Sorry this chapter's a bit later than I had planned. Been busy with classes and life's been smacking me around this past week…again. But, I told myself I would finish this before I gave up on it since I'm pretty bad at finishing stories in general.
Well, on with the story!
Reese probably would have fallen off the aqueduct if May hadn't been clinging to her. Normally, Reese would be the last one awake on her team, but today…Maybe it's because her right side's hurting from having been in this position for the last few hours.
She opens her eyes, the first thing she sees is the black beanie of her new…friend? Girlfriend? She's not even sure if that kiss was supposed to mean something. It had been so spontaneous that Reese is still insisting that it had just been a sleep-deprived hallucination on her part. She glances down at the peacefully sleeping May Zedong and she can't help but smile. It seems that the pain hasn't bothered her since last night.
The two of them talked for a little bit after the kiss and ended up falling asleep as they watched the stars. They never once discussed a potential relationship or even what the kiss could have meant. At some point, Reese guesses they had subconsciously ended up cuddling to keep each other warm.
In the distance, a bell tolls and she lies there, counting the number of times the bell is struck. Her heart jumps into her throat when she counts seven.
She shoots up, almost pulling May up with her. Frantically looking around, she can see some students begin to mill around. Crap! Her team must be awake by now too! "What's…wrong?" May asks, still not fully awake.
"What time were we supposed to meet in the Coliseum?" Reese asks, beginning to panic.
"Um…we're supposed to check in at the ships at least by 8." May pauses, fully alert when she realizes the implications. She shoots up as well. "What time is it?"
"It's seven. We gotta get back to our teams, c'mon!" Reese activates her hoverboard and hops on, May right behind her. "I'll drop you off at your dorm first, just show me where it is!" The pair fly overhead the early birds wandering around at the plaza, hoping that their teammates haven't woken up yet. A realization dawns on Reese as May directs her to Shade Academy's section of the transfer student dormitory. "What if the window isn't open?"
"Nolan usually opens the windows in the morning to wake up Brawnz and Roy," May answers, still burying her head into the Haven student's shoulder. Sure enough, at the very end of the dormitory, there is a window wide open. "You can drop me off next to the window so they don't see you."
"Are you sure?" Reese glances back. May nods, pulling the beanie down nervously. Descending, Reese stops about a foot from the window and helps May onto the ledge, not letting go until the sniper is firmly on the concrete. Once she releases her, May starts crawling along the wall and prepares to hop into the room.
Right as Reese starts to leave, May spares one last glance to her, smiling and mouthing, "Thank you." With that, she slips into her room and elicits screams of surprise from her teammates.
Reese chuckles to herself as she heads back to her room.
"Where were you?!" Brawnz is instantly on her, clearly agitated. Nolan helps her down from the window ledge as Brawnz waits with his arms crossed, waiting for her answer. Roy is sitting on his bed, half examining his weapons and half listening in on the conversation.
"I couldn't sleep," May replies matter-of-factly. She walks past Brawnz to her bed, bending down and pulling out a case. Opening it, she pulls out her sniper rifle and inspects all of its parts, completely unconcerned with Brawnz's agitation.
"And you decided to just disappear for the entire night? You could've gotten sick! You could've gotten punished! Hell, what if another student from another school saw you? If it was a Beacon kid, they probably would've turned you in. I bet an Atlas would've done the same. A Haven student probably would've taken advanta-"
"Brawnz." His mouth instinctively clamps shut. "I'm here right now, aren't I? And the fact that our team isn't being punished is a sign that we're all okay. Now please let me check my rifle; we might be fighting today." May's sudden cold demeanor sends a chill down Brawnz's spine as he grits his teeth.
"Just leave her be, Brawnz. We have to head down to the ships soon and there's no point in arguing," Nolan speaks up as he heads out to change.
Brawnz glares at his teammate, scoffing before turning back to his bed. Reese ignores Brawnz's temper, focusing on her weapon instead. She hopes that Reese isn't in that much trouble.
Reese bends slightly as she enters her team's room, the three of them barely registering her appearance. "I heard you leave last night," Arslan explains without even glancing in her direction.
"Couldn't sleep?" Bolin asks, taking an experimental twirl of his staff. Reese hops off her hoverboard to let it cool off as she pulls out both her Atlas uniform and her battle outfit.
"Yeah, was too excited," Reese answers, internally debating on whether she should fix up her hair. Eh...she might be fighting today so no point in doing that. If anything, she'll fix it up after the match. But then, she does kinda wanna show herself to May…did that thought really just cross her mind?
"Reese?" She jumps when she hears someone call her name. She turns back to her teammates, a blush starting to blossom on her face yet again. When was the last time she had blushed this much in such a short amount of time? She rubs her cheeks when she remembers that one of her teammates had called to her.
"What's up?"
"Are you okay? You've been acting a little…I don't know…off," Nadir comments. Reese notices that Bolin and Arslan are also looking at her curiously as if she's a specimen they're studying.
"O-of course I'm fine! What makes you think otherwise?"
"You flew in here humming and your fingers are running over your lips right now."
Reese blinks, now realizing what she had been doing. She nervously rubs the back of her head. "Was I really?"
"We all saw it, Reese. What happened last night?" Arslan asks, waiting for her teammate to answer.
Should she tell them? Or should she lie? Would they be okay with her being in a relationship…is she even in a relationship? Before she can even figure out what to say, help comes from an unexpected source.
"Attention, students! The ships will be leaving in fifteen minutes! Please check in like most of you were supposed to fifteen minutes ago!" A professor announces over the intercoms outside.
"Well! We don't wanna be late, so I'm gonna go change and then I'll meet you guys at the ships! 'Kay, bye!" Reese bounces into the restroom before her teammates can protest, knowing that they would be at the ships and waiting for her. She stares at her two outfits, deciding to wear her battle outfit and to place her Haven uniform in her locker along with her hoverboard.
Reese exhales, glad that she had come to the coliseum in her battle outfit. Once they arrived, the two professors in charge of casting the tournament displayed the bracketing for the first round and she learned that she would be the third match of the day.
She hops up and down on her toes, waiting outside of the Haven locker room for her teammates. One of the rules for the tournament is that while a pair of teams are fighting, the following teams slotted to battle afterwards must head to the locker rooms to prepare which sucks, in Reese's opinion, because she had wanted to see the battle before her. But it doesn't seem to be that enforced. She just saw her opponents enter the Beacon Academy's locker room, after all.
Before they headed to the locker room, the team had decided that they would try to split their opponents up to prevent them from working together. Reese resists the temptation to go into the Beacon locker room and try to eavesdrop, deciding to check over her hoverboard once more. She carefully inspects the dust slot to make sure it's clean and accessible if it's needed later. Distracted by her examination, she doesn't hear the footsteps behind her until the person is almost breathing down her neck.
She leaps away, her heart racing faster than her on her hoverboard. Making eye contact with the culprit doesn't help. "What are you doing here, May? …Wait how'd you even get past the Atlesian Knights?"
"Slipping in and out of places like this is nothing. I'm a sniper, remember? I have to be able to do this kind of thing," she answers, now about two feet away from Reese.
"But if you're caught…" Reese trails off, her voice refusing to finish the sentence.
"You have such little faith in me," May pouts. Reese can feel her internal temperature increase rapidly as she glances to the locker room entrance. What's taking them so long?
"Okay, fine, what are you doing here?" Reese asks when she realizes that her teammates won't be coming out anytime soon. The universe has to be working against her…is it though? May doesn't answer, only walking closer and closer to Reese. "Um…May?"
May gives Reese a peck on the cheek and every last bit of sanity flees from Reese's mind. Her face immediately reddens and she freezes up, completely shell-shocked as her mind tries to register what just happened. She hears, rather than sees, her teammates exiting the locker room as May pulls away.
"Just wanted to wish you luck," she teases, winking.
May slides into her seat, next to Nolan. "Where'd you go off to?"
"Restroom."
"That was pretty long for a-"
"Team RWBY of Beacon vs. Team ABRN of Haven!" One of the professor announces, ending the conversation. May can feel herself slowly inching forward, her eye searching for Reese. The girl in question is already on her hoverboard, appearing poised and ready to anyone not paying attention. To May, Reese looks like a bundle of unreleased energy waiting to explode. Hopefully, it'll be beneficial to her fight.
"3!" Reese pulls back ever so slightly; whether it's part of a plan or not, May isn't sure.
"2!" May tightens her grip on her seat.
"1! Begin!" The battle erupts immediately.
Reese sighs angrily, leaning against her locker. She replays her one-on-one fight against her opponent over and over in her mind. Normally, she wouldn't have fallen for something like that. Why? Why did she think her opponent would just stand there, waiting for her?
She runs her hands through her hair, letting out a growl of frustration. Did she just get too cocky? Did she underestimate her opponents? Arslan trusted her to fight that girl and she failed...epically.
She hears footsteps near her and she buries her head in her hands, not daring to face her team right now. She had failed so badly in that fight and it costed them the game. All she could do as the blonde girl was launched towards her team…was sit there and watch. She can't face her teammates right now. Not when she was the reason why they lost. If she had just…If she had just focused…
"Hey…Reese, we're heading out to the fairgrounds if you wanna go…?" Bolin asks. Reese shakes her head once, hoping they don't try to bring her along. She can feel Bolin glance back to their teammates, who probably only shrug in response. "Well…we're probably gonna be watching the next match while we're at the fairgrounds. Unless you want one of us to head back with you to the dorm?" Still no response, signaling to the three that she'd rather be alone. As they walk away, Bolin turns to Nadir and Arslan, "Who's up next again?"
"I think…one of the Beacon teams, but I don't remember their opponents."
"A Shade Academy team," Arslan answers and Reese's head shoots up immediately.
"Think they're prepping?" Nadir asks as Reese slowly walks to the door, her teammates' conversation slowly fading. She has to find…her.
"I think I saw all of them going out to the fairgrounds." Right as Arslan answers, crackling can be heard from the intercom.
"Would Team JNPR please report to the battlegrounds immediately?"
"Yes! Like they were scheduled to, several minutes ago!"
Reese slowly slides against the wall, inching closer to the exit and stops when she still sees her teammates outside. "Good luck," Arslan comments.
"You guys think you're gonna win?" Bolin asks.
"Probably, as long as we follow the strategy we planned out."
"Do you have backup plans?"
"Our plan works pretty well as it is, especially if the biomes give us a forest setting. It'll help our sniper a bunch." Reese grimaces once she makes the connection.
"Well, good luck and play smart," Bolin reminds them as the three of them leave. Reese exits the door, her heart nearly stopping when she sees a certain someone leaning against the wall in front of her…right next to her academy's designated locker room.
"…What do you want?" Reese asks, refusing to make eye contact with her.
"I was worried about you," May comments, still casually leaning against the wall. Reese feels anger boiling up inside of her. If she had just concentrated on the fight, instead of trying to…what? Impress May? Maybe they would have won! It's her fault! If she hadn't ran into her last night…"Hey are you okay?"
Reese doesn't respond, only gritting her teeth and running away, ignoring May. Only one thought is going through her mind as she tries to distance herself: If she hadn't been so focused on that kiss, they would've won.
"Team JNPR of Beacon versus Team BRNZ of Shade!" the professor announces as Reese lingers in the wings. She leans back against the wall, closing her eyes as a multitude of emotions wash over her. Disappointment. Shame. Anger.
"3!" She's disappointed in herself for having fallen for such a trick.
"2!" She's ashamed that she had let down her teammates.
"1!" Anger for being distracted about something else in the midst of battle.
She doesn't want to blame May for being the reason why they had lost, but… "Begin!" She closes her eyes as May and her teammates begin their fight. Why are crushes so hard to deal with?
May is the first one to leave the infirmary, wanting to speak to Reese. She has to admit, her head wasn't completely on the fight. To be fair, she was still able to remember the battle plan Brawnz had devised and yet...
While she waited in the tree for her opportunity, her thoughts would keep coming back to Reese. Was that why she had failed her shot on the Nora girl? Or was it just because their team was better? May scowls, looking down, as she walks through the hallways of Beacon. They had the fight in the bag! She normally would have dispatched her targets without hesitation…and yet, when she had that shot…she had frozen for a split second. That split second had been what costed them the victory, probably.
Overall, her shots were going awry. All of the shots she made today just would not go where she wanted them to. Maybe Reese was starting to have adverse effects on her…
She just wanted to wish her new friend good luck; then again, she's not even sure where they stand in their relationship. Even now, she doesn't know what compelled her to kiss Reese on the cheek, let alone what happened last night.
She'll have to meet up with Reese and resolve this issue…before it gets out of hand. But would Reese even want to talk to her? Hell, she might run for it again if she even sees a hair of May. She sighs; she's just making this harder than it has to be.
She looks up, resolute. Even if Reese makes a run for it again, she's won't let her. Worst case scenario, they don't talk to each other ever again.
…Why does that thought make May so sick to her stomach?
Reese slowly flies through the darkened plaza on her hoverboard, completely wrapped up in her own thoughts. Despite her self-loathing, she did watch bits of the match from her spot. The battle looked like it was going to go BRNZ's way…until that odd argument amongst Team JNPR. On her way out, Reese had heard some spectators speculating whether or not that argument had been intended to throw off their opponents.
It was strange, to be honest. At first glance, most would assume that BRNZ would defeat JNPR even though they did have one of the best fighters on Remnant on their team. After all, her teammates didn't seem that strong…especially the blonde boy.
Reese has to admit that the girl with the hammer proved everyone wrong with her quadruple KO that ended the fight. Even now, she wants to check up on the sniper. But considering how their last meeting had turned out with her running away…would May even want to talk to her?
No, even if May won't face her, they need to have this talk. Everything would be so much better if they just talked and figured out their feelings.
She looks up from her thoughts. This…is where she met May…right? She's pretty sure this is the right tree. Soon enough, she hears faint rustling in the branches. Looking up, she sees the sniper slowly moving down towards her.
As May gets lower and lower, Reese can feel her heart pounding loudly. Her instincts tell her to leave, but she forces herself to stay as May lands on the ground. The two of them stand there in complete and awkward silence, not a single soul in the area. Neither of them make eye contact with one another as May is suddenly interested in the cobblestones before her and Reese is staring intensely at the tree behind May.
Reese bites the inside of her cheek, deciding to initiate the conver- "Guess we were both pretty unlucky today…" May begins, ending Reese's attempt.
Reese stands there silently until she finally registers what May had said. "Uh…oh! Yeah…that was some really crummy matchups." Reese rubs the back of her head nervously. "I just…couldn't get my head in the game either. I don't know why, but I felt pretty distracted during the entire fight…"
"You too?" May asks, still looking at the ground. "We could've won so easily…"
"I say that argument threw you guys off. You dropped your guards the minute they stopped fighting which let them-"
"Kinda like how you thought the Blake girl would really just stand there?" Reese cringes, simultaneously sighing with May. "Look at us. We're completely ignoring the elephant in the room and expecting the other to just start the topic."
"Well, I won't run this time," Reese comments. "Look, why don't we head up to the aqueduct and talk there?"
May contemplates the offer before nodding. "Okay."
"What are we, exactly?" Reese begins, once she and May are situated. She is leaning back with her hands planted behind her as she looks up at the stars.
"We were two competitors participating in the Vytal Festival Tournament until we lost today to two of the strongest first-year teams of Beacon Academy," May replies. Her hands are in her lap as she looks down. "We both couldn't sleep last night and decided to explore the campus in hopes that we'd tire ourselves out."
"And then we ended up running into each other," Reese jumps in, now fully paying attention to the sniper.
"Then we ended up here...and we…kissed." May clenches her fists, closing her eye. "We didn't even talk about it afterwards and just never mentioned it. It's…not fair for either of us to pretend it never happened…or our feelings." She opens her eye and faces Reese, both teenagers suddenly feeling anxious and waiting for the other to speak up again. May's ears start to redden as she looks in the opposite direction for a moment, trying to steel herself. "Wh…what I'm trying to say is…when we met, we were complete and total strangers. We had nothing in common except for the fact that we were competitors in a biennial event. Then, circumstances brought us together and honestly, it felt like all the pain just went away when I met you." May exhales, suddenly hesitant again. "Reese…what I'm trying to say is…"
Reese stops her there, grabbing the front of her jacket to pull her closer and leans in to kiss the Shade student for the second time. Surprised at first, May soon reciprocates when she feels Reese's tongue hesitantly asking for entry. Unlike the first time, both of them are less shy, their tongues clashing against each other.
Reese is the first to reluctantly pull away, her cheeks flushed. At some point during the kiss, May's beanie had been pushed up, revealing the scarred eye once more. "Reese…"
The girl in question responds by giving her a quick peck on the lips and an embrace. "I like you too."
May's eyes widen in disbelief before she returns the embrace, leaning on Reese's shoulder. "Who would've thought two students from two different schools would have gotten together?" May closes her eyes, quietly taking in her surroundings. "We're a pretty unlikely pair, aren't we?"
Reese chuckles, "We sure are."
Brb flinging myself off a cliff.
Disclaimer: I have never written a romantic scene like this before. This is my first time doing this and if it made you cringe, don't worry, I cringed too. I had to rewrite this chapter so many times because I was unhappy with how it developed…
But at the same time, I'm proud of myself for finishing this. This was my first story where I actually completed it without waiting a whole freaking year or two… (*looks at Thanagarian guiltily*).
I hope you enjoyed An Unlikely Pair! It was fun to write for the most part and it helped me regain at least some of my writing confidence back. The epilogue will be posted within the night!