Chapter 9:
All of the teams from Beacon headed towards their dorms, eager for some rest. As they did so, Anthony was mentally reviewing something that had been on his mind, ever since his fight with Torchwick.
That Penny girl... he noted, frowning slightly. It felt like... she wasn't human. More machine-based. But how? Last I checked, no one but me could make fully functioning robots. Well, apart from Atlas. Anthony snorted at thinking of those wannabe scientists. They were chumps compared to him.
He hopped onto his bed, snuggling into his pillow. Sleep entered his mind as he was swept up in his dreams.
XXX
With the end of the first semester, Teams RWBY, JNPR and AVHR decided to celebrate by going on several shopping sprees. Unsurprisingly, Yang, Weiss and Anthony were the ones who had spent the most Lien on different things, mainly clothes and weapons. They were able to afford it all due to different reasons; Weiss due to her being rich, Yang because of begging and pleading towards Weiss, and Anthony having saved up a lot of money due to his past activities. When asked, he quickly dodged the question, only Blake knowing the real reason why.
Over the next couple of weeks, all three teams had bonded quite well. Each team helped give pointers when needed. Ruby and Anthony got slightly better at hand-to-hand combat, Yang was taught not to let her anger get the best of her (which was a work in progress. Anthony could attest to that, having accidentally cut off a piece of her hair, and thus suffering the consequences), Pyrrha trained to not rely mainly on her Semblance, cautioned to only use it in very intense spars or against enemies, Nora got tips from Thor about how to better control her powers and hammer, etc.
The biggest improvement, however, was with Jaune. He took his training with the shield Anthony had given him very seriously, and was even seen studying the history of Captain Vale intensely. Anthony couldn't give him tips on how to properly use a shield in combat, as he didn't know how to properly wield it. He did, however, suggest going to Professor Port for advise, since the man claimed to be a great Huntman, so it'd be interesting to put that claim to the test.
Along with that, Jaune was forced to learn everything that he had needed to come into Beacon. He eventually admitted that he had forged his transcripts to get into Beacon. And while Teams NPR and AVHR were largely supportive or indifferent about the whole thing, it was with Team RWBY that the differing opinions showed. Ruby was alright with it, not bothered at all. Yang didn't really care. Blake just noted that it made sense as to why his performance was so poor initially. It was Weiss that was the problem. While she had learned to curb some of her... difficult traits, she had insulted the blonde quite a bit for his poor performance, and was wondering why Ozpin even allowed Jaune in, seeing as to how he seemingly didn't know about all of this.
Weiss was quickly shot down from the others, saying that Ozpin likely knew of this, and allowed Jaune in anyway. At that, Weiss shut her mouth, promptly apologising to Jaune for her rudeness, with the blonde waving it away with a smile.
Soon, it was the last day of the break. Teams RWBY, JNPR and AVHR were eating at the cafeteria. Blake was in her own little world, a few sketches littering her part of the table. It was only when she snapped out of her thoughts that she took notice of what she was drawing: a picture of an important person from her past, Adam Taurus.
She frowned. It still hurt her heart to leave her first love, but she found that she didn't regret it. While she would always look at her memories of her time in the White Fang with fondness, she was happy where she was. With all of her friends. Still, that didn't stop her from obsessing over each and every detail of the White Fang that she could find. She had even spent several sleepless nights in the library, scouring several of its books.
A hand on Blake's shoulder brought her from her thoughts, making her look to see Anthony was the one doing it. He gave her a small smile, one that she returned.
"Well, well!" Yang spoke loudly, interrupting the others as she stared at the two. "Looks like Tech Boy has moved onto our resident ninja!"
"And your ability to kill a mood with your words strikes again, Firecracker," Anthony muttered, rolling his eyes as Blake copied his actions.
"She has a point, though," Clint commented, smiling as he ate his lunch. "What, was Pyrrha not enough for you? And here I thought that you enjoyed your date with her."
Anthony coughed a little, doing his best to ignore Pyrrha's slightly jealous look and the shocked faces of the others. "Shut it, Robin Hood."
"Ooh, so defensive," Yang teased, grinning at him. "I thought you were a little player, player."
"Yang, if you're so jealous of not being my centre of attention, I can quickly rectify that," Anthony grinned.
"Aren't you a charmer?" the blonde retorted, fluttering her eyes. "But, you think you can handle me?"
"What, scared?" the technopath responded, smirking slyly.
"Oh, honey. Fear is definitely not what's in my mind right now."
"Ahem!" Ruby coughed, interrupting the byplay. "Hey, we're eating here!" she retorted, chomping into a cookie that magically appeared out of nowhere.
"Yes," Pyrrha agreed, frowning heavily. "You guys can talk later, somewhere else." Or not at all, she mentally added, jealousy bubbling in her gut.
"Chillax, P-money," Yang smiled. "We're just having a little fun. No need to be jealous that I'm so good at getting attention."
"Hardly," Anthony scoffed, making the blonde narrow her eyes at him.
"Oh? So you're saying that I'm not pretty enough?" she questioned, cracking her knuckles as incentive for Anthony's correct answer.
"That's not what I said, firecracker," the technopath snorted. "Just don't flatter yourself. You're hardly eye-catching."
"Um, Anthony?" Blake questioned, seeing Yang's eyes switch from lilac to a burning red. "Maybe you should quit while you're at it."
Clint scoffed. "And here I thought you were some sort of ladies' man. Yet you can't even calm a girl down."
"Shut it, Robin Hood," Anthony hissed, looking warily at the increasingly angry girl.
"That's it!" Yang stood up, slamming her hands on the table and creating indents on it. All of the trays rose from the force. "You and me! Tonight, 8PM! I'll show you that I'll knock your socks off!"
Anthony smirked, standing up and staring into Yang's fiery eyes. "See ya there, firecracker." With that, he walked off, but not before looking smugly at Clint. "See? That's how you get a girl to do the work for you, and get yourself a date. Toodles!" He then walked off, a grin on his face.
XXX
"I really don't think that this is a good idea, Yang," Ruby warned, seeing her sister pack all the supplies needed for tonight.
"Well, too bad," the blonde grumbled. "That little poser thinks that he can insult me and get away with it?! I'll show him! I'll leave him so stunned that he won't even know what's coming!"
"Aren't you just playing into his hands?" Weiss asked, sitting on her bed and reading a book. She looked up, annoyed at Yang's yelling. "And can you keep it down?! Some of us are trying to read here!"
Yang scoffed. "No, I'm not," she responded, ignoring the last part. "I've been at this thing longer than he has! The only claims he can hold is going on that date with Pyrrha! Just wait till I show that little punk up!"
"How long will you be gone?" Ruby asked, knowing that Yang wouldn't back down. "You know that Professor Goodwitch will kill you guys if you don't get back past curfew."
"Little sis." Yang turned to pat her on the head. "It's Friday. The night's not even here. And besides, I think we're both able to take on anything that comes our way."
"That's not what I meant," Ruby sighed. "You know what? Just go, but… don't do anything stupid."
"Why?" Yang grinned. "Worried I'm going to take away your little friend for myself?"
Ruby blushed brightly. "T-That's not it! S-Shut up!"
Yang laughed, ignoring Ruby's spluttering denials. Weiss rolled her eyes while Blake had headphones connected to her Scroll as she read a book on her bed. She was so glad to be ahead of the game, knowing how loud Team RWBY's dorm room got when all of its members were present.
XXX
Anthony whistled as he and Yang walked towards the club she had informed him about. "So this is the place that you talked about bringing me to earlier," he commented, smirking. "You take all the guys you butter up here, or am I just special?"
"Shut it before I boot you out," the blonde growled. The two walked inside, the technopath noticing that many of the staff there glared at Yang, making him note that maybe she had some issues with them whenever she came over. This became evident when the man at the bar reeled back, as if expecting something bad to happen. He was exceptionally tall, and wore a black vest over a white dress shirt, a red tie, black gloves and black dress pants. He had grey eyes, short black hair, along with a matching beard and moustache.
"Blondie," he grunted. "Do I want to know why you're here?"
"Just for a drink," Yang chirped. "Don't worry, Junior. I won't destroy anything. Promise."
"Right," he responded sarcastically. He looked towards Anthony with a sort of pitying gaze. "And you even roped in an innocent soul into this? I pity him if he doesn't know your behaviour 'round here."
"I was even forcefully brought here against my will, all to prove a point," Anthony supplied helpfully, a false sad look on his face. "All I asked was that she be gentle with me, but she wouldn't take no for an answer."
Junior nodded sympathetically, playing along. "Trust me, kid. She's always been like this. Can't even get a date without grabbing them by the balls. Literally."
"Oh, she do that to you?" he asked incredulously.
"Oh, yeah."
"I can hear your 'whispering'," Yang butted in, growling.
"Who's whispering?" the two males asked as one, making a tick mark appear on her forehead.
"... Just get the drinks, before I go back on my word," Yang threatened, fist clenched with fury.
Junior quickly nodded, knowing that she would. "S-So, what will it be?"
"Two strawberry sunrises," she ordered. "No ice."
The man reluctantly went to mix the drink. Anthony noted the short interaction between the two. "So, you got a story with him?"
"Why? Want to mock me again?" Yang retorted, shooting him a small glare.
"If I wanted to mock you, I'd be less subtle about it." He rolled his eyes. "I'm being serious."
Yang looked at him, then spoke. "We've got some... past history."
"I can see that," Anthony retorted, making her glare at him again. "What kind of history?"
So Yang spoke about event back before Beacon Academy. How she'd been looking for someone (who she wouldn't give a name on) and came here because Hei Xiong, or Junior, knew all the talk in the city of Vale, or so she'd thought. He didn't know anything, and she'd destroyed the club.
Anthony shook his head once he had heard the whole story. "Only you. Only you can trash an entire club after not getting the information that you want."
"Oi!" Yang yelled, making the others in the crowd jump and look at her warily. "This person was important to me! And I was pissed!"
"Oh, wow. What else is ne- Ow!" He rubbed his arm where Yang had punched. "That was uncalled for!"
"I beg to differ," Yang responded, smirking as she flipped back some of her hair. "Serves you right."
Anthony was about to retort, but paused as he heard music being turned on. He looked towards the dance floor in interest.
"What? You wanna step up to the dance floor?" Yang laughed. "Oh, this'll be good. Can't wait to see you crash and burn."
"You-" Anthony responded, but was interrupted by the sound of glass tinkling nearby. This caused them both to turn and see the two drinks set before them. Junior set the bill between the two and left them to their own devices, but still kept an eye on them just the same.
The two began to drink away, Anthony enjoying the sweet taste. It definitely wasn't the strongest that he had had, but it was nice nonetheless. "Oi, Junior! Pass me another one!" he called out, raising his empty glass.
Junior rolled his eyes. "Fine. But make sure that you don't drink too much that you can't carry your sorry asses out of here." He went to the back, returning with more strawberry sunrises, Yang joining in on his drinking.
"Whoo!" Anthony exclaimed, slamming his seventh cup on the counter. "That's some good shit."
"You're telling me," Yang agreed, a flush of red appearing on her cheeks. She looked at Anthony, grinning. "Want me to school you in a drinking contest?"
Anthony was about to reply when he heard the music change, and all sorts of people started to join in at the dance floor. "You like dancing, Yang?" he asked instead.
"Yeah," Yang said immediately. "Why, you wanna dance?"
"Uh-huh." Anthony stood up, jumping on the balls of his feet. "Feel like the alcohol's getting me in the mood."
"Cool," she responded, standing straight. "You any good?"
"We'll see," he responded. Together, the two of them stepped onto the dance floor. It was crowded, and it took them a minute to find a decent spot that afforded enough room to actually make a few moves. Once a new song started, the two of them began to dance. Yang noted that Anthony was actually a decent dancer. He wasn't perfect, but then again, who was?
His movements were smooth and natural, like it was second-nature to him. His footwork was phenomenal as he switched it up every now and then. His expression surprised Yang, as he had a slightly expression, which was clouded by a small joy at being able to dance. Yang was actually finding herself challenged by someone who could match her in skill on the dance floor.
As they danced, each of them noticed something. For the first time, Yang actually took the time to look into his eyes. They were a sapphire-blue, and seemed so guarded and closed-off that she was initially surprised. She was no expert, but she could tell that he was hiding something. Something painful, given the slowly fading expression of sadness on his face. Yet, she could also read off other things; mischievousness, a sharp intelligence, arrogance, hope, and slight happiness. It was a shock, considering that she had considered him as nothing more than an arrogant womanizer, who just so happened to be friends with her sister.
Anthony too looked into Yang's lilac eyes, and like her, he could read her in that instant. She was passionate, a badass fighter, determined, stubborn, and confident. Those were the obvious things. However, if one looked closer, there was also something else there, and Anthony felt like he was looking in a mirror.
There was pain in her eyes. It was well hidden, but Anthony could still see it.
At that moment, there was an understanding between them. They didn't say anything. They didn't express any emotion, other than a strange calmness after looking at each others' eyes. Something that they also noticed; there was practically no space between them. Their breaths felt hot against their faces, and their bodies were pressed against each other. Anthony blushed a little. Sure, he was a flirt, but he'd never been so close to a woman before. Yang also had a similar blush on her face, having no experience in the matter at hand.
As all of this processed, they separated, suddenly feeling shy. "G-Good dancing," Yang blurted out, eager to be rid of the awkwardness between them.
"Yeah. Y-You too," Anthony responded, rubbing his neck. "So, ah..."
"Y-You wanna go home?" Yang asked suddenly, getting some of her spring back.
"Sure," he responded. Checking his miniaturized Scroll that looked like a watch, he realised that the two of them had spent so much time outside that the last airship to Beacon was long gone. And he forgot to bring his armour with him, seeing as he didn't think it was necessary. He could try and recall it to him via his Scroll, but then he also realised that he had had Arsenal lock it away, to keep the others from tampering with it.
"Uh, Yang," Anthony said. "Think getting back to Beacon will be much harder than we thought."
"Why?" the brawler asked, confused.
"The last airship to Beacon left an hour ago," he reported. "We'll have to wait till morning to get back. And I had my armour locked, so there's no chance of recalling it to us here."
"What?!" Yang exclaimed, looking slightly panicked. "Seriously?!" She noticed the Scroll on his arm and grabbed his wrist forcefully to see what time it was. When she saw it, she hissed. "Damn it!"
She started to pace around the dance floor, everyone knowing of Yang's reputation that she'd explode if angered. "This is bad," Yang began to ramble. "This is really bad. Ruby's going to be so pissed when I get back. Weiss'll probably lecture my ears off. Blake… I don't know what she'll do, but it can't be good."
Watching the normally calm and collected Yang go into a state of panic left Anthony frowning. They were stuck here for the night, and once they got back, there would no doubt be a really annoying welcoming from both of their teams. Clint would probably laugh his ass off, Bruce would say 'I told you so'. Thor would probably just slap him on the back... which would have him sent flying.
Yeah, not a greeting that he wanted to receive from his team. But that wasn't important now. What was important was finding a place to call home for the night.
Anthony frowned, trying to think of a place to crash. Then, his eyes lit up. He tapped his Scroll, scrolling through several satellite listings of nearby apartments.
"What are you doing?" Yang asked, slightly breaking out of her panicked state.
"I have several safe houses stored around Vale," Anthony replied, still combing over the data. "For me to get away from Beacon for a while, or maybe for some peace and quiet. There should be one not too far- Aha!" He stopped at the satellite of a safe house. "Got one. It's roughly a couple of miles from here, but it'll work."
"How many safe houses do you even have?" the blonde asked, confused as to why someone would even have a single one in the first place.
"Two or three," he responded, looking at her with a grin. "Let's go."
XXX
It was late in the night by the time Anthony and Yang got to where they were supposed to be going. Yang wasn't exactly sure where in the world they were going, but Anthony seemed to know what he was doing, and so she had no choice but to trust him.
"Are we there yet?" Yang asked for what seemed to be the fifteenth time. Anthony would chalk it down to her being annoying, but he could tell that she was just worried that he was either lying, or leading her to a dead end.
He sighed, holding his irritation in. "Around the corner."
Once they did turn the corner, they came upon identical apartment buildings that stretched out to the end of the street. Yang's eyes looked left and right. There was no one around, no life whatsoever.
Anthony reached into his pocket, bringing out a set of keys on him. He was so glad that he hadn't told the other members of Team AVHR that he had safe houses. While he enjoyed being with his teammates, they were a bit much as it was. He didn't want them trashing his houses.
"Yang," Anthony called out, turning towards the busty blonde. "Over here."
Yang was shaken from her thoughts and quickly followed him as he unlocked the door to one of the apartments. When he flicked the lights on, he turned to watch her, still on the front steps. He rolled his eyes. "Well? Come on in."
She hesitated, feeling slightly wary. Despite the silent heart-to-heart they had in the club, she still didn't trust Anthony properly. Of her team members, she knew that he was more closer to Ruby than all of them, with Blake suddenly being a close second. And while she appreciated the gesture, she still couldn't shake off the weirdness of this whole thing.
Nevertheless, she followed Anthony inside, shutting the door and looking around. The apartment was quite small, fit for one or two people. The main living room was arranged simply, the kitchen had the necessary essentials, and the floors had several mats covering it. All in all, it was quite bland. "You sure know how to welcome a guest," she retorted sarcastically.
Anthony rolled his eyes. "I had this for me and me alone. Stop bitching."
Yang continued inspecting the house, not seeing any pictures. "Geez, I know this isn't your actual home, but you could at least put up a couple of pictures of your family or something." She turned to Anthony, who had a stony look on his face. Suddenly, she realised what she had said, and then clapped a hand to her mouth.
"Oh. I-I'm sorry," she quickly apologised. Guess she understood why he hid his pain in his eyes. Like her. "I-I didn't mean-"
"You didn't know," Anthony responded coldly, voice emotionless. Yang flinched at the sound. "It's fine."
It was silent between the two, trying to formulate their words in their heads. Yang desperately tried to think of something she could say. Something to break the tension and awkwardness between the two. Suddenly, a thought came to her mind.
"I..." She mentally prepared herself to tell her story. "I-I can tell that... that you have a bad experience with family. But that's okay!" She facepalmed. "Okay, not what I meant. I mean that... I can somewhat relate."
Anthony turned to look at her. Then he walked towards the couch in the living room. Yang's face fell, thinking that he was too mad at her to listen. It was only when Anthony sat down did he turn to look at her, patting the space next to him.
She smiled a little, walking up to take a seat next to him to continue. "My m-mother..." A frown came upon her face as she spoke. "She left when I was very young. She left my dad, Ruby... me. She left us. All alone. Dad was devastated. He did his best not to show it, but it hurt him. I..." Here Yang teared up a little. "I ignored his warnings about trying to find her. I-I took Ruby with me, so that we both could find her. I was stupid. We nearly died, by a pack of Grimm that would've killed us.
"When we were saved, I blamed myself for what I did. If I had only listened to my dad, then me and Ruby wouldn't have been put into that situation. I-I even had another mum in the form of Summer, Ruby's own mum. But... she died. Dad wouldn't tell any of us. T-Then I was all alone again."
Tears fell from her eyes as she recalled her story. A hand was placed on her shoulder, making her look to Anthony and smile lightly. He had a look of understanding on his face. As well as a look of... longing?
"I know this may make me sound like a dick," he spoke, smiling with no humour. "But at least you had two parent figures in your life. So hey, you traded one parent away for two. Fair deal, ain't it?" He sighed, rubbing his eyes. "I'm not ready to tell you my whole past. But..." He grunted, trying to continue. "My... father was an abusive asshole. He had this whole illegal family business thing going on, which everyone followed. I was sort of the black sheep, the one who rebelled against it and did my best to isolate myself from it.
"Thing is, it's like a sickness. We can try to escape it, we can dread it, we can even hate ourselves for it, but eventually, you find yourself sucked in. Slowly killing you from the inside. Until you're nothing but a husk. It caught all of my family." Anthony's fists clenched tightly. "Including my older brother."
Yang's eyes widened at that. She didn't think that he'd have an older brother. Then again, she knew nothing about him, and was only getting the full story now.
"He usually helped my father in 'disciplining' me," he hissed out, making Yang flinch slightly. "Always berated me for rejecting his teachings. Always destroying any of my inventions whenever I showed him them, always saying that they were useless and that I should focus on training instead." Anthony chuckled a little. "Looks like he inherited dad's stick that got shoved up his ass."
Yang giggled a little, the tense atmosphere slightly broken. "Hopefully, it didn't branch itself anywhere as he grew older," she joked, the terrible pun leaving Anthony silent for a moment. He then chuckled, and then laughed at the joke. He looked at her. "That was terrible."
"It made you laugh, didn't it?" she questioned, smiling.
"Yeah, because it was so stupid that it was funny. Seriously, you have a list of shitty puns that-"
Without any warning, Yang grabbed his face and shoved it towards hers, catching him in a lip-lock. Anthony's eyes went wide as he kissed her, her lips simply pressing themselves against his. He was confused, wanting to pull back, to question her, to yell, to do something.
Instead, Anthony decided to go with the flow. He held Yang's own face as he deepened the kiss, making the blonde moan a little. Both silently agreed to go simple, as they had no idea why this was happening.
They separated to get air, their gasps harsh and sudden. Both of them looked to each other for signs of disgust, betrayal, anger, hatred, anything that would indicate this was an undesirable course of action.
They found none of that.
Smiling, Anthony went forward, kissing Yang again, only this time more rougher than before. He reached out to grab her hair, but then paused, knowing that doing so would interrupt the moment. His hand veered towards her waist, gripping tightly as he pushed her down, deciding whether he should stare at her heaving chest or face.
"Why?" Anthony asked simply, though she managed to get the meaning behind the word.
"I don't know," she answered, panting.
With that, Anthony leaned down, straddling her as they kissed again. At that moment, there was no need for words of comfort anymore. They had already found comfort in the kiss that they shared.
Okay, now I need to explain myself.
1) Why I haven't updated in the last few days? Well, exams finished, and I got Devil May Cry 5. 'Nuff said. ... No, really, nothing needs to be said.
2) Why it's been a long, long while since I've updated this story? Other stories had to be updated. A weak excuse, but one nonetheless.
3) Why this chapter was a little short? Just came back and made this on the spot, as I'm hoping to continue my marathon of DMC5 and hopefully be successful.
4) Why no lemon? There isn't one because I didn't want one to be here. I wanted Anthony and Yang to try talking, and then kissing as an outlet to sort their own personal problems. Sex is one way, but a) it's too early, and b) I wanted to keep the confused, somewhat sombre atmosphere. That'd change if a lemon was included.
Now, with those points out of the way, Guest review time:
i) True, and good points.
ii) I'll consider the points, as they are good suggestions.
iii) Thank you.
Now, Imma leave y'all to your own devices while I go back on my marathon and camp in my room. Thanks to all those who f,f,r and r the story.
Peace!
(P.S. - This is just to make the chapter bigger. No point in reading this bit at all. If you did... HAHAHAAHAHA!
Okay, I'm done.)
