Chapter 63
I just... I don't understand.
Why?
It isn't fair.
It never is, of course.
It's just one long drawn out 'unfair'.
I just wanted it to be okay.
But then it wasn't.
Everything went wrong.
And there was nothing I could do.
Why?
Why did you do this to me?
I don't know.
I had to.
It was inevitable.
You caused it.
It's your fault.
It's always your fault.
My fault?
Yes.
All I said was no.
I know.
Then how is it my fault?
It just is.
I don't understand.
You did this to me.
I didn't want to.
It hurt.
You hurt me.
I didn't mean to.
And I didn't mean to either.
Then you wouldn't have done it.
Wrong.
What do you mean 'wrong'?
You caused it.
No!
It's your fault.
I don't want it to be!
And now she's dead.
How is that my fault too?!
You let her go.
Stop!
You know I'm not going to.
I know.
She's gone and it's your fault.
Please stop.
It's your fault.
Please!
It's your fault.
...
"Ruby?"
Her spoon fell from her hand into the bowl.
"Huh?"
"Hun, you've been staring at your cereal for like, ten minutes. You feelin' okay?"
Shaking her head and grabbing her spoon again, she shovelled another spoonful of soggy cereal into her mouth.
"Yeah, I'm fine. Sorry, I spaced out."
Yang didn't seem convinced, giving her a weary look as she stood up from the table. Ruby ate quietly, finishing her dull and miserable raisin-bran in a matter of moments. The early morning sunlight beaded down on her through the pane glass, which had fogged up from the chilly morning air. Her borrowed hoodie did wonders to keep her warm, however, as Yang had run it through the dryer for her just before she got up. She cast her eyes over to said sister, who was busy scrubbing a few dishes they had left in the sink the night before. Catching her eye, Yang smiled.
"Sorry you couldn't have omelettes three days in a row, hun. We ran out of eggs yesterday."
"S'okay."
Yang sighed, her shoulders drooping dramatically.
"Oh, Ruby. You're gonna make me come over there, aren't you?"
Ruby slunk down into her chair a little more.
"No."
Another deep sigh came forward as Yang unclipped her brush and reattached her hand, strolling over to the table. Two very muscular and tanned arms wrapped themselves around her head, squeezing her with all the force in seemingly the world. Try as she may, Ruby couldn't escape any deeper into her hoodie, even if she kinda didn't want to. Yang's hugs were the best anyway. Relenting and sighing herself, she gave in and let the mechanical grip of her sister embrace her.
It was nice that Yang was so eager to cuddle her recently. Especially after...well, the hospital visit. Yang's hugs had gone from aggressive and sisterly 'I'm bigger and badder than you' to more a gentle and motherly 'everything's going to be just fine' in just a few days. Even just this very morning, she had awaken to find the tall blonde in her bed with her, making sure she was warm and comfortable. Well, maybe on the bed would be more a fitting description. Yang had climbed onto the bed and draped her arm over her, covering herself with the wool blanket from the living room couch. It had been a welcome surprise.
Following this and the warm sweater thing, Ruby definitely found herself feeling a little better than she had when she had arrived back at home a few days prior. The annoying voice in her head had gotten louder, however. That was something she didn't want to have to deal with. Not now, and not ever. Not that she could ever ask for help, of course.
Yang planted another of her semi-aggressive smooches on the top of her head before collecting her now-empty bowl of yucky cereal and skipping back to the kitchen, her bountiful blonde locks bouncing after her. Ruby watched her go in a distracted state, still not fully awake yet. Maybe a little fresh air would help. Her attention was grabbed by Yang dropping the bowl in the sink.
"Right! You ready to hit the town, Ru-ster?"
What a silly name. It made her smile just a little.
"I guess so."
"Go put some pants on first. It's not lady-like to go out in your pjs."
That garnered a real smirk.
"Since when do you care about 'lady-like', Yang?"
"Since I have a little sister who needs a new wardrobe. Besides, I don't often get to go shopping with another girl."
Ruby stood up, brushing her lap off. She looked down at her current outfit. Yellow hoodie, white pyjama pants. She frowned. It didn't seem like she needed a new wardrobe. This was good enough for her.
"What are you talking about, this is fine. I like my jammies."
Yang smirked at her.
"Yeah sure, but they're too small."
Ruby looked down at her legs again.
"What? No they're not!"
Yang stopped milling around the kitchen, levelling a look over her way. Ruby unconsciously recoiled into her hoodie again.
"What?"
Yang let the smirk grow on her face, raising an eyebrow. She picked up two cantaloupes out of the fruit bowl on the counter, holding them in her hands.
"Ruby. Honey. I can see the curves of your ass. They're too small."
Yang held the fruits as one might grab another's butt. Ruby rolled her eyes in her sister's direction, turning and walking out of the kitchen in a huff, hearing Yang giggle at her as she walked away. What did she know, anyway. The rose-covered pyjamas were fine. Fine! Just because they were a little tight didn't mean they were too small and couldn't be worn anymore.
"And don't forget your socks!"
Ruby scoffed back over her shoulder, strutting down the narrow hallway back to her room. With a dramatic flick of her wrist, she shut the bedroom door behind her. Her back hit the door and she slid down it with a sigh, lamenting over nothing in particular. Aside from the interjection by her own thoughts, the morning had gone relatively well, which was a fair change from the previous few days. The previous morning had sucked. Really sucked. She had woken up in a cold sweat after a hideous nightmare which she still remembered as clear as day. It had been about Kayaba Forest again.
She unconsciously touched her hands to her shirt, right above the wide and gaping scar. She flinched, wrenching her eyes shut and trying her hardest to forget about the dream. Her hand shook, fingers squeezing down on the fabric of her sweater.
"No."
She whispered to the empty room. Kayaba Forest wasn't going to get to her today. She was an adult, above the weakness of bad dreams. She stood, her legs a little wavering. She hated the weakness she felt anyways. She felt like a child. A child who couldn't even grow up enough to not be affected by goddamned nightmares. She had to brace herself against the wall. Why did it have to be so difficult? Why did she have to be plagues by two separate monsters? And why couldn't she overcome them?
With a huff, she crossed her room to her dresser, yanking open a drawer. Now was not the time to be having an existential crisis. She had more important things to do. Like figure out what to wear for shopping. With her sister.
Normally, the tough blonde wouldn't be seen without her signature plaid jacket and jeans, complimented by deep green rubber boots she wore literally everywhere. Yang also would never shy away from showing just a little skin, whether it be up high or around the midsection. Ruby grabbed a garment stuffed in a lower drawer, a gold-yellow tank top with a flaming heart emblazoned across the front. She turned it over a few times in her fingers. The hand-me-down shirt had once been Yang's pyjama shirt. She didn't quite understand why her sister needed such a...revealing top for sleeping. She tossed it back into a drawer.
She grabbed another shirt, examining it. It was simpler, single colour button-up collared shirt, in a faded blue. She pulled off her hoodie, tossing it in the direction of her laundry hamper, missing by a good few feet. She looked over at the crumpled sweater with a sigh, grabbing yesterday's bra off the top of her dresser and sitting down to put it on. With her breasts now snuggly confined in the slightly-too-tight bra, she pulled the shirt on over her shoulders, fiddling with the cuffs at the end of the slightly-too-long sleeves. Her fingers toyed with the buttons up the front, struggling to get the two done up over her breasts. She frowned down at them. Maybe Yang was right. Maybe she did need a new wardrobe. Everything she owned was either too big or slightly too small.
With such a womanly and muscular figure, none of her clothes actually were made for her anymore, being as she used to have a much thinner and, as much as she hated to say it, juvenile frame. She shivered. Why did she have to have body issues now? With an unenthusiastic grunt, she kicked off her pyjama bottoms and whipped them at her hamper with her foot. This time, they landed square in the plastic bin. She smirked as it did, grabbing a pair of black jeans that sat almost forgotten draped over the headboard. She pulled them on over her muscled legs, relieved for once that they went on without argument, as much of the rest of her clothes did. Buttoning up the pants once seated on her wide hips, she stood up from her bed and moved towards the door.
"Oh, right."
With a sigh, she grabbed a pair of socks out the top of her dresser, fighting them on as she left the room. Her footsteps were now muffled by the cotton, allowing her to glide silently back to the kitchen where her sister was patiently waiting and fiddling around with her Scroll.
"This better?"
She stood at the edge of the kitchen, her arms out, as if to show off her choice of outfits. Yang looked up from her phone, which was playing some video that sounded vaguely like a cooking tutorial. She gave Ruby a quick once-over from across the room, smiling cheerfully and shutting off her Scroll. Ruby gave a little turn on the spot to show off every angle.
"Much! You ready to go?"
Ruby nodded, scratching her ear idly.
"I think so. I got dressed for this, don't tell me you've changed plans and we're gonna stay home or something."
With a laugh, Yang pushed off from the counter and slung her mechanical arm over Ruby's shoulders, guiding her around in a small circle.
"Aw, c'mon now, baby sis! I wouldn't do that to you! Besides! We have some important stuff to get for the house. Seeing as there's now two girls living here, we're gonna need double the girl supplies. You know?"
Ruby nodded. She knew. She didn't have the heart to tell Yang about her little problem just yet.
"Alright, alright, let go of me you big meanie!"
Yang let go with a begrudging groan and an affectionate ruffle of Ruby's fluffy brown mop of hair. They moved towards the front door of the tiny house, past the rows of baby pictures their dad insisted on hanging in the entryway. Grabbing her coat off the skinny rack next to the door and handing Yang her own, she pulled the deep red jacket on over her shoulders, enjoying the feeling of the thick fur collar on her neck. The coat had been a present from Blake, actually, as a parting gift when she moved to Atlas for work. It was the most expensive single piece of clothing she owned, retailing for something to the tune of fifteen hundred lien. It was also the single warmest piece of clothing she owned. Trust a cat faunus to pick the warmest clothing, she figured.
They pushed out into the crisp autumn air, Yang bouncing forward into the front yard. The yard itself was short, only as long as a few rows of sod surrounded by a short waist-high picket fence. Two of the more complete and running cars sat in the laneway, one being the huge, yacht-like Chevron Crusader wagon, and Yang's winter car, a silvery-grey Atlas Syncro hatchback. Ruby frowned at the little grey car as they approached it, watching her sister skip to it, keys in hand.
"Ugh, do we have to take this car?"
Yang paused, key halfway in the lock.
"You gotta problem with my car, Ru?"
Ruby stuck her hands in her pockets, shrugging. There wasn't anything inherently wrong with the Syncro, as it was a compact and effective road dominating machine with its complicated all-wheel-drive and tough suspension. She just didn't like this particular example. At nearly thirty-six years old, the little rally car had become severely deteriorated and tired, like an old couch that refused to be thrown out.
"I dunno, it's just kinda crappy. Don't we own enough cars that we shouldn't have to take this?"
Yang pulled her door open, sliding in and unlatching the passenger door. Ruby opened it and dropped into the other seat. The interior was ripped and faded, and not very many of anything still worked in the car. Not that her sister seemed to care, of course, shrugging herself and turning the small engine into life.
"Nah, this one's fine. Starts on the first crank, see? Besides, what else would we have taken?"
Yang wiggled the gear stick into reverse and dropped the parking brake, reversing rather quickly down the dusty driveway. Ruby grabbed onto the ceiling-mounted handle as Yang spun the wheel and pivoted the car around in a circle, pointing the nose of the car to the street.
"What about the Citizen?"
"Dad took it this morning to bring Zwei to the park, so no."
"The P-150?"
"No registration, no insurance, no licence plates, and probably lethal at highway speeds."
"Dad's other truck?"
Yang pulled the car onto the street.
"Look, let me give you the run-down. The Stallion has no engine, the P-150 is just too broken, the Lazer uses so much gas you might as well just set fire to it, and we certainly can't take the semi just for a jaunt into town."
Ruby pondered for a moment.
"What about the Crusader?"
Yang paused, halfway through putting on her sunglasses.
"This was parked behind it."
Right. Of course.
/.../
The forty minute trip into the small town of Patch was usually an arduous one, normally crammed into the back of their dad's car, religiously adhering to the posted speed limits. With Yang driving, however, that journey was cut in half as the little grey car whisked them into town. Ruby fidgeted with her seatbelt, watching the fence posts whip past her window at nearly a hundred and fifty kilometres per hour. The sign for The Township of Patch, Population 9,000 blinked by, barely giving her the time to read it.
"So we're hittin' up the drugstore first, anything you need special?"
Ruby jumped, not expecting the sudden shout over the wind and road noise. She glanced over at her sister in the driver's seat. Yang had her shades flicked down to the end of her nose and was giving her a questioning look, one hand on the wheel and the other leaned against the windowsill. Ruby blinked idly back at her for a moment, not quite sure what to answer. Yang rolled her eyes at this lack of response, making her furrow her brow.
"I'm not asking you some complex calculus question, Ru-ster. I just wanna know if you need me to get you anything from the drugstore."
Ruby paused, mouth hanging slightly open.
"I don't-"
"So are you a hidden protection, or a padded softness kinda girl?"
Ruby frowned. She didn't like where this conversation was going.
"What do you mean, Yang."
Her sister slid her shades back up, slowing the car as they neared the town.
"You know. Are you a cup and caress or invade and conquer sort of p-"
"Yang."
"Oh for god's sake, pads or tampons, Ru. I was trying for the soft approach here."
Ruby breathed a deep sigh, her hand tightening down on the overhead grab handle. She didn't want to talk about this. At all. She could feel the scar across her stomach start to ache again. Her hand fell to the fabric of her sweater, just above the garish wound. Yang didn't take her sigh well, however.
"Ruby, it's just a question. Don't be such a child. You're twenty-three years old."
Her hand gripped tighter, causing the vinyl of the handle creak. Did she really have the audacity to accuse her of being a child? She whipped her face over in her direction.
"Excuse me? I am not a child, Yang. I have a job, I pay taxes, and I contribute positively to society. So for you to call me a child, I can't even-"
"Ruby, just because you pay taxes does not make you an adult. And what do you even contribute to society? Music selection skills?"
Ruby glared at her sister, real anger and venom in her eyes. Her stomach turned, and she had to fight to not scream at the top of her lungs.
"I am a soldier. I fight for humanity. I have years of battle training protecting citizens like yourself from being overtaken and killed by the Grimm."
"And yet you can't even answer a simple question."
She snapped.
"That's because nothing works down there anymore."
There was a silence in the car. Neither woman made even the slightest peep. Yang seemed to have retracted into herself, completely stifled by the sudden outburst. Ruby couldn't stop her face from twitching, completely and utterly livid with her sister for prying into her personal business. She wanted to yell. Wanted to punch something. How dare Yang. How dare she!
The car slowed, drifting softly and quietly past the first row of shops that welcomed them into the small village. Ruby nearly had to pry her own hand off the upper handle, as it had clamped down with vice-like force. Her anger subsided quickly, however. She couldn't even fake anger now. Her spat was short lived, as it always was, replaced immediately by shame. The air in the cabin changed again. Not quite for the better, however. Yang could always sense when something was wrong, and had tensed up even further. Ruby was shaking. She didn't want this, either.
Neither one wanted to be the first to break the silence, Ruby from shame, and Yang from guilt. Ruby watched her sister from the corner of her eye. She watched each thought and word pass over her sister's mouth, only to be retracted and abandoned halfway through. Ruby's shaking lessened as she gripped down on the fabric of her sweater. The scar lay beneath.
The scar.
Her heart jumped, as it always did upon even the slightest mention of it or Kayaba Forest. A wave of heat washed through her, emanating from the horrid laceration that bisected her body. A mark that belayed a colossal amount of internal damage. Much more than any single human or faunus could take. The mere fact she survived at all was nothing short of a medical miracle.
"Y...you remember...that one mission I went on?"
She waited for a response, but her sister stayed quiet for the moment. Ruby continued.
"You remember how I was in the hospital for a while?"
"I remember."
Neither wanted to, of course. Yang had been at her bedside for literally the whole three month spell that Ruby had taken in that frigid and tiny room. So much so that Yang had to spend time in the hospital herself to have her spine realigned, as three months with the heavy metal arm never once being removed had messed up her back something fierce.
"Well, remember how I got the... scar?"
As if her sister had forgotten. The question was more rhetorical than literal, of course. The one mission. The surprise attack. The foot-and-a-half long claws. They had resulted in a massive amount of internal hemorrhaging, the loss of about two feet of small intestine, one of her kidneys, half her liver, and...
"I had to have a lot of my insides removed... and that included my-"
She couldn't finish her sentence. Her stomach hurt too much. Almost like a safety mechanism, stopping her from continuing.
"Well, you get it. So I don't really... well need any of that stuff a-anymore."
Yang was silent once more as she took this seemingly new information in. Ruby shivered. The dark feeling permeated her stomach.
"I understand. I'm sorry."
Ruby shook her head, letting her hair bounce around.
"No, I'm sorry. I lashed out. It's not fair to you, you didn't know."
They pulled up outside their first stop. Brenin's Drugstore. Run by an older faunus woman who was a friend of the family, they were always welcomed in with their family and friends discount. Much of her childhood was spent buying candy and sweets at this very shop.
"I..."
Yang seemed like she had something to say, prompting Ruby to look over and wait patiently. The blonde woman paused, halfway into a word. She sniffled instead, pulling slowly up on the parking brake and shutting the car off. She reached for the door handle on her side, her hand stopping just short before it reached it.
"Okay. I'll be right back, baby sis."
A wary and tentative smile came to the woman's lips. Ruby unconsciously smiled back, watching her sister pop open the door and step out of the car. With the door closed lightly behind her to retain the silence, she was once again left alone as she watched Yang enter the storefront. The quiet air in the small car left her uneasy. She moved to follow.
Her hand found the door handle, and the lightweight aluminum panel opened slowly with a loud and sombre groan of the hinges. The cool autumn air flooded the tight cabin, making her shiver. She stepped out of the car, hoisting herself from the low-slung seat with a groan herself. It wasn't cold enough to fog up her breath, but it was very close. She pulled her jacket tighter around herself and moved around to the front of the car, leaning against the grill and propping her heel against one of the car's rally-style fog lamps.
She felt terrible. She didn't want to have yelled. And especially not at Yang. She loved Yang. Her sister was always there for her for any problem she had. Or so she had always promised. And something inside her had stopped her, again, from revealing something that ailed her. She trusted Yang to be a good sister, and more importantly a good person. So why was it that she couldn't bring herself to tell her about the total extent of her injuries.
She looked away from the storefront, observing instead the line of trees along the road. They had faded from their lively greens to a depressed and reserved brown. Some, however, had become a might brighter orange. Her face twitched, seeing the maple tree glowing like a painting in the centre of the adjoining park.
She sighed, looking away from the pretty trees again. She just wanted to not worry anyone. Maybe that was it. Maybe that was all it was. Just a fear that someone she cared about might leave her because of her injury? Or even her less physical injuries?
Bzzz Bzzzz!
Her self-loathing monologue was silenced by her Scroll ringing in her pocket. She frowned, sticking her hand into her pocket to retrieve it. She felt around for a second, confused as it wasn't actually in her pocket. Pulling her hand free and checking every pocket on the left side of her body, she finally found the annoying vibrating device stuck deeply into her sweater pocket. She pulled it out and checked the screen. One single four letter word stared back up at her, making her frown.
Work
She sighed deeply, sliding her thumb across the screen and raising the phone to her ear.
"Hello?"
The gruff and excited voice of one of her coworkers came back at her.
"Ruby! Darlin'!"
She smiled a little, relaxing.
"Oh, hey Mister Wolfman. I thought you might be the boss."
"Sweetheart, I told ya, call me Jack. And no, I ain't the boss-man."
She chuckled, trying not to sound too excited that her boss wasn't calling her.
"Now listen, darlin'. I am callin' because of that, you know."
"I know, I know. I'm sorry, Jack."
"Bulsara's not too pleased about your absence, babygirl. He's been scramblin' to fill your slot in the schedule with somethin' as close to your show as he can, so he's got me 'n Flynt doin' a History of Rock thing. But we ain't you, doll. We need ya back."
Ruby pulled the phone away from her face so he wouldn't hear her sigh. She was supposed to be back at work three whole days ago. She hadn't called, she hadn't e-mailed. She hadn't even texted them. She knew she was neglecting the station. But she couldn't bring herself to communicate with them, even as a courtesy 'I've run away'.
"I'm sorry, Jack."
"Nah, don't be sorry, girlie. I'm sure I can keep ol' Freddie on the leash for now. I just wish you'd have called us, ya know?"
The aging faunus on the phone sighed before pausing, his sombre disappointment evident in his breathing. She didn't want to disappoint him. She felt terrible for leaving her job without even so much as a word.
"Just tell me where ya gone, girl. Just so I know's you're alright."
She sniffed, wiping her chilled nosed on her sleeve.
"I went home, Jack."
"That's what I thought. That's what I told the boss."
"I..."
"Just tell me when you're comin' back, girl. I miss ya. The station ain't the same without ya."
Another sigh escaped. Any more and she'd need to be re-inflated with a pump. The problem was she didn't know when she was going to go back to Atlas. There wasn't much for her there, save for a few memories of being cold, and two jobs that didn't really pay her all that much. The loneliness of the tiny bungalow was just as unwelcoming as the cold, she thought. Being in Patch was so far better in every measurable way.
"I don't know, Jack. I can't come back just yet."
He paused, his heavy, doglike breathing just barely audible in her earpiece. It seemed to be taking a lot out of the old man just to fret over her like this. Her mouth twitched. She didn't like upsetting people, and this man, whom she looked up to at work, was now upset because of her.
"Ahh. Well, I'll worry about ya until ya get back. I und'stand if you need time."
A tiny smile came to her lips.
"Thank you, Wolfman Jack."
He chuckled on the other end of the line. At work, she never called him by his radio name. She didn't even used his real name either, which was Robert. The radio name had come from a childhood insult from his days at elementary school, being the only faunus in his whole neighbourhood. He had become the semi-father-figure for her in Atlas, despite her already having a father. Well, he was the father-figure of the radio station anyways.
"Heyyy, no problem Rockin' Red."
"You know that's not my handle, Jack."
"Of course not, Radio Reaper."
She let out a tiny laugh, a warm feeling blooming in her chest.
"You hurry on back now, ya hear?"
She smiled down at her feet.
"We'll see, Mister Wolfman. We'll see."
A long pause followed. She knew that he was worried, and she knew that the boss was upset with her for abandoning her job. She had put them all in a difficult position. But she also knew she couldn't leave the farm yet. She just wasn't ready.
"Alright, you do what you gotta do, Ruby. The Wolfman is signin' off."
"Goodbye, Jack."
The line went quiet. She pulled the phone away from her ear, looking back down at the blank screen. Another wave of shame hit her. As she was gone, so much more of Anfang would be helpless without her. And she had left them. She had tried to justify her leaving. It was for her.
So she could find herself.
But it was hard running away from real life. Hard running away from people and things that mattered as much or as little as things did in Anfang. But it wasn't right. Anfang and Atlas more specifically were not home to her, and they had never felt that way. Even Vale never felt like home to her, despite living with her sister during her stay at school. She slumped deeper against the car's low hood.
Something inside made her shiver again, despite not feeling cold. Would it be easier to go back to Atlas and pretend to live a normal life? No, of course not. Even if she had practice doing exactly this for the past five years. She kicked a few pebbles on the edge of the parking lot, bouncing them off the concrete curb. She hated that she had left. She hated that she was weak. She hated that she couldn't be a grownup for five minutes. She mostly hated herself.
The door at the storefront burst open by an enthusiastic and cheerful blonde. Yang came striding out, four plastic bags filled to capacity in her arms and one big toothy grin on her face. Ruby looked up from her feet, and seeing her sister come forward with the bags in her arms, she pushed herself off the hood and swung herself around to the door, pulling it open and grabbing two of the bags from her sister and sliding them in behind the seats. She climbed into the car, her sister moving around to the other side and get in herself, dropping her two bags into the back seat. Just as Ruby moved to put on her seatbelt, Yang stopped her with a hand on her wrist.
"Hey, wait up a sec."
She waited up a sec.
"Here, I got you something."
She watched Yang reach into one of the pockets in her jacket and pull out a tiny white envelope. She flipped it over a few times, before handing it over. Ruby took it, examining the small paper square with a tiny frown. It seemed like an odd gesture. Nevertheless, she flipped open the top with her thumb, pulling the slip of plastic out of the envelope. She turned it over, examining the little card.
Unlimited Hug Card:
Submit to any one-armed sister
for unlimited supply of cuddles
Can be turned in at anytime, anyplace, anywhere.
Even if I'm busy.
Expiry: Never
Ruby looked over the card a few more times, a timid smile coming to her face. She could feel something shift inside her. Her heart leaped into her throat as she read it over again.
"For... for me?"
She nodded, a half-smile forming on her lips.
"It was gonna be your Dustmas present, but you need it now."
The little embossed plastic card was very thick. It felt heavy-duty.
"H-how did you get this?"
"I had it printed special here. It's like a feed store access card, just without the mag strip."
She couldn't believe her eyes, ears, or hands. She felt like crying. Once again, Yang had shown herself to be literally the nicest person on the planet. The most considerate, the most loving, the most special. Her expression broke, and a few tears were let loose. Her hands shook, fingers gripping down on the little card. She looked over at Yang.
"C-can I use it now?"
Yang chuckled.
"What does the card say?"
Ruby leaned over the thin centre console and collapsed onto her sister, who immediately collected her in her muscular arms. She let out a sob, allowing the torrent of shameful sadness to escape onto the front of Yang's jacket.
"I'm sorry..."
A cool mechanical hand worked its way into her hair, carefully massaging her scalp. She threw her arm around the woman's midsection, allowing herself to me overcome by the muscular and all-consuming comfort of Yang's hug. It felt right to let it out. So she did.
"Shhh, honey. It's okay."
Was it? She still didn't know. The hug was helping, however.
"I'll make us mac 'n cheese buns for dinner, okay?"
Ruby nodded fervorously, and Yang let her sit up again. She let the woman reach over and wipe a few errant tears from her face with her good hand, cleaning the salty streaks from her cheeks. Ruby sniffled a few times, her nose quite badly plugged.
"Gods, I'm a mess."
Yang laughed, rubbing her cheeks.
"Nah, you're just human."
She didn't like being human, though. It sucked. But Yang seemed to be willing to help her deal with it.
And she was okay with that.
She was at least gonna try.
/.../
"Here, hold this."
Three boxes of noodles were thrust into her hands, and she nearly dropped them immediately. Yang spun back around and started rooting through the large display of cheeses, checking each one for an expiry date.
"You want mozza or cheddar or... like, something Mistralian?"
"What do they have?"
"I can't even pronounce this one. It smells like feet!"
Ruby grimaced, flinching away as Yang tried to shove it up her nose.
"We gotta get this one! Dad'll love it!"
They both snickered. Taiyang was known for his appreciation of foreign cheeses. Even if he didn't, they could just feed it to Zwei. Even if they had not been allowed to feed the scruffy little mutt since they were little, as they had completely willingly fed him actual dust crystals. Zwei had taken it well, however. So a little stinky cheese wouldn't hurt.
"Alright, add it to the pile. What's next?"
Yang dropped the collection of cheeses into her arms, checking the list she had scrawled in pen on a scrap of cardboard from a soda can box.
"Let's see... cheese, noodles, milk, we have butter at home, aaaand... we need ice cream still. To the freezers!"
Yang's enthusiasm was a welcome change from her own internal misery. She watched the cheery blonde bounce away towards the far wing of the store, leaving her in the dairy department with an armful of noodles and cheese and a basket of vegetables and milk. She dropped the stuff in her arms into the basket with a chuckle. It felt weird watching Yang act so childish, as the tall and independant woman seemed to her to be more a mother than a sister. Being a twelve-hour flight away from your actual parent at school, she had just re-associated Yang into a. mother-like figure. She always thought Yang would make a great mom anyways. With the tiniest of skips in her step, she followed after, joining her sister in the frozen foods aisle.
"Ice cream sandies?"
Well obviously. She nodded vigorously, and Yang pulled open the glass door, extracting the box of individually wrapped ice cream squares. They both paused, looking over the nondescript yellow box. It suddenly seemed less appealing. Yang frowned, turning the box over in her hands.
"You know, I remembered this being more theatrical. Better box art 'n stuff."
Ruby nodded.
"Yeah, me too. Do they have the Drumstack brand ones?"
Yang put the sandwiches back, grabbing the much more colourful box of wrapped cones.
"Nuts or no nuts? Nah, you're a no-nuts girl."
Ruby choked on some air, fumbling over every word she tried to use in response. Yang could very probably feel the glare she was getting at the moment. She decided instead to punch her sister in the arm, her face fully red. Yang laughed, taking the hit on the painted steel forearm brace of her right arm. Ruby fumed, trying her hardest to not yell. Or laugh. A smile broke across her face, and she yanked the box of ice cream from her sister.
"Jerk."
Yang just chuckled, checking the last item off the list.
"There we go. That's everything, then! Can't have those melt on us."
Ruby grumbled, her mouth trying to twist itself into a giggle. No-nuts girl. Jeez, what a brute. Yang once again skipped away, this time towards the cashes at the front of the store. She rolled her eyes, yet followed along.
The groceries weren't as heavy as she imagined them being, helped in no small part by her overwhelming strength, so she wasn't expecting the loud thump as the basket hit the rubber conveyor, making her, her sister, and the little cashier girl jump. After a beat, Ruby unloaded the basket of its contents, tucking it under the conveyor with a small stack of others. The gentle beeping of the machine was pleasant to her ears. It reminded her of when she used to work behind this very counter some ten years prior. It had been an adequate first job, even if she had kinda been too young to work there. The boss hadn't seemed to mind. He was just happy she bothered to not quit after the first week.
"Yang Xaio Long? Well I'll be damned!"
They both turned to the source of the voice. A large man, no a faunus at second glance. He had large, boar-like tusks protruding through his lips, she noticed after a moment. His smile was evident through his prominent lower jaw, however, and his eyes had a certain softness to them as well.
"Hey, Cap!"
Yang greeted the man with an enthusiastic grin, seeming to bounce on her toes as she did. Ruby watched the strange happening from the corner of her eye as she swiped her credit card and payed for the groceries. The large man's outfit was of particular interest to her as well as his almost-familiar face. Thick navy pants, heavy rubber boots, and a navy button-up covering his muscled torso.
"It's good to see you, Kid. You keepin' out of trouble?"
Ruby grabbed the two bags of groceries in one hand, the thin plastic struggling to hold the weight. Yang laughed off the man's question, not even phased by his minute tusk-related slur of his words. Ruby scrunched her brow. Maybe her sister was friends with this 'Cap'.
"You know me, tillin' soil and waiting for the alarm to ring. I don't have any trouble to get into!"
He laughed heartily, like a grandfather would laugh at their grandchild's first real joke.
"Of course, of course! It's better that way I s'pose. Now, who's the young thing followin' you around?"
"This?"
Yang slung her arm over her shoulder, almost making her drop the groceries.
"This is my baby sister, Ruby! Best Huntress this world has ever seen!"
Ruby flushed a little, content with such an overestimation of her. Yang was good for that.
"Is this her, then? You do talk about the poor girl non-stop."
"She does?"
"I do! I'm so proud of you!"
Another warm feeling hit her face like being hit with a textbook.
"Oh, sorry, I forgot my manners. Ruby, this is Captain Cerulian, head of the Patch Regional Fire Department. Cap, this is my half-sister, Ruby Rose."
He extended a hand, and she shook it, trying her best firm handshake. The man's huge hands easily dwarfed hers, but by the way his hand strained, she could tell he was impressed with her grip strength.
"Miss Rose. It's a pleasure."
"The pleasure is mine, sir. Yang, you didn't tell me you're a firefighter."
The blond woman chuckled to herself.
"I'm not really. Just a volunteer."
"Best damn volunteer I've ever had. Always the first to arrive, always the first in uniform, and always first to run in. A true hero, this one."
"Oh, stop, you. I ain't nuthin' special. I'm just a girl who likes running into burning buildings. Might even say it gets me... all fired up."
Ruby resisted the overwhelming urge to smack her sister.
"You...you run into burning buildings?"
"Yep! That's my job! Helps when your body is actually fire-resistant, you know. Figured it was the most practical way to apply my Huntress training. I get to be all cool and tough, and save lives at the same time! Its like being a Huntsman, except you never have to worry about being carried off by a giant murder-bird."
Ruby mulled this over. Firefighting did seem like it would suit her sister, having a fire-based semblance and all that. Plus, she probably had a bunch of cool fire-fighting arm extensions as well. The Captain laughed at the clever description, clapping one of his hands onto Yang's shoulder, not even making her flinch.
She looked at her sister in awe.
She couldn't quite believe it that her sister had found a simple way to be herself again. She had always liked helping people. Being a firefight was only the most people-helping profession of all time. What was it she had said?
I'll always be there to help you.
Of course! This revelation made the knot in her stomach unclench. Yang's infallible drive to be such a beautiful human being was reminding her that some people might actually still be good. And Yang was the best of them. She ran into freaking burning buildings for people she didn't even know. Strangers! And Ruby was her actual sister. She was the most important person, more important than even the strangers she rescued.
"Yeah, but I hear even those murder-birds are no match for someone as strong as your sister, based on the stories you tell, Yang. Something about punching a Goliath in half you said?"
Being a strong Huntress didn't matter. Yang wasn't a huntress at all, yet she was still the strongest and bravest person Ruby knew. And now she had found out Yang was a firefighter, it had been made even better. Yang had always been a fighter. She just never fought for herself.
The idle conversation was downed out by the sounds in her head.
She wanted Yang to fight for her. She wanted someone to help her. And she knew Yang always would. He was damn right, Yang was a hero. She was her personal hero. Nearly all of her apprehension was washed away as she watched the confident woman smile and laugh along with her Captain. Today, none of her past grievances had reared their ugly heads.
She smiled, glad that for once the little voice in her head was silent.
She needed Yang.
Yang could help her.
Yang was her hero.
She thumbed the little plastic card she had been given earlier in her pocket. Today was a good day. She had the greatest woman, the single greatest person on the planet offering to help her. And she was going to get help. It felt so good to be offered help by someone who loved her. Who she loved back.
.
.
.
.
But what about Weiss?