I Do Not Own RWBY
In the Iris of the Beholder
The dance was only a little bit away now, and time was ticking. After getting Aiden to agree to go to the dance with me, I had to enact my master plan as fast as possible. I gathered together the strongest group of individuals in order to complete the mission I've set out for us. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get everyone I wanted for this mission, so the ones I did get would have to be enough. After we all gathered together in Vale we set out on this deadly mission that could change our lives for the better, or for the worse.
"Do we have to go shopping? I don't even want to wear those stupid lady stilts!" pouted Ruby.
"They're called heels, and you're wearing them." ordered Yang.
"Are you sure we should be doing this without the others?" Pyrrha asked.
"We have limited time before the dance, and only a few days off to get ready for it. Unfortunately Coco and Velvet are away on a mission right now, so they couldn't come. I invited Weiss, but she said everything at the mall was too cheap for her and declined. And I tried to find Blake to drag her along to try and cheer her up, but I couldn't find her anywhere." I answered.
So I might have slightly over exaggerated when I described this as a deadly mission. I thought that with the dance right around the corner, us girls could use a trip to the mall to bond before all hell breaks loose. According to Drew this might be the only time we have in order to do this, so I'm doing this. I managed to get Ruby, Yang, Nora and Pyrrha to come with me, but not the others. Like I said, Weiss didn't see the value in coming, and Coco and Velvet were on their mission that Drew said was important for some reason. I did think about inviting Penny, but apparently after some sort of incident she's under Ironwood's orders to stay on school grounds until the tournament. And I did try to look for Blake, but couldn't find her anywhere on campus, and she wouldn't return my texts at all. I could only assume that she was already out somewhere with Drew, but I don't really know. She's been looking pretty stressed these past few days. I hope she's okay, but that's besides the point. Today was going to be a care free day of nothing but shopping and girl talk to get our minds off of the Grimm and our grim futures.
"Ooh, let's check out this store first!" exclaimed Nora as she dragged Pyrrha towards the first shop on our left. I followed behind with the two sisters as we entered the shoe store. We spent a while looking over the heels to Ruby's dismay. I picked out a simple pair of silver pumps to go with the style that I wanted to portray while Yang forced Ruby to pick anything that was over half an inch.
After we all had picked out what to buy, we paid and headed out towards our next stop. I had to rush Nora since our next stop was time sensitive. I specifically booked a hair salon for eleven since I didn't exactly know the number of companions I would have for the day, so we had to make it. After arriving and confirming our appointment we all sat down together to chat and get worked on.
"So, how have you all been doing? Anyone planning anything special for the dance?" I asked.
Pyrrha smirked. "You could say someone is planning something."
At that remark Nora groaned. "Yea. Planning something annoyingly shameless. Ren's been running us through this dance routine for the last few weeks. I don't know what's gotten into him?"
"That seems fun." I exclaimed.
"Yea if he wasn't a complete control freak about that sort of thing. You must have a similar situation? I mean Aiden acts a lot like Ren whenever I see him. He must be just as bad right?" Nora asked.
"You could say that." I responded nervously. "I can see the similarities, but Ren has better perception. Sometimes I wonder if Aiden even cares about what goes on around him."
"But aren't you two a thing?" asked Yang. "The two of you always seem to be together. He seems to care about you and the rest of your team at least."
At that I chuckled softly. "Well then you're seeing a different Aiden than I've been with. Ever since I met him he's always been oblivious to those closest to him. Especially with me. We are going to the dance together, but only because I asked him. In his mind we're only going together so we don't have to look for anyone else to go with."
"That seems horrible." states Ruby.
Then Pyrrha piped up, "Yea, well at least you were able to ask him. I've been trying to hint to Jaune that if he asked me I'd say yes, but he's as oblivious as a rock."
"Yea, you probably have it the worst." I commented.
"At least he stopped pining after Weiss. I thought that after he gave up on her he would finally notice, but there's been nothing." she adds.
"I wish I could say the same about Lucas trying to ask me to the dance. No matter what I give him as an answer he never gives up. It's starting to get on my nerves." Yang states.
"Oh, Lucas isn't that bad Yang." I retort. "You just have to get to know him. I'm sure the two of you would hit it off." Maybe I can get her to see that he's not that bad of a guy, at least after you get past all of his annoying alpha tendencies, his lack of thinking things all the way through and his weird ways when it comes to getting to know people. Other than that though he's a pretty decent guy all around.
After gossiping about the boys for who knows how long, the time flew by and our cuts were completed. I personally had them wave up my hair for the event. Surprisingly there wasn't that much of an issue when it came to styling around my fox ears. I thought for sure that it'd be an issue, but I guess I just got lucky in that this place was used to faunus coming in for cuts.
After we all had finished up we made our way towards the food court. I for one was hungry, so I knew for a fact that Nora was starving. We got our food and snatched a table to sit at. I slid in next to Yang thinking I could help Lucas by talking him up a bit.
"You know Yang, I wasn't kidding about earlier. You should think about giving Lucas a second chance. He may seem annoying, sometimes a bit abrasive, and other times just downright unbearable. But after you get to know him he lets you see the real him. He's always seemed like a big brother to me. Always trying to help us whenever he could. He would always put us before himself."
Yang seemed to think about it for a second, then sighed. "Alright. I'll try. But only because I trust in your judgment." she chuckled.
After a little while of eating Ruby piped up. "So Iris, I've been thinking. Earlier when we were discussing the guys you mentioned that you've known Aiden for a while now, but you sounded sad about it. Did he, do something? Why stay with him if he doesn't seem to care about you?"
I almost spit out my water when she asked. I had to quickly keep myself from shaking. Calming myself down I answer her. "Yea, I've known Aiden for a long time. In fact I knew him long before we both knew Lucas and Drew. I guess you could say that I've stuck with him all this time because he's my anchor. If he hadn't…" I had to stop myself quickly before I cracked. "If we hadn't met, then I don't know where I would be."
I looked back up at Ruby. She seemed concerned, but accepted the short answer. Having lost my appetite I threw away the rest of my food and waited for the others to finish while we talked about minor things.
Then we headed for our last stop of the day. We made our way to the second floor where upon we walked into a classy clothing store with some of the most gorgeous dresses I've ever seen. Splitting up we all picked out what we wanted to try on before we grouped back up to critique each others' fashion sense.
Nora was the most excited so she forced herself into the fitting room first. When she walked out we all gasped. She wore a cute little pink dress with a frilly skirt that matched the heels she picked out earlier. Of course we all came to an agreement that she looked amazing, but she still wanted to try on all of the other dresses she'd picked out before buying the first one.
Next was Pyrrha, and when she walked out all of us were stunned. She wore a tight red dress that split at her thigh showing off her legs.
"How the in the hell does Jaune live his life without noticing you as anything more than a teammate? You are stunning!" gasped Yang.
"You're telling me!" Pyrrha answered.
After laughing away Jaunes shortsightedness, she changed back and bought the dress. Next up was Ruby which she found a dress that look very similar to her combat outfit. Red with black lace and trim.
"You couldn't have gone for something at least a little bit different?" questioned Yang.
"I think it looks nice." Ruby stutters.
"I think it looks cute." I retort. Smiling at the comment, she decides to keep it.
After her was Yang. First she came out with a completely white dress. A bit plain, but cute in its own way. At the behest of the rest of the group she tried on her second pick which was undoubtedly the better option. It was a yellow open back dress that turned into a more darker yellow, almost orange around the bottom. It frilled and layered below the midsection. After a long discussion, we all agreed that the second dress was the better choice for the dance.
Last but not least, it was my turn to enter the fitting room. I took my dress in and hung it up, looking up and down it inspecting every detail. It was a medium sized dress that would go down to my knees. The basic material was silver with gold accents around the waist and gold trim at the bottom. I begin to undress to put it on, but then the mirror at the back of the fitting room catches my eye. I turn to look and see a lone, helpless girl standing in front of a dress she doesn't deserve. My fist clenched as the conversation from earlier rushes back into my mind. Looking up I see those eyes again. Those annoyingly helpless eyes.
I couldn't take it. I bolted out of the fitting room and out of the store. I didn't look behind me because I didn't want to see their faces. I didn't deserve them. Running down to the first floor and out of the mall I turned into an alley and collapsed. My heartbeat raced as I tried to collect myself. As I did I could feel tears running down my cheeks as a managed to catch my breathe. I close my eyes and curl up into a ball, desperately trying to collect myself before someone found me.
"Hey. Are you okay?" I heard a faint voice ask from the corner of the alley. I glance up and see Ruby poking her head out from around the corner.
"No." I softly replied.
She slowly walked over and slid down beside me against the wall. "Whatever it is you're going through, you don't have to go through it alone. When Blake was in trouble, we were all there for her. So please let us be there for you." It took a few minutes to calm down, but eventually I pulled myself together.
"When I was young, my family expected a lot out of me. They pushed me to be the best at everything. To get good grades, be the best athlete. Everything had to be perfect. If it wasn't then I was just a disappointment, but that wasn't the worst part. Because I was at the top, everyone else around hated me. I had no friends, no allies. No one that was on my side. That is until I met Aiden. He didn't care about status. He helped me stand up for myself. He was there when I tried to talk with my parents about the whole situation. He's been by my side this whole time, and he doesn't even notice how thankful I am for that. Sometimes though, those feelings of having to be perfect still rush back to me. When I'm not then sometimes I feel like I don't deserve what I've been given. And that's what hurts the most. The fact that it's still a part of me." I leaned on Ruby's shoulder as she took it all in.
"You didn't tell anyone about this because you didn't think you deserved them?" questioned Ruby. I just nodded.
"Iris, you are worth more than you know. You are one of the most kind, and most caring person I know. You are our friend, and you deserve all of the kindness that you've been given. You are a good person. That part of you that thinks all of that is just a small percentage of the whole you. And if you let us all help, we can hopefully get Aiden to see that part of you that has always been thankful for his presence."
"Thanks Ruby." I say as I wipe the last of my tears away.
"Now then, let's get you ready for the big day shall we!" Ruby exclaims as we both stand up to go back into the mall.
Once we got back to the others we all group hugged, with Nora only slightly suffocating all of us in the process. I went back into the dressing room and put on the dress I picked out. Before I walked out to show the others, I looked at my reflection one last time.
"Fuck you. I deserve to be happy." I said to my reflection as I turned around and walked out.
This chapter took a lot out of me. It definitely took the longest to write. Iris/Julie is special to me because of her problems, and her relationship with Aiden in particular is very delicate to write. I re-wrote this chapter a couple times. Sometimes I thought it was too much, other times I thought it was too little. In the end, I think I did her justice in this chapter. The dance is really going to take a while to write though, since I am going to have a lot going on in it what with Yang and Lucas, Iris and Aiden, Drew and Blake, and then everything going on with Cinder! It's just a lot to handle, but I'm going to do it.
Anyways, thank you again for continuing to read this chapter. I'm still writing chapter 19 at the moment so I am going to pull a RWBY and cut this volume in half. Next chapter will be the last, and then there will be a break until they start releasing weakly again.
Also, I am playing through Resident Evil Village at the moment. I just have to edit/render what I have and then I will start to upload those to my channel.