"Why is it… That when the first time you are forward with someone… it's with a girl you just met from another school?"
"...Heat of the moment?" A sheepish nervous smile accompanied the easily given excuse.
The blonde haired girl gazed dumbfoundedly at her team captain and younger sister.
"Ruby, the last time you gave the excuse, "heat of the moment" was after slipping on ice while going to confess to your crush, and when they saw you and ran to check on you, you said "I've fallen for you"."
"You said you were proud of me for that one." Ruby whined.
"While I will admit that that line was about as smooth as the ice that you slipped on, you are always so forward in the worst of ways."
"Well, maybe it's a sign of growing! Come on, I thought that you would be happy."
"I'm happy for you, sis, I just wanna know why you have a date with a girl that you just met."
"It's not a date!" the red haired girl quietly shouted. "I'm just going to be meeting her at the fencing club to give her some pointers."
"Yeah, you're going to teach her a new stance and show her new positions to put her legs." The older sister teased.
Yang watched as her sisters face went from a light blush to a shade redder than her namesake.
"Y-Yang!" Ruby almost shouted out loud.
Yang couldn't help it any more and let her laughter out at full volume, which on a bus full of rowdy teenagers, was something that was not out of the ordinary.
Ruby looked like she wanted to curl into her varsity jacket and hide from her older sister.
"I'm sorry, Rubes." Yang said as she wiped a tear that was forming in her eye.
"Blake! Make her stop!" Ruby whined over to their friend who was sitting at one of the single seat, reading a book.
The novel was covering the black haired sabre's face and Ruby could've sworn she heard small giggles from the other side of the hard cover.
"Stop laughing at meee!" Ruby whined at her friend.
Blake uncovered her face to show that her expression was collected and showed no signs of her laughing at all. "I wasn't laughing." the girl responded cooly.
"Then why were you shaking?" Ruby quickly asked back.
"Listen, Ruby. I have to agree with your sister." Blake responded, dodging the question completely. "You have just met this girl and you asked her out."
"It's not a date!" Ruby reiterated, getting tired of having to say it again and again.
"So, you're just going to give her tips on how to fence better and… then what?" Yang asked.
"Well… our interactions don't have to end there." Ruby admitted.
"Ah-HA!" Yang almost shouted. "So you do have an alternative intention to this meetup!"
"It's not my fault I got a crush on her!" Ruby said before quickly covering her mouth with both hands as her face burst into another deep blush.
"There ya go, kid." Yang said as she patted her younger sister on the back. "Admitting it is only the first step."
"What are the next steps?" Ruby asked in a flustered tone, shifting her hands to where they were now covering her face.
"Those steps are for you to figure out on your own." Yang said to her sister.
Blake rolled her eyes. "Gee, Yang. You're such a helpful older sister." she said to the blonde epee.
"Hey, it's not my fault that the mess that she got herself into is something that I've never experienced."
"Really? You always pride yourself on giving her the advice that she needs, so, why not make something up on the fly? Use that big sister wisdom." Blake poked and prodded at Yang's typical attitude around Ruby, hoping to make this situation a little better.
"Ah, fine." Yang said. She ran her hands through her hair a few times while thinking of what to say to her younger sister, who was currently looking at up at her with a bright pink hue encompassing her features.
"Well, I guess, just do what I think I would do if something like this happened. Go with the flow. You're usually the happy-go-lucky type in every situation, so that should be easy for you."
"Do you really think that would be the best way to go at this?" Ruby asked.
"Yeah. Try to make the training fun for the both of you and I'm sure that if you ask her to hang out without being on the strip she'll consider giving it a shot. I just wouldn't tell her that you want to get in her pants on the first day."
"I would never do that and you know it!" Ruby shouted back at her sisters comment. "But what if she doesn't want to… go out with me, I guess you could say."
"Move on." Blake responded bluntly.
"Yeah, that." Yang agreed. "You two don't go to the same school and there's a chance that you both wouldn't see much of each other outside of it so you wouldn't need to worry about it save for when tournaments came around."
"Yeah, I guess you're right." Ruby said. "Thanks, Yang." The younger sister gave her sister a bright smile. Yang could tell that the girl's confidence would rise slowly. But she still worried about her. As any older sister would.
"I'm glad I could help, Sis. Now, if you excuse me, I'm gonna get some quick shuteye before we get back to the school." Yang then leaned her head back, as far as a yellow school bus seat would allow her, and closed her eyes.
Ruby glanced over at Blake and saw that the girl was already back to being enthralled by her novel.
The girl then decided to do her own thing as well and pulled her large headphones over her ears and play some music. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she then leaned her head against her knees and stared at the window at the descending sun in the distance.
When they got back to the school, the sun had disappeared over the horizon and the bright moon was now beginning to rise overhead.
The girl's all went into the locker room and traded out their fencing gear for their school bags. The more devoted of the bunch took their bags with them to train over the weekend. One of them being Ruby.
Yang and Ruby walked out to the parking lot where Yang's car was waiting. The two tossed their bags into the back seat and got in, not much being said between the two.
Just a comfortable silence between two sisters.
Yang did her usual thing of blasting the radio while they drove through the rural roads that lead to their house in a forest town.
Ruby continued to stare out the window. Thinking off all the possible outcomes that could happen with her upcoming meeting with a certain white haired fencer that she had only just met.
She was torn from her thoughts as Yang pulled the car into the driveway of their home.
They knew that their dad would be inside with dinner almost ready for the two of them.
The two retrieved their bags from the back seat of the car and entered through the front door of the home.
Without a word being spoken, they took off their shoes and threw their bags down and breathed a sigh of relief to finally be home after another long day.
But that relief was soon gone.
"DAD! RUBY HAS A CRUSH ON SOMEONE!"
"YANG!" Ruby yelled at her sister, the deep red tint returning to her face once again. She didn't want her to tell their dad like that. She didn't even know if she wanted their dad to know about this.
Taiyang walked through the open doorway that lead into the kitchen while wearing his typical casual after-work clothes while an apron was tied around his waist.
"Why yes, good evening, daughter, how was your day? Mine was fine, how was yours? Oh, just fine." Tai mocked a normal welcome home conversation in response to Yang's embarrassing outburst.
"Are you gonna ignore the important news that I gave or are we gonna wait until dinner."
"Based on your sister's reaction I'm sure she would like to wait until we're all sitting at the dinner table." Tai said, looking at his youngest daughter sympathetically. That girl had been subject to so much teasing from her older sister, he was surprised that she was not used to it yet.
"Come on, I just finished the chicken marsala. We'll talk as we eat."
"So, Ruby, what are they like?" Her dad asked the question, the first thing that was said when they sat down to eat.
"Is it a guy or a girl?" he asked before she could answer. He had known for a year now that she was bi, a confession that was hard for her. But her father didn't care so long as she was happy.
"She's from the school we went up against today."
"So, you just met her." Tai deduced instantly.
"Yeah." Ruby said, pushing a piece of her chicken around with her fork.
"You don't seem too enthused about this "crush" now do you?" Her father observed.
Ruby looked at her father and saw that he had placed down his silverware, instead he was giving his full attention and focus to his daughter. Ruby could see that he was worried about her, and he had a right to be. This was a difficult time for her.
"Well, I guess she would be someone I would be willing to consider… or something; I don't know." Pressing her right hand under her chin while trying her best to avoid eye contact with her father.
"Well it can't be an I don't know. You have to ask yourself if she is someone you think you would be interest in. But don't just ask your mind. Ask your heart as well."
"I think she would need to spend a little more time with the girl before her heart knows anything." Yang added.
"How long until my heart decides?" The fencing captain asked as she finally poked her fork into a piece of the chicken, her eyes slowly rolling to look at her sister.
"Oh, Ruby, Ruby, Ruby." Yang said as she shook her head with a smug smile on her face. "Honestly, this is all stuff that you need to figure out on your own. Me and dad would love to help you but things like this are something that you need to handle on your own."
"Gee, you're such great help." The younger girl deadpanned as she took a bite of her food.
"Just channel your inner charms that you inherited from me." Her father said proudly, hiking a thumb into his chest. "All you need is a little confidence and try to get to know the girl, and then you could work your way up if you find out that she may… have an interest in you as well." Her father tried to find the right words.
"Just don't make it known that you only want to be in a relationship with her." Yang said quickly after finishing another piece of chicken.
"I'm not doing that!" Ruby almost yelled at her sister. "She's someone that I feel that I want to understand, as either a friend or more." the red haired girl said with a faint smile on her face.
Tai smiled at his youngest daughter. "Alright, I think that may be enough of this discussion for now. If you need any more advice, don't be afraid to come to me or your sister; on second thought, come to me first."
"Hey!" Yang argued.
"Now eat up. I worked for a while on this dish, don't let it go to waste."
Weiss pulled her large bag out of the trunk of the small limousine that she had requested.
She was now standing outside a small shop that was in the center of a common strip mall. The sign that hung above the doorway read Fanatic Fencing Club and Apparel.
This was the address that that girl Ruby had told her about. The two fencers were going to be meeting up today as they had agreed.
"I shall come back at the time you specified, Ma'am." The butler who had driven her said as he was opening his door to get back in the long vehicle.
"Thank you, Klein. I will let you know if my plans change." She said with a small bow.
The butler nodded in return and entered the vehicle before driving off.
Weiss opened the door of the fencing club and looked around inside.
There was a total of maybe twenty fencing strips inside the building. On the outer edges there were benches, vending machines, water fountains, and other accomadies that were typically needed in a training facility.
There was a distinct lack of people in there using the fencing strips, only a few of them being occupied.
"Oh! Hey, Weiss." The white haired girl turned her head to the right and found herself already face to face with her training partner for the day.
She was already fully suited up in her fencing gear with the addition of a red and black bandana covering her head in a biker style wrapping.
"Hello, Ruby." Weiss said promptly, off put by how close the other girl was.
This was the first time that the two were meeting, save for their brief interaction at the fencing meet.
"I got us a private strip reserved for a few hours and I already paid for your guest membership." Ruby jumped over to Weiss side and slapped her on the side of the arm before Weiss could react.
As Ruby jumped back to where she was previously standing, Weiss looked down at her arm and saw a sticker with the name of the fencing school plastered to her t-shirt.
"You didn't have to do that. I could have easily paid for myself." Weiss said, looking at the girl who would be teaching her for the day.
"Well what's done is done." Ruby said as she promptly turned on her heels and walked over to a strip that had two blades sitting on one end. Ruby idly pointed her over to a side room where Weiss saw a few bags tossed about with gear strewn all around the room. "You can change into your whites in there." Ruby said as she leaned down to connect herself to the strip wires.
Weiss jogged and quickly suited up into her white fencing gear. When she came out, two blades in hand, she saw Ruby doing the same stretches that she did that night just before their bout.
When Weiss walked over to the same strip that Ruby was at, the younger girl looked at the white haired girl who was about to grab the wire and set up. "Did you do your stretches?" She asked, pausing her pregame stretching.
"I was just going to do the same thing that you're doing." Weiss said as she snagged the wire from the floor and began to attach herself to the strip.
"Ah-ah-ah." Ruby said as she waved her index finger back and forth.
Weiss stopped what she was doing and looked at the other girl, slightly dumbfounded. "W-what?" she stuttered in mild irritation, she hated things like that finger wag.
"You gotta actually stretch before you do anything in this dojo."
Weiss took a short pause. "...Dojo?"
Ruby smiled awkwardly. "Just go with it." She said, deflating slightly. "I don't want you to cramp up or hurt yourself because you didn't stretch properly."
Weiss could feel the authoritative tone seeping through Ruby's voice. She could tell that this wasn't the first time that Ruby had said this to someone.
Placing her mask and blades down on the strip, she began going through the long list of stretches that she did before every meet and practice.
She knew that she should have just done the normal stretches right away, but there was something clouding her mind. Something was making her feel forgetful.
After a few minutes of the two of them stretching, Weiss' a little more intense than the other girl's, the white haired fencer stood and gave Ruby a pose that said "Is that good enough?".
The younger girl smiled brightly with a quick nod, silently giving Weiss permission to then set up on the strip.
Weiss leaned down and finally connected her wires into the machine that was set up next to the large metal fencing strip.
The white haired fencer had to admit, this club had some top of the line equipment. The strip had to have been for olympic fencing levels with how large it was, and there were five more of them line up in the room, each with another pair of fencers.
"We got this strip for about an hour, then we gotta switch out with another pair that's coming in later." Ruby informed her.
"You need to make an appointment for this club?" Weiss asked, this was the first time that she had ever heard of something like this.
"Well, yeah. This is one of the most popular and most elite fencing clubs in the area. There's dozens of people coming in every weekend to come in and stay in shape when school isn't in session."
"Do you do this every weekend?" Weiss asked as she tested her blade to make sure it was working.
"Yup. Weekends for me are either here fencing, out running, or inside gaming with my sister."
"Does your sister fence too?" Weiss asked.
"Yeah, she was blonde epee that you saw on our team."
Weiss vaguely remembered the back of the blondes head. Her long hair cascaded down her back freely, not tied up in a ponytail at all like regulation required.
"Alright." Ruby said, enunciating the word with a quick flick of her blade. "Let's cut the chit chat and get into this…" she paused for a second, thinking about her next choice of words. "Is this more teaching or training?" Ruby asked herself. "Probably both." She shook her head. "Doesn't matter."
"For now, let's start with the basics of your style." Weiss suggested to the girl who seemed to be struggling to find the starting line for the lesson.
"Huh? Oh! Right! Yeah, good idea. For starters, I guess the first thing that I always do is try to impose a sense of false security."
"Like you did with me." Weiss deadpanned, vividly remembering the bout from not too long ago between their schools.
"Exactly!" Ruby said, pointing the tip of her blade right in Weiss' face, which thankfully was already covered by her fencing mask.
"And to do that, you would give up a point or two?" Weiss asked.
"No, of course not… Well, yeah I guess that is the simple way of putting it. But if you just throw a point or two it would be too obvious to them and they might just be even more on guard."
"So you…" Weiss spun her arm in a 'get on with it' motion and waited for Ruby to continue on and get to the point.
"Don't talk like that." Ruby said before anything else. "You're trying to rush me through and get to the answer without figuring out any of the work. Come on, Weiss. That's like googling answers to math questions."
"I'll have you know that math is my best subject." Weiss defended herself needlessly.
"And fencing might be mine. But for me when I try to make them think I'm worse than them, is I simply adopt the playstyle of someone that appears to not have been fencing for a long time."
"And you did just that when you fenced Velvet. Except this time you made yourself a newbie for an entire bout instead of half."
"I only did that because it was a meet. If it was a singles tournament when I could be eliminated with a simple loss of one point, I would never even think about throwing a bout."
"And you already told me that you also let Velvet beat you to spread the information."
"That should be a simple thing to figure out. All teams do it. When the first round is done they tell their teammates all the things that they noticed about their opponent so that they have the best chance at winning. But what they sometimes don't remember is that the other team does the same exact thing. And in doing this there's a chance that they will stop doing the moves that the information lead them to believe. So question, what do you think is the best way to counteract this?"
Ruby spoke slowly for the first time since Weiss had been there. It was as if the girl was able to clear her head when on the strip. Weiss wondered if it was the same way when the red haired girl was running for her track team.
"Keep your fencers always a few steps ahead of their opponent." Weiss answered.
"Correct. Most fencers at our level try to be one step ahead or play as they go. I try to be two or three steps ahead. I want to predict my opponents moves. And when I'm right when they make their moves, that makes it all the better when I counter them."
"So how do I predict well enough?"
"Experience. When you've been fencing as long as I have, you tend to just do it naturally."
"But how do I gain the experience to do it?" Weiss asked, desperately wanting to know.
"That answer is a little harder to answer and harder to perform." Ruby said, pressing her hand against her hip and lowering her head a bit. "The best way for me to predict and be a few steps ahead is to look at their current stance and body language."
"So the simple things." Weiss guessed. "If they're leaning more on their back leg then they'll be coming in for an attack and if not they'll be more on the defensive."
"That's the first prediction and the most easiest. But let's take it a couple steps further. Think to yourself, what moves have they already used on me? Which attack do they seem to perform easier? How aggressive or defensive are they being?"
"So what you're saying is that I've got a while to go until I can do what you can."
"It will take a while, yes. Are you willing to go all the way and work with me?"
Weiss thought for a second. This girl was completely willing to teach Weiss everything that she has learned to have the upper hand, with no payment what-so-ever. She has never gotten this kind of treatment form the Olympic fencers that her father bought to train Weiss when she started getting into the sport. But maybe that was because she was just that back then, a beginner.
And technically, this was a whole new beginning for Weiss. She was taking her skill in the sport to a place that she had never ventured before. She always had her own style that she developed on their own, as every fencer would.
But now she was being offered to completely copy someone else's style. One that she knew she would have superior skill with in every bout after she learned it.
"Of course."
Sweat dripped down her brow, every so often a drip would fall in one of her eyes. But with every drip that fell off her face, she ignored it, electing to keep her full focus on the opponent that stood before her.
Her opponent looked to be on the verge of collapsing with how hard they were breathing. Easily tired out from the back and forth that this bout has been.
Even though they were both visually tired, their stances and movement told a different story.
The bout had only been going on for a minute and a half. The score was at three to two in Weiss' favor, the rest of the bout being nothing but off target hits and close calls.
Each fencer was on the offense, and each predicted the others movements with great accuracy.
The ends of the strip were vacant as most of the clashes took place in the middle, both fencers countering and deflecting every attack they threw at each other.
BEEP!
"YES!" The other fencer cheered, turning her head away from Weiss, as she knew that it was disrespectful in this sport to cheer in the opponent's face.
Weiss clicked her tongue in annoyance. Her opponents blade caught a fold in her lame. Weiss knew that she leaned too forward in the last second, resulting in the fold.
The touch was purely Weiss' fault for leaving such a large opening.
The referee called the now tied score at three to three. Weiss' sky blue eyes quickly darted to the timer and saw that there was a minute and ten left on the clock. Plenty of time to bring the bout back in her favor.
Weiss straightened her blade in her hands and gave herself a moment to clear her mind. A few deep breaths larter and her heart rate settled. Her nerves almost all but gone. The white haired fencer turned on her heel and began to face her opponent once more. At least not before noticing the pair of silver eyes that watched her from the side of the strip.
She knew that she had been there the entire time, she was here to see just how Weiss would perform with the debut of her knew skill set.
"You want me to what?" Weiss asked, stopping herself from taking a sip from her just opened bottle of water.
"You heard me. There's a tournament happening next month in the next town over. Fencer's our level, ya'know. And that is where you'll finally show off everything that we've been working on."
"I still do not understand why you want me to keep my new moves a secret. You make it seem like some cheesy superhero movie and your hiding me as a secret weapon."
"No… Okay maybe it does seem like that, but that's not the point. I've been telling people that you were gonna be signing up for this tournament and that you were aiming to take the title so that you can get your ranking in and when that does happen-."
"Stop." Weiss ordered the younger girl.
Said short haired fencer 'eeped' as she noticed Weiss' ice cold stare. Or as Yang put it, "Weiss cold".
"You did what?" Weiss asked, slowly and sternly.
Ruby poked her two index fingers together, trying her best to avoid the dreaded Weiss stare.
"I spread some rumors at other clubs that we have gone to that you're going to be signing up for this tournament."
Weiss, resisting the urge to slap the younger girl, plastered her hand against her face.
And here she was. Ruby convinced Weiss to actually sign up for the tournament and now she was a favorite to make it into the quarter finals.
"Fencers on the line." Weiss walked herself to the line and planted her two feet down in her rehearsed stance.
This was the time. She needed to show her ability her so that she could have a definite chance of making it into the next round.
She was never a competitive person before she found the sport, and now ever since she began feeling like she had a new goal.
She felt like she had something to drive her to make it further than she had ever pushed herself.
Something… or someone.
"Fence!" Weiss sprung off her back leg and instantly beat her opponents blade out of the way.
With the way that they reacted, they had no idea that Weiss was about to perform this move. Their stance broke as they began to retreat down the strip, their blade still far out of line.
The onlookers watching cheered as Weiss chased her opponents down the strip, each lunge coming mere inches out of reach from making contact with the other fencers lame.
She lunged one more time and brought her blade in for the hit.
"Halt! Fencer off strip. Point to my left." The referee called the halt as Weiss backed the fencer all the way down the strip.
A small victory for Weiss. But now she needed the next one to secure it.
The referee called the new score as four to three in Weiss' favor.
That was the fastest point in the bout so far, and as Weiss glanced out to the crowd, she could tell that they knew it. Weiss had shifted the entire match from a trade of blows to a show of pure strength.
Her opponent knew it too. Weiss could see past their face mask and see that their eyes were still filled with surprise. The unexpected hyper offensive attack that Weiss pulled had never been made through the tournament. She didn't use it once, not even the day before in the placement matches.
She knew that this round was going to end with this next point.
"Fencers on the line." Weiss lowered back into her stance.
"Fence."
"There she is." Yang pointed Weiss out as she entered the small mess area that the tournament had set up for the participating fencers.
Yang and Ruby were eating together, one of the few down times in a tournament like this. Everyone had to eat at some point. It was essential for sports, which of course was a no brainer.
Weiss had set her blade and mask down at her bag before coming to see them so she didn't have to worry about the cumbersome equipment getting misplaced or taken when in the mess hall.
"So how'd it go?" Ruby asked.
"Don't act like you weren't there." Weiss called the younger girl out instantly.
"Busted!" Yang gave a half laugh.
"So what?" Ruby asked. "I wanted to see how you were doing."
"And I thought we agreed to not see each other fence so that when we met in the finals we wouldn't know what our tendencies were."
"I was just watching the score." Ruby defended herself with a huff and a pout.
"I would hope so." Weiss said as she grabbed one of the small granola bars that were sitting on the table for any of the fencers to take.
"Is that going to be enough for you?" Yang asked as she bit down on half of a sandwich.
"Aren't you scared at all nervous that you might dirty your dress with that mustard covered monstrosity?"
Today was one of the few days that Weiss and Ruby ever saw Yang dress up. She wore a dark purple dress that perfectly brought out the color of her bright yellow hair. Most said it was just blonde, Weiss knew there was dye in there.
The reason behind the dress was that Yang was not there at the tournament fencing. Instead she was being paid by the organizers to direct some of the rounds for the epee parts of the tournament.
"Ok, wow, multiple point here. 1. Good comeback. 2. No, I'm not. 3. There is no such thing as too much mustard."
"Yang, it's literally seeping out of the sandwich." Ruby commented as a drop of mustard plopped down on the napkin that was spread out on the table to catch the loose condiment.
"So I take it you won?" Yang asked the white haired foil fencer as she ignored her younger sisters comment.
"Yes, I ended it quickly when I felt that it had gone on for long enough."
"By that she means she went all out when the other girl tied her at three." Ruby elaborated for her friend and student.
"I figured." Yang said, accepting her sisters story more than Weiss'. "So how long until the quarters start?" she asked.
"No idea. We don't even know who our next opponents are for a few minutes." Ruby responded.
"It won't take long for the organizers to get the brackets. Compared to earlier rounds, this will be a breeze. I wouldn't be surprised if they already drew them and are gonna announce it any second."
"She's right." Ruby admitted. "I hadn't thought about that."
From where they were sitting they could see the wall where they would post the final brackets. It wasn't going to be the classic round-robin format that so many fencers at their level were used to.
A man in a suit walked up to the wall with a sheet of paper in his hands. As he took down the old sheets of paper from the previous rounds, fencers began to quiet down and look on in anticipation, waiting for the moment he walked away so that they could get a look for the final rounds.
He pressed a thumbtack through the three sheets of paper and into the cork board. After a final check to make sure everything seemed right, he stepped away from the board, allowing the mob of fencers that had gathered around to come up and take a look.
"That was fast." Weiss commented, she wasn't even half way through her granola bar. Maybe she should have brought her equipment with her to save time.
The three girls waited for the crowd to disperse for their chance to go up. When it seemed like most of the participants go their finals looks, the three stood up and walked over to the board.
Weiss scanned the three sheets. The first one was for the sabre tournament so none of them had any interest in it. The second sheet was for the epee section so Yang instantly went to look at which matches she would be directing.
That left the third and final sheet as the foil finals. The eight brackets were all names that Weiss couldn't recognize, but Ruby appeared to know all of them as she commented on almost every single match up.
Weiss' eyes then fell on the eighth and final matchup.
Her breath stopped for a moment and dread filled her chest.
Ruby noticed instantly and went to ask what was wrong when she saw the same bracket.
'Ruby Rose / Weiss Schnee'
Hey all!
So, if you read my recent update on Life Lessons you probably saw that the reason for my absence has been an all around loss of motivation.
But, I'm trying to work through that and bring the stories back to life.
Hopefully you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you all, in the next one!