Welcome to the new year everyone!
Let's kick things off right with a fun chapter.
And as always, please enjoy~
Chapter 9: Club Activities
Beacon hosted a wide variety of clubs and extracurricular activities to stimulate physical and mental grow as well as facilitate opportunities to connect and develop bonds with fellow peers.
"And that's why I signed us up!" Ruby declared cheerfully one morning.
"What did you sign us up for?" Weiss asked slowly, her eyes narrowing after Ruby more or less recited a Beacon recruitment brochure.
"Today, we're going to be trying out some new clubs!"
Blake finally lifted her gaze from her book, realizing that sounded like she was going to get roped in regardless of willingness. Nevertheless, if she wanted to spend her day in bed, she needed to appeal to her leader. "But Ruby, we already have our own clubs."
As requisites, each of them were involved in at least one elective that pertained to their fighting styles or Semblance. Most notably, Yang and Weiss took to boxing and fencing respectively. With a myriad of styles, weapons, and techniques each student brought to their team, these clubs provided a way to exchange ideas and innovations to help each improve their roles as well as maintain peak physical conditions for their missions.
Blake had a less strict discipline and her club activities tended towards obstacle course challenges with targets to train quick thinking and ingenuity. Surprise events were common and tested how well each student could react to sudden stimuli and almost everything was considered fair play.
Which left Ruby… not to really belong to any elective in particular. Initially, her professors recommended the various track teams as it lined well with developing her Semblance, however issues quickly arose once Ruby competed. There had been accusations of teleportation, unnerving of the other members, and one incident where the ventilation system got clogged up with rose petals and mayonnaise.
Yet that had not stopped a pseudo-club from forming around her. Quite recently, several freshmen formed a little group who tried to keep up with her as she ran across campus. Results have been less than laudable but they weren't bothering her so they've been left alone for now.
Ruby nodded thoughtfully. "And sometimes Weiss goes skating and you do midnight ninja… stuff."
Stealth training, but Blake didn't feel up to correcting her leader.
"This is basically like that, only we're going to have fun today!" Ruby pulled out her scroll and showed them a list. "Have you even seen all the stuff we can do?"
"Well, you have a point," Yang agreed as she skimmed the list. Most of them were normal sports meant more for recreation than actively being used for combat training. "Which one do you want to do, Snow Cone?"
The moment Blake heard Weiss' pensive "Hmm…", she knew the vote had been cast.
"Might as well do something useful," Weiss looked at the imposing cliff-face before her. Carefully, she tugged on two ropes, making sure they were secure. Everything else was checked and double-checked already. Nothing was forgotten. Their gear was laid out and she ran through the safety guidelines mentally once again.
"Ready Ruby?" she called to her partner.
"You say something Weiss?" Ruby's voice answered distantly from high above her.
Craning her neck up, Weiss spotted a speck of red peeking out from the upper edge. Without waiting for Weiss at all, Ruby had already scaled the rocky wall.
To Ruby, this was nothing compared to what she climbed in Atlas. Footholds and handholds were clearly visible, and even if there weren't any, she could have always made her own.
"We were supposed to go up together!" Weiss complained.
Silence followed and was only punctuated by a meek, "Oops…"
A sharp ding resounded and Weiss narrowed her eyes to see Ruby rapidly descending via rappelling. The rope above her remained fixed and taut, giggles of joy accompanied the tapping of her soles against the stony surface.
Once Ruby reached the bottom, she took a couple of quick breaths from the exhilaration.
"Sorry Weiss," she apologized. "I anchored a piton on top so we could go together now if you want."
Strangely, Weiss was looking away and Ruby feared she had upset her partner by going off on her own.
"…We should do something else," Weiss spoke lowly, walking away.
She refused to face Ruby. She couldn't.
She knew they had forgotten something important… they didn't change out of their combat skirts.
"We have a bowling alley?!"
Yang's power rolls, devastating but controlled, scored strike after strike while Blake's crafty spin techniques netted her second-place on the leaderboard.
Weiss consoled Ruby by patting her back after the wolf lost several balls to the gutter.
Despite being initially opposed at first, Blake had to admit she had fun. Though she and Yang left Weiss and Ruby alone while they took another section of the cliff, enjoying a leisurely climb with her partner was relaxing and nice. She also certainly couldn't complain about her score in bowling.
But when it came to her time to choose, she wanted something a bit less strenuous. She still wanted to finish her book without being dead tired.
Stopping at a random spot on the list, she saw 'Tennis'.
Not wanting to run back and forth with a hefty racket, she almost strayed away until she realized an alternative.
"Let's try badminton."
Beacon's gymnasium had many playing fields that could be activated, from rocky terrain to tennis courts. Luckily, badminton was on the list and no one else was using the gym so they borrowed it for a quick game.
Half an hour into the game and things seemed to be going fine.
Their rackets were far lighter and each stroke emphasized more towards technique than pure power. That allowed Weiss and Ruby to return even Yang's strongest serves.
None of them were exceptionally good and only a few points had been scored for either side.
That was when Yang had to ruin everything.
"How about a little wager?" Yang called out cockily when they took a break after she and Blake scored eleven points, two more than Ruby and Weiss.
"What kind?" Weiss asked warily.
Yang shrugged. "Something embarrassing but light? I don't know, a penalty game?"
At the word 'game', Ruby's ears perked up.
"You know we're behind in points, right?" Weiss scoffed at her partner, already realizing her intentions.
"All we have to do is score more," Ruby returned confidently. She hadn't been playing too well and was still getting used to aiming the birdie back within bounds. However, she has improved slowly as the game progressed.
Weiss still seemed doubtful while taking a sip from her water bottle, so Yang gave her a nudge.
"It's okay, Ruby," Yang slung an arm around Ruby's shoulders. "It could just be between us. How about loser has to…"
Yang's whispers escaped Weiss, but she could see Ruby's ears and tail snapping up comically.
"Eh?!" Ruby cutely squeaked.
"And you can't tell Weiss about it," Yang placed a finger to her lips before walking back to her side of the court along with Blake.
Blake blinked when Yang firmly gripped her shoulder with determination burning in her eyes.
"Okay, losing is no longer an option." She flashed a grin. "Not like we ever were."
Amber eyes blinked. Blake decided against eavesdropping earlier, but curiosity was quickly getting to her. Not only that, she wondered if Yang didn't realize what she just said was definitely a death flag.
Across from them, Weiss was demanding Ruby tell her what Yang had said, but the wolf adamantly refused. Instead, Ruby's knees bent slightly as her eyes locked on Blake.
Unnerved, Blake gulped. She could feel something shift.
Wishing to end things quickly, Blake sent the shuttlecock towards Ruby but just out of her reach.
Thus she was shocked when Ruby sent it back twice as fast.
One bounce on their side while she was surprised was all the automated scoring system needed to tick Ruby and Weiss up by one.
But there was no cheer or laugh or giggle from their opponent. Ruby's facade remained still even as red petals drifted about.
"Hey! No fair!" Yang complained, catching Weiss' serve and sending it back. Weiss probably agreed but said nothing.
As the shuttlecock approached Blake, she aimed low and forced the return to barely clear the net.
However, Ruby intercepted immediately and sent it sharply down where neither Blake nor Yang nor anyone without super speed could have caught it.
Seeing this, Yang's eyes narrowed and Blake could feel the heat rolling off of her.
Yang's serve… was by all intents illegal.
Instead of hitting it with her racket, Yang opted to punch the birdie straight across. Even without her gauntlets, a trail of fire followed forcing Weiss to sidestep and try to swing at it. The mesh burned through upon impact and the birdie landed just behind her, right where Yang drove it.
Scowling, Weiss tossed the birdie to Ruby and stormed off to fetch another racket. Once she returned and play resumed, she looked as resolved as Ruby to win even without knowing what the wager was.
Ruby's serve was quick, but Yang once again punched it back at full force with fires blazing.
Weiss took careful aim… and flicked her racket with expert precision. The strike connected and a brilliant flash nearly blinded them. Blake barely saw the streak of light pass her and bounce on the ground.
Hovering in front of Weiss' racket was a pale glyph, gently rotating as if taunting her and Yang.
Weiss couldn't hide her smirk as the game started flowing in their favor. Point after point was pinged on the leaderboard. Blake and Yang struggled to simply return the birdie each time.
How childish, Blake thought despite losing yet another point. To degrade to using their Semblances, or in Yang's case just ignoring the rules, just to win.
Yet…seeing her partner breathe heavily, sweat glistening and dripping from her hair, eyes steely ahead in anticipation of where the next serve will come from, Blake made her decision.
The moment her racket struck the birdie, she stepped forward as another her diverged and both strokes followed through sending two nearly identical birdies back.
Surprised and scrambling to figure out which one was real, Ruby and Weiss tried to hit the same birdie only to find it phasing through their strings. The real one plonked on the ground right as they realized their mistake.
Yang stared at her incredulously before switching to a feral grin.
The game after that devolved further and further away from actual badminton. Both sides raced to victory using every trick and tactic they could think of. Once caught up in the thrill, even Blake gave it her all and summoned clone after clone to misdirect and extend her reach.
After a grueling two hours with neither side relenting, all four girls were heaving and utterly drenched. Their hair and clothes were in disarray, their rackets and fists scuffed, and their Auras spent.
Both sides were tied at 29 to 29. This was the winning point.
Ruby pulled her arm back, ready to serve. Though drained, she could tell that she was still steadier than her friends. In a drawn out rally, she could still keep going while forcing Blake and Yang to retire out of exhaustion.
But what kind of friend would she be then?
She smiled. They had given it their all and played sincerely, even more so that they took the time to play with her today by her own request. Sure, this in no way or form bore any resemblance to badminton, but they all had fun.
Losing… would be embarrassing, but she wouldn't mind it so much after tiring herself out like this. At the same time, she couldn't just throw the match. That would have insulted all of the hard work each of them had played.
With only one option, Ruby let go of the birdie, and flicked her racket up in a beautiful stroke. So gentle yet the birdie arced into the air, disappearing into the lights above the court.
"Luck is a big part of games," Ruby panted, ignoring that most competitive sports tried to limit the influence of luck in the interest of testing skill. "So are you feeling lucky?"
A cold silence washed over them as they waited with bated breath.
And then! Nothing happened.
Confused, Ruby looked up and shielded her eyes against the glaring lights.
"I think… it got stuck on the rafters…"
Weiss, Blake, and Yang face-faulted with a ground shaking thud.
Extra:
Several days later, Weiss was walking back to their dorm when she heard voices coming from beyond the door.
"You don't have to do this Ruby," came Yang's slightly muffled voice. "You didn't lose."
"But I did lose the birdie," Ruby answered her. "…and… I want to try it…"
"…Okay, ready?"
"Yeah…"
Weiss was barely aware that she was pressing one ear against the door to try and hear better.
"… … … HIE!"
Ruby's sharp squeal made Weiss jump and she immediately barged in.
"What is going on in here?!"
"W-Weiss?!"
Red swept and circled the bed. Once it settled, Weiss saw the familiar cloak wrapped protectively around a blushing and teary eyed Ruby.
Yang sat with both hands held up in shock and surprise as if she had suddenly recoiled from a hot stove.
Taking a step forward, Weiss noticed a dark fabric on the bed. It took her only a moment to realize it was Ruby's top.
In an instant, Ruby grabbed her top and rushed to the bathroom, slamming the door shut.
Weiss could only gape uselessly at Yang. All words were lost as her mind tried to focus on the figure beneath that cloak.
Prompt: Club activities. Maybe badminton?
- Thanks InductionMagnet! I randomly picked two other clubs as well, but Beacon probably have dozens.
Blake made the fatal mistake of thinking badminton was just a lighter version of tennis. Both are physically and mentally taxing, some may argue badminton even more so.
Regrets! If only Ruby had a gun I could have written some fun events down at the range~ Ah well, maybe one day~
And as for the penalty game… we'll see eventually. I kind of want it to be it's own little chapter. Hehe~ I wonder if anyone can guess what it was.
Please comment or review if you like and I'll see everyone next chapter!
