Click.
"Are you almost done?"
Click.
"Ssshh! Almost."
Click.
"You know Weiss is going to kill you when she finds out."
Click.
"It'll be fine. Anyways, they are way too adorable right now, how could I possibly let this happen without getting a few pictures?"
Click.
Weiss' eye snapped open, and she glared up at a grinning Yang. Lunging for the scroll in the blonde's hand, she missed as Yang danced out of reach. Trying to sit up, a weight around her stomach kept her in place. The heiress glanced down to see an arm wrapped comfortably around her. Looking at the limb's owner, she was greeted with a happy smile, silver eyes slowly blinking the sleep away. Yawning, Ruby snuggled closer.
"Morning, Weiss," the words were muffled in Weiss' neck, and the heiress wasn't sure if she should be thanking someone for putting her in this position, or killing them. The cooing coming from across the room brought her back to the present, and she reluctantly pulled away from her partner.
"Good morning, Ruby. Do you feel any better today?" Sitting on the edge of the bed, Ruby stretched her legs out and wrinkled her nose at the stiffness.
"Nope, it feels worse, if that's even possible," Ruby looked up at her partner, eyes shining. "I'm going to need help walking again," a slight blush swept across Weiss' face, but fled quickly.
"Then as your best teammate, I'll be there to support you," Yang rolled her eyes.
"If you're done coming up with excuses to hold hands, you should get ready. We've got classes today," Weiss glared at the blonde.
"I'm not making excuses! And since when are you so excited for class?"
Shrugging, Yang stood and moved to stand next to Blake by the door. "A bit of normality would be nice after the past few hectic weeks," Yang smirked. "Don't get used to it though, I'll probably be tired of it by tomorrow."
"I hate classes."
Patting the blonde head laying on the table, Blake glanced at the clock. "You made it through the morning at least, only a few more hours to do," a long groan escaped the golden locks, and Blake smiled. "Cheer up. We have combat practice next, so maybe you'll get to hit something." A weak thumbs up was the only response. Practically dragging her partner out of the classroom and down the hall, the faunus' eyes fell onto familiar red and white backs. Their pace was incredibly slow, but she guessed from the intertwined fingers and bumping shoulders that they didn't really care. Sighing, she turned her attention to her own partner, eventually bribing her with promises of touching cat ears if Yang walked normally and stopped complaining.
Combat class was being held in the amphitheater today, and the first thing Blake noticed was the jacket-wearing huntress sitting in the center of the dueling arena. Amber eyes narrowed as she took in the scene before her: a pile of inflated balloons, an annoyed looking Goodwitch, and a small smirk resting on Clare's face. Yang slouched next to her, disappointed at the lack of training dummies.
"So we're not going to be hitting things? Boring..." Blake elbowed her partner, but it seemed that she'd been heard. As the students walked closer, Clare jumped up and grinned.
"We're not working on your strength. We're going to be working on your aura control," reaching into the pile next to her, she spun a balloon in her hands. "Everyone grab a balloon, and pop it. Without using your weapon," she added quickly, making Nora slowly lower her hammer. A 'bang' drew the older huntress' attention to Yang, who stood with scraps of plastic between her hands. "And without just using your hands to pop it." Shrugging, Yang grabbed another balloon.
"You said pop it, and I popped it."
Rubbing her temples, Clare sighed. "I also said we'd be working on aura control. Which means that I wanted you to use your aura to pop the balloon, not your body," holding her balloon up, the huntress waited until all eyes were on her. Gently tossing it into the air, she let it float down to eye level before it popped. "See, all I did was use my aura to pop it. It's simple, just focus on the balloon and think 'BANG'!" A loud laugh rang out, and sunglass-covered eyes fell on a smirking Cardin.
"You want us to pop a balloon? What do you think we are, children?"
Shrugging, Clare gestured to his balloon. "Yeah, you're all kids who won't last a day out there alone. Try to prove me wrong. Pop it." Glaring down at the balloon, Cardin focused on it, but let it go after a few moments of nothing happening.
"This is stupid. I don't have a reason to waste my aura on something like this," turning his back on the huntress, he missed her grin.
Watching the exchange silently, Weiss stiffened as she felt a familiar aura gathering. Shifting her stance, she wrapped a protective arm around her confused partner a second before the aura hit them, a solid wall of power that shoved them back a few inches. Glancing around the room she saw Yang and Blake were still standing, surprise on both their faces, but not everyone had been so lucky. Jaune was being helped back to his feet by Pyrrha, and Cardin was laying on his back after being pushed end over end.
"If you can't do a simple exercise like this, then you're already wasting your aura. Being able to use an aura burst when surrounded could be the difference between winning or dying," waving a hand around the room, Clare continued. "You'll never be able to match that burst, but you should be able to learn how to do a small one. I'm trying to teach you the first step. Now pop the damn balloons." Scurrying to follow the annoyed woman's order, the room soon filled with the noise of practicing students. The only sound missing was the popping of balloons. Staring idly at her balloon, Weiss glanced up at her partner's voice.
"Hey Weiss, how'd you know she was going to do that?" Ruby's steely silver eyes killed any lie that came to Weiss' mind. "She didn't give any signs of movement, but you still knew to protect me. How?" Sighing, Weiss leaned closer to her partner, dropping her voice to a whisper.
"I sensed her gathering her aura, so I figured she'd do something like that," silver eyes silently pushed for more details, and the heiress relented. "I was wrong when I said that only you know about my eye here at Beacon. Clare realized it during our fight, which is why she took my prosthetic." Ruby glared at the tall huntress' back.
"She said she hadn't really touched your eye."
"She lied. When I was in the infirmary she visited and made me agree to some special training with her, so that my blind spot wouldn't cause our team trouble. I knew to protect you because I've felt her use an aura burst before." Ruby nodded slowly as things started making sense. She squeezed Weiss' hand softly.
"So you met with her at night just for training?" Relief washed over Ruby when Weiss nodded. "Oh good, I'm so happy to hear that. I was worried that maybe Clare was, you know, your type," blushing and ducking her head, Ruby barely squeaked out the last word. Shaking her head violently, Weiss stepped closer.
"Not a chance! I can't believe you'd even think something so foolish, you dolt," lifting her partner's chin, Weiss looked her in the eye. "My type is-"
"Hey Ruby, have you figured out how to do this?" Yang's loud call broke the moment, and they quickly moved apart as Yang and Blake joined them. Looking at her own balloon, Ruby shrugged. "Ah man, I just don't get it. How are we supposed to pop it?" Weiss looked incredulously at the blonde.
"You're joking right? Yang, I've seen you use aura bursts in battle," Yang blinked and tilted her head in confusion. "Remember when you were jumped by a bunch of beowolves and one of them touched your hair? You blew them away easily." Recognizing what the heiress was talking about, Yang grinned and pointed at her.
"Oh, you're talking about my bosom booms."
Weiss stared at the grinning blonde. "Your what?"
"My bosom booms. See, when I get pissed my semblance blows up and it makes my chest and everything around me bounce. So aura bursts are just that? No problem. Mmkay, just give me a sec," focusing on her balloon, the brawler turned away from her team. Blake watched her for a moment before turning to her white-haired teammate.
"You seem to know about this, so do you have any actual advice?" Nodding, Weiss held up her own balloon.
"Of course. Clare's explanation was simplified, but rather accurate. You have to focus your aura into a tight ball and then release it all at once," taking a deep breath as she gathered her aura, she smirked as the balloon exploded. Letting the plastic scraps fall to the floor, Weiss looked at her impressed teammates. "Since balloons are physical objects that break easily, they're perfect for us to practice with while getting used to the feeling of the technique." Turning their attention to their balloons, it was only a few minutes before Blake's popped, followed shortly by Ruby's. Weiss' pride swelled as she looked around the room, realizing that her team would be the first finished. Eye falling on a struggling blonde, the feeling fizzled.
"Nnngh!" Shaking the balloon over her head, Yang glared at it. "Why won't you break?!" Blake grinned in amusement.
"I thought you said this would be no problem."
"It shouldn't be a problem! But I only use a bosom boom when I'm angry in the middle of a fight, and I can't figure out how to make it work right now," seeing her shoulders slumping in defeat, Blake felt pity for her partner. Stepping closer the faunus whispered something in Yang's ear, and with a sharp 'bang' the balloon burst as purple eyes flashed red. Ruby applauded her sister's success.
"Wow, what did you say to her?"
Smiling slightly, Blake glanced at her partner. "I told her to imagine the balloon was going to statically cling to her hair and mess it up." Attention returned to her team, Yang grinned at a giggling Ruby.
"Awesome, we did it. Now what?" An unfilled balloon hit the ground in front of her with a soft 'thwap'.
"Now you fill up another one and do it again. Congrats on doing it, but once isn't enough," holding out her arm, Clare dropped a fistful of balloons into Yang's hand. "Pop all these and then I'll consider you done." Muttering under her breath, Yang started passing them out to the rest of her team, but the older huntress' voice stopped her. "Oh, those are just for you and your partner. Little Red, you should concentrate on your walking right now. How about you and Snowflake take a walk around the grounds?" Ruby eyed her cautiously.
"Shouldn't Weiss and I practice this some more?"
Clare pointed at the young girl's leg. "I really don't care if you can do an aura burst at the moment. All you need to focus on is being able to use your CRSL without issue. And I'm not worried about Snowflake's ability to pick this up, she can do it no problem. Now go walk, and I'll get back to trying to teach the rest of these kids." Turning her back on team RWBY, she started yelling across the room. "Hey Birdbrain, still think this is too good for you? An injured pipsqueak figured it out faster than your sorry lot! Amazon, make sure your partner doesn't hurt himself there, it looks like he's going to pop a blood vessel. And dammit, put the hammer down!" Sharing a quick look team RWBY separated, Yang and Blake blowing up balloons while Weiss and Ruby headed out into the sunshine.
Ruby took a deep breath as they stepped outside. The campus was quiet since it was still class time and there was no one else in sight. Holding her partner's hand as they slowly walked along the path, Ruby smiled at the calmness of it all.
"I didn't get to finish earlier," Weiss' voice jolted Ruby out of her thoughts. Looking straight ahead, the heiress squeezed her partner's hand tightly. "Yang interrupted us before I could tell you my type." Eyes widening, Ruby shook her head quickly.
"It's fine, you don't have to say any-"
"But I want to. Ruby, I think you are my type." Ruby stared at the blushing girl for a moment as her words sunk in.
"Oh… Oh! Me too!" Weiss quirked an eyebrow at her and the cloaked girl flushed. "I mean, not me too, like I'm my type too, but like you're my type too!" Giggling at the rushed explanation, Weiss entwined her fingers with Ruby's. A silence fell over the pair as they continued their walk. It was a few minutes before the cloaked girl broke the quiet. "So, we both like each other," Weiss nodded and Ruby looked up with hopeful eyes. "What happens now?"
"Nothing. It would be improper for partners to pursue a romantic relationship," watching her partner's crestfallen expression, Weiss frowned. "At least, that's what I would have said before all of this," the heiress' features softened as she waved a hand at the academy. "Now, even though I know it could be a big mistake, I don't want to be just partners or friends. I can't go back to a life without you." She laughed slightly at the admission. "I can't believe I just said that. You've really wormed your way into me, Ruby Rose."
Ruby leaned against Weiss. "I'm the same way. I just want to be with you, always." Grinning cheekily, she stopped and spun the heiress to face her. "You scared me there for a second, I kinda thought you were going to put a stop to anything before it started. How are you going to make it up to me, Weiss Schnee?" Taking one step closer, Weiss bumped her forehead against Ruby's.
"I'm sure I'll think of something," opening her mouth, the white-haired girl was cut off by the beeping of a scroll. Digging it out of her pocket, Ruby looked at the flashing screen and sighed.
"It's Yang. She says that we need to get back since class is almost over," smiling ruefully, Ruby turned and started retracing her steps with Weiss.
"Your sister has the worst timing." Nodding in agreement, Ruby snuck a glance at her partner. Weiss was trying to act like normal, but her small smile and red cheeks matched the expression Ruby knew she was wearing herself. Realizing there was still one thing that had to be said, Ruby smiled brighter.
"Hey Weiss, I like you," Weiss rolled her eyes at the grinning girl, but gave her hand a soft squeeze.
"I like you too, you dolt."
A/N: Yang, why do you keep interrupting? I guess her older sister senses keep going off.