Well, after quite a long wait, I've finally published another piece! Happy reading! ^_^

It was late, very late. Throughout the campus, not a single light shone – all except one, that is. At the back of an otherwise unlit, vacant library sat a young girl – no older than eighteen – who was the one source of disruption in the vast darkness. A small light flickered once, illuminating the girl's face and, more importantly, the work spread across her desk. Her pencil scrubbed impatiently against a sheet of paper and she grumbled as the graphite snapped, causing her script to falter dramatically.

"Damn it." She groaned as she slid her chair out from underneath the mahogany workstation.

This was not the first time Blake had spent the night studying, and it certainly was not the last time she would regret choosing to take the course in the first place. When the option to take "Mistralian 1001" became available, she had been among the first to register. It wasn't as if she were wasting a class either; after all, each student was required to complete three foreign languages classes. She had always been a fan of the language, even going so far as to consume media and entertainment from Mistral whenever she could. It had captivated her for as long as she could remember, and when the chance to learn Mistralian arose, she simply couldn't pass up the offer.

Then again, that was before she realized that learning grammar was definitely not the easiest thing one could ever accomplish. Simply understanding that verbs were always put at the end of sentences in Mistralian was hard enough, not to mention the myriad conjugations for said verbs.

But that was neither here nor there. She had signed up for the class and was determined to pass even if it killed her, which was becoming a more and more likely possibility. Another night like this would have had her out of commission for a while.

"Having trouble?" A voice, feminine in nature, spoke from behind her as she retracted her pencil from its sharpener.

"Huh?" She asked, turning to face her mysterious visitor. Golden eyes met piercing blue, and a small, almost unnoticeable smile appeared on the faunus' face. "Oh, hello, Weiss. What are you doing up so late?"

Weiss returned her smile, although slightly more reluctantly, "Well…I noticed you weren't in bed. I assumed the only other place a bookworm like you would be is the library."

"You know me well." She paused to examine her pencil, making certain it was sharpened to a point. "But yes, to answer your question. I suppose I am having difficulties."

"Is it with your Mistralian class again? I told you I could help you with that…"

"Yes, it is." Blake sighed as she began her return to the back of the room with Weiss in tow, "And I would have asked, had it been a reasonable hour."

The heiress hesitated, "Well…I'm here now, anyway. I suppose I could help. If you'd like, that is."

Blake sat down at her desk once more, and a sigh escaped her lips, "Sure, if you think you really know the language enough to help."

"Of course I know the language, you dunce. I wouldn't put false testimony towards my intellect if my life depended on it." Weiss grumbled. Deep inside her, she was secretly relishing the opportunity to brag on her extensive knowledge of Mistralian, but she chose not to show it outwardly in fear of angering her companion. "So, what are you having trouble with?"

The faunus groaned once more, "Honestly, I think the question is 'What aren't I having trouble with.' But I suppose I really need to focus on grammar and vocabulary, right now."

"Okay, let me see this," Weiss said, snatching the textbook lying on the desk, "Chapter Three? Come on, this isn't so difficult."

"If you're going to make fun of me, just leave." Blake said. She hadn't said it angrily, simply as a statement. A command, even.

Weiss recoiled, "Okay, I'm sorry. I didn't mean it."

"It's fine." Blake assured her as her smile reappeared, "I'm just tired, I guess."

"I suppose. Anyway, yes I can explain this to you. Is there anything specific you're having trouble with?"

"Conjugations." Blake spoke almost ashamedly.

"Okay….so take the verb 'taberu,' to eat. If you were to put that in a sentence, you would want to change it from 'to eat' to simply 'eat', correct?"

"Yes, I suppose you're right."

"Of course I'm right." Weiss joked with a small smile, "So, you would have to conjugate the verb for it make any sense in a sentence – in polite Mistralian, at least. Now, what kind of verb is 'taberu'?"

Blake struggled for only a moment before answering, "It's a 'ru' verb."

"Right. And do you know how to conjugate a 'ru' verb?"

She struggled much longer this time, unable to fish out the correct answer from her mind. After a long enough pause, Weiss answered for her.

"You would simply remove the 'ru' from the end and add the affirmative, present tense conjugation, which is 'masu'." She placed a sheet of paper in front of Blake, "Now write 'Weiss eats' on that sheet of paper. Considering I've just explained it to you, it shouldn't be difficult in the slightest."

"Oh…okay." The faunus said as she retrieved her pencil. Her characters were written shakily, which was to be expected from one who was an elementary student in the language. The characters 「ワイスちゃんは食べます。」 were materialized onto the page after only a short while.

"Is…that right?" Blake asked uncertainly.

"Well, to someone who can read your sloppy script, yes, that is the correct, polite form..." She quietened slowly, a deep crimson blush forming across her otherwise pale face, "But if you ever, ever, refer to me with that honorific again, I will not hesitate to slap you."

Blake rubbed the back of her head embarrassingly, "I see you caught on to that."

"Did you honestly believe I wouldn't notice?!" The blush over her face had only proceeded to become more red as the conversation progressed, "What part of 'fluent' don't you understand?!"

"Quieten down, we're in the library." She placed a single finger over the heiresses mouth, "Besides, you know you like the attention."

Weiss lightly smacked the faunus' hand away from her face and scoffed, "Ugh. You're insufferable."

Blake decided to refrain from teasing her over the vermilion shade her face had transformed into, "You love me."

"Whatever. Let's just continue." Weiss mumbled, being sure to avert her eyes from her companion's own. There was only so much striking gold one's heart could take before submitting, "Now what else are you having trouble with?"

"Pronunciation…"

"Okay then. As much as I regret this, say that sentence you just wrote."

Blake grinned, "Okay, then. 'Weisu-chan wa tabemasu.' Was that right?"

Weiss slapped her forehead. Hard.

"I'm guessing that was incorrect?" Blake asked, honestly concerned for the heiress' safety.

"It wasn't entirely, no." Weiss frowned. The redness wasn't appearing solely on her forehead, but on the majority of her face.

"Is it because of the honorific?" She asked seemingly innocently.

"Please say 'Waisu-san' from now on. Please." Weiss breathed out heavily, "But on your actual pronunciation, the 'u' on 'masu' is meant to be nearly silent, only being uttered very lightly."

"Okay, then." Blake said, "Your face is really red, Weiss. Are you feeling well?"

Secretly, she understood very clearly the reason for Weiss' apparent discoloration, but she also knew Weiss' soft spots and how to push her buttons. How could she not take advantage of her only weakness?

"I'm fine. Now shut up, or I'll stop helping you." Weiss crossed her arms and turned her gaze elsewhere, making her inability to look in Blake's eyes increasingly apparent.

"Fine, fine, I really do need the help…"

"Right. Back to business then." Weiss said, shaking her head lightly in an attempt to keep in unnoticeable, "What else do you need help with?"

"All of these symbols…I had no idea there were so many."

Weiss allowed a faint laugh to escape her lips, "The average Mistralian knows around four-thousand of them, you know. So I suppose you should get used to it."

"Perhaps you're right." Blake said, "Have you got any tips on how to memorize them?"

Weiss placed a hand to her chin in thought, "Well…there are several ways to memorize them. In Mistralian elementary schools, all of the students will stand and use their arms to draw them in the air multiple times until they've memorized it by heart."

"We could start with that?" Blake asked almost quizzically.

"I suppose we could, yes. Get up and I'll teach you a couple."

Blake did as she was told and rose from the chair, however unwillingly it may have seemed. She wasn't ecstatic about standing at the moment, but if it would help remember her vocabulary for the exam, she'd do nearly anything.

"Now. Let's start with…'miru', 'to see'. You start with a horizontal line down the left side, like this." Weiss demonstrated her words by dragging her right hand down in a vertical line to her left-front. "Next, you're going to start at the top of that line and draw a shorter line to the right. Without disconnecting the line, you're going to drag your hand back down the right side to form a sort of upside-down, backwards L shape."

Blake did as she was told and she began to see the formations of the symbol, "Okay, now what?"

Weiss stepped behind her and grabbed her wrist, "Let me just move it for you, it'll be a bit easier."

"Oh…okay." Blake stuttered slightly, regaining her composure as quickly as she had lost it.

Weiss moved Blake's arm in the motions she had previously explained. One line down and one horizontal line at the top that swooped down the right side vertically, creating an arch-like shape made of straight lines.

Next, she moved her arm horizontally in the upper-middle portion of the shape and another a ways below it. Finally, she drew a third that would create the complete rectangular shape.

"Is that it?" Blake asked breathlessly.

"N-No. Two more strokes." Weiss breathed, moving the faunus' arm to create to separate tails on the bottom of the structure moving in opposite directions. "Then you would just um…write the 'ru' symbol next to it or below it."

"Okay." A prolonged silence found its way between them, with Weiss still clutching Blake's forearm. Blake found herself slowly leaning into the embrace, but she hadn't been sure whether it was from exhaustion or a simple need to be held.

Regardless, the moment was interrupted by a harsh cough resounding from the snow-felt heiress. Blake reacted swiftly, pulling herself away from her embrace to stare at the floor nervously.

"I uhm…" Weiss stuttered, "We should continue studying."

"Right." Blake nodded, still unable to return the heiress' gaze, "Sorry…about that."

"No, no…it's alright. We're both just tired, is all." She fluffed her dress downward to remove any imaginary dirt that may have clung to it. "Let's just forget it happened and continue, shall we?"

Blake looked towards her and smiled gratefully, "Let's."

"So," Weiss began, "That was the symbol for 'miru', or 'to see'."

"Can you use that in a sentence, for me? Just so I can get a sense of its meaning."

"Sure." Weiss thought for a moment before a grin appeared across her lips, "Bureiku-san no nekomimi wo mita. Kawaii yo."

Blake paused for a moment, a look of utter confusion spreading across her features, "I have no clue what you said. Something about me and…something being cute…"

Weiss smiled a devilish grin and placed her hand on her hip, "Perhaps you'll understand when you finish your studies."

In a swift movement, the faunus arose from her position, only to pin her companion against a nearby bookshelf. Weiss gasped, ready to yelp unnecessary curses, but Blake quickly covered the heiress' mouth with her palm. After a few seconds, she slowly removed her hand to allow Weiss to speak.

Only, she didn't. She stood frozen, her hands pinned above her, her face intoxicatingly close to Blake's. A deep cardinal shade flushed over her cheeks, and her she suddenly found her lips to be uncomfortably dry.

Blake grinned an almost seductive grin, "No. How about you tell me now, hm? I think that'd work out better."

"I-I don't…I-…Blake-" Weiss stammered out, unable to form a comprehensible sentence.

"Tell me what you said, or else I'll leave." Blake spoke.

To any bystander, this threat may have sounded like anything but. To Weiss, although she would never admit it willingly, this threat was worse than any Grimm. Blake was so close, so tantalizingly obtainable; for her to leave now, just as the heiress was on the ever-thinning line between bliss and insanity, would be the missed chance of a lifetime.

"I…" Weiss stumbled over her words again, becoming continuously incapable of coherent thought, "I said t-that your ears are…cute."

Blake lowered her lips to the girl's ears, feeling a shudder wrack through Weiss' body, "I know. I just wanted to hear you say it."

Weiss' eyes widened, "Why you-!"

Her expletives were abruptly halted and her thoughts were sent swimming into an ocean of ecstasy as Blake crashed her lips into hers. Weiss' body stiffed as her muscles contracted violently with surprise, but she quickly melted into the kiss. Her wrists were still trapped above her, and Blake had all of the control, but this realization only served to send the heiress into an even deeper state of euphoria.

Her knees buckled slightly, uncontrollably, and she lost what little balance she had kept, causing several books to haphazardly tumble from the bookshelf behind her. Without breaking apart, Blake reached her arm around the girl's back and held her close – close enough to feel her heartbeat. She simultaneously deepened the kiss, seeing Weiss' shocked expression as a chance to slip her tongue inside of her mouth.

They remained that way for several seconds, only to pull away for air. They stared into one another's eyes for a long while, awe-inspiring gold meeting astonishing blue yet again.

"I…think we're finished studying for today…" Blake gasped.

Without another thought, Weiss uttered one phrase in Mistralian she'd never spoken before, "Daisuki, Blake…"

"Atashi mo."

So, I've been sitting on this for over a month now, debating whether or not I should publish it. I'm not extremely happy with it, but I suppose that's what writing is for. Practice does make perfect, after all.