Author's Notes: I refuse to remove this start AN... and yet I have nothing to say here... I'm just as confused as you.
Yang eagerly lead the group through the street of Vale towards their destination. Team's RWBY and JNPR had finally been able to lock down a day to head out on the town. It had taken awhile to set the event up but here they were. Yang planned to make the most of it
Her and Jaune were the ones currently leading the way, chatting between themselves about local gossip and the such. Everyone else followed a few steps behind them, Pyrrha, Weiss and Blake talking about Team RWBY's recent fight with Torchwick.
Ruby was talking with Nora, although it would be more accurate to say Nora was gushing over the fact they got to fight a giant robot.
The Beacon rumor mill had exaggerated the whole affair from the start, Yang couldn't blame people for being interested. It was pretty awesome.
They arrived at their destination a few moments later.
"Why exactly are we here?" Weiss' voice was the first to speak as the group looked at the entrance to The Club.
"Well Weiss, that's one of life's great questions. Why are we here? What's the point in-"
"That's not what I meant, you dolt!" Weiss swatted at her head but Yang promptly threw Jaune into the path of her fist.
"Ah-ow!" Jaune fell to the ground immediately after impact, Weiss' punch both unexpected and vicious.
"I meant, why are we at a club of all places?!" Weiss didn't so much as bat an eye.
"Because we put it to a vote and your idea of 'Art exhibit' got shot down?" Jaune offered from his position on the floor. Before Weiss kicked him, forcing him to stay quiet.
"That doesn't explain why we picked here! A building full of thugs, idiots, and degenerates. That place is probably riddled with diseases and filth!"
"You and I just finished a week of work and planning for the dance. We even managed to get it done two days early. " Yang sighed. "You'll have more fun if you don't complain every step of the way, like you already have. With missions right after we won't have another opportunity like this for awhile."
Weiss stepped back and stayed quiet.
Jaune stood from the ground slowly, attempting to look like he hadn't just been floored by a girl nearly half his height, and gestured to the door. "Unto the breach?"
"It would seem so." His Partner looked about as apprehensive as Weiss but didn't wish to kill the mood.
Jaune opened the door for them. "After you."
The door swung shut and The Club stopped.
"Oh no, no no no! Not again!" Junior was pointing at them from the bar, or more specifically Yang. "I only just convinced my guards to stay on, they'll bolt at the first sight of you!"
Seven sets of eyes looked to Yang as she rubbed the back of her neck and laughed nervously. Thankfully Weiss came to her rescue.
"Don't worry, we won't let her destroy your establishment again."
"Hey." Weiss was supposed to be on her side.
Jaune stepped forward to defend her. "We'll keep her in line." and promptly sided with Weiss.
"Hey!"
Junior didn't look like he believed them but decided to not risk destroying his club… again. "Fine."
Yang slid up to the bar. "Any chance I could talk you into giving us access to one of the VIP areas? Come on, you know you want to."
Junior glared down at her. "And why would I do that?"
"If we're out of the way there's less chance Yang destroys your club."
"Hey!" Yang glared at the group, not certain who had been the one to speak.
"Deal." Junior grabbed something from under the counter. He was about to hand her the pass card but changed his mind at the last second, giving it to Jaune instead. "I expect to get that back."
Yang fought back her anger and followed Jaune.
The VIP room they had been given access to was a fair bit nicer than the main part of the club. While not abandoned it was also a bit more roomy and not as crowded as the lower level typically was.
"Oh Reny, let's dance!" Nora grabbed her partner by the arm and practically threw him in the direction of the dance floor.
"Why don't you guys go find us a table. Yang and I will get the drinks." Jaune gestured for Yang to follow as they split up.
The bar of the VIP section was far smaller than the one down stairs but it appeared to be just as well stocked. They ordered a few fruity drinks, each only having a trace amount of alcohol in them, except for Ruby's of course, more than making up for it in good taste. The bartender stepped back to prepare their drinks, leaving Jaune and Yang there alone.
Jaune laughed at something on the dance floor, drawing Yang's attention.
"I feel like I should do something to help Ren, he is my teammate and all, but… better him than me, right?"
The sight they looked on was Nora practically flinging her 'dance' partner around the floor.
Yang giggled lightly. "Well, at least one of them is having fun. I say we honor his sacrifice." The two of them pretended not to have noticed the panicked 'come help me' look in the boy's eyes.
"He will be remembered fondly" The two of them sat their for a moment waiting for the drinks in silence before Jaune spoke again. "I hope you weren't upset at what we said to the barkeep guy downstairs."
Yang scoffed and turned away. "Oh come on, you know I'm thicker skinned than that."
Jaune turned to look her directly in the eye's, in truth it made Yang a little uncomfortable. "I know, its just… do you always have to play the tough one?"
Yang shrugged but didn't say much in return.
Jaune sighed. "I'm trying to be nice."
"You're always nice, try relaxing a little."
"I'm not always nice." Jaune seemed to struggle with something before speaking. "I have been a bit of a jerk recently." Yang tried to interrupt but Jaune wouldn't let her. "I ignored you and went out of my way to avoid you. I refused to listen to what you had to say and I-" He was stopped by Yang laughing slightly. "What's so funny?"
"You're still caught up on that?" Yang sighed. "How many times have you brought this up? Let it go. We were both at fault, I'm tired of hearing about it. Let's just enjoy a night out with friends."
Jaune looked like he wanted to argue but decided to let it slide for now, she highly doubted he would drop the issue however. "You certainly need it, you've been pretty stressed this last week."
"I don't know what you're talking about, everything has been going my way." Yang smiled and nodded towards her team. "Blake has finally started to act normal, well normal for her anyways. I consider that a win."
"I feel like I should point out that in order to get her to act normal you had to fight a giant mech."
"All the more reason to be happy about it!" Yang's grin grew larger. "How many of you can say you fought a giant robot and won?"
Jaune ceded the point. "I suppose that's fair. Though if you ever decide to go hunting terrorist and renown criminals in the middle of the night again, let me know. I need to regain my honor after that last fight." Jaune brought a hand up to his chest, doing a poor imitation of heroic stance.
Yang chuckled and nodded. "I'll keep that in mind. In the meantime let's enjoy ourselves" The bartender returned with their drinks and the two set out on the task of getting all the drinks back towards the table.
The night was rather tame by Yang's standards. It was nice in its own way though. With a stronger focus on chatting among friends instead of the typical club behavior. At least for the first half, once people had finally gotten comfortable and more relaxed the night began to actually kick off.
For the most part it was Nora and Yang who were the only ones willingly going out to the dance floor. They did their job, though, and dragged everyone else out to join them. People had a good time, even if they acted like they hated it.
By the time they left, Nora was passed out over Ren's shoulders, Jaune was laying on Pyrrha and Yang for support. As it turned out he was a lightweight, the small amount of alcohol from the dozen or so beverages he had ordered were enough to have him a little out of it.
The trip back to Beacon was rather entertaining actually. Nora waking up occasionally with proclamations of pancakes and dreams before falling back asleep. Sadly, Jaune didn't have anything to add.
The night had been fun, the morning after, however, certainly wasn't. Then again maybe that was just due to his own mistakes.
Jaune held his head as another spike of pain was brought to his attention. A hangover… how was it that aura didn't do something for those? They totally should have, and yet here he was, clutching his head trying to block out all light.
"Shouldn't have had more than you could handle." The voice that had talked him into drinking so much the night before, hell the voice that had talked him into going in the first place, taunted him.
Jaune glared at Yang as she handed him a glass of water. The two had been the late risers that day, the bulk of their teams were already up and moving by the time he was able to drag himself out of bed. Food had seemed like a good idea, he was regretting that decision.
"I have some sunglasses if you want them." Yang's smug grin at his pain forcing him to regret ever befriending her.
"It's not that bad, I'm just not used to it." Jaune drank the water slowly. In truth the headache was just a slight pain.
"That's good… because we're gonna do some training." Yang stood from where she was sitting.
Jaune had to think fast. "Actually, um-uh… it's horrible, I can barely think." Yang didn't seem to believe his sudden condition. He resorted to drastic measures. "I think I'm dying, no I know I'm dying. You should go find the nurse, I'll wait here."
Yang watched as Jaune took his place opposite her in the sparring ring. His movements were slightly sluggish and he struggled to keep his sword steady.
That didn't matter, he would be fine in a few moments. Call her crazy but Yang loved a good fight when you had a hangover, the adrenaline clearing your head up in an instant better than anything else. It was just a shame Jaune didn't see she was helping him.
"I will literally pay you to not do this." Jaune begged her and she knew she would have to raise the stakes to make him actually try.
"Tell you what, let's make this more interesting. If you win, I'll let you apologize for giving me the cold shoulder for a week."
"And if you win?" Yang smiled at how far he had come, he had finally stopped assuming everyone was out of his league or beyond him to beat. It made her proud that he was willing to entertain the thought that he could win... he wasn't going to of course but wouldn't be because he was unwilling to try.
"Then we drop the issue, once and for all."
Jaune lowered himself into a combat stance, albeit a sloppy one. Regardless of how willing his mind was his body was still out of it. She knew how to fix that.
The first strike, as it had always had, came from Yang. Jaune's shield just barely made it up in time to stop her fist, his slow movement and distracted mind making it difficult to defend himself.
The punch she landed on his cheek seemed to do the trick. Whether it was muscle memory or just self preservation he started to fight back.
Yang pressed her advance, landing two more hits on his shield before ducking under a swing from his sword. She saw his eye's widen slightly just before she hit him in the chest, launching him back.
She gave him a moment to get back on his feet and regain his composure. He put his shield out in front of him, keeping the hilt of his sword up near his shoulder with the point of the blade aimed at her.
When she thought he had had enough time to prepare, she moved. This time her punch was moved to the side by his shield, his sword came down and blocked her other hit.
At this range Jaune wasn't able to properly use his sword as a sword, meaning he had to get crafty.
He shoved his shield into her abdomen pushing her back slightly before swinging up with his blade, forcing her to back off or take the hit. The choice was obvious.
She moved her forearms into position to block the sword as it landed. The blade didn't make it to her skin but it did take a large tick off her aura, the sheer strength and force behind it throwing her back slightly. The force was enough to activate her semblance.
Jaune cursed under his breath as Yang's hair went up in flames. She couldn't help but grin as she advanced. He managed to get his shield up and stop the first three hits, each one still working to push him back.
Yang hit his shield and he stumbled backwards. The awkward angle of the strike combined with his loss of balance from the last forcing him to drop his shield. He reached for it in a panic but was kicked back by her before he could grasp it.
The result was Jaune standing on the edge of the arena with nothing more than his sword and a terrified look in his eyes.
Yang took a step forward, launching one final punch. She was already committed when she remembered a familiar scene in combat class against a certain bully. There was nothing she could do by the time she noticed the smile come to his face or the slight shimmer in his eyes.
He had her exactly where he wanted her.
Jaune stepped to the side just enough so that her fist made contact with his shoulder He rolled it back and brought his sword around from the side, pushing her further over the arena.
It was all Yang could do to reach out and grasp something, said something turned out to be her opponent's arm. An event that Jaune was clearly not prepared for.
As Yang went flying over the edge, so to did Jaune. She pulled him forward slightly, twisting at the same time, resulting in him landing first with Yang landing on him a few millisecond's after.
The two of them sat their panting for a moment as the adrenaline finally wore off. It had been a short but intense fight, the only downside was that Jaune had won. She wasn't so arrogant or full of herself to be mad that her friend had won, she was thrilled that he had made the progress and truly improved, but of all the times he had to win this was the worst.
She wanted to end everything and forget it but it seemed fate was not so kind.
She opened her eyes, finally looking at the man she was currently using as a body pillow. She hadn't been aware of how close they were to each other, Jaune's face only a few inches away.
Kiss him.
Yang froze as she became hyper aware of just how close they were, from the heat radiating off his body to the solidness of his muscles. She couldn't deny how right it felt. She became painfully aware of how close his lips were to her own.
Kiss him.
She bit her lip hard enough to flare her aura slightly. She closed her eyes and bent her head down slightly, locking her lips with his. She was utterly surprised by how soft and perfect his lips felt against her own.
She was even more surprised when he leaned into the kiss.
Yang wasn't sure how long they sat there like that, time warping as all she could focus on was the smell and taste of sweat mixed with something so very… Jaune. Clarity hit like a brick.
The two of them broke off, gasping for air. Yang leaped up as fast as she could. Wide eyed and placing a hand over her mouth. She could still taste him there, could still feel the warmth.
She looked down at Jaune and felt… something, something that terrified her. The building dread of what she had just done finally coming to the forefront of her mind. She took a step back as he attempted to stand from the floor.
Yang did the only thing she could think of, she ran.
Author's Notes: We're in the endgame now... get it? It's a reference.. don't worry if you don't laugh, my humor is beyond many. But seriously, we are approaching the end and I think I'll have just enough time to finish this story.
I know I'm excited, how about you?
Please review and let me know what you think, helps me out a ton.
Sincerely SE