It was a calm and warm morning in the city of Vale, the sky was clear and a small breeze was blowing. The sounds of the animals living in the Emerald and Forever Fall Forests could easily be heard from Beacon, but most of the students didn't have the time to pay attention as they hurried for their morning classes.

Ruby and Weiss were among the mass of students that filled the Academy's hallways, struggling to get to class; Yang left soon after the two other girls, with a bag hanging from her shoulder, heading to the gym. Blake was left alone in the room, gladly embracing the chance of putting her readings up to date without interruptions. Not that she didn't like the presence of her teammates, but the girls could be loud, especially the enthusiastic sisters.

Her mind was slowly filled with thoughts of last month's events, when she accidentally revealed her heritage and ran away, sure that the team would reject her. Surprisingly enough, the girls went looking for her and, even though she lied to her best friends, they took her back with open arms. Even team JNPR didn't seem to care about her being a faunus. In fact, Blake was feeling so comfortable with her friends' acceptance about her heritage, she stop using her bow in the dorms and some classes. Her second pair of ears twitched a little, as to confirm she no longer had to bind them all the time. The girl had never been so happy.

She still had a smile on her face when she started reading the book she had picked. It was the second volume of a series about a female assassin with an obscure past, who traded a lifetime in jail for some years under the king's service; she adored the first book, so when the second came out, she ran to the book store to buy it on the launch day. Until now, she hadn't got the time to read it, and the curiosity was killing her.

She didn't make much progress though, as the door shot open less than ten minutes later. Startled, she looked at the door frame, being greeted with the sight of a sweaty and battered Yang. Throwing the book in her bed, she rushed to her partner, her eyes wide open and her cat ears flattened against her head.

"Yang! What in the world happened?" as she approached, she could clearly see a cut in her forehead, bruises, and swollen hands.

"Blake, you are ok!" the blonde exclaimed with relief, holding her partner's shoulders, looking at her as if nothing else mattered.

"I'm okay?! Are you serious?!" the faunus girl's eyes were wide in disbelief "Why are you all bruised like this?"Blake's voice was filled with worry and, although she didn't notice, she was almost screaming, a very unnatural behavior for her.

"Don't worry about this, I'm fine…" her partner replied with a small smile, gently squeezing her shoulders.

"The hell you are! You tell me what's happening right now Yang! Why are you injured like this?" the faunus shouted and stomped her foot in a sudden explosion of anger and concern, making Yang flinch and look away. She took a moment organizing her thoughts before speaking.

"I… I was going to the gym and I ran into Cardin on the way. I was trying to ignore him… But he was saying some nasty things about faunus. And then he said some really nasty things about you…"when she began speaking, she was almost excusing herself, but she grew irritated, her eyes now crimson red and the room's temperature rising "… so I wanted to be sure the bastard isn't going to say a word for a few days" Yang finished, her arms trembling but maintaining her gentle grip on her partner's shoulders.

Blake listened to Yang quietly, her jaw slightly opened by the end of the explanation. She could not believe what she just heard. Her partner got into a fight to defend her, even though she wasn't even near at the time. She never saw Yang so furious since an Ursa cut a string of her hair in the forest.

"Yang, you need to calm down." she said with a soothing voice, calmly loosening the other girl's grip on her shoulders. Yang nodded slowly, and doing as she was told, the girl closed her eyes and took deep breaths. When she opened them again, they where back to the normal lilac "Good! Now come here."

Blake dragged Yang inside the room and closed the door behind them; she made the blonde sit in the bottom bed of their bunk, and began pacing around the dorm, collecting a first aid kit, a bowl with warm water and a clean piece of cloth. She placed a chair in front of her teammate and started cleaning the blood from Yang's face and hands. Once finished, she took Yang's hands and cut off the loosen skin from her knuckles. The blonde girl was trying hard not to show any pain, but she couldn't help to let out a groan.

"I'm sorry, Yang… It will be over soon." said the faunus girl, trying to calm her friend

"Don't worry 'bout it, I'm good" the other replied with a forced smirk, while Blake finished her work.

"Yeah, right…" she said while rolling her eyes and smiling, which just made Yang's smirk bigger. "Why didn't you use your aura? You wouldn't have a scratch if you did…"

"Are you kidding? The last time I felt that angry, I almost burnt down a school!" her partner raised her eyebrows in curiosity; it probably had something to do with Ruby, but she could hear the story another time "If I hadn't control myself, Cardin would be toasted… Oh man, his face is a mess!" her eyes began flickering red "He is so lucky I didn't have Ember Celica with me… At least I think he learnt he can't talk shit 'bout people and get away with it" Blake had no idea what Cardin may have said, but she wasn't going to ask; even thinking about him was clearly making Yang angry again. She needed to be distracted.

"Yang, I have to see if you broke your fingers now; this may hurt a bit more…"amazingly, it took only this much to stop an incoming rage attack from the blonde, who just gave a small huff and began to smirk again.

"Bring it Belladonna!" she replied excitedly, as if it was some kind of challenge. The other couldn't help but let a small smile take over her lips.

Blake proceeded to squeeze each of Yang's fingers lightly, scanning her friend's face for any signs of aggravated pain. Not finding any, she gently placed her hands underneath Yang's.

"Flex your fingers and tell me if it hurts." The brawler obeyed, slowly flexing her fingers, first the right hand, then the left.

"I feel nothing besides the cuts…" she responded in a low voice.

"That's good! You won't need to go to the infirmary, which means no awkward explanations… for now, at least. What are we going to do when Goodwitch finds out?" Blake asked, soaking a cotton ball with antiseptic.

"Well, I hope she doesn't find out…" she replied, looking at Blake's hands while she worked "I mean, Cardin is too much of a macho to tell people he got his ass kicked by a girl." Yang said, chuckling "I bet he will just say he hurt himself training or something…"

"I hope you are right… By the way, why were you relieved that I was ok? I didn't even left the room…" she asked curiously, with a small smile curling her lips.

"Oh, I-uh… I've only saw Cardin in the hall, so-uh… I didn't know where his teammates were, and I wasn't sure where you were…You could have gone to the library or something… I was just worried ok?!" she mumbled in response, turning her head to the side and biting the inside of her cheek, while the outside turned a slight shade of pink. Blake chuckled, her smile growing as Yang spoke, her own face blushing lightly.

After applying the antiseptic, Blake began to bandage her partner's hands. She took several minutes at this task, brushing her fingers against the calloused and bruised skin of her partner's hands, almost losing herself in the feeling. The blonde was looking dreamily at Blake's face, the shade of pink in her cheeks growing darker.

"There, this way you will heal faster…" she said, gently releasing Yang's hands and glancing up. She caught a small sight of her partner's pink face before the blonde brought her hands up to check the bandages.

"Wow, great work partner!" she said flexing her hands. The bandages adjusted perfectly. Blake just rolled her eyes again, but still gave a small smile.

"Now, your forehead." the faunus sat closer to the edge of the chair, her face inches away from Yang's "Bow your head a little so I can see better." the blonde obeyed, shivering a bit when Blake's hands touched her face. The raven haired girl kept away some locks of Yang's hair that insisted in falling around her face while she cleaned the cut.

"Yang… Thank you for standing up for me. And for taking me back when I ran away. It really means a lot for me." she mumbled, her voice breaking a little. Yang gently held the hand tangled in her hair as she glanced up to meet Blake's watery eyes.

"Blake, we are partners. I trust you, and I care about you. Nothing will change that. And if this means I have to beat some jerk's sorry ass now and then, so be it. I may even enjoy it!" she spoke the last words chuckling, lightening up the mood. Blake smiled, blinking away a tear.

"I hope you didn't break his legs, though… Pyrrha and Nora called dibs on them." they both laughed at the joke, while Blake put a band-aid over the wound.

"W-wait!" Yang muttered as Blake stood up "This is it?!"

"Well, unless you want me to kiss your boo-boo, that's all I can do…" she mocked; Yang was left pouting on the bed, while Blake stored the items back to their places

When she finished, she sat on the edge of her bed. Yang had made herself comfortable, laying on her side with one arm sustaining her head and the other lazily browsing through the pages of the book Blake was reading before she came in.

"Do you like it?" the raven haired girl asked after a moment admiring her partner.

"Huh?"

"Do you like this book?" she asked again, a smile on her lips.

"Oh yeah, I think I like this! This Celaena is pretty sassy and badass!" Yang replied with a smirk

"Yes, I really like her character. You should stop reading it though-"

"Oh, I'm sorry," the smirk vanished, giving place to a slightly worried look "I didn't even ask and-"

"No, it's not this! This is volume two; you will get spoilers if you keep reading it… If you like it, you can borrow the first book!" Blake was excited; since she finished the first book, she was eager to discuss it with someone, but she didn't know anyone who read it nor did she think her teammates would enjoy it.

"Yeah, I'd like to read it! Seems like a good story!" Yang exclaimed, the smirk back to her lips. Blake got up immediately, quickly scanning her book shelf, finding the book in only a few seconds.

"Here it is. It's one of my favorites!" the girl happily stated "I hope you like it too!"

Yang accepted the book with a wide smile and returned the other one. The girls sat side by side at the end of the bed, pressing their backs against the wall. Blake quickly got immersed in the story, eager to know what was going to happen next; surprising herself, Yang was indeed enjoying the reading. Well, having Blake by her side, leaning closer as time passed, could have something to do with her great mood, but the book was really good.

"Well, I can get used to this" the blonde thought with a smile while her partner laid her head on the brawler's strong shoulder.


Just some thoughts I should share...

I really suck at giving titles.

This is the first time I publish a fanfic (and I blame it all on the volume 2 hype), so please tell me what you guys think of it. I had this one saved since last year, but never had the guts to publish. I think I'm gonna finish writing another chapter for this, depending on the response this one gets...

English is not my native language, and while I was learning it, some teachers used American English and others used British English; if i messed things up, I'm really sorry and would appreciate if someone could point my mistakes.

The books they were reading are Throne of Glass (vol. 1) and Crown of Midnight (vol.2), by Sarah J. Maas.