Notice Me, Ruby!

Chapter 24: Revelations

In the secluded part of Beacon's front yard, Blake was staring at Yang with an expression that was a mixture of shock, surprise and anger. What her partner had just told her had been completely unexpected, so the cat faunus' reaction was at least somewhat understandable. Yang, on the other hand, had an expression of surprise, as she hadn't expected Blake to react the way she did.

"I said that despite Ruby and I not being related, we still grew up as- Woah!" the blonde girl began to say, but was cut off by getting her shoulders grabbed by the raven-haired girl, who began to violently shake her.

"WHY HAVEN'T YOU TOLD ME THIS BEFORE!?" Blake yelled. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW MUCH THIS CHANGES THINGS!? WHY WERE YOU KEEPING THIS A SECRET!?"

"I-It never came up and there was never a reason to tell about it!" Yang answered while getting shaken. "Also, how was it supposed to change anything!? I don't see how that could have happened!"

The cat faunus was about to answer her partner's question, but couldn't think of anything. In all honesty, there really was no legitimate reason as to why Yang should have told any of them that she and Ruby weren't actually related.

"…Never mind," Blake finally said with a deep sigh and let go of the brawler. "Could you just… explain this a bit more?"

"Well, I mean, it's kind of obvious that we are not actually related, you know?" Yang said. "We don't really share any characteristics and we even have different last names. I'm actually more surprised that no one asked whether we really were sisters."

"I just assumed you both took after different parents, which would explain the difference in your looks," the raven-haired girl explained. "Also, didn't you say that you and Ruby have different mothers? That would further explain your different looks, as well as the fact that you guys have different last names."

"That would kind of explain it, except that family members usually have the same family name still," the brawler said. "Not to mention, if Rubes was really related to me, her mom would've needed to get pregnant almost as soon as my mom left my dad. During that time, he was still grieving that he had been left, so I doubt it would have worked out like that at all."

"Okay, so what is the story behind you and Ruby then?" Blake asked, wanting to finally hear the full story. "This is honestly a really big bomb to drop on me, so I want to hear the full explanation."

"I'm afraid I can't really give you the full story, since I'm not sure about the details myself," Yang answered. "From what I've managed to get my dad and Uncle Qrow to tell me, Ruby's real father joined Beacon the same time as they did. He was apparently the leader of another team that was really close to the team my parents, Uncle Qrow and Ruby's mom, Summer, were in. If what my dad has told me is true, Ruby's parents got together soon after they graduated, but something bad happened that separated them soon after Summer got pregnant with Ruby."

"Do you have any idea what actually happened?" the cat faunus asked. "You said that it was something bad. Did either Ruby's mom or dad do something that caused them to leave each other?"

"That's the part that I find the most confusing. From what I can tell, neither one of them was the cause for their break up," the blonde girl said with a confused expression on her face. "I honestly can't believe that Summer of all people could even be capable of doing anything bad, and my dad has never given the idea that Ruby's father was at fault either. Whenever I've managed to get him to speak about the guy, he never had even a hint of anger or resentment in his voice. The way he talked about him was like he was speaking about a very dear friend or even a brother, whom he respects greatly. However, he still avoids naming any members of the team Ruby's dad was in or even their team itself, almost like they're cursed or something."

Blake thought about the story she had just heard. It was still kind of hard to believe that the two sisters she had been in the same team with all this time weren't sisters after all, but if what Yang had told was true, then it had to be the case. It would explain quite a few things.

There were still a lot of questions left unanswered regarding Ruby's father. What was it that drove him and Summer apart from each other? Why wouldn't Yang's father name him or even his team? Why is it that they were such a taboo subject?

"Does your uncle know anything?" Blake asked, hoping for more information. "Since he was in the same team as your dad, he should have known Ruby's dad."

"I've tried asking him, but it hasn't worked," Yang answered. "He is actually even more tight lipped about the whole thing than my dad is. He even once said that he doesn't even want to think about the whole thing. Never explained why, though."

"Hmmm… I can't help but wonder what that is all about," the cat faunus muttered to herself thoughtfully. "Anyways, it still doesn't exactly solve the issue that's between you and Ruby, though. We are going to have to-"

Blake was cut off by her Scroll suddenly ringing. She took it out of her pocket and noticed that Weiss was calling her.

"Hello-"

"WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU TWO!?" Weiss yelled angrily, causing the raven-haired girl to wince from pain. "You two completely missed Professor Peach's class! What are you two still doing!?"

"Geeze, no need to shout, Weiss!" Blake said. "I'm currently with Yang in the school's front yard. I figured that I needed to talk things out with her or she wouldn't be able to concentrate on the classes at all."

"Okay, so did you manage to find out what was wrong?" the heiress asked. "Please tell me it's something that we can fix easily. I would like to have some good news for once."

"I'm afraid it's not exactly a simple issue. It's going to require quite a bit of work," the cat faunus answered, causing Weiss to groan on the other side. "However, I've just learned some rather interesting things about our two teammates. I'll tell you about it later."

For the remainder of the day, classes went in an uncomfortable manner for team RWBY. While Yang was no longer the nervous wreck she had been in the morning, she still felt really awkward with Ruby. This caused her to try avoid making eye contact with the younger girl and generally stay away from her. Not only that, but Ruby herself was keeping distance from her entire team itself due to what had happened with Weiss. The white-haired girl had explained what had happened to her other two teammates, who luckily accepted her explanation. However, the situation was still obviously very bad.

Right now, the three older girls of team RWBY were in their dorm, talking about the things Blake had just learned. Ruby was currently with team LION, giving the three girl an opportunity to talk things out between themselves. The raven-haired girl had told Weiss about the rather special circumstances regarding Yang and Ruby. Blake had expected Weiss to be interested in the subject, like she herself had been, but to her surprise, the white-haired girl seemed uninterested.

"So what you're telling me is that Ruby isn't actually related to Yang?" Weiss asked to which the cat faunus nodded. "…Why does this matter to us?"

"Huh?" Blake said.

"Why should we be concerned about Ruby and Yang not being related to each other?" the heiress specified. "As far as I can tell, that has nothing to do with either of us and it isn't helping us in any way."

"I… I mean, yeah, it doesn't actually affect us, but isn't it still interesting?" the raven-haired girl tried to argue. "The mystery, the secrecy and everything else. It's almost like one of my books! You can't say that you're not at least a bit interested!"

"Blake, what concerns the families of Yang and Ruby is their business. As outsiders, we don't have any right to start sticking our noses into it," Weiss said with a sigh. "I know from experience that families have their own secrets that they don't want to tell to the whole world. Shouldn't you know about this as well, Ms. Secret Faunus?"

All Blake could do was stay silent. What her teammate had said was completely true. Even if she found the whole thing interesting, it not only didn't have anything to do with them but it also wasn't any of their business. As a person who liked her privacy and to have her secrets, the cat faunus couldn't do anything else but agree with Weiss.

"Sorry…" Blake apologized quietly as she sat down on her bed. "I got too caught up in my own interests that I forgot to be reasonable."

"Well, as long as you recognize your mistake, I suppose it's all okay," Weiss said with a small sigh. "Anyways, did you manage to learn exactly why Yang was behaving the way she did this morning?"

Upon hearing the heiress' question, Yang's face turned red and she looked away from her teammates. Even Blake had a small blush and an awkward look on her face.

"…Okay, seriously, what's going on!?" Weiss asked in an irritated tone, having grown tired of all the weird behavior around her. "Can either one of you finally tell me what is up with Yang or is this going to remain a mystery!?"

"I'll tell you! I'll tell you!" Blake quickly said. "It's just a bit… awkward to say it..."

"Alright. Fine. Whatever. I just want to know the truth finally!" the white-haired girl said. "So what is going on?"

"Okay… The thing is that yesterday when Yang was alone with Ruby, they had a bit of an… incident, so to speak," the cat faunus began to explain. "She saw that Ruby was very tired from her studies and decided to help her by giving her a massage."

"A massage? What's so bad about a massage?" Weiss asked, confused as to why this was such a bad thing. "So far, I have no idea as to why Yang would be acting the way she has."

"The awkward part hasn't come yet," Blake replied. "As Yang was giving the massage, Ruby fell asleep. Once this happened, Yang began to touch and inspect Ruby's body, like her scars and muscles."

"Uh huh. I can see this being a bit odd, but not to the level of acting like a blushing wreck," the heiress said with a nod. "Don't get me wrong, I can definitely see a problem here, but it still doesn't seem as bad as you're making it out to be."

When Weiss said "making it out", Yang's face turned even more red than before and her eyes went wide. The blonde girl also covered her face with her hands from embarrassment and curled up her body into a ball, almost like she was trying to hide from sight.

"Wait, what's going on now?" the white-haired girl asked while looking at both of her teammates in confusion. "What is up with Yang's reaction?"

"You accidentally said something that really struck her," Blake answered. "You see, Yang didn't simply inspect Ruby's body, while she was asleep. She actually almost kissed her… On the lips…"

For a moment, Weiss only stood in silence as her mind was processing this new information. After that, her eyes went as wide as possible and her face turned completely red.

"She… Ruby… WHAT!?" the heiress yelled from shock.

"You heard me. Yang almost kissed Ruby," Blake said. "That is why she has been acting strange all morning."

"Okay… I'm going to need to take a seat," Weiss said as she sat down on her bed while massaging her temples. "I can now understand what's been wrong between those two today. Although, this does raise a new problem that I'm not sure I want to get involved with. I mean, how are we supposed to even help in this case?"

"I think we should start by talking to Yang about this," the cat faunus said before turning her attention to her partner. "So, Yang, how do you feel about all of this?"

"I THINK IT'S PRETTY OBVIOUS HOW I FEEL ABOUT THIS!" the blonde girl yelled. "Can't we just try to pretend like this never happened!? You know, forget the whole thing and all!?"

"I doubt that's really a possibility. You definitely don't seem like you're about to forget any of this," Blake pointed out. "However, I think that the best way for us to get to the bottom of this whole problem is by having you honestly talk about the way you feel. For instance, what were you feeling when you almost, you know, did your thing?"

"You're enjoying this, aren't you?" Yang grumbled and sighed. "Look, I'm not going to lie. I do love Rubes, but not the way you're probably thinking. What happened was that I got taken by the mood that was made by not only the situation I was in, but also by everything I've been going through lately. That's all!"

"Okay, so what we're you feeling, when you were "taken by the mood"?" the raven-haired girl asked in a sarcastic tone.

"Alright, listen. When I started giving Ruby her massage, I was feeling joy and relief, as she had finally allowed me to get closer to her. I mean, that's something I've been hoping for a while now, okay?" the brawler began explaining. "As I went on, I noticed just how much she has changed. Her tired expression and built body showed me just how much she has been working, which both amazed and saddened me, since she's no longer the person I used to know. I also did think that she looked quite sexy-"

Realizing what she had just said, Yang clamped her hands over her own mouth, hoping that she had not been caught calling Ruby sexy of all things. Her hopes were crushed, as she saw her two teammates stare at her with wide eyes.

"Yang, did you just-" Weiss began to ask, but was quickly cut off by the blonde girl.

"DON'T GET ME WRONG! DON'T GET ME WRONG!" Yang yelled in a panic with her face completely red. "I didn't mean to call Ruby sexy in any weird sort of way! It's just a completely innocent observation from me! That's all!"

"I'm not sure people would use the word "sexy" in a situation like this," Blake commented.

"Well, what do you expect me to say!? It's not like that word doesn't fit Rubes perfectly!" the brawler argued. "I mean, have you ever taken a good look at her, especially lately!? She has those great muscles that are not too big to make it gross, along with that cute face and overall look of hers! She has the perfect body to be described as sexy! Not to mention, her looks are only the tip of the iceberg. She's also funny, energetic and overall great to be around. She is considerate of others, always does her best no matter what, can handle herself in combat really well and she's a mechanical genius. As an extra, she also has the cutest laugh in the world and those big silver eyes of hers that you could just-"

"Okay, I think that's enough, Yang," Weiss quickly said while pinching the bridge of her nose in annoyance. "We don't need to sit here for eternity as you go on and on about Ruby."

"I was just listing off Rubes' good points in order to explain myself!" Yang argued.

"I think you were doing a bit more than that, considering what's on the side of your mouth," the heiress pointed out.

Not knowing what her teammate was talking about, the blonde girl brought her hand to her mouth to see what she was talking about. Much to Yang's shock, she found drool there. Apparently, in the middle of talking about Ruby's good points, it had begun to fall from her mouth.

"I… This is just-!"

"Yang, don't even try," Blake said with a sigh. "Look, I can't say for certain what's going on with you, but I can tell it's nothing simple. As your teammate and friend, I'm willing to do my all to help you, but I believe that I can't do that right now. I feel that you need to do some serious thinking regarding yourself and Ruby, before I can do that. Once you've come to terms with what's going on with you, come and talk to me again. I promise that I will do all I can to assist you."

"W-What?" Yang asked, not understanding what her partner had asked her to do. "What are you talking about?"

"You know that already, so don't pretend to be oblivious," the cat faunus answered. "Weiss, let's leave for now. I think Yang could use some time alone."

"Uhhh… Okay," the white-haired girl replied, still somewhat taken aback by everything that had just happened.

The monochrome duo walked out of the dorm, leaving their blonde teammate alone. Now that she was on her own, Yang sat down on Weiss' bed and let out a deep sigh. She had a long day ahead of her.

Just outside team RWBY's dorm, Weiss and Blake were walking down the hallway with no clear destination on their minds. They just needed to give Yang some time alone to sort out her thoughts, so they had left.

"Do you think it was a good idea to leave Yang on her own?" Weiss suddenly asked. "I mean, this is some big stuff she's dealing with here. Don't you think we should have stayed there with her?"

"Even if we had stayed, what good would it have done? At worst, we would have only added to her confusion, so I think this was for the best," Blake answered. "Right now, Yang needs to figure out things on her own before we can really help her in any way. When that time comes, we need to be ready to do our best to support her."

"But the thing that she's going through right now… Are you sure there's anything that can be done?" the white-haired girl asked. "I mean, she and Ruby might not be related, but still…"

"I will admit that this whole thing is rather… weird, to say the least, but there's not much we can do about it," the cat faunus said. "No matter what happens, Yang is still going to be one of my best friends, so I will do my best to help her. Besides, I doubt either one of us is really one to judge."

Weiss turned to look at her teammate with a somewhat offended and angry look on her face. She knew what Blake was talking about with that last statement.

"Now look here! I know my family has done its fair share of misdeeds, but I am actually doing all I can to change that!" the heiress argued. "I know that I haven't achieved anything great in that regard yet, but-"

"I wasn't denying that. In fact, I truly believe that you are doing all you can and that your heart is in the right place," Blake said, cutting off her teammate. "However, that still doesn't wash away the things your family has done or your involvement in them. No matter what anyone does, what is done is done. Also, I am not saying I'm any better than you are, as I have my fair share of sins weighing me down. I was just pointing out that the two of us aren't exactly in a position to judge Yang and should do what we can to help her as her friends and teammates."

Understanding what her friend was saying, Weiss immediately lost the anger she had just been feeling and a look of guilt came to her face. Even if she wanted to, she couldn't really argue against what the faunus girl had just said. They had both committed their own crimes and nothing would change that.

"You know, sometimes I'm surprised by just how messed up our lives truly are," the white-haired girl muttered. "Not just you and me, but Yang and Ruby as well."

"That's life for you," Blake said with a small smile.

Back with Yang, the blonde girl was still sitting on Weiss' bed while holding her head. She could feel a headache coming as she was trying to think about the current mess she was in.

'Okay, let's think about this logically,' Yang thought to herself. 'I know that some of the things I've said and done seem to point at a certain conclusion, BUT I'm sure I can explain the whole thing with logic. I might have called Rubes sexy, but that doesn't mean I'm actually attracted to her or anything like that, right? I was just being honest about how she looks. I mean, sexy is a fitting word to describe her.'

The brawler nodded to herself a couple of times, seemingly satisfied with her train of thought.

'That's right! And the whole kiss can also be explained in a similar way!' Yang thought as she felt her spirit rise and a smile made its way to her face. 'It isn't like that would have been the only time I have kissed her! We have kissed each other plenty of times before! Sure, those were on the cheek, nose or the forehead instead of the lips, but I'm sure that was just because of hard things have been between us! I've felt like there's this big gap between us and she's been drifting away from me all this time! I was just acting out on those feelings of loss and despair! That is all!'

Happy with the way her logic seemed to be working out, the blonde girl stood up with a somewhat triumphant look on her face and began to pace around the dorm.

'YES! That's all this has been! Nothing but a mixture of innocent observations and me feeling like I've been losing Ruby!' Yang thought happily. 'Even the whole drooling bit I had while I was listing of Rubes' good points was all because of…! Because of…'

The brawler's pacing came to a sudden stop. Her once triumphant smile had completely disappeared from her face, as she struggled to continue her logic.

'…Okay, I'll admit that it was pretty weird, but I'm sure it can be logically explained!' Yang thought to herself. 'I mean, I do think that Rubes is very good-looking and that her personality is just the best there is, but that doesn't mean I like her in such a way! Ruby's just someone I love and care about very deeply! A person that I have always enjoyed spending time with and is almost always on my mind! Someone who brightens my day by just being close to me! A person I would trust my life with and would follow anywhere. Ruby is someone that I admire and want to be acknowledged by, because I care about her opinion on me that much. No one else has ever mattered to me as much as Rubes, as I… I…'

The blonde girl went completely silent as her eyes widened and her face turned red. Without making a noise, she sat down on Weiss' bed and stared dumbfounded into nothingness.

"…I'm actually in love with Ruby," Yang finally said in a whisper.

Meanwhile, Ruby was hanging out with the members of team LION again, playing video games in the third-year team's dorm. Despite having a good time with her friends, the redhead couldn't help but think about some of the things that had happened that day. One particular thing that she kept thinking about was how the members of team DEUS had suddenly approached her, almost like they had wanted her on their team.

"Suck it, Isabella!" Elaine suddenly cheered, as her character knocked the dark-skinned girl's character off the arena, ending the match. "That's what you get for messing with the champ!"

"DAMMIT!" Isabella yelled angrily over her loss.

"Okay, who wants to take the next round?" the red-haired third-year asked while looking over the occupants of the room. "How about you, Ruby? Do you want to try this out?"

"Umm… Sure, but I kind of want to ask something first," Ruby replied. "I've been thinking about what happened earlier today with team DEUS and how you guys said that you were going to protect me from "poachers." What exactly was that all about?"

"Oh, right! We totally forgot to tell you about all of that! Sorry," Elaine apologized. "You see, we recently learned about the real reason you've been working with us and some other teams heard it as well. This is what led to them flocking to you the way they did."

"The real reason behind me working with you guys?" the scythe-wielder wondered. "I thought this whole thing was just an experiment by the teachers to see how well I would perform and I would get special recommendations for the time I graduated. Was that not the reason?"

"That's what you were told, but don't you think that wouldn't have been a good enough prize, considering the risk you took?" the older redhead asked back with a small grin. "Nah, the real reward is something a lot better."

"Then what is it?"

"If you perform well enough, which we are certain you will, you'll be allowed to skip straight to us third-years."

For a moment, the whole room was completely silent, as Ruby could only stare at Elaine with wide eyes. She was trying to see if there were any signs that the older girl was lying, but saw none. The young redhead looked at the other members of team LION and saw them give her similar looks. They were all serious about this.

"Y-You guys really mean it?" Ruby asked as she felt her excitement build up within her. "I'm going to become a third-year?"

"You sure are," Elaine replied with a smile. "I mean, it should be more than assured that you're going to become one, considering how well you've- Oof!"

The older team leader was cut off by the scythe-wielder suddenly tackling her in a hug. Ruby even had tears fall from her eyes out of pure happiness.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you!" the young redhead said cheerfully. "This is the best thing that has ever happened to me! I can't believe it!"

Elaine smiled as she gently hugged Ruby back. Knowing all that the younger girl had gone through, it was nice to see her this happy. The older girl thought that it was about time something good happened to her friend for once.

"Hey, no need to thank me or anyone else here. It's thanks to your skills that this is happening," Elaine said. "The only way anyone can skip years in their training like this is through hard work and dedication, which you have shown a lot. You deserve this more than anyone else."

"Thanks, Elaine," Ruby said with a smile. "But what team am I going to join? Aren't all third-year teams full already?"

"Well, nothing has been exactly set up yet, but it's most likely that you will be joining us," the older redhead replied with a small grin. "After all, you've been working with us quite well for some time now, so it wouldn't make any sense to have you placed with an entirely new team."

The scythe-wielder nodded. It made sense for her to be placed in team LION, considering how they've been working together for some time now. Ruby could barely contain her excitement and joy over the fact that she would not only greatly advance in becoming a Huntress, but she would also get to join the team of her friends. She wondered how her current teammates would react to these news. The young team leader was certain that Weiss would surely be jealous.

Upon thinking about her teammates, Ruby realized something. It was probably for the best not to tell any of them about this. The three older girls had been causing her a lot of trouble for some time now, especially Yang. If they were told about the possibility that their leader would get promoted to a third-year, there was a chance that they would somehow ruin it.

Although Ruby was certain that her teammates would be happy to get rid of her, she also knew that jealousy and envy could bring out the worst in people, as she had experienced this ever since she came to Beacon. It would be best to play it safe and leave her team in the dark.

With her mind made up, the young scythe-wielder was determined to achieve her promotion in order to become the best Huntress she could ever be, and to get a place in Beacon where she could be truly happy.

Author's notes: Sorry about the long wait for this chapter. I had some trouble when it came to writing this and I've also gotten a lot more work on me lately. My studies at my school are taking up a good amount of my time now, so that has hindered my work a bit.

I've actually got something interesting planned for the reveal of Ruby's actual father. When I started writing this, I got some ideas that I really hope you guys will like. I'm honestly pretty excited to see how it all turns out.

For the guest (and possibly others) asking about my opinions on volume 7, the problem isn't that I haven't had the chance to watch it, but I actually haven't had the will to watch it. I've been rather disappointed by not only the direction RWBY has taken, but also with Rooster Teeth themselves. The reason my profile only says that "I'm a big fan of RWBY" is because I just haven't gotten around to change it. I doubt I'll give any sort of an opinion on volume 7, as the things I've seen and heard regarding both RWBY and RT have taken away any desire I had to watch it. I'm still considering doing it, but I doubt I will.

Let me be clear on one thing. I am in no way telling YOU not to watch it. If you like the show and enjoy it, you should watch it. You should do that which feels good for you. Just understand that I am doing the same thing by not watching it. I still care about the series (obviously), but I just don't agree with the choices RT has made regarding it. I sincerely hope you all understand and accept my stance on this.

I won't speak anymore on this subject on any of these chapters, as that isn't allowed by the rules on this site. If you do want to talk about it, please PM me. I'll answer as soon as I can.

Anyways, I hope you all liked the chapter and that you'll stay safe during these difficult times.

Until next time.

RWBY is owned by Rooster Teeth.