Chapter 2: It's Over, Right?
The following morning after Weiss and Ruby had left for breakfast, Yang stopped Blake before she could follow. "Blake, can I ask you something?"
"Sure, what is it?"
"You might want to sit down for this."
"Okay…" Blake muttered cautiously. She sat down on her bed while Yang sat down next to her. Yang opened her mouth and then sighed in annoyance that she was having trouble saying it. This happened a few times before Blake put her hand on Yang's and asked, "Are you alright?"
"I don't know."
"Then what's wrong?"
"Have you ever thought of something that sounds so impossible that you know you're out of your mind for believing it, but you can't think of any other option?"
"I… I don't quite get what you mean? What's going on?"
Yang brought a hand to rub her face. "Nevermind. If I say it I'm going to sound like an idiot. But you can help prove I'm an idiot and relieve my stress if you do one thing for me."
"Which is?"
"Well… You're a faunus and faunus have been known to have special talents. You know, seeing in the dark, great hearing, and an excellent sense of smell."
Blake warily asked, "Where are you going with this?"
"Correct me if I'm wrong, but you can smell things that humans can't, right?"
"Yeah, but what does that have to do with anything?"
Yang took a deep breath as she knew she was treading dangerous waters. "Then if I remember correctly you said a few months ago that you can smell it when a couple has had sex. Am I right?"
Blake let go of Yang's hand and scooted one spot away from her on the bed. "What are you getting at-"
"I need you to smell Ruby!" Yang blurted out.
Silence. Absolute silence consumed the room as the two partners looked at each other in shock.
After a few minutes but what felt like hours Blake said, "Do you have any idea what you just asked me?"
"Yes, I do, and I'm really sorry about this, but I need you to-"
"You think that Ruby has been having sex!"
"YES! I DO! Are you happy now?! Now that I've admitted it?!" Yang burst out in a flash of anger. When Yang realized what she was doing she saw that she had jumped from the bed and her hair was almost on fire. She fell to her knees and stared at the ground. "I'm just scared, that's all. I know it's a part of life but… I just want to make sure that Ruby is safe. I don't want anyone to take advantage of her."
Blake relaxed her body after she heard Yang's confession. "Why do you think that Ruby would be doing that?"
"I'm… I think she's up to something and this is one of the possibilities. Before I go further I need to cross this off my worry list. That's why I came to you and not just asking Ruby herself. There's still something up."
"If it will ease your nerves and make you drop this ordeal then fine, I'll do it. Don't expect much though."
Yang leaped forward and brought Blake into a bear hug. "Thank you."
Blake smirked and returned the embrace. "You owe me big now."
"I definitely do."
"Well? What did you find?!" Said Yang vibrating with nervousness and excitement. She was sitting on the edge of her bed anxiously awaiting the arrival of her partner coming back from her nightly shower. Weiss and Ruby were still at their showers so Yang and Blake had their privacy when she came in.
Yet Blake was not as amused as Yang was. She walked straight over to her bed and collapsed face down. A low groan of embarrassment could be heard from where she lay.
"It couldn't have been that bad, could it?" Yang asked in defense.
"Do you know what I had to do?" Said a muffled Blake.
"Based off of that reaction I think it's best I don't. But what were the results?"
"She's clean. I couldn't find any sex pheromones of either sex on her."
With that Yang did a fist bump in the air. Just as she felt like this ordeal could be behind her, she heard Blake speak again. "But I did find something?"
With a sinking gut feeling Yang whispered, "What?"
"She does have another scent lingering on her that isn't her own. It's not sexual but it's definitely masculine."
Yang let out a low groan. Her mission wasn't over quite yet. "What do you think I should do Blake?"
"Lighten up."
"Other than that."
"Become sane."
"Other than that."
"Get some sleep, it's 10:30."
"You don't want our nightly cuddles?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"Because I'm still mad at you. Ruby didn't have enough of a trace on her so I had to smell her clothes. And I think she caught me too. It was so embarrassing."
There was a palpable silence for a solid minute before Yang said, "We could go on a date tomorrow if that'll make you feel better."
"It would, a bit. Just nothing about Ruby while it's going on, alright?"
"Cool. Well, goodnight my kitty. Thank you."
Yang gave her girlfriend a quick kiss on the cheek before she went to bed with a peace of mind.
"Hey Ruby how's it going?" Yang said cutting her younger sister off in the hallways just as lunch break of the following day began.
"Fine, I guess. Is something wrong?"
"No, nothing's wrong." Yang responded much too quickly.
Yang knew she was not faking it well when Ruby cocked her head to the side and gave an "oh really" face. Sighing, Yang asked, "Can we have a talk?"
"Sure."
The two of them walked over to a more secluded area of the school and sat down against the hallway wall. When they finally got there Ruby waited for Yang to calm her breathing before asking, "So, what's up?"
"You see… I… I want what's best for you so I-"
"I told you before Yang, I do take my grades seriously. With Weiss tutoring me they've been at the top of the class for a while now. Why do you always bring this up?"
"No Ruby, it's not that…"
"Then what is it?"
Yang tried to pick her words carefully. "I've been worried about you. You're becoming an attractive young woman so I just want you to be cautious of guys who-"
"This again? I've told you before I'm not into anyone at the moment. My answer is the same as the time you asked three months ago, and the time before that, and the time before that…"
"Yeah, yeah, I get it. That's what you've told me. I was just wondering if anyone has tried to make any unprovoked moves on you that I need to beat up?"
Ruby seemed to take that as a surprise. "Well, I mean there was one faunus guy who kept catcalling me but I-"
Immediately Yang felt her anger spike, her breath grew hot, and she had the incredible urge to hit something. "I will find whoever that is and rip off his di-!"
"YANG!" Ruby shouted. Yang looked at her sister to see a concerned look on her face. Ruby took her hands and rested them on Yang's making her unclench them and relax.
"Yang, I took care of it myself. I went in the library a few days ago and looked up how to get rid of him and I found something about them being good at smelling. So I've started wearing men's deodorant and he lost interest pretty quickly. I can handle myself."
Yang now felt incredibly stupid and embarrassed. She slowly dragged her hands down her face and let out a low groan. "I'm sorry Ruby. You know I get worried about you at times."
Ruby shrugged it off. "It's fine. Just remember you don't have to watch over me all the time, okay? I'm my own person. I can take care of myself."
"Don't worry, I promise you I'll learn that. It may take a little while but I'll learn to let you be more independent."
With a smile Ruby said, "Good. Now come on, I'm hungry and let's get some lunch."
Yang looked at herself in the mirror and smiled. She had to admit she looked nice, nothing too fancy, but just a little below Weiss's level of apparel. She had to look nice for her date she promised to Blake yesterday. Blake definitely earned a night of fun so Yang was determined to make it up to her. Plus, with Ruby clarifying everything from earlier in the day then she wouldn't have anything to worry about. Yang was just about to join Blake out in the hall but was doing some last-minute checks. Realizing that she had forgotten one last thing she went scrambling for some spare lipstick. Not finding any in her materials she decided to check Ruby's purse for any.
Just as she found Ruby's chapstick, something else caught her eye. Yang carefully pulled out the folded tag inside to see what was written on it. It was a signature, written in pen and one of formal quality that matched nobody's handwriting she recognized.
The signature read "From Arancia with" and had a delicate heart drawn at the end. Yang slowly tucked it away and closed the purse. She looked back at herself in the mirror and said the first word that came to mind.
"Fuck"
A/N: Greetings. It's been a while. Since I last posted I've now started college which is why I've not been posting. The transition between high school and college was a little rough but things are looking bright. I'm finally getting treatment for my anxiety, I've been adjusting to the college schedule, I've made many new friends, and I am even dating someone right now. I'm the happiest I've been in a while. In the last week or so I've received a few messages asking whether or not I would continue this story, of which it reminded me that I've actually written a good chunk of story already. I would say that I have written up to chapter 9 and have an outline for the rest of the story. It'll take some time, I'm in college for engineering after all, but I will see to it that this story is finished. It may just take some time. So until you hear from me again, take care and remember to be patient.