It's Not A Love Letter...
•...•.•...•
by Allister Crow
.••.••.
Yang had just finished her combat session for her weekly class, having been separated from her team for being too slow when she saw Lie Ren walking towards her in the hallways. She stopped for a moment to make sure he was coming her way, to which she was pleasantly surprised to see that he was.
"Hey, what's up?" She lifted an eyebrow, being the first to engage in conversation.
He'd approached her in silence and kept the same mannerisms throughout, not answering her greeting verbally. He instead handed her a sealed pink envelope, one that she took with a confused expression. Before she could even begin to open it, Ren had turned heel and walked away, disappearing into the halls of Beacon. She looked at it for a few moments before flipping it around to see the other side. Her eyes widened upon seeing the artistic flower inked on the paper of the envelope.
"What the hell?"
•...•
1 day earlier...
.•••.
Lie Ren was not an expressive man, he knew that much of himself, if nothing else. He wasn't the best with words or social queues, nor anything to do with more than a one-on-one conversation with a less than talkative individual, Nora being an acception to the latter of the three.
"Sooo~" Nora laid on the bed beside where he sat.
He held a pen tight within his fingers, using it to—with immense care—write intricate wording and art on a piece of lined paper.
"How goes the love letter?" She lifted an eyebrow, giving him a teasing smirk.
"Nora, we've been over this." He sighed. "It's not a love letter."
"Looks pretty intricate for something that isn't a love letter. Who's it for?" She leaned in to read it's contents.
"Nora!" He raised his voice slightly, though not in any serious manner, it was still enough to cause her to draw away.
"I'm just pulling your hair." She leaned back with a shrug. "Since when were you so tense all the time?"
"Forgive me." He pinched the bridge of his nose. "I'm nervous."
"Well, who's it for?" She asked again. "Maybe I can help, oooh, is it Blake?"
"N-no." He shook his head, unsure if he should give her the actual answer.
"Uh, is it...?" She pondered for a moment. "Yeah no I was pretty much banking on it being Blake. Pyrrha?"
"Uh, no." He shook his head. "It's not Pyrrha, she likes Jaune, Nora. Remember?"
"Right." She nodded dully.
"It's Yang."
It took a moment to muster up the courage to say it, but he finally managed to do so. Her eyes squinted for a moment before going wide.
"Yang!?" She raised her voice. "Like... blonde Yang?"
"You're still treating this like it's a love letter." He sighed. "I'm just asking if she wants to hang out, trying to get to know her better."
"In a letter?" She flicked him on the nose. "Idiot."
"I..." He blushed, finally showing a glimmer of embarrassment towards the situation. "You know I'm not good with words, Nora. I'd make a fool of myself."
"Make a fool of yourself..." She paused for a moment. "In front of the girl you like?"
"I just want to get to know her better." He repeated in defense.
"Because you like her~?" She drew out her words, leaning closer to him with a knowing grin.
"Nora..." He dragged out in frustration, tapping his pen.
"Alright, alright, sorry." She lifted her hands in defense. "I'll back off of you about it."
"Thanks." He laid his head down.
"Need a massage?"
"Please." His voice was slightly muffled by the table he rested on.
.•.
Ren sighed, tapping his fingers along the dining room table as he thought deeply. For the past few days, he hadn't been able to think about much throughout the day without it involving Yang. It took him a while to come to terms with his interest in the girl, though he eventually accepted it. However, doing so only presented new issues, ones that he was still unable to figure out. Issues like: how to approach her, how to talk to her, how to get to know her, how to...
Ugh... He leaned back, looking to the ceiling with an uncomfortable expression. This was extremely frustrating.
"You okay there?" The sound of a sliding chair stirred him from his thoughts. His eyes flicked over to see Jaune pulling up a seat beside him. "You seem upset."
"I'm quite alright." A shrug followed his rather dull response, he already knew he hadn't fooled Jaune for a moment.
"Ren." He sighed. "I won't pester you about it, but I hope you're doing okay man."
"Thanks, Jaune." He nodded.
If he were to be honest with himself, part of him wanted to just ask Jaune about his situation. Though a little bit of an oblivious klutz, he still radiated confidence like it was no one's business.
Though perhaps it was just a rather concerning lack of shame. He thought to himself.
Either way, it was a quality that Lie Ren was certainly envious of. Something he wished he could do with just as much ease as the blonde. He didn't want to seem too dismissive, but he his mind was elsewhere and he honestly didn't want to talk to Jaune about it, as much as he saw him as a brother. So he pushed himself upwards and turned to leave, making his way back to his desk in the bedroom.
Though it wasn't quite night time yet, blackout curtains darkened the room he now sat in, the only light being that of a dimly lit candle. He slid the note he'd been working on previously from his drawer and set it down, eyeing it through. It didn't say anything, all he'd managed to do was make it look pretty. Not wanting to give Yang an empty letter for numerous obvious reasons, he pulled out his pen and a loose piece of paper to brainstorm with.
Dear Yang Xiao Long.
He immediately crumpled it up and set it aside, shaking his head already.
Salutations!
Hey, it's Ren, I-
"Absolutely not." He whispered to himself, crumpling that paper as well.
It was quite a bit of back and forth with the trying to figure what to write on the final product. Between silly, to-the-point, deadpan, and many other variations of such, Ren simply could not find a fitting way to write the letter. It was starting to get frustrating by this point, he hadn't even realized that he'd been at it for nearly three hours now—two and a half to be precise. Not until the rest of his team had come into the bedroom fully ready to retire for the night.
"Hey Ren." Pyrrha yawned, falling back into bed. "You doing alright, haven't seen you around much today."
"Mhm." He hummed, setting his pen up as he grabbed the mess of crumpled papers to throw away.
"What're you writing over there?"
"Nothing." He responded a little too quickly to be totally convincing, which earned a quiet snicker from Nora.
"Ah." She responded in turn. "Well, we're all headed to bed, if you could..."
Ren nodded before she finished her sentence and blew out the candle.
"I need rest anyway." He nodded.
After disposing of the papers and setting the rest of his stuff up, he crawled into bed, throwing his thick blanket around himself. Maybe some sleep would help clear his head, he'd continue in the morning.
.•••.•••.
Some sleep did not help clear his head, in fact, he woke up more conflicted than he was the night before. He didn't even make to sit up like he usually did, instead, he just laid in bed with open eyes. It was still early, he reckoned around five in the morning. Which meant he had about two hours before the rest of team woke up. He almost always woke up first, bar the rate occasion that he slept in half an hour and Pyrrha happened to get up early for training.
After nearly fifteen minutes of laying down, he finally sat up, reaching over to his desk to open the drawer. He pulled the letter from within, a light pink envelope that hadn't yet been sealed. Inside was the paper he'd spent a while designing. Still, nothing was written on it, and it upset him. He pulled his pen out and set the note down. Ren shared his combat class with Yang, and it was the last day before the weekend. He wanted to get the letter to her today, that way she'd have plenty of time to think over and respond to it. He pushed his doubtful thoughts aside and put his pen to the paper. Drafting hadn't worked, it was like trying to beat a video game level on practice mode. He had no incentive to speak the words from his heart. He'd spent almost an hour designing the floral art on the actual note, maybe his desire to not mess it up would make his words more... meaningful.
He started with simple words:
Hey there.
He paused for a moment before continuing to write.
I want to apologize first and foremost for being rather indirect about my methods of approaching you. I've admittedly been a little nervous about this and don't want to make a fool of myself.
Secondly, I'd like to clarify that contrary to Nora's belief, this isn't a love letter or anything of the sort. I have no deep hidden feelings of undying love to profess to you, rather a simple interest in getting to know you better. That being said, I would be lying if I were to say that there was zero interest in anything beyond that. However I understand that the feeling may not be returned, and that's okay as well.
Thirdly, if you aren't interested then you aren't interested. You don't even have to get back to me on this if you don't want to. If you'd prefer, you can simply pretend you never even read the letter.
Finally, I'd just like to say thank you for taking the time to read this if you have, you have no idea how long these floral designs took, Nora can vouch for me on that one.
With best intentions,
Lie Ren
He spent a moment reading through the words he'd wrote with the faintest of smiles. This one felt right. He slipped it into the envelope and sealed it gently, setting it in his bag. Now came the hard part, actually getting it to her. Though he wouldn't have to worry about it until the end of the day, it was something that wouldn't leave his mind until he got it to her.
Today was going to be a long day. He sighed deeply.
And it was just that, a long day.
His morning was already off to a rough start, as Nora absolutely refused to get up from her bed, five minutes before their all-day combat class started.
"You're being stubborn." He put a hand on her shoulder.
"Mm, go without me, I don't feel good." She turned around from her pillow to face him. "I'm not even showered."
"Nora." He sighed.
"Ren..." She groaned. "Please, I really don't want to fight today I feel like garbage."
"Fine." He nodded. "Don't make a habit of this, it's important you keep your attendance up."
"I won't." She turned back around and burrowed her face into her pillow. "Thanks."
Her last word was muffled by the fluffy surface, but he understood her. Ren stood and grabbed his bag, making sure his letter was inside before heading out to meet with Pyrrha and Jaune in the hallway.
"Hey man." Jaune greeted him as he exited the dorm. "Where's Nora?"
"Not feeling well." He answered simply.
"Ah, so she's not coming?"
"She's not."
"Well, are you ready to go?"
"Yeah."
"Yup."
Both Ren and Pyrrha had answered their leader's question before the three of them set off to the training hall for their first class. What better way to start off the day than with combat amongst each other. They made it to class two minutes late, which earned them a glare from Professor Goodwitch as they moved to take their seats on the sidelines. The professor started off with her greeting to the class before moving things along in a direction Ren hadn't expected.
"Today will be hand to hand fighting practice. There will be no use of weapons." She spoke into her microphone, eliciting mixed responses from everyone in the room. An excited 'hell yeah' from Yang being one of them.
Ren had no outward response to the nature of their session. He did feel pretty confident about his ability to go hand to hand, his only real concern would be being pit against someone like Yang or Sun. Though he didn't know the latter all too well, he knew that the monkey faunus was still a serious fighter who incorporated a lot of unarmed fighting tactics in his style. As for Yang, that would be a nightmare of a fight he hoped would never happen under these circumstances.
"Ahem." Glynda attempted to quiet the class. "As damaging aura with hand to hand combat would prove a rather daunting task for most, the tiles will be different. A blow to the head is a point, the first to five points wins the match. There will be no use of semblance. Any comments?" She waited a few moments for a response, there was none, so she continued. "Then let's start. The first two fighters will be Jaune Arc and Cardin Winchester!"
Not this again. Ren groaned internally. As fun as it was to mark Jaune's development by how good he got against Cardin, it was getting obsessive. He wasn't learning how to face different opponents, adapt to different styles. Seldom did he see the professor match his leader up against someone different, someone who'd test his limits. If it were him, he'd have matched the boy against someone who'd give him a real challenge, Ruby or maybe Blake, not some big dude who barely knew how to swing a hammer. Not to mention this was an unarmed fight, Ren seriously doubted Cardin's ability to hold his own in weaponless combat. His doubts came to light when the battle started.
Immediately after the professor called to start, Cardin charged Jaune with an extremely telegraphed forward blow, one that he himself could've dodged when he was a toddler. The blonde showed no difficulty in sidestepping the attack, though it was a little clumsy as he'd almost lost his footing. He dodged another blow and reacted with a fake out blow to the gut. It clearly worked as Cardin had gone to avoid it, which left him wide open for the oncoming blow to the head.
"Point for Jaune." Glynda announced as the battle continued onward.
He saw the bigger man sneer and try the exact same move. It almost made Ren chuckle outwardly when he saw the look on Jaune's face as he blocked both the fake out and the oncoming blow. This went on for a few minutes before Jaune suffered his first blow when he was three points in due to a lapse in his judgement. He tried to back step a forward punch and Cardin simply over extended, landing a blow to his cheek.
"Point for Cardin."
It was the only hit that he'd landed though, as within the next minute or two, Jaune scored his fifth point and won the match. While he tended only to win every other fight against his 'rival.' This seemed to be a fairly one sided match as, quite frankly, Cardin fought like a slug—slow and telegraphed.
"Congratulations, Mr. Arc." Glynda nodded, turning her gaze to Cardin. "This is why we're gonna be focusing hand to hand today, you've clearly not trained in it much, as even Jaune was able to easily best you."
"Tch, whatever." He spat, turning to leave.
"Mr. Winchester, if you disrespect me like that again you'll be spending the rest of the day in my office helping me sort papers, would you like that?"
"N-no ma'am." He grit his teeth.
"Get back to your seat then, and make it snappy, we haven't the time to dawdle." She thinned her gaze. "Next up, we'll have Pyrrha Nikos and Blake Belladonna."
The two students nodded and stepped into the stage, readying themselves for combat. Ren had expected the fight between the girls to be rather one-sided towards his teammate, so he was pleasantly surprised that Blake held her own fairly well against Pyrrha, even managing to land two a point against her with a flurry of kicks that managed to overwhelm her defenses. By the end, to no one's surprise, the girl who hadn't lost a single match here at Beacon had still not lost a single match. With a score five to one, Pyrrha was declared the winner.
"Pyrrha, excellent performance as always, be careful not to let your guard get overwhelmed, without a shield, blocking isn't so easy. Blake, for your opponent, you did exceptionally. Try to minimize your openings and maximize your counter-offense. You may return."
"Good fight, Blake." She bowed.
"You as well." The faunus nodded.
"Nice one Pyrrha!" Jaune gave the redhead a high five as she came back to her seat.
"Thanks, Jaune." She smiled. "Blake did very well too."
"It's hard to tell when you just beat everyone up." He admitted with a dumb smile. "Watching you fight is awesome!"
"Haha, t-thanks." She scratched the back of her hair, a faint blush on her cheeks. "I just give it my best, I don't like holding back."
Watching the two banter casually with each other was cute, even in Ren's eyes. He wished that she'd just confess to him, he was almost certain that Jaune in some way reciprocated her feelings. Maybe if he were to mention it she'd follow through. He was seen as the more sensible one after all.
Sensible, hah. He berated himself internally, a sensible guy wouldn't try to ask out a girl a million leagues apart.
Speaking of... His eyes momentarily flicked over to Yang. Oddly, she looked both bored and antsy at the same time. She probably wanted to fight, Glynda keeping her from getting her fists dirty for more than the first match was probably a war crime in her head. Ren prayed for whoever would be matched against her today, it would not end well.
He only realized that he'd been staring for far too long when her eyes met his own from their considerable distance. He swallowed awkwardly, unsure of what to do. If he just looked away it would make it obvious he was staring, but keeping eye contact would also be a little creepy. In the end, he didn't move his gaze at all, simply watched as her lips curved up into a dull smile and she gave him a thumbs up. In return, he nodded in acknowledgement and turned back to the stage.
"For our third fight." Glynda grabbed their attention. "Lie Ren vs Yang Xiao Long!"
Oh...
Oh no.
Ren stood up slowly, turning his gaze back to Yang, who simply shrugged at him with a knowing smile. When they were on the stage, she readied her fists and waited for Glynda's command.
"Begin!"
The blonde girl smirked and lowered her fists, waiting for Ren to make the first advance. She even gave him the quintessential come closer finger gesture. Not to mention the way she composed herself as she did it, bend forward slightly, a hand on her hip, her lips parted enough to be teasing. She probably figured it had no effect on him, given the way most people thought of him as a person, quiet and unfazed by most things. However, it took far more restraint than comfortable to stop the blush from rising to his cheeks.
"Bring it on, pinky." She slammed her fists together now, looking ready to knock him a new one.
Finally, he decided to throw the first blow, a straight forward punch to gauge her reaction. She dodged swiftly and stepped in, kneeing him hard in the stomach before lifting her fist to his jaw.
"Point for Yang."
He blocked an incoming flurry of punches before batting her arm away, trying to use the created opening to land a solid blow to her head. However, his efforts were ineffective and it only caused the woman to get a second point.
"Point for Yang." Glynda sounded off in annoyance.
Ren took a deep breath and really began to focus, thinning his eyes on her movements, falling into a more comfortable fighting stance. She came in with a forward punch, one that he sidestepped before ducking underneath a hook. He sprung forward and threw a backhand, which she caught and shoved away, stepping forward to score another point. Instead, she was knocked back by a rather unexpected move. He'd decided to step in and headbutt her, causing her to stumble.
"Point for Ren."
She immediately began to start taking this more seriously, speeding up her movements to match his reflexes. He still found it manageable to keep up with her, dodging and blocking where needed, yet finding trouble landing blows. A side kick was enough to shove her back and give him time to process his next move. He leaned forward and span into a five-forty kick powerful enough to break right through her lifted guard and hit her hard enough to momentarily confuse her.
"Point for Ren."
"Nice shot." She wiped her lips and raised her hands. "Try this!"
She pushed forward with incredible speed, throwing her hand out in the most powerful back punch he'd seen. His eyes widened in surprised as he just barely sidestepped the blow. Catching her forearm, he pulled her in and locked her in an arm hold, their faces inches apart from each other. She grinned and pushed him back.
"Didn't peg you as such a forward guy, at least buy me dinner first." She stuck her tongue out.
Her teasing was endless, even in combat like this she couldn't help but crack jokes. Ones that she had no clue actually applied to anything beyond her silly attitude.
It was by this point that their fighting almost turned into dancing. Dodging, attacking, moving back and forth, pushing and pulling each other toward them and away. Ren scored a point, then Yang, then Yang again, then Ren, until the score was an even four to four. A glance to the crowd showed that both their teams were invested in the battle, watching intently for a winner to be declared. It was nearly three minutes of them going at it before something happened to turn the tide. Ren tore her guard away with a roundhouse kick and used the temporary opening to try and land a punch, it was successful, but...
She hit him too.
At the same time that his fist met her cheek, hers met his chin. He flew up into the air and flipped back onto his feet. She stumbled back, regaining her balance as he landed. For a moment, they simply stared at each other in confusion, before looking to Glynda for an answer.
"Erm..." She coughed. "Draw match."
"It's a draw then." Yang extended her hand towards Ren. "But we're having a rematch."
He nodded aptly and shook her hand.
"Deal."
"Deal." She repeated.
"Alright, return to your seats." The professor waved them off.
"Ren that was amazing!" Jaune congratulated him as he came back.
He received equal praise from Pyrrha, and he was sure Yang was getting the same treatment from her team.
"Thank you." He nodded, sitting back down.
Glynda rattled through a good few more fights for the remaining two hours of the class before they finished up for the day. Now, it was time for Ren to swallow his nervousness and approach Yang with his letter. Whatever the result may be, he'd be happy he got it off his chest at the very least.
He approached Yang, who seemed to be away from her team for the moment, in the hallway. She looked up to him and lifted an eyebrow.
"Hey, what's up?" She asked simply.
He didn't say anything, instead he handed her the letter. She took it from his hands and looked at it oddly. He didn't give her the chance to question it, instead, he turned on his heel and walked away, making to catch up with his team.
He arrived back at the student dorms and pushed the doors open, traversing a flight of stairs and an empty hallway to his door. He opened it and stepped inside, sighing in relief as he shut the door behind him. He finally got the letter to Yang, now all he had to do was wait for the possible response. He looked around for a moment, did he make it back before Jaune and Pyrrha? He checked the living room, the bedroom and then made his way to the dining room where just behind the archway he heard shuffling, sliding, and...
Smooching?
He peered around the corner and stepped out, eyes widening slightly at the sight before him. Pyrrha had the blonde pinned to the wall, his arms were around her and they were kissing very passionately.
"Ahem." Ren cleared his throat, lifting an eyebrow at his two teammates.
They jumped and turned to him with pale faces, lips parted in complete silence.
"A-ah, I... Ren, h-how long have you... b-been there?" Pyrrha stammered furiously, her face as red as a ripe tomato.
"Long enough." He smirked faintly. "Congratulations."
"T-thanks." Jaune nodded, wiping his lips as he stepped away from Pyrrha. "U-uh... Pyrrha, sorry I-I... you know... didn't see it for so long, I should... shower, or something like that."
"Alright Jaune." She calmed down. "Don't keep me waiting, though. You've done enough of that."
She reached out and pecked his lips before letting him step off to the bathroom.
"Sorry, Ren." She apologized lightly. "If I'd heard you come in we would've stopped."
"It's quite alright." He shrugged.
"I'm gonna lay down then, wait for Jaune to finish processing things."
"Alright." He nodded.
Ren spent the next hour laying on the couch, he was certainly happy for Jaune and Pyrrha finally getting together. However, it was kind of rubbing salt on the wound of the fact that he didn't know if Yang would get back to him about his letter, nor if she'd actually be interested in him. Not a lot to be interested about.
His doubts were cast aside by a knock on the door, he walked towards it and opened it slightly, peeking out the crack. His eyes widened at a large expanse of blonde hair. He opened it all the way to see Yang standing before him with a pastel blue envelope in her hands, decorated with poorly drawn smiley faces and stick figures. It made him smile, albeit quite faintly.
He took it from her gently and flicked his eyes up to meet her own, they widened slightly when he took note of her attire, and he couldn't help but blush lightly. She wasn't wearing anything fancy, however, she had her hair tied back and was clad in a rather punky outfit, black tank top, leather jacket, black pants, boots... It was something the definitely caught his eye. Definitely a risk for her to take, wearing that for a date, but it was a risk that definitely paid off in her favour. Ren had a hard time peeling his eyes away from her. After finishing his scan on her attire, he realized quickly that he'd effectively just been checking her out, immediately looking back to her eyes with a much heavier blush. She wore on her face a teasing smirk, turning away in the same demeanor he had not two hours ago when he presented his letter to her. He blinked a few times and shut the door lightly, peeling open the letter she handed to him.
Hey, how's it Yangin'?
He couldn't contain a slight snicker, it was cheesy but it also implied a light tone, which made him happier than he expected.
I got your letter and well, I'll admit, I totally thought you and Nora were already a thing. I was pleasantly surprised to learn you were actually available. Anyways, I think you're kinda cute and I'm a huge sucker for your personality, I rate you a Ren out of ten, eh? Bad joke, I know. I'll take you up on that offer though, consider it a date. Come to my dorm whenever you're ready to go, I'll be waiting.
His eyes widened, he hadn't actually expected her to say yes, he hadn't even planned this far ahead. He held the letter to his chest and blew out a sigh of relief, the hard part was over, now it was time for the even harder part... Not screwing this up.
He didn't want to leave in what he was currently wearing, it was rather casual attire for a date. He moved to the bedroom, glancing at Pyrrha as he realized that the shower was currently occupied. He'd just have to settle with changing into different clothes. He didn't want to dress too formally, especially since Yang definitely wasn't dressed that way either. Instead, he through on a black hoodie over a light grey tee and black chinos.
Alright then, now was the time. He waved off Pyrrha and headed to Yang's dorm, composing himself as he knocked on the door lightly. To his slight dismay, the blonde wasn't the one to answer the door. Instead, it was Weiss. However, after just a few moments of looking at him with a blank expression she turned her head to face the room behind her.
"Yang, he's here!" She raised her voice, sounding a little more than annoyed for some odd reason.
He heard the sound of shuffling as the blonde appeared into sight, walking towards him. The white haired girl turned and left as his date approached.
"Hey there, pinky." She waved with a smirk.
Pinky?
He vaguely recalled her calling him the same name during their earlier bout, though at the time he'd thought little of it, he was too concerned with getting his lights rocked to care. Now, however, the name rung for a moment in his head. He figured it was her take on the pink strip in his hair, but he had to admit, he was not very fond of it. To be fair though, Jaune probably wasn't very fond of 'vomit boy' either.
"Hello." He nodded. "I'm, uh... ready."
"You look nice." She complimented. "Trying to match my vibe?"
"You could say that."
.•.
Yang had led him a good ways towards Beacon's vehicle storage unit. There wasn't a whole lot in here as most the students didn't have personal vehicles. Taking an airship would have been easier, but she seemed to be itching to ride her bike. He didn't blame her, it wasn't often that they got to do much outside of Beacon.
"So then, you've got quite the thing for me, eh?" Yang turned her head to face Ren, giving him a light smirk as she took a seat on her motorbike.
"I wouldn't say quite the thing." He emphasized, immediately realizing the unintended harshness of his words. "I do have an interest, though."
That didn't sound any better and it showed in her expression. However, after a moment, she began to chuckle.
"You're really not very good with this words thing, are you?" She lifted an eyebrow, giving him a rather teasing expression.
"Not at all." He shook his head. "I've spent so long only speaking when necessary that, honestly, I've forgotten how to hold decent conversation with another human being."
"It shows." She tapped him lightly on the shoulder. "That's okay, we'll work on it."
"Thanks for being understanding." He looked away.
She frowned at his reaction and look ahead of her, revving the engine of her motorcycle as Ren sat down behind her, awkwardly fidgeting with where to put his hands.
"Just hold onto me, it's not that weird." She rolled her eyes.
"A-alright." He stammered lightly.
"So where to then?" She asked.
"I didn't actually plan this far." He admitted. "Didn't think you'd say yes."
She snickered and rolled her eyes, turning to face him.
"Idiot."
She began to drive forward, and Ren realized what an odd path it was from Beacon to Vale. He'd never actually gone to and from without the means of an airship. It was a lot of rocky descents, dirt paths, and other questionably dangerous roads to cross before they finally turned onto an actual road that led them into the city. Twenty minutes or so had them on a highway that brought them into the residential district of the city.
"So are we just playing it by ear then?" He raised his voice so she could hear him.
"Not sure." She shrugged. "Any ideas?"
He pondered for a moment.
"I do want to get to know you better." He nodded. "Maybe we could stop by a park and tell each other about ourselves."
"You asked me out to make conversation?"
"I meant for the first part of our day." He amended.
"Relax, I'm just teasing you." She chuckled. "I actually like the idea of making small talk, especially since I admittedly don't know you all that well."
It was a relatively short drive to a nearby park that she pulled into, flipping the engine off as she parked her bike in the small lot it had. They found themselves on a bench by the river that separated them from the agricultural district of the city.
"So what's up with you, then?" She lifted an eyebrow, leaning over to lift a flat rock from the coarse ground beneath them.
"Hm?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"What, you didn't expect to be the one asking all the questions, did you?" She smirked, skipping the rock across the river. "This is how you get used to talking, Ren. By talking."
"Hah." He chuckled dryly. "Well, I'm Lie Ren, but you know that."
"I do."
"I'm also bad at talking, did I mention that yet?"
"A well established fact of life." She affirmed his point. "A universal truth, even."
"I like... tea."
She snickered lightly.
"I'm more of a coffee gal myself." Yang admitted. "Keeps my energy up, lord knows I need it."
"You've always seemed naturally energetic to me, I find it hard to believe that comes from coffee."
"I am naturally energetic." She nodded. "But I crash easy when that runs dry, coffee keeps me up better than tea."
"Ah." He nodded in understanding. "I like tea cause it's soothing, helps my mind calm down."
"Really?" She lifted an eyebrow. "I always figured your brain was just as boring as you are."
"Hah." He fake chuckled dryly. "So, where are you from?"
"Island called Patch, just off the coast of Vale." She nodded, skipping another rock across the lake. "Born and raised there with my sister, went to Signal then came here, to Beacon. You?"
"I was born in Kuroyuri, it's a town, erm, was... a small town in Anima." He nodded.
"Was?" She lifted an eyebrow.
"It was destroyed by grimm when I was still a child." He frowned. "Me and Nora have been alone since."
"Oh." She glanced away. "Sorry, I didn't mean to reopen any old wounds."
"It was a long time ago." He shrugged. "It hurt a lot at first, but I'm happier now, you've nothing to apologize for."
She turned to face him with a face that still spoke levels of guilt.
"You and Nora." She changed the subject. "There's really nothing going on between you two?"
"I can see how our relationship could give off that impression, but no, me and Nora are practically siblings."
"I see."
"Why'd you decide you wanted to be a huntress?" He asked.
"Mm, two reasons. I'm fond of adventure and... I was looking for something."
"Can I ask what for?"
"My mother." She admitted dully. "She left my dad when I was born."
"Seems you aren't the only one opening old wounds." He looked away. "Sorry."
"It's alright." She shrugged, slipping out of her jacket. "I'm gonna go sit by the water, it looks nice."
He nodded and stood with her, following her closer to the river, she stretched her legs out and leaned her head back. They sat there for a while before she leaned forward and glanced towards him.
"Alright, I'm all talked out." She admitted.
"Where to next, then?"
"Not sure." She responded. "We could see if anything is playing at the movies, maybe catch a mediocre action film or something."
"That sounds nice."
She nodded in acknowledgement and led him back to her bike, driving a few more minutes towards the nearest theater. One thing was for sure, she definitely knew her way around Vale a whole lot better than he did. She must've made it down here a lot more often than he did. Probably due to the overwhelming feeling of restlessness one suffered when being locked up in Beacon all day for weeks on end before finally getting to do something outside of the area. It was now that Ren realized that he definitely needed to get out more often. Maybe that'd be a little easier if things did grow between them.
Yang pulled into the parking lot of the movie theater, flipping down her kicking stand as she turned off the engine.
"Here we are." She grinned, rising from her bike.
He slowly did the same, stretching his arms as he followed her into the building. It was a much smaller theater than the last one he'd been to on a trip with his team quite a while back. She glanced to the left, seeing a listing of all the movies playing that day. They'd made it at a convenient time as there was a movie playing in just ten minutes from then. They'd ended up getting tickets for a movie called 'Indy Jones.' He'd heard the name in passing before, some popular series of movies about a guy who raided ancient crypts in search of artifacts and legendary treasure. It sounded like a semi-enjoyable watch if nothing else.
Upon entering the room, they located their chairs and took a seat. They tried to take the least populated area of the room, not that there were that many people going to this showing in the first place. Still, it was nice to be away from the rest of the crowd. They ended up taking two recliners closer to the front, a comfortable place to sit for the next two hours.
When the movie first began, Ren watched intently. However, as more time began to pass, his attention slowly turned to Yang. She herself seemed a little bored with the slow start of the movie, and he couldn't help but feel a little bad. She shuffled around slightly and lifted the armrest between them, leaning herself against his side. He tensed up in an initial bit if surprise, however, it only took a few moments for him to comfortably loop his arm around her back and hold her close. After a few moments she tilted her head up and met his eyes, a gaze that begged him to draw closer. Which, though he wasn't sure if it was of his own volition or stupid desire, he did.
His eyes fluttered shut and he felt her lips press soft against his own, an intoxicating feeling that crowded his every sense as his head began to swim. He moved his free hand to her waist, pushing into her, feeling her firm skin beneath the fabric of her tank top. She ran her hand up his chest and to the crook of his neck, brushing her fingers against his cheek as a hot fire began to burn bright in his heart.
"Nngh... stop." She used two hands to push him away. "This is too much and way too fast."
"You kissed me, Yang." He argued.
"Dammit, Ren. I know!" She raised her voice, shooting from her seat with red eyes.
They almost immediately dulled back to their lilac shade. She proceeded to take a deep breath.
"I need air." She sighed, turning to leave.
"Yang, wait!" Ren reached out for her but she was too far now. He stood and followed her out the building. "Yang, please."
He grabbed her wrist when he caught up, trying to get her to give him but a moment to try and clear the situation.
She didn't.
"Ren, please!" She snapped her arm away from his grasp.
"I'm sorry." He muttered quietly.
.•.
The ride back was quiet, so much so that Ren was rather reluctant to hold onto the girl in front of him—the girl he'd just kissed not even an hour ago..
It did feel a little fast for a kiss. Even if Ren had never dated, he knew it took more than a day to form an intimate relationship. He wanted to ask her about it, though, given her current mood, it'd certainly have to wait.
The next day was dull. After getting back to Beacon the day prior, Yang hadn't said a word to him. She was avoiding him. He still waved to her in passing, even said hello though she wouldn't return the gesture. He didn't try to approach her though, respecting her wishes for space, however long that may have taken. He was sure she'd come to him sooner or later, all he hoped was that it'd be sooner rather than later.
He sighed, laying back in his bed with his eyes shut. Trying to push the thoughts aside proved fruitless, so instead he tried to deal with them, which also proved useless...
"Ren?"
He opened one eye, lifting an eyebrow towards the ginger stood beside him.
"Nora?"
"You seem... upset." She sat down on the bed.
"Mhm." He hummed softly. "I had a date with Yang."
"Really?" She seemed surprised. "So the love letter worked, huh?"
"Nora, it wasn't a love letter." He defended. "It did work... at first."
"So the date didn't go too well, then?" She frowned.
"It... I don't know." He shook his head. "We got along well and she... kissed me." Her eyes widened slightly at his admission. "Or I kissed her..."
"Wait, so... What happened then?"
"Well..." He paused for a moment. "She kissed back but... Pushed me away soon after."
"That's perfectly natural, Ren. She's conflicted."
"I know that." He responded. "I just wish she'd talk to me about it instead of... running."
"Sometimes running is all people know how to do." She sighed. "Give her time, she'll talk to you."
"I will." He nodded hesitantly.
"Good, I'm gonna go grab food from the dining hall. Want anything?" She lifted an eyebrow.
"I... I'm alright. Not very hungry."
"Ren." She frowned. "You shouldn't starve yourself."
"I'm not." He shook his head and stood up. "I'll eat, just... don't have an appetite right now. Later, okay?"
"Okay, Ren." She smiled. "I'll be back."
He nodded and saw her out the dorm, sighing when she shut the door behind her. He leaned against the wall and sighed, burying his face in his palms.
.••.•.••.
The more time that passed the more Ren felt like Nora had just been wrong. It'd been three days now since his date with Yang and, admittedly, it felt like she'd effectively ghosted him, she wouldn't even give him the time of day during class. It was a thought that made him frown, though, he still held onto hope that she was just processing everything. At the end of the day, he'd prefer her say that she couldn't do it rather than say nothing at all.
Class had just let out and Ren found himself staring blankly ahead on his way back to the dorms. It caused him to fail to take note of the short girl in front of him, whom of which he'd ended up bumping into.
"S-sorry." He took a step back, glancing down to see Ruby with a confused expression.
"It's okay, I should've been paying more attention." She scratched the back of her head innocently. "But it works, I've been meaning to talk with you."
"Hm?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"Uh... How do I say this." She pursed her lips awkwardly and glanced away. "Just, don't give up on Yang, okay?"
His eyes widened slightly.
"She told me about you and her." She continued. "Which I was surprised about cause I totally thought you and... Nora were a thing."
"A lot of people think that, apparently."
"Ah, I'm rambling now." She blushed. "Look, she likes you and is worried she's pushed you away."
"Really?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"Mhm." She nodded. "She's not sure how talk to you so she... hasn't been at all. She's bad at that."
He wasn't even sure what to say in response to the girl, though, it did make him feel lighter, even if just a little.
"I see." He nodded.
"Alright, I have to catch up to my team." She turned on her heel. "See ya!"
"Yeah, uh..." He lifted his hand to wave her off, though she'd already disappeared in a cloud of rose petals. "Bye..."
It was a relief knowing she wasn't mad at him or trying to push him out, though he still wished she'd be more direct about her thoughts. He shook it off and continued on his way back to his dorm. It was empty inside when he made it back, though he was unsure why. He shrugged and figured everyone was just off doing their own thing. Though Nora usually didn't leave often without him around.
He sat down at the dining table and propped his elbows up, leaning his head into his forearms. Despite his desire, his thoughts refused to focus on anything else except his situation with Yang. Though, this time he didn't get long to think on it, as a few knocks sounded off against the door.
He stood to answer, his eyes widening to find Yang waiting there for him.
"H-hey..." He stammered as he tried to greet her.
"Hey." She waved simply. "Can I come in?"
"Sure." He nodded, stepping back to let her in.
He shut the door and gave her an odd glance, unsure of what to say.
"Is no one else here?" She looked around.
"Not right now, no." He confirmed. "Do you... need something?"
"My sister had a sit down with me." She nodded hesitantly. "I don't want you to think that what happened was a mistake."
"I..."
"Let me finish." She shook her head, cutting him off. "I got scared at the theater, I thought it was all too fast... but, I liked it. I just didn't want to..."
"Rush into anything?" He lifted an eyebrow.
"Yeah." She blushed, glancing away from him.
"I understand." He admitted with a sigh.
"You do?" She returned her gaze to his own.
"I do." He nodded.
"That's a relief." She chuckled dryly.
"Do you want to slow things down, then?" He asked, talking a step towards her.
"Honestly?" She pursed her lips and grabbed onto his hand. "We've already gotten this far. If it's a the same to you, we can just move from here."
"And where's here?" He inquired.
"Together, with each other." She leaned in towards him, her lips parting as she drew closer. "I really like you." She whispered.
"I-I do too." He let his fingers brush against her thigh as they traced up to her waist.
When their lips met, he expected something similar to their first kiss, but... this felt different. Their first was full of uncertainty and doubt, but... this? It didn't entail that same feeling. They were sure of what they wanted, and so it was no surprise to either of them when it continued, deepened, grew more fervent. She didn't fight it when he traced his hand down the length of her spine, or he when she pinned him to the wall.
As they drew apart slowly, a million thoughts were left in his head and a million more questions. However, he knew that the hardest part was truly over now, and as he held her close, he knew that they'd make it work.
A month had passed since then, Ren and Yang officially considered themselves romantic partners, something he never would've predicted between the two of them in a million years. While they'd kept it under the radar for the most part, wanting to avoid the confused glances and questions, that level of ambiguity could only last so long.
In this case, it was when they were caught having a little make out session in his own dorm by the rest of his team and Yang's team. Talk about an awkward situation, one that they now had to explain to everyone except Nora and Ruby who already knew full well of their relationship. Luckily, they were understanding, even though he got a few uncertain glances from Weiss. He was happy though, with Yang, and she was happy with him too. That much he could say with certainty, and, to be quite frank?
Nothing else mattered.
Well! That was my first one shot in quite a long time. First one since the old atrocities that took quite a bit of willpower to not /purge from the face of the planet/ aha.
I do hope you enjoyed it though!I am admittedly hesitant to post this as given it's length and the fact that I am only one person means it'll probably be a little messy in some areas. I've tried to proofread it and fix mistakes but it's likely I could've missed some.
Also, writing Ren is e x t r e m e l y difficult, especially when 99% of the story takes place from HIS perspective. Trying to work out his thought processes and dialogue is reaaaally hard. I apologize if he seemed out of character at any point.
Please make sure to levy your criticisms in the reviews and also what you liked too!!!
Would you like to see more oneshots in the future? I'd personally like to write these from time to time as kind of a buffer for when I'm a little blocked on my actual stories.
Either way, I do hope you enjoyed!
Much love,
Allister Crow :1