Chapter 22
Odd Investigation
"Whoooaa!" Akko stood in Diana's London apartment in awe. "This is even nicer than the hotel room we stayed in!" The brunette hobbled further into the apartment as Diana set their bags down and locked the door behind them.
It had been a month since that nightmare of a day in France. Akko had just gotten her cast off only days ago, replaced with a walking boot, and when Diana informed her girlfriend that she would need to go to London for a week, the brunette insisted she come with. Being as energetic as the girl was, being cooped up in the house on crutches made her antsy to do just about anything else in the world. And Diana would be lying if she claimed that the infamous puppy dog eyes had nothing to do with her decision to bring Akko along.
"Yes well, according to my aunt this apartment is satisfactory for the CEO of a multi billion dollar company to live comfortably in." Diana sighs heavily at the memory of her aunt telling her that this is where she'd be living when she had intended to move her whole life to London. While it was true that this was the most luxurious apartment available, and the location was impeccable, it was rather large for a single person. Top of the line furnishings and decor filled the apartment from top to bottom, but it always felt so empty.
"Satisfactory?" Akko turned around with her eyebrows raised as Diana threw her keys into a wooden bowl on the kitchen table.
"She can be a bit over the top." The blonde rolled her eyes and smiled warmly at her girlfriend, whose eyes were sparkling with excitement. "But I take it you're a fan of my second home?" She asked with amusement as she moved closer to her girlfriend.
The brunette turned in a full circle to scope out the apartment once more, brows furrowed with a serious look of contemplation on her face before she faced Diana once more, who was now only inches away.
"I really nice. Like, too nice." Akko stated cautiously before wrapping her arms loosely around the blonde's neck and smiling adoringly. "I'm just happy to be here with you." She pulled her girlfriend down slightly, enough to brush Diana's lips with her own. The blonde's eyelids fluttered shut as she leaned forward to make full contact, but Akko leaned back just before she was successful. Instead, the brunette leaned in close to her girlfriend's ear and nipped at the lobe before continuing. "Her with you...completely alone." She felt Diana shiver in her arms as the blonde gripped tightly onto Akko's shirt.
"A-Akko." The blonde whispered shakily as the brunette trailed kisses down the side of her neck.
"Yes, Diana?" Akko whispered back between kisses before biting down slightly on the pale skin of Diana's shoulder, eliciting a quiet moan from the blonde.
"A-Akko, we can't do this right now." Diana whimpered but made no attempt to move away as her girlfriend's hand slid from her neck and past her shoulder, heading for her chest.
"But it's been so long, Diana." Akko whined in reply before her hand found it's destination and squeezed as she caught Diana's lips in a searing kiss. The blonde pulled back quickly, struggling to catch her breath.
"It's only been a week." Diana's eyebrows raised as she tried to compose herself.
"Yeah, like I said, so long!" The brunette breathed out exasperatedly as she snaked her arms around the blonde's neck to prevent her escape. "You've been so busy, we've barely seen each other!"
"Akko-"
"And you haven't been over barely at all!" Akko continued, ignoring Diana and fixing her with a pleading look.
The blonde swallowed thickly and averted her gaze to the ceiling. 'If only you knew why' Diana internally groans. Every time she stepped foot in Akko's bedroom now, all she could think about was Amanda's comments about the paper thin walls. Damn that O'Neill, and those walls.
"I know, and I apologize. I've been rather distracted as of late." She sighed and returned her gaze to her girlfriend. "I promise I will make it up to you, Akko, but the investigators will be here soon with their reports." Diana stated apologetically and noticed the brunette's shoulders slump slightly. The blonde reached out and cupped Akko's cheek, the brunette leaning into the touch instinctively. "Now stop pouting and kiss me will you?"
Akko looked up quickly and flashed a lopsided grin, but it slowly turned mischievous. Diana arched an eyebrow, clearly suspicious of the sudden change.
"I'm afraid we just don't have the time, Miss Cavendish." The brunette took a step back and turned around to walk away before continuing. "Maybe if you pencil me into your schedule for later, you'll get that kiss." She looked over her shoulder and winked exaggeratedly before walking to the large sofa. Akko flopped down onto her back and pulled her phone out of her pocket to begin scrolling.
"Seriously?" Was all Diana managed to say as she stood there in shock. When she heard a giggle come from the sofa, she sighed and shook her head in exasperation. "Well I do hope I have an opening. I am a very busy woman after all." The blonde made her way toward her office when Akko's head poked up from the sofa, eyes wide and lip jutting out in another adorable pout.
"That's a joke right?"
"Mm, I guess you'll find out after I check my schedule." Before Diana disappeared into the hallway, she turned and walked backwards for a few steps with a smirk. "I do hope, for your sake, that you didn't waist the opportunity for that kiss just now for nothing." After a wink of her own, Diana disappeared and walked down the hall to the door of her office.
"Diaanaaa! That's not fair!"
The blonde heard Akko whine loudly from behind her and she laughed silently as she opened the door and stepped in. After closing the door, she sat down at her desk and turned her computer on. She wasn't lying when she told her girlfriend that she had a lot of work to get done while she was here. But at the moment, she needed to prepare for the meeting with the investigators. It had only been three weeks since she hired them, so it surprised her when she got a call the week before only to be informed that the investigation was over. She was somewhat anxious about the outcome since it took such a small amount of time, but her lawyer assured her that this company was the most efficient she'd ever seen. So there was hope that they were just very good at their jobs, if the sickening amount of money she was paying them had anything to say about it.
She opened the files she'd sent them on all the possible suspects and informants. Honestly, the list was quite small as she had no idea just how deep the corruption went. She then opened her email and reread the messages she'd received from different people working for the investigative service. Most of the messages seemed quite professionally written as expected, and then there were a few filled with grammatical errors and emojis. Just a couple months ago, this would have bothered her enough to reprimand this person she'd never met, but she'd had quite a lot of practice ignoring these things with Akko's extremely informal way of texting and emailing. She just smiled fondly at the unprofessional email on the screen when she heard a knock at the front door. After looking at her watch, she stood up and made her way out of the office and into the main living area.
"Oooh, is it the investigators? This is so exciting!" Akko stood up and walked as quickly as she could to stand next to Diana, who was unlocking the door.
"Akko, I'm sure it's not going to be..." The blonde opened the door and trailed off when she saw the four figures standing in the hallway. "exciting."
For a long moment, they all just stared at each other. Diana had never dealt with investigators before, but she was expecting some older men with terrible facial hair. Not…
"Oh shit, you're the hot girl from that bad ass BMW!"
Diana did not expect to see the four girls from the black and yellow sports car from a month ago. The girl with the yellow mane of hair hadn't forgotten her either it seemed.
"Yang." The other three girls groaned in unison.
"What?" The yellow haired girl shrugged in confusion.
"Please excuse Yang here, we have yet to find a filter button on her." The black haired girl smiled apologetically as she held out her hand, ready to introduce herself.
"I've been looking for an off button personally, still unsuccessful." The white haired girl interjected and folded her arms in annoyance.
"Aw, lookin' to push my buttons ice queen? You could have just asked. I'll show you a but-"
"Okay let's just...get to business." The fourth girl finally spoke up. She hesitantly stepped in between the smirking yellow haired girl and the glaring shorter girl as if a war was going to break out at any moment. "We are in front of a client after all." The girl stated through clenched teeth as she nodded to Diana and Akko, who stood in shock at the scene unfolding in front of them. The other three girls in the hallway turned to the doorway as if they'd forgotten that they were being watched and cleared their throats in embarrassment. "Right. Hello. I'm Ruby Rose, lead investigator at RWBY Investigative Services." The girl stuck out her hand confidently in Diana's direction.
"Diana Cavendish." The blonde took Ruby's hand and shook it slowly, still not quite believing that this was all real before letting go and gesturing to Akko at her side. "And this is my girlfriend, Akko Kagari."
"Hi." The brunette smiled brightly and bowed at the group of girls.
"Tough blow Rubes, she already has a girlfriend. You can't come in and sweep her off of her feet like you were planning." Yang patted a now furiously blushing Ruby hard on the back.
"W-what?" The girl squeaked out, eyes full of horror.
"God, you wouldn't stop talking about how pretty she was for like a we-omff" The yellow haired girl was nearly tackled to the ground and a hand was securely fastened over her mouth to prevent her from saying anything further.
"I didn't...say that...not that you're not pretty...I mean you are...just...uh..." Ruby laughed nervously as Yang tried to pry her hand from her mouth.
Diana opened and closed her mouth a couple times, not sure what to say to that or about anything that has happened since she opened the door to this motley crew. The blonde glanced to the side, seeing her girlfriend was just at confused as she was, which wasn't as comforting as she would have thought. Thankfully, the black haired girl took calm step forward and smiled knowingly.
"Hello Ms. Cavendish, Ms. Kagari. My name is Blake Belladonna. And these are my associates, Weiss Schnee," Blake gestured to the white haired girl next to her, who nodded curtly. "and Yang Xiao Long."
"Ow! Yang! You bit me!" Ruby quickly removed her hand from Yang's mouth and held it with her other hand, wincing in pain.
"I usually reserve that kind of thing for Blake but you gave me no choice." The yellow haired girl grinned as she wiped her mouth.
"Ugh, gag me." Weiss mumbled and rolled her eyes, before those eyes widened and she held up a finger to Ruby and Yang, who were both smiling mischievously. "Don't."
The two snickered and Blake let out a defeated sigh. Diana could imagine that this happened often by the black haired girl's expression. She had to do something or they would get nowhere, and suddenly her anxiety from earlier came back full force. Maybe her lawyer had played a cruel joke when insisting that she hire these nutcases.
"It's a...pleasure...to meet you all. Please, come in." Diana pulled Akko, who unlike her looked thoroughly amused now, out of the way to give the girls room to enter the apartment. One by one they entered through the doorway, Yang and Weiss still bickering until the door closed behind them.
"Whoa, this place is amazing!" Ruby whispered in awe as she turned in a full circle.
"I know, right?" Akko squeaked from beside her.
"Oh god, there's two of them." Weiss shuddered beside Diana, who couldn't help thinking the same thing about the two energetic girls vibrating with excitement in front of them. Although the blonde didn't seem nearly as terrified is the white haired girl.
"Damn Cavendish. Nice digs!" Yang plopped down onto the sofa. "She could give you a run for your money, Weiss. Literally."
"Of course she can, you oaf!" Weiss stomped her foot indignantly.
"Can you two stop bickering for 10 seconds so we can get to what we actually came here for?!" Ruby shouted, effectively silencing everyone in the room. "So," She cleared her throat and approached Diana. "should we get to that meeting then?"
"Yes, of course. We can sit in here, I'm afraid my office isn't quite big for all of us."
"Okay. Great!" Ruby smiled a smile that would rival Akko's before turning to head toward the living area.
"Things aren't usually this bad."
A voice sounded from right behind Diana, making her jump. She turned to see the black haired girl, Blake, smiling back at her. Wasn't she just on the other side of the room?
"Pardon?"
"Them." Blake gestured to the other three girls, two of which were glaring daggers at each other. "They usually don't argue." The black haired girl cocks her head in contemplation. "Well, not this much anyway."
"Is everything alright?" Diana asked with an arched eyebrow as she watched in amusement as Akko fidgeted uncomfortably in her chair across from the bickering pair. The brunette looked up at the blonde and waved her over with a pleading look.
"They will be, once Yang gets over the shock of her best friend dating her little sister."
"Her...little sister?"
Blake just shrugged and walked over to the sofa, squishing herself between Ruby and Yang, leaving Diana standing alone and confused. She took a deep breath and rubbed her forehead, feeling the first twinges of a headache coming on. Knowing she probably shouldn't leave Akko by herself for much longer, the blonde joined the brunette on the love seat across from the sofa and crossed one leg over the other as she leaned back.
"Alright, let us begin."
"Of course." Ruby smiled and elbowed a still distracted Weiss to her right. "Weiss, if you would start us off that'd be great."
"What?" The white haired girl finally took her eyes off of Yang with furrowed brows before turning to see Diana patiently waiting. "Oh, yes." She opened her briefcase and pulled out a thick file folder. Once laid on the table, she opened the folder and took out a report, also sliding a copy across the table to Diana before continuing. "These reports show in detail all of the information we've gathered from each person you've requested us to investigate. And as per your request, we questioned Ms. Moreau very last to avoid any sabotage on her part."
"Thank you." Diana picked up the report and turned to the first page. At the top, she saw the name of the commissioner of the European Collegiate Hockey Association, Thomas Jones. "I assume you had no trouble with Mr. Jones." She asked with a slight smirk, sure that she had probably been in the man's nightmares for a while after their little impromptu meeting.
"The man sang like a little bitc-" Yang was cut off by an elbow to her ribs from Blake. "Ow. Fine he sang like a...little...girl?"
"Yes, he was quite forthcoming with his information." Weiss continued on as she went through her briefcase, choosing to ignore the yellow haired girl's remark. "He did request for us to deliver this to you because, and I quote, "I never want to come face to face with that devil woman ever again".
"Ice queen, devil woman. You two could be besties with nicknames like that." Yang flashed a toothy grin. But it faltered when she saw the unimpressed look on Diana's face. Somehow it held more weight than any glare Weiss could muster. "Tough crowd, huh?"
"So what was it that he wanted you to deliver?"
On cue, Weiss slid a piece of paper across the table.
"It's an agreement of sorts. He wishes to resign as commissioner, and in return, he wants his named to be left out if the investigation goes public."
"Hmm." Diana hummed as she quickly scanned the document before putting it down, uninterested. "And what was his involvement in the matter?"
"Not much. He was paid a large sum of money no ignore certain events, starting with the Chariot Du Nord situation some years ago." Weiss stated with a sigh as she leaned back and crossed her legs.
"Did you get proof?!" Akko blurted out, suddenly very interested when her coach's name was spoken.
Weiss's eyebrows rose in surprise at the sudden excitement.
"Of course we did. Like I said, he was very forthcoming."
"He was spineless." Blake sounded bored as she inspected her fingernails. "You'd think he'd never been threatened before." She smirked knowingly at Diana, whose lips twitched slightly, trying to hold back her own smirk.
"Am I the only only one who hasn't threatened this guy?" Akko folded her arms and pouted. The blonde chuckled and patted her reassuringly on the shoulder.
"I didn't." Ruby smiled proudly, making the brunette perk up a bit. "I use my cuteness to get things out of people. If that doesn't work," She then turned to the black haired girl and held out her hands as if to present her. "Blake uses reasoning." Blake gave a small smile and a wave before Ruby continued. "And if that doesn't work, Weiss threatens to use her power and status to destroy people's lives and reputation!"
"Hey!" The white haired girl gasped, offended. "I do not...I do that don't I. Never mind, proceed." Weiss waved her hand dismissively and Ruby nodded
"Aaaaaand if that doesn't work..." She trailed off and grinned at her sister.
"I use my fist to punch their faces in." Yang said smugly and winked. "We got a pretty good system goin'."
"Yup!" Ruby added, popping the 'p' for good measure.
"Do you...punch people's faces in often?" Diana felt absurd just saying those words, but she was actually curious.
"Not as often as I'd like." Yang shrugged.
Diana opened her mouth and put a finger up before ultimately deciding that she'd rather not question the so called 'good system', even if their tactics were quite unconventional. After closing her mouth and putting her finger down, she cleared her throat and turned to the next page of the report.
"Did you punch anyone during this investigation?" Akko leaned forward, off of where she was resting on Diana's shoulder, intrigued by the new information.
"Unfortunately no." Yang chuckled and sighed before shifting her gaze to Ruby and Weiss who were sitting awfully close to each other on the other side of the couch. She narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips. "I really wanted to punch someone though."
"Really? Who di-" Akko curiously started to pry before being cut off.
"Let's move on then, shall we?" Diana said a little louder than normal, gaining the attention of everyone in the room. "The potential informants. Maya Tendō and Claudine Saijō. Were they as useful as I had hoped? It seemed as if they were just as put off by the events as we were." The blonde looked up from the paper, expecting an answer. What she wasn't expecting was the rolling of eyes and looks of annoyance.
"Well...heh." Ruby chimed in, rubbing the back of her neck nervously. "They were...somethin' else. But we eventually got some stuff out of them."
"Eventually?" Diana arched an eyebrow.
"They seemed really nice when we played them though." Akko added, eyebrows furrowed in confusion as to why the investigators were acting so odd.
"Yes, a little too nice if you ask me." Diana mumbled under her breath and rolled her eyes.
"Huh?"
"Nothing, Akko." The blonde stated before sighing and pinching the bridge of her nose. "Can one of you just please tell me what happened?"
"Yup!" Yang jumped off of the couch. "It's a good thing you have my epic story telling skills."
"Yang, no." Blake grabbed the yellow haired girl's hand and pulled her back down onto the couch. "She wants the real story."
"Hmph." Yang huffed and crossed her arms. "I can tell the real story." She grumbled under breath.
"I'll do it!" Ruby stands up excitedly and makes her way to a part of the room where she can move around and hopefully do no damage. "Okay. It aaaall started when we were walking down a cold dark hallway." She started walking in place confidently. "When suddenly..." Ruby trailed off, trying to build a mood of suspense with a few beats of silence. "we heard a noise!"
Akko gasped and leaned forward once again on the couch.
"What was the noise?!"
"Ugh. Ruby. Sit down." Weiss interjected. "If we do things your way, it's going to take all night."
"Aw...Weiss." Ruby whined, her bottom lip quivering as she gave her girlfriend the best puppy dog eyes she could muster. Weiss swallowed the lump in her throat, her resolve was crumbling quickly.
"I'll tell the story." Blake said, looking bored but smiling slightly at Weiss's relieved expression. Ruby sat down, still pouting.
Diana was amused at the actions of the two sisters. When she found out that Ruby was Yang's sister, she figured one of them would have had to be adopted. But their pouts were too similar, they were sisters alright.
"Please, if you would Miss Belladonna." The blonde CEO urged, eliciting a small smile and a curt nod in return.
Two Weeks Before…
"Why is it so dark in this hallway?" Ruby whispered loudly as the four girls walked down an abandoned hallway in the french team's stadium.
"Well apparently everyone is supposed to be gone. But that one girl said they'd still be in the locker room doing...captain stuff or whatever for their big game this weekend." Yang squinted down the hallway, seeing a dim light coming from underneath a door in the distance. "That should be it."
The four girls walked carefully to the door and just as Yang was about to open it, her wrist was grabbed suddenly.
"Wait, shouldn't we knock or something? They could be undressed."
"We're all girls here Weiss." Yang rolled her eyes in annoyance. "Nothing we haven't seen before, clearly. And from what I walked in on earlier, yours isn't the only naked body you've seen."
"I thought we agreed to let that go for now." The white haired girl said through grit teeth.
"But it's my sist-"
"Can we please not do this here." Ruby pleaded hurriedly, trying to defuse the situation before it started. Ever since Yang walked in on her and Weiss doing...bedtime things this morning, it had been a constant war between the two best friends. "Just open the door so we can get this over with."
Yang sighed and nodded in agreement before opening the door to the locker room slowly. The light flooded the dark hallway as they made their way in to the silent room. The four girls looked around in confusion at the empty locker room around them. Just as Ruby was about to speak, Blake cocked her head and put her hand up to stop her. Knowing the black haired had an uncanny sense of hearing, the other three girls held their breath and waited. Blake looked toward the large opening that seemed to lead toward the shower area and pointed. They slowly and silently followed the black haired girl and sure enough, they began to hear whispering, but unfortunately for them, the whispering seemed to be in French, which none of them knew how to speak. It was a miracle they had managed a whole week in France already. The girls jumped suddenly and looked at each other in horror when they heard a scream come from the other side of the wall. Yang and Ruby jumped into action and ran as fast as they could toward the sounds of distress and skidded to a halt just as they entered the shower area.
Yang and Ruby had no idea what they expected to find on the other side of that wall, but it definitely wasn't two girls making out against said wall.
"Oh." Yang broke the silence, alerting the two girls to her presence.
A disheveled Claudine, who was currently pinned against the wall, gasped in horror and pushed against Maya, who had previously been pinning her against the wall, as hard as she could. The brunette yelled in surprise at the intruder and also being pushed backward suddenly. Everyone watched as Maya stepped backward quickly to try and regain her balance, and the rest seemed to happen in slow motion. When the method of stepping backward seemed to be failing, the brunette reached out for anything to grab onto, but only found a shower curtain that immediately ripped at the top. Now she flailed her arms before spinning around as gracefully as a ballerina, to Claudine's utter annoyance, and finally regained her balance leaning up against the tiled wall. She had her arms folded and her leg crossed over the other, calm and collected as ever. Claudine's shoulders slumped, a look of disbelief on her face. The shower room fell into awkward silence for a long moment as they all tried to make sense of what had just happened.
"Well, that was a thing, huh?" Yang said, still quite impressed with Maya's recovery. She quickly found out that it was probably the wrong thing to say when the Claudine turned and glared daggers at her, clearly trying to murder her with that stare.
"Uh...hi. We're looking for Maya and Claudine?" Ruby spoke timidly, pulling the blonde's attention away from Yang.
"Ah oui?" Claudine replied in curiosity, the anger seeming to wash away.
"Are you two...Maya and Claudine?"
The blonde narrowed her eyes and tilted her head as Maya joined her at her side. They looked at each other, seeming to have a silent conversation, before turning their gazes on Ruby once more.
"Parlez-vous Français?" Maya asked with an arched eyebrow, speaking for the first time since the girls had arrived.
"Uh..." Ruby stared at them, dumbfounded. "Oh! Hold on." She dug into her pocket and pulled out a small book. She furiously began flipping the pages before pausing. "Wait, what'd you say again?"
"Oh for the love of god Ruby." Weiss exclaimed, throwing her hands up in the air. The other two just groaned their agreement with the white haired girl.
Maya and Claudine had to suppress the smirks that were threatening to show on their lips when Ruby pulled out her French to English translation book. They were going to have fun with this.
20 minutes later…
"One question! It's been a twenty minutes and we've gotten an answer to one question!"
Yang had pulled Blake aside as Ruby tried deciphering the answer to question number two. The yellow haired girl clenched her jaw in frustration as she watched Weiss and her sister argue and flip furiously through the pages of the translation book before deciding to vent to her girlfriend.
"I thought Cavendish said they all spoke English."
"She did." Blake sighed as she rubbed her temple. "I don't know, maybe she was mistaken." She shrugged and took a deep breath before turning to watch Ruby and Weiss. That was when something caught her eye. The way Claudine and Maya stole glances at each other, and the way knowing smirks would appear for a split second, only to be masked by bored stares immediately. Blake watched for a few more minutes to make sure her suspicions were justified. "Yang."
"Huh."
"I think they're messing with us."
"What?!" Yang, Ruby and Weiss replied in shock before all eyes landed on Maya and Claudine.
The blonde feigned innocence at first, but the brunette's shoulders began to shake with silent laughter, giving away their rouse. Claudine's innocent smile slowly turned mischievous before she spoke.
"Oops."
"You speak English?!" Ruby half shouted with her eyes wide.
"Yes."
"Why didn't you say something earlier?!"
"You didn't ask."
"I'm going to punch her in the face."
"Yang, no."
Back To The Present...
Akko and Diana were trying and failing very hard to hold back their laughter across from a very annoyed team of investigators. Although Blake had started the story, each person filled in the blanks at some point, leaving no hilarious detail out.
"They were really nice after they found out we were working for you, though." Ruby spoke in Diana's direction as she finished up the story.
The blonde cleared her throat and wiped a tear from her eye as she calmed down from laughing.
"I assume you received all the information you needed from them then?" She asked as she looked down at the report, refusing to look at any of the investigators lest she break out into laughter again.
"All the information is in the report, but there wasn't much to learn from them." Weiss straightened her back and assumed her business posture once more now that the story was over. "A short summary is that they had no idea what was going to happen. There was only two girls on the team who seemed to be clued in."
"Was one of them the one who broke my ankle?" Akko asked quietly, the memory still a sore topic of discussion.
"Yes. They resigned from the team shortly after the game. They had already graduated and had no other reason to stay, according to Maya and Claudine. The coach used that to her advantage." Weiss's eyes flitted to Akko for a brief second before continuing. "Unfortunately, the girl in question refused to speak with us. But her accomplice was more willing."
"Yeah, because she had the hots for Blake." Yang added, winking at the suddenly blushing black haired girl.
"While that information is completely unnecessary, Yang, she did confirm that their coach had told them to do exactly what they did." Weiss left it at that and pulled out some more pieces of paper from her briefcase.
The mood in the room fell slightly at Akko's downtrodden expression. Diana took her hand in her own, intertwining their fingers and giving a reassuring squeeze. The brunette smiled and nodded, letting Diana know that she would be okay. The blonde turned another page and quickly scanned it.
"And the referees?"
"Easy peasy." Ruby smiled brightly, trying to lighten the mood. "When they wouldn't talk, Weiss just whispered something in their ears aaaand...instant answers."
"Now that I'm thinking about it, Weiss, what did you whisper into their ears?" Yang asked curiously.
"Does it really matter yang? It worked." The white haired girl shrugged and slid some papers across the table.
"Ominous." Blake mumbled.
"Ruby your girlfriend is a little scary." Yang added.
"She is not!" Ruby denied the claim, at least on the outside. On the inside, she had to admit that she was a little scared of Weiss.
"This is all the proof we need for the payoffs. Bank statements, transfers, account numbers." The white haired girl crossed her legs once more and waited.
Diana's jaw dropped when she looked through all the information she was just given. Could it have really been that easy?
"And Ms. Moreau?" The blonde asked as she ran out of pages to turn. The french coach's report was not there, if there even was one.
"Ah. Yes. Her." Ruby laughed nervously. "Her...we did have a problem with."
"What happened?" Akko asked, intrigued again now that her mood was lifted.
"Well, to put it delicately-" Weiss began.
"She told us to fuck off." Yang said bluntly, cutting off her friend.
"Yang." Blake chastised.
"What, she literally said that!"
"It's quite alright." Diana intervened. "I honestly expected as much." It wasn't a lie. The blonde hadn't expected anything from the french coach. But she had hoped Gabriel would have made it easy on them and confess when she heard of all the evidence against her. Still, Diana wasn't worried. They had more than enough to present. More than she ever thought they'd get. RWBY Investigative services was definitely worth the money. "Is this it, then?"
"It's everything we have for now, yes." Ruby stated confidently. "Our new contacts will keep us informed of any changes but I think we have enough information to build a solid case."
"Yes. Of course. This is more than I had hoped for." Diana couldn't help but smile and sigh in relief that this was going to be resolved soon. "Thank you."
The four girls across from Diana and Akko smiled back happily and nodded.
"We should celebrate!" Akko suddenly shouted excitedly, making everyone in the room jump. "Let's get some drinks Diana! Do you guys want to stay and celebrate? You seem like a lot of fun!"
Weiss and Blake looked unimpressed with the praise while Ruby and Yang were grinning at the excited girl.
"Oh we are, shorty." The yellow haired girl agreed and winked. "But I'm afraid we've overstayed our welcome enough as it is. Maybe next time."
While Akko was pouting over being called shorty, she missed the appreciative smile that Diana had flashed Yang, who nodded and stood up. The rest of the girls followed her lead and began walking toward the door.
"You'll get your payment within the week Miss Rose." Diana informed the shorter girl as they paused by the door.
"Great! And you can call me Ruby." Ruby grinned toothily and the blonde smiled back warmly before opening the door.
"Thank you again, Ruby."
"Glad we could be of service! We'll be in touch!"
Yang followed Ruby out the door with a stoic salute, Blake followed with a smile, and Weiss paused in front of Diana.
"You two do have a lovely home here." The white haired girl smiled and held out her hand.
"Oh. Thank you." Diana took the hand and shook it as she let those words sink in. 'You two have a lovely home here'.
After goodbyes were said and Weiss exited the apartment, the blonde turned to see how Akko had reacted to that comment. But at soon as their eyes met, the brunette looked away quickly and rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly.
"Heh, she thought we lived together. That's crazy right?" Akko turned and started walking away without another word toward the hallway leading to the bedrooms.
"Is it?" The words came out of Diana's mouth without thinking and made the brunette stop in her tracks. The blonde stiffened immediately. Oh shit. This conversation was about to happen. At least she thought it was. Akko just stood there silently, back still turned to Diana, and the blonde began to panic. "I apologize, Akko. I didn't-"
"Is it?" The brunette finally broke her silence, abruptly cutting off Diana's apology. She turned around and locked eyes with the blonde. "Is it crazy that I want to spend every waking moment with you? Is it crazy that I want you to be the last thing I see when I go to sleep every night, and the first thing I see when I wake up every morning?"
"Akko..." Diana called out softly as she moved slowly toward where her girlfriend stood.
"It's crazy right?" Akko wiped a tear that had fallen down her cheek with the back of her hand and sniffled. "I mean, we haven't even been together that long!" She throws her hands up in frustration. "And when I suggested it at the hotel you just...froze and I know I shouldn't have said it bu-"
"You remember saying that?" Diana suddenly found her voice again. "I thought you were half asleep! Why didn't you say anything afterward?"
"Because I was scared! I was scared that you'd think I was some sort of clingy obsessed girlfriend who always wanted to be in your business." Akko rubbed her arm, closing in on herself and looking down at the floor as the blonde approached. "I mean, that's what it feels like. I shouldn't feel this way, should I?"
"Akko." Diana took the brunette' s chin between her fingers gently guided it up until crimson eyes met azure ones. "Do you want to move in with me?"
"Are you..." Akko's throat suddenly went dry and her eyes widened. "D-didn't I just..."
"I want to hear you say it properly. Do you want to move in with me?" Diana asked again, voice cracking slightly as her nerves were slowly getting the best of her.
"Yeah." The brunette whispered so softly, the blonde could barely hear it.
"Y-you do?"
"Yes." Akko managed to say a little louder this time.
Diana smiled widely and leaned in to place one soft chaste kiss on her girlfriend's lips. She pulled away and rested her forehead against Akko's before wrapping her arm's around the brunette's waist.
"Then will you move in with me, Akko?"
"I would love to, Diana."
They both giggled before Akko nuzzled her head into the crook of Diana's neck. They stood here in silence for what seemed like forever before the blonde leaned down and kissed her girlfriend's forehead.
"Akko?"
"Hmm?"
"I think I have an opening in my schedule right about now."
Akko let out a tired snort and giggled.
"You're such a dork, Diana. I love you."
"I love you too, Akko. More than anything."