Author's Note- This is a story I wrote as part of an art/story trade with a new friend of mine Jen, my Soul Friend with different equipment downstairs (jen-iii on Tumblr). She is a really amazingly talented artist and I love her art it is so beautiful and I highly recommend you check her art out. I'm still really excited that she was up for this art/story trade. Thanks to LazyKatze as always for helping edit my work, I really appreciate it. Hope you enjoy the story Jen!
The room was painted in her school colors, green and black, with their school mascot emblazoned on the wall. The Beacon Hunter, a man brandishing a double headed axe overhead. A bit tasteless in Weiss' opinion, but she supposed it was impressive in a brutish way. Weiss took a swig of her water, wanting to stay hydrated for the game. She was a junior at Beacon and had been on the basketball team since her freshman year, became a starter sophomore year, and now she was the team captain.
The locker room was noisy with the sound of her team chattering and psyching themselves up, but outside Weiss could hear the roar of the crowd like distant thunder as it passed through concrete. This is a big game, Weiss thought as she cracked her knuckles, the sound lost in the general commotion of the room.
Tonight was a crucial basketball game for the season, a game between Beacon and its rival school Signal. They were two of the best high schools in the area, both recognized for their excellence and awarded certificates to signify this.
"Hey shorty, you paying attention?" one of her taller teammates called to her, making Weiss scowl in annoyance.
"Shut up, Belladonna," she shot back. It was true that Weiss was the shortest one on the team, as point guard height wasn't as important as it was for Blake who played center. It didn't help that Weiss had a short temper and would rise to any jokes about her height, the exact thing her team wanted, especially her best friend Blake Belladonna.
"Alright ladies, attention up here," Ms. Goodwitch, the coach for the women's basketball team shouting to be heard over the teams' chatter. Everyone immediately quieted down. Goodwitch was strict but fair, and you never ignored her when she spoke unless you really loved suicide drills during practice. "Alright girls, tonight is important. If we get this win against the Signal Werewolves tonight we are guaranteed a spot in the playoffs. If we lose we're going have to win our next and last game of the season just to break in." Everyone nodded as Goodwitch spoke. They all knew how important this game was and everyone was determined to give it their all. Weiss felt her heart start to beat a little faster, adrenaline beginning to pump through her body as she psyched herself up for the game. Goodwitch looked around the room at all of them before continuing to speak.
"This is going to be a tough game. Signal has only lost two games this season, but it's not impossible," she finished, stepping back so they could talk amongst themselves for motivation. Weiss stood up in front of them. It was her job as team captain to give a pep talk.
"As coach pointed out Signal has lost only two games this season, so it's going to be tough, but you know what tonight is?" Weiss asked as she talked to the girls, all of them looked back at her in expectant silence. "The night they lose their third game!" she shouted and they all joined in.
"Now let's get out there and win!" their short captain yelled as they all shot to their feet and started jogging to towards the exit, Coach Goodwitch following behind them with a proud smile. Weiss led the way with Blake right behind her like a large shadow. Their footsteps echoed as they jogged through the hallway that connected the gymnasium to the locker room. The sound of the crowd grew louder the closer they got to the double doors that separated them from the gym.
Weiss pushed the door open and was hit with the wall of noise the crowd was generating, and the smell of people jammed together was mixed with the smell of food. In this area high school sports were a major part of life and basketball was the sport that Beacon High School was known for, as were their rivals Signal High School. Signal's team was coming out of the opposite locker room at the same time, five of the girls taking their spots on the court for the tip off, their jerseys in Signal's away colors of white with gold. Weiss, Blake, and three of their teammates jogged onto the brightly polished court. Weiss took her spot to Blake's left, eyes focused on the ball as Blake squared up against the opposing center. The girl she was opposite was taller than Blake by a few inches, her blonde hair a wild mane barely contained in the ponytail she had put it in, and a smirk on her face as she said a few words to Blake that Weiss couldn't hear.
The ball was thrown in the air and Blake and the blonde both jumped for it. The Signal player's arm was just a little longer and she knocked it to another player on her team. Weiss and her team quickly went on the defensive as they fell back to guard the hoop. Weiss found the opposing point guard, going and squaring up on her. The girl she was guarding was the same height as her, with black hair dyed red at the tips, and her eyes were the brightest silver Weiss had ever seen. The other point guard smiled at Weiss as they ran on the court, the girl trying to break away from the captain and Weiss doing her best to prevent that even though the other girl was remarkably fast. Weiss was barely able to keep up with her. The blonde center got the ball right below the net with Blake on top of her, not giving her an easy lay up.
"C'mon Yang, you can do it!" the red haired girl shouted as the blonde pivoted on her left foot and jumped up and away as she let the ball go.
Blake jumped to block it, but her finger just skimmed the bottom of the ball. It hit the backboard and bounced into the net. Half the crowd erupted into cheers going wild that Signal had scored the first points of the game, the other half groaned or booed. Two points went to Signal, but Weiss wasn't discouraged; there was still plenty of time to win. A teammate threw her the ball and she started dribbling up to the opposing team's defense. The silver eyed girl stepped up to guard her, not letting Weiss move about freely, but still she did not drop that smile on her face. Weiss put her back to the other girl, lowering her center of gravity and bending over the ball to make it harder to steal. She looked over her shoulder to to examine the court, trying to figure out what the best play would be. Blake nodded to the left before faking right to throw off her blonde guard and then switching left. Weiss did the opposite to fake her guard and passed the ball to Blake who put it up for two points before the other center covered again. This time the half of the crowd that had cheered before groaned in frustration, and the Beacon families cheered loudly to make up for their previous groans.
Weiss smiled at the well executed play, jogging slowly backwards to high-five Blake as she ran by. They had only been playing for a few minutes, but already the slight tang of sweat filled the air as both teams played their hardest. Weiss dropped the smile as she squared up against the red haired point guard who was dribbling towards her, however, the girl hadn't dropped her own smile. She made to quickly run past Weiss but she got tangled up in her own feet and fell forward towards a startled Weiss. The ball flew off in a random direction as the girl fell on top of her, and their limbs got intertwined. A groan passed Weiss' lips as she felt an ache in her back where she had landed. She felt a weight on top of her, and slowly opening her eyes she was stunned by what she saw. The other point guard was on top of her, their bodies pressed close together, and the only reason she wasn't crushing the white haired point guard was because her hands were on either side of Weiss' head, propping the Signal player up. Her face was only a few inches away from Weiss', and silver eyes were looking directly into mist blue eyes. A moment passed where they stared at each other with neither of them moving, the sound seemed to fade down around them and Weiss got lost in those silver pools.
She's really cute, Weiss thought as her face started to heat up and a dark red blush colored her cheeks. The moment was broken when the sound of the crowd seemed to resume for them back at full volume and the other girl was helped up off of Weiss. Blake came over and held her hand out. Weiss took it while keeping her eyes glued to the ground to avoid seeing the other girl or Blake's teasing expression.
"You still able to play, or do you want some more alone time with your girlfriend?"
"She is not my girlfriend. Just focus, Belladonna," Weiss shot back. Although she wouldn't admit it, the thought of the other girl being her girlfriend wasn't one she hated. Coach Goodwitch walked over to Weiss, a look of concern on her face
"Are you okay?"
"Yes," Weiss replied, "I can keep playing",
Coach Goodwitch nodded before walking back to the bench. The game resumed with the Hunters getting the ball after it had gone out of bounds when the Werewolf's point guard had fallen on Weiss. She got the ball and dribbled it back up to the away team hoop, a determined expression on her face. This is our game, we've got this one.
Her head hung low as they sat dejectedly in the locker room, an atmosphere of moroseness filling the air. All of them had changed back into their regular clothes. Weiss was wearing a sky blue shirt, slacks, and white flats. They had lost by only three points, the blonde center having shut them down after halftime. Coach Goodwitch walked in and looked around to room to make eye contact with each player in turn.
"You did your best. Hold your head high because this was no easy win for Signal, and after today know that we will get into the playoffs and we'll beat Signal next time," she said before nodding and dismissing them. Every one of them shuffled out of the locker room and into the gym that was rapidly emptying now that the game was over. Weiss grabbed her gym bag and slung it over her shoulder as she followed behind her teammates. When they entered the gym Weiss looked around, able to tell which families were Signal or Beacon based on their expressions of either joy or sadness. She turned her back and started walking towards the door, a slow shuffle as she hung behind to avoid the jostling crowds. The smell of sweat was heavier in the air now, mixed with deodorant and food, some inconsiderate people having left their trash behind in the bleachers.
"Hey, pretty white haired point guard! Wait up!" a familiar voice shouted from behind, stopping Weiss in her tracks as she felt the blush return. Slowly she turned to see the red haired point guard from Signal waving and running over to Weiss.
"Come to gloat over your win?" Weiss asked, her arms crossed and head upturned partly to give off an air of superiority and partially to hide her flushed face.
"No, no, no! I came to say great game and apologize for falling on you. That was really embarrassing, especially in the middle of a game, although I didn't mind falling on a beautiful girl like you…" she rambled before realizing what she said and blushing a red to rival her dyed hair. Weiss felt her own scarlet blush deepen, if that was possible, at the other girl's words. Before she could respond the other girl lowered her head and stuck her hand out.
"My name is Ruby, Ruby Rose."
"...Weiss, Weiss Schnee. Good game, Ruby," Weiss responded after a moment, shaking Ruby's hand. She was about to walk away when she heard Ruby cry out and fall on her again, sending them both to the ground for the second time that night.
"You absolute klutz!" Weiss yelled as she stood up, readjusting her gym bag on her shoulder as Ruby apologized again and ran off at the calling of the blonde center. Weiss watched her go before reaching into the outer pocket of her gym bag for her car keys, her fingers brushing against something that she didn't recognize. Wrapping her fingers around the foreign object she pulled out a piece of folded paper. Slowly she unfolded it to reveal a number and a short message.
I was too nervous to give this to you in person, you are really beautiful. Call me!
Underneath the message was a string of numbers that must have been Ruby's number. Before Weiss could comprehend this a tap on her shoulder caught her attention, looking over she saw Blake grinning mischievously at her.
"What have you got there?" she asked, already knowing the answer but wanting to see Weiss squirm.
"N-nothing!" Weiss stammered as she folded the paper back up.
"If I didn't know any better I'd say you just got the Signal point guard's number," Blake teased as she and Weiss stood in the center of the gym. Weiss didn't reply and Blake smirked more before punching her teammate's shoulder playfully.
"Good going there, Weiss. When're you going to call her?"
"None of your business!" Weiss replied quickly before realizing Blake had set her up.
"But you're going to call her," Blake taunted before darting out of the gym faster than her size would lead you to believe. Weiss was about to yell out at her before stopping herself and looking down at the paper. Maybe tonight wasn't a complete loss, she thought happily as she pocketed the paper and walked out of the gym.