I1C12: Periodical Problems

AN: Tired. Still have a coding assignment, a coding quiz, a lab report, and a calculus exam, all due in the next 13 hours. See second part of author's note if you want actual information. See last chapter's preview for summary. Maybe I'll get around to an actual author's note tomorrow evening. Probably not.

(Perspective: Kassidy)

There were various times throughout the course of the semester when the more… womanly of problems would make themselves known. One would expect Aura to diminish the associated symptoms somewhat, but this was not in fact the case; the superhuman elite of the Huntresses suffered the same as any other woman out there. For most teams, not being composed solely of female members, these problems can be annoying. After all, sitting in uncomfortable lecture hall benches, sparring, and fighting Grimm all while dealing with cramps is literally nobody's definition of fun. For Team Rookie, however, it was more often than not a true test of their camaraderie. Why would this be the case? Somehow, the cycles of Ruby, Weiss, and Yang were all perfectly coordinated, obviously in yet another snuff upon Kassidy by whatever gods happened to enjoy tormenting her. And so, once every thirty days without fail, Kassidy got to look forward to dealing with an heiress that was somehow even more crabby than usual, a blonde with anger management issues that was even more an issue, and a team leader that didn't feel like doing much of anything other than crawling in bed and playing video games.

Normally, this was a clear signal to Kassidy to avoid her dorm room as much as possible over the related time intervals, as she had zero desire to deal with her teammates in such states. Indeed, she more or less lived in either the gym or the library during these times, only returning after everyone had already gone to bed and leaving, as per usual, far before anyone woke up. The problem this time, however, is that she's not at Beacon at the moment. She's in Patch, and there's no library or gym to go hide in while staying at the Xiao Long household.

And that was why she was currently on the path back to the house from town, having made a small grocery trip to the village proper. She felt the need to get away from Ruby and Yang for a while, if only to get away from the sudden spike in estrogen. Besides… have I been a crappy teammate by just ditching them when they get like this? I can't imagine that it'd be fun, but they're definitely not making me look forward to when those start happening to me. Especially Yang… she did NOT look like she was having fun this morning. She shifted a bag over to her other arm as she thought, containing not only the necessities Taiyang had asked her to get, but also her birthday gift to her… partner? Friend? Girlfriend? I'm almost tempted to ask Nora about this stuff. She seems to have a better idea than I do about the boundaries between 'together-together' and, well… not.

What were Kassidy and Yang at this moment? If there was a better question for the ages, she didn't know what it was. After the return of her nightmares, Yang had been there for her. Alright, that might not have been the best way of describing why she liked her partner, but when her mind seemed hell-bent on turning against her, on twisting itself into knots with worry, her partner was there. Yang simply radiated confidence, and conviction, and safety. She didn't have to be scared about losing what she now had left. She didn't have to be concerned about whether or not she was a monster. Yang's confidence was infectious, and she enjoyed it. It had only been a week and a half so far, but she was already willing to say that this summer break, being talked into staying with her partner and team leader, had been the best time she's had ever since Matt and Dad died. The prior two days, in particular, it was almost impossible to find one partner without the other. Kassidy had (almost) always enjoyed the energy, optimism, and bad humor her partner could inject into nearly any situation. And at this point, it was pretty obvious even to her that Yang enjoyed having her around as well.

Wrestling with the doorknob and kicking open the front door, she finally managed to get into the house. Zwei was instantly at her feet, once again panting and begging to have his ears scratched. Normally, she would be all too eager to oblige. However, not only were her hands full at the moment, she was a woman on a mission. She quickly made her way to the kitchen and dropped off a couple bags to a grateful Taiyang. "How've they been holding up?"

"Well enough, I suppose. Thanks for heading out for me, did NOT feel confident about having an intact house if it was just the two of them alone." He shot a weak smile when she chuckled, before he got to one of the bags and his eyes brightened up. "You got them ice cream? Their favorite flavors, even. This'll be sure to brighten their moods some."

"Yeah, well, one of them is my partner and the other's my team leader. Figured it'd be a good idea to get on their good side some. Let me make a stop in my room and I'll let ya take a break, how about that?" Following through, she made sure to hide her gift well, dug out Bob, and before long was balancing two bowls of the frozen dairy delicacy on the way to the living room, where Ruby was sprawled out on one couch and Yang on the other. They were both still in their sleepwear, obviously not having much in the way of desire to deal with much of anything on account of not particularly needing to.

Ruby weakly raised her hand in greeting, lowering her headphones in the process. "Hey Kass."

"Hey, yourself." Kassidy ducked her head a bit. "Sorry for being gone all day, your dad sent me to town to pick some stuff up for him. Picked you guys up some stuff, too."

Yang moaned and clamped her hands on her stomach. Evidently she just had another cramp. "Ugh, thanks K, but I'm not really in the mood for…" She trailed off as she looked up and saw what Kassidy was carrying, and changed her tune instantly. "Ice cream?! Dear Oum K, you are literally the best. Gimme, gimme, gimme!"

Kassidy chuckled and shook her head lightly at Yang's reaction, before looking at her and smiling. "Yes, ma'am. Just give me a second." She handed a bowl of strawberry to Ruby, before sitting down above her partner's reclined position and handing her a bowl of rocky road. Grabbing her elbow, she glanced away from the sisters. "Hey, uh… sorry for kinda abandoning you all during the semester when it got to be this time. I suppose I didn't really make things any better just leaving you three to your own devices, huh?"

"Heh, don't worry about it, partner." Yang ate a bit, humming in pleasure from the treat. "I know I, for one, can get kinda… snippy. There's enough estrogen in our dorm that time of month to turn Jaune gay." They all had to take a break from whatever they were doing to laugh, with Ruby nearly choking on her spoon in the process. Once they all calmed down, Yang threw an arm up, found her hand, and squeezed. "Besides, you're here now."

"Yeah, thanks Kass. I know I don't want to deal with us when I don't have to." Ruby returned to humming at the song she was listening to, but suddenly she took her headphones out completely and looked her way. "How do you deal with this?"

The question out of left field confused Kassidy for a moment. "Deal with what?"

"With, you know, this." Ruby motioned to her stomach, which was coincidentally accompanied with a slight wince. "I mean, sure, you're tough and all, but these can't be fun for you either."

Kassidy shrugged. "Never had to deal with it before. I dunno if I'm really that late a bloomer or if the Colossus guys finally did something right. Gotta be honest though… when I do start having to deal with this, I am NOT looking forward to it."

"Ugh, lucky. Enjoy it while you can." Yang's statement drew her attention to herself, and to her hair. Apparently, her normally immaculate hair was on the list of things she didn't want to deal with today, which was incredibly odd and even slightly concerning, considering how much she valued it. A quick look at her partner happily eating her snack suggested that dealing with her hair – and its tangles and knots – wasn't going to make it to the list any time soon. Eh, not like I have anything better to do at the moment. Besides, building up some goodwill, right? Yang would appreciate it, at any rate. Reaching down and taking up a long section, however, made Yang snarl at her, "Hey, what the-?"

"Your hair's all tangled and stuff. I know you'd rather not deal with what you don't have to, and I also know how much you care about your hair. Besides, I'm here to keep you two company, and fixing your hair's a good a way as any to do that." Kassidy's courage returned when the red in Yang's eyes faded back to their usual lilac, and she returned to dragging her fingers through the tresses, working out any tangles and knots she came across.

"Literally the best partner ever," Yang mumbled, before she shimmied up the couch a bit so her head rested in her lap. Kassidy could feel a bit of heat spreading to her cheeks, so she decided to distract herself with the ridiculous amount of hair she'd been trusted with. They stayed like that for a few minutes, before Kassidy noticed the feeling she always got when she was being watched. Returning her attention to her partner, she found Yang staring at her face, almost like she was looking for something.

"Something I can help you with?"

Yang started, and blushed at having gotten caught. Mercifully, however, it didn't take long for her to recover. "Actually, I was kinda…." She blushed again, much to Kassidy's confusion.

"Kinda what?"

"I was kinda... maybe hoping you could tell me a story?"

Kassidy blinked a few times at her partner, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Ruby shot up from the question as well. Regardless, she shook her head clear and dug out Bob. "Well, I don't know of any off the top of my head, but I could see what Bob has in storage. Want to hear anything in particular?"

"As a matter of fact, I do." Yang broke Kassidy's concentration by reaching up to her face and finding the biggest scar there. Her finger traced it from near the bottom of her right ear, all the way across to her nose before shooting up along it and between her eyes, until it disappeared into her hairline. Distractedly, Yang added, "Uncle Qrow once said that every scar has a story. I dunno why, but it kinda stuck with me, I guess. I… I understand if you don't want to talk about it, but I was kinda hoping to hear one of your stories."

Her eyes alight in comprehension, Kassidy grabbed Yang's hand before it got too close to poking an eye out. "So you decided you wanted the big one first?"

Yang nodded, "If you don't mind."

Kassidy looked at the far wall, biting her lip as she thought about it for a solid minute. Don't people who like each other put effort towards getting to know each other better? Isn't that what we're doing here? Yeah, we're just two friends talking about stuff. Making up her mind, she looked down at her partner. "As long as we're not setting some sort of precedent that I'm your personal source of entertainment every time you feel bored."

Yang gasped and placed her free hand on her heart. "Why K, I thought you liked spending time with your intelligent, funny, charming, and absolutely, breathtakingly gorgeous partner!"

Kassidy smirked and rolled her eyes, then spoke over Ruby's giggles, "You forgot the humility in there." That only prompted Ruby to laugh louder and Yang to join her, which in turn prompted Kassidy to join them in a fit of giggles. Remembering that she still had a story to tell, and remembering which story exactly Yang had asked for, her face fell accordingly. "The short version is that a twelve-gauge shotgun happened."

The laughter died instantly as the other two girls started choking on their own spit, but it wasn't their voice so filled with venom it made Kassidy fear for her health. "What?!" She looked over her shoulder to see Taiyang standing in the doorway between the living room and the kitchen, his face a rictus of fury. A spider's web of cracks could be seen on the water glass he was holding.

"It was my first scar," Kassidy elaborated. "After they killed Matthew… I was just ten. Doesn't matter how good you are, a ten year old girl is only going to last so long on her own when the government wants you dead. Sprained my ankle tripping over a root, then someone kicked me onto my back, stuck his gun in my face – I think it was a Remington – and blew half my face off. Left me for dead, and given that I was quite understandably passed out at the time, I didn't give him much of a reason to question it." Kassidy suddenly snickered morbidly and shook her head. "By the way, spoiler alert, getting a literal quarter of your head blown to bits hurts. A lot. I think it took me a good couple months to grow it all back."

The sound of breaking glass was heard as Taiyang's grip tightened further. "Who did this? Where are they?"

Kassidy waved it off, and shrugged, "Nonexistent. As in, literally nonexistent. The Big Rip's a whole bunch of particle physics and quantum mechanics I'm not even going to pretend to understand. My area of expertise is computers. You want to know more about it, ask Bob."

"Well, it doesn't matter." Yang moved herself up into a sitting position and, much to everyone's surprise (Kassidy included), snuggled right into her partner while holding Kassidy's arm with both of hers. "The important thing is that you're fine and safe. With us."

Kassidy's face lit up in a quite impressive blush, but couldn't find herself caring much as she returned the embrace. "Won't catch me complaining." They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before one final interruption made itself known.

"Aw, dangit!" Ruby's exclamation drew everyone's attention to her. "My music's run out!"

"I think I can fix that, too. About time I gave you girls a proper education in good music." Wearing a smirk and skillfully moving Bob's chassis onto the coffee table with her foot, Kassidy explained. "Bob, how about getting some AC/DC going?"

If it's not one thing, it's something else. It's always something else.

Now that Ruby and Yang had recovered from yesterday, all five of them (with Zwei being the towel… boy? dog?) were in the front yard. Summer break or no, they were still Huntsman and Huntresses-in-training, and staying in shape and in practice was important. Ruby sat with her dog, scratching his ears as Taiyang and his eldest daughter were duking it out. Kassidy watched also, but was in a fair amount more pain than the others. Her stomach had been tearing itself up all morning, and didn't show signs of stopping anytime soon. Naturally, her mood hadn't been the best either, and in fact she had spent most of the time burying her nose in Bob's screen before the man of the house suggested that they all spar.

Yang jumped over a leg sweep, then had to bring her arms up as her father smoothly transitioned into an axe kick that looked like it could've driven a nail. She threw him back and charged forward with a punch, but he effortlessly batted it to the side and shoved his elbow into her face. Kassidy cringed, as she could feel the impact that sent her partner sprawling to the dirt. Laughing, he reached out a hand and helped his daughter back to her feet. "Not bad, you've certainly been working on your stuff. Gotten faster, too." However, it was at this point that he frowned. "Though… was I just imagining things, or are you tunnel-visioning even more than when we last sparred?"

"Probably," Kassidy called over. "Kinda my fault, I usually keep it so that she never has to worry about anything except what's in front of her. Leave her to deal with the biggest, baddest guys, and I keep the small fry in check."

Taiyang nodded as he planted his hands on his hips. "Good. It's a good thing you've got that synergy worked out." Suddenly, he turned to his daughter and pointed a not-quite-stern finger at her that nonetheless conveyed the serious impression he was trying to leave upon them. "But that doesn't excuse you from not paying attention to stuff. You can't rely on your partner for everything.

"And that goes for you too, missy." Taiyang whirled around, his accusing finger now pointing her way. Her stomach decided to perform another backflip at this time (and didn't quite stick the landing, she might add), and she clutched her stomach and grimaced. He ignored it, however. "When's the last time you fought anything bigger than a Beowolf?"

"Well… there's the odd Ursa," Kassidy admitted. "But beyond that, I usually make sure that everyone stays nice and clear. Leave the big stuff to the others, y'know?"

"That's all fine and good, but what happens if you get split up? What if they're too busy with their fights to help with the Ursa in front of you?"

She shrugged, "Probably the same thing I've done with the last several: cut the hamstrings and run like hell."

"Not bad… but not good, either. C'mon, how about you take a few shots at me? Let's see what you've got." Beckoning her up, he settled into a fighting stance himself, though it was different from the one he used to fight her partner.

Kassidy had barely stepped foot into the bare dirt area before he dashed forward with a foot that would've left a nice imprint on her face if she hadn't ducked out of the way. Following the action through, she leaned in and drilled her fist into his thigh, causing him to hiss slightly and jump back a bit.

"Good reactions, certainly pay attention to things. Let's see how you keep up with this." Dashing forward again, he jumped in front of her and sent a flurry of punches she had to weave around. Flailing like a sapling caught in a hurricane, she dodged most of his blows and swatted the rest to the side, focusing on finding an opening in his technique. Three were passed up on – obvious baits – but she moved on the fourth as his foot slipped after he went for a high kick. She ducked under his kick and slammed her leg into his shin, though the sweep didn't quite take him off his feet. The breathing room she got from scrambling back lasted for all of two seconds as he closed the distance again. Sly bastard's switched up fighting styles on me. Just like fighting Jaune all over again… why does everyone try to sit on me until I cry 'uncle'? And unlike Jaune, anyone tough enough to raise Yang can probably drop me in one hit.

She quickly noted that he had turned to kickboxing this time around. The problem with kickboxing – you need room to move around. Letting the next blow glide off her forearm, she ducked into his guard and shoulder checked him before sending her fist to his gut once or twice. Of course, he compensated instantly, picking up a style that Yang obviously drew heavy inspiration from. She tried to get out of the immediate danger zone, but Taiyang stayed right on top of her, and it was only a matter of time before he forced her to a knee. She managed to roll under the kick that followed up, but when she shot back up he was simply standing there with his arms crossed.

"You keep planting your feet; it's hurting your mobility. You need to get your weight off your heels and into the balls of your feet. And you're too eager to capitalize on mistakes."

Dropping her guard, she raised an eyebrow at him. "Since when was capitalizing on an opponent's mistakes a bad thing?"

"Normally, it isn't," he elaborated. "You can identify a feint with the best of them, but you kept putting yourself in dangerous spots for exploits that you didn't really get all that much out of."

Kassidy pouted, "Well sorry I'm not as strong as your daughter – who was benching 415, last I checked. Look at these noodle arms. Do these look like I'm benching 415? I'm barely benching 90."

Taiyang snickered, and judging from the sounds off to the side he wasn't the only one who found it funny. "You definitely need to get stronger," he agreed.

"I'm trying, okay?!" Kassidy threw her hands up in exasperation. "I've been putting more time into the gym than Yang has, and I'm still barely getting anything out of it! Sorry for not having the biggest muscles around!"

"Yikes, you okay, partner?" Yang hissed a breath in before turning to her dad. "She's not wrong, though. She spends a stupid amount of time in the gym. And it's not her workout, either; I've been making sure she's been doing stuff right. We can't really figure it out, to be honest. She works out more than we do, she eats almost as much as any two of us put together, and at this point Ruby's put on more weight than she has."

"Hmm, that's odd. Might have to be something we look at later. Oh well!" Suddenly, Taiyang clapped his hands together and strode up to collect his towel from Zwei. "You've all had a spar each. How about we break for lunch and come back out for some more after, huh? Definitely need to get some meat on those bones of yours, Kass, you're too skinny." He punched her gut for emphasis, but his smirk vanished instantly as she wheezed and collapsed to the ground.

It took a while for Kassidy to stop seeing stars and for her head to stop swimming, curling up and clutching her poor stomach which got sent into spasms from the hit. When she finally trusted her body enough to force an eye open, she got an eyeful of Yang's lilac orbs. She made out, "You okay, partner?"

Kassidy rolled over onto and kept clutching at her abdomen, sucking in a few deep breaths. Finally having confidence that her stomach was done with tying itself into knots for the moment, she groaned. "Yeah, yeah. Sorry, stomach's been messed up all morning. Keeps crampin' on me for some reason."

Ruby tilted her head to the side. "Why would it… oh no! You're bleeding!" Kassidy followed her eyes down to the edge of her shorts. Indeed, there was blood trailing along the inside of her thigh, but it looked… odd. Need to ask Bob about that.

Kassidy waved off Taiyang's apologies. "I know you didn't hit me that hard."

"Wait…" Yang looked up at the forest for a second, gears spinning in her head. She absently muttered, "Unexpected bleeding, stomach cramps, bad mood… oh Oum!" Yang started laughing for some reason, making Ruby and Zwei tilt their heads while Kassidy and Taiyang were content with raising their eyebrows. Finally realizing that nobody else knew what was so funny, she turned to her partner. "Remember how you said that you weren't looking forward to… things? Yeah, no more looking forward."

It took a few moments for Kassidy to comprehend what Yang was saying. When she did, she threw an arm over her eyes and groaned louder. "Seriously? This is… ugh. I can't even make a coherent opinion about this."

"W-well, now that this is apparently a thing, perhaps you girls should take things inside? I'll make a stop by town, pick up a few things for Kass." Rubbing the back of his head and leaving no time for debates, Taiyang started down the dirt path leading to the road.

The three girls were left in the grass, all trading awkward glances. Eventually, Yang spoke up. "Alright, girls, you heard the man. Let's head on inside."

"Alright, just give me a – woah!" Kassidy tried to get up, but got beaten to the punch. Blushing heavily, she glared at Yang from her position in her arms. "Put me down, Yang, I'm more than capable of walking!"

"I know," she answered with a wink. Ruby opened the door for them, and Yang deposited her onto the couch. "Rubes, get K's bag. And don't you worry, partner, Doctor Xiao Long is in the house!"

Kassidy rolled her eyes. "I'm suing you for malpractice. Do you even have a degree?"

Yang poked her cheek. "Well geez, cheer up, sourpuss." She was about to say something else, but got interrupted by Taiyang opening the door. "And look who's back."

"That's a fifteen minute walk one way! How did… you know what? Forget it, I'm not going to ask." Kassidy slumped back against the arm of the couch, before fending off more pokes from her overeager partner.

"That's the spirit," Yang crowed. Kassidy groaned again as her stomach flipped itself, but raised an eyebrow when her partner reached over to an end table. "You said we could play tic-tac-toe on your face, right? My move." She was still processing what exactly was going on when Yang wrote an X over her eye. Well, I mean, she's not wrong, I did kind of say that. Kinda my fault on this one.

Rolling her eyes with a huff, Kassidy reached for the utensil. "Fine, I'll play. Where's… a… mirror…?" Her words died out as she looked at what she now held. "Yang?"

Her partner wore a smug grin, obviously having no idea what was being referred to. "Yes, my wonderful partner?"

"This is a permanent marker."

The smug grin vanished instantly as Yang's eyes bugged out and she paled. Ruby stopped at the foot of the stairs, apparently having just arrived in time to hear the declaration. Her partner's reaction, however, was priceless. "Oh. Oh. Uh… I didn't do it on purpose?"

Kassidy raised an eyebrow at her. "I'll give you a five second head start."

Yang shot to her feet and saluted. "Yes, ma'am. Best partner ever! See ya, Dad, Rubes, it's been nice knowing you!" And with two seconds to spare, she raced out the door, a yellow blur heading for the hills to avoid the supposed wrath of one Kassidy Smith.

Ruby shuffled from one foot to the other. "So… are you really going after her?"

Kassidy snorted. "I thought about it, but I think I have a better idea in mind. Mind bringing me my bag?" After receiving the item in question, she swiftly dug out a roll of duct tape and tossed it to Ruby. The team leader caught it, comprehension dawning on her eyes and a wicked grin spreading on her lips. "Don't play in the roads and be back by dark, okay?"

Ruby nodded, and a few rose petals floating to the ground was the only evidence that she'd ever been there. Taiyang looked limply out the front door, before turning back to his house guest. "You know that Yang's probably going to win that fight, right?"

Kassidy sat up on the couch with a smug smirk of her own. "Maybe, but it won't be as one-sided as you think. Besides, it'll be entertaining either way."

AN 2: So… quite a lot has happened this week. Big thing is I got the job. I'm now the newest tech support help desk assistant, not bad for a first job ever I'd say. Monday's chapter has a serious chance of not happening, since there's a few loose ends around here I want to tie up before working hours start. Still too early to tell what exactly's going to happen, so hopefully this time next week we'll have better ideas as to what this will mean for RWKY (and before anyone asks, no, I am not going to outright drop the fic). But anyways, like I said in first author's note, I still kinda have a bunch of crap to do, so I'll have to cut things off here to take care of them.

Reader Responses if I find the time tomorrow evening before the chapter goes up.

AgentDraakis: Yup, together-together indeed. Last chapter was definitely something I wanted people to be able to point at and say "This right here is where it all started". And sorry, but I'm going to have to say no to manslaughter right now. ...Okay, maybe the odd sacrifice of a newborn every now and then. But no more!

mcd3424: Mr. Historian Side, meet Bob and his 50 terabytes of hard drives. Bob, meet Mr. Historian Side. But in all seriousness, yeah, Kassidy had pretty much the same thought. Normally I'd suggest reading the Introduction for how that all happened, but… alright, I freaking hate this story's introduction. Easily the weakest part of the fic, but after several months of brainstorming I've given up on coming up with a better replacement.

Baconlord53: Oh boy. Can you say hi to Drunkle Qrow for us? And watch your back, I hear the wildlife's got some temper issues over in Remnant.

FloriteFlower: Emotion is typically not Kassidy's strong suit. She'd much rather shoot something and be done with it. I have my doubts that she'll be a good dancer either, but hey, I haven't written it yet and I've surprised myself on more than one occasion. RWBY physics. Enough said.

Tykene: I'm glad you're enjoying the fic so much, and I can't wait to see what you can come up with!

Myrillis: Oh boy, the joys that are binge-reading a great fic that you just found and completely losing track of the time. I might have done that on one or… seven occasions. Glad you like what you've seen, and welcome to the group! Glad to have you around.

AndJrew76: Wow. That means a hell of a lot to me, thank you. Not This Time, Fate happens to be my number one favorite at the moment, and honestly wouldn't say myself that I can hold a candle to Mr. Couer (*insert fanboyism that NTTF is moving to weekly uploads here*). Thank you so much for the support you've given the past seven months plus change. I'll endeavour to try and have a good and productive weekend, and I wish you the same, my man.

frostbight23: Confirmation that this did, in fact, happen. Also, confirmation that it was Zwei taking the picture with Bob.