{Third Person POV}
Jaune let go of Mordred before walking to the weapons rack.
"Have I told you how much I love you, Mordred?" He smiled broadly and turned his head toward her.
Mordred sighed while rubbing her ass. "Yeah... you don't need to tell me, Jaune... and do you really need to jump on me like that? It hurts, dumbass."
"Well... it's not every day that I get to jump on you." Jaune hummed as he picked up a sword.
He felt its weight and realized it was much heavier than what he was used to. It wasn't much of a surprise, considering he usually trained with a wooden sword rather than a steel practice sword.
"Is this... safe?" Jaune asked Mordred while running a finger along the blunt blade.
Even though the blade was blunt, it was still steel. It could break bones if you hit someone hard enough, especially with Aura-enhanced strength.
"Of course it's not safe, dumb-dumb. It's not a wooden sword," she said, looking at him like he was an idiot before taking a deep breath. "There's a reason Dad only trained that cold bitch and me with steel. It's because we're old enough to know better and take it seriously."
"Jaune... do you ever hate Dad for what he did?"
The question caught Jaune by surprise, but he quickly composed himself. He hummed as he thought, testing the sword by twirling it in one hand.
"Hate him? ...Sometimes. But never for long, because I know that, as much as it hurt me for him to do that... he thought it was the best choice for me." He tossed the sword into the air and caught it.
".....You're really weird sometimes, Jaune. You're just so... mature, especially for a nine-year-old..." She shook her hand, then walked over and caught his sword when he tossed it again.
"And stop playing with this shit. I don't want it to hit your head and make you lose more brain cells. We both know you only have two left in that brain of yours." She smirked and rested the sword on her shoulder.
"Are we fighting or what? Because I've been waiting for this day for years, you know? It's fucking annoying holding back." She walked to the middle of the cave. "Come on, don't be a slowpoke."
Jaune looked at her for a few seconds before chuckling and shaking his head. "You're unbelievable, Mordred." He picked up a longer sword and walked toward her.
Mordred raised her eyebrows, not expecting him to choose a longer blade. "Thought you'd pick a shorter one, with your dancing style or whatever the fuck it's called." She compared him to the sword. Even though it was a normal-length sword, it was made for adults, and compared to his size it was practically between a bastard sword and a slightly shorter longsword.
"It would make more sense if I picked a shorter sword, but this one feels better in my hand. I don't know why, but it feels familiar, like I've used one this size before." He shrugged before standing in a relaxed stance, his sword at his side and pointed downward.
"Déjà vu?" she asked, holding her sword in front of her and close to her hips, with the tip pointed toward Jaune.
"...Yeah. Déjà vu." Jaune took a deep breath and activated his Aura, already feeling his senses sharpen and his strength rise. "Any rules?"
Mordred smirked, shook her head, and activated her Aura. "Rules? Fuck that. I want to go all out. This shit is two years in the making. You can use that reinforcement of yours whenever you want."
Jaune nodded, but he planned not to use his Aura reinforcement yet because he needed to see how strong he was without it, like that night with the Grimm.
Without waiting for a signal, Mordred rushed at Jaune and thrust her sword at him.
'She's fast!' Jaune's eyes widened, but he calmed himself and knocked her blade aside with his own. 'I know she's been holding back against me, but I didn't know Aura made this much of a difference.'
"You're surprised, Jauney boy!" She flashed a wild smile and used the momentum from his deflection to spin into a swing aimed at him.
Jaune took one simple step back. Her blade missed by an inch, and he stepped in, swinging straight into her chest and knocking her back a few meters.
"Shit," Mordred cursed before launching at Jaune again, this time aiming her foot at his face.
Jaune smirked and used his footwork, turning to the side and catching her leg. "Gotcha!"
Mordred's eyes widened when she felt the pull. Jaune used her leg to slam her onto the ground.
'Shit, that hurt.'
She wasn't done. She used her other foot to stomp on Jaune's hand.
'That's going to hurt.' Jaune was forced to let go before she could keep stomping.
Mordred sprang up and swung her sword at him.
"Stop dodging!" she shouted as their blades clashed.
She swung downward, but Jaune stopped it halfway by driving an elbow into her stomach. Before she could react, he grabbed the hand she had taken off her sword and used it to spin her around like they were waltzing.
"Come on, Mordred. Let's dance." Jaune felt a smile pulling at his mouth as he released her hand, stepped in at her side, and struck her with his sword.
"Fuck off!" She rolled across the ground and smirked. "Then try this." Red electricity began to crackle over her body.
---
{Jaune's POV}
Semblance? Really? This is bad. Calm down, Jaune, and treat this like a dance. This is no different than fighting Mordred like usual, so you just need to move around her attacks.
She launched herself at me like she always does, so I stepped to her left because she usually attacks from her right. My eyes widened when she twisted her body and swung her sword straight at me anyway.
I brought up my sword and slid it against hers as she passed.
'She's changing her pattern. That's smart.' I closed my eyes and focused my Aura into my legs.
'But so can I.'
I launched myself at her, and her eyes widened. "You don't think I would rush straight in, right?" I shouted as I slammed my sword down at her.
She blocked, her knees shaking, and she smirked.
'This is bad.'
"You forgot about this, Jaune!" She used her Semblance and sent electricity into me.
My body started to lock up as the electricity coursed through me. 'I forgot about her Semblance. I've never fought her with it before.'
I closed my eyes and focused my Aura through my body to counteract it.
'Dad can tank this because of his Aura. If he can do it, then I can too.'
She shut her eyes when my Aura flared so brightly it flashed in her face. As soon as I could move again, I kicked her and sent her flying back.
I panted from the pain. "That's cheating, Mordred...."
To my surprise, she was panting too. "You're the one cheating, Jaune. Your attacks hurt like hell, you know? They take chunks out of my Aura."
My eyes widened. I could feel that my Aura was still around eighty percent, and most of what I had lost was from countering her Semblance.
I shook my head and refocused. "Well, if you're using Aura, then you can't blame me for using my reinforcement, right?"
She glared at me. "Don't you fucking dare hold back on me, Jaune." She launched at me again, and this time her sword was filled with red electricity as her Semblance surged through it.
I closed my eyes and repeated the process, forming the circuits and extending them through my whole body and into my sword.
When I opened my eyes, both my body and sword were reinforced, using as little reinforcement as I could while still maintaining it.
I watched her movement, and she looked slower than before against my reinforced body.
'It's like with the Grimm, but not as strong. She's still fast.'
I launched forward and intercepted her blade as we met in the middle.
With a sharp burst, our swords collided. For a moment it looked like a stalemate, but then my blade cut through hers and continued toward her chest. Her Aura surged to protect her, but the force still launched her into the cave wall.
The impact shattered her Aura after everything it had endured.
"Mordred!" I threw my sword aside and stopped using Aura reinforcement as I ran to her.
"Are you okay?" I slid next to her, grabbed her, and helped her sit up.
She weakly slapped my hand away and chuckled. "Fuck off, Jaune. I'm not a bitch."
I exhaled. "How bad is it?"
She groaned and held her chest. "At best, a couple bruises. At worst, some bruised ribs. Definitely bruises on my back. Shit, you hit hard."
"I... I'm sorry, Mordred. I-" She cut me off.
"Shut the fuck up and stop saying sorry, Jaune. I told you you could use that reinforcement Aura thing." She hummed and tried to stand. "Help me up, fuck face. I stashed a medkit behind the weapons rack."
I nodded, swung her arm over my shoulder, and guided her toward the rack.
"Here, let me do it for you." I gently helped her sit, grabbed the medkit, and opened it.
"Stop making that sorry-ass face. It's a fight. Of course one of us is going to get hurt." She pulled up her shirt.
I winced when I saw the bruising. "...But I shouldn't have gone that far." I opened the bruise cream and carefully applied it to her chest.
"If you didn't go this far, I'd be pissed, Jaune. You think I want an easy fight? Fuck off with that bullshit." She winced when I pressed too hard, but she kept her composure.
"And next time, I don't want you holding back because of this, okay? I don't want any pity win." She scowled, and all I could do was chuckle and nod.
"Okay... okay."
"And I want more bacon tomorrow."
"Okay."
"And a foot massage."
"Yes, Mordred."
They both started to laugh, and the tension in the cave eased.
"....Thank you, Mordred, really, for everything."
She scoffed and looked away. "You don't need to thank me, dumbass. I'm only doing this because I'm bored, and you look like a kicked puppy."
"Okay. I completely believe you."
He didn't believe her, but he still cared about what she'd done. She didn't have to train with him, but she did. She didn't have to lie to the others for him, but she did, and he couldn't ask for a better sister than her.
---
{????? POV}
This feeling is the same as his.....
my one and only....
my heart...
My King has returned.
[You could read up to 10 chapter ahead if you support me on patr30n. At patreon.com/Zaneninjacat]
Also gimme like a couple power stones.. i like seeing the numbers go up.