Big Issues
AN: It's gonna be another wild ride for your emotions so be prepared!
Thank you merendinoemiliano for your review, its been nice seeing that someone is enjoying this fic of mine enough to give encouragement.
Emotions Run Rampant Part 2
"Hey Weiss? Have you seen Yang or Blake?" Ruby asks the older girl in their room. She'd just come back from getting a shower, glad that the time limit for the water usage was extended to ten minutes from the previous five. It was getting a bit harder for her and her team to clean up in that time as they continued to grow larger, and Ruby didn't have the long hair to take care of like the others. Yang had taken to spending three days of the week using her short shower time to focus solely on her hair and letting the runoff from her shampoo and conditioner clean the rest of her.
"She came in a while ago and changed clothes and left. Didn't say anything but she looked upset." Weiss answers as she brushes her long white hair.
"Oh no." Ruby whines as she drops onto her partners' bed.
"I haven't seen Blake either since she left for the library." She pauses her brushing to look at the younger girl. "Do you think they had a fight?"
Ruby was silent as she dropped her face into her hands. "I don't know. You've seen how fast Yang can get angry…"
Weiss nods as she recalled her teammates hair trigger temper, internally shuddering at the pun. "She didn't look mad when she was here."
Ruby shook her head in her hands, knowing her sister better than anyone. "She doesn't have to look mad to be mad. She's good at holding a grudge."
"Oh… well, the least we can do is make sure that we do what we can to keep things civil when they return."
"I hope so."
Outside the dorms Denko was returning from a training session and enjoying the evening breeze. Stretching his arms over his head, he hadn't had dinner yet but had planned on making something in the students' kitchen anyway. Then a familiar mop of golden hair caught his attention. Apparently, she had noticed him as well and altered her path to meet with him.
Yang drew close and he could see that she'd changed her clothes since sparring class with Goodwitch. She had kept her normal brown boots, orange socks, and the bandanna around her leg, as well as her black shorts and Ember Celica sat on her wrists. Now she wore an orange tank that was too short to cover much more than her chest and brown coveralls that lacked legs which exposed her black shorts. She'd even removed her usual orange scarf.
"C'mon, I might need you to keep me out of trouble." She says grabbing his arm and leading him to the students' garage. Denko followed without question, not even saying anything when she let go of him, recognizing that she was in a bad mood and would talk when she was ready. Something that they had done back when they lived on Patch and she had a hard time. At least she was thinking clearly enough to bring someone to watch out for her, though that did bring up the question of why she wasn't with her team.
Yang mounted Bumblebee and put her helmet on before looking at him. "What are you waiting for?" She pats the space just behind her.
The boy straddles the bike and quickly finds that the girl filled most of the seat space, leaving him the option of either trying to sit on the smooth tail or scootch closer to her behind. The option was taken from him when she started the engine, the motion of doing so and the low rumble sliding him forward into her back. "Um… where do I…?" He questions as he raised his hands by her sides.
Yang simply huffs, gabs his hands and shoves them into the sides of her coveralls and forcing him to hold onto her stomach. "You can hold me there. Just don't squeeze too tight."
"Got it." Denko says quietly as he practically was laying on her back with his head on her shoulder. He missed the slight smile she gave before they rode out of the garage and towards Vale. Yet, during the ride, he couldn't help but notice with where his hands were, how soft her skin is, how round her belly had grown, and the vibrations of her bike traveling through the soft flesh.
Their ride ended in a darker part of downtown Vale, darker than normal for the night as some of the street lights weren't quite as bright as others and some were nonfunctional altogether. Yang shut off her bike and stuck the keys in the large chest pocket of her coveralls before taking off her helmet and shaking out her hair a bit, out of habit if nothing else. During that time Denko had swung his legs off the bike and let go of the girl, waiting patiently for her. It was hard to not notice the sound of music making its way through the thick brick walls and echoing a bit in the alley.
He followed the plump girl through the doors towards the source of the noise, somewhat welcoming the fact that the men in suits acting very nervous the moment they walked in to distract his eyes from watching her round bottom that didn't have her usual skirts to conceal the contours. Then he cursed his peripheral vison for keeping track of the bouncing cheeks anyway, the shorts being skin tight and the coveralls did little to cover them… if anything he found the cloth emphasizing her rear.
"Junior! She's back!" He heard one of the men tell someone over his scroll. "Yeah, and she brought someone else with her. No, they look like a Huntsman."
Anything else the man was going to say was cut off as Yang pushed the large doors open to the clubs' main floor, the pulsing music drowning out any conversation from any patron unless they were yelling to anyone more than an armlength away. That's when a very tall man approached the blondes, likely the boss given how the other men in suits and red shades looked to him.
"What are you here for, Blondie?" He asks Yang but received glances from both blondes. He locked eyes with the much shorter girl. "You still looking for information?"
Her response was to simply sigh and walk out onto the dance floor and made a beeline for a booth in a far corner. Junior watched her leave before turning to Denko. "Hey, don't look at me. She just asked that I keep her out of trouble."
"Can you? She really wrecked the place the first time she came here."
"Mostly." Denko admits with a shrug. "But I don't think she's here for trouble anyway. Pretty sure she just needed to get away for a bit."
Junior looked across his establishment to see the girl in question slumped over the table with her head in her arms. His features softened as he recognized the body language. "Fine. I'll be making sure that you're taken care of and security is nearby just in case." The big man warns before leading the blonde to his friend.
"So… what will you be having tonight?" Junior asks once the boy slid into the booth next to the butterball of a girl and trying to be polite. Unless his eyes were playing tricks on him, he'd swear that she was a fair bit bigger than the last time she'd come.
The girl lifted her head. "Same as last time." She really seemed out of it, none of her usual perk and no underlying threat, but to hear her sound so bland… something must be troubling her. Fortunately, that's part of the reason a bar like his exists in the first place.
"Strawberry sunrise, no ice. Got it." He looks to the boy who'd set his long weapon on the seat behind them so nobody could get to it without him noticing.
"Serving people underage?" The kid asks.
"I really don't care and neither do the cops in the neighborhood. You got the money and don't go shooting your mouth off about the booze, you'll get your drinks."
The boy shrugs. "Jack and honey, no ice."
With that, Junior left the pair to prepare their order and leaving the Malachite twins to watch them from nearby but far away enough to give them privacy.
A few moments of relative silence passed between the blondes before Denko spoke. "So, what's eating ya?"
Yang gave a wry smile at the words chosen before sitting up and staring at the ceiling. "Got into an argument with Blake." She began. "Things got heated and I pushed her. We almost started fighting."
"Ah… what about?"
Her head turned upright to look at him, the boy was obviously leading her on and already seemed to be enjoying the mind game. Lilac eyes narrowed, "Our investigation into Torchwick and the White Fang."
"Ah…"
"I'm sure you've noticed that she's running herself into the ground."
"And starting to look more like a racoon."
The girl finally cracked a smile of amusement, it was brief but it was there. It was then that Junior returned with their drinks and left for the bar once more to keep an eye on them from there.
"Didn't think you drank." She notes.
Denko took a sip and sat his glass down. "I don't really, but your uncle is a bad influence. This stuff is the only alcohol I've tried and actually liked enough to tolerate."
The mentioning of her family and one of their bad habits drew out another smile. She sipped from her own fruity drink, even noticing that it was stronger than the last time he'd served her. "I think I'll stick with this for now. I don't want to repeat the last time he let me drink."
"Qrow let you drink?"
"Yeah, he was home for a week and dad had to spend a few days in Vale for some teachers conference. So, when that happened last year, he let me open up one of his whiskey bottles to try. Things got fuzzy and next thing I know; I'm praying at the porcelain altar. Had one hell of a hangover the next day."
"What about Ruby? Didn't she tell your dad?"
"Nah, Qrow had bribed her with a huge bowl of chocolate covered strawberries and fudge-dipped cookies to stay quiet. She wasn't much better than me in the morning, tummy ache." They shared a laugh at the memory/story.
They drank a little more in silence. "I thought your team was past most of the fighting." Denko brought the topic back around.
Yang sighs as she stares into her drink. "I thought so too. But with how she was… it reminded me too much of myself back then."
That's when things started to click in his mind. "You told her about your mom?" He knew how deeply personal that was for her, having taken part in one of the fruitless leads a few years ago.
Yang simply nodded, not trusting herself to speak at the moment but that didn't stop the tears from welling up in her eyes as she clenched them. "So, your fight broke out because she didn't want to understand?" He concluded as more pieces of the puzzle came together in his mind. Another nod and she drank some more.
"She didn't want to listen. I got mad, tried to make her see reason. She refused, I pushed her. She tried to push back and I did it again." Some tears started to fall, proof of how much she regretted her actions. Denko put a comforting hand on her shoulder as best he could in the booth.
"I had to leave; I didn't trust myself not to lash out again. I just reminded her about the people who care about her and left." She shuddered a bit and he adjusted his arm to reach across her back to the other shoulder to give her a side hug. "I changed clothes back at the dorm and wound up finding you."
"You could have asked my team to help you with the investigation, spread the workload, different viewpoints."
"Hehe, we didn't want to involve anyone else. But Sun and Neptune invited themselves anyway." Yang drained her drink.
"Wait, wasn't it Sun who helped Blake at the docks when the Fang and Torchwick tried to steal everything?"
"Yeah. That weekend when Blake ran away after we found out she's a faunus."
"That didn't make a difference to you, did it?"
"Me? No. Ruby, pfft no. Weiss… they'd been arguing for half the day about faunus before she let it slip and ran." She wipes some of the tears from her eyes before glancing at his glass. "I just really hope I didn't make her run away again." With that she snatched his cup and took a large gulp. Her eyes bulged as she wasn't expecting the strength of the alcohol and that had caused a bit to go down the wrong pipe.
The next few minutes were spent helping the plump girl get her breathing back under control, including a simple cup of water to help wash her throat clear.
"Next time, you might want a sip to prepare yourself." Denko laughs as he finishes the glass without issue, ignoring the slight glare thrown his way.
"I think I need some fresh air." Yang announces and starts to scoot her way out of the booth and using her larger bulk to force her friend out and onto the floor, still laughing at the situation. That didn't stop her from lifting him back to his feet where he threw some lien cards on the table and returned his weapon to his back as he followed Yang outside.
Back at Beacon…
Blake's mind was a mess. She knew that she was running on fumes, especially when she stumbled and tripped just going up the stairs. But as much as she wanted to go back to the library to keep working on her investigation, Yang's reminder to get some rest made the demand for sleep was taking priority. Even the fact that she'd missed dinner due to sitting in the room and contemplating what her friend had told her was making her exhaustion even more apparent. Maybe Ruby had a small stash of cookies she could grab and pass out with.
Opening the door, she found someone running through the hall, their appearance and rush having the side effect of perking up the faunus a bit. But the fact that it was Itazura and how worried she looked set off alarm bells in her mind.
"Blake!"
"Itazura! What's going on?" She'd never seen the little fox look worried before. She always seemed to know more than anyone else which led to her having a calm confidence, even if she often used it to play pranks on her friends.
"It's Sun! I saw someone from the White Fang carrying him away!"
Blake's blood ran cold as her past had come to haunt her once more. "Where are they?" Any traces of tiredness were gone now, replaced by adrenaline and fear for her friends' safety. The White Fang must have tracked them down on orders from Roman Torchwick. It had to be. Sun was with her both times their schemes were interrupted, at the docks when they tried to steal a massive shipment of Dust fresh from Atlas and again at the recruitment rally and they had to fight the stolen Paladin.
Itazura glanced at her scroll and began running down the hall again with Blake on her heels. "This way!"
"How do you know where they are?" Blake had to know, curious as to why the shorter girl kept looking at her scroll.
A turn around a corner. "Short story, I'm tracking his scroll."
They burst through a door leading outside and ran across the grounds towards another building not too far from the dorms but also closer to the edge of the academies' property.
"How?"
"Don't worry about how! Be glad that I can!" Itazura held her device up for the cat to see the yellow dot moving across a map of the school with a small arrow indicating their position in the center. It gave her some relief to see that they were closing the distance, carrying anybody would slow someone down. Let alone being on the grounds of a Huntsman Academy full of combat ready students and teachers.
Speaking of combat ready…
"But we don't have our weapons." Blake realized as they approached the main doors of their target building. The kidnapper must have ducked inside to keep away from students to rest and hide.
"But we have these." Itazura drew Ruyi Bang and Jingu Bang from her sash in their collapsed forms.
Blake couldn't believe that she had missed the girl carrying Sun's weapons, maybe it was her worry for him that blinded her.
Itazura glanced at her scroll again, stopping just outside of the doors, forcing her impromptu partner to stop with her. Blake looked over the girls' shoulder to see Sun's indicator in a hallway within the building they were next to. But it was moving erratically, moving from one side to the other, sometimes going into a room for a few moments before leaving and trying another. The fox input some commands and the view shifted so that they could see that the monkey's indicator was on the third floor.
"Okay, here's how we'll do this. Sneak our way up there together, there's only one way up so we can trap him. If we have to fight to get Sun back, I'll engage, these aren't too different from my own weapons. You jump in and grab Sun and run. Got it?" Itazura says as she catches her breath from the running.
"I got it. Wait…" Blake agrees but looks at the indicator as it moved again, this time going down the stairs and quickly.
"Shit!" The fox cursed and ran inside. "The stairs are on the other side of the building. Let's cut them off before they can get out!"
"On it!" Together they ran the length of the empty hallway, their feet pounding the floor echoing. Apparently, that's what the kidnappers heard because it wasn't long before they turned a corner just after hearing a door open. As they turned the corner, they could see the end of Sun's tail going inside before the door closed.
In moments, the girls were on either side of the door, Itazura holding the gun-chucks at the ready and currently pointed at the ceiling, Blake on the other side of the portal with her hand on the handle. They lock eyes and nod.
Blake silently twisted the knob and slammed the door open and allowed for Itazura to swing inside with guns leveled with anyone who'd be inside. The odd part was that only Sun was inside, sprawled out on the floor and unconscious. There was no place to anyone to hide in the small room, no windows, and the vents were too small for anyone to fit inside.
"Sun!" Blake cries as she runs to the boy and begins to check him over for injuries. Meanwhile, the fox did a sweep of the room just in case before heading to the door and peering outside and checking the halls for any signs of life, finding none.
"Blake." She begins, loud enough to catch the girls' attention. When she looked at her, Itazura knew she had her attention. "I'm going to search around the building. I had already let Ozpin know before I ran into you so security should be tight." Blake nods in understanding. "I'm gonna close the door, just in case he doubles back. Take care of him, will ya?"
"I'll do what I can." Tears threatened to fall thanks to her current situation.
"Alright, see you in a bit." With that, Itazura closes the door behind her. With the heavy door shut she whispers to herself, "I'm sorry for doing this but it had to be done."
"Blake's not answering her scroll." Ruby whines as she stares at the screen.
Weiss sighs, breathing in the refreshing scent of a nearby lit candle before answering. "I'm sure she's fine. Maybe she's spending time with Sun again." She turns back to her homework, absently eating a potato chip.
Ruby hung her head from her suspended bed to look at her partner upside down. "Maybe…"
A few minutes passed as well as a few more chips into Weiss. Ruby had gotten a small stash of cookies out and began eating her stress away.
"Why don't you try calling your sister?"
"Pfft… I know not to draw her attention if she's angry." Ruby dismisses.
Weiss turned to her friend, chip in hand. "I told you that she didn't look angry." She took a few moments to think and eat. "I know she can get mad fast but is it really that bad?"
Ruby rolls over onto her bulging stomach. "Sometimes. Hopefully she just went to train to work it off." She knew her sister well enough to know that she was a very physical person, one that was best to have on your side and not against you.
"Think she's training with Denko again?" Weiss smiles at the thought. The two blondes had begun spending a fair amount of time together since the endurance training. It may have only been a little over a week ago since that night but the results were evident. Whatever he was teaching the brawler, it was working. Her punches hit harder, she wasn't simply smashing through her opponents' defenses anymore but starting to find ways around or creating openings, even mixing in more throws to keep her enemy off balance. The beating she gave to that second-year boy from Atlas was good proof of that.
"If we're lucky. I think he was going to be training through dinner so he could practice without anyone around."
"He skipped dinner?"
"You didn't notice? Itazura wasn't there either. Talon said she had something she was working on."
"Any idea what it was? I don't remember them saying they had any big projects this week." Weiss put a finger to her lip as she thought, not noticing that she'd shoved a chip past her lips again.
"I dunno. Talon and Anya say that it's better not to know for probable deniability.
"Plausible deniability." Weiss automatically corrects, out of habit if nothing else. She was well aware of the practice, something that her father liked to work into his business deals… legal or otherwise in a barely arguable legal framework.
"Whatever." Ruby waves a cookie at the heiress before shifting on her bed to read her text books, the ropes holding the bed to the ceiling creaking ominously from her growing and shifting weight. Weiss had yet to get used to the creaking and eyed the ropes connections, hoping that if the bed did fall it wouldn't be while she was in bed herself. At least Yang's bed was comparatively more stable as it was propped up on books, though she wondered how much Blake cared for those books on top and bottom of each stack- the covers were indented after their first night in their dorm with this particular set up. With the time that had passed and now that they were roughly double their weights when they came to school, she had no doubt that Yang had pressed the books hard enough that the bed posts had pushed their way through the covers and into the pages. The fact that even with her increased bulk, Yang usually jumped to her bed was another factor.
Bumblebee was parked near Vale's central park known as The Glade. It was a small stretch of forest that was left within the city that drew many people to come and relax among the nature from the safety of being in the kingdom. If any civilian wanted to experience any form of wildlife outside of the park, they would have to leave the protection of the city walls and have a Huntsman nearby just in case.
As for the owner of the bike, she was walking through the trees with no real destination in mind with her male friend keeping pace next to her. There wasn't much light that made it through the trees and the underbrush was thin thanks to decades of people walking through the park but they could see well enough. Eventually they found a tree that had fallen over, though someone had cut off the roots and branches to leave the log behind. Something that they made use of by Yang jumping up on it and walked across its length.
"Remember when we used to do stuff like this when we were kids?" She asks with her arms outstretched for balance.
Denko watched her, knowing that as a Huntress in training, her balance was more than capable of handling her on such a wide surface, her arms being held out for show. "Yeah, I do. It was nice being a kid while it lasted." He comments, fondly remembering the times he and his sister would play with the Xiao Long-Rose siblings in the woods around their house or just fooling around at his 'house'.
"We never got to do that all that much, did we?" Her voice dropped in tone, getting softer.
He shrugged, "Not really, we had things to do and people to take care of." At least he was honest.
Her arms dropped to her sides as she stopped, the impact sending ripples across her plush limbs and body. "We've always been too busy looking out for others to really take care of ourselves." The only reason he heard her say that was because he was next to her and paying attention. He was focusing on her face but given her elevated position, he had a good view of her bottom, her stomach, or her chest from underneath before his sight could land on her round face that wasn't smiling at all. He missed seeing her smile, it was her way of lighting up any room she was in.
"We're good siblings. It's what we do." He shrugs.
"It's just… sometimes I really wish we could go back to those times. Just us having fun and playing games and stuff." Yang was still quiet but had resumed walking on the log but left her arms down. There was no attempt to play anything, just walking on a log as if it were the ground.
"I've read some books about time traveling. It normally doesn't work out well for whoever does it." Denko watched as she hops down, trying not to stare as her chest rippled from the impact.
"Sometimes it's nice to dream." She responds as she looks up at the shattered moon shining through the tree branches above them.
"Yeah. It is." He stood by her side to look at the orbiting rock and its pieces. They stood there in silence for a few minutes before wandering off through the small forest and eventually coming to the edges of the park where benches lined the street and a few merchants with food carts were still out and catering to the late-night crowd and the increasing stream of visitors for the upcoming tournament.
Yang led them down the road for a bit before dropping heavily on a bench, Denko sitting down by her side in a much gentler manner. She buried her face in her hands and leaned forward to rest her elbows on her knees, the already tight coveralls were filled and stretched tight across her belly thanks to her position. Denko waited for her to speak when she was ready, simply ready to be a sounding board again. Then again, Yang was likely his best friend and he always did what he could for his friends.
"Do you know why Ruby got into Beacon early?" The girl eventually asks, never changing her position.
Denko thought back to what the younger girl had told him and his team weeks ago. "She helped to stop a robbery that was being led by Roman Torchwick."
"What if I told you that I could have stopped that?"
Now he was confused. "How would that be possible? Time travel is impossible except moving forward by existing."
"Smartass." He could have sworn he heard her smiling.
"Better than being a dumbass." He retorts easily.
"I could have stopped Roman the night I first went to Junior's club."
"Wait, what?"
She sighs. "Before school started at Beacon, me and Ruby came to Vale for the day and to just hang out. I learned of Junior's club and how he's an information broker, tends to know almost anything going on in Vale, legal or not." She finally sits up and leans back on the backrest. "It was getting late but I had to go there, one last attempt to find Her before I got busy at Beacon. Ruby was in a nearby weapons shop, not likely to leave until they closed or I dragged her out, and I went to Junior's."
She paused to look at him, seeing the boys' blue eyes watching her, silently urging her to continue. "I walked in without any problems, found Junior talking to Roman, and walked to the bar for a drink from the big guy. Didn't realize that it was Roman then, I was too focused on finding out what Junior might have on Her."
"Wasn't Torchwick a known criminal by then?"
"Yes…" She groans at the memories. "Maybe if I was thinking clearly, I could have taken a picture and called the cops on him. Maybe try trashing him myself."
"Didn't Blake and Sun fight him together and they could barely touch him?"
She sighs again, a long tired one. "No need to remind me. But like you said, I can't change the past. But maybe it's just wishful thinking of looking back on our mistakes."
"Too many things I wish I could change with my life too. But there are things you gotta remember about trying to change the past." Yang looked at him, waiting for him to finish. "Think about the good things that followed the bad, if the bad things were changed then you most likely would have much different good and bad situations as a result."
She stared into his eyes a bit as realizations came to her, all of her memories of different situations changing and some of their possible outcomes. Slowly her eyes closed and she flopped back with a huff, "You have a bad habit of slamming reality in people's faces, you know that?"
Denko simply shrugged and smiled. "How bad do you think it is for me?" He taps his head. "I can't seem to shut this thing off so it won't stop reminding me, And worse things."
Yang gave a bark of laughter at his expense, one that he couldn't help but to join in on his own self-degradation. Yet it was only a minute later when Yang became somber again and hung her head, looking at the ground.
"Is it wrong for me to feel that I wish Ruby wasn't at Beacon?" She eventually asks quietly.
Denko thought about it for a moment. "That depends on the how and why."
Yang took a deep breath and let out a shuddering sigh. "It's just that, when I got accepted into Beacon, I thought that I would finally have the chance to just be me. No more taking care of the house, no more making sure Ruby was up for school or did her homework or ate something other than cookies. A chance to really be Me. Yang Xiao Long. Not a teachers' daughter, the big sister of the weapons geek, no more guys from home chasing me for a chance to get in my pants… I just wanted a chance to do what I wanted, to let myself live for Me."
Denko wasn't sure how he felt about that. He understood how she felt about nearly everything but there was one thing that riled his anger, the mentioning of the guys going after her like a trophy. His fists clenched tight at the thought. Still, he managed to hold down that anger. "Did you want to be a team leader?"
Her head snapped to him. "What? No, not really. I… don't think I'm cut out for that kind of role. I'd probably wind up just leading them headfirst into any and all kinds of trouble."
"I'm sure you wouldn't be that bad." He laughs a bit. "Though I can see you cracking your teams heads every now and then."
"Maybe…"
"But what about Ruby being at Beacon now? Don't you like her being there?"
"I do like Ruby being at Beacon. It's been one of her dreams to go there since she was little and decided that she wanted to be a Huntress." Yang's voice was filled with some pride, even if the sadness was still there. Then the pride left as she continued. "I tried to encourage her to make some new friends, try to be on a different team… you can see how that worked out."
"Well… she is doing surprisingly well for someone who got bumped up two years."
"Take a guess who had to help her catch up? A lot of the time I was planning to use before school started to have fun and relax was suddenly down the drain as Dad insisted on a cram session for Ruby and I still had my notes and books."
"And he was still busy at Signal?" He guesses.
"Yeah…"
A comfortable silence fell between them as they collected their thoughts.
"Look at it this way," Denko began and put a hand on the girls softened shoulder. "Most of her success is thanks to you." Her head snapped to face him as he looked at her with pride. "After your mom was gone, it was you who kept things going and taking care of Ruby. It was you who did what you could to keep her safe and healthy. Got her to school and stuff. So much of what she has been able to do is all thanks to you and your love for her. Your determination to not give in. It even shows in your semblance, taking everything the world can throw at you for others because you can handle it and throwing it back in its face. That is the manifestation of your soul, who you are. Someone who will not give up or give in when life is tough, you keep moving forward."
Tears welled up in her lilac eyes as her spoke, her lips trembling as she listened to his praise, as the memories of her life played out in her mind.
"My own semblance is similar in that way. Maybe it's because we both had to suffer in ways to help those we care about, to endure in our own ways so others don't have to. Maybe that's a reason we chose to become Huntsmen or a good part of it, its our nature to take the burdens of others." His own eyes grew moist as he thought about his past. "That's probably why we click so well, we know the pain that we went through to get this far."
If he was going to be saying anything else, it was lost as Yang flung herself on him, wrapping her arms around his neck and arms and began crying into his shoulder. Momentarily he froze due to the sudden impact but then gently wrapped his arms around her plush body in a comforting hug as she let out her grief. A few passersby saw them like that but they were ignored as they were only focused on the other in their arms.
Yang finally calmed down after nearly ten minutes of crying and pulled away a bit to see that Denko had shed a few tears himself. At some point she'd gotten into his lap but to her it felt nice just to be so close to him, even if she could feel that she was fat enough now to more than fill the space his lap provided, how her body was pressed against his, the comforting warmth that he provided in with his touch. The strength he has hidden under his clothes. The firm muscles that weren't as defined as others she knew. It made her want to never leave.
For Denko, once he had gotten used to her touching him – he wasn't used to being touched unless it involved fighting- he found himself enjoying her embrace. The softness of her skin that was exposed, her gentle warmth that radiated from her body, the silky hair that spilled over her back that almost seemed to glow in the moonlight, the comfortable give her flesh has when he held her. For as much as he refused physical contact with others, even his own sister knew the limits he had and she was the exception to most, he couldn't help but feel that he wanted to hold onto this girl as much as he could.
They smiled as they locked eyes. "Feel a bit better?" He asks.
"Hehe, yeah, I do." She glanced at his shoulder and seeing the wet spot there. "Um, sorry about that."
He looked to his shoulder and took note of the slight discoloration of the green material and shrugs. "At least you weren't wiping your nose on me." He jokes.
That mentioning of her nose prompted her to sniff and suck back what was threatening to leak. The quirking of his eyebrow at that made her blush. "Um, maybe just a little."
The two of them broke into a fit of giggles that they didn't want to end and that was helped by how they were tickled by the others body still pressed against them. But they slowly died down to simply enjoy the company.
Then Yang began to squirm a little and began to blush.
"Something wrong?" He tried to distract himself from the feeling of her bottom rubbing on his lap and inducing reactions that he was uncomfortable with allowing to happen at the moment.
"I… ah… gotta pee." Yang says very quietly.
"Ah…" He looks around to search for anywhere with a restroom for her but any place around was either a home or a shop that had already closed. "Everything is locked up around here. I guess you'll have to find a tree."
She giggles as she had come to the same conclusion. "Gee, I wonder where I can find one around here?" Then once a gain her bladder reminded her of her needs and causing her to squirm again.
"Go, I don't think either of us want you to go here right now." Denko laughs as he pushes her to her feet and watches as she quickly makes her way into the underbrush for privacy. He sat on the bench for just a minute before his attention was drawn to the nearest cart vendor who likely saw everything even if they were too far to hear what was said. That was when he saw what the woman was selling and a smile formed once more on his face.
"Two cones please, large." He asks the ice cream vendor.
"Alright sweety, what flavors?" She asks as she readies the rolled wafers.
"Um…" He looks over her selection through the glass top. "Peanut Butter for me and mint chocolate for my friend."
"I see, coming right up." She began her work as Denko turned to look back to where he last seen Yang but she had yet to emerge.
"Here you go sonny." She hands him his cone before starting on Yang's, beginning with a bit of chocolate to fill the bottom and she even added an extra scoop of the ice cream.
"Um… I didn't- "
"Everyone likes ice cream boy. Everyone always finds a way to make room for it even if they just ate. But a little extra will always help pick up your girls' spirits and show her she's important to you and deserving of a little extra."
"But she's already important to me." He took the other cone.
"That's a good start but it's best to show it, boy." She grins before cleaning her scoops and hands. "Good luck."
He merely nodded in thanks as he hands over the lien needed and grabbing a small stack of napkins. Back at the bench he found that Yang was still missing and so he followed her path as best he could.
He was glad that the night wasn't very warm so the treats in his hands didn't melt very fast. Eventually he found a tuff of golden hair poking above the dark brush.
"Yang?" He says so he doesn't sneak up on her.
"Oh! Denko, what are you doing here?" He heard her ask.
"I was wondering what was taking so long and came looking for ya. Brought some napkins if you need them.
Immediately a hand with a golden bracelet emerged from a bunch of large leaves and grabbing at the air. With a smile at the actions, he dropped the paper towels in the waiting hand and watched as it retracted. He turned away to give her some privacy and looked around just in case anyone else was wandering nearby while he listened to her shuffling behind him. He licked at his cone to catch the drips… then licked the drips that were about to run over his hand on Yang's.
The girl emerged from the bushes shortly, though she hadn't put her coveralls up correctly and leaving them to hang from her wide hips, the front almost looking like a loincloth while the straps that had gone over her shoulders swung behind like twin tails. "Ice cream?" She asks, her round face lighting up with a smile as her hands her the larger cone.
She lapped at her frozen minty treat happily as they walked back to the bench. The ice cream vendor was still there and she was smiling at seeing the pair enjoying her product.
Yang's stomach filled her lap as she sat down, covering much of the top half of her coveralls but she paid that no mind as she ate her ice cream, remembering that she hadn't had dinner tonight. Apparently, neither had Denko as their stomachs rumbled together for something more than what they were having now. Yet the pair sat closer together than they had before, pressing hip to soft hip and basking in the comfortable warmth the other provided.
When Yang reached the cone itself, she leaned against Denko's shoulder. The unexpected touch startled him for a moment before he leaned into her, feeling her plump arm molding against his own.
"Denko?"
"Hm?"
"I have a few questions for you."
"I'm listening."
"Um… it's kind of embarrassing but it's been getting on the minds of a lot of girls lately." She took a bite from the cone and savoring the mint flavor with the sweet crunch. She could feel his attention focused on her even if he was eating his own cone. "Um… what would you do if I got too fat to move? If they don't find a way to stop this?" Her free hand rubs her stomach, the pale orb was soft enough to give into her light touch.
Denko thinks as he takes another bite. "For one, it would be pretty easy to keep track of you if you get that big." He responds. Once again, her head whips towards him in surprise of his answer. "What? Think I'd leave you over a bit of fat?" He laughs as he pats her exposed belly and feels how smooth and soft it is as it ripples under his hand, even rubbing it a little to make her shake. Her own hand clamping down onto his and pinning it where it was.
"If you're gonna do that, do it like this." She guides his hand in circles across her belly and pressing it hard enough to press into the flesh but light enough to move without pulling her gut around with it. The boys face turned red as this was unexpected but far from unpleasant. Yang was in a similar situation as she found herself relishing his touch, his hand was tough from years of combat training yet soft on her flesh. The balance of gentle strength that the boy had made her feel things that she hadn't before.
"So… what else did you want to ask?" Denko manages to get out, still allowing his hand to rub the girl as she desired.
She ate her cone to buy herself some time and finding the chocolate at the bottom that had mixed with the melting mint to create a soupy treat that she loved. She tipped the wafer back to drain it before munching on the container that was still coated with chocolate. "Do you… want to go to the dance with me?"
Denko finished his cone and scratched the back of his head. "Um, sure. But…" He saw her eyes shine with joy. "You know I don't dance."
"Well… maybe you'll be able to learn really quick by watching the others." She offers with a smile. "Besides, I'm supposed to be playing hostess so I don't know how much dancing I'll be able to do anyway."
"Oh, yeah." He'd forgotten that she was helping to finish setting the dance up.
"But I'm sure we'll have fun together when we can." Her head rested on his shoulder now and allowing herself to relax, smiling when she felt him lean into her. The comfort they felt was amazing after such a long and emotional day.
The moment was disturbed by their stomachs growling for something more, something substantial. The roars loud enough for the other to hear and sending them into a fit of giggles.
"We really are in sync, aren't we?" Yang says with a bright smile as she rubs her belly in an attempt to soothe it after teasing it with the ice cream.
"I guess so. What was your last question anyway?" He had to ask.
Yang stands up and puts her coveralls on correctly and hiding most of her belly behind it, though the large patches of skin under her orange tank were still very visible from the side. Denko stretched his back next to her with his arms held high as he did so. Apparently, he took too long doing so because Yang had finished adjusting her clothes and waited for the right time so when his arms dropped, she took his right arm and wrapped it around her thick waist, tucking his hand into the waist of her coveralls to settle on a love handle that spilled over her shorts.
Once again, he momentarily went stiff in surprise at the touching but quickly relaxed into her soft warm embrace, especially when she held his waist with her left to keep them close. "I was going to ask if you wanted to go out for dinner but I think no matter what our heads say we've been overruled." She giggles as she feels his gut rumble under her hand with hers echoing soon after.
"I think that's a given. Know anything that's still open at this hour?"
"Yeah, Pizza Shack is open until midnight and its fairly close. Let's grab Bumblebee and we can be filling our bellies with good food in a few minutes."
A twenty-minute walk through the woods later they had reached where Yang had parked her bike and they stood by the yellow machine as Yang retrieved her helmet. Moments later they had mounted the bike but she had yet to start the engine, Denko was about to ask what was wrong when the girl twisted at the waist enough to give him a kiss on the cheek before turning back to drive away. Denko had gone stiff once more, though this time lasted much longer. Thankfully, he was already holding onto Yang like when they had ridden to Vale so she didn't have to worry about him falling off.
Both of them had wide smiles as they rode off in search of pizza.
AN: As emotional as this was, we left off with a cliffhanger and a happy ending. Don't worry, the next chapter will be dealing with what the White Fang are about to do with Blake and Sun. I do hope that I've managed to make the conversations with Yang and Denko seem real enough, even hinting at his own past- something we'll get to eventually. Heck, even another hint towards his semblance without really giving anything away... I love being subtle like that.
If anyone is interested in seeing art for this story, it can be found on my DA page. I've even included the images into the chapter I've posted there to emphasize the scenes. The profile pic for this story has been changed to match the contents and provide a nice visual for what's happening here now.
I should be able to get the next chapter posted soon, this chapter was delayed by having to deal with life and family- kind of fitting with how this chapter was.
Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome to help me find and correct things that I might have missed in editing or even providing ideas for little side bits.