Well . . . this took longer than I wanted.

I kinda wanted to stop at about 5k, but umm . . . this is longer than 5k.

Anyway, please drop a review. This will be an opening to something similar to when I did the prom arc. A lot of holes are left un purpose to be filled i nat some point, so be ready to enjoy.

Also, there's an Easter Egg in here. Any ScrewAttack fans out there will catch onto it very very easily.

Here's chapter 21!

Chapter 21 - Blake's Evening

I give Mr. Xiao Long a final gaze before I shut the door to the room. It's been a long day for everyone, but there is no doubt in my mind that it has been the longest day for Yang and myself. I'll be sure to give her a piece of my mind when she wakes up. As sweet as it was for her to keep fighting passed her limit for me, I still don't like the idea that she was so far beyond her limit that the use of her aura became impossible.

"You're such an idiot." I say to her, but with the large, blonde form still out cold slumped against my back I may as well be talking to myself.

I carefully walk over to the bedside to sit myself down. At the same time I lean back to let Yang fall from my grasp and land on the soft mattress with a mild thud. I doubt she'll mind what position she wakes up in, but I plan on adjusting her into a more natural state after a moment. I did not want to admit, or show it in front of Mr. Xiao Long, but Yang is a lot heavier than she looks. She's deceptively heavy, and the weight took its toll on my back.

I decide to take a small break before I hop in the shower to wash off the several layers of dry sweat and debris that has my arms and face feeling a slick taint to them. As I would normally do on any other day, I lay down with my head on Yang's right shoulder and press myself gently against the strong form of my girlfriend. Whether she is unconscious, sleeping, or wide awake, the warmth of her aura always reassures me.

I take a deep breath, finding myself nuzzling closer to Yang until my nose is tickled by her long, golden locks, and my forehead comes in contact with the mass of hair that clings very slightly to my sweat-stained flesh.

"Don't you ever worry me again, Yang." I know I am whispering on deaf ears, but it is the only time I will be able to say this so openly. Despite me being in a relationship with Yang, I admit that I still hold a distance between us through sarcasm and feigned annoyance. I don't want there to be a severe pain should anything happen between us for reasons beyond our control. I still don't know what has happened with Adam or what Torchwick is up to, and I need to remain prepared for the worst. Although, what I said to her father was true and from the heart: 'This is where I belong.'

I drape my right arm over her stomach, as well as my right leg over both of hers to keep me as close as possible. The thought that she pushed me out of the way to take a hit she probably knew she wasn't prepared for continues to eat away at my subconscious. In the end it was my lack of awareness for Yang's limits, my own limits, and Pyrrha not having her shield in hand during the closing seconds of our fight that has Yang in this situation. I don't want to let her do something like that again, and me arguing with her to not do so will end with me losing since she already made it clear that she will be my guardian. The only choice I have is to adapt to her new mindset and be her shield in return. Unfortunately, that mindset will need to wait until after the Free-for-all. Yang and I won't be allies during that event, and I don't plan on holding back. To a fighter, holding back is the deepest form of disrespect, and I won't show any disrespect towards my teammates, or Shun.

I guess I should shower.

Through extreme reluctance I begin to pull myself from Yang, but not before stealing myself a small peck from her mildly-parted lips. I feel somewhat like some sort of pervert for kissing my unconscious girlfriend, but that doesn't stop me from taking a second, and third kiss from her.

Come on Blake . . . shower time.

I clench my fists and acknowledge the fact that there is a putrid stench coming from me and the only way to get rid of it is with a heavy dose of soap and water. I haven't taken the time to see the bathroom yet, so it will be a nice experience to see the size of a bathroom in a guest room of Schnee Manor. As a matter of fact, the first thing Yang said when Weiss invited us to her home is that she wants to see the size of the bathroom. I wonder if she already took the chance to peek inside.

I slowly roll myself away from Yang until I come to the edge of the bed. Without care I begin to strip off the sweaty, damp cloths from my body. The first to go is my vest, followed by my top, and my bra immediately after. The dampness in my clothes is made even more apparent to me when my exposed flesh is soon beaded with goosebumps thanks to the moisture that was kept on me sucks the heat right out of my body.

My need for a quick warmth brings me back against my personal super-heater whose aura can soothe the chills erupting throughout my spine. It takes me a moment to register that I just cowered against a sleeping Yang while I have no form of top on, and my surprise makes me jump in embarrassment. I'm thankful that Yang didn't wake up at any point during my mental lapse, otherwise I may never have heard the end the fact that 'her Kittycat was being pervy and kinky' while she was asleep.

This time when I move away from Yang I stand up and walk towards our dresser to fetch my clothing. Out of the two columns of drawers I made the right column my own. I drop down to a knee and open up the bottom drawer to pull out a shadow-purple bra, and a pair of boyshorts that I have not had the chance to wear around Yang.

They are primarily black with purple lettering on the back to match the color of my bra and bow. A smile crosses my lips when I look at the lettering that reads 'Have you pet the Kitty today?' and the image of my emblem sitting on the front left. These are the pair I was given when I walked into town and came across Yang's favorite teaser-clothing designer in Patch.

I take a moment and gaze over my shoulder at the sleeping blonde with a smile crossing my lips. Just thinking of her shell-shocked reaction to me playing her own game takes me to the border of laughter, but I hold it in to avoid making any noise that could wake her up.

Alright, in the bathroom before I wake her up.

I turn towards the bathroom door which is between the dresser I am at and the bed. I move towards the doorway and take one more look at Yang before I enter the bathroom. Once inside I hold the doorknob twisted so I can close the door and then release the knob to avoid making any loud noises.

Wait, why am I being so quiet when she's unconscious?

I stand with my back against the door and begin to shake my head. It is then that I look around and observe the bathroom for the first time. It's large, just as Yang and I thought, although I always expected it to be larger. If I had to guess I would say it's about half the size of our bedroom, but compared to Yang's bathroom it is definitely larger with plenty more walking room. The tiles are a nice, light-blue color while the walls are painted a pearly white to match the porcelain bathtub and stainless steel spouts and knobs in it. The tub is to my right, hogging up a large majority of the wall. However, there is a squared off area in the corner that the tub doesn't reach, and in that spot that is roughly 5 feet long and wide there is a drain sitting in the center as well as a water spout high against the wall. It takes me a moment to realize that the squared off area is actually a stand-in shower directly next to the bathtub. To complete the look, that entire section is cut off by a large, light-blue shower curtain that has the same emblem as the front door, although this one is see-through to contrast with the not-so-transparent curtain itself.

Directly ahead of the door is the sink with a sizeable mirror in front of it, and to complete the obvious bathroom necessities I see the toilet to my left and a small rack with several different kinds of magazines to suit all tastes of any that spend the night.

Without thinking I begin to undress and strip myself of everything. Within the large room I feel like I am embracing some sort of taboo act with the large space I am granted. To be exposed completely in a small, confined area is nothing, as is being naked in a bathroom. However, there's something about the large amount of space around me that gives me a feeling of liberation. It's large enough to be my own personal hot spring.

I really need to take a break from reading Ninjas of Love . . .

I take a deep inhale and face palm myself with an impact that echoes in the tiled room. At the same time I switch gears and turn to my right to follow the wall towards the tub. Along the wall is a towel rack with a black towel, and a yellow one. It's just like Weiss to go all out with the simple things.

I take a final look over my shoulder at the mass of clothing gathered at the doorway to the bathroom. On top of it all is my black ribbon that spirals and curls on top of the pile. First thing I do is look around the tub for the knobs to begin the water, but all I see is a device on the long wall against the tub that has a few buttons, and a display that is currently blank.

"I swear if this is the controller for a simple shower . . ." I continue to observe the device until I see a button that has a basic image of a running faucet. The moment I press the button I see the tub begin to fill at a rapid rate, much to my surprise. At the same time the display lights up and begins to display the water's temperature, immediately I tap a nearby up-arrow to raise the heat and let the tub fill.

"Is this even necessary for a bathtub to have some sort of state-of-the-art control panel? What the hell are these other buttons for anyway?" I begin to sigh, growl, and all-around get infuriated with the fact that such a large amount of money has been invested into these devices. More from the realization that it's also being paid for thanks to the profit made from the cheap Faunus labor the SDC uses.

After settling and getting the water warm enough to meet my standards I stand up to climb over the 3-foot high ledge of the porcelain tub and carefully climb in. Once my left leg is in the water I bring in my other leg and watch as my presence in the tub makes several pulsing rings appear and hit the walls of the stainless porcelain. The water is definitely warmer than what I usually shower with, but the heat is pleasant.

I stand there for a few seconds, making sure my body can adjust slightly to the heat of the water until I finally gain the nerve to lower myself into the water and lay back against the edge of the tub. I couldn't see anything when I was filling the tub or stepping in, but now that I have my back against the porcelain I feel some sort of rubbery and bumpy material that keeps me from sliding around. If I had to guess it must be some sort of clear, waterproof gel.

After I'm adjusted to the water's temperature I tap on the nearby display to raise the temperature a few more notches. Within seconds the water begins to pour into the tub again but it doesn't get any higher. If I had to assume why, then I would guess that the drain opened at the same time the warmer water was being poured.

"This is nice." I whisper. A mighty sigh breaks the growing silence in the bathroom. I can't remember the last time I simply laid back and enjoyed being embraced by hot water. Since I've been in Beacon I've always kept my showers quick, as well as be cautious with how much hot water I use since Yang doesn't know the same courtesy most of the time, leaving Ruby with a lukewarm shower while Weiss could care less thanks to her love of the cold.

I tell myself that after a while I will switch to the shower to properly soap myself to get the scent of sweat off of my body. That plan soon disappears into the back of my mind along with all of the fatigue of the day. The seconds turn into minutes, and after a certain amount of time (definitely close to 10 minutes) there is a heavy vibration in the tub and the water begins run again. Instinctively I turn my head towards the small control panel on the wall.

Replacing water.

I read the flashing, boxed lettering and shake my head at how advanced the technology for a simple shower is; although I do appreciate not relaxing in my own filth. With the knowledge of the tub's water replacement cycle I am able to remain unsurprised when the second cycle comes. I use it as a time marker. When the third cycle comes I take the chance to switch over to the stand-in shower and wash myself properly with the soap left nearby, still in its box.

Compared to my time in the tub, I spend a miniscule amount underneath the shower head. I take care of every nook and cranny that has even the slightest feeling of sweat until I am satisfied that I have washed away every little molecule of it. When I'm done I step from the shower into the empty bath tub to reach the towel rack. I waste little time in drying my head, arms and torso to the best of my ability.

As soon as I am no longer dripping I wrap the towel around my breast and torso and walk over to the pile of discarded clothes. Next to them are the clean pair of boyshorts and the bra I took out of my drawer to wear. I give myself another quick dry before I put on my boyshorts and decide to put my bra on later. There's a liberating feeling of not having myself confined into a bra. Since I am only in a room with an unconscious Yang I feel no need for it to be on for now.

Before I leave the bathroom I place the towel back on the rack and gather all of my clothing to carry out with me. When I leave the bathroom I instantly notice that there is a shiny, silver plate cover resting on top of the dresser with a sticky note attached to it. I immediately walk over and lean forward to read the note.

One tuna sandwich for Blake

One 'everything' sandwich for Yang.

~Sebastian

"How did he get in here? The door's locked and I didn't hear a thing."

I decide not to dwell too much on the intrusion by Sebastian and instead go into the closet to drop off my dirty clothes into my suitcase. Yang is still asleep on the bed and I don't expect her to be awake anytime soon. Although I know she could wake up at any minute given how tough and durable she is.

"I'll eat when she wakes up." I shrug my shoulders and look over to the bed where Yang is.

I walk over to the bed and notice that she isn't lying flat like she was when I first put her on the bed. It's reassuring to know she has been moving during her sleep. It lets me know that she's alright. The problem I have now is that she is on her side facing the wall that the projector displays off of. I could lay near her, but there's also the fact that she's close to the edge of the bed which makes it that much more difficult to lay down.

An easy solution is to lay on the other side of her, but I want to see what's on TV. I debate on moving her but the fact that she rolled into that position means it's how she is comfortable. I continue to think how I could get myself onto the bed.

"Of all the times for you to get yourself KO'd, Yang . . . it's bad enough we're at Schnee Manor, but now you're practically non-existent."

I look around for the remote for the projector and find it at the foot of the bed. I turn on the projector and walk towards Yang's side of the bed. After a deep breath I lift the covers off of her and carefully crawl and slide my way underneath her arm before I turn onto my side so my back is pressed against her chest and my rear against her pelvis to spoon against her before I begin to casually channel hop.

She won't mind.

I justify myself with Yang's enjoyment of having me close. I toss the covers over the two of us and bring Yang's arm over my collar bone. Eventually I find an action movie that doesn't seem to have a complicated plot. I keep the volume low and just focus on the action scenes. I'm not surprised that within the next 10 minutes I start to hear groans, and Yang starts to squirm, kick and stretch to get her motor skills working properly.

"Finally awake?" I ask with disinterest.

"I guess . . . what happened?" Yang lifts her arm off of my collar bone. I look over my shoulder to see her rubbing the back of her head, most likely where she was hit with Pyrrha's shield.

"You did something stupid . . . and I realized it too late. Don't you ever push yourself like that again, Yang. Am I clear?" I stare into her lilac eyes, but all she does is smile at me.

"Can't make promises, Kittycat. I can't let my pretty Kitty get hurt." She drapes her left arm over me and slides her right arm underneath me to pull me against her in a tight hug. "Wait . . . skin?"

"I'm topless, Yang." I answer her confusion. My blunt statement makes her jump slightly but before she can pull herself from me I grasp her wrists to deny her the ability to. "If you so as much slide an inch away from me I will kill you. We're dating, and we've already done the deed. You had me worried sick when you hit the ground. I want my girlfriend to hold me . . . now."

My words are cold and blunt, but my last sentence comes with shaky words, breaking the scolding attitude I have been maintaining. Thankfully I can feel Yang's grip tighten to the familiar rib-bruising amount, along with her breathing gracing the back of my neck.

"You worry too much. Know that?"

"Give me reason not to." I counter, earning a snicker from Yang.

"Well, I'm super durable for one, my semblance is meant for me to take a hit, I've been this reckless even before I met you and I'm perfectly fine now, see?" Yang's overly enthusiastic attitude forces a smile out of me, despite how much I want to yell at her for being so irresponsible.

"That doesn't mean put me in this situation again, got it?" I look over my shoulder to her lilac eyes staring right through me.

"Alright, alright." Yang shrugs her shoulders and diverts her attention back to squeezing me against her. "I should probably shower, though. I'll be quick."

Considering the icky feeling I had earlier that practically drove me into the bathroom I understand Yang's desire for hot water and lift my body off of the bed just enough to let her slip her arms away while she rolls over and goes straight for the bathroom door.

"Hey, what's in here?" She asks and I look over towards her to see she is eyeballing the silver plate cover.

"Two sandwiches." I answer. The moment I answer her, she starts to go through her drawers to get herself a fresh set of clothes then disappears into the bathroom without another word.

"I knew the bathroom was huge!" Yang shouts from inside. I shake my head and go back to channel surfing. It's not long before I can hear the shower running and light rustling that sounds like Yang stripping off her clothing in a very hastily fashion.

However, I don't get to find a show to watch before there's several knocks at the door. I slide out from underneath the covers and walk to the door, putting a hand on the white wood so I can call through it.

"Who is it?"

"It's Shun. Got a sec?" She asks with that somewhat-ghetto and arrogant tone of hers.

"Anyone else there?" I follow up, debating if I need a bra or not to open the door.

"You want to pat me down for a wire, too? I'm alone, Belladonna." She snarks with irritation in her voice.

I shake my head at her remark that could rival Weiss' sarcasm and Yang's impatience. I turn the knob and pull the door open to the orange-haired Faunus going wide-eyed at the sight.

"What did you want?" I keep one hand on the back of the door and the other on the wall, just shy of the doorway.

"You're . . . topless?" She looks at my chest, then back at me with confusion.

"This is my room. Why can't I be topless?" I counter her question. "Besides, we're both women."

"Women that are into women" she counter in return. "Anyway, just wanted to know how Sunflower's doin'."

"She's awake. She just went to take a shower. Want to wait for her to come out?"

"Just checkin'. Anyway, Mr Qrow took off earlier to a museum. Something about 'em having one of his old weapons on display with a forged signature. Let 'er know." Shun turns around and walks away without sparing another second. I'm not sure if she's being stubborn and not wanting to let Yang know that she cares, or if me being topless made her that uncomfortable. Either way I spare no time thinking on the matter and shut the door.

It's about 8 minutes before Yang works her way out of the bathroom, sporting a pair of black boyshorts without any flirtatious lettering, much to my surprise. She has her yellow bra tossed over her shoulder, possibly sharing my desire to remain as comfortable as possible in the fancy room we get to ourselves.

"I'm guessing the fish is yours?" Yang asks while she lifts off the cover for the plate and spots two smaller plates on top of a large one. She takes one of the plates that has my sandwich on it and passes it over the bed to me.

"Mhm." I take the plate from her and step off of the bed to sit at the nearby table where I was reading my book while she was dealing with Shun's back. "Oh, Shun came by to see if you were okay. That, and she wanted me to let you know that your uncle went to a museum. Some weapon had his signature on it."

"That's . . . not going to end well." Yang shivers. I'm certain she is able to piece together the situation with such little detail. I hope things don't escalate too far while we are in Atlas, although that's little to worry about with Weiss nearby.

"Your uncle's not a fan of his work being out?" I ask before taking my first bite of the sandwich. I'm completely impressed at how easily it is to tell that the fish is the freshest it can be, on top of being seasoned with spices I can't even hope to learn the names of.

"He doesn't sign his work, so that signature is forged. Plus, he would never give his work to a museum. He gives it out to be used. I bet he knows who that weapon was meant to be for. Uncle Qrow never forgets a job he's done. He could tell you every little thing he's done to my Babies and their limitations with range and so on. He's the best there is when it comes to weapon design." Yang explains to me before she starts to dive into her food.

Not so surprisingly she manages to finish way before me, leaving me to eat mine in silence while she watches TV. When I am done I leave the plate on the table and stand up to walk towards Yang before she makes a quick observance.

"Hey, those have your emblem on 'em. When'd you get those?" She smiles.

"These? I got these in Patch." My answer makes Yang quirk a brow before a look of half-hearted realization hits her.

"Wait . . . What store?" She asks, still uncertain, but having a good clue where I received the underwear.

"Just some regular place. I added the emblem myself. Took me a night in the attic to get it right." I lie and walk towards the worried blonde.

"Oh . . . alright." There's a sigh of relief between words. I decide to tease her a little more and start to tug her towards the edge of the bed in an attempt to sit her up. "What's with the tugging?"

"I want to sit on your lap. That stupid agreement I made with you has me used to it." I roll my eyes at the stupefied look on her face. The clear elation she has to me wanting to sit on her lap makes her look like a kid when they are allowed to get something from the toy store. Within seconds Yang is sitting at the edge of the bed and patting her lap to welcome me.

"I swear, you're an open book." I say to her with folded arms.

"Only for my pretty Kitty." Yang answers with that confident smile.

"That reminds me, I have a question for you." I step up to Yang and turn around to take a seat, but just before my rear touches her lap I lean forward to make her gaze down at what she calls 'the Bellabooty'. The several coughs of surprise she lets out after she reads the simple question makes me smile at the job well done.

"Y-you liar!" She shouts with a lack of control over her voice while she recovers from her mild coughing fit.

"That's for gloating about making me blush." I answer and finally plant myself on Yang's lap with my right leg crossed over my left.

"H-how long have you known about that?"

"The same day Shun took Ruby." I don't bother looking over my shoulder. Instead I reach behind me for Yang's wrists and make her wrap her arms around my waist while I look at the TV. "I'm not mad. Just thought I'd get you back. I'm sure she'll love hearing about this one."

"No need to go that far! I have a reputation to keep, Kittycat!"

"Don't we all?" I look at Yang and give her a smirk that lets her know that there is no winning this battle with me. After she sees my look I hear a loud sigh before her arms tighten slightly and we both begin to watch TV together.

"When's your next match?"

"After the Vytal Festival. Apparently nobody wants to face me, so they're searching for anybody that wants to go against me. May not be much of a challenge. It'll be an easy money maker" Yang practically gloats.

Money maker . . . Oh!

"Speaking of money maker. Jiu tried to screw you out of your earnings. Tried to say that the payment was forfeited when Pyrrha and I stopped fighting after your injury."

"What!? I'm going there tomorrow and I swear I'll-" I reach behind me and pinch Yang's hip as hard as I can "Ow! Shit! Blake that hurts!"

"I said tried. Weiss took care of it . . . and Nora broke his legs." I look over my shoulder to see Yang smiling at the thought. "It's in my black jacket."

"Awesome. Hold onto it for me, alright? Just don't spend it all." Yang starts to lean back, pulling me down to the bed before she reaches for the covers to drape them over the two of us. "I'll give Ice Queen a big hug when I get the chance."

"Don't break her back, Yang. I think that's the nicest thing she's ever done for you." I look over my shoulder with a serious gaze that lets Yang know to not even joke about it.

"I'm not gonna break her back. I'm gonna give her a legit hug. A warm, cuddly, Xiao Long embrace!" Yang reinforces her words by pulling me against her in a firm hug that is surprisingly far from painful, yet also something I doubt I could get out of. "The secret is to lock my grip so I don't squeeze too hard."

I raise an eyebrow that her explanation, but when I look down at her arms I notice she is holding her forearms with each hand in a self-roman handshake. It's upsetting to know that she lacks that much control over her strength to resort to a method like that, but it's effective nonetheless.

"Good. What are we doing for the rest of the night?"

"Well~ we can always try~"

"No."

"Please! Come on, I'd totally do it for you if I could!"

"Yang . . . if you ask for a threesome using my semblance once more time. . ."

"But . . ."

"If you want two cats, I can get Shun." I look over my shoulder and stare at her. My counter to her request dies with my comment.

". . . Not cool, Blake. You know I'm over her." Yang brushes her cheek against my back and sighs. The strong grip around my torso weakens barely, but it's still enough for me to notice that it's become a half-hearted grip.

"I didn't mean anything by it, Yang." I grip her arms to force her hug to loosen a little more, making it capable of me to turn around and look her in the face. "You're so sensitive when you want to be."

"Only when it comes to you."

"I guess I still have a bit of a wall to break down." I smile and bring my nose to brush against hers.

"A wall?" She asks me while gently separating our bodies, leaving a small gap between our chests and torsos.

"I'm still adjusting, Yang. I'm . . . I'm not used to having someone to rely on with complete confidence." I explain.

"Is this about Ad-"

"Yang." I cut her off and look at her with a look that isn't of anger, but of a slight plea for that name to not be uttered. "Yes."

"Is that why you're such a sarcastic Kitty?" she smiles.

"I don't know. I just have a wall I don't want anyone to pass through. It's one of those 'one bad apple spoils the bunch' sort of things."

Yang gives a shrug to my words and instead tosses the covers away while she reaches around the bed to find her bra to place it on. She switches to sitting with her legs crossed and her palms on her knees with a smile radiating on her face.

"Well, I'm not gonna go and give a whole speech about why you should be able to open up to me and all that crap if that's what you're expecting. I can't convince you to trust me with every fiber of your being. Trust is earned, not persuaded." Yang speaks very nonchalantly. It's almost like she rehearsed this before.

"You went through this with Shun, didn't you?" I ask. My question earns a facial expression from Yang that lets me know I caught her off guard.

"That obvious? I mean . . . she had a secret back then that she wouldn't tell me. I sort of pushed a little hard and we didn't talk for like a week. Just trying to not make the same mistakes." Yang explains and pats her lap as a pillow offering.

"It was a little too mature coming from you." I tease while I place my head on her lap, laying on my back in a very comfortable position.

"What? Give me a little slack here. At least I'm trying." Yang pouts, but before we can continue our conversation there's a knock at the door. In the same instant I sit up in the bed while Yang lays down to cover herself up since neither of us know who it is yet.

"Who is it?" I call out to the door while I walk towards our dresser where my bra sits on top. I grab it and make short work of putting it on while I listen for the answer.

"The royal Princess and her favorite flower!" The hyper, high-pitched voice is none other than Ruby.

I begin to walk over to answer the door, hearing a two-toned whistle from Yang as I approach it, possibly taking the opportunity to stare at my rear. When I reach the door I answer it in the same manner I did for Shun; only opening it a certain amount and leaning against the doorway in a way that blocks entry without me moving aside.

"What's up?" I ask when I open the door and come face to face with the White Rose couple.

"How's Yang doing?" Weiss asks with clear concern. Before I can answer, Yang calls out from the bed.

"Awww, you care! Come gimme a hug!"

Oh boy . . . here we go.

I take a deep breath and step aside to let an almost stampeding Yang out the room to chase Weiss down and give the heiress a hug that I make note of for its lack in the usual back-breaking strength. Since Yang is barely dressed it makes it easy for me to see her muscles flex. The lack of the strong flexing brings me to the assumption that her hug is restrained as much as possible to avoid hurting her sister's girlfriend.

While the small episode is going on, Ruby and I share a couple of laughs to Weiss' reaction to getting a hug from Yang.

"Hey, Blake?" I look to Ruby, then back at Weiss and Yang while I answer.

"Hm?"

"How bad is Weiss' family? I mean like . . . the SDC."

"What makes you ask that?" I quirk an eyebrow at Ruby. For her to look at the negatives of something is rare. Especially to ask about the cons of Weiss' family.

"Well . . . Shun was skeptical when I said they are nice, and then told me to ask you about them because she didn't want to talk bad about Weiss' family to me." Ruby looks at me with eyes that practically beg for an answer. We're already here, so a small warning for her may be needed.

"They're definitely not kind to Faunus. Maybe you'll see a different side. Let's leave it at that." I answer just in time. Ruby doesn't have a chance to ask another question since Weiss and Yang are already back in ear shot.

Weiss practically power walks by Ruby and I, causing the small brunette to turn and chase her girlfriend while Yang comes back into our room with an accomplished smile on her face.

"See? I gave her a nice, gentle hug. She'll probably want another one at some point. My hugs are amazing." Yang gloats.

"Even if she did enjoy it, it's too out of character for her to ask you for a hug." I scoff. "Anyway, I'm going to try to sleep; I'm exhausted. If you do anything to me while I sleep, I'll have you sleep on the floor. Got it?"

"Crystal." Yang smiles and pats the bed. She's already laying down with plenty of space left for me to lay next to her. While I close my eyes and start to drift away, I can hear her shifting through channels to find something to watch.

I wonder how long it'll take her to doze off too.

(Approximately half an hour later)

A distinct sound manages to disturb my sleep. I open my eyes and look to my right to see the projector is still on. What's on the screen however is some sort of action movie that I decide to ignore. To my left is a sleeping Yang who has her arm draped over my torso that I carefully lift off of me so I can get out of bed.

That same sound slams into my ear yet again, causing me to wince and cover my ears in pain. I stumble over to the door and slowly open it to peek outside. I don't see anybody out there. In fact, all I notice is Weiss' door wide open with a single shadow in the doorway.

"But you two weren't supposed to be back until tomorrow! Why did you come back early?" I turn my head towards the 3-way intersection. That was Weiss' voice just now.

"Why are you so bothered? You're favorite sister-" No . . . "is here to see you. It's been far too long. Besides, Father is stubborn with his feelings. He cares more than you think."

I pull my head into the room and close the door until it is just short of being caught by the latch so I can still listen in to the hallway conversation.

"Cares? Winter, you can't expect me to believe that man cares about me." Weiss' voice grows slightly angrier, but it's still very polite despite that. If anything it's more like a skeptical tone.

"Who's the heiress?" An amused chuckle comes from Weiss' sister.

"Don't you play that card on me. It means nothing." Weiss answers back. Eventually I see the two of them pass by the room through the slight crack I have in the door. At the same time I see Weiss' sister take an exaggerated step before stepping firmly into the carpet with her heel. The resulting sound sends me grunting and jerking away from the door with the familiar pain in my ears.

What the hell is that?

Before I can be put through the same ear-busting torture again, I search the room for my bow and make short work of covering my ears in hopes that the sound deafens slightly. I then go into one of the draws to pull out a pair of black shorts to wear with my yukata. The last thing I do is search for my scroll to place it inside my pocket.

Shun probably heard that too. I need to check on her.

I look at the bed to see that Yang is still fast asleep. Without another word I leave the room, wandering down the hallway until I am halfway in the other wing.

Great . . . I don't know where her room is.

I stand in the hallway with my arms folded, eventually finding a door open and the Head Maid we met earlier exiting.

"And you usually gotta move all this crap yourself?" A voice from within the door scoffs. It's definitely Shuns.

"Well, for accommodations I usually take care of arrangements myself to assure Miss Schnee's guests are given the best treatment possible." The maid answers with a smile purer than Ruby's

"Psh . . . you're a trooper. Thanks for the guidance. Plenty of room now. Oh, do I go to that same big room for breakfast?"

"The dining hall? We can bring your food to the room without a problem, Ms. Hit-"

"Name's Shun, and I'm fine with walking. Anyway, thanks again."

"I hope your headache goes away soon, Ms. Shun" Shun steps out the doorway to wave, also seeing me when the Head Maid walks by and gives a quick greeting.

"What's up, Belladonna?" Shun gives me that toothy grin of hers. I look over my shoulder to see Weiss' sister isn't in view and quickly make my way into Shun's room.

"Did it happen to you too?" I ask

"Huh?" Shun closes the door and gives me a confused look.

"That sound."

"So I wasn't hearing things? Like . . . clicking or somethin'."

"Winter Schnee and the SDC owner are both here. Keep it low profile until Mr. Qrow gets back." I say to her.

"Woah. Aren't they due back tomorrow?"

"They're early. I heard Weiss talking with her sister . . . their father is here too based on the convo."I explain.

"Great. Wonderful. I didn't have any plans tonight anyway. It's not like I wanted to enjoy one night of sleep without having to worry that some Faunus hating prick is going to be within the same building as me. Nah, I didn't want that one night of sleep anyway." Shun starts to rant. Instead of trying to stop her I lean against the door and watch her walk in circles while she continues to rant and rave. It's then that I notice the changes to her room. I assume it was set up just like mine and Yang's, so with that in mind it seems her bed was moved where the dresser should be. The dresser is against the same wall, but pushed into the corner to make room for the bed. The small nightstand that sits on the other side of the room is moved to the opposite corner in comparison to the bed, leaving an incredible amount of room in the center.

"Alright . . . so where is he?" She finally calms down enough to acknowledge my presence.

"I don't know. Honestly, I don't want to find out. I rather avoid him altogether. Just be careful near Winter . . . I think she makes that sound when she-" Before I can finish there's a knock on the door. I keep leaning against the wall, and when Shun opens the door it covers me from whoever is on the other side.

"Umm . . . we're looking for Weiss."

Jaune?

"You're in the wrong hallway." That voice is definitely Ruby's father.

"Yeah, down the hall and all the way at the end, I think. Somewhere down there." Shun adds very nonchalantly.

"Sorry." With that one word it is so easy for me to picture Pyrrha's apologetic face.

"This may not be good. Winter is in Weiss' room." I say once the door is closed.

"Look, we can't walk on eggshells just because the asshole Schnees are back. Let Mr. Tai know, if anything he needs to keep Ruby and Sunflower out of trouble."

Wait . . . Is Ruby in Weiss' room?

"Give me a sec." I reach into my pocket and call Ruby's scroll. There's a long series of rings before her enthusiastic voice announces that it's her answering machine. "Ruby, Weiss' sister and father are back ea-"

"Blake?" Ruby's voice takes over in a rushed whisper.

"Ruby, you okay?"

"Yeah, umm . . . I'm kind of in the bathroom an-"

"Ruby that's disgusting." I snap at her.

"Not like that! I just . . . I heard Weiss hint that there's nobody in her room 'cause someone was walking with her, so I hid in the bathroom. I should've hid in the closet."

"That's Weiss' sister. Try not to let your relationship get caught in the open, alright? Not without your dad or uncle around at least. I'm not sure what either of those two will do." I listen in as Ruby goes quiet, tuning in to some background noise which turns out to be a muffled conversation between Weiss and Winter. Just by the voices and Ruby's stuttering I realize she's been discovered, and the conversation refuses to take a friendly turn until I hear Pyrrha's voice enter the mix and lead Ruby out under the excuse that her father called.

To see if things are going alright I open the room door and peek down the hallway to see Jaune and Ruby walking towards me, but instead of coming into this wing they turn right and disappear into the perpendicular hallway.

"Alright." I hang up my scroll and look to Shun who nods her head, indicating she was able to hear my scroll perfectly fine.

"Go talk to Mr. Tai before anything else goes wrong." Shun gestures me to the door and points me directly across the hall to knock.

"Mr. Xiao Long?" I call out softly while hitting the wooden door with the back of my hand. I don't need to wait long before the door is opened, but it looks like he is on his scroll for the moment.

"So you're done there? What the hell did you do? . . . You did what!? Qrow, how the hell do you manage that? . . . It's a museum, Qrow. That shouldn't be possible, even for you. . . Believe me, I'm glad you didn't wreck the place. Hold on." Mr. Xiao Long lowers his scroll and smiles to me. "Yes, Blake?"

"Weiss' sister and father are both back." I say.

He pauses a moment and looks over me towards Shun who nods her head, then back at me before he steps aside and lets me in. He closes the door behind me and continues his conversation with Ruby's uncle.

"Qrow . . . he's back. Will I mean. . . I know it was tomorrow, but he's here now. Blake just told me. Good, I can't watch after two fauna, a brawler, a hyper brunette, and his own daughter by myself . . . Alright, hurry up." He quickly hangs up his phone and gives off a loud sigh. "This is too much drama for me."

"I know Shun and I need to be on guard, but why worry about Yang?" I tilt my head.

"Because Yang's mouth gets her into trouble. Trouble that can't be avoided unless Qrow is here. I wasn't joking when I said that Will is scared of him. Names and prestige are two things that hold no value to Qrow. He won't hesitate to beat Will to an inch of his life if he says the wrong things . . . It's happened before." Mr. Xiao Long sits down on one of the two beds in the room and gestures me to take a seat on the other.

"So . . . how is Mr. Qrow even allowed in here?" I ask while I sit down, somewhat skeptical of the situation.

"Well, let's just say that after Qrow came back after that little episode . . . He needed a full restock on Atlesian Knights. When Qrow comes to take care of something, whether it's just say 'hi' or ask for a favor . . . he's going to do it." Mr. Xiao Long chuckles and goes on to explain the entirety of what happened that one day where Mr. Qrow completely massacred an army of Atlesian Knights.

It's an impressive tale that makes my impression of Mr. Qrow's combat ability skyrocket from what it already was. It makes me wonder just how much of a legend is Qrow Branwen.

"He seems a lot more . . . relaxed to be someone that powerful." I whisper, not realizing I said it loud enough for Ruby's father to hear.

"Maybe . . . but he did his job as a team leader. I was against him being leader to be honest. He was always irresponsible. I thought him being chosen was a mistake. That I would have been the better leader. Time proved me wrong."

Sounds like a familiar situation I witnessed at the start of Beacon.

"Well, I need to get back to Yang. I left her sleeping like a baby." I smile and stand up from the bed.

"Alright. Keep Yang out of trouble for now. I'm going to go see Will." I give a nod of my head and leave the room to head back over towards mine. When I get back inside I can see Yang is watching the action movie that I woke up to.

"There you are! Where'd you go?" Yang smiles at me. I decide to play with her a little bit and give her only a portion of the truth.

"I went to Shun's room." The look she gives me makes me patiently await for the follow-up question that never arrives.

I walk over to the bed and slip of my Yukata before climbing in. Yang proves to be overeager and almost crushes me at first when she places her arms around me to adapt the position we had before we fell asleep.

"Don't fall asleep like that. I don't want my arm to go numb." Yang comments.

I take a deep breath and shake my head. With the stress of knowing the biggest target for the White Fang is within 100 meters of me is stressful and mentally exhausting. On top of the fact that Ruby narrowly evaded Weiss' sister thanks to Jaune and Pyrrha's assistance, I now need to keep the hostile interrogation I heard earlier a secret from Yang. I doubt she would take kindly to her sister being stared down and intimidated.

Needless to say I fall asleep within seconds. Within the time that I consider to be a blink, it's already morning, Yang is already wide awake based on the humming of several different rhythms she enjoys. I try staying still, wanting nothing more than to fall back asleep and find out that my next blink brings me two or possibly three hours into the future, but Yang notices something that destroys my hopes for sleep.

"I saw your ears twitch, Blake. Wakey wakey~"

Accompanied by Yang's calling is a loud impact to the bed that makes me bounce slightly. I have no doubt in my mind that she just jumped onto the mattress with the purpose of giving me a mild shock to wake me up. Unfortunately her plan works like a charm.

"Give me a break, Yang!" I slowly sit up in the bed and look down at myself. Everything from my waist down is covered by the black and yellow blanket. However, from the waist up I am completely exposed. Normally, I wouldn't be bothered, but I definitely recall wearing something over my chest to sleep.

"Yang . . ." I turn to my left to look at Yang who is laying down on the bed after her initial dive-bomb to wake me up.

"Hm?" She gives an innocent and curious tilt of her head before propping her elbows onto the mattress so she can rest her head in her hands. "Yeah?"

"Where's my top?" I ask with a lack of amusement.

"I didn't fondle you, Kittycat. I just wanted to y'know . . . cuddle against you while we slept. My hands stayed around your waist, I promise."

The fact that Yang doesn't get nervous or super defensive leads me to take her word as truth.

"Mind getting me a shirt?"

"Can I choose any shirt?" Yang's eyes practically light up.

"As long as it covers me up." I shrug. All of the shirts I brought with me are very conservative, so there's not a worry that Yang will manage to pick out something inappropriate.

Yang climbs off of the bed and starts to rummage through the drawers for a shirt. I am surprised to see the shirt she comes back with is actually one of hers. It's the yellow strapless top she usually favors with her emblem sitting over the left breast.

I decide not to argue since I did tell her any shirt would do. I check around the bed until I spot my bra and place it on, then put on the shirt she gave me. The smile I see on her face after I finish putting it on is a look I'd expect more from Ruby than Yang.

"You make that shirt look better than when I wear it." Yang's compliment draws a smile to my lips.

"Thanks, Yang. What're we doing?"

"Well, food first. Weiss came by and said for us to go by the dining hall whenever we're ready." Yang goes on to explain a few things that happened while I was asleep.

"Dad stopped by too. He wanted to see how you're doing, and I heard Uncle Qrow finally got back last night. I thought he would've gotten lost in the city." Yang snickers, all the while dressing herself in her usual outfit. "Oh . . . and you may want to make sure your bow is neat and tidy."

"Why?" I raise an eyebrow. Yang's tone when she said that was filled with concern. It completely caught me off guard.

"Oh, Weiss' family is back it seems. Oh! I got a call from The Pit. They're talking about my next opponent being some chick called 'Tifa Lock-Heart' or something like that. I dunno, it's not definite yet. Anyway, let's get going. I'm starved!"

Day Two at Schnee Manor . . . Let's hope it all goes well.