Big Issues

AN: Thanks to everyone who follows and reads this story. This chapter is gonna be another emotional one... might want to get your tissues ready if you're sensitive. Sadly, this is gonna be light in comparison to some of the things I have planned in the future of this fic. Fair warning.

Trying to Relax

Blake practically dragged Sun to the Bullhead landing pads where they got a ride down to Vale. They traveled in silence; Blake mostly focused on her restaurant of choice while Sun was simply content to let her lead. Upon landing, they exited the small station and began walking… until Sun stopped her with a hand on her shoulder.

"What is it?" She was broken from her thoughts of all the fish she could get from Sun's wallet. She may have felt some guilt from those thoughts but her love of seafood had pushed that to the side, until she faced him and the guilt came rushing to the forefront.

"Um." He releases her shoulder in favor of scratching the back of his head. "I was wondering if you'd like to see what I wanted to show you before or after lunch? I mean, we're not far from it now."

Once again, he was letting her decide what she wanted to do. When she was with Adam, she always found herself following whatever he said to do. It may have been because he had been a friend at first, an older boy who she bonded with over their shared desire to see the status of the faunus change. Then he became a mentor, he was older and a natural warrior, quickly proving himself as a fast learner of the sword. He was able to defeat the trainers within the White Fang within a few short years, even crafting his own weapons- Wilt and Blush- to make himself even more formidable. It was him who began to teach her when she showed interest in swordplay. She constructed Gambol Shroud under his tutelage and from the craftsmen from the Fang. During that time, they had become something more than friends or student and teacher… they weren't lovers but they were well on their way.

But at the same time, he'd slowly become more violent with how he dealt with those who attacked the people he protected. First, he'd be rough with them, then he'd leave them with severe wounds… it wasn't long until he'd leave them with life-threatening injuries and had no remorse. Then he'd kill, at first saying that it was self-defense, then claiming he was left without choice, then he wouldn't even try to give an excuse. She had finally had enough on that train when he wanted to kill everyone on board, workers and passengers alike.

The violence hadn't been limited to his enemies, just as slowly but steadily as his willingness to hurt their enemies grew, his tendencies had turned to his allies. Tough love was how it was normally called within the caravans and camps. Many of the brothers and Sisters had been through worse than a simple slap, punch, or push and so quickly considered it a normal thing. That acceptance of violence as part of the everyday culture with the groups may have helped to hone her skills and build her tolerance for pain, but it was hard to ignore that what once were friendly jabs to get a buddy moving to do their share of work had become full out punches that could lay a man out if they weren't ready for it.

To Blake, they truly had become the violent monsters that the rest of the world saw them as. Just another reason that she had left the organization, another reason of her desire to change them back to their peaceful roots, to work to the ideals that the White Fang had once stood for. Things she had no idea where to really start, nothing beyond stopping that attacks that the White Fang instigated like at the docks and in Mountain Glenn.

But now, she had someone looking to her for direction, valuing her judgment. He wasn't shy about pointing out the flaws in what she said but he was more than willing to listen to what she said. It was… new to her. Even with her own team she was the quiet one, only offering her opinions when asked- outside of her little outbursts when the White Fang was involved and the team began their investigation that culminated with their clues leading to Mountain Glenn.

With her team, she was the one to follow Ruby's directions without hesitation. Whether that was a holdover from her time with Adam or the genuine trust in the girl with such a pure soul, she couldn't say but she believes that it might be a bit of both. Weiss was always the one to critique Ruby's plans and Yang would throw in her own ideas at times with the full admission that she wasn't a leader but she wasn't going to blindly follow either.

But the fact that he was looking to her and wanted to know her opinions, willing to do what she wanted… it was almost like when she was still with her parents as a little kid again. His expectant expression didn't help her much but did remind her that she'd become absorbed with her thoughts again. But with such bright people around her, Ruby, Yang, Sun… how and why should she keep herself in the darkness of the past? That's part of the reason she came to Beacon in the first place.

"Uh… is it on the way? The place is a few blocks that way." She points down the road.

Sun traced the path and compared it to his own mental map of the city. He grins. "It can be, we only need to go a block that way and we'll pass it on the way to lunch." He points to his right to an intersection.

"Alright. Let's see this surprise of yours." Blake relents and allows him to lead her, though he simply walked by her side rather than making her follow.

A few minutes of walking and threading their way through pedestrian foot traffic, Sun stopped outside of a store that looked fairly busy. Actually, it was several businesses side by side that seemed to have a lot of people moving from one to the next.

"Is it normally this busy here?" As much as the crowds reminded her of home, she still wasn't a social person.

"It's the weekend, of course it is!" Sun informs her proudly; he didn't mind that it reminded him of home back in Vacuo… if one would ignore that most back home would close up shop during the noon hours to avoid the heat.

"So… what is it that you wanted to show me?" Her curiosity was high at the moment but that fighting against her desire for fish.

Sun didn't say anything but he did loosely take her wrist and guided her into the central store. Inside, her eyes went wide, and not just to adjust to the lack of bright sunshine. It was a library… a book store to be more accurate.

"Welcome to Tukson's Book Trade, home to every book under the sun." A woman greets them from behind the counter.

Blake found herself looking around, her love of literature captivating and forcing her to at least give the place a look over. It wasn't hard to notice the comics near the entrance, plenty of books meant for younger kids were on display on the shelves between the entrance and the desk. To the left she could see the small signs displaying that the shelves were full of books geared towards education, history, atlases, biographies, Dust application, biology… she was sure that Weiss would love that side. Ruby would likely be found at the comics or kids' section. To her right was the fiction section. Everything from fantasy, young adult novels (she made a mental note to check it out more thoroughly), she could likely get lost in here despite the small size of the store that still managed to hold hundreds of books on its shelves.

A customer at the desk moved away with her purchase and Blake saw a picture sitting next to a jar with a small sign on it. Looking closer, she found the man in the picture to be familiar, a kind face that somehow looked stern anyway with distinct sideburns and dark brown hair and hazel eyes. 'Tukson?' The name rang in her head as the face stirred up memories.

"Tukson? What happened to him?" She asks the clerk, who suddenly became saddened. Blake saw that and began to feel guilty for asking.

"He was killed." The clerk responds and Blake could feel her ears lay flat under her bow. "Right here in this store, his store. He never did anything wrong to anyone." There was clear anger in her tone, directed solely at the man's murderers.

"I think I remember him, talking with my father before." Blake says quietly but the clerk heard her.

"You knew Tukson?" She seemed happy to find someone who knew him.

"I, uh… it's been years since…"

"Ah, you knew him from his time in the White Fang then." She didn't seem to be worried about his past. She saw the amber eyes going wide and start to dart around looking for exits. "Don't worry dear, I know not everyone in the White Fang has gone down the path of violence. We know he left when they began to go down that path."

"You don't care?"

"All I care about was that a good man who didn't want violence anywhere was murdered in his own shop. For the ones who would do such a thing… I wouldn't mind seeing them strung up." The clerk says with such conviction that her words left no doubt that they were the truth.

Blake looked to the jar and saw that there were some lien cards inside and the small sign on it said that they were for funds to send to his family back in Vacuo along with a portion of the profits from the bookstore.

"We've been keeping this place open since things were cleaned up in his memory. It also happens to be the best place for books in Vale and a good place to relax from the rest of the shopping strip." The clerk answers the unasked question.

Blake wandered off into the isles to browse the selection silently. The clerk looks to Sun expectantly.

"I'm with her, thought that coming here would help her with some things she's been going through." He says calmly but didn't go after her.

"Looks like its working." She smiles as Blake returns with three books in her hands a few minutes later. Blake paid for them and dropped a card in the jar.

Outside, they began a slow walk to the restaurant. "How did you find out about this?" Blake could barely be heard over the murmur of the crowds but Sun was paying her attention, expecting the question.

"Found the file while working with the detectives. Burns is still trying to crack the case but clues have dried up. Checked things out and saw that there were humans keeping a faunus' legacy alive because they respected him." He could see her bow twitch when he spoke. "I thought that you'd like to see that there has been some progress with the original White Fang's goals."

They walked in silence for a block. "Thank you." It was faint but he heard it. He smiled at the words but it was wiped away just as fast when he saw her crying, leaving a small trail behind them.

"Are you okay? If you're upset, we could just go back to Beacon."

As always, his genuine concern touched her and the tears flowed more freely. The books she hugged to her chest were pulled tighter.

"Blake?" He asks, guiding her out of the middle of the sidewalk to the entrance of an alleyway. She didn't say anything as she buried her face into his shoulder and cried. The relief that some of the White Fang's original purpose was being fulfilled. The frustration that one of her fathers' friends had been murdered. The anger that his killer hadn't been caught. The joy that Tukson had such great friends to look after his shop and family after his death… she simply had to let it out, thankful that she had someone with her who wouldn't judge her for it. He'd been the one who revealed so much to her that she needed to see for herself with clear eyes.

Passersby were missed by the chubby girl and anyone who stared too long were glared at by the taller boy. Sun kept his hands to rubbing her shoulders, something he found relaxed her during this ordeal. But he also knew that she needed this. It brought her some closure on some things, it may have raised some concerns in others, and relief with yet more things. But it was needed for her.

As much as their stomachs demanded that they sit and relax for the rest of the day after being stuffed to the brim, it was in their nature to keep moving. So, they only rested an hour to let their stomachs have their way with their food before the four younger occupants of the house went outside for some fresh air and exercise. Yang hadn't been able to touch her toes for a while with so much padding in front of her, the fullness from the meal didn't help her forward flexibility.

Ruby was in much of the same predicament, even with less around her middle compared to her sister. Didn't stop either one from reaching as far as they could and making up for it by putting their feet high on a tree trunk and leaning in to stretch their legs. This wound up making the girls doing nearly vertical splits. Stretching their backs was comparatively easier as they could both arch their backs to touch their hands to the ground, though Denko and Itazura trying to walk around in that position made the sisters laugh enough to fall.

A few more stretches that would make most cringe with their intensity were performed before Tai walked out the door, stretching his arms over his head. "Hey Denko!" He shouts, catching the younger mans' attention. "I know the girls aren't gonna be doing any really big spars but I wanna see if you've been slacking since you left the island."

The challenge was laid out.

"You'd be surprised." Denko smirks as he settles into his ready stance with his hands raised and curled but open, legs spread and he bounced on the balls of his feet.

"Maybe, but I know I never taught you everything I know. Didn't teach her everything either." He nods his head to his blonde daughter who huffs with a smile as she crosses her arms.

"Then maybe I'll force you to use them. I might learn something new from you, Professor." Denko was ready for anything his old teacher would throw at him. He had taught and refined his unarmed combat skills during his time at Signal.

"Watch and learn kid." Tai rushes in with a quick series of punches that were deflected and dodged before the older fighter jumped for a roundhouse kick to Denko's head that was avoided. The younger fighter had to jump back as Tai twisted his body in midair to bring his fist down where his head was moments earlier. Tai moved with the kinetic energy he had, jumping as soon as he hit the ground for another spinning kick that Denko had to retreat from. The backhand that followed struck his armguards with enough force to slide him backwards in the grass.

"Not bad, old man." Denko grins as he shakes his arms out briefly before jumping at the older blonde, his right hand flicking out at the top of his head. The strike to his crown was blocked but Denko flexed his elbow immediately and his elbow stuck Tai's cheek before Denko's knee contacted his stomach. Tai was pushed back by the unusual attack, though he smiled.

"Not bad, the first is yours. But that's all you're getting." A second later, the blondes were back at it. The girls were content to stand back and watch.

"It's nice to see dad so excited again." Ruby says to no one in particular.

"Yeah, it is." Yang replies. She was really fighting the itch to jump in there and make it a three-way fight. A gurgle from her belly reminded her of why she was hesitating, that and adding herself to the mix might make things go beyond a simple spar and hamper her performance in the tournament.

"Don't worry about it, I'm recording this for you." Itazura was true to her word with her scroll up and capturing the fight.

"Yeah! Get him dad!" Ruby shouts as Tai throws Denko over his shoulder.

"You got this Big Guy!" Yang cheers on Denko as he rolls to his feet and clocks Tai in the jaw.

"This will go on for a while." Itazura mutters as she follows the fighters.

"So… this is how you like to relax?" Neptune asks Weiss as she sits in the library working on homework. Technically, it wasn't even homework beyond what Weiss had created for herself and working on that.

"I like to be prepared for anything." Was the simple answer as she reviewed the page in the history book. She frowned at the aftermath of the Faunus War, the fact that the species had been 'granted' a large island, practically a small continent, after centuries of persecution… she found that rather insulting. Degradation within a compliment. The fact that Menagerie only had a third of its land habitable for most, the rest being desert that made Vacuo look inviting. 'Looks like something that Father would do.' She thinks to herself.

While Neptune thought of himself as an intellectual and could back it up most of the time, creating homework for yourself was never something that he ever thought of doing. Mostly because he believed that he went above and beyond with his normal homework. It certainly made Sun look bad in comparison who would do the bare minimum of the papers. Still, he sat at the table with Weiss reading a book of his own, one about the mole crabs of Vacuo.

"Keep your shield up Jaune!" Pyrrha coaches as she watches the boys of her team spar.

The blonde raised his shield in time to deflect one of Stormflower being thrown at him like a boomerang. The green submachine gun rebounded back to the ninja and he slashed at the knight with both blades. Jaune managed to catch them on his blade and was glad that he had greater physical strength than Ren as he tried to lower the barrels to be effective, emphasis on tried. Jaune pushed back, a sweep of his blade forced Ren to let go of the gun in his left hand before charging him with his shield up.

Ren leapt onto the shield and over Jaune, retrieving his weapon as he landed and rolled to his feet. Immediately firing into Jaune's back, staggering the recovering blonde and bringing him to his knees before he twisted and got his shield between them.

The boys had been going at it for some time. Probably the only reason Jaune was keeping up with Ren right now was the sheer amount of aura he had in the first place, allowing him to take the ninjas attacks. But Ren had to work for the attacks that did land, taking a few in the process.

"Alright! That's enough!" Pyrrha calls out and ending the match, the boys lowered their weapons as they caught their breaths.

"Good job guys!" Nora loops an arm over their necks to give them a hug in her own way. It didn't help that she was so short that the hefty girl was held off the ground until the tired boys were pulled down until the weight was off their necks.

"Yes, very well done. We keep that up and we should have little trouble in the tournament." Pyrrha proudly declares… or at least as proudly as she would allow herself to sound.

"Time for a snack!" Nora pulls out a cookie that she'd saved from lunch.

"Nora!" Her three teammates yell as she stuffs the whole thing in her mouth.

After Blake had calmed down, she led the way to the restaurant she wanted to go to. Sun may have had his white shirt slightly stained by tears, eyeshadow, and maybe a little snot. Yet he didn't mind, he'd been dirtier before and the situation was far different. He did notice that Blake walked a little closer to him, occasionally bumping shoulders. That may have been because of the foot traffic being a little denser in the area, or that Blake trusted him a bit more, or a combination of both.

Then again, he shouldn't have been surprised that she had led him to a seafood place. Having her favorite foods should help her feel better, it may also distract her a bit so she could process what she'd learned with a clearer mind later. He'd experienced his own share of grief before, Vacuo had plenty to give every day and it had become a part of the culture to deal with it quickly and move on to keep yourself and others alive.

The waiter sat them in the corner, whether that was a subtle form of discrimination or noticing that they could use some privacy, he couldn't say. If the former, he didn't care. If the later, he was grateful. The menus provided revealed that the prices were reasonable and he found that he liked the thought of chicken and shrimp alfredo. Blake found the 'Treasures of the Sea' selection that offered helpings of nearly everything they had on the menu, in smaller portions than standard. But they found that it would be easier on his wallet than if she would order the full-size meals until she was either full or they ran out of money to pay. When it came to Blake and her appetite for fish, it was a coin toss.

As expected, when their orders came around, Blake was practically in another world. Part of it was her obsession with seafood, part of it was her trying to drown her feelings in food. It may not be the best way to deal with the way she was feeling, but she did have a limiter beyond her stomach capacity. Sun would take a sample off of nearly every plate brought to her, though he let her try his dish in return. But he kept a running tally on how many platefuls she ate.

Maybe it was a good thing that he had taken a few moments back on the docks last semester to pick the wallets of some of the grunts before the police arrived. It was rather easy to do as he helped to gather them up to keep them from running. It wasn't very much per person but it added up. He hadn't spent much of the lien gathered from that night but it looked like at least most of it was going to vanish into Blake's belly today.

About an hour later, the faunus left the restaurant with full bellies and a much emptier wallet. Blake was cradling her stomach, stuffed to capacity and straining her vest button. Which left Sun to carry the books she bought at Tukson's Book Trade. He followed her into a small patch of greenery that was little more than a city block reserved for the plant life. A couple trees, plenty of flowers, and some bushes were a welcome change from the buildings.

"Mind if we rest for a bit? I think I ate too much." She seemed embarrassed for even asking but she was obviously uncomfortable.

"No problem! Wanna read one of these?" He holds up the books as she plops down by a tree that shaded her face but let the sun reach the rest of her body.

"Thanks." She chooses one of them and settles back against the tree with Gambol Shroud set next to her and glad that her outfit had a metal plate on the back so she didn't have to deal with the bark digging into her soft back. She was curious that Sun sat down next to her to lean on the tree as well with one of the books open in his hands.

"What?" He asks once he noticed her staring at him, her eyes flicking between him and the book.

"I, I guess I never took you for a reader."

Sun's eyes went wide at her comment. "Well… it's not something I do all the time but I do read for fun sometimes."

"And not just comics?"

"Hey, those are usually pretty well written and there's some where the artist and writer are the same person. That takes talent." Sun defended, prompting Blake to giggle at his enthusiastic defense. They settled into a comfortable silence as they read in the warm sunlight, the heat helping to settle her stomach and the contents of the books drew them in.

Dinner was light at the Xiao Long- Rose household and its occupants were all showered by sunset. A movie was watched in the living room, a cheesy action flick that kept them entertained until Ruby began nodding off. Thankfully, the movie was almost over and they let it finish.

"Think you can carry her up to bed?" Tai asks his older daughter as he gathers up the bowls used for popcorn.

"Yeah, I'll get her." The blonde easily lifts her sister into her arms while Denko tosses Itazura over his shoulder as she wasn't much better than Ruby.

"I'll get the door." He offers as he walks ahead with his lighter load.

It took some maneuvering for the plump girls to make it up the stairs without running into anything hard enough to wake the sleeping reaper. Yang lay her sister in her bed after Denko pulled the sheets back and covered the girl up to her chest. Yang noted that the sheets would have to be untucked a bit to account for their larger bodies if they wanted to be covered up. Itazura had already wrapped herself up on her bed on the floor.

"Guess I'll see ya in the morning." Yang says as the boy walks to the door.

"Let's have some fun and spar after breakfast." He offers as he reaches the door.

"You're on! Oh, and maybe we take a walk through town, see what's changed while we've been gone. Gotta catch up with Iris too."

"Alright. See ya tomorrow." He closes the door behind him on his way to his own room. Looking around, he could tell it was barely used at all by the lack of decorations. He didn't even plan on using the nightstand for more than setting his scroll there to serve as his alarm.

He did remove the cotton bands from his wrists and ankles, exposing his scars to the cool night air. Out of habit, he inspected the skin and saw that despite the time that had passed since he got them, the flesh still looked raw. The skin had grown back since he was freed from the orphanage but the marks remained. There were very few people he was willing to let see them, let alone touch the scars. Most of them happened to be in the house with him. Those scars were the major reason as to why he wore the armor on his limbs; a form of mental comforting that he'd developed over the years, starting back when Yang had given him those bands the first day they met.

The armor not only gave him some comfort from the eyes of others staring at the marks and things hitting the sensitive skin, but kept the world from harming them further. Of course, he'd managed to expand on the use of the armor to assist in his combat style. But the primary function was still the same. It was a crutch of sorts, he knew that quite well, but he wasn't going to give that up any time soon… he was too scarred inside and out.

At least the bed was comfortable and clean. He was out in minutes.

Yang woke up to find that everything was still dark. Looking around her room, she wished she was a faunus but could easily see the lump on the other bed that was her sister. Between their beds, Itazura was still snoozing, her earpiece charging on the nightstand next to the lamp. Any noise in the house outside of an explosion wouldn't wake the fox right now.

But years of being the 'mother' of the house had given her a feeling for when things are wrong within its walls. Straining her ears, she heard the rustling of sheets, the squeaking of a bed, and groans. One of the men in her life wasn't sleeping peacefully but there was no way she'd be able to herself without at least finding out who. She slipped out of bed as silently as she could, avoiding all of the noisy floorboards with practiced ease, though her weight helped her find new ones that she never knew about.

Out in the hallway, she heard the groans again and ruled out her father. She was glad that his episodes were spacing themselves out further and further. The last one she knew of happened over a year ago but if he had any while they were at Beacon… he apparently had been able to recover well enough on his own. The dreams of Summer and even Raven would occasionally haunt him at night, far better than when she was younger and he'd been wrapped up in his grief and could barely do anything on his own. Sometimes simply sitting in his chair and staring at the wall for hours… as disturbing as it was, she had gotten used to it. It was why she had to learn to cook, clean, and do other housework when most kids would be in school.

Maybe it was a good thing that the sounds weren't coming from her dad's room, she really didn't want to try to snap him out of when she was still so tired.

That left the only other occupant of the house… and Zwei didn't make these sounds.

Opening the guestroom door, she found Denko struggling in his bed, tangles in the sheets, and obviously having a very bad nightmare given the way he was thrashing. She crossed the room and grabbed hold of the sheets that were wrapped tight around his legs and right arm and tried to loosen them, but his struggles made it difficult. Especially when his fist contacted her head and made her see stars. She stumbled back and shook the lights from her vision, activating her aura for the protection and to help heal the lump she could already feel growing.

Once more, she marched over and found that his thrashing had revealed a corner of the sheet wrapping him up, so she wasted no time and grabbing it while blocking his flailing arm. Yang yanked on the cloth, spinning the boy in the bed. She pushed him back before he fell off and pulled again, having to repeat the process once more before he was freed. Yet he was still locked in his nightmare.

"Grelod! No!" His first coherent words were yelled and he seemed to shrink into himself, curling into a fetal position and crying. Her heart broke as she watched him sob in his sleep, not sure that she wanted to know what he was dreaming about but she had a pretty good idea. She could see the sweat over his body as he was only wearing a pair of shorts, but without the covers he began to shiver.

Yang let out a sigh as she readied herself for what she was going to do, she hadn't done this in years. She lay on the bed and covered them both in the sheets, pulling him to face her, feeling him stretch his legs as he rolled. She pulled him close, ignoring the sweat, so he was within her embrace. Her natural warmth and care seemed to calm him quickly enough, maybe it helped that she was so soft. She smiled as he began to relax, his arms moving to hold her while he was still asleep, his head on her shoulder.

Yang began to hum a song that always worked with Ruby… one that she'd learned from Summer. Then she couldn't stop herself from softly singing some of the words. "Don't you worry about the dark. I will light up the night with the love in my heart. I will burn like the sun and keep you safe and warm." A tear ran down her face as she remembered her adoptive mother, the one she considers her true mother, singing the song to her when she had a bad day or dreams. "Like the smell of a rose on a summers day, I will be there to take all your fears away, with a touch of my hand I will turn your life to gold."

There was so much that she missed about Summer Rose, the one woman in her short life that was taken from her and Ruby. Before her own blood child could really get to know her, only knowing her mother from stories and pictures. The things that she had done for her girls when they were young, the things that they could have done when they were older… puberty probably could have gone easier for sure. How would Summer have reacted to Denko and Itazura coming to their house all those years ago? Yang would bet on welcoming them with open arms and would visit them everyday at their home at Signal whenever she wasn't on a mission.

"When the days turn dark, and we start to fall. I will pick you up and we will fix it all." There was so much that she had missed out on her childhood but having Denko and Itazura around helped her broken family. Someone else who relied and looked up to them. The trust was earned by their actions and their loyalty was absolute because of it. It wasn't that long ago that the man in her arms had helped her when she was feeling her lowest in years, needing to vent her frustrations in a way that didn't cause property damage… again. Now she was repaying the favor.

"Close your eyes, don't you cry. Loves around you, in time you'll fly." She hummed the rest of the song, smiling that he'd fully calmed down now and was fully relaxed.

"Yang?" She heard him murmur. Looking down she watched as his eyes opened, confused as to why she was in his bed.

"You were having a nightmare, woke me up in my room." She tells him, his blue eyes going wide at the revelation before looking away in shame, the flighting memories of the dream passing through his mind.

"Sorry."

She squeezed him in their awkward hug. "There's nothing to be sorry about. We can't help what happens in our dreams." She released him to allow the older blonde to lay flat on his back. Then she rolled over on him, her large soft belly flowing over his hips, propping her right arm on his chest to look at him properly, her left crossing over his chest to rest her hand on her right arm. "You know, it would be bad if dad walked in on us like this." She jokes.

Denko smiles at the idea as he reaches up to wipe at the tear streak on her face. "Maybe."

Yang drops her head onto his chest and wraps her arms around him. "I could get used to this, you're comfy."

Denko gives a quick laugh as her hair tickled his bare skin. "Coming from the giant plushy?" He squeezes her belly a bit until she laughs.

"Just get some sleep, we have a big day tomorrow." She tiredly orders.

A few seconds pass, becoming an awkward silence. "Aren't you going to bed?" Denko asks, unsure of what to do.

"I'm in a bed, I found a good spot, and I'm tired. Consider this your punishment for waking me up." She only moved her mouth, not even bothering to open her eyes- not that he could see them if she did.

Denko resigned himself to his fate of having his arguably best friend sleeping on him. One that was nearly three hundred pounds and very soft and very strong. One that had two large lumps pressing into his torso with a much larger lump spread over his hips. He just had to hope he didn't have a certain reaction greet them when he woke up again. He wasn't sure how she'd take it, especially if she stayed as she was.

'It this is what she considers punishment, what did she consider all the times she's punched me in training? Or what she'd consider a reward?'

The sound of her soft breathing, the slow pumping of her lungs on his chest, the feeling of her heartbeat, the warmth of her body against his, and how soft her skin is… he found it difficult to stay awake for long.

Team JNPR were sleeping soundly in their beds, successful training and workout had tired them out reasonably and a small but filling dinner gave them what they needed to sleep, especially when Ren used his scroll to play some calming sounds of wildlife in the forests.

In Team DAIT's room, the sisters had no issues with sleep finding them. They had spent the day monitoring Itazura's program in the CCT, watching as it kept trying to track down a certain user that would disappear just before they could be identified. But the fox program was adaptable and had found ways around the layers of firewalls that protected the unusual user. It was only a matter of time and the more they used the CCT, the more opportunities the fox had to track them to their den.

Team RWBY's room was quiet… mostly. Weiss lay in her bed with her hair flowing free as she normally did at night. Blake was still very invested in her new book and only had a chapter to finish, her natural night vision helping her read the text without disturbing her teammate. Yet her ears twitched from the sound above her.

The two girls appreciated the sentiments of the sisters of trying to make it seem like they were still in the room with the lumps of blankets and pillows in their rough shapes on their beds, but someone had recorded Yang snoring and put that in the lump while Ruby's lump would occasionally mumble something about cookies, strawberries, or weapons.

In short, it was almost like they were still here. But how did anyone record the girls?

Back on Patch, a certain fox sneezed in her sleep before curling up and hugging her fluffy tail closer to herself.

AN: Just one more filler chapter until the tournament begins. And boy do I have a surprise for you all with that one! I had written more for that chapter before starting this one since the last update... either that's just me being silly or how hard I'm working on this fic to be writing multiple chapters at once. Then again, I have full scenes planned out in my head for much later in this series, a lot of which I'm sure you'll enjoy!

Until then, reviews are welcome! Let me know if I'm taking them out of character, if you're enjoying the extra context I'm adding to things, their thoughts and actions... Still have plenty of surprises to come and I'm not afraid of a little criticism or making things from bright and happy to dark and grim and back again.