune stomped forward and caught Sun in a bearhug, pinning his arms to his sides. He braced his core and pulled with all his might, picking up the slightly shorter man and spinning around, throwing himself to the floor with Sun in tow, the latter's back impacting the mat with a loud bang as Jaune landed on top of him, completing the suplex.
Jaune pushed up and off his friend as Sun let out a harsh exhale, the wind having been driven out of him. He decided to get back to his feet, if there was one thing he really wasn't confident in, it was his ground control.
"Not bad Jaune," Sun gritted out, a small smirk on his face as he reared back and kipped himself up using his tail for support. Jaune stared him down, letting a hand go up to his forehead to wipe at his brow. His fingers came away wet with sweat. The two circled each other before they met in the center, trading blows. Getting the better of the exchanges, Jaune raised his guard and darted in with a left hook. Sun caught it on his right forearm and threw a body kick that sailed underneath Jaune's guard and buried itself in his side. He bent double as the wind was driven out of him. Gasping for breath, he barely noticed as Sun's arms wrapped around his lower back and stomach.
Oh boy.
It was Jaune's turn to be lifted into the air as Sun wrenched him off of his feet and flipped him upwards to the point where Jaune was nearly balanced on his shoulders, before dumping him down back first onto the mat with a vicious powerbomb. The ring canvas trembled, Jaune saw stars as he felt his muscles hit the ground. He was barely aware that Sun hadn't let go, and was leaning forward, pushing Jaune into the mat.
What is he– Jaune started before his thoughts were interrupted by Octavia sliding down next to them. His eyes widened in shock. He's got my shoulders pinned! She began to slap her hand to the mat.
"1….2..."
Jaune hurled his shoulder to the side and managed to pry it up, flopping out of Sun's grip and rolling onto his hands and knees, narrowly escaping the pinfall. He only managed to prop himself up for a second before Sun was on him again.
"Can't be taking breaks pal!" Sun yelled as he drove his knee into Jaune's ribs, sending him rolling towards the corner spluttering for air. No time to rest, Jaune grasped the two ropes that framed him in the corner and pulled himself up, managing to catch Sun with an elbow as his opponent came charging in. Sun recoiled with the blow, bending over and clutching his face in pain.
Now I've gotcha. Jaune cheered as he jumped up onto the middle rope, wobbling a bit to catch his balance, before launching himself into the air towards Sun. He made sure to stretch his body out, making himself as big as possible as he crashed down on the monkey boy, pinning him flat to the canvas. Jaune made sure to grab Sun's leg and hook it, shifting more of his weight on his opponent's shoulders and giving him just a tiny bit more leverage. Once again, the referee dove near them and began her count.
"1….2…."
It was Jaune's turn to growl in frustration as Sun managed to kick out, thrashing violently and throwing Jaune clean off him. Jaune scowled as he felt a stitch forming in his side as he dragged a few breaths.
This pace is nuts. I can't keep this up. His cardio had never been great, and Sun was really pushing it.
The two began to grapple back and forth again, fighting for control. Jaune went for a dangerous option. He craved a rest and decided to risk it. He'd never been too good at ground grappling, but he wouldn't last at this rate. Throwing his weight forward, his arm snaked above and around Sun's neck. With his other, he clasped his hands together, securing a headlock. He let himself drop to the canvas, dragging Sun down in tow. The two impacted the mat with a thud. He threw a leg over Sun's right arm hoping to trap it. It wasn't a submission, per se, but rather a way to keep Sun immobile while he took deep breaths, letting his muscles relax.
"Really bro? A working hold?" Sun growled as he tried to pry Jaune's forearm away. "You are anti-fun."
Jaune managed a strained half shrug as he barely managed to keep the hold. "Hey there's no audience, I can slow it down a little bit." The two rolled around the ring for a little while longer, Sun continuously trying to find a way out.
"Slow it down huh? We'll see about that." Sun barked as he found a weakness in Jaune's inexperienced hold and ripped his arm free. "Hope you're ready pal." His friend's eyes drifted shut as he slammed his hands together.
Crap. Jaune thought as the open ring around him began to shine with ethereal yellow light. He tried frantically to tighten his grip around Sun's neck, forgetting the working hold in a panic and going for a submission. Anything that could stop what was about to happen.
He was too late.
Two sets of strong arms clamped down on opposite sides of his body and hoisted him up. Jaune cursed as he turned his head to see two glowing golden clones of Sun Wukong. His semblance. Damnit, he'd been doing so well to keep Sun's arms away from each other too. Not only had his hold failed, but now he was still exhausted and had managed to push Sun to get serious.
One of the clones kept their grip on Jaune's upper arm and shoulder while the other began to tug on Jaune's hands. His grip was quickly broken, and the shining copy made to pull Sun to the other side of the ring. Jaune struggled fiercely against the clone still holding him and managed to wriggle out of its grasp. Looking back towards the center of the ring, he tried desperately to plan around his predicament. There was Sun, hands still clasped together, his two doppelgangers stood protectively in front of him.
If I could just break his concentration, they'll disappear. It was better than nothing, and while his chest felt heavy from the exertion, he stormed forward, managing to slip under the first clone's high kick, the force from the blow sending his hair rippling.
Sadly, it was a short-lived victory, because as he dipped under the strike, the second clone's fist found itself in his stomach. Jaune gasped for air before he felt himself crash towards the ground as the copy followed up with an axe-kick that connected right on base of his spine. From there, two clones continued to beat on him despite his best efforts. For every punch he blocked, a kick would make it through his guard, and for every kick, he'd eat a clean haymaker on the jaw.
Finally at his breaking point, Jaune managed to shove them away and launch himself at Sun, the latter still deeply concentrated. He threw a spinning elbow towards his opponent, torquing his hips for one clean blow.
Sun's face shifted.
His look of fervent concentration suddenly dropped, replaced with the familiar cocky smirk he'd grown to despise over the course of the match. "Watch your legs!" He cheered and dropped low, sitting hard on the mat. He reared forward and grabbed Jaune's lead leg and catapulted himself backward, using Jaune's momentum to flip him forward as the two rolled on the mat in a matter of seconds.
He and Sun went down in a jumble of limbs as Jaune hit the mat hard, a white flash filling his vision as he tried to make sense of what had just happened. Sun was on top of him, using his legs to trap Jaune's. Shit, he was on his back! Still disoriented from the quick tumble Jaune frantically jerked his body to get his shoulders off the mat, vaguely aware of Octavia beside him.
"1….2….3!" Octavia called out as she finished her count. "Sun wins the match by pinfall."
Jaune groaned and let his hands drift up to his sweaty face as a loud horn sounded from one of the ring posts signaling the end of the match. He stayed like that for a beat before he felt a presence above him. Lowering his hands, he saw Sun with his arm extended down at him, a guilty smile on his face. Jaune could only groan.
"A momentum pin? And you said I was anti-fun."
Sun rubbed the back of his head with a sheepish grin. "Sorry pal, I saw an opportunity and I took it. You were doing really well though!" He followed up quickly as Jaune grabbed his hand and let himself be pulled up.
"Yeah, up until you activated your semblance." he said, trying to keep bitterness from creeping into his voice. "Glynda was right, I'm of no use right now."
"Hey," Sun interrupted, "Let's not get all down on ourselves, you fought a good fight!"
"Then what did I do wrong?"
Sun gave him a blank look, clearly caught off guard before stroking his chin. "W-Well, you see when we were locked up you could have maybe…." He trailed off before starting to get flustered. "I mean, maybe you could've…y'know, just….not lost?" He finished weakly.
Jaune gave him a deadpan stare. "Not lost?"
Sun rubbed the back of his head and gave a sheepish smile. "Yeah man! Not lost."
Jaune kept the deadpan expression. "You have no idea how to give advice, do you?"
"Yeah, not really. Ren said you were down in the dumps after your match last night and I just wanted to help you get your mind off things."
"Well thanks for the effort." Jaune managed weakly.
Sun laid a hand on his shoulder and gave it a light squeeze. "You'll figure it out bro. The pieces are all there. You've got champ potential; I know you do. You've just gotta grasp it." Jaune managed a chuckle. Sun always knew just what to say, even if they were just a jumble of phrases you'd seen on a motivational cat poster. Sun gave him an assured nod, then paused as his hand flew to his shorts, scooping out his scroll and peering down at it. He gave Jaune an apologetic look.
"Shoot, It's Neptune, you mind if I take this? I swear I'll be right back." Jaune gave him a nod, and Sun put the piece to his ear and slid out the ring, walking towards the front of the PC. Jaune did the same, and collapsed on a nearby bench, dragging breaths as quick as he could to try and breathe some life back into himself.
He sat there for a few minutes, occasionally taking sips from a water bottle, wincing as his muscles relaxed. His grip tightened on the bottle. Why the heck did he even go through with the spar anyway? He was supposed to be finding ways to improve instead of getting into a pissing contest with his own bruised ego. He wasn't sure who he was trying to fool with the bravado that what he'd been doing was working.
Oh right, himself. Clearly, he wasn't Nicholas Arc. Glynda had been spot on. What he'd been doing isn't working. Sure, it might've worked when he was put up against easy competition, but guys like Cardin wouldn't be beaten through a little extra practice inside the ring. But then that begged the question. What should he do? Thoughts began to run through his head as ideas pooled.
Maybe a personal trainer? Maybe Glynda knows someone. Heck, maybe I could ask her to teach me.
A loud bang shook him out of his spiral as his head drifted towards the source, two wrestlers locked in a spar in one of the nearby rings.
The girl was clad in a black hoodie and shorts, dark fabric giving way to pale legs and bright scarlet sneakers. He tried to get a good look at her, but she'd pulled her hoodie over her head, obscuring her face from view. She quickly slipped a stiff jab from her opponent. He'd seen him in the locker room and the ring enough times to know he certainly was no pushover. And yet, she danced around him, dodging blows and countering with her own.
She's fast! Jaune observed as he watched her pivot on her foot and deliver a vicious spinning roundhouse to his side. He clutched at his ribs but only fell forward slightly. It made sense, she was barely half his size. But it didn't matter as she'd taken the opportunity to fly back into the ropes and bounce off, delivering a flying knee that caught him square on the chin, sending the hulking man crashing to the canvas below.
The girl wasted no time as she dashed back towards the ropes with a graceful gait that he couldn't take his eyes off of. Her hands came to grip the top rope as she leapt, managing to use the momentum of her jump to plant her feet on the cable before taking to the sky. She flew in a backwards arch, her body stretched out as she soared, before hitting the peak of her ascent and completing the backflip. She landed with a devastating crash, her torso slamming down on his sternum with enough force to shake the ring.
What a moonsault! Jaune marveled. God, he'd kill for moves like those. The referee slid in for the three-count, but Jaune doubted she needed to. The guy was going nowhere, and as the count concluded, the victor sprang up with an adorable little hop as she pumped her fists.
To her credit, she leaned down and extended her hand. He quirked a small smile at the show of sportsmanship. Even if it wasn't him, it was nice to see someone like her getting a win. It died a swift death as he watched the defeated man slap her hand away and roll out of the ring. The girl's shoulders rose and fell, before she slowly ambled to the corner of the ring and climbed out.
What a dick. He thought as he watched the crestfallen girl walk down the steel steps, pulling her hood tight and muttering under her breath. His hands balled into fists. That jerk reminded him of Cardin. Making someone feel miserable, regardless of winning or losing. It wasn't her fault she'd beaten him. He was just acting like a sore loser, and clearly, it had gotten under the girl's skin. His butt came off the bench a few inches as he stood up, taking a step in her direction.
If that jerk wouldn't congratulate her, Jaune would.
His plan was halted by a tapping on his shoulder, he turned to see Sun staring back at him. "Sorry 'bout that dude." He started, putting his hand on Jaune's shoulder and guiding him back towards the front of the PC. "Nep was just wondering when I'd be able to help him pack for our trip." Jaune was hardly listening, electing instead to turn back towards the girl.
He sagged when he saw she was gone, probably having fled to the locker rooms at the end of the main room. He kicked himself for not talking to her sooner. There was something weirdly familiar about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. Besides, she was already gone anyway.
"-ello? Hello? Remnant to Jaune?"
Jaune turned back to Sun with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry about that, man. I was kinda zoned out. What'd you say?"
"I said let's hit the protein bar and wrap it up for today," Sun smiled. "I'm buying."
"Already?" Jaune said, trying not to let disappointment creep into his voice.
"Yeah man, I hate to cut it short, but trusting Neptune to pack up the apartment is a disaster waiting to happen. Now come on, let's grab 'em and vibe in the car, I'll let you pick the music." Sun grinned as he motioned towards the front of the PC. A neon sign hung above a small stand in the corner, the green writing above it spelling out The Protein Bar.There were stools at the counter, and another row of tables near the wall. It was a classic spot for those who trained there, the perfect way to recuperate after a hard workout.
The two waited in line for a few minutes with sparse conversation to keep them entertained. After waiting another few moments for his order Jaune found himself clutching a delicious smelling peanut-butter protein shake as he walked with Sun towards the corner that led to the reception area of the performance center.
Maybe not the best first day, but it's a start. He thought to himself with a tired smile. He'd at least learned what wasn't working, and wasn't that the first step to improvement? At least that's what all those cash grab self-help books his Dad used to keep around the house always said.
The two blonds wilted as they made it to the exit doors. It was pouring rain, a stark contrast to the brisk but beautiful morning they'd left behind when they entered the gym. Sun let out a quiet curse before turning to Jaune.
"Tell you what," Sun sighed, "You stay put and I'll bring the Bananawagon around. No way I'm letting my boy go out in that."
"You sure? I can always just—" A bright flash of lightning and the thunder that accompanied it quickly changed his mind. "That works for me. Take this."
Jaune threw Sun his hoodie, the latter flashing him a thumbs up and holding it over his head like an umbrella and charging into the rain. Jaune's hand slid to his pocket to thumb his scroll. After all, it was the ultimate time waster.
He scrolled around aimlessly on his homepage a few times before something caught his eye, there was a small black blur in the corner of his vision. Looking up from the scroll, his eyes widened as he saw the girl from earlier staring out at the rain.
Well, an Arc never went back on his word. He said he'd congratulate her after all. He walked up to the girl and tapped on her shoulder. She jumped, letting out a startled eep as she spun towards him with a force that threw the hood clean off her head.
Surprise overtook Jaune as the girl faced him head on, hoodie no longer concealing inky black hair that gave way to crimson at the tips. Blue eyes met silver once again for the second time in two days as Jaune gazed at the girl who'd bowled him over with a door just the day before.
She must've recognized him too, because the second her surprise faded she pointed straight at him.
"YOU!"
A WILD RUBY APPEARED!
That's chapter 2 in the books. Rest assured guys, Jaune isn't going to stay a loser, both in matches and mentality forever. Dude's just having a rough time.
I'm going to try and keep uploading as soon as I can, but that being said finals are coming up so I might be a bit busy. But rest assured, even when I'm supposed to be studying I'll probably be writing for this fic.
As always, thanks for reading and supporting!