Pyrrha locked on her greaves over the legs of her slacks, not caring that it'd give it a possible crease or two. Jaune told her that he'd help smooth that out later. The vambrace for Akouo to lock into clasped on over her left forearm, feeling a bit too snug from the additional layer of clothes underneath.
Still, her three-piece was very well made, not in material, but in structure, allowing her full mobility. She truly had to give props to her Tailoring Club classmates, they'd really gone all out for this.
Of course she knew it was partly that the words 'tailored a suit for Pyrrha Nikkos, the Invincible Girl' could fit on their resume somewhere, but they'd done well enough that she'd be happy to endorse them.
Not unlike herself, Jaune had already slipped into his midriff baring (he had some decent abs forming of late) scaled bodysuit, the black and gold scales showing under his maid outfit where normally skin should show. He usually wore it under all of his clothes, as like Pyrrha he felt often out of place without his armor on.
Silver shackles (Jaune never took those things off, for some reason) shone on his slim ankles, black webbing patterns a dark contrast to the shining metal.
Pyrrha clipped Akouo on her left arm, feeling that her normal ammo belt (usually carefully hidden under her waist sash) rode up slightly on her hips. They were mostly hidden by the edges of her blazer, but she was slightly worried that it might make it annoying to get a magazine for reloading.
She knew that Class President was shouting a bunch of nonsense into his Scroll as he made an advertisement for their festival booth, but Pyrrha had learned to drone out the voice of announcers a long time ago.
Milo shifted into a rifle as it spun in her hands, the barrel leaning against her shoulder as she began slowly pacing on her end of the sparring arena. It wasn't as big and open as the Circuit, but the smaller space forced tighter fights and that suited her fine.
Jaune sometimes fought her with wooden spears, which would make Pyrrha lose the advantage of her Semblance so that she could train for enemies that she couldn't affect. Of course, that would be rare but Jaune was right that it wasn't impossible. Plus as it was a weaker weapon (though just as deadly in Jaune's hands) it came with the benefit of damaging her Aura less, letting their fun spars extend longer.
Still that was good for a lot of reasons as well, as not only did it prepare her for such enemies, but it polished her own skill as she copied and adapted Jaune's techniques, only for him to sharpen his own technique in turn as a result. They were like a pair of steel edges, grinding against one another to hone themselves
She smiled as Jaune pulled out some of his standard steel spears this time.
Sure that gave her an edge, but it was because they were expected to additionally give a show, not because Jaune was looking down on her.
He still hadn't gotten his special new trick combat ready, so she'd have to wait to see it one day. Even so, he claimed that he'd probably hold onto it for a special occasion either way, so she might not even see it until Beacon.
And that was a thought.
She'd thought Jaune would go to Haven like her when they'd first begun Sanctum together, but he'd pretty quickly and openly admitted that he dreamed of Beacon. That, of course, hadn't been any sort of dealbreaker, resolving to keep in touch once they both graduated from Sanctum, but honestly Pyrrha had decided somewhat recently that she might as well join him at the Valean Huntsman College.
Not only was it argued to be the best of the four (though both Atlas Academy and Haven followed very closely) but it would also let her step away a bit more from her seat of fame. To try to be more of a normal girl again. That despite her inter-Kingdomal fame she'd be able to be just Pyrrha Nikkos, and not The Invincible Girl.
She'd been proud of it once, but now it often felt silly. She'd tied and lost plenty to Jaune in their spars, though she'd won her fair share as well. Nobody was infallible, and that pressure was sort of suffocating sometimes.
Jaune spun his spears, the left tucking into the armpit as he pulled his arm in at ninety degree angles, the one in the right gripped at the base like he was wielding an almost weightless sword, ready to thrust at the count of a bell.
Jaune really was much more physically strong than he appeared. Those spears of his were heavy, which made his attacks quite frightening. It was comparable to someone spamming applications of Recoil Tech to a lesser extent, but with no Aura cost to perform as such.
Her eye caught the glimmer of a 50 Lien coin flipped through the air, the shine of the nickel finish flashing in the light.
Pyrrha took a breath.
Her eyes met Jaune's.
The coin landed.
Both she and Jaune exploded forwards, Jaune performing a significantly faster and more powerful leap, rushing towards her like a bullet.
Their initial clash could fit into the breath of mere seconds, feeling like the world slowed for the two of them.
Thanks to holding it at the end, rather than near the middle, Jaune could change the angle of the thrust easily while making it difficult to predict the exact angle of thrust. But even through the bodysuit, Pyrrha could read the angle of his shifting body just enough to let sparks fly as his spear tore past Akouo's curved surface as she guarded her left hip.
Milo fired up to deflect up the following thrust from Jaune's left hand spear, the weapon barely grazing against her cheek as it pulled up from the intended shoulder. Though his spears crossed over each other, his arms did not tangle. Even with Polarity attempting to guide the weapon away, it was difficult to fight against the deceptively strong physical strength from his smaller form.
Jaune's following flying knee was blocked by the tip of her rifle flicking back downward, the leg straightening up into the air to kick Milo back up in that same moment just before the trigger could be pulled to fire the shot into his joint, rather firing up uselessly into the air.
Akouo rose immediately to block the following descending axe kick, letting the momentum of the kick and Jaune's Jump Tech together carry past, sending him flying up and over her body.
Both spears lashed out, digging into the sparring arena, slowing his momentum as he slid to a stop.
It was like time sped up back to normal as she raised Milo.
Naturally she took the opportunity to fire three follow up shots, watching as Jaune casually leaned past two of them (almost drunkenly) like a reed in the wind and flicked his right hand spear up with his foot to let the third round crash into the tip of his spear, splitting itself in the air.
He grinned at her as if to say that she'd have to get close and personal to fight him properly.
Pyrrha laughed, as Milo spun up and over her shoulder into its javelin configuration.
That suited her just fine.
Five shots left.
Milo rang out as it fired forwards with Recoil Tech, turning into a rocket as she leapt after it with Akouo held in front of her like a battering ram. Four shots remaining.
Using her shield to pull herself towards her weapon as she forced her greaves to fling her forward she was able to gain intense momentum, uncontrolled almost, if she didn't have Polarity to gain stability.
Jaune casually deflected her javelin throw, crossing his spears, the weapons groaning as he caught her attack head on, blocking her cannon charge. But Jaune was too sturdy, letting her use him as a vaulting platform, her arms twisting as she spun like an uncoiling spring. Akouo detached from her vambrace as she flew up into the air to catch Milo.
The shield landed 'conveniently' curve side down.
Pyrrha usually didn't get to be this acrobatic after growing to her height (being significantly taller than the majority of Mistralian girls AND boys), but something about fighting Jaune always let her get a bit nostalgic like this due to his high conditioning and strength. Despite his shorter form he was physically stronger than her, even though she could move slightly faster than him using Polarity to 'puppet' her own legs through her greaves.
Using him as a platform for acrobatics like this always made her feel like she was twelve years old again and being smaller and lighter than her opponents, leveraging that aerial mobility for every advantage she could get.
Milo rang out again, as if singing in her hands, as she launched it down at Jaune. Three shots left.
Even at that insane thrusting speed and their short distance apart, a mere two meters at most, Jaune merely twisted to the side, reading her perfectly as he let the weapon embed into the ground.
Pyrrha twisted, her vambrace sparking as she deflected a thrust from Jaune's right, bringing her right leg up to block a pincering swing, feeling her bones shudder. Both spears, like a pair of chopsticks for giants, slammed downwards, attempting to throw her into the ground.
Her right arm lashed out, the forearm slamming the second spear away, assisted by Polarity, and using Jaune's own downswing momentum the heel of her right dress shoe slammed down on the edge of her Akouo on the ground. Polarity exacerbated the motion and force (though it had been almost unnecessary with the amount of force Jaune provided) as the shield flipped up to his chin, the spinning edge threatening to.
He let go of his spears in turn as he leaned back, using a single arm to block her follow up roundhouse kick, leaning back to sway under the follow up sidekick she chained in. Pyrrha, twisted her other foot into the ground, letting Polarity give her the anchoring required to fling herself forwards.
Jaune's torso also whipped forward, both of their left shoulders meeting in a shoulder tackle. Jaune held his own against her taller form, but her free arm rose to snatch Akouo falling from the air, swinging it like a circular chakram blade. The diagonal swing missed, though it grazed his rabbit ears, tearing a ribbon loose, as Jaune let a foot reach back.
He wouldn't.
With all the flexibility of a contortionist, Milo swung around, somehow sticking to the bottom of his foot (He DID the little cheeky monkey!) as Jaune spun like he was figure skating on land. There were two spins to force her back, a second backstep required as he let his foot travel down to the butt of her weapon, where it stuck again with whatever strange Aura technique Jaune had developed, extending the swing on the second spin.
He returned lazily to an upright stance, as if the spinning hadn't been an issue for his sense of balance, his foot flicking up to bring Milo into his hand, spinning her weapon around showily, spinning it in circles all around his body before letting it rest on his shoulder. Pyrrha narrowed her eyes, her tongue flickering against her lips in anticipation for the next step.
A new steel spear appeared in his left hand.
The cheat.
Still Pyrrha just silently shifted her right foot to one of Jaune's dropped twin spears, rolling the dress shoe on her feet up and under the weapon, popping it up into the air and into her hand.
Oof, it was heavy, but with Polarity in conjugation to her motion, she could effectively handle it as if it only weighed as much as her usual weapon, even if it was a decent bit longer. The difference in balance was the bigger concern, in all honesty, over the weight.
Akouo rose to block a shot from the base of the spear, no Recoil Tech, as Jaune just free aimed with the bottom of the weapon pointed at her, two shots left, knowing where her hidden trigger was located by the head of the spearhead from their previous spars. Usually she manipulated it with her Semblance, but she'd been best friends with Jaune long enough that he knew her weapon, an extension of her body, as well as she did.
Her right foot popped up Jaune's second abandoned spear as her right arm, enhanced with Polarity, to HURL the weapon currently in her hands like a railgun bolt at Jaune with maximum power. He still dodged it, even though he leaned HEAVILY to dodge the throw, he looked surprised at how much force she'd used.
The more her Polarity could affect, the more output she could bring on short notice. That was a secret she'd been keeping under the hat. Not simply mass alone, but it seemed faintly variable based on how much of an area an object covered in general. If something had been connected to a network of wires, for example, if the wires could be magnetized, it could cause her output to amplify massively.
Her right hand grabbed the kicked up spear in an underhand, thrusting forwards as Jaune met it with his own steel spear, rolling the shaft alongside her own as he attempted a disarming maneuver. The attempt to tear the weapon from her grip was negated by Polarity. It might have worked if it was her smaller Milo, but his spears were simply big enough that she could apply more force to it, though that meant less fine control.
Akouo rose deflecting a thrust from Jaune's right, Milo rolling back around his arm and neck as his left hand rose to knock the shield up, flicking his hand towards himself to hammer at her side with the base of his steel spear. Her own stolen spear came up to parry, spinning in place to build centrifugal force, Akouo's edge thrusting forward, seeking to crash against Jaune's chin, only to be blocked by Milo's shaft as it finished revolving around his neck.
Pyrrha leapt back to ride the momentum of a spartan kick, twisting as his right hand flew back to Milo, pulling the trigger to fire a round at her left leg that she turned, assisted by Polarity, to only let the shot harmlessly ricochet off the side of her greaves.
One shot left.
His hand slid down, sneakily hitting the mechanism to retract the barrel, pulling Milo into its xiphos sword at an angle she couldn't spot the receding barrel, faking her out as her weapon thrust at her, expecting the reach to be as normal, raising her shield faintly too early as he instead thrust down at her gut.
Her Aura was grazed as she twisted, feeling the air fill with the scent of earth and yarrow root, her right arm thrust, letting go to sneak in a knife hand thrust as his gaze was drawn to her weapon, the edge of her thumb grazing Jaune's cheek, the scent of juniper berries lingering against her gloved hands.
Pyrrha let the momentum carry to hook her arm around the back of his neck, bringing him in towards a rising right knee as she'd stepped forward with her right in her thrust. But Jaune's left hand spear swung dangerously, forcing Pyrrha to adjust, using the armor of her greaves as a shield to block the solid steel haft, the force of the momentum carrying her back in the air. Jaune spun, tucking in his head to prevent her from grappling, her fingers almost weaving into his hair as they attempted to grab his golden locks.
That failed attempt to extend the grapple, however, bought time enough for Jaune to throw Milo, the xiphos extending into a javelin as it flung forwards in the air in a thrust that slyly turned into the same underhand throw she'd surprised him with moments prior.
Pyrrha spun, her hand reaching out to grab the shaft of her weapon, the haft hot from the Recoil Tech throw. The weapon spun around her back and over her head, air cooling her weapon. Polarity let the magazine unload as her spear swept a final circle overhead, flinging it forwards at Jaune. His foot raised, blocking with the spear she'd just dropped, the steel spear flicking back into his grip shortly afterwards.
Her left hand snaked quickly to pull a new magazine from the belt of ammunition hidden under her suit's tailcoat, her breath short but controlled, as she reloaded.
This was so much fun!
"Hey! Hey!" Weiss watched blankly as she heard Jaune's Class President (Neptune Vasilias, he said?) call out to the two who were clearly just lost in their battle, throwing themselves at each other once more. "That's enough, you two! We have enough footage!"
He was handsome, but it was somewhat ruined by the fact he was still wearing a maid outfit and make up that attempted to make him appear more feminine, but clashed a bit against his features. Unlike Jaune, he was still too masculine to pull it off properly.
Her gaze trailed down at his legs.
He had nice legs, though. Hmmmm.
She shook her head, now wasn't the time for such thoughts! Plus he had a girl hanging off his side, clearly taken. Weiss had little intent on trying to ruin another's happiness simply because of passing interest.
"Are they normally this aggressive?" She turned to inquire Ren, Jaune's adopted brother. As she was one of Jaune's friends, he treated her kindly, though they still weren't particularly close.
And it seemed at some point of recent note, that he'd finally gotten together with Nora, their adopted sister, judging from how they were holding hands rather intimately.
"There's a reason that if they're forced to fight for Combat Class, they'll go just before final bell." Ren shrugged at her, confirming the 'normality' of this situation. "Since it's just sparring they both end up holding back hits for training purposes so that they can extend the fight as long as possible."
Weiss didn't think that they understood exactly what was happening, having simply become accustomed to it as the norm and biased by such.
If anything the two of them looked as if they were more or less swinging at each other with everything they had. Maybe they were holding some trump cards even now, sure, but it seemed rather that they were simply rolling against any blows they took to minimize impact as much as possible. Of course they could both have tried to brute force openings here and there, but they seemed to be looking only to find holes in each other's stances.
Rather they seemed to be mirroring each other in some way, even as Pyrrha used a spear/sword and shield and Jaune used two spears. Weiss knew he was ambidextrous, but honestly this display was impressive, as he'd truly developed a proper dual wielding style (no easy feat), rather than using one weapon as a less effective shield.
Maybe it was even because they mirrored each other so much, their combat style dyed in the other's colors, that they were able to go absolutely all out and still struggle to decisively strike each other.
There was such a thing as knowing an opponent too well, and she was witnessing the results of that in front of her eyes.
"Yeah, Jauney's got more stamina and Aura, so if we let them duke it out, he'll out time Pyrs." Nora nodded, her head happily wiggling from side to side, as her shoulder rubbed against Ren's arm, just short of the shoulder. "But outside of Jauney's super bunny hops, Pyrrha's faster overall in short sprints. Plus, sometimes she improves in the middle of the fight enough to hit Jauney with something just new enough that he concedes so they can both talk about it and do post-fight analysis."
Well that last part certainly sounded like Jaune being an intellectual (despite his occasional scatterbrained airheadedness), and something a Champion fighter at the top of her field like Pyrrha would do.
"So this is just them experimenting with their fighting?"
"I think? Jauney's mind is like waaaaaay up here." Nora reached up with her free hand, tiptoeing as Ren lent her some stability as the orangette popped her foot behind her. "So I don' get what he's thinking most of the time."
Weiss saw Jaune laugh as he spun a metal spear in each hand like it was nearly weightless, deflecting shots as he closed in, Pyrrha engaging in melee as the two flashily spun, parried, thrust, slashed. While Jaune's attacks were primarily utilitarian, tending to lean to strong blows meant to debilitate, Pyrrha's were rooted in showmanship. She spun and drew the eye as she flitted around Jaune's form, seeking openings and trying to create her own.
Like they were dancing. It was honestly beautiful in a way, even if something about it made her faintly uncomfortable.
She still wanted to spar against Pyrrha (though she had been expecting the possibility of loss from the beginning, only being further cemented by the display she was witnessing) but she hadn't expected Jaune to be holding his own against her this well.
There was a limit to how talented a single person should be! Weiss had been told he was a frequent sparring partner of Pyrrha's, but not like THIS!
"Still we're going to be standing here forever if it goes on like this." Weiss frowned. "I still haven't even got to see Sanctum at all yet. If I go off alone, I'll be in trouble."
"We can go with you, if that helps." Ren offered kindly. Goodness really, all the Arcs were rather sweet. "We could pass along that Jaune had to deal with something personal."
"That's kind of you." Weiss smiled, "But my father is… exacting. That won't be quite acceptable to him."
She turned to look at Jaune seeing that in the middle of his fight he'd turned in her direction.
Oh, that was convenient. She could already see his gaze faintly flicker at her, meeting her eyes briefly. He just couldn't help himself, could he? Still managed to deflect a slash and counter a kick with one of his own, though, as he turned to appreciate her form.
Weiss brought up a dainty hand, brushing the back against the length of her neck, flicking her side ponytail in the air with a smile. And winked.
Pyrrha clocked him in the jaw at the opening with the edge of her shield, sending him flying to the side as he froze, tumbling as his heels flew up as he flipped from the impact.
"Oops?" Weiss winced.
She heard Ren facepalm as Nora burst out into laughter.
"I-In my defense, he shouldn't let himself get distracted so easily in a fight!" Weiss felt herself flush a bit as she quickly walked forward, feeling a bit guilty. She'd just been trying to catch his attention to remind him that she still needed attending to, not to send him PHYSICALLY head over heels!
Weiss could see Pyrrha offer a hand to pull him up, looking a bit confused as her chest heaved with deep breaths. Honestly her penpal was… healthy. Yes, that was the word. She was very healthy, so that honestly she was a bit surprised at how well her suit had helped her appear more modest.
Not as… modest… as Weiss herself, but she was still growing, so she'd probably be fine. Neither her sister Winter or Willow were very large, but they were respectable in that aspect. Despite being the daintiest of the three of them, she'd catch up. Yes.
"I thought you'd dodge that one." Weiss heard Pyrrha pant as she pulled Jaune up. "I was ready to follow up."
"Yeah, I thought so too." Jaune let out a dry chuckle as he rubbed his jaw. "Good swing either way."
"That was quite the exemplary match." Weiss smiled, thankful that Jaune hadn't pointed out that she'd accidentally distracted him just a bit too much. "Truly you two are some of the best Sanctum has to offer."
"Pyrrha's actually probably going to be Valedictorian this year again." Jaune complimented with a grin, getting Pyrrha to flush in embarrassment (and that was surprising, actually, considering Jaune was in her year) and punch his shoulder.
"Only because you don't care about perfect grades." She argued, "You only care to aim for perfect scores on Maths and Sciences."
"More because I couldn't fail those if I tried." Jaune shrugged, "Only classes I care about much are stuff directly for Huntsman fieldwork and a smattering of history and literature."
Weiss was actually a bit surprised to hear that, though. She knew Jaune was smart and tended to apply himself constantly in his work at Atlas and Menagerie. Hearing that he seemed to slack off in school seemed almost alien.
"Really? I'd have assumed you'd be top of the class, Jaune. You're usually so driven."
Jaune chuckled weakly, his right foot tapping the ground, really his tells could be so oddly easy if you knew him.
"I mean, in anything that directly impacts something I'm interested in, yeah. But I can't go full force at everything else. I'm more driven by my own interests rather than something arbitrary and abstract like a grade. It seems sort of unimportant compared to real life."
Still, she couldn't help but to smirk a bit.
"You seemed rather flat footed by a moment of interest, though, Jaune."
"Urk!" Jaune flinched, getting an odd look of confusion from Pyrrha. "Th-that wasn't fair. I wasn't prepared for that!"
"Hmmmmm~" Weiss hummed knowingly. She knew she shouldn't really tease Jaune like this, but his reactions were always a bit of a good confidence boost.
Not that Weiss didn't know that she was pretty and needed people to compliment her, but in some ways actions truly were worth a thousand words. And Jaune's reactions to her beauty was always so genuine that it did bring an actual smile to her face.
"Regardless, now that the spar has ended, I'll need to be escorted about Sanctum before being taken to my hotel."
"Oh!" Jaune nodded, getting the hint. "Yeah, that's right huh? Eyes everywhere. Sorry 'bout that Weiss, Pyrrha and I both needed some stress relief after today, right Pyr?"
"Yes, honestly. Usually any staring like that is done at… much more of a distance." Pyrrha nodded. "Thanks to my parents I'm usually able to keep all of that attention at a bit of a distance, even at the Circuit, but Spring Festivals always tend to be a bit trying."
"It's only natural that they'd look up to the Four Time Champion, Pyrrha." Weiss chuckled, "Even if that seems excessive, you're acting as an inspiration for a lot of people. That's hope, considerably valuable for a Huntress to be able to bring by mere presence alone."
Still, Weiss was aware that both Jaune and Pyrrha both were the humble sort, as the taller girl gave a wan smile.
"Even so, I'd like to be treated as a person and not some sort of icon." Pyrrha let out a soft laugh.
"Or at least for people to not decide they know what kind of person you are before they approach you." Jaune nodded in agreement. "The amount of people that thought I'd be like some sort of eccentric mad genius from a comic or television show is asTONISHING."
"Or those that think I'd have some sort of disdain towards Faunus because of my father's policies, despite publically dating Jaune." Weiss pitched in, venting her own grievance as the three young celebrities began to air their frustrations to one another, laughing and ribbing at each other as they lost themselves in conversation.
This was what friendship was like. Real friendship and not the fake surface level veneer of lies she'd become used to in high societal events.
Although she'd never been able to get along very well with Yang (who'd clearly not even understood she herself had even liked Jaune until, what, a year or two ago?) and Blake Belladonna (they just didn't have very compatible personalities to hit it off with such few meetings), Weiss found that she clicked well enough with the rest of Jaune's friend group.
Still that was different from being able to make friends with peers that suffered more similar struggles such as Pyrrha Nikkos and Jaune himself.
…this was nice.