The gym, which had already seemed so big yesterday, now seemed massive. The seats were all fully extended and filled, most of them filled on the first floor. The track on the second floor was all but gone, replaced by the nosebleed section. There were students there talking and doing homework, but Weiss didn't recognize any of them. There were also parents with young kids, people sitting on their laptops, some leaning on the rail, and others cheering their heads off looking down at the first floor.
The first floor was bustling, and in the center of the room was a boxing ring that looked like something out of a movie. It was a few feet in the air and looked solid, Weiss wondered if the team built it there or had it moved from somewhere unseen. Seats were lined all around the ring filled with high schoolers, all of who were dressed in loose workout clothes or sports bras and shorts.
There was a table where several official-looking people sat staring at the match, excitedly talking amongst themselves. Weiss wasn't sure if they were officials or commentators, but her attention was quickly pulled to the action.
In the middle of the ring were two girls were circling each other, both of them staring daggers and neither daring to look away. One girl was dressed in a black sports bra lined with gold, while the other was dressed in a gray outfit with white highlights. Weiss realized that lots of the girls sitting or walking around the floor were wearing the same colors, it puzzled her for a moment until she realized they were school colors, recognizing the black and gold from Beacons halls.
A hard thud echoed through the halls and the gym exploded in a cascade of cheers that left Weiss's ears ringing. The girls were swinging quickly, both of the ducking and dancing out of the way with a grace that Weiss could only dream of having.
"Weiss, you ok?" Penny asked, and Weiss realized exactly how close the two of them were standing, and she wondered how long she'd been there.
"Yeah, I'm alright. Where should we sit?" Weiss asked, turning quickly away from the action and towards Penny's grin
"Don't worry, we already have our seats picked out, we just have to find Yang," Penny said before turning and strolling down the track. There was a gap in the track that Weiss hadn't noticed that opened the way to a set of stairs wrecked into the seats that led down to the first floor.
Weiss looked and saw Ruby and Pyrrha standing at the bottom, ruby standing on her tippy toes as she looked through the crowd for locks of golden hair. Weiss looked out at the sea of people as she walked down the stairs, dodging stray hands while doing the same, but not finding the explosion of color anywhere. But she did find a quiet girl in black sitting down talking to a girl whose hair was in a tight braid near the edge of the ring.
"Do you guys see Yang?" Ruby asked curiously, her legs shaking as she tried to stay on her tippy toes.
"No, I can never find her before she fights," Pyrrha sighed, scratching her head with an annoyed scowl.
"Negative," Penny said, shaking her head.
"Dang. Pyrrha, can I get a lift?" Ruby asked with an enthusiastic smile.
"I saw Blake sitting over there," Weiss said, pointing towards the edge of the ring.
"Aw, you couldn't have waited another second to say something?" Ruby whined, her shoulders slumping.
"I'll give you a lift later, ok?" Pyrrha assured her, patting the shorter girl on her head like a puppy.
"Promise?"
"Of course," Pyrrha agreed, "Now let's go find our brawler," She said, turning and strolling towards Blake.
"You never give me lifts," Penny complained, following after them with Weiss quickly catching up.
"You never ask,"
"Is this something you guys do often?" Weiss asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Not exactly often-"
"At every game, event, meet, or competition," Penny interrupted, leaving Pyrrha gaping.
"Is that bad?" Ruby asked, tilting her head, but before anyone had the chance to answer the crowd let out a deafening cheer. The four of them turned towards the ring and saw the other school's girls on the ground, struggling to get up.
"Let's go, Suzy!" Pyrrha cried out suddenly, sounding like a Viking and making Weiss flinch. Penny kept walking like nothing had happened, but Ruby was looking at Weiss hiding her laughing face behind her hand. Well, Weiss assumed she was laughing, she couldn't exactly hear it.
"She likes cheering,"
"Does she get that loud often?" Weiss asked as she caught up to Ruby.
"Oh, that wasn't loud. Wait until the end of Yang's match, you'll be able to hear her down the hall,"
"That's concerning…" Weiss said, looking at Pyrrha who was screaming for the Vale girl weaved past a hit.
"I'll warn you before she gets too loud, don't worry," Ruby smiled, her silver eyes sparkling in the light.
"Hey, you two," A voice cut in, drawing Ruby's attention. Weiss couldn't help but linger on the girl, noticing how nice her hair looked. She wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but Weiss could've sworn she'd smelled a hint of strawberry in the air when she walked away.
"Hey Blake! Where's Yang?" Ruby asked flatly, looking around past Penny, the girl with the braids next to Blake, and Pyrrha.
"I'm right here, doofus!" The braided girl said, her voice heated. Weiss noticed that the girl was wearing the same black and gold suit as Suzy, but her bra was a bit more filled. Her hair was a vibrant gold and her eyes were a deep violet-
"Yang?" Weiss and Ruby said at the same time, equally shocked.
"Yes! Is it really that weird?" Yang asked, wrapping her arms around Blake and burying her face in the girl's shoulder.
"No, it looks great, Babe. Doesn't it?" Blake asked, staring daggers at each of them, one at a time.
"It looks amazing, Yang,"
"What Pyrrha said," Penny nodded.
"I really like the braids, they're different," Weiss smiled earnestly, grateful when Yang peaked at her.
"I didn't recognize you, that's awesome! But it doesn't matter how your hair is, you're gonna win!" Ruby cheered, her eyes burning with determination.
"Blake said that 'A ponytail might not be good enough, all the pro's braid their hair,', she finally broke me," Yang said sadly, grabbing at the braid and wiggling it like a stick.
"Stop, you're gonna wreck it," Blake said, gently taking the hair away from her girlfriend and setting it down. Yang was sad but perked up when Blake held her tapped hands.
"How're you feeling?" Pyrrha wondered, looking like she was having a hard time not turning to watch the end of the fight.
"She's feeling like she's about to kick butt!" Ruby chimed in, a wild grin on her face as she lifted her fists in the air.
Weiss gasped when Ruby unzipped her jacket and slid it down her shoulders revealing a bright yellow t-shirt that had a sharpie drawing of Yang's face with her name in bold above. The drawing was definitely hand-drawn, but it was surprisingly good, and it wouldn't have shocked Weiss to learn if it had been commissioned.
"Aren't you supposed to be my biggest supporter?" Yang teased, looking at Blake.
"I braided your hair, I think that's pretty supportive," Blake said, blushing when Yang kissed her fingers.
"Good point," Yang said smoothly, giving another kiss.
"Where's everyone else?" Ruby asked curiously like the two weren't acting all mushy. Yang looked away from Blake, her eyes narrow.
"Over on the other side of the ring, cheering on Suzy. She's got this though, no need to worry," Yang said with a confident grin, everyone looked to try and find them, everyone aside from Pyrrha that is.
"So how are you feeling?" She asked again, her voice unyielding.
"It's 2-2, and this is the last chance I have to beat her this season, so I'm sort of nervous. Just a little. But like Ruby said, I feel like I'm about to kick butt," She said, her smile turning into something predatory and her eyes seemingly turning a fiery red.
"Good, you are about to kick butt," Pyrrha nodded, satisfied, before turning to the ring, cupping her hands over her mouth and screaming, "Get up!" at Suzy who was on the ground gasping.
Yang stared at Weiss for a moment, probably deciding if she was going to fire a quip or to play nice, "It's good to see you here, when I didn't see you at school I wondered if I scared you off,"
"Of course I'm scared, but I know Blake'll keep you in check," Weiss said confidently, keeping to herself how scared she was of Yang paying her back for that slap one day if she ever got on the girl's bad side.
"She's not wrong,"
"I never said she was," Yang chuckled, leaning back in her chair and stretching her core, showing off exactly how much work she'd put into this sport.
"Shouldn't you be warming up or something?" Weiss wondered, looking back towards the ring, and saw both girls stumbling, but on their feet.
"Already done, the best thing for me now is to be right here. Here being wherever Blake is,"
"Port said we aren't allowed to sit next to each other until Yang finishes her warmups, you'd be shocked how fast she gets them done," Blake teased, her smile growing when she saw Yang blush.
"They like to bully me," Yang whined, looking at Blake with a look that looked shockingly similar to Ruby's puppy dog eyes, but Yangs were a lot less potent than hers.
Weiss opened her mouth to say that Winter was the same way, always teasing her, but stopped herself short. The last time she'd talked about her sister Yang got a bit… heated. She looked so calm with Blakes's arms around her, and if this match was as important as everyone made it seem, the last thing Yang needed was to think of Winter. Later. They'd talk later.
"Yang, there you are my girl! How do you feel?" boomed an excited voice from behind them, taking everyone's attention off of her. Port walked up to them with his bushy eyebrows raised and arms behind his back like a soldier.
"Fine, can people stop asking me that?" Yang huffed, smiling when Blake patted her on the head.
"Fantastic!" He chimed, before his head suddenly snapped towards Weiss like she'd screamed, "Weiss, how good to see you here on two feet! I was worried when Hilda told us you had a cold, but glad to see you were simply, resting," he winked, "Though I dare say, it is a shame that you missed water polo today,"
Weiss blinked rapidly, unsure if what she'd just heard was real. "You were worried? I-I'm sorry, I didn't mean to-"
"Nonsense! Don't feel guilty for something so trivial," He interrupted, giving her a deep laugh. "I never thought I'd see you here, but I'm glad to be proven wrong,"
"Thank you, I'm glad to be here, this looks like it'll be really fun," Weiss said, a slow smile spreading on her lips as she talked.
"I expect it will be. Enjoy the match," He said with a fatherly smile before turning back to Yang, who had her eyes closed while Blake ran her fingers up and down the girls arms. "Come on, Yang, it's time to sign in,"
The blonde's eyes opened and she was on her feet before Weiss knew what was happening, an excited grin painted on her face, "Then what're we waiting for?"
"Suzy to win," Blake said as she stood up and walked towards the table.
"That's the attitude I like to see!" Port exclaimed, following after. Yang took a step before stopping and turning around sheepishly.
"Thanks for coming by the way. After our talk the other day I wasn't exactly sure about you, I guess I'm still not… But this means a lot, thanks," Yang smiled, walking after Blake and Port before Weiss had time to respond.
Weiss watched the three of them leave, her head spinning after hearing so many nice words about her. When Winter said stuff like that it felt good, but that was her sister. Yang and Port talking like that though? It made her want to run a lap around the track, which for her was a big deal.
"Are you gonna stand there all night or do you come and sit with us?" Weiss heard, turning to find Ruby with her bright yellow shirt standing there, doofy grin on her face.
"How could I say no?"
"Like that, you just said it," Ruby giggled, while Weiss gaped at her.
"I- I didn't… That was clever," Weiss begrudgingly admitted, her face turnng a few degrees higher.
"It was? Tell Yang that, she never believes that I'm clever," Ruby said, reaching out and taking Weiss's arm and pulling her towards their seats.
"I think you're clever, you came up with the Superbot, right?" Weiss asked, wondering if her guess was right.
"I did! You think so? We voted on it, but I was very persuasive. Or, I had Yang be persuasive," Ruby laughed, as they walked up to the bleachers on the far side of the ring. A few feet above the ring sat Jaune, Pyrrha, Nora, Ren, Yatsuhashi, and Penny. Everyone was either talking amongst themselves or was looking at the match, where Suzy was on the ground and the ref was counting.
Ruby let go of her as they approached, but the only one who seemed to notice them was Penny, who was looking at the two of them with wide eyes. She looked like she wanted to say something, but gave a simple wave before turning back to Pyrrha, who was talking with Jaune.
Ruby sat down at the bottom row, where she tapped the seat next to her. Weiss blushed, but sat down anyway, making sure there were several inches between them. "Is this your first boxing match?" Ruby questioned, her silver eyes glistening on Weiss like nobody else was near them.
"Uh, yeah. I haven't really been to many sorting things. Events. Whatever you call them. By the way, who are we versing?"
"Haven! They're sort of our rival school if you didn't know, but you're smart so I'm guessing you did…"
"I didn't actually, but thank you," Weiss squeaked out, her skin feeling like it was tingling as she talked.
"Really?" Ruby questioned, shocked, "Well they're pretty tough, but we're tougher. Their best fighter is who Yang's going against," Ruby said, turning and looking at the table, "That's her,"
Ruby pointed towards a small girl who looked younger than Ruby, with bubblegum pink hair on the left side of her hair and a deep brown on the left. The odd thing was her eyes seemed to match her hair. She wasn't sure if her eye was really pink, but from far away it looked like it was.
She was small, had a confident strut in her steps that would've suited a model, and a confident smirk on her face that made her look like she knew something you didn't. From even this far away though it was clear how toned her muscles were, tight and big.
The scariest part of the girl though was when Yang stomped up to the table, she towered over the girl by several inches. Yang looked like a warrior who'd been training her whole life, someone who could probably bench press a truck. But this girl looked at her and winked, taking a step closer and looking up at Yang, daring her to do something.
"That's Neo…"