- - -
Pyrrha Nikos had never been in love before. Not really. Oh she'd had crushes on boys from afar, admired a few of her male opponents, but this... This was different. She knew it deep down inside. Jaune liked her. Not the image of her, not her accomplishments, her. She in turn saw he was a good man, noble, brave, and kind.
It may have been her first love, but she knew what it was. It was not just eros, as her Hellenic forebears described it. They had fought together, laughed together, and sang together. It was deeper. It could be agape, true and unconditional love.
Not that Pyrrha wanted it to be agape only, of course! She wanted the eros part just as badly!
Therein lay the problem though: Jaune Arc was a desirable man. On Remnant, over fifty percent of the population was female, as males died with more frequency than females. This meant competition was harsh for such men.
Already, Pyrrha knew her opponents. This was an arena she couldn't simply bash her way through, or Jaune would already be hers.
(She did feel a bit guilty over thinking of Jaune as a prize, but... It wasn't like she was going to put him into a cabinet somewhere! She would be his prize as well! Their love would be a constant reward! Filled with love, laughter, tears, children!)
Yang Xiao-Long had changed the nature of the game. Boldly, she had made her intentions clear by playing the domestic homemaker for Jaune! HA! Like that would last with how flighty the girl was.
Weiss Schnee too was a contender. Pyrrha had originally written her off, but no! The white haired heiress too saw something in Jaune worth fighting for!
Blake Belladonna? She didn't know what her intentions were, but the Faunus Princess could not be discounted.
Finally, Ruby Rose was trying to connect with Jaune too. He still saw her as a little sister, but her tenacity could not be denied!
These were just the women Pyrrha knew about! How many others saw Jaune as a prize worth fighting for?!
This was a fight she was ill prepared for. She needed time to improve her game: Time she didn't have. She needed more, she needed to compete and ensure Jaune knew she was worthy of consideration!
But how?
She pondered this carefully, seeing the romantic as a battlefield. As a great Mistralian philosopher once said, win the battle in your mind and heart and the rest will follow.
"Hmm..."
The only ones she could rely on were Nora and Ren, who were too obviously involved to be a threat. Yet she hesitated. They were also friends with her competitors. She was their friend as well, she supposed, yet they were still in competition.
What did Pyrrha Nikos do better than they did in the arena of romantic combat?
"Hmmm..."
"Pyrrha?"
"Ah!" Pyrrha gasped, shaken from her meditation on her bed. She looked up at the object of her desires, standing in front of her in his usual get up. He smiled.
"Sorry, didn't mean t' interrupt yer musings," he said gently. Pyrrha shook her head.
"No... It's fine," she said, "Did you need something?"
"Well, I was hoping you would be free to train today," Jaune said with a smile.
Pyrrha smiled back, though inwardly she remained depressed. Certainly, she and Jaune trained extensively. He was a quick learner and she was glad to be his mentor. Yet it all remained so very platonic...
"I am, Jaune," Pyrrha said with a nod. Jaune sighed.
"Thank you for putting in so much effort. I know I ain't where I need to be, but your patience is amazing. Especially since I ain't helping you any."
"It's a pleasure to train with you, Jaune," Pyrrha replied with a smile. It was not a lie: Teaching Jaune gave her insight into her own combat forms, and his sheer grit and determination meant he had to be innovative. He hadn't beaten her, yet, but his tactical know how meant he could if he had the right tools...
An idea crystallized in her mind in a single, perfect moment. As though the gods had blessed her with insight. She smiled up at Jaune.
"Actually. There is a way you could help me," she said carefully, keeping her excitement under tight control.
Jaune raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
- - -
Some time later, outside, Pyrrha and Jaune circled one another. She had Milo and Akuo out, and her keen eyes were locked onto Jaune. Jaune for his part had his trusty revolver in one hand, and his rope in the other.
Pyrrha charged, crossing the distance in next to no time to swung Milo for Jaune's head. He ducked and fired, blasting up a huge dust cloud with his powerful Blast Dust bullet.
In that brief moment, between the noise, the dust, and the shockwave, Pyrrha was stunned.
She felt rope wrap around her legs and yank her off her feet. She slammed into the ground with a grunt, and felt Jaune pounce on her. She struggled and thrashed, but his hands were too fast and her arms were bound.
The dust cleared... And Pyrrha Nikos, the Invincible Girl, was tied up and lying on the ground.
She grinned giddily into the dirt, before she looked up with a smile.
"V-Very good, Jaune!" She complimented him. "I can't sense the rope with Polarity at all!"
Jaune sighed, and nodded. He tipped his hat up as he looked at her thoughtfully.
"That's true Pyrrha. But you can still summon yer weapons with yer Semblance. Or lock onto the metal on me to use against me. Even that window of stunning you is short enough you could fight me off if we weren't training."
"No, but now we know how someone could bring me down," Pyrrha said eagerly, "And that's one step closer to figuring out how to counter it. You also shouldn't sell yourself short: I'm sure if we were in a real fight, you could figure out how to get around that, too."
Jaune smiled warmly.
"Shucks... Thanks, Pyrrha. I-I have some ideas. They'll be good counters if anyone else figures you out."
"They will," Pyrrha said demurely. She beamed up at him, her cheeks bright red. "Thank you... It's been a-a very long time since anyone made me feel... Vulnerable."
"Er, well," Jaune winced, "I'm awful sorry-"
"Don't be," Pyrrha said, "This is to help me get stronger and... And I trust you."
She blushed and looked aside. Yet a coy look came to her face.
"You could take advantage of me right now... And I couldn't do a thing to stop it," she said softly.
Jaune knelt down, and tugged her up into a hug. He shook his head, his face deadly serious.
"I would never do such a thing, Pyrrha. I swear," he stated firmly.
Pyrrha mustered all of her courage.
"... I... I know. Though um... I-I might not mind if... Um..."
Jaune gaped. His face turned as red as the setting sun. Pyrrha blushed deeply, and couldn't meet his eyes. Yet she could feel his heartbeat race, and that was very gratifying.
"Um... S-Sorry if that's a bit forward, but... I um..."
Hooves thundered on the ground. A familiar chestnut mare charged into view, grabbed onto Jaune's poncho with her teeth and yanked him away.
"ACK! HEY! ORLEANS! ORLEAAANNNNSSS!"
Pyrrha used brute strength to bust out of the ropes, and stood up. She glared after the galloping horse, who was absconding with Jaune. The horse shot her a side along glare back.
She had forgotten another rival. How sloppy of her.
She'd have to correct that.
In a way that didn't upset Jaune, of course.
- - -
Shyft Inspired this so I decided to give it a shot. Hope you enjoyed.