Chapter 20: Dance
Yang noticed Ilia as the days progressed. While the Vytal dance grew closer, the chameleon faunus clearly had something on her mind. Blake and Weiss had noticed, but when Weiss had made a move to talk to their teammate, Blake had told Weiss it wasn't their business if Ilia didn't want to share.
Yang, obviously, thought her leader's words were a bunch of bullshit. So the brawler took it upon herself to confront her teammate.
"Ilia." Yang grabbed the faunus' wrist as they left Port's class. Ilia was obviously a bit tired from almost falling asleep during said class. "We need to talk. Come on." And when Blake shot Yang a glare, Yang matched her team leader's glare in intensity. Weiss gave the tiniest of nods to her, before ushering Blake away as Yang led Ilia outside.
As they walked over to a bench. Ilia's hand slid from Yang's grasp. They sat down and Ilia stared at her lap. "I know what this is about. I'm fine." The faunus stated.
"Bullshit." Yang replied "You can be quiet and a bit shy, sure. But lately you've been staring holes into your hands like you've slaughtered an entire village." She said. Ilia's eyes flashed blue for a moment and Yang sucked in a breath of regret "Oh shit, sorry." She apologized rapidly "I forgot." Of course she forgot Ilia was a former White Fang member. Ilia looked back at Yang.
"Its... fine." The girl's voice was dull.
"No, its not," Yang sighed "I shouldn't have said that."
Ilia gave her head a tiny shake "Just drop it, Yang. What did you drag me away to here for?"
"You're acting off. Somethings on your mind. What is it?" Yang asked. Ilia's hands curled into loose fists.
"Its... nothing that concerns you." She replied, her tone forced. Yang raised an eyebrow.
"Ilia, we're teammates. You can tell me what's up. I'm here to help you." The blonde promised.
"You wouldn't understand, Yang." Ilia muttered, eyes flickering red, then blue, then shifting to grey once more.
"I can at least listen, even if I don't understand. Sometimes its just good to get things off of your chest." Yang told her.
Ilia sighed, glancing around. "Not here, then." She muttered and stood up before walking briskly back into the building and heading to their dorm room.
The room was empty, and Yang shot a text to Weiss saying they were talking there. The heiress responded saying she'd keep Blake away from the dorm while they talked.
"Alright. We're in private and Weiss is gonna keep Blake away from here so its just you and me." Yang pointed her thumb at herself before sitting down on Weiss's bunk while Ilia sat down on the one opposite. "So what's this all about? No guys for the dance?" She asked.
"Its... kinda like that." Ilia said. "Except its not about guys..."
Yang stared blankly for a moment before Ilia sighed and her skin flushed pink. "Ugh. This is stupid." The faunus growled.
"Hey, hey. C'mon Ilia, just tell me. I swear I won't judge." Yang said moments before the realization hit her. "Ohhh." Was all she could say. "Is it a closet thing?" She asked and immediately wanted to leap off the top of Beacon tower.
Ilia's blush grew. "Its just... I have someone in mind. But she always had eyes for someone else, and I never got a chance in the past. I don't even know if she likes girls!" Her head faced the underside of the bunk. "Its so stupid! Why does it matter now?" She snapped at the air.
Yang was quiet for a moment, unsure of what to tell her teammate. "You can try." She offered quietly.
Ilia's head snapped to look at her. "No!" She said. "I mean... I don't know. Ugh, I'm so stupid!" She muttered, body turning pink again in embarrassment.
"Hey, don't beat yourself up about it." Yang said. "Just tell her. I'm sure she won't judge you too harshly." She added. Ilia's skin returned to normal.
Ilia sighed. "...Alright." She agreed at last. Yang's face lit up in a smile.
"Atta girl!" Yang cheered, pumping her fist. "And if she says no, I can be your date." She added. Ilia's skin flashed pink again.
"You... mean it?" Ilia asked. Yang nodded.
"You're my teammate, you deserve to be happy." Yang said. Ilia's pinkness seemed to grow more vibrant.
"You don't have to..." Ilia averted her gaze, "It'd probably be embarrassing for you." She murmured.
"Nah, I swing both ways actually." Yang waved her off.
Ilia's lips upturned in the smallest smile and suddenly crossed the room to hug Yang. "I don't really know what to say." The girl said, arms around Yang's neck. Yang hugged her back.
"You're welcome. Anything for my teammate." She smiled.
They broke the hug and Yang pulled out her Scroll and informed Weiss and Blake that they could come back to the dorm.
"Alright, Yang said we can come back." Weiss said after her Scroll buzzed and she read the text.
Blake lifted her head from her book, closing it. "About time. We should shower." She stated before starting to walk back to the dorm.
"You excited for the dance?" Weiss asked. Blake was quiet for several beats.
"I don't exactly do social events." Blake responded quietly. "Not to mention this sort of slipped up onto me. I've been so busy tracking Red and Torchwick's movements that I didn't realize this was mere days away."
Weiss nodded, "At least you have a better balance than Yang..." She sighed. Blake was quiet.
"Yang's doing similar things. She scours all news stations and news articles for leads." Blake said.
"I know." Weiss agreed softly. "I get that you guys have been busy. But lets take some time off and enjoy ourselves. We won't really get a chance to have this much fun again for a while."
Blake nodded silently before they entered the dorm. Ilia stood up abruptly. "Blake," she began "C-can I talk to you for a second in private?"
Blake was confused for a moment, but quietly agreed and the two faunus left the room.
Weiss turned to Yang. "How'd it go?" She asked quietly, all too aware of Blake's keen hearing.
"Good. Ilia just needed to talk to Blake, but she was a bit anxious. How have you been?" Yang replied
"Good. Blake and you have been so busy lately, you have any idea who you're bringing to the dance." Weiss asked. Yang smiled
"Nah, I'm good." She said, crawling onto her bunk and opening up Grimm Bashers to start playing.
Finally the night came. "Looking good, Blake." Yang smiled. Ilia was obviously nervous as she walked alongside her partner. The chameleon faunus had told the brawler that Blake agreed to go as a friend, a fact that made both Yang and Ilia overjoyed.
"You as well, Yang." Blake looked her up and down, and Yang's grin grew. "Let's go, Ilia." The team leader said, offering her arm to Ilia, who's eyes lit up and she took it. Yang chuckled after the two as the partners left to dance.
"What's so amusing?" Weiss asked. Yang rolled her eyes at the heiress.
"Blake probably doesn't realize it, but she's making Ilia the happiest girl on Remnant right now." Yang told Weiss after her chuckles faded.
Weiss seemed confused in that moment "How?" She asked. Yang smiled and put a hand on her partner's shoulder, watching Blake guide Ilia through the steps of a waltz.
"They've both been through a lot. Ilia really looks up to Blake." She said.
"Does it have to do with your talk you had with her?" Weiss asked. Yang nodded. "I see." She nodded.
Yang offered her hand to Weiss. "May I take this dance?" She asked, "Completely platonically, of course. You don't have to." She added.
Weiss sighed "I'll dance later with you." She said. Yang nodded.
"Alright." She agreed.
Yang sat at a chair as Weiss walked off to do whatever it was she wanted to do.
As the song ended, Ilia approached her. "You seem lonesome." The faunus noted.
"I'm fine, where's Blake?" Yang replied.
"Went to get punch." Ilia told her. "Wanted to ask if the offer was still open of a dance."
Yang smiled, "Of course, Ilia. But I'm not exactly the most graceful dancer." She gave a small laugh, bringing forward a tiny smile from Ilia.
"Neither am I. Blake didn't complain about me too much." Ilia said, offering her hand which Yang took.
"So uh, how do I do this?" Yang asked, an embarrassed laugh breaking loose. Ilia smiled.
"Its fine, I'll try to remember what Blake did and guide you." Ilia said, placing Yang's hands where they were meant to go.
"Sorry if I step on your feet." Yang apologized as they started moving.
"Its fine, we both suck at this." Ilia smiled.
Uncertainly at first, but eventually they got their rhythm correct and it became easier.
The song ended at last, and Yang whipped around hearing cheers. "Damn," she whistled "Look at Team Juniper!" She said. The team was dancing in sync to the song playing as Ilia and Yang broke apart.
"Impressive." Ilia agreed "We could never pull that off." She added. Yang nodded in silent agreement.
Finished with their dance, Yang found Weiss sitting alone. "You look bored." Yang said, plopping down next to her as Ilia walked off, stating she was going to go find Blake.
"You looked like you were having fun." Weiss said.
Yang smiled. "Yeah. Ilia and I really sucked though." She admitted. "I'm sure you know what you're doing though." She added
"I know how to dance. Father demanded I was educated in that for formal events." Weiss said, glancing at her hands in her lap for a moment.
"I could use a teacher, wanna show me?" Yang asked "Ilia isn't the best at dancing."
Weiss nodded and stood up, leading Yang once again to the dance floor.
A/N: A nice and easy chapter. Next chapter we'll be seeing BSIL off to Mountain Glenn. After No Brakes/Breach I'll probably go on a hiatus to plan exactly what I want to do from that point forward with the story, as those two chapter/episodes will shake things up.