Interlude 2 Chapter 2: Burning Passion
AN: Still don't have much to say in these Author's Notes. Life's still life. Classes are still being a very necessary thorn in my side. Hope things are treating all of you well.
Anyway, in today's chapter, we get Yang's perspective! With the day won and the bad guys defeated (hah, yeah right), what does life as normal consist of for RWKY now that they're no longer in life-or-death struggles? Apparently… much of the same. In addition to Yang getting frisky with her hands. Yeah, I think it's been too long since Kassidy's naïveté made things awkward around here. So here you guys go, more awkwardness!
(Perspective: Yang)
"Never fear, I am here!"
Yang leapt out of the bathroom fully prepared for their day, and returned to the room amidst the deafening sound of the lack of fanfare. K, at least, gave her a muted 'yay', but Ruby and Weiss were arguing again – probably about what they had or hadn't studied the previous night. "Man, you guys are lame," Yang lamented, disappointed at the lack of response she got. When even that failed to elicit something, however, she began to suspect something was up with her teammates. A cursory examination of her baby sis and Weissicle revealed nothing nefarious. They weren't purposefully ignoring her, thankfully, but were simply so wrapped up in their own argument that they didn't even notice her. Making a mental note to get her revenge later, Yang moved on to her partner.
Having been fully cleared by the infirmary to return to classes the evening prior, today would be Kassidy's first return to routine. Rather than pull at her uniform's skirt some or wrestle with the blouse, vest, and jacket that she quite often complained about constricting her, however, Kassidy was instead staring at a simple ball cap in her hands. The ball cap that represented the one single thing that Yang hated about the past few days. Things should've been perfect, and they would be, if it weren't for the fact that Kassidy felt it necessary to wear it while outside the dorm, hiding her new ears from the public.
Yang understood why, of course. Firstly, there was the obvious issue of everyone who knew Kass coming to grips with her sudden change of species… Yang was still having a somewhat difficult time getting used to the idea, herself. Then there was the small matter of the few but very vocal racists on campus having a field day with her, Cardin and his roaming band of douchebags being what came to mind first. But those weren't even the big ones.
No, the simple fact of the matter was that anti-Faunus sentiment in the Kingdom had been at an all-time high ever since The Breach. Even after getting their metaphorical (and occasionally literal) tails handed to them and subsequently seeming to disappear from Vale entirely, the White Fang were still not doing their fellow Faunus any favors. For Oum's sake, Yang had even heard rumors of lynch mobs roaming about in some of the seedier sections of the city. Add in the fact that she knew of several of her classmates that had family members caught up in The Breach, and it simply wasn't a good time to suddenly turn into a Faunus.
And so, Kassidy felt it best to wear a ball cap in public, at least for the time being. And Yang hated it. Hated that her girlfriend felt the need to hide who she was. Hated that people couldn't tell the difference between the White Fang, and ordinary Faunus just trying to live their lives. Hated that, with the day won and the city saved, with everything having been taken care of and things finally looking up for what seemed like the first time in months, things still couldn't be perfect.
"Y'know," Yang began, "You don't need to wear the hat if you don't want to." K turned around just in time for Yang to wrap an arm around her partner's shoulders. "You know I've got your back. Ruby and Weiss have your back. I can all but guarantee that JNPR won't mind."
"I know," K admitted, slinking her own arm around Yang's waist and giving it a slight squeeze. Yang relished in her continued ability to get her initially closed off and paranoid partner to open up, but even still could hear the 'but' almost before her girlfriend said it. True to form, Kassidy continued, "But… it's not exactly a good time to be a Faunus. It's not really safe to walk around with an extra pair of ears. Even assuming we don't get attacked… I just don't want any of you to have to put up with that, just by being close to me."
Yang was about to open her mouth to argue, but Rubes' voice behind her had her beat. "Don't worry about it," her baby sis said. They both turned around to find the shorter half of the team having halted their argument for the sake of the discussion at hand. "We've got your back, Kass, no matter what!"
"I mean, honestly," Weiss put in, "suffering the outdated ideologies of this Academy's more backward denizens should be a walk in the park, compared to our mission in Mountain Glenn."
Kassidy met each of their eyes, before next looking at Yang's. Yang, for her part, gave her a nod. "I'll support ya, no matter what," she reaffirmed. However, she hastily admitted, "But I really hate that you feel the need to hide from everyone." When Kassidy's eyes ducked back down to the hat, still unsure, a bark from their shared bed got everyone's attention. Yang found the inspiration to add, "See? Even Zwei likes your ears."
Kassidy snickered a little, before nodding and saying, "Hiding isn't quite as fun as it used to be. And honestly, considering that my standards consist of 'not getting shot at', you would think that I'd be pretty easy to please at this point."
Yang and Ruby collapsing into a fit of giggles was enough to get Kassidy to do the same, as well as elicit a few delicate chuckles from Weiss. And by the way K started glaring at the hat the moment she stopped laughing, Yang could probably guess that she'd made up her mind.
With all their business having been taken care of for the morning and classes in an hour, the team made their way to breakfast. While Yang snagged up her customary four-egg omelet and added some sausage to the plate, chewing on a link on their way to their usual table, she couldn't help but notice Kassidy grab six scrambled eggs instead of her usual five, in addition to the half-pound of hash browns, bacon, and three slices of toast. Because, since logic was evidently in short supply, reversing her augmentations actually increased Kassidy's already inhuman metabolism. This wasn't the first odd thing she'd noticed, obviously; with Colossus' changes having been purged from her body at long last, Kassidy was finally figuring out just what normal people did and didn't. Aside from the obvious, like her girlfriend no longer being happy on just four or five hours of sleep, there were some odd changes… like how Kassidy's abhorrent aversion to sugar had disappeared completely and instead gave way to a modest sweet tooth. Had to have been the first time in recorded history that Ruby Rose actually shared her cookies, whenever they first found out.
Yang smiled at the memory, but was brought out from it when a familiar voice said, "Hey there, K! Love the hat!" She looked up in time to see JNPR take their seats across from them, while Nora narrowed her eyes at her totally-not-boyfriend and added on, "I tried to get a sloth cap myself, but someone wouldn't let me!"
"Hey, guys" Kassidy began, letting everyone get settled in. "Your mission go well?"
"After what the White Fang tried to pull?" Jaune rather smugly answered, "Piece of cake." Pyrrha cleared her throat and dug her elbow into Jaune's side, who at least had the decency to look sheepish upon realizing what he'd said. In an attempt to change the subject, he quickly added on, "You're – uh – wearing your hair down too, I see. Any reason you decided to not put it up in your usual bun?"
"Yeah, it doesn't really work with…" Kassidy began, but trailed off as the pre-planned topic of conversation came up. Yang bumped her shoulder against K's and shot her a quick, soft smile in solidarity.
"It doesn't work with what?" Ren prompted.
Nobody said anything meaningful for a few moments. Soon, however, after a few muttered words of encouragement from her kid sister, herself, and Weiss, Yang finally managed to get K to open up, and open up she did. "Guys, something… happened – yeah, 'happened' is a good word – when I got hurt. It's – it's really big, and I don't know how everyone's going to react to it."
"You're still the same person, aren't you?" Pyrrha asked. When K nodded, she followed up with, "Then I'm sure it can't be that bad."
"Ooh, maybe she grew an extra pair of ears!" Nora exclaimed. Yang found herself fighting very hard to not fall off her seat laughing at how Nora's normally outlandish and ridiculous stories were actually correct this time. Still, she managed to keep her reaction down to a smug grin, not that anyone noticed as Nora continued, "Just imagine it, Ren! Maybe Kass has a pair of kitty ears under the hat. They'd be so cute, too!"
"Nora, don't be ridiculous," Ren chided. "This is obviously very important to Kassidy, so we must take this seriously." Turning his attention back to the opposite half of the table, he added, "What is the – Kassidy, why are you chuckling?"
Indeed, Kassidy seemed to have been losing her battle with her mounting amusement, right up until Ren said that. Her mirth having instantly evaporated, her eyes swept across the table, meeting each of theirs in turn. Yang put her hand on K's shoulder for good measure, and that actually seemed to be what pushed her over the edge of making her decision. Kassidy slowly reached her hand up to her hat and then, almost as if to get it over with before she could talk herself out of the decision, she whisked the ball cap off the top of her head, revealing her blonde-furred ears for all of Beacon to see.
If it weren't for the potential severity of the situation, Yang would've found JNPR's reactions priceless. Indeed, they did not disappoint, as the very first thing any of them said was Ren uttering, "Well, I'll be damned," in what had to be the first time the guy had ever sworn in his life.
"How did that even happen?" Jaune asked, speech slow and drawling in a perfect representation of his nigh-refusal to believe what he was seeing. "I mean, I'm not hallucinating, am I? Those are actual, literal cat ears on Kassidy's head? How?"
Kassidy, having finally been coaxed out of ducking her head, perked up. Her new ears perked up as well, and Yang would be lying if she said she didn't enjoy watching those two triangles move around the top of her head, conveying emotion and adding so much to nonverbal statements. Yang could see Kassidy's hope even before she opened her mouth, and true to form she answered, "We have zero fu – flipping idea how that happened. You… you don't hate them?"
"Hate them? Why would we hate them?" Nora brought all attention at the table to herself as she tilted her head and tentatively started reaching an arm out. "They're so cuuuute! And they look so soft and can I pet them?"
"No you may not," Kassidy hastily replied, shooting her own hand out to intercept Nora's. Upon seeing Nora's downtrodden expression, however, she added on, "Look, I'm not upset with you. They're just… they're not gimmicks or anything. They're just a part of me now. No more, no less. Can we… can we just not make a big deal out of them?"
"Of course, Kassidy," Pyrrha said. "I can understand your hesitance at showing them at a time like this, and I must admit to feeling very confused at the moment…"
"Take it from someone who knows, Pyr," Yang interrupted. "Nothing about this makes sense. The sooner you give up trying to understand it, the further ahead you'll be."
"It doesn't matter if we fully understand it or not," Jaune announced, catching the eye of every person at the table. "She's still the same person, and she's still our friend. We've got your back, Kassidy."
Yang couldn't help but let out a low whistle, even as the rest of JNPR clamored to make their agreement known. Damn, Vomit Boy's really been coming into his own these past couple months, hasn't he? Actually, we kinda all have. Heh, and we're not even done with our first year yet. Oum knows what the next three are gonna bring us.
Still, by this point breakfast had been concluded, and the day's classes would begin in about ten minutes or so. Yang hung back a bit, simply watching everyone talk and get along, and maybe kinda sorta shooting some harsh looks at anyone that stared at her partner for too long. It couldn't last forever, though, and it was only a matter of time before Yang found herself in the first of two classes she needed to sleep through this morning. She'd probably wind up asking K or Weiss for notes anyway, so nothing was really lost. Right?
"And now, it is time for the moment I'm sure you've all been waiting for. We shall conclude our lecture here and discuss our end of the year assignment."
Yang joined roughly two-thirds of the class in groaning at Oobleck's announcement. While she would normally be surprised that Kassidy joined her in groaning also (albeit at a far more muted volume), this was also History. Not exactly a secret anymore that this wasn't her girlfriend's favorite subject.
"Now, now, children, there's no need for that," their professor chided. "Especially since I'll be doing things differently this year. In fact, you should all be pleased to know that your time studying in this course is done. No more tests. No more quizzes. No final exam." Now that got everyone's attention, and the hushed whispers only made Doctor Oobleck smirk slightly. "No, instead, in light of… new material, I have elected to give one last homework assignment, due at the end of the semester.
"If there is only one lesson you take out of this class, it should be this: history is always being made. Always. Every decision you make, every step you take, everything that you do, shapes the future. The generations that come after us will scrutinize our choices just as we have scrutinized those that came before us. History is always being made, even today, and we are the ones that are always making it. Rarely, however, do we get such a prime example such as this.
"I am distributing two different handouts; if you could pass these along, thank you. This first handout is the letter a certain Faunus girl wrote to her parents, explaining her rationale for joining the White Fang. In it, she describes what were the events leading up to her making this decision, she describes in detail her emotions and thought processes behind making this decision, and she describes the hopes she has that her decision would potentially bring to fruition. It is easy to think of people on opposing sides of history as mere members of their respective factions. Instead, I implore you to focus on the fact that these are people, people that have reasons and hopes and dreams and desires, just like you."
The handouts reached Yang; she grabbed the top from the pile and passed it to her partner, skimming over the two stapled pages while she had the chance. She skipped to the end, reading the sender to be someone by the name of Ilia Amitola, from… up near Atlas? Hell, this was dated only three years ago, how did Doctor Oobleck even get a hold of this? She didn't get a chance to dig deeper than that, however, as their professor spoke up again.
"This second handout is a diary entry, from the survivor of a terrible, terrible calamity. In it, you'll see the young woman – still a girl, really – wrestle with the same choice as the subject of the first handout did. Instead of joining up with the local group, however, this girl chose to go it alone, refusing to commit to actions that she perceived may have threatened her morals in the future."
As people grabbed the handouts as it was passed along, literally every single student gasped. Most started looking around, stopping when their gazes settled on them. Yang looked around, and found the gazes to more specifically be settling on her partner, who had also noticed the sudden attention and summarily started shrinking back into her seat, ears going flat against her head as she did. A sudden gasp to her right had Yang whirling around, wondering what Weiss was getting upset about, but the heiress was simply staring at the handout, wide-eyed, while limply holding out the remaining stack. Yang grabbed it, kept a copy, and then shoved it down to K as quick as she could to figure out what the hell was going on. A quick flip to the second sheet to find the writer… and then Yang read the name again. And then a third time. And then she flipped back to the front, hoping to find something, anything that would prove her wrong.
September 25, 2035. They finally made the call. Today will officially be the day that St. Louis fell. Doesn't really make much of a difference now, the shithole has been a war zone for months. Everyone that was good and decent left ages ago. What it does mean now, though, is that the 14-day warning of telling everyone to get the hell out has elapsed; basically, the government is now saying that anyone not in a military uniform still in the city is officially an enemy combatant, and you're about to get a bunch of new holes put in you if you're still there. Obviously, I'm not sticking around anymore, not like there was anything left –
An uncomfortable sound came from K's throat, interrupting Yang from her reading and drawing her attention to the woman who wrote the diary entry. Yang didn't even think about it before her hand had found her girlfriend's and started squeezing in support. She wasn't able to say anything, however, before Oobleck began talking about it.
"Perhaps now, with a bit of a personal touch, you can better appreciate how we all make history with our every action, in every day? Here, we have two different people in two similar situations, who had two very different reactions to the circumstances at hand. The first girl rushed to a group that was quickly radicalizing, and is now a terrorist. The second girl cut it on her own, and is now in this very room. This is your final assignment: I want a six-page essay, comparing and contrasting these two handouts. I want you to detail each person's thought processes, their decisions, and their situations, and to determine in what ways they are similar, and in what ways they are different. This is your last assignment in this course, and will be collected in five weeks' time. You are dismissed."
Chewing on the end of a pencil, Yang chanced another look at the clock. 8:30, and Kassidy still wasn't back from the gym. It was getting to the point that if she didn't show up soon, Yang was probably going to need to go out and drag her back. They only had about five and a half weeks until the Vytal festival, which meant they only had ten days or so until the in-house tournament to determine which teams Beacon sent to the tournament. Ten days in which Kassidy had to build up her physical conditioning to what it used to be, or at least as close as she could get it. It was too much to do in too little time, Yang decided, suddenly standing up from her desk and inadvertently getting Weiss' attention. She needed to go get K before –
The door opened in her face, nearly clobbering Yang as Kassidy shambled into the room slowly, hand clutched against the small of her back. "What happened?" Yang asked before she even registered it, already berating herself for letting her girlfriend push herself too hard.
Exactly as predicted, K answered, "Maybe spent a bit too much time in the gym. Still trying to get used to… all of this. Think I pulled something in my back a bit."
"What did you even do?" Weiss asked. "Aura's supposed to protect you from that. Even if you didn't think to bring it up, it should've instinctually healed anything the moment it occurred."
Kassidy suddenly froze like a deer in headlights, and Yang just knew that she wasn't going to like the answer. "Um… okay, don't get mad?" When all four of the room's occupants merely deadpanned at her (even Zwei got into the act), K rubbed the back of her head and had the decency to at least act sheepish about it. "Look, I know I don't have a lot of time. And using Aura's the best way to work on both your reserves and how quickly you get it back, right? So I… maybe kinda burned away all my Aura at the start of my workout, and then kept flaring it to burn away whatever I regenerated?"
There were a few seconds of silence in the room, only to be broken by a flawlessly executed triple facepalm on the parts of Rookie's RWY. Trying to inject some modicum of positivity into the situation, Ruby nervously started, "Well, I mean, A for effort, I guess?"
"But F for doing things intelligently and safely," Weiss interrupted. "No, wait, F minus. Seriously, Kassidy, that is not how you do it."
"Nice idea partner, but… no. Just no. I'm joining in on your workouts tomorrow, and I'll go ahead and show you what you're actually supposed to do on that front." Yang was about to tear into her further for making her worry, but then noticed Kassidy wince as she rubbed her back again. Suddenly getting an idea, Yang suddenly said, "Okay, bed, now."
Kassidy started, only to wince again as the motion tweaked her back. "What are you –"
"No questions," Yang insisted. "Lie on your stomach."
"Okay, I'm going, I'm going," Kassidy said. She laid on their shared bed, only to gasp as Yang climbed on top of her, straddling her back. "Yang, what are you – ohhhhhh myyyyyy goddddd."
Yang's fingers worked their magic, digging and kneading into K's overworked back muscles. She can't really say that she'd given anyone a massage before, and she was pretty damn sure her partner's never gotten one, either. Still, she knew from experience that it was one of the best remedies there was to a too-hard day at the gym, and right now Kassidy really couldn't afford a day off. She could feel the knotted fibers slowly loosen up under her magic touch, and she could definitely feel that Kassidy had pushed herself far, far too hard at the gym. Yeah, Yang was going to babysit her for the immediate future.
Her thoughts were turned away from that subject as she hit a particularly tough knot, and Kassidy moaned in pleasure. The sound suddenly got Yang's face heating up in a way that definitely couldn't be attributed to her Semblance, and suddenly she thought that maybe she didn't think this through as well as she thought she did. What, with Kassidy in a tshirt and shorts under her and decently sweaty, herself straddling her partner as her fingers dug into Kassidy's back… oh, yup, there's the hormones again. Bad Yang! Down!
Yang's blushed deepened thrice over when Kassidy managed to get out. "Harder, Yang. Go deeper – oh fuck, that's the spot."
"Should… should we give you two some time alone?" a timid voice asked to their left. Yang looked over, and found a crimson Weiss who couldn't decide whether to stare at the scene, or look at anything but them, as well as her sister buried in her cloak, her covers, and trying to hide her face in her pillow. Yeah, definitely didn't think this all the way through.
Yang shifted her weight, leaning on the heels of her palms to really dig into her partner's back and spine, and decided to risk asking, "Uh, look, don't take this the wrong way, but maybe don't be so loud? I know you don't know, but… yeah, basically everyone will take what you're saying the wrong way."
"Don't care," Kassidy denied, shaking her head into her pillow. "This feels too good. Educate me later."
"Hey, Weiss," Ruby said, her voice shrill and rapid. "Jaune just invited us over – apparently their team wants to talk to us about a couple things. Mind helping me out here?"
Before Yang could say anything, Weiss nodded sharply. "That sounds like a wonderful idea, Ruby, let's head straight over."
Yang was only able to mouth 'traitors' at them before they left the room… and honestly, they were traitors. Even – no, especially as Kassidy continued to wilt under her touch, moaning every now and then in a way that Yang was growing increasingly convinced had to be intentional at this point – there was no way it wasn't intentional at this point, right? Miraculously, through sheer force of will, Yang managed to keep her mind from straying too far into the realms it shouldn't be going. After a period of time that was both far too long and nowhere near long enough, Yang climbed off her partner's back, and she managed to breathe out, "Okay, I think that's… I think that's everything."
Kassidy groaned, but rolled off the bed regardless and popped her back. "Wow. That was fucking amazing, I don't think I've felt so good before." Suddenly, Kassidy lunged forward, and her lips found Yang's before she could react. Not that she was going to complain, though. Kassidy might not normally be one for public displays (near-death experiences aside), but the time they could get just to themselves was definitely worth it… and definitely frustrating, if Yang had to be honest with herself.
What? So she's a hormonal teenager – give her a break every now and then! She's not perfect!
They broke their kiss, and Yang pointed at their bathroom before she could be tempted further. "I think you'll definitely appreciate if you give yourself a shower." She nearly chuckled at the way Kassidy pouted, but gave no quarter. "You stink, K. Now c'mon, we can cuddle when you're ready for bed."
"Cuddling sounds nice," Kassidy agreed. She grabbed her pajamas, then stopped halfway to the bathroom and called out, "Hey Bob, how about…"
Yang couldn't help but flinch as Kassidy trailed off, no doubt remembering. Desperate to try and inject some levity back into the situation, Yang offered, "I think I heard that Weiss was having all the parts shipped here. They should be here by this weekend."
Kassidy nodded lamely. "Yeah, no, I mean…" Yang had to strain her ears as K whispered, "Hang on, Bob. I'll get you fixed soon. Don't die on me yet."
AN 2: So… yeah, that happened. That particular bit was a scene I've been debating the merits of on and off for the past month and a half or so. As you all can guess, I decided in favor of it. So, I hope you enjoyed the closest that the RWKYverse is ever going to get to a lemon scene.
Coming up next: HERE COMES A NEW CHALLENGER! Yup, that's right, we all get a never-before-seen perspective next chapter, on October 9!
Right after these Reviewer Responses
FlouriteFlower: Happy coincidences are happy. I'll keep an eye out for it if I have the time, but… I kinda don't really have a whole lot of time anymore. Also, your super important question is denied, on account of super important spoilers.
AgentDraakis: Yeah, I'm not particularly (read: not at all) a huge fan of canon Neptune either. While I'm not going to just leave that topic as is… c'mon, we've both been teenagers. Teenagers doing something stupid because they think it's what they want is basically a mandatory part of being a teenager. I hear you on CRDL, but there's just a lot to do in RWKY, and we pretty much just have this interlude to do it in as Volume 3 is already spoken for. There's only so much I can cram into a chapter before it becomes bloated and unwieldy, and I really don't want Interlude 2 being any longer than Interlude 1; hell, all my current plans actually have I2 as being a few chapters shorter. I understand and agree with your thoughts on CRDL, but no promises; we only have so much space here.
Captain marvel 36: I love detail too. I think we only have two or maybe three overt training scenes left in the story, but I'll definitely try and get a few more of those juicy, juicy details in whatever fights are left.
DIYEyal: Us muggles have to stick together (am I doing this right?).
Nemasis Demarini: No Harry Potter movies here. And really, you should try wearing a hat down there at some point, it definitely adds a bit of class to whatever outfit it's paired with. And don't worry, there's no need to apologize for multiple reviews.