Chapter 5: Team Building
Eventually, Jaune makes a decision. And then he waits until the next day to actually do anything about it. Still, once morning rolls around again, Jaune makes sure to pull Pyrrha aside for a quick one-on-one chat.
"Pyrrha, can we talk for a moment?"
The red head is quick to agree, a smile on her face as he pulls her off to the side.
"Of course, Jaune. What do you need?"
He doesn't fail to notice the deferential tone she's using. She's not necessarily mocking him, per say, or at least Jaune doesn't think she is, but she might just be teasing him about how the conversation where he tried to fob off responsibility to her had gone. Still, if they were all going to make him leader, if they were all going to follow his orders and actually let him lead… then he was going to lead.
"… If you want me to be team leader, than I'll be team leader. But if that's how it's going to be, I'm going to need your help, understood?"
Pyrrha's green eyes are a vibrant sort of energized color today, he can't help but notice. Her smile only widens as she nods happily.
"Yes sir~"
She all but purrs out the sir, and Jaune gives Pyrrha a look. Was she seriously… actually, why was he even remotely surprised? Of course, Pyrrha was attracted to him. All the signs were already there. Still, Jaune wasn't sure they could have that kind of relationship. It just wasn't in the cards, so to speak. Especially if he was going to be team leader, and she was going to basically be his second. It would probably be inappropriate to have a relationship with her then.
Besides, they were at Beacon to learn how to be hunters and huntresses, right? That took precedent over teenage libido.
"… Right. Alright, put bluntly, Pyrrha, I need training. I'm sure you can't deny that, given my performance in the Emerald Forest."
Pyrrha frowns slightly and shakes her head.
"You're giving yourself too little credit, Jaune. You weren't a liability during the initiation."
Well, that was good because he hadn't called himself a liability. Still…
"That's only because I have a massive aura, and we both know it. Pyrrha, I barely know what end of my sword to hold. Beyond sticking the Grimm with Crocea Mor's pointy end, I'm completely lost. You, on the other hand… you're very, VERY good at what you do, aren't you?"
That gets a blush from the red head, and a smile as well. She ducks her head and brushes her hair back behind her ear all self-conscious like, leaving Jaune raising an eyebrow in response to her reaction. One would think she would be used to compliments at this point. She really was amazing, after all.
"Thanks, Jaune, I suppose I am."
Smiling, Jaune claps his hands together.
"Great then. So, I'll be in your care, alright? If you want me to really be team leader, you'll need to make sure I'm up to snuff, right?"
Pyrrha's own smile seems to grow at that, and something in her eyes seems to flash as she nods in agreement.
"That… that makes plenty of sense. Yes, I'll be sure to train you well, Jaune. In no time at all, you'll be the best hunter Beacon has ever seen."
Ah, now there's a fire burning in her. Jaune can't help but laugh sheepishly. Maybe he'd come on too strong. He didn't want Pyrrha to end up killing him in some misguided attempt to make him as strong as possible.
"Aha, well… maybe not the best. But I'd settle for good enough to keep us all alive."
Pyrrha scoffs at that, but doesn't comment further, though he can already see plans, likely for training sessions, building in her head.
"When should we start? Today?"
Shrugging, Jaune looks down the hall.
"Sure, we could do that, though we need to get Nora and Ren on board first."
Because he's not looking at her, the blond boy completely misses the way Pyrrha's smile freezes on her lips, and her face shutters.
"… Nora… and Ren?"
Still staring down the hall, his mind already trying to figure out where exactly would be the best time to talk to the other two members of the team, as well as to figure out where they should all go to train, Jaune just nods.
"Yeah, of course. You're going to be in charge of training all of us up, Pyrrha. Team JNPR will be in your hands."
Despite noticing Pyrrha's attraction for him, Jaune completely misses the fact that Pyrrha had misunderstood and thought their training sessions would be private. Now that she's learning otherwise, the red head is developing a bit of a nervous tic under one of her eyes. Silence falls between them, and in his obliviousness, Jaune thinks it's a companionable one, completely failing to notice the tension in the air, or the miasma slowly flowing off of his teammate.
Eventually though…
"Jaune, I think there's something you should know about the other half of our team."
Blinking, Jaune pulls himself out of his musings and looks over at Pyrrha. She looks like she's swallowed a lemon, and he cocks his head to the side, furrowing his brow at her.
"Ren and Nora? What about them?"
Pyrrha opens her mouth… but whatever she's about to say, she doesn't say it. Instead, she closes her lips again, her teeth clicking together as a growl builds in her throat.
"Never mind. You tell Ren and Nora that our first training session will be taking place behind the main hall two hours after classes end for the day. They better note be late. And that goes for you, too!"
Jaune opens his mouth, to tell Pyrrha that he hasn't actually gotten Ren and Nora on board yet with this plan, but before he can do so, the ponytailed red head spins about and stalks off, leaving him standing there staring after her, gobsmacked. Something was clearly wrong, but for the life of him, he didn't know what it was. What was Pyrrha going to tell him? Something about Ren and Nora?
Furrowing his brow in confusion, Jaune thinks about what he knows of the close-knit pair. So far… they seem perfectly fine. He hasn't seen anything that really bugs him about either of them yet, even if Nora is a little hyper, while Ren is undeniably shy. Even still, if Pyrrha has a problem with either of them, he needs to nip it in the bud, right away. Perhaps this first training session will be the time to do that.
Without even realizing it, Jaune finds himself falling into the mindset of Team JNPR's team leader, slowly but surely.
-x-X-x-
Of course, it's one thing to decide that you're going to handle a problem, it's another entirely to put it into practice. As it turned out, both Nora and Ren were happy to train with Pyrrha. Like Jaune, they recognized in her a warrior, someone strong, perhaps stronger than all of them put together. She would be able to make them stronger as a team, and neither were at all against that. Whatever problem Pyrrha had with the two, it was clearly one-sided, because Jaune didn't detect any resentment, dislike, or fear directed at the red head when he spoke with them.
He was still trying to figure out how to broach the topic however, when the time for their first team training session finally arrived. Everyone arrived on time of course, but before Jaune could say anything, Pyrrha was stepping up and taking the reins, all business, her serious face on.
"Right then. To start with… Jaune, go sit under that tree and observe. I've already seen you fight, and I have a good idea of your skill level. But the two of you… I need to experience your techniques before I can figure out what needs to be improved upon."
"Woohoo! Sounds like fun!"
"A-Alright…"
Jaune just sighs and nods his agreement, moving over to the nearby tree and sitting down. Nora turns to face Ren, and Ren turns to face Nora… only for both of them to freeze up when they hear the distinctive sound of Pyrrha drawing and unfolding her spear from the small of her back.
"I'm sure the two of you know each other too well for a spar between you to do me much good. So instead, you'll be coming at me in a two-on-one. Understood?"
For the first time, Nora of all people actually looks somewhat nervous. So does Ren, of course, but from what Jaune has seen of the shy young man so far, she is rather nervous and quiet by default. Wait, no, not she. HE was. Damn it, why did he keep doing that? Rubbing the bridge of his nose, Jaune watches as the other half of Team JNPR faces off against Pyrrha.
"Are you sure about that, Pyrrha? We're really good at fighting together M-ah, Ren and I… we've been together for ages, since we were kids!"
Pyrrha just smiles and falls into a combat stance.
"That's good. You'll need that team work. Begin!"
The moment she shouts out that word, she's lancing forward, and Jaune finds himself admiring her technique, even as he admires her body. She really is beautiful, but in an edged sort of way. Gorgeous and dangerous, all at the same time. Nora and Ren are quickly learning about that second part, because Pyrrha is among them in an instant, swinging out with efficient strikes that don't connect, but do easily split the two up as they dodge out of the way at the last second.
And then she's on Ren like he personally insulted her or something. Nora is quick to back her teammate up, and Ren is equally quick in dodging and getting the fuck out of Pyrrha's way… but it quickly becomes apparent that Jaune made the right call in asking Pyrrha to train them, because she's so damn fast, so damn strong, just all around GOOD at what she does. And what she does is fight.
It also becomes equally apparent that Pyrrha is specifically gunning for Ren. Nora constantly gets in the way, trying to draw Pyrrha's attention towards her, trying to keep the red head off of her partner for even a moment, but Pyrrha barely spares the time to knock Nora out of the way again, before returning to her mission of tearing through Ren's defenses. Literally, at that, as Ren cries out in a surprisingly high-pitched manner, coming away from his latest exchange with Pyrrha with a cut along his green shirt that shows an expanse of skin underneath.
For a moment, there's a still in battle as Ren goes bright red, and Nora lets out a yell and leaps into the fray again. Pyrrha ducks low and lets Nora fly right over her head, into Ren. The two go down in a tangle of limbs for a moment, and Pyrrha gives them time to get up, even as she speaks down at them, her tone much frostier, and far more clipped than it would be if it was Jaune in their place.
"You two are too reliant on a singular strategy, in which Nora soaks up all of the aggression and Ren seeks out quick and stealthy shots that can turn the tide of battle in your favor. You don't know what to do against an opponent who is ready for this, who focuses all of their time on the less defensive of the two of you. If you can't defend yourself, Ren, then it's only a matter of time before Nora is holding your lifeless body on the field of battle somewhere."
"I-I would never let that happen!"
Pyrrha just scoffs, and Jaune frowns.
"Get up. I'm not finished with you two yet."
It's around then that Jaune stands as well. However, he doesn't immediately put an end to things. He's still new to this leader thing, and beyond that, he's the one that asked for this demonstration in the first place, right? He's the one who put their training in Pyrrha's hands. So, was it really his right to interfere? As Nora and Ren get to their feet, he sees determination in their eyes, though Ren is still red, despite it only being a slight tear in he-HIS shirt.
Pyrrha nods with approval, which Jaune thinks is really good… but then she lunges forward again, and it's like she was playing with training wheels on before. She's even faster now than she was before, and her blows quite literally cause rocks to shoot up whenever she slams her spear point into the ground where Ren or Nora stood moments before. She's going all out now, and this no longer seems like a spar.
It's time. He's sure of it, he needs to step in before things get too bad. Walking forward out from under the shade of the tree Pyrrha had directed him to, Jaune prepares to call out to them to end this.
"Pyrrha-!"
However, as if her name on his lips was the trigger, Pyrrha suddenly lances forward and slashes her spear across Ren's front so lightning fast that it goes right through his aura and digs into his clothing. For a moment, Jaune chokes on what else he was going to say, expecting blood to fountain up or something. But… that's not what happens. What DOES happen leaves Jaune just as speechless though.
Pyrrha had pulled her blow, and rather than digging into Ren's flesh, it had JUST cut a massive swath through her green shirt. And yes, this time Jaune meant the 'her' unequivocally. In truth, it seemed he'd meant every other previous slip up as well. His conscious mind might not have seen it before now, but his subconscious had been trying to tell him what Pyrrha had just revealed for days now.
Ren was not a guy. Ren was a girl… with a rather nice pair of tits, too. They weren't, say, as big as Nora's or anything like that, but the wide-eyed young woman, frozen with her chest on display, was certainly properly endowed. For a moment, Jaune wonders just how the hell she was hiding such a nice pair, but then he sees the remnants of the bandages that she no doubt had wrapped around her breasts, floating to the ground in tatters, destroyed by Pyrrha's spearpoint.
As what's happened catches up with Ren, she lets out a girlish shriek and falls to her knees, quickly covering up her breasts. Nora rushes to her side, while Pyrrha steps back, looking down at both of them. She glances over at Jaune, before looking back.
"Keeping secrets from your team leader… for shame."
-x-X-x-
"So that's how it is then. Lie Ren is actually Mulan Ren. I'm still a little confused at why you felt the need to hide your gender."
"It's always been like that for us! Back home, people didn't respect us because we were both girls! So, Mulan here started being the guy, and then it was me and him, and people were more willing to accept us because they thought 'he' was reining me in! It just… it just became the status quo!"
Jaune furrows his brow, trying to make sense of all of this.
"… I guess that kind of makes sense."
He was lucky to have never lived in such a sexist place himself. Of course, Pyrrha isn't happy at his easy acceptance.
"You still tried to keep it a secret for Jaune. And you're still keeping secrets as well. Or do you think I don't know how you two feel about him?"
Jaune blinks at that, even as both Nora AND Ren go bright red at that.
"Huh?"
"Y-You don't just go around blurting stuff like that out, Pyrrha!"
Pyrrha scoffs, her face still stormy.
"I will when I like him too. It was all well and fine when you and Ren were gal and guy and could be together. But once I found out the truth about Ren… and saw the way the two of you have been constantly eyeing Jaune up… well, the truth needs to come out. We all like him. So, what are we going to do about it?"
Alright, Jaune had known that Pyrrha was attracted to him, but this? This was a bit blunt, wasn't it? Now HIS face was a little red. As much of a lady's man as his Arc genes made him, he was still kind of a virgin. And now all three members of his team were not only female, but crushing on him? What was he supposed to do?
Pyrrha looks to him then and speaks candidly.
"I don't mind sharing, Jaune. But for their actions, I think that these two deserve to be punished. They need to know where we all stand."
A look over at Nora and Ren sees them both ducking their heads. Even boisterous Nora is just okay with that idea? But at the same time… hasn't Pyrrha gone about this pretty harshly? Couldn't she have been a little nicer about this? Really, should it be Nora and Ren who need to be punished, or should it be Pyrrha?
He suddenly feels the weight of leadership on his shoulders more than ever before. Pyrrha was making a play for him, even as she claimed to not mind sharing. She would share, certainly, but he could already tell that she wanted to be first in whatever form their team dynamic might end up taking. Was Jaune willing to let that happen?
… Or should he nip it in the bud now? Pyrrha had been the one to tell him he couldn't get out of being team leader. In the same breath, she'd told him she'd follow his orders. So now the only question was… what would Jaune's orders BE?
-x-X-x-
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