"And then she was like 'That's your sister?!' and I didn't know what to say so we just kinda stood there for a while…"
Ruby was in the middle of tuning her Crescent Thorn; a black electric guitar with a white sticker of a beautifully drawn crescent moon... hence the name.
She stopped, however, after hearing Yang's words to ponder, just as confused as her big sister was.
"Huh…" the brunette breathed, resting her chin on the body of the instrument. "What if she hears me when I yelled at her about how you have a crush on her? That could be it," she offered with a shrug, her fingers slowly picking noteless strings.
Yang frowned, not knowing if Ruby was messing with her.
… But still, even if Ruby was joking, the simple thought of Blake knowing…
"Geez, I hope not." Yang visibly shuddered at the thought, crossing both of her arms, straightening her back as she sat on the old computer chair.
Currently, the sisters were occupying Ruby's room. Yang had, quite literally, barged in it half an hour ago after she'd had one of the best experiences in her life: Hanging out with Blake Belladonna.
The brunette's room was unique, to say the least, and not in a bad way. It just… really showed her passion for music.
Posters of various musicians both from the modern era and from decades ago were all placed on each side of the wall.
Other teenagers might've hung pictures of 'handsome' popular boy band members, but Ruby… she hung pictures of classical pianists from who knew what decade.
While Yang herself was a huge fan of music in general - although she leaned more towards progressive music nowadays - her sister was on another level of... obsessiveness.
Honestly, was it safe to even call it obsessiveness? Or should she label it as attachment?
Ruby had clearly taken the time to explore every style, every genre, every trend of music; listened through each and every one, even the ones Yang had never heard of before, of them carefully and studied it.
Sometimes Yang almost couldn't believe that she and the girl were sisters.
Especially looking at her dark-brown hair and comparing it to her own yellow mane… speaking of yellow hair…
"Funny thing," Yang started as she recalled an event, "there's this waiter on the restaurant, I think his name is Jaune, and he mentions-"
Ruby's grip on her baby loosened immensely. She almost dropped it. Almost. After gluing her hands on the instrument tightly, and preventing herself from having a heart attack, she peered at Yang with an incredulous look on her face.
"Jaune works there?!"
Seconds ticked by with pregnant silence, the siblings looking at each other with a different face of total unbelieving.
Yang was the first to recover from her initial shock. "You know Jaune?!"
… Almost recovered.
Ruby wasn't any better. After putting away her guitar out of harm's way, she quickly pointed at her sister and screeched, "Jaune met you guys?!"
"... You know Jaune?!"
Yang was still horrified that her own sister was friends with Jaune… well, he wasn't that bad, but still… he was Jaune.
She knew her sister was equally confused as well, albeit for entirely different reasons. So she took the initiative as the older sibling and declared, "We need explanations."
Wordlessly, they both sat down cross-legged on the bed, face-to-face.
Ruby bit her lip and fidgeted, while Yang crossed her arms and frowned.
"How did you meet him at your date?" Ruby asked not even a second later, ever the patient girl she was.
Yang swallowed and took a deep breath to calm herself before giving the young brunette the answer she requested.
"Jaune… he came to take our orders, and then he started… flipping out." She cringed at the words she'd used, because really, there was no other way to describe that weird event. "He told us that he knows us both… Also, it's not a date," she added as she gave her sister a scolding glare.
Ruby snickered in response, not at all affected. "Sure it's not."
The blonde wisely pretended she didn't hear that. "What about you? How do you know Jaune?"
"Oh, we share the same classes." The brunette shrugged.
Yang noticed there was a vague smirk on the girl's lips, one that spoke of history.
Realising Ruby wasn't telling her the exact story, the blonde raised her eyebrow questioningly. "That's it?"
Ruby's small smirk grew into an ear-to-ear grin, as though she was expecting her sister to ask that precise question.
"Yup!" she loudly cheered, throwing out both of her arms as she leaned back.
"We started talking to each other 'cause we're too scared to talk to everyone! First, I saw him sitting all alone looking awkward and I thought 'Hey, he seems to be socially awkward… just the type of person I am!'" Yang mentally rolled her eyes at that, noting silently that she needed to force Ruby into socializing more.
"Turns out, we have a lot of things in common!" Ruby cheered, like that was a good thing. "Like what we watch- heck, he even wants me to play at the place he works at…" The brunette let out a serene sigh. "What are the odds…"
Yang's eyes widened when taking in all these information, sometimes, her sister could talk so fast she might've went beyond the speed of light.
However, she re-raised her eyebrow at one peculiar part of the girl's rambling.
"Wait, what do you mean by playing...?"
Ruby flinched and looked at her own hands. Then, her eyes darted towards her electric guitar before looking back up at her sister again with those shy silver eyes.
It took Yang a few moments to understand what her sister was implying.
Quickly, she grabbed the brunette's shoulders and asked whilst shaking her, "When are you playing? And where? Why haven't I heard of this before? Why didn't you tell me anything?!"
Yang looked very much like a concerned parent finding out that their child was about to get their first date.
After Ruby had convinced her to stop, which took a, not surprisingly, lot of time, she awkwardly tried to explain what she'd been hiding from her sister, rubbing her neck.
"Well, it's gonna happen on Sunday, so, two days from now," she made sure to add, "at around nine PM…" When Yang was still looking at her, Ruby knew she needed to say more. "Jaune told me it doesn't matter what song I played, as long as it fits for the general audience…" She gulped before finally saying, "I wanted it to be a surprise, Yang."
"Rubes…"
Yang maintained a poker face, knowing that it made the girl anxious.
She deserves to be freaking out for not telling me about this! She knows how I feel about this! The blonde reasoned within her mind.
However, Yang, being the big softie she was, couldn't stay mad for a long time, and immediately pulled the brunette into a bone-crushing hug. "Gah! That is so amazing! You're gonna perform! I'm so proud of you right now!"
She didn't care if it technically wasn't a performance. She didn't care if the only audience would only be she herself. She honestly didn't care even if the girl would somehow mess up her song.
Yang just… didn't care, except for that her sister would play her guitar in front of an audience.
"Ugh, Yang… need… air… to… breathe…" her sister said with heaving breaths.
Yang chuckled before finally letting go of her sister, who proceeded to hold her chest and try to steady her breathing.
"Sorry." She was not sorry at all.
"You're so not," Ruby called out, but then let out a big sigh, her annoyance washing away. "But… thanks, Sis," she said with a half smile.
Silver eyes brightened in a sudden.
"Oh! I almost forgot!" she declared as she ran towards her guitar, picking it up, and started fiddling with it, attempting to tune it in, Yang supposed.
"What?" Yang asked, wondering what the girl wanted to show her.
Maybe it's a new strumming pattern? Or a chord progression she learnt? Yang guessed in her head.
When Ruby gave her an excited grin, Yang knew it was not all of those.
"Check this out."
She began playing a slow melody. One that made the blonde think of watching the sunset at a beach: Calming. Relaxing.
Slowly, a beat seeped in. Starting out soft and simple, gradually growing stronger and more complex until it carried out the whole song, turning it from one of a slow song into one of a triumphing, inspiring one.
Yang had practically helped raise Ruby. She was there when the girl asked their father to buy her a guitar. She watched as the girl slowly learn to get better and better at playing it. She saw the girl slowly develop her style of playing.
She had been there.
She had always been there for her sister, and she knew she always would be.
But… even after all that… listening to her playing… it was still so mesmerizing, so enchanting…
"So? Did you notice?"
Yang blinked, slowly realizing how Ruby was done with her song.
"Notice what?" The young girl immediately pouted, as if she'd done something wrong. "What?" Yang repeated.
"I've been playing Weiss' song!" the young brunette whined, flaying her two arms. "You know, from her first album!" Yang gave her a blank look. Ruby blushed and defended, "Well, I guess it's not really popular, but I still like it!"
Yang shrugged and faintly smirked. "Well, still don't know what you're talking about, but I know Weiss is definitely gonna love it."
Ruby smiled. "Tha- wait," her smile was replaced with a frown as she immediately sensed how something was… of with the way the blonde had phrased it. "What do you mean by that?" she inquired.
Yang let out a laugh that put all villains in shame.
"Oh, my sweet sweet Ruby…" She shook her head, a menacing grin plastered on her face. Confident lilac bore into nervous silver. "Do you really think your favourite big sister is going to befriend her crush without letting her sweet rose meet the band member she's head over heels with?"
Ruby blinked.
"... You're joking."
"Nope~!" said Yang, popping the 'p'.
A red blur crashed onto the blonde, and soon, Yang found herself being tackled by the small girl, Ruby's head buried in her collarbone.
"Gah! I love you so much!" screamed the girl, her voice muffled.
"I know, Rubes," she answered, ruffling her sister's hair.
After minutes of more teasings, jokes, and definitely more puns ("I really think you're gonna get along with her, so don't worry, I'm confident that I've made a pretty… Weiss decision"), Ruby was already with her guitar again, strumming melodies of songs she couldn't remember, while Yang was happily listening to it.
Yang noticed that, however, Ruby's face was creased with a small frown, one that looked to be confusion rather than anything resembling anger.
"What's bugging ya, Rubes?" she decided to ask.
Silver eyes looked up at lilac, before quickly looking down again. "It's just…" she mumbled, fidgeting with one of the strings, downcast. After she took a sigh, she looked back up at her sister's eyes with determination as she asked, "You want Blake to like you, right?"
Yang was confused, but she nodded nonetheless, puzzled by which direction this conversation was going.
"Then… Why don't you tell her about your grades at school? Or how popular you are?"
Yang sighed.
If she were being honest, she herself had been thinking of telling her crush about it; about who she was at school.
Yang wasn't stupid; she knew her facial features and body were classified as 'hot'. She knew lots of boys wanted her, and lots of girls wanted to be her. Hell, sometimes lots of boys wanted to be her and girls wanted her.
It didn't really matter, not when it came to her, at least.
With her looks, and how friendly and open she was towards everyone… it caused her to gain a reputation.
And that wasn't all.
Despite the way she carried herself, Yang was far from stupid, especially academically. In fact, she was considered one of the best students at Beacon.
The headmaster himself had praised the blonde more than once.
Yang could tell Blake about it… she really could… but she hadn't, and didn't plan to…
"Because, Ruby… while I may be lots of things, what I want her to see isn't just any of those things… I want her to get to know me, to like me… not just 'the popular girl'... I could do that, but what would be the point?... Plus, I don't think Blake will like it if I show off. I know she's not into those types of people."
Ruby froze, letting the girl's words sink in. Then, she gave her sister a heartwarming smile.
"Huh… you really care about her, do you, Sis?"
Yang didn't even look at her sister. She didn't blush nor hesitate when she answered her sibling's question.
"Yeah. I do."
Blake's eyes were transfixed on the page before her.
Don't look up, she told herself repeatedly.
The reason for it was simple.
Here, while she sat on her bed, slouching as she hid her face with the help of her bangs and book, Neptune, Sun, and Weiss - yes, all of them - were standing in front of her and looking down at her expectantly.
Why?
... Well, the bassist had a few ideas, but she was pretty sure that, all in all, it had something to do with her hanging out with Yang.
She just didn't get why they all would make such a big deal out of it.
… Was she really that antisocial to the point where going out with a friend was considered very bewildering and fascinating?
"So?" she heard the boy with the blue hair asked.
Even without looking at him she knew he was giving her his version of a death-glare which he'd adopted by being friends with Weiss.
Just don't look up, she chastised herself before she made a fool out of herself.
"Ahem!" the singer very clearly faked a cough. "You know," her voice showed her deadpan. "It's very rude not to respond to your friends, Belladonna. Also, we all know you tend to read to avoid people." There was a pause that lasted for a few seconds. "Also, you've been reading that same page for at least five minutes, and you're a fast-reader, Blake."
Blake's eye twitched. She then made a fatal mistake by doing something she'd told herself not to do only because Weiss was being extra… 'Queeny'.
She looked up… and immediately cringed from the intensity of those three pairs of eyes.
Baby blue eyes shone, conveying an incredible sense of intelligence and logical-thinking, yet also a deep worry that she tried to hide, covered by the facade of nothing but curiosity.
Azure pools of blue, deep as ocean in daylight, held a mix of many feelings. Most noticeable was worry. Added emotions were suspicion, hesitation, and a light dreadfulness.
The last were coal of black, which showed the least amount of negative emotions. They held nothing but a child's curiosity, wanting to know simply because others would want to know as well, thinking it must be important.
She sunk as deep as she could into her bed, as if it provided her an escape from those glares. Had she known her friends were this… obsessed with her and Yang's newfound friendship, she would've looked for the emptiest, most abandoned library there was in this place, and secluded herself in it.
"So?" the dark-haired faunus shot back, wanting them to get out of her hair. But, unfortunately for her, her actions only made those glares increased five times.
What did I do?! She screamed internally, and very deeply wanted to screamed externally.
"Don't act like you don't know, Belladonna," Weiss quipped, still referring to the taller girl with her last name hands on her hips, looking very intimidating despite her small stature. She was the spitting image of a typical - not to mention cliche - angry mother character trope.
Blake gulped and took a chance. Maybe, just maybe, she could pretend to be dumb, and they would all let her go.
"What are you talking about?" she cursed herself for how nervous she sounded.
"Hmm…" Weiss tapped her chin, pretending to actually be thinking, before breaking into a groan and saying, "I don't know, maybe how you've been smiling all day ever since you got back from your date?"
"I have?" Blake immediately perked up. She truly didn't notice. She supposed she had been a little less… tired ever since she hung out with Yang. Everything seemed to increase in color. She felt a little more herself; a little more alive.
"Wait, it's not a date!" She did her best to outglare them all as she spoke declaringly.
"Sure it's not." Sun rolled his eyes. It was a little surprising for him to be acting aloof like that.
"That's definitely why you're smiling all day like an idiot, right?" Neptune backed up, grinning like a child. "Because of your 'not-date' with…" His face scrunched up. "Wait, who's the lucky dude again?"
Blake glared even harder, directing it at him.
"She's not my date," the girl corrected.
Neptune merely held eye-contact with her for a few seconds before asking yet again, unfazed, "Who's the lucky dudette?"
"Can you at least tell us who you've been talking to? Because I am more than a little worried," Weiss interjected before Blake could put any word in.
Gritting her teeth furiously, and mentally blaming her red cheeks on anything but her embarrassment, Blake answered begrudgingly listed off, "Her name is Yang Xiao Long, she's eighteen years old, she's a student from Beacon, she studies-"
"Boooring!" Neptune drawled out, groaning. Sun merely nodded in agreement, he surprisingly wasn't vocal about his state of unamusement.
"... Excuse me?" Blake raised an eyebrow and looked at Weiss, who seemed just as confused, if not more, than she was, now sitting down in her own bed, arms folded, expecting some kind of explanation.
"Blake," Neptune explained calmly, motioning with his hands, "when we ask you about this girl, we don't mean you practically read us her biography."
"Hey! I found these informations to be useful!" Weiss piped.
"Sure you do, Weissy," the keytar-player said, shaking his head in disappointment.
"We meant what's she like as a person," Neptune said, surprisingly, wisely. "Is she funny? Has she been treating you well? Do you guys share any-"
"Have you two fucked yet?"
Blake's eyes widened in absolute extreme shock not just because of that question which was so wrong on so many levels, but who'd said it.
"WEISS!"
Honestly, she didn't know what to say to the calm girl who currently was looking at her phone disinterestedly, as if she hadn't said… that.
Sun, however, laughed at her statement.
"The Ice Queen is back at it again with her ice-cold burns!" Sun commented, lightly jabbing Neptune, who appeared half as mortified as the faunus.
The four of them had a lot of inside jokes running between them, one of which was The Ice Queen and her never-ending ice-cold words.
If Blake had remembered correctly, Sun even kept track of how many times Weiss had unleashed her coldness and ruthlessness.
Meanwhile, the singer looked up at them with her usual frown and asked, "What?" After locking eyes with Blake's mad amber, she excused herself by proclaiming, "I'm just being blunt."
"Y-you can't just ask things like that!" Blake chided, still horrified. "I-it's just…" She refrained herself from saying any more things, mainly because she knew she couldn't handle having that kind of conversation with Weiss of all people.
"Why not?" the heiress asked, appearing curious and maybe even… hurt by the statement. She got up from her bed so she could look down upon Blake and appearing threatening. "You're my friend, Blake, it's my job to know."
The monkey faunus groaned. "Can you not use the word 'job' to describe 'friend'?"
"Suuun! You're ruining the moment!" Neptune complained, hitting him lightly in the shoulder, which didn't affect the blond in the slightest.
While the singer and the two boys continued to bicker - although mainly, it was just Sun trying to defend himself, Blake felt her phone buzz.
Opening it up, she smiled widely.
Yoo, wanna meet up 2morrow? Thinking bout watching that new running in the mazes movie… movie.
She didn't have to look at the contact to know who messaged her. She was about to begin typing her reply when she heard a scoff.
Turning around, she found that her three friends had somehow gathered around behind her and looking at the message as if it was some kind of rare artifact… without her noticing.
"Hmm… so that's your new… friend…" Weiss was the first to speak. As she cross her arms and glared coldly, she said, "what horrible grammar she has." Then, her eyes widened ever so slightly as she noticed and said almost disgustedly, "And- wait, is she a blonde?!" Causing Sun to look at her strangely, most definitely asking what was wrong with being a blonde?
"Well, but you have to admit, she is pretty bold." Neptune shrugged, out of them all, he was the one who cared least about Yang. That didn't mean he didn't care, though. He was just less… paranoid and worried.
A lot less worried.
"Stupidly so," Sun growled out, mildly surprising Blake, knowing that not much could anger the boy.
What's bugging him? Blake thought mildly to herself.
The blue-haired boy began, "I think the correct term would-"
"Guys," Blake cut off before another ridiculous conversation which would definitely lead to an even more ridiculous argument start. "Can you stay out of this? This is between me and Yang!"
Blake was not at all pouting; it was a glare, not a pout.
Sun uncharacteristically scoffed, "Well that's utter bullshit."
"Agreed," Neptune added, much to the dark-haired girl's displeasure.
"If someone's getting closer to you, they need to come to us first! They need our approval first," Weiss said in a matter-of-fact tone.
"Approval…?" Blake didn't know whether she should be grateful of how much her friends cared for her or be downright mortified that her friends were all like acting like concerned parents… which made her feel as if she was their teenage daughter.
I am no child, she thought to herself as she glared even harder.
"Yeah!" Sun cheered, then his demeanor quickly darkened as he said in a low voice. "If she hurts you in any way…" He frowned, then turned to his best friend and asked after poking him, "Hey Nep, how good are we at hiding bodies?"
"Guys!" Blake groaned.
Luckily for the cat faunus, the heiress seemed to catch how she wanted her privacy and put each of her hand on Sun and Neptune's shoulder, sighing. It was clear that Weiss wasn't used to psychical contact, so for her to be the one initiating it…
It was progress. A slow one, but progress nonetheless.
Blake smiled. She saw that the two boys were smiling as well, even if they hid it from Weiss.
"Alright boys, let's leave Blake to talk with her girlfriend," she asked- no, commanded.
"Aww, alright." The keytar-player whined, yet complied nonetheless. "But first…" He leaned onto Blake, eye-level, and mustered with the most painfully innocent and cheerful tone one could possibly speak in:
"Don't worry Blake, I'm sure you'll nova her casa soon enough."
Blake's face reddened.
Sun broke into laughter.
Weiss gaped at him incredulous.
"Neptune!"
"What?" the boy said, holding out his hands. "That's what casanova means, right?" he asked with a raised eyebrow and a sheepish smile; actually having no idea what he'd just said.
"NO!" Weiss shrieked. "That is not at all what it means!"
"The…" He scratched his head. "What does it mean?" he asked while frowning.
"Your room. Now."
Weiss closed her eyes, pointing towards the exit, a hand massaging her temples, letting out a hiss of more-than-mild annoyance.
The two boys actually flinched and looked genuinely terrified of the petite girl, uttering a "Yes ma'am" and quickly doing what she'd told.
After a door-click, indicating they were out of the girl's room, Sun's voice saying, "But seriously, how good are we?" could be heard, echoing through the hallway.
The two girls were alone in their room once more. Weiss sat there, arms crossed, frowning, looking at Blake.
Blake stared back, knowing there was still something the heiress wanted to say.
The shorter girl closed her eyes and let out a sigh. "It is true," she said, looking at Blake intelligently and level-headedly. "If she hurts you, Blake-"
"She won't," Blake quickly said, surprised of how confident she felt when she'd said it. "I won't let her," she corrected herself.
Weiss held her gaze for a few moments, then broke it by looking down, biting her lip. She seemed contemplating… deciding something.
Blake's eyebrows knitted together.
It wasn't that her friend's sudden quietness was alarming, she was just worried of what the girl had to say…
"What is it?" The faunus decided to cut to the chase while finally typing in her reply towards her cute new friend, not wanting to keep her waiting for long.
Sure :) How abt 11? was Blake's simple response, accepting the blonde's simple invitation. It had been a while since she'd gone to the cinemas. In fact, it had been quite a while since she'd watched any movie at all.
"It's just…" said Weiss, hesitation shown by the way she rubbed her fingers together. It was something she'd always done whenever she was worried, scared, or just… generally anxious.
Blake's phone buzz, meaning Yang had sent her another message.
Coolzies! What movie should we watch? :D
Amber eyes narrowed in deep thought, wondering about it as well. Blake, personally, never minded any movie she watched. She wasn't a fan of movies in general, so it didn't matter to her.
"Blake?" she heard her friend call out.
Without batting an eye, she responded with a simple "Yeah?"
"... Be careful, okay?" was what the heiress said just as she hit the send button.
Blake stopped. She looked up to find Weiss was already leaving.
"I'm gonna go and check on the boys," was her excuse; her lie.
Moments later, Blake was left alone in the room, more than a little confused.
Her phone buzzing made her look down only to find that Yang had already sent her another message.
Mehh, it doesnt matter to me, how bout we figure it out 2morrow?
Blake chuckled. Looks like another thing she, surprisingly, had in common with the blonde.
See u there, then was her reply.
Moments later, she found herself chuckling yet again as she read Yang's reply.
Srsly cant wait til 2morrow
She smiled because she felt the same way too.
Because it was another thing Blake had in common with Yang.
Author's Notes : Yay! We get to see more Ruby and the rest of Blake's fami- I mean, friends! Yeah, friends.
And, before you panic on how dark and feisty Sun gets when talking about Yang, it's not because he's jealous. It's because he considers Blake to be his little sister. It's always been how I view their relationship, even in cannon RWBY.
Also, in case you're wondering, this story will have a plot. In fact, I've put in some not-so-subtle foreshadowing~ as to when the plot will start… let's just say that… it's… yeah, I won't spoil you, it's a surprise! :D
Oh, I've also finally put in the White Rose pairing in the description/summary of the story. Why? Because all this time I've actually forgotten to put it… and… yeah, I forgot and I was too lazy to change it until recently.
There are so much things I want to talk about, mostly about the characters (Weiss, Sun, Neptune, Glynda … yes, even Glynda) because they each will play an important role in future plots.
But, well… I'll talk about them when they start actually being important. Or you could DM me and ask about it. I don't really mind.
Also, fun little fact; Yang never curses in front of Ruby, or at least she tries not too. It's why that, in Yang and Ruby's interactions, there are almost no cursings at all. Meanwhile, Blake and her gang are all teenage-adults, so they can speak more freely. Though, Sun and Neptune curses most.
Guest : Ahh, crap, a small writing-error. I probably won't be able to fix it soon tho. But hopefully I will… someday… one day… if I'm not busy… and lazy… yeah, probably never, but hopefully, not-never!
Lokfun1995 : Ouch, my heart… Am I actually… feeling something? What is thi- is this happiness? Oh my, it seems your words have moved my heart, dear sir or madame, they had caused it to beat in joy. I thank you ;)
Zed : Yay! Glad you liked it!
meeyaaargh3412 : Happy to know you like it! Also, I love how you noticed the detail about the restaurant belonging to Coco. I've always loved her, and maybe I'll include her in the story since her role is the owner of the restaurant! :3
M : Thank you for your review, I'll be sure to keep doing that!
Guest : Thanks! :D
Mattricole : Huh, really, I have no idea people struggle to write out date scenes and conversations. I personally love writing it, it's been the one thing (I think) I excel at when it comes to writing. It just feels so… natural. And not to mention fun! Also, thanks for your review! :)
