With a harsh exhale through his nose, Jaune slashes at the training dummy with a well-aimed upper strike and then transitions into a lower strike which looks a bit sloppier.
"Keep your shield up Jaune, your side is unguarded," Blake comments.
Jaune gives her a short nod and returns to his training while Blake eyes his posture and technique. He engages the training dummy again and begins striking it.
"Wait a moment," she says, stopping Jaune as she positions herself behind him. "I am going to touch you. Is that okay?" she asks him, to which he only nods quietly.
She puts her hand on his shoulder and slowly trails it up his arm. Jaune blushes and his tail begins wagging a bit faster, hitting her in the thigh but he otherwise stays silent. Huh, seems like he got more used to that, maybe she could do more? No, better not, she is here to help him after all. She will find other ways to tease him.
"Your lower strike needs a bit of work. Let's do it slowly, so you can get a feel for the movement," she begins to slowly lead Jaune through the movement of the strike. Once, twice, and one last time. "Okay now try alone again, slowly at first. And then faster"
She takes a step back again and watches his form. It's better now. She gives him a smile.
"Good job"
His tail now wagging even faster and almost his whole face is red now. How cute. That's one thing she learned about Jaune in these training sessions they had, his reaction to compliments always ends up with him being flustered and looking at his tail, it also makes him really happy. She is probably the only one of her friends who knows that about him. Ha, take that Schnee. Not that she is ever going to tell her or the rest of her team about their meetings.
At times she thinks that her teasing goes a bit too far, and maybe that will only reinforce him thinking that she has a crush on him, which she doesn't, they're just friends, nothing more. But after their training sessions and after her teasing and prodding, Jaune doesn't act differently towards her, well that's not entirely true, he still is the dorky and kind person she always thought he was but he just seems more open to her.
It has been a week now since she told Jaune she would help him with his training, and they managed to meet up three times till now, today making it the fourth time. Interestingly enough in the last week, she hasn't seen Jaune try to flirt with Weiss, maybe he finally sees her for what she truly is. Well, tough luck Schnee.
But again she won't tell anyone; she actually really enjoys the time she spends with Jaune, training him and especially teasing him is really fun. She could already picture their friends' reactions if they ever heard about them training together for hours on end, all alone. She knows explaining this to her team would only lead to teasing, mainly by Yang, and a lot of questions to which she doesn't really have answers.
After another 10 minutes of Jaune running through his drills for technique. She interrupts him again.
"I think that is enough Jaune. Let's end today's session with some sparring."
"Alright," Jaune says.
Drawing Gambol Shroud she positions herself a few feet in front of Jaune. He takes his stance with his shield up and takes a deep breath before nodding at her signaling her his readiness.
She doesn't give him any more time for any mental preparation. She dashes in powerful motion directly in front of him, striking his body.
With no surprise to her, he blocks her simple attack with his shield, her weapon bouncing back with a loud clang resounding from the hit.
Jaune immediately moves to counter her with an upper strike, still keeping his guard up with his shield. But with an effortless backflip, she distances herself again from the reach of his strike, throwing him a smile when landing back on her feet.
She knows if they want to see real progress in Jaune's abilities she has to push him, even if it bruises his ego.
With that in mind, instead of closing the distance between them and allowing him to counter her in any shape or form.
She throws Gambol Shroud at him, one end of the ribbon in her hand and the blade coming straight for him.
Jaune looks surprised for a moment while blocking the flying weapon. Not giving him any more time she uses the momentum of the weapon and with a full body turn sends it back at him in a wide arc hitting him in the side bypassing his shield completely.
"Come on Jaune. I'm not going to fight you like Cardin," she tells him, but not waiting for an answer. She dashes to the side of him, Gambol Shroud back in hand, she delivers a combination of strikes and kicks right into the side she just hit.
Jaune struggles to contain his panic at the unexpected hits on his aura but manages to catch the last kick with his shield sending him back a couple of steps. With a determined expression on his face, he is the one taking the offensive now.
In a steady sprint, he closes the distance again but instead of attacking with his sword as she would have expected, he smashes into her with his shield toppling her over. Seeing his opportunity he begins attacking Blake with Crocea Mors and hitting her right in the shoulder, or so it seems. As soon as his weapon hits Blake, she disappears and reappears a few feet back from her previous position.
"That was great Jaune! Really quick thinking from you."
"What are you talking about? I hit you once. And the second I'd hit you again you could just use your semblance," he says slumping his shoulder, his head hanging low and staring at the ground.
"Jaune, let's be real here," Blake starts to say. "We haven't been working for long on your combat skills and I don't want to brag but I am a good fighter, not the best in our class but I am far better than the likes of Cardin and yes that also means I am far better than you in a fight."
"Geez, thanks. Tell me something I don't know," Jaune says still staring at the ground with his tail hanging low.
Blake really doesn't like to make the comparison in her head but seeing Jaune like this is like seeing a puppy who did something wrong. So, she just needs to hammer it in his head that there is nothing wrong with his progress and she might even be able to do something about his confidence issues or at least lift his spirit for the moment.
Standing right in front of Jaune, Blake takes a closer look at him. His blonde hair which is normally already shaggy now looks even more unruly after their short fight, small drops of sweat can be seen running down his temple and his breath is slowly starting to even out.
With a deliberate slowness, she lifts her hand to Jaune's chin raising his head up to look him into his eyes.
"Listen to me Jaune," she says with her hand still on his face, her fingers feeling the stubble on his chin. "Even though we've just begun with your training, the progress you've made is amazing. Just a week ago your swings were sloppy, your footwork was nonexistent and your whole pattern of attacking was lacking. Just a week ago, your fight against Cardin showed all those flaws. And now, I can already see that you made really good progress in all of those things but what is even more important is that you just now showed that you have the skills to think on your feet even in a dire situation. So Jaune, believe me when I say: this is just the beginning, and everything you learned and will learn is something you can be proud of."
Wow, that was embarrassing to say and for once Jaune's face is not the only one that is red. She quickly takes her hand back to her side while looking to the left not daring to meet his eyes. Maybe she laid it on a bit thick but Jaune needed to hear that. The clearing of a throat interrupts her thoughts.
"Thank you, Blake," Jaune says making her look back at him. "I really appreciate you doing this for me and as you already said, I owe you for this."
He looks at her with a big smile and his tail energetically wags behind him. She really isn't used to such genuine thankfulness.
"Well, it's good that you didn't forget it," she says flustered.
"Anyway, I think I should get back to my dorm. I don't want to take up even more of your time."
What? No, he doesn't get to fluster her like this with his puppy mannerisms and just leaves her with no opportunity to set things straight between them.
"Wait!"
"Is something wrong Blake?"
"Yes. I did not say we are finished for today."
"Um, I think I am already at my limit for today Blake. It's probably not a good idea to continue training."
"Yes, I know that," she says not wanting Jaune to leave just yet. "But a good post-workout is also very important."
"Alright. What should I do?"
"Just sit on the bench," she replies.
Without any complaints, Jaune begins to sit down on one of the benches at the side of the training room. She doesn't hesitate, follows him, and positions herself behind Jaune.
"Would you like to take off your armor Jaune? I promise it will be much better without it."
"Uh, what?" The now flustered Jaune asks, his tail standing straight up at attention making Blake have a hard time suppressing her smile not that he would see it. But this feels much better, Jaune flustered and her in control of the situation.
"For a massage of course," she says nonchalantly. "What did you think I was going to do?"
"Nothing! I mean, of course, it's a massage. Haha," Jaune tries to deflect while his tail is now furiously wagging behind him.
"Well? Go on then. Undress."
She can't see Jaune's face from behind him but she still can see that even the tips of his ears are getting red as he begins to unclasp his chest piece, pauldrons, and vambraces.
He nervously looks over his shoulder, straight at her.
"Um, I am ready."
"Good job," she says. "Just look forward and I will do the rest."
Blake has actually no idea how to massage someone for a post-workout but that wasn't really her intention in the first place. Jaune just kind of provokes this side of her that she never really knew she had.
"Tell me if it's uncomfortable for you, I will immediately stop," Blake says; she wants to tease him not bully him.
Jaune only nods, still staring straight ahead.
She lifts her hands onto his shoulders squeezing him lightly, making him tense up and hitch his breath. He seems really jumpy right now.
"Relax, Jaune," she whispers. "Just breathe and relax."
Trying to make him used to the feeling of her hands on him, she doesn't squeeze him anymore, she only lightly rubs her hands on his shoulders. From the top slowly to the side. Again and again.
The training room is quiet.
No words are exchanged between them. The only noises that can be heard are the breathing of the two occupants and the rustling of clothes while Blake rubs Jaune's shoulders. His breath is now more even and it seems he is more relaxed now, So, she slowly begins to put more pressure into it.
Blake is a bit surprised. She still remembers Weiss mockingly describing Jaune on the first day of Beacon. And to be fair to Weiss, not that the heiress will ever know it, Jaune does not really give off Huntsman vibes and he looks rather lanky.
But now having her hands on him, she actually can feel how surprisingly well-built his shoulders feel. And that is not something that can be achieved in a short amount of time, it needs dedication. And what is maybe even more important to her right now is that his muscles feel really nice.
Feeling a bit more daring and with Jaune now more relaxed she moves a bit further with feeling up his muscles. Moving on from his shoulders she glided slowly to his arms, all the while prodding his muscles trying to get a better feeling of Jaune's body.
Nice.
"You have great arms."
"Th- Thank you," Jaune says, seizing up again.
"Don't take this the wrong way but I didn't think you'd trained your body much, you don't look it," she says to the faunus in front of her, rubbing his arms up and down. "Not that it would make much of a difference since aura does most of the heavy lifting."
He lets out a small snort, seemingly beginning to relax after hearing her talk a bit more.
"Don't let Nora hear that. She probably wouldn't be very happy with you," he says, turning his head over his shoulder to look at her directly. "And to be honest, I didn't really train but growing up on a farm means there is always something to do."
"Huh, a farmboy?" That's really not surprising.
Jaune smiles at her and turns back around.
"Yeah, my sisters and I all had to help out in some way. And because I was the only boy, I had to do most of the manual labor around the farm."
Blake still occupied with Jaune's body only hums in understanding and begins to glide her hands across his back, making him hitch his breath again. Jaune may not be the largest of the Huntsman in her class but his back was still very nice and broad. Too bad his shirt is in the way. Well, there can always be a next time.
"Sisters?" She asks absentmindedly.
"Yeah, I actually have seven sisters."
Blake stops, shocked. Seven? Gods, she can't even imagine.
"Seriously?"
"Haha, yeah," Jaune actually fully turns around and grins at her, his tail happily wagging behind him and making Blake stop her massage. "It's always funny to see the shocked faces when I tell people that."
Blake laughs a bit at Jaune's exuberant behavior. Seeing him like this is actually great.
"Yeah yeah, laugh it up," Blake playfully rolls her eyes at him which only makes Jaune laugh louder. "Well, that also explains so much."
"What do you mean?"
"It kinda explains why you are so good with people."
Jaune goggles at her, "What? Are you sure you are talking about me?"
He really doesn't get it, does he?
"Do you really think that someone like Ruby makes friends easily?"
"Come on, that doesn't really count. We are both really awkward around strangers and now with both of us being team leaders we sometimes just spend time together."
Wow, denial. Who could have seen that coming?
"Uhuh. What about Yang? You threw up on her shoes and now she is teasing you and joking around with you. You might not have noticed but as outgoing as she is, she is really selective about people being her friends."
"She only does that because of Ruby," Jaune answers back. "And what about Weiss? I actually tried to become her friend and maybe even more and look where that got me."
Ugh, Weiss. Of course, he has to mention her. As if her dislike of Jaune has anything to do with Jaune's behavior towards her and not with him being a faunus.
"Maybe," is all that she says to him. "But what about me?"
"You?"
"Yeah, me. It is maybe a bit sad to admit but you are probably the person I am closest to here at Beacon. And believe me, when I say, I do not trust easily, and still, you somehow wormed your way into being a friend of mine without even knowing. So when I say you are good with people then you can be sure that you really are."
How embarrassing to admit something like that. He didn't need to know about that.
While she is stewing in her own embarrassment, Jaune looks at her with wide eyes, obviously not knowing what to say to something like that. Gods, here she was trying to tease him and embarrass him a bit with her massage and now she is the one end up being embarrassed. It's just so easy to be more honest with herself when she is with him.
Letting out a small cough to hide her nerves, "I think that is enough for today. I will write you for the next time we can meet up for training."
Without even waiting for Jaune to give an answer she hurries to get out of the training room.
"Wait!" Jaune shouts after her, making her stop but not turn around to face him. "Thank you, Blake. Not only for the training but- just thank you."
On her way back to her dorm room she can't help but smile to herself. These training sessions with him became something she really looked forward to. It feels nice to get away from her dysfunctional team and spend time with someone who she can be more open with even when in the beginning she only wanted to help him out as a fellow faunus which shefeels a bit guilty about since she still hasn't told him about her being faunus. Next time, next time she is going to tell him.
A chime from her scroll interrupts her train of thought. Probably just a message from her teamleader wondering where she is.
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Her good mood takes a nosedive after reading the message from Tukson. Guess she has to visit him to get as much information as possible about the White Fangs' next actions.