บท 12: Chapter 12
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"Jaune! Let's go spar!"
Jaune isn't the only one to groan at that, he's gratified to note. Even as Yang Xiao-Long abruptly stands up and points at him as she shouts her command, the rest of their two teams have varying reactions, though mostly in the realm of sheer exasperation. But the blond bombshell is way too full of self-confidence to let that stop her. As the Queen of Puns, Yang absolutely loved making awkward situations… almost as much as she loved fighting, the battle junkie.
He was pretty sure it'd all started because of Ruby. That first time he and Yang had gotten paired up in Glynda's Class to fight in the ring, Yang had grinned as they'd closed in on one another, cracking her knuckles and modulating her tone so that only he could hear her.
"Not sure why my sister is mooning after you, Mister Arc, but if you think you can catch her eye and then ignore her, you've got something else coming to you."
What had followed was a veritable smackdown, and Jaune had learned a valuable lesson that day. It was actually why Team JNPR and Team RWBY had started taking their meals together. While he and Ruby had yet to do anything else besides that initial… intimate moment they'd shared, Jaune did count her as a close friend. He hadn't meant to abandon her or ignore her or anything like that, he'd just had so much else on his plate in the first few weeks of Beacon.
Now though, they were in a better place. His and Ruby's friendship was pretty much the glue that tied their two teams together. Though his and Blake's relationship was also always there, lurking in the background, a steady undercurrent of tension that almost always inevitably broke at least once a week as the cat faunus dragged him off out of sight so that he could do unspeakable things to her and scratch her itch.
Yang, meanwhile, had developed a different sort of itch. Because while yes, she had trounced him in the ring, it hadn't been nearly as easy as she'd thought. This was because Jaune Arc was a tank. His semblance seemed to be just a doubling or even a tripling of the average aura, to be perfectly honest. In terms of aura, in terms of durability, Jaune was chunky. He was stronger and capable of taking more damage than most hunters and huntresses could ever dream of.
Of course, when it came to dealing damage, he couldn't do much. He could do enough to take down some Grimm, sure, but only because he was capable of outlasting the murderous shadow beasts. When it came to sparring against his fellow Beacon students, Jaune had a fifty-fifty win rate… though ever since Glynda had begin tutoring him in their off time, that had started to rise.
However, with Yang, Jaune couldn't win. At least, not in the official dueling right. Because of the way Yang's semblance worked, the meager amount of damage Jaune could do to an opponent worked against him, giving Yang all the power she needed to overwhelm his immense defenses. It was still a slog, and Yang had to fight through his tank-like aura as much as everyone else, but she was able to do it a little faster, and had beaten him every time.
The battle junkie loved it, it seemed, because she was constantly requesting they be paired up in Glynda's Class… and now she was suggesting that they go and spar on the weekend, outside of Glynda's Class.
"Yaaaang! Jaune doesn't have to fight you right now. He's probably got other things to be doing anyways!"
Yang just scoffs at that, planting her fists on her hips and either knowingly or unknowingly jutting out her tits in an enticing way as she sticks out her chin.
"Yeah? What could be better than practicing for when we're eventually going to fight the Grimm, huh? We should all go spar! But, uh, dibs on Jaune!"
It's Blake who speaks up next, the cat faunus deadpan as she looks to her partner.
"You just want to use Jaune as a punching bag, Yang."
Jaune was perfectly happy to let Yang's own teammates talk her down. If he didn't have to say anything, all the better. Still, Yang isn't quite done yet. Her cheeks puff out, and she gets ready to say something else, which Jaune hopes will draw a response from Weiss, the Schnee Heiress looking just as exasperated with the exchange as everyone else was.
However, before Yang can speak, before Weiss can also shoot her down, a voice pipes up from Jaune's right.
"Actually, I think it's a good idea. Yang and Jaune should go spar. I know for a fact that we don't need our leader for the rest of the day."
All eyes at the table turn to Pyrrha Nikos at that. Jaune doesn't know if everyone else is as shocked as he is, because he's too busy staring at the red head, trying to figure out what she's on about and completely flabbergasted. Before he can ask her what she's playing at, Pyrrha leans in close and murmurs in Jaune's ear.
"If you don't deal with this now, it's only going to get worse Jaune. We both know you've been holding back because you had an audience… put this blonde bitch in her place."
Pyrrha's words are only for Jaune's ears, but then, Pyrrha doesn't know yet that Blake is a cat faunus. Even as Jaune processes what the red head is telling him to do, he finds himself making eye contact with Blake across the table. Her black bow atop her head is twitching, and she blushes under his gaze, averting her own, making it clear she heard. But she doesn't say anything, she doesn't try to stop it… so perhaps she agrees as well?
Jaune is a little flushed at this point himself, truth be told. Pyrrha wants… Pyrrha wants him to put Yang in her place? What does that entail, exactly? His family techniques? That didn't seem fair… but at the same time, wasn't Pyrrha right? If he didn't do something about this, Yang would only continue to treat him like her own personal punching bag. He didn't like that dynamic, not one bit. Perhaps it was time for him to flip the narrative on its head.
Slowly, Jaune nods and stands up as well.
"You know what… sure, Yang. Let's go spar, you and I."
Yang's eyes flicker between him and Pyrrha, ever so slightly curious, but her battle lust is much more prevalent as she grins wickedly and punches her fists together.
"Perfect!"
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"How about we make this interesting, yeah?"
Jaune blinks and looks up from checking Crocea Mors over. Yang is a few feet away, fiddling with her shotgun gauntlets. Ember Celica, if he remembered correctly. The blonde bombshell gives him a cocky grin at his look.
"Seemed like Pyrrha had a lot of faith in you. Got some trick up your sleeve that you think will let you win, huh?"
Chuckling a little at that, Jaune shakes his head, even though she's right on the money.
"It's just a friendly spar Yang. It's not about winning or losing, it's about getting better."
And he actually believed that too. Honestly, on the way over here, Jaune had had a bit of a change of heart. He wasn't going to go all out like Pyrrha had suggested. He wasn't going to use his family techniques on a friend just to win a silly spar. Like he'd just told Yang, it wasn't about winning. Sure, he might be Yang's punching bag at the moment, but he could see how he was improving every time they fought. If he kept at it, someday he would be able to beat her without his family's techniques, he was sure of it.
"Right, but I'm saying let's make it more than a friendly spar. How about a wager, eh? Loser has to be the winner's butt monkey for the next week."
Jaune stops at that, looking up at Yang again. Frowning, he cocks his head to the side.
"Elaborate."
The blonde bombshell happily does, grinning quite wickedly.
"Whoever wins this fight gets to order around the loser all of next week. When I win, I figure you can do my laundry, and my homework, and I'll get to spar with you as much as I want, whenever I want. What do you say, huh? Gonna chicken out?"
It's just the two of them out here. Just the two of them, slightly inside the Emerald Forest, in a clearing that's near Beacon but not quite in view of Beacon.
Jaune presses his lips together in a thin line as he considers Yang's words. This? This changed things, a bit. If she was willing to go that far…
"Fine. I accept."
Yang's grin grows wider and more savage. She pounds her fists together again, and her stance grows more aggressive.
"Excellent. You ready to go?"
Jaune chuckles and raises Crocea Mors, along with his shield-sheathe into the air.
"… Yeah, I'm ready."
As Yang launches forward, as she prepares to start battering down his defenses, Jaune finds himself momentarily remembering his sister's words from not that long ago.
"… After all, an enemy will not care for honor or chivalry. An enemy will not take mercy on you for restraining yourself from using your entire arsenal. This is not a spar, Jaune… this is a battle. Win!"
It's almost fitting then, that the first technique Jaune tags Yang with is the Eyes of Love. He makes eye contact with the blonde bombshell, and his own eyes twinkle. She's brought up short for a moment, blushing profusely as her legs tremble just barely. Yang isn't Saphron, she's not nearly as experienced, not nearly as strong. With Saphron, it was barely a half moment opening. With Yang, it's enough that Jaune is barely to slice Crocea Mors across Yang's entire front, sending her flying back as he removes a large chunk of her aura.
The blonde lands on her ass with an 'oof' but Jaune doesn't give her the time she needs to recover. Instead, she has to fight her way back to her feet as he slams his blade down into where she was a moment before, forcing her to roll to the side and up onto one knee. Yang curses, and fires of Ember Celica at him, which Jaune blocks with his shield.
All of those lessons with Glynda really are starting to pay off. Regardless, once she's back up on her feet, Yang moves in again. This time, having already used his eyes, Jaune waits until Yang is once again staring at his face… and then he smiles. It's not a simple smile. It's another technique, a cocky lopsided thing, a roguish grin if you will… which was why it was aptly named the Grin of a Rogue.
This technique didn't work on every girl. After all, not every woman was attracted to the bad boys, and that was what his smile embodied, even if Jaune himself wasn't really a bad boy at heart. Either way, it works on Yang. She falters again, and her entire body shudders in a way that tells Jaune she's very, very wet.
But they're still in the middle of a fight, and Jaune's not going to let himself get distracted now. Not when he's already got Yang right where he wants her. Another slice across Yang's front, another chunk of aura lost as the girl tumbles away. This time when she gets up, she's growling, but it's only half-angry. The other half of the growl is pure lust, her face bright red in embarrassment and arousal, even as her eyes promise retribution.
Retribution that Jaune knows she's more than capable of giving, now that he's charged up her semblance. This was it, really, and they both knew it. This was the final pass, one way or the other. If Yang landed her next blow, she'd be unleashing all of the damage he'd already dealt to her, back onto him. If she didn't, he'd probably take her aura down into the red, signaling an end to the fight, and a victory for him.
He decides, even before she launches herself forward, that he won't be using a technique this time. After all, he still has his respect as a warrior to take into consideration. If he can't win without his family techniques now, after using them to get such a lead? Well, he didn't deserve to win then, in the end. Setting himself, lifting his shield, Jaune prepares himself to weather his opponent's assault. Or at least, he appears to.
As Yang launches herself through the air, bringing both fists down upon him with a wild shout… Jaune rolls to the side at the last moment, and slices Crocea Mors across Yang's belly at the same time. He feels her aura almost give away beneath the blow… and then Yang's fists slam into the ground, and her semblance activates as she unloads Ember Celica into the earth. The explosive backlash sends them both flying back a bit, but Jaune is barely affected and on his feet long before Yang gets up.
Moving to stand over the groaning blonde, Jaune places the tip of Crocea Mors under Yang's chin, causing her to freeze up as he lifts her head so that they can look at each other.
"Yield."
Yang stares at him for a moment, perhaps looking for weakness in his gaze. She doesn't find any though, Jaune makes sure of that, makes sure that he's showing nothing but resolve to the blonde bombshell.
"… I yield."
And with that, it's over. Jaune sighs as he lets his shield fold back into a sheathe and slides his sword back into it. Then, he reaches down and offers a hand to Yang, helping her to her feet. She's blushing as she looks at him, hesitant and insecure in a way he's never seen before. Fidgeting under his gaze, Yang bites her lower lip.
"So… I guess you win. I guess that means I have to do whatever you say for the next week."
Jaune nods.
"I guess so."
"… Well, I think we both know I won't be much help with your homework. So… what's your first order, sir?"
Just hearing Yang defer to him like that… well, it certainly turned him on immensely. But while the blonde battle junkie probably thought he'd pin her down and take her right here and now, Jaune had other plans. After all, he had a week with her, in which she had to do whatever he wanted. Already, he had… ideas.
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