Hi everyone! I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG! It was a lot of things. The chapter was pretty much done early March but my beta had a lot of life stuff going on, and April was just as busy. Thankfully, I'm here to reward you guys for graciously waiting with another long(ish) chapter! I hope to go back to my once or even twice a month upload schedule, but I can't promise anything haha. Also, for my wrestling fans, Wrestlemania 40 was awesome. My favorite match was Sami vs Gunther. Dm me your favorite.
As always, let's get it started!
Beta: Wolfy
Art: Gyanguirus
Chapter 5 - If At First You Don't Succeed
Jaune could hear his heartbeat in his ears as he paced up and down the ring. This was it. Day one of training with his newfound friend. It had been almost a week since he'd made Ruby the admittedly spontaneous offer to work with her in a way that benefited both of them. Since then, he'd gotten her scroll number and the two had coordinated to find the best day for their very first session.
His hand came down to his pocket to thumb his phone, switching it on as he brought it to his face. 10:27 am, it read, no different from when he'd checked it thirty seconds ago. Why am I so nervous? He thought as he rocked back and forth on his heels. Despite his best efforts at crushing his doubts, today was a scary one.
It was make or break. Ruby had been a solid teacher the last time he'd seen her, but he was making a big ask of her. She was only 18, and as far as he knew, she'd never trained anybody. And speaking of having zero teaching experience, here he was offering to teach her how to get over with a crowd when the only thing he'd ever taught was how not to capitalize on the potential of your family name. He groaned bitterly as he made sure to push that thought out of his head.
The truth was, how today went was critical to his future, and hers.
Jaune found himself zoning out a bit as he began to rack his brain on the best ways to give Ruby tips for public speaking. As he did, he found himself bouncing on the balls of his feet, falling back into the stance Ruby had taught him in an attempt to diffuse his nervous energy. Since she'd first given him that tip, he'd found himself practicing it all throughout his day, trying to get the unfamiliar motion to feel even slightly more natural. He could tell it was working.
His thoughts were quickly interrupted as he felt a finger poke at the center of his spine. Jaune flinched forward, managing to catch himself on one of the ring ropes as he whirled to face the source of his discomfort. His surprised expression quickly dropped into a deadpan one as he found himself face to face with an admittedly too smug Ruby dressed in her usual black hoodie and sweatpants.
"I got you this time!" she gloated as Jaune flushed in embarrassment at getting caught off guard. Judging from the look on her face, it must have felt good to be the person doing the surprising for once.
"Hey Ruby," he said, a smile spreading across his face as he rubbed the back of his head sheepishly. "Thanks for coming."
Ruby grinned back at him. "No way I was missing this! I'm so excited! I was really worried when you first made me the offer because I wasn't sure if you really wanted to or not, and I was afraid you were just being nice since I was upset, and I'm not sure if I'm ready and I'm not really the teaching type and I'm freaking out!" She finished, her voice reaching a dramatic crescendo. At this point, Jaune was used to her fervent rambling and laid his hand on Ruby's shoulder.
"Ruby, I wouldn't have made the offer if I didn't think you were up to the task." While not untrue, Jaune made sure not to tell her he'd been having doubts just moments before she showed up. He was absolutely going to give his new friend the chance she deserved.
Ruby preened a little as she processed his statement, her shoulders pulling back as she puffed her chest out. "That's right!" she crowed; a fist raised to the sky. "I'm gonna be the best dang training partner you could ever ask for." Jaune gave her a resolute nod back, before tilting his head to the side after a few moments.
"So…how do you want to start?" He asked. Ruby flushed.
"I was getting to that!" She exclaimed. "Let's just run the ropes for a bit." Jaune gave her a thumbs-up and the two began to bounce off the steel cables that framed their ring. As he ran, his eyes couldn't help but slide over to Ruby as she darted nimbly from one set of ropes to the other. He tried to pick up his pace, mimicking her deftness to try and match her strides.
It lasted for about three seconds before his left foot got hooked behind his right, sending him crashing to the canvas. He cursed as he got up, feeling Ruby's right hand on his shoulder assisting him.
"Are you okay?" she asked with concern. Jaune gave her a nod.
"If it only took one little fall to hurt me, I wouldn't be in this business." He joked. "Let's get back to it." The two of them continued to warm up for a few more minutes before Ruby let her arms glide over the ropes on a rebound and stopped herself.
"That's good enough!" she exclaimed as Jaune came to a stop. "How ya feeling?"
Jaune cranked a few arm circles before looking at her. "All warmed up."
Ruby grinned. "Then let's get started! I haven't stopped thinking about what to teach you since you made the offer, and I had a bunch of cool moves I want to show you because as I'm sure you know move set is key to any great wrestler and–"
Jaune felt himself beginning to zone out as Ruby careened on another one of her tangents. Letting her go for a few more seconds to not hurt her feelings, Jaune let out a "Ruby!" She stopped mid rant, hands frozen in some elaborate gesture as she looked at him.
"Wha–oh I did it again!" She groaned, slapping a hand to her forehead. "Staying on the subject this time, I promise." She said with a little giggle. "When I talked about your fight with Sun, I mentioned that your offense was predictable."
Jaune nodded as he recalled that aspect of her diagnosis of his performance. To be honest, he was really excited to know how she thought he could tune up his moveset. As if reading his mind, Ruby continued.
"While I might've kinda maybe put it in a harsh way, I don't think I was wrong. In your spar, it was mostly just punches. No real kicks, a single suplex, and that was about it. Not that those are bad moves of course!" She quickly followed up sheepishly. "Just that Sun was able to keep a high guard, get comfortable, and get his own game plan going. I'm thinking we start adding some flashy new techniques." She finished with a pump of her fist.
Jaune found himself unsurprised at Ruby's ability to dissect matches she'd only seen once. He pondered how she was so good at it. That being said, despite the fact that she was pretty on the money with her observations, he couldn't help but feel a bit defensive. Sure, his attacks weren't artsy flips like the moves he knew Ruby was capable of, but they usually got the job done. It had worked all his career. Thankfully, he managed to catch himself before he spoke, reminding himself that he'd said and thought the same thing about his stance before giving Ruby's a test drive and finding it much more useful, if a bit more dangerous. He was shaken out of his thoughts as Ruby began to speak.
"This isn't boxing, Jaune. We gotta mix it up." She softly chided. "Plus, these are gonna look super cool! Trust me, the crowd's gonna love it." She said with a grin, but he could tell it was a little brittle, pressure and uncertainty obviously weighing on the newfound teacher. Jaune gave her a reassuring smile.
"Let's give it a go then," he said. "What's first?" Ruby's silver eyes danced in excitement like two little flames as she delved into her pocket and pulled out an honest to goodness paper list, which she then unfolded.
"I made a foolproof list that's gonna turn you from a one-two puncher to a master wrestler. They're all my babies, moves I've used for years now!" She crowed with glee, raising the white square to the sky as if to showcase it to the heavens.
"Is..is that a napkin?" Jaune asked as he inspected her list, pointing at what looked like a marinara sauce stain.
"I get my best ideas when I'm eating, okay!" Ruby flushed with embarrassment, cheeks burning red as she waved her hands wildly and leaned away. Jaune barked out a quick laugh and raised his hands in surrender. "Moving on!" She shouted before turning back to him, "I was thinking we started with something simple. How are you on rebounds?"
Jaune let out a quiet hum as he processed her question. He was plenty familiar with rebounds. There really was no better way to completely shunt an opponent's momentum than going for one. The act of using the ropes to mount an assault, or inversely whipping your opponent into them and setting them up for a devastating attack was a classic maneuver. Unfortunately, there was one major problem.
"I'm usually on the receiving end of them." Jaune said as he gave a half-shrug, his mind going back to his spar with Sun. During their initial lockup, Sun had managed to bulldoze him into the ropes and fling him across the ring. He rubbed a hand over his chest as he recalled how he'd bounced off the opposite set of ropes and flew back towards the center of the canvas, only for Sun to be waiting for him, smashing him with a clothesline that sent him sprawling. His muscles ached at the memory.
"I usually prefer to stay grounded." He conceded, his mind harkening back to his discussion with her about his former stance. "Rebounds always seemed like too much of a risk. Why chance getting reversed and having my momentum used against me when I can just walk them down with my striking?"
Ruby fixed him with a quizzical stare. "Because that's predictable, Jaune. Every now and then you need to throw something out there to make your opponent think. Make them second guess what you're gonna do." Jaune's argument evaporated. She was right. Playing it too safe was what caused him to end up making mistakes in his spar with Sun. Playing it safe is what got him put on a break in the first place.
Ruby gave him a nod as she watched him work it out in his head. "Just like with my stance, even if it doesn't work out, it's worth a try. Now back to rebounds. I'm sure you went over them in your training courses, right?"
Jaune nodded sheepishly. "I mean I'm not bad at them or anything but–"
"There's room to improve. Let's start with attacks where you're the one rebounding." Ruby finished, rubbing her hands together animatedly as she beckoned at Jaune to meet her in the center of the ring. "I'm gonna show you how I do it and then you just do what I do. Easy, simple, perfect, just like this." she said as she continued to rattle off adjectives to the point where Jaune couldn't help but smile. Ruby handed him a thick rubber pad made for blocking before she darted back and sprinted full speed at the ropes. Jaune's eyes widened as Ruby flung herself into the mess of cables, her back bending the wire to the point where for a moment he was worried she might topple over it to the outside. Just as it seemed like she would, Ruby planted her feet and used the momentum to rocket her forward into a sprint.
Jaune only had a few seconds to raise the pad before she threw herself into the air, her knee like the tip of a javelin as she sailed towards him, her leg smashing directly into the pad and sending a small shockwave through his body. He lowered the pad from his torso and came face to face with Ruby, whose expression screamed praise me.
If she wanted a compliment, he'd give her one.
"That was insane!" Jaune remarked as he dropped the pad to the side. "I could barely see it coming." Ruby preened, puffing her chest out as a toothy spread across her face. "This is one of my favorite moves, and I think it would really work well in your moveset. It's unpredictable, fast, and powerful enough to really give someone the business. Now you give it a try!" Ruby exclaimed as Jaune obeyed, taking a few steps away from her as she hoisted the kick pad to her chest. He tried valiantly to hold back a chuckle as he watched her small stature completely disappear behind it but failed.
"Not funny!" Ruby pouted from behind the mass of rubber. "Go!"
Jaune sprinted towards the ropes like he'd seen Ruby do just moments ago. Admittedly, it was more like a trudge though. Jaune had never been the fastest runner, and he sure as heck wasn't the fastest wrestler. But it worked for Ruby, and since she hadn't steered him wrong yet, he went for it. That being said, Jaune was no newbie. He dove into the ropes and felt the satisfying feeling of steel bending to his will as he catapulted himself back towards his training partner.
Then things went wrong.
Before he knew it he was already only a few feet from Ruby, his powerful leg muscles, combined with the momentum from the ropes had sent him back towards her far sooner than she'd come back at him. He went to raise his knee up but found himself running out of time as he didn't even manage to leap off the ground before he bowled into Ruby, sending the two of them crashing to the unforgiving canvas.
Jaune groaned as he opened his eyes, only to see silver ones staring back into his as Ruby rolled herself off of him with a quiet "ow…." He was sure Ruby could take a few hits, but she'd been expecting a knee to the chest, not a 6'2 blonde body.
"I'm sorry!" Jaune exclaimed as he got to his feet and went to help her up. Just as he reached for her, Ruby rocked back and kipped her body up, landing gracefully on her feet.
"I'm okay, I'm okay." she said with a giggle. "Just caught me by surprise. What happened?"
"I'm not sure," Jaune said, trying to recall where exactly the move had gone wrong. "I just didn't have enough time."
Ruby gave him a nod as she yanked the pad back up to her torso. "Try jumping earlier, it might give you the space you need." He went for it again, bouncing off the ropes and flying back towards her. This time, he managed to make it off his feet a few seconds earlier, but as he went to bring his knee up, he found himself facing another issue. He couldn't swing his leg up to his chest like Ruby had, and the resulting impact was more him hitting his knee on the bottom of the pad, sending him off balance. Much to his chagrin, the move didn't have much impact, rather Jaune just fell over in a jumble of limbs at Ruby's feet.
He looked up at her in embarrassment over failing the move a second time. Of course it wasn't going to be easy, and he knew he was going to need a lot of practice with any technique. But it felt like he did worse than last time. She was looking back down at him, a contemplative look in her eyes as he felt them roving all over him, as if she was replaying what had just happened. He tilted his head at her in question and she just shook hers, reaching a hand down to help him up.
"What'd I do wrong?" He asked. Ruby's hand stroked her chin as she looked up to the ceiling in thought.
"Well, you didn't get your knee up to your chest." She observed. "But you got off the ground earlier. That's a start." She said with a hopeful smile. Jaune didn't quite share her optimism. Maybe it just wasn't his move. He expelled the thought from his head. He'd come to Ruby for help, and she was certainly more knowledgeable about this stuff than he was, so he was going to stick to it.
"I'm going again." He said resolutely and she nodded back.
Sadly, things didn't exactly improve. Jaune tried another twelve times, frustration mounting as he failed to execute the move each time, which led to an unfortunate feedback loop. The more he failed, the angrier he got, which in turn messed up his form even more, to the point where he felt like he was backsliding. Ruby continued to give tips each time he failed, but they didn't really help. Sometimes he even slammed into her because he ran out of time between bouncing off the ropes and where she was standing.
Ruby was able to tell he was spiraling, and offered to teach him another move, one where he went for a flashy sliding trip to knock the opponent off their feet. He'd initially refused. He was going to learn the flying knee no matter what. It was one of her best moves. She was the pro here after all. At one point though, she practically demanded they switch techniques. He'd obliged, but the afternoon had only gotten worse when he discovered he was unable to perform the new move as well. Jaune refused to give up though, and as a result, forty minutes later, and with most of his muscles screaming in agony, he finally called it quits, sitting down against the ropes in defeat as he dragged in exhausted, ragged breaths.
"Come on Jaune, we can't quit now." Ruby protested as she walked over to him. He really did appreciate that she hadn't given up on him, even after all the failed attempts. Jaune let out a mirthless laugh.
"I think it's pretty clear I can't do it Ruby. Either of them."
"It can't be you; you're trying so hard. It's gotta be me, right? I've never taught anyone and I'm trying my best and so are you and I really thought this would work because it's such a great move and I feel like I'm making you upset and maybe I started out too technical and now you're unmotivated and it sucks because you're so awesome and willing to learn and I feel like a total—"
Despite how upset he was, warmth blossomed in his chest at hearing that Ruby thought he was awesome despite him making an ass of himself. Ruby wasn't the one failing him, she was doing everything she could. She was the last person to blame for his frustrations, and he was sure to let it be known.
"It's not you, I promise. It's more the fact that I'm a big dumb graceless oaf." He said bitterly, eyes cast to the mat below him. The silence that descended over the ring was a heavy one as Jaune lamented over the hour he'd wasted. The sound of a gasp cut through it like a hot knife through butter, a welcome distraction from his misery as he looked over at Ruby, who smacked herself on the forehead.
"That's it!" Ruby crowed; eyes wide with glee as she went to drag him to his feet. Jaune looked back at her in bewilderment. "How did I not notice it before?" she questioned as she began to bounce up and down on her heels.
"What's it?"
"You're a big graceless oaf!" She cheered, arms sweeping out to the side in victory. She then promptly froze as Jaune fixed her with a quizzical glare. "I didn't mean it like that, I promise!" she rushed to assure him, leaving Jaune with far more questions than answers. Ruby coughed a few times before trying again, her enthusiasm so palpable it almost seemed to crackle around her like an electrical current.
"You said it yourself; you aren't flexible enough to hit the pad with your knee, and you're having difficulty timing the jump. You said you feel like you have no space from the time you hit the ropes to the time you hit me. You can't do the moves because maybe you aren't meant to use them. You're not me, Jaune."
Jaune let out a quiet huff as he processed her words. That was obvious enough, wasn't it? Of course he wasn't her. What kind of advice was that? She was right. He wasn't exactly a 5'2 girl that could dance through the air like a gazelle. Jaune stopped himself before he could continue to rag on her statement. What would he get from dismissing her words? Nothing. He instead elected to reevaluate them.
Yeah, he wasn't her. Ruby was nimble and agile, even barring her impressive speed. When she did the flying knee, it seemed like she had all the time in the world to transition from her sprint to the leap, and subsequently throw out the knee. He took longer strides, he was heavier, he was taller. He wasn't Ruby. He'd been so set on following her instructions to the letter because she was a better wrestler than him, that he'd completely forgotten he'd had his own moveset and his own attributes that were comfortable for him. He wanted to replicate her style because he'd lost faith in himself, and now his attempted mimicry had only set him back.
Change was going to be vital to his improvement of course, but it didn't mean he had to change everything about himself as a wrestler. Ruby was right. It was obvious. He was just focused on the wrong thing.
"You're right." He breathed.
Ruby beamed down at him as she helped him up yet again, her hand coming to rest on his shoulder. "Why don't we go for it one more time. This time, do something crazy that feels comfortable to you. Something wild. I'll be fine right here with the pad. Go for it." Jaune gave her a resolute nod as she got into position.
I've got this, he thought to himself as he took a deep breath. He turned his back on her and broke into a sprint, feet pounding beneath him as he picked up speed. He swung his body to the left as he spun, his back, now raw from all of his failed attempts, screaming as he slammed it into the ropes for a burst of momentum. He shot off like a cannonball as he bolted back towards Ruby.
This was it.
Time seemed to slow down as he racked his brain on what to do. It was clear he was running out of space between himself and Ruby, so diving moves were out. A punch wouldn't do him much good since he couldn't pivot his back leg to torque and gain force. He wasn't comfortable with kicks to the point where he thought he could pull off a straight legged boot to the face. Right as he was approaching the point where he had to make the choice to leap, he had a moment of clarity.
Why not just run her over?
It was so simple, if he had time to laugh, he would've. When he'd accidentally bowled into Ruby on his first failed attempt, he managed to knock her clean over with just his body's momentum. Why not just do that and put a little force into it this time? Like Ruby said. It was worth a shot, anyway. He continued to sprint, forgoing the leap in favor of swinging his right shoulder towards the pad like a battering ram at the gate of a castle, using the last of his strength to rocket at her with everything he had.
His shoulder hit the rubber mat and felt it give, sending it, along with Ruby, crashing to the opposite side of the ring. The latter rolled head over heels until finally coming to a stop right at the bottom rope, dazed.
Jaune stood there, still tensed with his shoulder in front of him as he took in what had just happened. Thankfully, he wasn't frozen for long as Ruby pushed herself into a sitting position. Jaune was a little ashamed to admit he was worried about what she might say. The move wasn't anything flashy after all, just an honest to goodness shoulder tackle.
"That. Was. AMAZING!" Ruby shouted as she sprung back up to her feet, waving her hands in excitement. "That's the one! That's your new move. It's perfect." Jaune began to laugh as she continued to rave. "It's just like my flying knee. It's fast, it's unpredictable, and as we just saw, it's super powerful!" He couldn't hold back his relieved laughter. He'd done it. He'd found his own way to overcome the block he'd been running into.
By quite literally going through it.
Ruby held up her hand in a high five. He took a step to meet her, and promptly fell, his muscles finally giving out after over an hour of intense activity. That didn't stop her from crouching next to him and holding her hand out. Jaune slapped it with a triumphant grunt.
"Guess I should've trusted myself a bit more." He mused as she gave him a curious look. I figured the knee wasn't for me, but I wanted to do it anyway, since you did it."
Ruby giggled. "Jaune, I'm not that good."
"Better than me." He snorted, and she punched him lightly on the shoulder.
"You'll get there, I promise." She grinned. "Besides, it makes everything else easier. Sure, I'm gonna have to throw away the entire list but it was full of my moves anyway. I know someone who fights kind of like you do. I'll ask her opinion."
Her? Jaune quirked an eyebrow. He didn't know everyone at the VWC, but he was sure he would've noticed if there was a girl that fought like him. Most of them fought more like Ren and Ruby. Nora was the outlier, and she definitely didn't share his fighting style. He thought he'd like to meet her. "Who?"
Ruby froze, before shaking her head. "Don't worry about it. Just someone I know who might have some techniques that are way more up your alley." She said a little too excitedly, a brittle smile set across her face. Jaune knew when Ruby was trying to avoid a subject, and relented, but he made sure to make note of it.
"You wanna help me up? It's time for your lesson." Jaune said as he stretched his hand out. "And just because you had me running for over an hour, I'm gonna make sure it's extra grueling." He said with a teasing smile as Ruby gulped. Despite her initial hesitation, Ruby gave him a nod.
She was ready.
/
"Why are we at The Protein Bar?" Ruby asked as Jaune slid into the booth. The Protein Bar was one of Jaune's favorite parts of the VWC's performance center, and he'd frequently wanted to shake the hand of the genius that thought of it. It was a small shop towards the front of the PC that came stocked with a full smoothie bar to help wrestlers recuperate after a long training session.
"One, because I need to get off my feet, and two, this is where your first lesson is gonna be." Jaune explained. "But first, smoothies. What would you like?" Ruby perused the menu as Jaune rapped his fingers on the countertop. Ruby's eyes went wide as saucers as she held the menu up to him, pointing at the bar's "Chocolate Deluxe" shake.
"This one!" She exclaimed as Jaune laughed and walked over to the cashier and relayed their order. A Chocolate Deluxe and a Banana Smoothie. Ruby grinned at him as he took his seat at their table.
"Really? Banana?" She remarked as the two patiently waited for their drinks to be made. It didn't take long before the silence became awkward as the two fiddled with their scrolls. Thankfully, for once Jaune didn't have to be the one to break it.
"So…Jaune," Ruby started tentatively, "Do you mind if I ask you something?"
Jaune inclined his head a bit. "Ask away."
"Why's your moveset so small?" She inquired softly.
Jaune hummed. "What do you mean?"
"Well, I watched some of your matches and it looks like you mostly just use punches with a slam or an elbow in there. I guess I wanted to ask why? I treat my moves like my babies. I go for hours brainstorming up new ideas to the point where people say it's weird. My Dad says I obsess over them." She said with a little giggle at the end.
"They worked for me, so I used them." Jaune said simply. "They got me pretty far, plus, I still have my own unique signature and finishing moves."
"That makes sense," Ruby mused, "But I don't know how Signal let you graduate without adding more stuff. They were really strict about how big a moveset has to be."
Jaune rolled his eyes. "What made you think I went to Signal?" He said in a tone that was a little sharper than he intended.
Ruby flushed at her incorrect inference, touching her fingers together. "I just thought that since your dad's well…you know?"
"Because my dad's Nicholas Arc I'd go to a good wrestling school? That I'd be some combat genius?" Jaune finished for her in a huff. "Yeah, that didn't really pan out."
Ruby was silent for a brief moment, to where Jaune wondered if he'd shut her down. But Ruby wasn't one to give up.
"Why?"
Jaune's eyes drifted shut. "Dad…dad never wanted me to be a wrestler. I asked him to train me since I was a child. Heck, I practically begged him to give me a chance, but he never did. I had to work summers and after-school jobs until I finally saved up enough to go to a wrestling school with my own funds. There was one in Mistral that was running a sale on classes, and once they found they had Nicholas Arc's son, they brought me in." Jaune said with a sigh, despite the rough memories, he felt his lips quirk up. "I met Ren and Nora there; they were passing through town looking for a trade to learn. I started hanging out with them, and we found jobs bussing tables at a restaurant together to pay our way through. We were all just poor kids with a shared dream, I guess."
Jaune looked back at Ruby to see her crestfallen expression. He let a hand come up to rub the back of his head sheepishly. It had been a while since he'd talked about his father. "Sorry, was that oversharing? I shouldn't have dumped that on you."
"No!" Ruby interrupted, before letting out an awkward cough and continuing. "No, it was fine. Thanks…for trusting me enough to say that, Jaune. I just…why? Why wasn't he okay with it? It's your dream."
Jaune laughed bitterly. "Something about me not wanting to make the same mistakes he did. Believe it or not, he despises professional wrestling. He made that plenty clear when I left."
Ruby gave him a look of concern, her voice soft. "You want to talk about it?" Jaune gave a quick look to the bar to see if their smoothies were anywhere close to being done, but they'd hit peak hours, and it was sure to be a little while. He took a deep breath and began to recount the day he left home.
/
"When the hell were you going to tell me you'd joined a school?" Nicholas Arc bellowed as he stood in the doorway of Jaune's room, an envelope clenched tightly in his fist. Jaune's acceptance to Shion Grappling Company.
Jaune flinched, but only momentarily as he shoved more clothes into his suitcase. "I-I wasn't planning on telling you, Dad." He admitted shamefully.
His father's eyes smoldered like cobalt flames as he registered the statement. "So you were just content to up and leave your family without a word to go pursue this stupid childhood dream of yours?"
"It's not stupid, Dad!" Jaune protested as he turned to face his father. "You know I've always wanted this. More than anything."
His father pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a deep breath. "Jaune when you were a child you wanted to be an astronaut, and you abandoned that dream pretty fast, why can't you just let go of this one?"
Jaune flushed at the insinuation that he wasn't all in. "This isn't the same and you know it."
Nicholas stomped forward, his impressive height allowing him to tower over Jaune. "I'm sorry son, really, I am, but I won't let you go through with it."
Jaune recoiled as he watched his father stuff the letter into his pocket. "Dad, you can't do this. I worked so hard."
"Pretty sure I just did, son." Nicholas scoffed. Jaune bristled as his father began to leave, something finally giving way inside him, like a dam finally breaking after years of erosion.
"Give it back." he snarled, anger overpowering his judgment. His father froze mid-step.
"Excuse me?"
"GIVE IT BACK!" Jaune roared as he leapt to his feet, stomping towards his father. Nicholas moved to meet him as Jaune glared into his father's enraged gaze. He felt his heartbeat in his ears as he could feel every muscle in his body tense. He had no idea what his father was going to do as the older man gazed down at him balefully. What he didn't expect was for his father to close his eyes and take a ragged breath, stepping away from Jaune, refusing to meet his eyes.
"Son…you're making a mistake. Trust me, just this once."
"I can't until I know why." Jaune replied, his voice low. "You've never told me why. It's always just been a "No" or a "Not a chance", why not, Dad? Why can't I become a wrestler?"
His father took a deep breath. "I'm trying to protect you, Jaune. Wrestling, it's a cold business. Don't you think I started out just like you?"
Jaune stayed silent as he let his father speak.
"Don't you think I wanted it all, just like you do now? Championships, five-star matches, partners, rivals, I wanted everything. And eventually, I got it. I won the big one. I was world heavyweight champion!" he said as he wrung his hands in a grandiose gesture, the genuineness of it undercut by his voice, which was laced with venom. "And guess where it left me? Alone. Stabbed in the back by the people I thought were my friends the second I won the belt. I was deliberately injured by rivals which I still feel to this day. I was constantly betrayed by anyone who figured they could use me to get ahead."
Jaune could only stare in shock as his father ranted. He'd never seen him like this. His father, so confident and strong, looked thirty years older as he recounted his career.
"The business chewed me up and spat me out. It's a disease. There's internal politics and snakes everywhere you go. The fame weighs on you, crushes you. If I hadn't met your mother, I don't know what the hell I would've done with myself. I don't want that for you, son. I love you, more than anything. I have people. I have contacts that could take you in as a chef, or an accountant, or anything you want. Just please… please reconsider."
Jaune gulped as he processed his dad's words, before he let out a deep breath.
"It's my choice to make, Dad. I-I love you too, but I'm not giving this up."
His father only sighed, a hand dipping into his pocket to pull out the now crumpled acceptance letter. He chucked it dismissively at Jaune, the balled-up paper bouncing off his chest. "Go then. Become a wrestler. Hell, make it to the VWC. But mark my words, one day, you'll realize how big of a mistake you made." With that, his father left the room, presumably to break the news to his mother. Jaune took his chance, and with his newly packed bag, went down the stairs and out the door to meet his destiny.
He didn't look back.
/
Jaune swallowed as he finished the story. Once he'd started, he hadn't really been able to stop. Come to think of it, it might've been the first time he'd told anyone since he told Ren and Nora all those years ago. There it was again, he just felt comfortable around Ruby. Maybe because she was in the same boat as he was. Speaking of which, he pulled his gaze away from the countertop to look at her.
His eyes widened as he saw small tears at the corners of her silver orbs. They were wiped away a fraction of a second later, but he'd still seen them. Ruby was pale as she gave him a complicated look. Pity? No, sympathy, mixed with a few other emotions. Thankfully, he didn't have to say anything as he heard a Protein Bar employee finally call out their order number, and he was happy to get up and grab their drinks, taking as long as he could as he walked back to their booth.
Ruby was waiting for him, her hands were dancing across the table, perpetually fidgeting. She jumped a little as he set down her smoothie in front of her. Ruby blinked, before looking back at him. He then proceeded to take a long sip of his drink as Ruby quirked an eyebrow.
"Jaune we're not just gonna go past you telling me the saddest thing I've heard in weeks." she chided softly. "I mean if you don't want to talk to me about it that's okay too."
"What's there to talk about?" Jaune drawled as he dug his straw into the decadent banana-flavored drink. "After that I moved out, simple as that."
"I'm sorry that happened to you, Jaune. Really, I am. I know what it's like to be looked down on by other people for having a dream."
Jaune tilted his head in question. "How?"
Ruby glanced off to the side. "Let's just say not everyone wants me on the main roster like you do." Jaune gave her a grim nod. It was nice to be reminded that Ruby's struggles really were pretty similar to his. Her statement was rather distressing though, but he didn't press on. Who wouldn't want her on the show? He was worried she might have meant Glynda, but from the tone in her voice he could tell it was a bit more complicated.
"I mean, where does my dad get off trashing the VWC like he did? It gave our family everything we have. I've been here for years now, and despite my losses, despite my setbacks, I wouldn't change a single thing." Jaune said adamantly as he took another sip of his shake.
"Well…he's not entirely wrong." Ruby murmured, and despite her saying it under her breath, Jaune caught it.
"What's that supposed to mean?" He asked a little sharper than he intended. Ruby let out quiet "eep", before clamming up, lips pressed firmly together, her body language screaming for him not to probe further. But Jaune had let her slide today on a few things already, and even the slightest insinuation that his father was right was something he needed to hear.
His determination quickly faded however when he gazed into Ruby's eyes. Her silver irises, usually so full of light, seemed dull as the girl in front of him seemed to relive something. A bad memory by the looks of it. "Not everyone is as nice as you or I am, Jaune." she said mournfully.
Taking that as a cue to back off, Jaune let out a long sigh. "Sorry for pressing you, Ruby. I guess I'm still pretty defensive about what dad said that day."
A smile quirked at Ruby's lips as she swirled her spoon around her cup. "I'm sorry for prying too. Sometimes I don't really know when to stop asking questions. And sorry about always coming off kinda weird or sneaky about stuff. I don't mean to be, I promise. My bestie says I'm a little socially awkward."
"A little?" Jaune joked as Ruby squawked in protest before fixing him with a fierce pout, it only lasted a moment as her glare crumbled into a reluctantly radiant smile.
"Hey!" Ruby huffed. "I'll have you know my dad says that makes me endearing thank you very much."
"It sure does," Jaune agreed as he finished his smoothie. "Which is the perfect way to lead into your training for today." Ruby's eyebrows rose in interest as she reared back and took a massive continuous slurp of her smoothie, finishing it in one chug, much to Jaune's awe.
"Let's do it, I'm ready for anything!" She said as she slammed the empty cup on the table.
/
Turns out, Ruby was not ready for anything.
"I can't do this, Jaune!" Ruby panicked as she gripped the tabletop so hard her knuckles went white.
Jaune looked at her, gobsmacked. "You just said you'd do anything!"
"I LIED!" she wailed as Jaune rolled his eyes, letting out an awkward cough as her little outburst had attracted a few eyes from other gym goers.
"She's just shy." He assured them, but it didn't stop them from looking at him weirdly.
"Ruby, I just asked you to walk up to every person in here and start a conversation with them." Jaune stated. Ruby looked at him incredulously.
"Just walk right up to them?! I can't do that. They're here for delicious smoothies, not for some random girl they've never seen or heard or met or watched just walk up to them." She said as she drummed her fingers on the table so fast, he could've sworn they'd begun to blur. "What if they think I'm creepy? What if they report me to the PC staff and I get kicked out! I'd practically be homeless Jaune! What if I run out of things to sa—" She was snapped out of her spiral as Jaune laid a hand on her shoulder.
"I know it's scary," he assured her. "I'm not going to sugar coat it, it's gonna be uncomfortable. You're going to think you're making things weird, and you kind of are. Talking to strangers is hard. But if you're going to be the best dang promo in the VWC, you're going to have to get used to being uncomfortable. You're going to have to get comfortable with knowing that not everyone will like you. But first and foremost, we need to work on your confidence in being in front of people."
Realization began to creep into Ruby's eyes as he continued. "But I know you Ruby, and I know once you get past that first scary hurdle, whoever you're talking to is going to realize they're talking to a smart, strong, and passionate girl who loves their sport more than anything. Who wouldn't want to talk to someone like that?" He finished, only to realize what he'd said.
"Sorry," he coughed, "I hope that didn't sound weird."
Ruby blinked, taking his words in, before she grit her teeth and nodded her head affirmatively.
"I've got this." she muttered under her breath. He gave her a pat on the back as she stood up, taking a deep breath and squaring her shoulders before marching to the far side of the Protein Bar. She headed for a shorter girl with lightish red hair covered partially by a beanie who was sipping her own drink.
Now Jaune was no body language expert, but it didn't take a certification to see how it was going. Ruby lingered behind the girl for a few moments, a slight shake in her legs, before she reached out and tugged on the girl's coat. The woman turned around and Ruby greeted her with a little wave. The two exchanged words for a few moments before Ruby came flying back. Jaune inclined his head.
"How'd it go?" he inquired as his friend slumped onto the bench beside him.
Ruby groaned and rubbed her hands on her face. "It was so awkward! I told her she had a nice hat."
Jaune paused for a moment as he waited for more. "And then?"
"That was it! I completely blanked. I barely even heard what she said. I could hear my heartbeat, Jaune! I don't know if I can keep–why are you smiling?"
Jaune hadn't even noticed he was beaming down at her until she mentioned it. Truth be told, it was pride. "Because you did it, Ruby. You faced your fears. You broke through the awkwardness of talking to a stranger in public."
"But I did so badly." She lamented with a sigh. Jaune shook his head at her.
"That doesn't matter. Nobody's going to be very good at anything when they first start out. It's the fact that you took the first step to improving. That's what I'm proud of."
"I guess you're right." Ruby mused, a small smile playing on her face. "I did it. I DID IT!" she crowed as she threw her hands to the sky.
Jaune pumped his fist with her. "Now go and do it again. Remember, we're not leaving until you talk to everyone. Ruby's triumphant mood dampened, but only for a second as her determination took over and she walked up to another patron.
Over the course of the next thirty minutes, Jaune watched Ruby talk to each person in the Protein Bar, just like he'd asked. She'd had varying levels of success. The third time she came back absolutely defeated after the person she'd gone up to brushed her off in a matter of seconds. But to her credit, Ruby never seemed to give up. Around the fifth person she'd really gotten into the swing of things. The fruits of her labor finally culminated when she bounded back to their table, triumph written all over her face.
"I made a new friend! Her name's Reese, she's from Mistral, and she rides hoverboards in her spare time. She's so cool." She rattled off with excitement as she wrenched her scroll from her pocket and shoved it in his face. "She even asked to take a picture with me!" Jaune's eyes roved over the picture. The girl in purple, who he guessed was Reese, had slung an arm around Ruby's shoulders, winking at the camera with her tongue out. Ruby's smile was a little brittle, but she looked proud of herself. It filled Jaune with a warm feeling.
"Great work, you were awesome out there." He said to her, getting up to throw their garbage in a nearby trash can. "You're going to rock the crowd in no time."
"Now let's get out of here. My social battery is gone." Ruby said exhaustedly. Jaune shared her sentiment as the two began to walk towards the performance center's entrance. As Jaune got ready to walk to the parking lot, he felt Ruby tug on his coat.
"I-I really had fun today, Jaune. Let's do it again real soon." She said, hope shining in her eyes, as if to ask him if there really was going to be a next time.
"Absolutely." Jaune promised as he held out his fist. Ruby bumped it with hers, and the two went their separate ways, each carrying the triumph of their own respective victories.
It's good to be back! I had a lot of fun writing this one. It's more or less the beginning of our heroes' training arc. God I love writing awkward Ruby. She's so much fun. Well, like always, I always appreciate reviews and feedback. When you guys leave a little message on this fic it fills me with motivation and I appreciate each and every one of you. Thanks for sticking with me on this journey. Have a great weekend!
- Curbizzle