Confusion of the Rose

Chapter 1

A pack of beowolves may be dangerous to others but they were no match for her baby, Cresent Rose. She made quick work of the them, alternating between slicing and shooting, while to her pleasant surprise instead of dissolving to dust they exploded in a shower of strawberries. Sweet, delicious, strawberries!

"Eat them" Said Crescent Rose "I'm sure they are tasty"

"Good idea Cressy!" Ruby replied while picking up one the size of her hand. "You're going to taste sooo good."

Just as she was about to take a bite of the strawberry, she head it speak.

"Ruby, it's time to rise and shine!"

Ruby felt herself sit up. Suddenly she was no longer in the strawberry filled field, nor was she holding a hand sized strawberry. Instead she was holding her pillow, which she seemed to have been drooling on.

"And so, Ruby Rose, folks!" Yang said, finishing her pun.

A dream? Ruby thought to herself. "Nooo! Those strawberries were going to taste sooo good!" She cried out, letting her head fall back into the pillows embrace.

"Sorry to wake you" Yang said as her head appeared at the entrance of her bed-fort. "But it's a great day out, why don't we try meeting some people."

Yesterday Yang had been talking about them spending the morning wandering around Beacon, but it didn't stop Ruby from trying to find another way out.

"How about we spend the day as a team? That is even better than meeting new people."

"Blake and Weiss already left. Come on, don't you want to find someone special?"

"What? What do you mean 'special'?" Ruby said as she climbed out of bed and pulled a good combat skirt out of her dresser.

"You know, special. As Nora would say, someone you want to be together-together with."

That caused Ruby to pause for a moment.

"Well, not really. I haven't given much thought to it. Whenever I need someone, you're always there for me."

With that Ruby stepped into the hallway and down to the girls bathroom.

In the shower Ruby found herself going over what Yang had said. It wasn't that she hadn't thought about being together-together with someone, actually she seemed to be having those kinds of thoughts more and more often to her discomfort, but the life she wanted didn't leave much opportunity for that. Her mom… her mom was an unfortunate example of what could happen to loved ones who dedicated themselves to being hunters.

Besides, short of befriending some new stranger what would her choices be? It seemed like Pyrrha has an interest in Jaune that goes further than being friends, and even if she didn't want to avoid hurting her Jaune is just too… Jaune for her. Ren is nice. He's quiet, and a good fighter. That was roughly all she about him. Besides, Nora, again despite not dating him but defiantly interested, would most likely hurt her if she tried anything with him. With her hammer. Her very large war hammer, which also shoots grenades.

There's always girls she thought to herself. But that list of potentials was a lot longer than for boys. Besides, didn't people talk about having a feeling when it is the right person? So she would just have to wait and see.

She stepped out of the shower and grabbed her towel. How would she know if she like-liked someone? She could ask someone what it feels like... or not. Relationships were still kind of an icky subject to her.

So why am I still thinking about it?

Maybe she was just worried about being dense. It would be sad if someone close to her was interested in her like that but she didn't notice their hints.

After drying her hair and throwing her sleep clothes back on came time for the first battle of the day. Having clean teeth is part of a healthy lifestyle, and she wasn't going to let plaque or Grimgervitis tarnish them. The battle was quick, vanquishing her foes with each swipe of the toothbrush. Next came her combat uniform. If she was going to be around strangers, she wanted to wear something that made her feel confident. It was easy enough to slip on, but she could never get the strings in the back as tight as she wanted. Thankfully there was an easy solution.

"Yang!" Ruby said as she returned to their room. "Can you tie my corset for me?"

"Sure thing, just a moment." Was Yang's answer.

Ruby watched as she paused Left 4 Grim, one of their favorite games, and stood before her. Like every time before, Yang pulled Ruby into almost a hug while reaching behind her to pull each small string tight so they wouldn't come loose later. She usually didn't pay much attention but given the height difference between them this put her face near a rather personal place of Yang's, and she noticed her... assets... were much larger than her own.

I wonder if they feel different than mine she caught herself thinking. No, bad adult thoughts, that's lewd! Besides she's… what? A girl? I don't have a problem with those kinds of relationships. My sister? That… should be a reason,but why don't I feel repulsed? If anything, Ruby was starting to feel warm, and a little confused.

"And we're done!" Yang said with a smile. She always found it funny how her sister could be so deadly while wearing it, yet had so much trouble putting the thing on. She looked at Ruby's face and followed her eyes to…

"Hey Ruby, my eyes are up here."

"Hm? What?"

"What's wrong? See something you like?" She said with a grin, while giving her chest a gentle shake left to right.

"Wh-what? No! It's just… mine are… but yours… sorry." She stuttered out, grabbing her cape in an attempt to hide her reddening cheeks. It did not work.

"Hey, don't worry about it." Yang said while adding in a playful punch to Ruby's chest, which she didn't know sent a jolt through Ruby all the way to her toes. "Now let's get out there."

Between her inspiring uniform and the occasional words of confidence from Yang, Ruby had pulled together enough courage and bravado to make it through the day without panicking. Also, true to Yang's word and despite her own misgivings, Ruby had managed to make a few new friends. Maka, leader of team MERC (Pronounced Mercy) was also a scythe fighter. However unlike Crescent Rose with it's built in sniper rifle, Maka's scythe allowed her to channel her aura and project it as a ranged attack.

Outside of that team there was...significantly less success. Yang was always the more comfortable one in public situations, so she would get someone talking before encouraging Ruby to jump in. Ruby, for her part, would talk about what she was most familiar and comfortable with. Weapons. Unfortunately, that was about all she wanted to talk about, and by the time she finished the other person would be edging away or would have heard their name being called off in the distance.

By the time they returned to their room Yang was thoroughly exhausted. Ruby on the other hand was quite happy with herself.

"I can't believe you called him an idiot in front of his friends!"

"Yang, you know how dangerous floating firing pins can be. One day he is going to fire it that thing and it will go fully automatic, and there won't be away to stop it."

"But did you have to call him an idiot?"

"I tried acting like I thought you would!"

"What about the tall one in green? He seemed interested in you. Until you called his friend an idiot."

"Well I had no interest in him. I mean, who ever heard of a bow with an arrow that fires a bullet? It has to be the worst weapon idea I've ever heard or seen."

"Rawh! You're adorable when you're being impossible." Yang said as she climbed into her bunk.

"Well I guess I have more to learn from you." Ruby started to grin at her own quick wit. "Because you're adorable all the time."

That was when a wave of heat washed over her. It had been happening throughout the day. At the same time her stomach went into a knot and she felt really embarrassed.

Why do I feel embarrassed? She thought to herself Yang and I joked like this all the time back in Patch.

Pushing this thought to the side she focused on the more pressing issue. She had been having these darn hot spells all throughout the day. She thought maybe it was the temperature at first, but it was actually quite a cold day for this time of year. With luck a good night's sleep would make it stop. Either that or she would wake up with a cold. Oh Well.

The next morning Ruby was feeling much better. Or she thought she felt better, she had felt fine yesterday except for the hot flashes and she hadn't had any yet. So, better, she decided.

Feeling hungrier than usual she decided to head to breakfast early. On her way there she bumped into Pyrrha and the two started to talk, as friends often do.

"Ruby, what you describe sounds like the feeling one has when they are around someone they have a crush on." Pyrrha explained. "Did you never feel this way about someone back in Signal?"

"What!" Ruby nearly shouted before getting control of her voice again. "No, never. And I can't have a crush on someone, I was… I mean she's… well she…"

Pyrrha misinterpreted Ruby's concerns, and tried her best to comfort her.

"Ruby, it doesn't matter if they are a she or a he. Most of the kingdoms are very accepting of same gender relationships."

Ruby's head was racing in an attempt to process this new information. No no no. What would Dad think if I told him I had a crush on Yang? What would Bake think? Or Weiss? Or Yan-

"Ruby? If you tell me who it is, perhaps I could help you."

With that her attempt to make sense of the situation ground to a halt, and she was left with a simple answer that she had to make due with.

Nope. Can't let them know. Nope. I'm just confused is all.

"S-sorry Pyrrha. Could you not… um, tell anyone about this? Please?"

The smile on Pyrrha's face dropped somewhat when she heard this, but she tried her best to hide it so she wouldn't make Ruby feel worse.

"Of course."

As they sat down at their normal cafeteria table Pyrrha started mulling over who it could be that would have Ruby acting this way. It certainly didn't narrow things much by knowing it was a girl. If it was a boy that would cut it down to most likely Ren or Jaune. It being a girl opened things quite a bit.

If it was one of the girls on Ruby's team there was Weiss, or Blake. On one hand she seemed to spend a lot of time with Weiss. Usually studying or in the library. On the other hand Ruby sometimes spoke of how much she enjoyed it when Blake would read to her. On her own team there was herself, which didn't seem likely… unless she had picked up some of Jaune's density to attraction, or Nora. Those two would probably make for a scary combination.

However, if she had spent yesterday with Yang, that also meant it could have been someone she met. In the end, she resigned herself to waiting until such a time that Ruby would come forward with more information, just as the other members of their teams joined them at the table.

"Good morning!" Nora sang. "Are ready to start today with a BANG!" She said while slamming her tray to the table for added effect.

"I prefer to start my day with a Yang!" Answered Yang, finishing the morning ritual.

"Oum dammit. Every time." Someone at a nearby table muttered.

Weiss sat in her normal spot with Ruby on her left and Blake on her right, so that they were arranged in the same manner as the letters in their team name, prim and proper as always even on a Sunday morning.

"I know the test isn't until Thursday, but would you like to spend some time in the library studying? With me, I mean."

She was a little surprised at the lack of a response.

"Ruby? Did you hear me?"

"Hm?" Ruby answered, looking up from her mostly untouched breakfast. Her voice lacking it's usual cheeriness that could always be found even at this time of the morning. "Oh. No thank you."

Yang knew her sister well enough to know something was up. Ruby would always get excited when Weiss asked her to spend time together, ever for something boring like studying. Yang figured she was just feeling down about not finding someone special yesterday, as evidenced by the lack of eating, and decided to do something Ruby really enjoyed.

"Hey Ruby, how about we hit the firing range? There shouldn't be anyone around this early in the morning."

"No, thank you. Actually I think I'm going to go back to bed." She said while standing, her food still mostly untouched, and her glass of milk still full.

Now that wasn't like her at all.

"Ruby?" Yang asked, concern clear in her tone. "Is everything alright?"

"I'm fine." She answered as her voice turned cold, and she cast a hard glare at Pyrrha "I'm just coming down with a cold. Nothing. Else."

With that she walked away to dispose of her tray, while Pyrrha took a sudden interest in the plate of food before her.

What the hell was that? Yang thought to herself. And Pyrrha avoided looking at her, so she must have been the one it was meant for. What is going on with Ruby?