Disclaimer: All characters belong to Rooster Teeth Productions
Edited by ToxicExotic
Chapter 56 - Something Wrong
The class was so silent that as Yang waited patiently for the bell, her work already finished and packed away in her bag, she could hear the soft ticking of the clock that hung on the wall next to her. The sound was relaxing, and reminded her of when she'd first been learning to meditate. She didn't need the sound anymore, but for the first few years while learning from Arslan, the girl had used a metronome to help Yang's mind wander a little easier. The lessons were still something she held dear, and something she still cherished about her relationship with her ex, since it had been that very thing that helped her control the anger she was known for at the time. Not completely, but at least a little.
However, she simply hadn't had time to do it lately. She normally tried her best to do it every morning, but life had been so busy that there had simply been no real opportunities. Between enjoying the very first amazing weekend spent with Weiss, work, college, and meeting Raven, twenty minutes alone was really hard to come by. The was also the fact that she knew what would occupy her mind, what thoughts she would have to sort through, and hadn't really wanted to deal with them at the time; but that was no longer the case. Raven had told her there was no issue, so she was free to finally let her mind explore it properly.
So since there were still ten minutes left of the class, Yang closed her eyes and allowed her breathing to slow.
As her thoughts began to flow, she gently pushed the irrelevant ones aside. Coursework wasn't something she really cared about at that moment, so she didn't really have many issues getting rid of those thoughts. She did let her mind linger on a memory with Weiss from the previous night though, allowing the feeling of love and happiness to wash over her as she remembered eating dinner and laughing while they caught up on Ninjas of Love with Ruby and Blake. However, she eventually pushed that memory aside and sought what she was really after.
It must have been almost five minutes of sifting through memories and thoughts, but she finally landed on what she wanted to explore. The conversation with her dad that had started it all. The conversation that had planted all of her doubts. It was still a difficult one, still something that made her wonder what else her father could have done, but if she was going to finally try and fix their relationship, she needed to sort through it. So she took a small breath, let the ticking of the clock fill her body as she set about organising her thoughts.
"Look, all I'm saying is that I don't like Ruby being there." Yang argued as she walked down the hallway towards the cafeteria. "Especially not with Luna leading those meetings."
"Are you ever going to move on from that?" Blake replied, not bothering to look up from her class notes. "She had nothing to do with what her brother did."
"So she says." Yang said gruffly. "She had to have known something. They were her friends, and it was her brother. They were around her house all the time."
"That's not proof, Yang." Blake scowled with a sidelong glance. "She's already said she had no clue, and completely cut ties with him after what he did."
"Yeah well, I still don't like Ruby being at meetings led by the person who got us into the White Fang. And who is still part of it."
"Yeah, well, that's her choice." Blake shrugged. "She wants to help. Luna likes her. Whether she sticks around or not is up to her. Besides, it's not like I'm going to let her get cau… Umph."
Whatever Blake was going to say was cut off as she collided with another student and stumbled backwards into Yang's arm, which had immediately shot out to catch her. The sound of books falling to the ground with a loud bang and the flutter of paper filled Yang's ears as the notes slipped everywhere, as well as the striking of plastic as the boy's Scroll fell to the ground, though thankfully it's case protected it from breaking.
"Oum, look where ya going, would ya?" The boy said harshly and reached up to straighten his bright green mohawk.
"Sorry," Blake sighed and knelt down to begin picking up the mess of books and paper.
Yang leaned down beside her friend to help, while the boy simply retrieved his Scroll and walked off. However, out of the corner of her eye, she saw Blake's ears flick backwards and her amber eyes darken. She knew the cause, and felt anger rush through her veins as she stood up and spun on the spot.
"Yang, don…"
"OI!" She yelled at the student and took a step forward. He turned back to look at them, but clearly knew he was outmatched, since she had at least fifteen pounds on him, and began to walk away faster. "Get back here and ap…"
A hand tightened around her wrist and dragged her back, and she turned to see her friend glaring angrily at her with her ears flattened.
"Just leave it." She hissed. "Don't make a scene."
Yang looked around, and saw the few students that shared the hall staring at them though she really didn't care what they thought. "Fuck them," She said loudly. "He shoul…"
"I said drop it!" Blake cut her off, her eyes flashing dangerously. "I don't want a stupid apology. And I don't want you in trouble for trying to get one. So just leave it."
Yang turned back to see the boy turn a corner and move out of sight, and let out a frustrated sigh. She hated that Blake was still letting herself be treated in such a way, and hated the people who did it even more, but she knew going after him would only annoy her more. So with a shake of her head, she knelt down to pick up the last of the notes and handed them back to her friend.
"Fine." She said grumpily as Blake continued down the hallway.
She finally caught up with the girl as she entered the cafeteria, but she didn't speak straight away. Instead she quietly paid for a baked potato with plenty of cheese and butter, and followed Blake back to the table, where the girl went straight to reviewing her notes. However, as time went on, and Yang enjoyed her surprisingly good food, she realised that the girl wasn't really studying.
Though her eyes were on the page, it almost felt like she wasn't really seeing it, and only two pages had been turned where normally many would have been. Yang had noticed that happening to her friend quite a lot recently. She would seem fine one minute, and then zone out the next, like her mind was elsewhere. While it was noticeable when they were relaxing, even last night as they watched her favourite show, it was extremely obvious when they were at work.
The girl had zoned out so frequently, that she'd completely forgotten to add things to orders. She constantly seemed bored, and Yang knew she hadn't even been writing or reading lately either. Unfortunately, just like with meditation, there had been very little time to bring it up, but she certainly had time now; so she let out a small cough, and tried to gently lead into bringing up what she feared was going on.
"So, whatcha studying?" She asked nonchalantly, but didn't get a reply. "Blake." She said, and poked her friend.
"Huh?" She said as her eyes regained some focus. "Oh, business coursework."
"Can't you do that later?" She asked. "You just got it after all."
"I'm busy later," Blake hummed and turned another page.
"With Sun?" Yang hoped it was with Sun, since Blake was always happy with him.
"No."
"Ahh…" Yang breathed and leaned in a little closer. "There isn't someone else, is there?"
"What?" Blake asked and scowled at her. "Why would I ever cheat on someone like Sun?"
"I know you wouldn't." Yang said honestly.
"Then why even ask? And why are you looking at me like that?"
"Like what?"
Yang leaned back and tried to soften her features, but it only seemed to betray her further.
"Like that!" Blake snapped. "Like I'm…"
"Look," Yang cut her off and held her hands out in an attempt to calm her friend. "I'm just worried about you. You've been zoning out a lot lately, and you seem to be losing interest in things again… So I just thou..."
It was Blake's turn to cut her off as she slammed her textbook closed and stood up. Her eyes were no longer dull, but glowing with annoyance; and her ears laid flat against her head.
"Well you thought wrong." She snarled. "Maybe, instead of trying to fix issues that I don't have, you should fix what you and Weiss have done to Ilia! She's been blue ever since she got back from your apartment."
With that said, the girl stalked off out of the cafeteria and left Yang stunned at the quick switch. Blake's moods were often quick to fluctuate, so Yang didn't take it personally, but it did distress her a little more than she already was.
The behavior had been much more common after the White Fang and Adam, but Blake had been struggling with the same issue for almost as long as Yang had known her; maybe even longer. The bouts were sporadic, and sometimes only lasted a day; but some could go for weeks. They were scary sometimes, especially when Blake began to eat less, but thankfully, she'd taken her sandwich with her when she left. It was enough for Yang to know that if she was struggling again, then it wasn't as bad as it could be.
But it was still too much for Yang, so after taking another bite of her food, she stood up and left it behind to go and find her best friend.
Yang let out a low sigh as she slowly climbed the stairs to the college roof. It had been three hours since her search started, though she'd had to attend two classes in that time, but she had still not found her best friend. She knew the girl was around somewhere, as she'd definitely attended her classes too from what her classmates had said; but where that was, Yang was running out of ideas. She already checked the library, the study hall, the abandoned classroom on the second floor that they usually hung out in, but the reclusive faunus wasn't in any of them. There was only one place left to check, but since Blake hadn't been at any of the other spots, Yang knew it was likely she was about to find her.
They very rarely went to the roof, since it was off limits and they would likely get in trouble if caught, but they had found a spare key the year before, and sometimes made use of it. Fortunately, as she reached the door a minute later, she saw that the catch was down on the door. The sight immediately confirmed that the girl was out there, and she wasted no time in pulling the door open.
The moment it opened, Yang shielded her eyes from the bright sun that hung over Vale, but her eyes quickly adjusted, and she stepped out onto the loose gravel. The roof wasn't particularly big, since the building itself really wasn't that wide, but there were a couple of places that Blake could easily hide herself. So, not bothering to be quiet since she knew the door had been heard opening, Yang slowly checked around.
It only took a minute, but she eventually saw the wind blow a small lock of black hair out from behind a solar panel, and with a smile to herself, she quickly moved over to her friend. As she arrived, she saw Blake sat on the floor, her legs crossed and her eyes closed as she faced the edge which looked out over Vale's town centre. The girl was obviously trying to meditate, though she was notoriously terrible at it, so Yang quietly sat down beside her.
A couple of minutes passed, in which she didn't bother to disturb the raven-haired beauty, but as she noticed Blake's fingers begin to tap her knee, she realised that the meditation was being done more in an attempt to avoid conversation than to clear her mind. So she let out a sigh and sat back against the concrete block.
"You know you are going to tell me what's wrong eventually, right?" She muttered.
"I know," Blake breathed quietly and opened one eye, the amber iris dancing as the sun reflected off it.
"So why not save us both some time?"
"Because…" Blake paused, but only for a second as she quickly let out a groan and looked down at her lap. "I still don't even know myself. I'm… still working it out."
"And it's not…"
"I'm not falling into depression, Yang," Blake interrupted firmly. "It's just something personal that I want to figure out myself first."
Yang didn't say anything, even though she was curious what was bugging the girl, but gave a simple nod of her head and reached a hand out to take Blake's. The moment she found it, a head came to rest on her shoulder and she let out a small breath as they watched some bird off in the distance. The minutes passed in silence, both of them just allowing the peace to wash away whatever had happened before, and Yang realised they hadn't had a moment like it in some time. She missed them.
"Just," Yang said, breaking the silence as she let her thumb slowly circle the back of Blake's hand. "Make sure you come to me, okay? I know I've been busy with Weiss lately, but there's still only one person in this world who comes before you."
"I know," Blake said reassuringly.
"Good." Yang smiled and gave her a slight nudge with her shoulder. "Bumblebee forever, remember."
The unmistakable sound of a chuckle escaped the brooding girl, and Yang felt her heart soar a little at the sound. It was practically confirmation, as a depressed Blake would never make such a noise.
"I still can't believe that you named your bike after that stupid name you gave us as kids."
"Please, you love it."
The girl shook her head in reply, but didn't outright deny it. For Blake, that was pretty much a confession. So Yang let a small grin pull at her face as the two of them fell back into a comfortable silence. Though, it was apparently only comfortable for her, since Blake quickly broke it.
"I'm sorry for what I said back there, by the way." Blake said as she shifted her head into a more comfortable position. "I know you don't like hurting Ilia either."
"It's fine," Yang replied as her grin fell. "You're not exactly wrong. I hate what this is going to do to her… is doing to her, and I hate choosing Weiss over her, but there's nothing else Weiss could do."
"She couldn't have just taken it to the police?"
Yang shook her head. "You really think he would even see a pair of handcuffs?"
"I suppose not." The girl hummed. "Unfortunately."
"Heh, yeah." She agreed and let her head fall against Blake's. "Weiss isn't the only one who wants to see him ruined though. After what he did, I want to see him get what he deserves too. But this is the only real way to do it."
Blake let out a deep sigh and nestled in closure. "Please don't forget to make up with Ilia though. She practically broke down at the meeting yesterday. She might act tough, but it's still just an act."
That sent a pang of remorse through Yang, as she knew it was the truth. Though Ilia would always be the first into a fight, or to throw back a snarky retort, even she knew how many issues the girl held buried inside herself. Her parents, her crush on Blake, her identity issues from suppressing her trait so long in Atlas just to fit in; they'd all had an impact, and Yang hated being part of the reason those things were brought to the surface.
"I will." Yang said with another nod. "I'll come over tonight and talk to her."
"You're not spending today with Weiss?" Blake asked curiously. "It's your six month anniversary, after all."
"She has work, and the news will likely come out either tonight or tomorrow morning, so she has to be ready."
"Mmm," the faunus hummed. "Well, I hope everything works. But for tonight, we can just be there for Ilia."
Yang gave a small nod of her head, then rested it against her best friends as they looked out over the town.
"Sounds good to me."
A/N
Hello everyone, I will keep it short for today, since it's a short chapter. This was a chapter I really wanted to have now, before things get hectic; mostly because there hasn't been as much Yang/Blake stuff as I would like, but also because I still want to show that other things are happening in the world, and that other things set up haven't been forgotten.
Anyway, that's it for me :) The new schedule starts now, so the next chapter will be up on the 16th of April. But you should be on the edge of the seat, because here is the title :P
Chapter 57 - Fallout
Reviews
A huge thank you to crazyringo, The Keeper of Worlds, Cutover, and Zoro50.
Your constant words of support mean so much to me.
I also wanna say a huge thank you to every one who reads this story, but doesn't comment. I get to reply to everyone who comments and show my appreciation there, but there are quite a few of you who just silently read along, and I promise I love you all just as much 3
