Jaune marched into the arena dressed for battle. To his left he heard Nora shouting out her encouragement the loudest out of Team JNPR. Next to them was Team RWBY egging on their teammate and his opponent. Across from him in the center of the arena stood Blake Belladona. Glynda Goodwitch reiterated the rules as the two stared each other down. This was the last bout of the evening, and he would have been lying if he said he hadn't been looking forward to this. After his meeting with Goodwitch and Ozpin, Jaune had been worried that they would have stuck him on the sidelines to make sure he behaved but thankfully that hadn't been the case.
He tried to gleam just what could be running through Blake's head, but her face was a mask and betrayed nothing. Jaune had seen some of what she could do back in Initiation and given that she'd been on the team had defeated the giant Nevermore he was anxious to fight someone clearly skilled. He'd been a step above Dove, but Blake could surely be a worthy opponent if Goodwitch had decided to pair them up. A dull ache began to throb behind Jaune's eyes and pulled him from his thoughts. Soon enough the two of them synced up their scrolls to the massive screens and at the signal the match began.
Blake immediately jumped back to create a sizable gap between them and broke her weapon, Gambol Shroud, into its two distinct forms of curved sword and edged sheathe. Jaune watched as the curved blade folded over on itself to form a pistol out of the hilt before she fired. He quickly kicked off leapt to the side, blocking some bullets with his sword and dodging the rest completely. Hand on hilt, Jaune began to circle Blake who kept her gun trained on him. For every step he took towards her she took one step back to maintain the gap between them.
"What is she doing?" Ruby wondered out loud. "Blake has ranged options yeah, but she's more suited to fighting up close."
"Jaune excels in melee combat however." Pyrrha replied. "Since he has to close the distance to be threatening maybe she's testing the waters before she commits to a plan of attack?" Back in the arena Jaune continued to circle around his opponent, casually blocking any bullets fired his way. At this rate they were going to be there all day. Coming to a decision, Jaune drew his sword and kicked off towards Blake. At once, Blade threw her pistol, catching him off guard, but he dodged the straightforward attack easily enough.
As the transformed weapon sailed past him, Blake tugged on the black ribbon attached to the pommel and Jaune heard a gunshot ring out. Gambol Shroud cut into his side as she used the recoil from the gunshot to propel the weapon and the ribbon to alter its flight in the air. Continuing the momentum, Blake whipped the ribbon overhead and sent the blade sailing back towards him. This time Jaune ducked underneath and continued to back pedal while she began to advance. Another gun shot and the speed of her attack increased again with the blade becoming nothing more than a blur as she used it to cut off his advance in a continuous flurry of slashes.
"Now we're getting somewhere!" Nora leaned forward to as to not miss any of the action.
Ruby was about to comment when she caught sight of the face Yang was making. "What's wrong?" she asked.
Yang frowned. "Something's off with Blake. She started acting really cagey when Professor Goodwitch called her and Jaune to fight."
"Maybe she gets stage fright?" Ruby offered. "I mean yeah the lights are dimmed, but you know there are still dozens of eyes watching your every move…" she said nervously.
"That's not it." Yang said shaking her head. "She started acting super weird after the first combat class too. Jaune's knows what he's doing sure, but Blake's doesn't even want to go near him. Playing keep away like this isn't her style, you said it yourself."
Weiss hummed but said nothing as she turned her attention back to the fight.
Jaune was getting frustrated and the pounding in his head was getting more intense. Every time he tried to get closer, she'd whip her blade in his direction and then moved back even further. So far all he'd learned was that her sword was a gun and she excelled in running away. Still, he wasn't out of options yet. Jaune sheathed Auger and made another dash towards her. He ducked underneath the first swing that came his way and soldiered on. As expected, Blake jumped back and swung the blade back again. This time, Jaune planted his feet and let the weapon hit its mark and as it did so, he stuck out his hand and grasped the ribbon before it could slip away. Caught firmly in his grip, he pulled with all his strength.
Blake's eyes widened as she went flying. Jaune pulled her more than halfway towards him and kicked off to meet her, sword drawn. Blake barely managed to right herself before he was upon her. Just like that the match renewed in earnest. Jaune rained blow after blow on Blake who was defending expertly, but only just. As before, he fell into his stance and Blake angled her sword to defend before he thrust out his left hand with Auger's hilt still in its sheath. Surprised, the pommel of his sword landed solidly in her gut and while she reeled, he drew the blade and slashed.
Yang suddenly shot to her feet and shouted. "Let him have it!"
His sword was set to connect directly with Blake until it suddenly passed through her form without resistance. A shadow from overhead clued him in and he brought his sword to defend against Blake's plunging attack with both her sword and sheath. Jaune grit his teeth and forced her back but suddenly she faded away and then she was crouched in front of him. With both weapons she carved out chunks of his aura and dodged out of the way as he recovered and retaliated. Blake slashed at him relentlessly and forced Jaune to focus solely on defending against her two weapons. On the final exchange, however, Jaune stumbled. Expecting to meet the solid edge of her sword, his weapon instead passed through as Blake used a clone to fake him out and suddenly, she was behind him. He couldn't defend in time as she raked him across the back.
Jaune growled and let loose a wide sweeping slash, Blake's look of surprise had him grinning before it twisted into a sneer. His blade met with no resistance before her body suddenly solidified into a perfect ice sculpture that trapped his weapon mid swing. Another shadow passed overhead and Jaune saw Blake soaring high above him before grimacing as she whipped Gambol Shroud across his shoulders. She landed some distance away, reloading the magazine on her weapon. Sparing a glance at the screen, her aura had barely gone down while Jaune's was hovering just above the yellow.
"You got this, Jauney!" Nora yelled out in the arena with half her body spilling over the railing. She began to slide over completely before Ren reached over and pulled her back.
"Ms. Valkyrie! Any more outbursts like that and I will have you removed from the audience." Glynda Goodwitch rapped her riding crop across her and Nora returned to her seat bashfully.
Pyrrha chewed on her bottom lip. "Jaune's in a tough spot."
"Indeed." Said Ren. "With Blake being able to skirt out of his range with her semblance and maintain the distance with her weapon then it's only a question of how long until she wears him down completely."
Ren went to say more before Nora suddenly lurched forward, her hand pointing down into the arena. "Look!"
Jaune's eyes began to shine a brilliant blue as electricity danced across his form. He took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled. Then, Jaune punched the ice sculpture keeping Auger trapped with his free hand and broke it apart. He sheathed his sword and approached Blake until they were more or less in the same position as when the match first began.
"They're. Both. So. Cool!" Ruby punctuated each word with a shake to Weiss who she firmly held by the shoulders as she gushed over her friends.
"G-g-get your haa-ands off m-me!" Weiss slapped her partner's hands away and slid further down on the seats. "Honestly, you need to show some restraint! It's unbecoming of our team's leader to act so childish!"
Not skipping a beat Ruby fired back. "You don't think they're cool!?"
Weiss scoffed but there wasn't any real heat behind it. "Well, they're both impressive that much is plain to see."
"Right!?" Ruby rocked back in forth in her seat, her eyes glued to the arena.
Jaune eyed Blake warily. Her semblance was definitely trouble but given her small stature he doubted she could take too many hits. All he needed was an opening and if she was going to play it safe and keep him at a distance then he had no choice but to take the fight to her. Once again he dashed at her except this time he activated his semblance and boosted the barrier around his arm. The moment her weapon came his way he swatted it back, the boosted barrier on his arm sending it flying violently in the opposite direction. Blake's eyes widened in surprise and she backpedaled to try and maintain the space. Quick as flash, Jaune drew Auger and gathered aura along its edge before letting loose a horizontal wave of energy.
Blake gasped and used her semblance to make stone shield in her likeness to hide behind, but the energy blade cut straight through. By the time she recovered Jaune was already on her. Again, they traded blows with Blake nimbly dodging and deflecting his attacks before retaliating with another clone. She appeared behind him again and stabbed his unprotected back before jumping away and covering herself with Gambol Shroud. Jaune allowed it to hit again before his hand shot out to grab the ribbon and reel her in. Unexpectedly, Blake pulled back briefly before kicking off and allowing herself to be pulled closer.
Blake flipped forward in midair and planted both feet against Jaune's chest in a powerful blow causing him to skid back. Before he could grab Blake's clothes or legs, she jumped off him, leaving behind a fiery red clone. Reeling, Jaune braced before the clone exploded soon after. She sailed back and reset their positions but didn't have time to get comfortable as Jaune came charging out of the resulting cloud of smoke. Blake brought her sheath forward and took a breath before bringing it down and firing off a column of purple energy.
In that moment, Jaune's eyes shined brilliantly with his semblance as he retaliated with a wave of his own. Unlike hers, his vertical slash was easily twice as big and ripped apart Blake's attack before continuing towards her. Blake dodged to the side and parried Jaune's first attack before encasing his second strike in another ice clone. Undeterred, he kneed the ice sculpture before sheathing his sword lunging at Blake. For the second time a flaming red clone appeared with the last thing Blake saw being Jaune's glowing eyes before the clone detonated.
A moment later Jaune's hand cut through the smoke cloud and grabbed Blake's neck, catching her completely by surprise. He had created his opening. A pale yellow shell surrounded Jaune's form as he tanked the explosion with his semblance and charged towards the wall with Blake in tow. He cleared the distance quickly given that she had spent almost the whole fight backing away while trying to keep Jaune directly in front of her. He slammed Blake into the wall and cracked it before stepping back into his stance and attacking.
Auger, enhanced with his semblance, easily cut through the arena wall and cut across her unprotected midsection. A second slash came and stopped short just before making contact with Blake, the blade half buried in the wall behind her. "Give up!" Jaune commanded. His vision was swimming and the explosion from earlier only exacerbated his headache. Blake coughed and brought a hand up to her neck. Overhead the screen marked her aura as hovering just above the yellow.
She stared into Jaune's glowing eyes for a moment before nodding her head. "I give up."
"The winner is Jaune!" Goodwitch announced to polite applause from the audience. She made eye contact with him and nodded once before Jaune simply looked away.
:X:
After being dismissed from class Teams JNPR and RWBY went to the cafeteria to have dinner together. Jaune sat down with his plate piled high with food like usual, but something didn't sit right with him. His appetite simply wasn't there, and the thought of eating made him nauseous. The pounding in his head was still present from his fight earlier with Blake but was so subtle he could almost ignore it entirely if he focused on anything else. There was plenty to think about as well given that after dinner he was going to meet with Weiss to learn about dust weaving. For something like that he knew he would need to keep his energy up, but his body still ached, and he simply felt too drained to eat.
His eyes flicked to the opposite end of the table three seats over and briefly met Blake's gaze before she quickly looked away. That was definitely weird. He was vaguely aware of her eyes settling on him again as he turned his focus back on his food. Jaune and Blake had never interacted much before, and he wondered if this sudden interest had anything to do with how their fight ended.
"You're not going to eat, Jaune?" Pyrrha asked quietly next to him.
It took him a moment to register he was being spoken to. "Huh? No, I will. I'm just a little lost in thought."
She nodded. "I see. I am as well to be honest. I keep thinking back to your match. You were very impressive."
"Thanks, Pyrrha." He said automatically.
"We were all surprised when you suddenly turned the tables with the use of your aura. You have excellent control, and you use your semblance quite effectively."
"I'm glad you think so." Jaune picked at his food, listening with half an ear.
Pyrrha's smile faltered a bit. "Right, ahem, Jaune? I was thinking perhaps you and I could do some training together sometime? If you want to, that is We haven't had much opportunity to spend time together – as partners I mean!" She finally eked out her offer with a hopeful expression on her face.
Jaune considered it for a moment. "Sorry, Pyrrha, but no. I have assignments to get done, plus I have my studies with Ruby and Weiss and my workouts with Nora. I don't have time right now. I have a lot on my plate already and not enough hours in the day, but maybe some other time."
Pyrrha nodded and returned to her food, more downcast than before. "Of course. I just wanted you to know the offer was available." Everyone else had finished their meals and were talking about classes and assignments when Weiss spoke up. "So Jaune, are we still on for later this evening?"
He left his plate untouched. "…Yes. I have somewhere in mind we can go too. Somewhere quiet will help me focus."
Weiss raised a delicate eyebrow. "Oh? I look forward to it then."
"Excuse me!" Pyrrha suddenly cut in. Her raised voice drew everyone's attention, and she cleared her throat before continuing more softly. "W-what is it you two are talking about if I might ask?"
"I wanna know too," Nora said, grinning. "Because it's starting to sound suspiciously like a date."
Jaune blinked. "What?"
"It's not a date!" Weiss declared. "I'm merely offering my expertise in dust weaving. As friends. Since dust can be volatile when not handled properly, we're going somewhere less likely to cause problems if something goes wrong. As friends."
"That's…wonderful." Pyrrha said, her smile all teeth.
"Suuure you aaare." Nora said playfully.
Weis scoffed. "Think what you will." Pyrrha took to stabbing her foot with her fork and missed the look of concern shot her way by Nora.
Next to them Yang was quietly trying to get Blake to talk. "You okay?" she asked.
Blake turned a page in her book. "Fine."
"Riiight. Because you sneaking peeks at Jaune when he's not looking is normal for you."
"I'm not sure what you mean." Blake turned another page, not bothering to look Yang in the eye.
"Does this have anything to do with your match with Jaune today? Because you weren't acting like yourself. You totally could have won if you fought like you normally do."
She turned another page. "It's not about win or lose, Yang. It's supposed to be a learning experience."
"Uh-huh." Yang shot her a look. "Are you okay though? Jaune gets pretty rough. You took a nasty hit there at the end."
Blake's free hand came up to rub her neck. "I'm a little…sore, but it's nothing worry about. Jaune didn't hurt me anymore than he had to."
"So, you don't have some weird thing going on involving Jaune, you're not mad about losing, and everything's cool."
"Exactly."
Yang scowled as Blake pointedly turned yet another page. "I know you're not actually reading, but fine. Maybe it's all in my head, but what about the first combat class? You were super fidgety after Jaune's fight and you got pretty cagey when Professor Goodwitch called your name today too."
Blake sighed. "Yang—"
"I'm just trying make sure you're okay. You're my partner and if something's bothering you then I wanna do what I can to help." She said earnestly.
"…You really mean that?" Blake lowered her book and peered in Yang's lilac eyes.
"One hundred percent." Yang's face serious and void of the usual jubilation she normally acted with.
"…It's just that," Blake took a breath before continuing even more quietly, "The way Jaune fights reminds of someone I know. His sword, his technique, they're not a carbon copy, but they're pretty similar."
"Reminds you in a bad way?"
Blake nodded. "This person, when he fought, he fought brutally, and he was especially prone to violence when he got angry. He wasn't always like that, but as time went on things got worse. He's someone I don't want to see or even think about ever again. There's just this weird overlap with him and Jaune that's messing with my head."
"Okay I think I get the picture." Yang scanned the table and watched as Ruby leaned over and whispered something to Jaune over the table. He nodded and smiled weakly, listening intently as Ruby talked. "Does Jaune remind you of this guy in any other ways? Has he tried to hurt you or…anyone else?"
Blake took a moment to glance at the boy in question. Jaune whispered something back to Ruby who looked affronted. A small smirk graced his lips as he rolled his eyes and waved off Ruby's concerns. "It wasn't that bad!" he said more loudly. "An eye for eye, you know? She pushes me into a fire ant colony, I push her into some poison ivy. How was I supposed to know that deer used that spot to do their business?"
"I think I'm gonna be sick." Ruby swallowed thickly to keep her own meal down.
Blake took a moment to collect her thoughts before finally speaking. "I've never seen him act cruelly except maybe with Dove? I know Ruby said Jaune's been through a lot so maybe it was a one off thing brought on by stress, but I can't be sure yet. Maybe it's nothing. Maybe I'm just nervous because I don't know Jaune that well."
Yang hummed. "Okay. If he ever tries anything though come tell me, alright? I'll sort him out."
Blake smiled faintly. "I can handle myself pretty well, you know? But thank you, and I will."
A cry of pain had everyone's head turning and Jaune looked back to find a sight that soon had his blood boiling. A few tables down he recognized Cardin and his team pointing and laughing at another student. He recognized the girl immediately as the one he used to see on his early morning runs. Now that he had taken to having breakfast in the mornings with Team RWBY and working out with Nora in the afternoon, he'd stopped sneaking out so early. Because of that, he hadn't seen his upperclassman in quite some time. There was no mistaking her rabbit ears though or the way Cardin was pulling on them as anything but unkind.
"Told you they were real!" Cardin and his band burst out laughing as though they'd heard the funniest joke in the world.
"That hurts! Stop! Please, stop!" said the rabbit faunus.
"Jerks." Nora muttered darkly.
"He's not the only one." Blake added.
"I can't stand people like that." Said Pyrrha.
"Then do something about it." Jaune uttered, his fists clenched.
Blake shook her head. "It would only make things worse. If we step in Cardin's only going to come down on her harder when there's no one around to stop him."
Ruby looked from Blake to Jaune who was staring at the table. She went to speak before the girl yelped in pain again.
Hearing that, Jaune stood up suddenly, rattling the table. "That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard. Cardin thinks that because he's big and strong and has his friends with him he can do whatever he wants. He can't. I won't let him." His hands shook with barely contained rage and whether he knew it or not his eyes glowed with blue light.
"Jaune—" Blake started to say before he spun on his heel and marched to the table.
Students clearing their plates or just arriving gave Jaune a wide berth after seeing the look on his face and the sparks arcing around him. The throbbing in his head seemed to match his footfalls as he cleared the distance in wide heavy steps. He yelled as he approached. "Hey! Cardin!"
The boy in question let go of the girl's ears and together with the rest of his team turned as Jaune continued his stride. "What do you—" Cardin began to say before his eyes widened briefly just as a fist connected solidly with his cheek and sent him over the table and into his teammate Russel. Cardin's aura flared up as food and silverware went flying. The girl and all the other nearby students quickly scattered as Jaune reached out and snagged a steak knife from the table. Channeling his aura into the thin blade, he sliced off a section of the bench they had been sitting on before grabbing it and swinging into Sky Lark's chest while he was stunned.
Cardin crawled to his feet, dazed, before gathering his wits and trying to leap over the table. Before he could, Jaune sliced part of the long banquet table in half and kicked the severed end into Cardin's legs before he could get any leeway on his plan. In his blind rage, Jaune reacted too late as Dove Bronzewing splattered some kind of soup into his eyes. Dove then leapt over the table and landed a kick straight into Jaune's who went stumbling back.
He grunted as he landed back first on a table nearby and tried to get up before Sky Lark came up from the side and brought down another broken section of bench straight onto his chest as payback. He went for another blow, but Jaune kicked him back and engaged his semblance. Channeling more aura into his knife, he amplified it and stood up to let loose a massive wave with the aim of catching all four of them. His arm suddenly stopped as someone came up behind him and grabbed him as he wound up his attack. Turning, he saw that same tall student in the green robe from the bullheads Nora bumped into on the day of their trip into Vale.
"Stop," the taller boy said simply.
Jaune glared, "Yeah? Try and stop me…w-what?" His voice faltered. What had he been doing? He remembered Dove splashing something in his face at their table and then…he was at a different table nearby being grabbed this guy? The aura gathered in his knife dissipated as he lost focus trying to reconcile what had just happened. From behind, Russel and Cardin came charging up before two more figures stepped into their path. A girl with a beret and sunglasses stepped forward while a boy with orange clothes and copper colored hair stood behind her.
"Stop right there." Said the girl. "Don't know why you morons are wrecking the cafeteria, but we're gonna go ahead and put an end to it right now."
"He attacked us first for no reason!" Cardin pointed at Jaune who glared back.
"That true, Blondie?" she asked.
Jaune tried to shake his arm free. "Let me go."
"Not until you drop the knife." Replied the taller boy and he was taller. Jaune wasn't short by any means, but this new student had him beat by almost a head.
A moment passed before Jaune let the knife clatter to the floor. He wrenched his arm free and turned back to the girl and Team CRDL. "Yeah. I attacked first, but it wasn't for 'no reason'. Tell them what you and your buddies were doing, Cardin." Jaune took a step forward before a hand settled on his shoulder.
"It's not his fault, Coco!" The girl from before called out.
"You know this guy, Velvet?" asked the beret wearing girl.
Velvet at Jaune before continuing. "Well, I mean, kinda? We used to see each other on my morning run. He always used to say hi to me."
"That so? And what do you know about this whole mess?" Coco asked gesturing to the wrecked cafeteria.
Seven more students suddenly came onto the scene. "Wait!" Nora shouted. "Jaune isn't a bad guy. He was just giving those goons over there a piece of his mind."
"That's right!" Ruby added. "They're the ones you want!"
Coco pinched the bridge to her nose. "Will someone please just come out and say it already!? What. Happened?"
"Cardin was pulling on Velvet's ears. They were hurting her and mocking her." Jaune spat out.
Coco's head snapped to Velvet who nodded meekly. "Well. In that case I'd be all too happy to join in, but…" The sound of approaching footsteps had the students near the doors make way as Professor Goodwitch burst into the cafeteria.
"What is the meaning of this!?" she demanded. She scanned the faces gathered as well as the sight of the scattered food and destroyed tables. "My office. Now!" With a flick of her riding crop the tables, scattered trays, and spilled food mended and sorted themselves.
:X:
A/N: Another one down! Thank you to all those who favorite and follow it really helps knowing you want to read more! Till next time!