-Your Pov-

You smiled as you sat on the couch with Juane playing video games. The two of you are going to be going to Beacon in a few weeks, and so moments like this when you can just sit back and relax are all too rare. With all the training you've been doing, you'd been slowly drifting apart, and so you took this time to reconnect with him. It was nice to just play video games with him, and be a kid for a little bit longer, which you knew would soon go away when you went to Beacon, and entered the world of huntsman and huntresses. Your entire family was from a long line of them, and so you had known all too well the dangers of it. For every award presentation you went to with a family member, you went to a funeral along with them.

Pushing those dark thoughts aside for a moment, you returned to focusing on the game. As per usual, you were winning, Jaune getting more and more determined, and then just started to button mash, allowing yourself to win easily. He let out a defeated sigh, and then put down the video game controller. " I always lose," he says helplessly. " I don't get why you're so good at this game."

" Better luck next time," you tell him playfully, and the two of you laugh and chuckle. You look down at the clock, and then see it's almost midnight, and so you turn to him. " Wanna do one more game?" He nods, and then says to you determined that he's going to win this one, and so you accept his challenge, and give your full attention to the screen.

" And now, the record is 3,405-0," you tell him after a few minutes, and another flawless victory for you. He hangs his head in defeat, and then you pat him on the shoulder. " You'll beat me at something one day bro," you assure him, before heading into your room to sleep for the night.

Honestly, you had forgotten when it was you started competing with Jaune, or even how it had started. You were pretty sure it had been him who wanted to compete, and so you had just gone with it, seeing nothing to lose. You hadn't expected to have a perfect win-loss record like you did, but you never turned away a friendly challenge like with your brother. But, no matter what it was, Jaune just never seemed to be able to win. Whether it was grades, combat, or even something like video games, you beat him each and every time.

It wasn't a source of pride to you that you beat your brother at everything. In fact, sometimes it made you feel like the biggest jerk in the world when he would take happily about how ready he was to win, only to quickly lose whatever that competition had been. However, Jaune bounced back each and every time and was always ready to try again tomorrow. You always admired your brother's tenacity, and honest hardworking spirit. Whenever you tried to take it easy on him for the sake of letting him win, he always knew and insisted you tried your best, otherwise it would mean his win didn't count. And so, he pressed on, despite having lost all of your competitions. And yes, there had in deed been 3,405 of them. Jaune turned everything he could into a competition, even things like eating breakfast. No matter how it came, he wanted a win, and no matter what it was, it was always denied to him.

Keeping your winning streak wasn't something you worked hard to do. It just came naturally. If you lost to Jaune, you would be fine with it, and even be proud of him if he beat you at something like combat. And when he did win, you knew how happy it would make him, and you would make sure he was able to be happy. The only thing you did was give it your best effort like he wanted you to. Winning and losing never really mattered to you, but you knew how mad he would get if you gave him a win he didn't deserve.

-Timeskip your pov-

You stood with Jaune on the bullhead, your stomach in turmoil.  However, he was doubled over in pain. " This has actually been the dumbest competition you have ever come up with," you tell him. " Why the hell would you want to see who has a better time on an airship without motion sickness pills?"

He holds up a finger, and then runs through the ship, puking his guts out. " 3,406-0," you muttered to yourself, before popping the motion sickness pill into your mouth, feeling satisfied in having won that one. When the airship lands, you walk out, and then begin to stretch. You would wait for Jaune, but you know how long it takes him to stop puking his guts out once he gets started.

As you walk ahead, you begin to think to yourself, when you bump into someone. Coming back to reality, you can't help but feel embarrassed when you realize who you ran into. Pyhrra Nikos! " I'm so sorry," you said to her, as you helped her pick up her belongings. " I didn't mean to....that was so stupid of me," you eventually trailed off.

" It's alright," she says as she accepts the things you've handed to her. You consider asking for her autograph, but you figure that would be rude. And so, you stand around awkwardly, rubbing the back of your head. " Do you know where the auditorium is," she asks eventually.

" Uh, yeah," you tell her, pulling out the map of Beacon you had picked up. The two of you begin to walk down to the auditorium, making awkward small talk along the way. When you get there, you tell her that you see your brother, and then walk down with him to listen to the speech given by Ozpin.

When it ends, you head into the ballroom with him, and then he starts to complain as he realizes that your mom packed him the bunny pajamas, while she packed you just casual night clothes. " 3,407 to zero," he groans, which makes you chuckle a little bit, before sitting down to read for the night.

The next morning, you make your way with him down to the locker room. As you reach in to grab your battleaxe, he groans about the locker number his gear is apparently in, before he stops when he sees that you were able to find everything. " No," he cries jokingly. " 3,408 to zero."

You chuckle at this, and then your laugh goes away when you see Jaune hitting on Weiss, while Pyhrra does her best to defend him. Is she making eyes at your brother? You try to tell yourself it isn't possible. Not to be mean, but your brother was well....your brother. Many girls had been put off by how awkward he was at times, and you hadn't expected Pyhrra to be different.

-Timeskip your pov-

You sit with Jaune and Pyhrra in the library, and there's this itch in the back of your throat. She's helping him study, but you can't help but notice how much she likes him. Dense as ever, your brother has managed to miss all of those cues. He just thought it was Pyhrra being friendly to him, even though she spent pretty much every moment of her free time helping with something or another. For whatever reason, he was so far behind in everything. 

It wasn't that you were jealous of all the time he spent with her. Nothing like that at all. It wasn't like you were jealous she hung on his every word, and that when you were in the room, you couldn't get her attention at all, not if Jaune were there. These weren't things that bothered you, nope. Just things you were painfully aware of.

There had been an odd number of students this year, so they had placed you on a team with your brother to look out for him. And so, you had probably spent as much time with Pyhrra as Jaune did. In that time, you had developed a huge crush on the girl, how humble and down to earth she was, how kind, smart, and how she could be funny in her own way.

" Are you listening," says Jaune, snapping you out of your daydream. You shake your head that you hadn't been, and he sighs. " Pyhrra and I are done with this for the night. She's going to train me on the roof. We might be back late, so please tell Nora and Ren to eat dinner without us."

Nodding, you head back to the dorm, and try to focus on playing a video game with Nora. However, you keep losing to her, distracted by something. " Are you alright," asks Ren. " Normally, you win at this every time."

" Oh, uh it's nothing," you say, which it is. You have no idea what's been bothering you so much, why it feels like your chest is going to crack right open. " I just am tired or something. Do you guys wanna go out to eat," you ask, changing the subject.

-Timeskip your pov-

The dance for Beacon was coming up, and you were sitting with Pyhrra watching the ocean go back and forth. Jaune was making up a test, and the two of you took this time to relax together as you waited for him to finish. " Hey," you ask Pyhrra eventually, breaking the silence. " That dance that's coming up....if you're not going with anyone, do you wanna go with me?"

A long silence fills the air, and you blink your eyes rapidly, silently trying to fight the tears off. You know exactly what to expect, you always do when that much silence fills the air. Whenever it takes a girl that long to answer, you know right away what's going to come next. " I'm sorry," she says, and you nod, having known it was coming. " It isn't you. You're a great guy, and I know you're going to make someone really happy one day. But, there's someone else I wanted to ask to the dance, and it isn't fair to either of us if I go with you knowing that."

" Jaune," you ask, knowing it is, but needing the confirmation for the both of you. And she nods, and you manage a small smile, and a sad chuckle. " Well, good luck then," you say, turning to leave. When you think you're out of sight, you break into a sprint, just needing to go somewhere other than Beacon. You don't want anyone to talk with you right now, and so you turn off your scroll.

Eventually you take deep breaths before walking back into Beacon, and then going into the JNPR dorm. Jaune sits sadly at the desk, and recounts the story to Ren and Nora of how Weiss rejected his offer to go to the dance with him. He asks Ren and Nora how they ended up as a couple, and you manage to chuckle as the both of them try to deny it.

" Just be yourself," says Pyhrra. " No cheap tricks, or anything like that. Just be who you are." he smiles at her, and then leaves to do just that. You look at Pyhrra, seeing the sadness on her face. You're tempted to joke with her, and say your brother can be an idiot from time to time, but you doubt that will make her feel better, and you probably couldn't even finish the sentence without losing control of your voice and crying again. And so, you decide to one thing for the girl you realized you fell in love with, and you pull out your scroll.

You: Hey Jaune.

Jaune: Hey. What is it? I'm about to ask Weiss to the dance again.

You: It's about that actually.

Jaune: Ooh. Is it a pep talk? I could use one of your brotherly pep talks. 

You: How about one of my brotherly reality checks? You and Weiss isn't going to happen.

Jaune: Wow, cynic much?

You: More of a realist myself. It isn't going to happen. So, just give up. There are people who care about you, and would love to go to the dance with you.

Jaune: Like who?

You: You can't tell her I said anything.

Jaune: Okay.

You: I mean it.

Jaune: I said okay.

You: Pyhrra has the biggest crush on you. She told me she wanted you to ask her to the dance.

You're glad the conversation is by text, as a large lump sits in your throat, and your vision of the screen is blurred by your tears.

Jaune: Really?!

You: Yeah.

Jaune: Thank you so much for telling me this (y/n). I'm going to ask her to the dance! She and I will have a great time.

You: Yeah.

With that, you put your scroll away, and curled up into a ball of sadness, and quickly drifted off to sleep. For the rest of the week, you sat in a bit of a depressive funk, and got in a lot of trouble for not paying attention in class. However, you were too hurt to focus on much of anything, and so it didn't bother you much.

The night of the dance, you sat with Jaune. He was fully dressed and ready to go with Pyhrra, and she was getting ready with Nora. The two of you were playing video games, while you sat in your pajamas. " Thanks so much for telling me about Pyhrra," he says again, and not for the first time. " I don't think I told you, but she and I are dating now, and it's all because you told me. So, thanks."

You didn't answer him, and focused on the game, beating him easily again. " 3,498 to zero," you tell him, not angrily, but as an observation. Ever since he and Pyhrra became a thing, you started taking the competitions more seriously, wanting so badly to win at something regardless of what it was.

Eventually, Pyhrra comes out of the bathroom, fully dressed. You take the time to tell her she looks good, and she thanks you, while giving you a small, sad, and knowing smile. She mouths her thanks to you again, as Jaune slinks his arm around her. " Are you sure you aren't gonna go," asks Jaune. " They're still selling tickets, and it'd be fun."

" Couldn't get a date," you tell him, and Pyhrra looks at you apologetically. However, Jaune misses it, and then gets really happy.

" If I got a date and you didn't, then it means I finally beat you at something," he says happily, oblivious to Pyhrra signaling to him to stop. " That means....3,489 to one," he says happily, before leaving with Pyhrra. You slump down to the ground, and smirk sadly, your wins not feeling so impressive considering he beat you at the only thing you wanted to win.

" Better luck tomorrow," you whisper to yourself, what you always said to Jaune when you won at something. " Better luck tomorrow," you say again as the tears begin to spill.

( let me know what you thought. I wanted to detonate another angst nuke as I wait for Sam to finish school.)