Beta Read by: Crescent Sunrise
'I am such a failure, how can I even show my face now? I might as well just drop out now.'
Such are the thoughts plaguing one May Zedong as she wraps her arms around her knees, curling against them as she hides from everyone. From her perch in a tree on the edge of Beacon's grounds she figures she'll be able to see anyone coming for a good ways away, not that she was currently looking really. Who would want to find her anyway? She would be sobbing but her tears had long since dried and her throat was torn from having spent the previous hours doing just that.
She was utterly mortified at her showing during the tournament. No doubt her team had little chance of victory while dealing with someone like Pyrrha Nikos, but she missed every single shot. She never even managed to nick the other team with her hands shaking so hard and nerves strained.
It wasn't the pressure of combat that had gotten to the girl as May could fight Grimm just fine. It was the crowd. All the people watching and judging her every move had her shy nature crumbling into a nervous mess as she struggled to line up a shot. The best she had managed was laying covering fire, and despite what her team said, she knew their poor showing was entirely her fault.
She had thought about dropping out before but hadn't wanted to leave her team alone without a fourth member and she refused to leave them in a lurch like that. She might not be the best but she could support them with everything she had. It's the only reason she hadn't turned in her paperwork to withdraw from the academy despite having it all filled out already.
She sniffles and wipes her face on her sleeve before finally moving from her fetal position as her scroll goes off. She ignored all the messages from her team but this chime was the default for unknown contacts. Opening it she can't see who the sender is as the information is blocked. But when she taps her finger on the attachment a strangled sound escapes her throat as she looks at a still image of her entire team right as they impacted the barrier of the arena when that girl with the hammer knocked them all out.
Her hands start shaking again as the scroll slips from nerveless fingers plummeting down to the ground as she girl fights to keep herself from falling back into the sobbing mess she only just started to pull herself out of.
It was then she heard a sound of surprise below her before the tree she's in shakes slightly causing her to lose her balance on her perch. Without time to reach out and stop her descent she slips from the branch and falls towards the ground rapidly. Her eyes closing as she drops.
'Couldn't get any worse.' Is the only thought that makes it through her head as she drops only to land far softer than she expected. She blinks her eyes open softly and her breath catches in her throat as her eyes land on the face of a beautiful girl with flowing golden hair and bright lilac eyes looking back at her questioningly.
'She's so beautiful…'
Yang was excited sure, her team won their round and so did JNPR. Soon she would be teaming up with Weiss to advance into the doubles round and with their momentum she wasn't too worried about winning that one as well. Hopefully if things kept going, team RWBY would take the whole tournament. That thought brought a grin to her face as she took her time walking around the edge of the festival grounds.
Alone for the moment after Ruby took all their weapons for cleaning and maintenance, Blake took the chance to escape being more social to retreat and read while Weiss did… who knows what. Maybe ogle Neptune again? That girl was developing a worrying fixation on the blue haired boy. Hopefully she wouldn't start stalking him or something.
So with hands tucked behind her head and a little too much energy in her to take a nap while it also being too early to head out to a club Yang decided to wander aimlessly along the edge of the festival looking for something interesting.
Unfortunately it didn't look like the fair goers were inclined on providing her with a cure to boredom and as it sets in she starts considering who she can go pester for a few hours amongst her friends.
'Maybe if I bother her enough I can get Blake to go clubbing tonight for some partner bonding?'
The thought makes her chuckle when she realizes just how unlikely it is that she would get the quiet cat faunus to willingly go with her into a packed crowd filled with thumping music and flashing lights.
It's during this wandering she pauses when she hears a little chime near her and blinks looking around. She didn't see anyone near by a moment ago but that sounded close. She only looks up when she hears someone above her and narrowly avoids getting brained by something falling. Her back hitting the tree next to her with more force than she meant but in her defense she really wasn't expecting something to nearly hit her head.
"Hey what the-" She starts looking up again only to see a girl falling out of the tree. Her arms reaching out on instinct to easily catch the light frame that falls into them.
'Oh wow, she's cute. Quick! Say something witty!'
"Did you fall from Heaven, or are you just happy to see me?" Yang grins cheekily.
'Smooooth Xiao Long.'
It only takes a moment after saying that to notice the signs of distress however. Red puffy eyes and tear stains on her cheeks are enough to tug hard on Yang's heart strings and immediately she feels a need to comfort the familiar looking girl she has cradled in her arms.
"Hey, are you alright?" She tries but the one eye the girl has visible is wide in shock as a blush starts spreading over her face.
'Ahhh man, she must be really embarrassed.' Yang considers before trying again making her voice softer as if trying to lure Ruby out from under her hood when they were kids.
"Are you hurt? That was quite the fall." She says. And it's true, for a normal person anyway. Someone with Aura could shrug it off easily but while the girl looked familiar Yang didn't want to assume.
Instead of getting the girl to speak though, Yang lifts her brow when the girl opens her mouth and all she can hear is a rough rasping sound followed by the girl making a face of discomfort and rubbing at her throat. Slowly Yang lowers the girl to her feet before bending down and grabbing the scroll that nearly brained her.
Thankfully it wasn't damaged but Yang did get a look at the screen before she tried to it back and the image there gave her more understanding than she ever wanted as to just why the girl was so upset.
Tapping the scroll in her palm for a moment Yang closes and pockets it. Ignoring the quiet sound of protest from the huntress in training next to her the blonde instead turns and smiles brightly taking the girls hand.
"Well! You can stand, and you know what that means?" Yang asks her grin widening as the pink haired girl in front of her widens her eye and glances around nervously before slowly shaking her head.
"It means that we're going to get you cleaned up and then we're going to do something patently irresponsible. I want to celebrate making a new friend and you look like you could do with a distraction." Yang states clearly as she starts dragging the distraught tree-girl towards the closest building. "I'm Yang by the way."
The response is quiet, rough and monosyllabic but it's there and it's enough to make Yang smile a bit more genuinely.
"May"
'Looks like your off the hook this time, Blake.'
'How did this happen?' May wonders as she looks at herself in the mirror, the miserable girl staring back at her now looks a little better after having her face cleaned by the rather stunning blonde using a paper towel to gently rub the tear streaks from her face and swallowed some of the water from the tap to sooth her sore throat.
Thinking of the blonde drew May's attention to the sunny yellow haired girl looking at her with a curious and joyful expression in the mirror behind her. She was Yang and May had literally fallen into her arms, as if she wasn't embarrassed enough already. And since Yang had her scroll it wasn't like May could just run away from the large and very well defined girl.
With a few more sips of water, May turned around and held out her hand. What she meant to ask the beautiful girl was. 'Can I have my scroll?' But what came out, even to her own ears was a stuttering mess not made any clearer by her sore throat and she could feel the heat building in her face.
She refused to look at the mirror. Seeing her blush would make it real and until then she could convince herself she wasn't embarrassing herself further.
Yang looked at her for a long moment, her eyes combing over May from her toque to her shoes in a way that made May shift a little in discomfort. She felt like she was being measured against something and just knew she would come up wanting.
'Why can't she just give me my scroll and let me go away? I didn't mean to almost hit her with it. Is she mad about that? Great, just what I need, a sexy blonde that checks off all my mental 'Yes please' boxes and I drop my scroll on her and then literally fall out of a tree in front of her… Oh well, at least I got to get carried in those arms a bit. So... kind of worth it?'
It was around then that May realized Yang hadn't said anything and was, in fact, staring at her looking somewhat amused as May retreated into her own thoughts. This did not help May at all to get control over herself and she looked to the door for a long moment considering just leaving and trying to get her scroll from Yang later. Thankfully, Yang seemed to notice and decided to speak.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Here, take it, but don't run off, okay?" The blonde says pulling out the scroll and offering it to May, smiling when the sniper takes it back quickly but doesn't try to immediately leave.
"Cool, look. I was only half joking earlier when I said you were going to come out with me. The joke was that you wouldn't have a choice. You can walk away and I'll amuse myself somehow, or, you can come with me and we'll have some fun. What do you say? I promise I'll try to make sure you have a great time." Yang offers extending her hand again but waiting this time for May to take it on her own.
May stares at the appendage for a long moment before her eyes move from it to her scroll and back the image on it would still be there when she opened it again and the last thing she wanted to do was look at it so soon. And she knew if she walked away she would. Her team would message her, she would feel bad for ignoring them and open it to check their messages and see that image taunting her.
Or, she could turn it off. Take the hand in front of her and the small risk that came with it and spend the evening with the gorgeous blonde she didn't think she would ever normally have any kind of chance with and apologize to them later.
May was a lot of things, a risk taker wasn't one of them. She fought at range with a sniper rifle and her gun only had an axe blade for helping to leverage herself into trees or when a grimm got too close for her to reliably shoot them. In fact, everything about May screamed 'path of least resistance' from her fighting style to her personality. The only thing that hinted otherwise was her chosen profession.
May was a huntress-in-training. And one didn't become a huntress without knowing the risks involved with fighting the Grimm.
Still, the first step was hard and indecision gnawed at her. It wasn't until she saw the smile waver on Yang's face and the hand start to pull back that she leapt without looking nearly jumping forward to grab the offered hand as the other held down the button on her scroll until it turned off.
At first nothing happened and May felt really silly as she stared at their linked hands her gaze slowly moving upwards until they reached Yang's wonderful lilac eyes and she heard those four words that changed her entire night.
"All right then, let's go."
Yang didn't know what exactly she should do at the moment as she rode down the streets of Vale with the shy girl sitting behind her, clinging to her body. Her original plan had been to go to a club but she found herself second guessing the decision to surround May with a bunch of strangers. A good number of whom no doubt saw the fights at the colosseum as it was broadcast around Remnant.
And as intimidating as Yang knew she could be when she wanted, she wasn't sure she could keep everyone from bothering May without hovering and that didn't sound like it would be fun for either of them. Ah well, perhaps a more relaxed location would help?
It was with that thought Yang took the next turn and sped off towards the beach. It wouldn't be crowded at all with dusk approaching and people heading for home and looking for their dinner. Likely just a few individuals lingering here and there or couples wanting the romance of watching the sun set.
'Will she get the wrong idea if I take her there? I mean she's adorable sure, and I wouldn't mind if she takes this to be a date but I didn't mean for it to be when I dragged her out. I just wanted to cheer her up not put pressure on her. Gah, you're thinking too much.' Yang chastises herself shaking her head as she pulls the bike to a stop at a parking lot far enough from the docks and the city proper that there wouldn't be too much light pollution.
Yang waits until May gets off to remove her helmet and hang it from Bumblebee's handle before lowering the stand and getting off herself. Looking around she notices an ice cream vendor just about to close down his little mobile stall when she winks at May and rushes over to the stand. Quickly buying a pair of vanilla cones before returning to May.
'Vanilla might seem bland but I don't know what she likes so it should be a safe bet.' Yang considers as she returns to May and gives the sniper one of the cones.
"Come on, sun should be going down soon and the beach is mostly clear now." She says taking the hand of the pink haired girl not holding an ice cream cone and leading her out onto the beach.
They get about halfway to the water before Yang stops and sits herself down, pleased to find the warmth of the sand had yet to dissipate as she stared across the water and when May sat down almost an arm's length away Yang had to roll her eyes before shifting closer and wrapping her free arm around the girl's waist enjoying the blush she noticed for the action out of the corner of her eye and even more, the fact that May didn't pull away from the forward action.
It's a comfortable silence that falls for awhile but in the end, Yang starts itching to say something and engage the other girl in conversation rather than just sneaking glances at each other while they worked through their ice cream. Before she broke down and just said something the sniper beat her to the punch, so to speak, with a simple 'thank you'.
"For what? The ice cream? It's really not a big deal." Yang replies pleased to hear that the snipers voice wasn't coming out so rough anymore. The ice cream must have soothed the inflamed muscles in the snipers throat and she had a rather pleasant voice.
Yang feels May shift against her side for a moment as she makes herself more comfortable within Yang's embrace before the sniper stutters and stumbles out her response."No w-well, yes I mean… Thank you for that, and f-for bringing me out here."
"Oh! That's okay, you don't need to thank me for that. I was just going to end up bored and alone if you hadn't come along. Though if you feel the need I'm not opposed to getting a kiss for saving the princess from peril." Yang teases with a grin on her lips only to turn her head when she feels May stiffen next to her.
And immediately Yang felt bad for saying that as the girls' only visible eye was wide with surprise, and maybe a little fear?
"Hey, look it's alright. It wasn't a demand or anything, while I wouldn't say no to a kiss I'm more than happy just spending some time like this. I'm just glad you're here." The blonde rushes to assure and then she waits while May slowly seems to relax again before the sniper leans against the taller blonde a little more.
"M-maybe later…" Comes the soft response that has Yang smiling again as her attention turns back to the horizon where the sun has only just begun to touch the ocean.
'Does she want me to kiss her? I know I want to, and she said she wouldn't say no but that's not the same as wanting me to, is it? More like a polite invitation? She's so warm…' May's thoughts fluctuate wildly from her position next to the blonde. The cold ice cream off set by the warm sand and the warmer beauty next to her.
May didn't know how to react to that arm around her waist. The way the blonde pulled her in and how her fingers seemed to rub idly into May's side with the sun setting in front of them made the whole situation seem romantic and intimate.
It was only as May started to relax that she began to cuddle into the blonde. Her ice cream nearly gone by this point and she had enjoyed it immensely. Not only for the flavor but for the wonderful soothing feeling it provided her throat.
While she enjoyed the calm quiet and the romantic setting she couldn't help but feel she was missing a chance for something by staying so silent. A chance for what she wasn't sure but definitely something nice. And while she didn't know what to talk about with Yang she did know one thing about her. "I… I saw your match earlier. Your team went up before ours. It was really impressive how you all won and without losing a single teammate."
At the compliment Yang grins widely. "That's my team for you. Honestly I wasn't sure how it was going to go being on a team with my little sister as the leader, but she's really pulled us together. I couldn't be more proud honestly. When I heard she would be coming to Beacon two years early, I was really worried about her. She wouldn't know anyone here and she's always had trouble getting to know people since she tends to talk a lot when she's nervous. And look at her now! Leading her team to win in the first round of the Vytal tournament!" The blonde comments and May smiles listening to the clear adoration Yang shows for her sister.
"Y-your sister is the one in the cloak right? That weapon of her's is really intimidating, she must be pretty strong to swing that around." May responds recalling the most likely person on the Blondes team to be her sister. The girl in black if anything looked a little older and there was no failing to recognize Weiss Schnee. Not when May had recordings of the girls concert performances in her bag back in the guest dorms.
'Would it be weird to ask for an autograph later?'
Before May could really begin to follow that thought though her attention is drawn to the thumb that brushes across her lips only for her eyes to follow it all the way to the blonde who pressed the pad between her lips and licks it clean causing May to blush brightly all over again.
"Hey, you're going to be here for the rest of the tournament, right?" Yang asks as her fingers resume that slow circular motion over May's waist that makes the sniper start to wish she didn't have her jacket on to get in the way. Still May at least manages to look over and give a short nod to the blonde. "Cool, I'm going to be in the next round tomorrow with my teammate Weiss. You should come watch and I'll try and find you after I win. Think you'd be willing to go out with me again then? On a real date this time not this… whatever this is?"
May freezes at that and blinks rapidly at the blonde.
'Did she just ask me out? What could she possibly want to take me on a date for? Why am I questioning this? Respond you idiot!'
May opens her mouth then and at first her tongue refuses to cooperate and all she manages is a strangled sound that does absolutely nothing good for her self confidence. Still, she swallows and takes a deep breath before nodding her head and giving Yang a small smile. "Y-yes, I would like that. S-so you'd better win."
She feels her smile widen a little at the mock affronted look that gets her from the blonde who half turns to face her more fully. She almost misses what Yang actually says though when the blonde places her hand hand on her chest, just above the visible valley of rather impressive, and very distracting, cleavage.
"You think there's any chance I won't win? I'm the Yang Xiao Long. There's only one possible outcome of this fight and it's me moving onto the finals." Yang comments before chuckling. "Eyes are up here cutie." She adds and winks when May realizes she's been caught staring and tears her eye upwards only to blush and look away entirely.
May tries to stammer out an apology and move away but it's laughed off and she feels the arm around her waist hold her tighter for a moment preventing the knee jerk attempt to flee her embarrassment until she calms down.
Rather than the comment May was expecting to come chastising her for her wandering eye, Yang just relaxes back and stares up at the sky, the stars now visible with the sun having fallen below the horizon.
After a long moment May joined her in laying down and staring upwards letting the back of her head rest on Yang's shoulder in silence. Before the night air started to turn chilly as it came off the ocean without the sun to warm it and it appeared Yang noticed her starting to shiver despite the heat the blonde was giving off since shortly after May began to notice the cool air, Yang sat up and helped her to her feet.
They didn't linger long after that as Yang mentioned needing her rest for the tournament tomorrow and drove them back to Beacon. When it was time for them to part though May panicked and grabbed onto the corner of Yang's jacket when the taller girl turned to walk away.
Now May was stuck staring at the gorgeous blonde giving her a curious look while her hand refused to let go of the jacket between her fingers.
'What are you doing?! You're ruining everything! Don't just stand there like a gormless incompetent, say something! DO something!'
And then May was kissing the blonde. Her heart was pounding, her eye was screwed shut and her mind was screaming at her for doing the one thing she shouldn't have done just then… and then there were arms around her. Strong arms that radiated heat and the lips she was pressing hers against were pressing back and her mind sputtered to a stop as she felt herself melting into the firm and warm body holding her so tenderly.
When the kiss breaks, May blinks and pants softly as her mind catches up and she risks a glance upwards to see Yang grinning back at her. The blood rushes to May's head and she feels dizzy for a moment before she manages to get herself somewhat under control.
"Th-thanks again for today. I'll see you tomorrow?" She's well aware of just how much hope is in her voice but not caring in the slightest.
"After that? You bet you will." Comes the answer and May feels something in her chest unclenching as the blonde gives her one last wink before sauntering towards her dorm room.
'Well... Not what I had in mind but hey, it worked. Good job Zedong, now don't do anything else to embarrass yourself and you're home free.' She thinks to herself before taking a long breath and glancing in the direction Yang went in before sighing. 'We're doomed.'
AN: It's official. I can't seem to help writing fluff. It's like I have a need to put out something fluffy every few weeks or there's some kind of buildup and I can't write anything else.
Now just in case I don't manage to get the next HDC chapter out before then I wanted to let everyone know that it will be coming out sometime after the 6th. since I will be attending Nekocon here in Hampton Vringina the first weekend of November.