Diclaimer: I don't own anything to do with RWBY.
Author's Note: And we're back with a new chapter! A little bit shorter, I think, than the others but otherwise still filled with good fluffy content and a bit of angst.
This chapter has a rape/abuse mention which I would like to warn you guys now - it doesn't go into detail but just a heads up for the fourth sentence before the end of the chapter.
Thank you for all the reviews, likes and favourites for the previous chapter. They're always a delight to read. :D
Thank you to my good friend Callum as well for looking through this chapter for me.
I hope you all enjoy this chapter!
Reeves3.
Chapter Five
A phone was always ringing at The Daily Vale. It was either a member of the public ringing in with a promising story or fellow staff members trying to contact one another. Either way there was never a moment of silence, even if the phones stopped ringing the clacking of fingers hitting keyboards and papers being shuffled was ever present in the room.
Out of the several desks in the large office space Blake's was one of the two to be placed against the window. She sat at the computer chair, lightly spinning it from side to side, as she gazed out at the view of busy morning traffic, pushy people walking along the high street, and a bright blue sky. She had a paper to write but she couldn't find the focus to concentrate on it. Her mind was far too busy thinking about how Kit was getting on at her swimming lesson. Blake had been informed on Monday that volunteering went through a cycle, so different parents could help out and Blake had been asked to come again the following Wednesday.
She had been a little put off by it. For one, she wasn't able to keep an eye on Kit in case something bad happened in the pool, but she knew Kit wasn't as scared as the water as she was so that reassured her a little. Also, Blake was positive Yang wouldn't let anything bad happen to any of her students under her watch. That brought her to the second part she was miffed about; she wasn't going to be able to see Yang.
A small sigh slipped by Blake's lips and she lifted her mug up to finish off the last few sips of her tea.
Her heart yearned to see the blonde again, but her head threw every bit of logical reasoning at it as to why it was a bad idea to become infatuated. Her mind always triumphed and she settled on just trying to become friends with Yang as shame nibbled away at her for wanting more.
Her mind also stressed about Adam, wondering if she had made the right choice to stay rather than move house just to be sure he could never track them down. Guilt gnawed at her for that too because if something ever happened to Kit, if he ever did to Kit what he had done to her, then Blake would never forgive herself.
A ringing on Blake's desk broke her out of her thoughts and she placed her empty mug on its coaster, then answered the phone. The caller I.D on the small screen showed her it was coming from the receptionist office.
"Hello Maggie," she answered, already knowing who was at the front desk today.
"Hi Blake, I have a Mrs Alistair from Vale Primary on line one for you."
Immediately Blake's mind conjured up all kinds of reasons why she would be getting a call from Kit's school; the top one being an accident had happened. "Okay, thanks Maggie, pass it through."
Maggie passed the call through and Blake quickly pressed the number one key as soon as the button above it started flashing red. "Hello, Blake Belladonna speaking."
The schools receptionist, Mrs Alistair, voice spoke through the speaker. "Hi Miss Belladonna. Apologises for having to contact you at work but is it possible for you to come to the school? I'm afraid Kit got into a fight with another student and Headmistress Goodwitch would like an audience with the parents of the children involved."
Blake's eyes had widened like saucers. 'I can't believe it. Kit got into a fight?'
"Uh, yes certainly. I'll be there as quick as I can."
They said their farewells before Blake hung up the phone, saved all her work on her computer and then shut it down. She picked up her bag from underneath her desk and stood up from her chair, walking over to her boss' office. Blake lightly knocked on the door then popped her head in to see her boss, Rowan Liddell, sat at his desk typing away at his computer.
"Morning Blake, what can I do for you?" He asked, cheerfully.
"Hi Rowan, I hate to do this, but I need to pop out and meet with my daughter's head teacher. Apparently Kit got into a fight," explained Blake.
"Oh no, little troublemaker, but yes that's fine, will you be back later?" He questioned, understanding as ever.
Blake nodded. "Hopefully, but if anything comes up I'll be sure to ring and let you know."
"Excellent. I'll catch you later then," he said, smiling happily.
Blake bid her goodbyes and rushed out the office towards the elevators. A short ride down a couple of floors and Blake walked out into the foyer , giving a quick wave to Maggie, and headed out the main doors. She got into her car and began the quick drive to Vale Primary School wondering what on Remnant Kit had done.
A short while later Blake parked in the empty car park and practically jogged up to the front doors of the school. Mrs Alistair was seated at her usual spot behind the small window and she gave a friendly smile to Blake as she entered.
"Everyone is waiting in Headmistress's Goodwitch office. It's right over there," she informed, pointing slightly behind Blake and to her left. Blake looked around and saw a wooden door between the main hall and one of the hallways. Approaching it, Blake knocked on the door reading the plaque that read 'Headmistress Goodwitch: Head Teacher'.
A firm voice answered from the other side.
"Enter."
Blake pushed the handle down and nudged the door open. Headmistress Goodwitch sat behind her mahogany desk, glass spectacles half way down her nose, as she glared sternly over them. Seated in front of her was Kit and the other student Blake recognised as Charlotte while behind Charlotte was her mother, dressed in a two-piece business suit, her hair and make-up done immaculately, and jewellery decorating her. In the middle stood Yang with her hands tucked into the front pocket of her hoodie.
They had all turned to look at her enter and Blake's eyes widened seeing the three scratch marks on Kit's cheek. Charlotte didn't look any better, looking frazzled, and had crusty dry blood around one nostril, in her hand she clutched a bloody tissue.
"Miss Belladonna, thank you for joining us," said Goodwitch.
"About time," mentioned Charlotte's mother, impatiently. Blake squinted her eyes at her, recalling from a faint memory a year prior at the school's fundraiser that this woman's name was Carolyn.
"We called Miss Belladonna from work. You were already here from volunteering today," reminded Yang, pointedly. Carolyn turned her nose up at Yang as Blake stepped into the room, closing the door behind her, and came to stand behind Kit. She gently placed a hand under Kit's chin, lifting her head up and tilting it to the side, so she could get a close up of the scratches.
"What happened?" Blake asked, hiding her inner fury at the child who hurt her daughter, while her eyes glanced across at Headmistress Goodwitch. The light blonde elder woman opened her mouth to speak but was rudely cut off by Carolyn.
"Your daughter savagely attacked mine!" She proclaimed, pointing a bony finger at Kit.
"No I didn't! She started it!" Kit shouted, clenching her fists.
"You pulled my hair!" Charlotte argued.
"You pulled my ears!" Kit fought back.
"Why would I touch your ugly ears?" Charlotte snapped, her tone full of snide.
"Enough!" Headmistress Goodwitch ordered, slapping a ruler on the desk with a snap making the five of them jump simultaneously. "Never have I seen such insubordination inside my office. I want you two to remain quiet until you are called upon. Understand?" Kit and Charlotte nodded their heads and Headmistress Goodwitch looked upon her fellow staff member. "Miss Xiao Long, could you please tell me your side of the story?"
Yang appeared a little surprise to be called upon first, but she quickly began recounting her side of things. "Well we arrived at the pool and while the students were getting changed, I went to go do the safety check. I heard shouting coming from the girls changing room, so I rushed back to find Kit and Charlotte fighting and Mrs Richmond trying to stop them. I went over and pulled them apart and asked what happened. Charlotte told me that Kit pulled on her hair for no reason which Mrs Richmond backed up but Kit denied this saying her ears were pulled on first."
Headmistress Goodwitch sat back a little in her chair as she contemplated what Yang had explained to her.
"I see," she said. She turned her gaze towards Kit who reluctantly met her cold hard stare. "No one attacks someone for no reason. There's always a motive even if it's the most absurd; so tell me Kit, what is your reason for hitting Charlotte?"
"She was saying mean things about Sam again," admitted Kit, honestly. Goodwitch nodded her head and turned towards Charlotte.
"And you, Charlotte, what is your reason for fighting with Kit?"
"Because she pulled my hair," said Charlotte.
"Because you said mean things about Sam! He's my friend and he didn't want to go swimming today because of you!" Kit cried out, her voice wavering. Blake ran a hand through Kit's hair in an attempt to soothe her.
"Ah see!" Carolyn said, triumphantly, pointing her finger at Kit again. "She admits she attacked my daughter first."
"After being provoked by your daughter," mentioned Blake, coolly.
Yang spoke up. "This isn't the first incident where Charlotte has said something mean towards Sam and Kit has stood up for him."
Carolyn huffed as Headmistress Goodwitch processed this new information. Silence filled the room as they waited on the head teacher to give her verdict.
"Even if it was in defence of another student," she started, sliding her half-moon spectacles up her nose, "I won't allow fighting amongst my students. The pair of you will be taken home so you can reflect deeply on your appalling behaviour and when you come back tomorrow I want you both to apologise to one another."
No one argued with her and after bidding Headmistress Goodwitch a good day Carolyn led Charlotte out the office. Kit waited half a minute then hopped off the chair with her school bag in hand, keeping her head bowed down and her ears flat, as she rushed over to the door and opened it leaving the room on her own. Blake quickly said her goodbyes to the head teacher and chased after Kit with Yang following her. She found Kit standing outside the front doors with her back turned to them and as Blake pushed open the door her ears picked up the sound of sniffling.
"Kit?" She asked, worriedly. Kit let out a small choked sob and slowly turned around on the spot where Blake saw tears running rivers down her cheeks and snot trailing from her nose as she cried her heart out. She briefly looked up at Blake then shamefully stared down at the ground as she quietly hiccupped out a question that made Blake freeze up.
"A-Am I l-like dad?" Kit wiped away at her endless tears and cried out. "You t-told me he was an angry m-man who hurt people. I-I feel myself g-getting angry and I d-don't want to h-hurt people, but I d-d-did."
Blake faintly shook her head, hearing Yang awkwardly pause behind them and staying by the doors, as she crouched down wrapping Kit up in a giant hug and picking her up. Blake cursed at herself for having told Kit that information about her father a couple of years ago. What was she supposed to do though when her five-year-old wanted to know what her father was like? She should have known better that Kit would have taken it to mean that the slightest anger from her would make her believe she was a bad person.
The doors behind them opened and Blake realised Yang had left and returned to retrieve several tissues for Kit. She heard Kit blow her nose into one of them and then felt her bury her face into her mother's tresses, embarrassed to have her teacher see her crying.
For a while Blake swayed on the spot letting Kit cry into her shoulder giving her the time she needed to calm down while running a hand up and down Kit's back. When she felt Kit's tears were trailing off slightly she pulled back from Kit to get a good look at her daughter. Her eyes were red around her irises as was the tip of her nose and cheeks, which were still damp, and her lower lip jutted out with a wobble threatening another wave of tears.
"Let's get you home and we'll talk about it there, okay?" Blake offered, not really keen on having this conversation with Yang overhearing. Kit nodded her head and went back to resting her head on her mother's shoulder. Blake turned around to face Yang who was watching them with a sad smile but had a warm fondness in her eyes.
"I'll see you next Saturday," she said, and Blake nodded. Yang pulled a hand out from her hoodie pocket and in it was a kit-kat bar.
"Hey Kit Kat," she mentioned, causing Kit to briefly lift her head up. Yang held out the chocolate bar for Kit to take with her free hand that wasn't holding tissue. "Keep your chin up little one."
Kit gave a little smile and mumbled a small thank you. Yang smiled at her and Blake who returned the gesture. Blake mouthed her own thank you to Yang, briefly waving to say goodbye, then began carrying Kit to the car with Yang watching them go until they were out of sight. Blake gently lowered Kit to her feet at the passenger side of the car as she fished out her keys from her purse and unlocked the doors.
Kit continued to cry quietly during the journey home and Blake comforted her as best as she could while keeping both eyes on the road. When Blake parked on their driveway the pair of them got out, Kit rushing to Blake's side again to hold her hand, and they entered through the front door of their house.
They dropped their bags in the hallway and Kit followed Blake down into the kitchen where she handed Kit a box of soft tissues who pulled one out and threw her old ones in the bin.
"Does your cheek hurt?" Blake asked, opening up the freezer part of the fridge to get an icepack. The pink blemish on her cheek was already starting to fade but the three dark red scratches still looked sore.
Kit shook her head and sniffed. "No, Miss Xiao Long got me some ice at the pool."
Blake smiled. "Alright. Do you want a drink?"
"Can I have some squash?"
Blake nodded and closed the freezer door and reached up in the cupboards for a plastic cup and a glass. "Why don't you go sit in the lounge and I'll join you in a minute?"
Kit slowly nodded and walked into the lounge leaving Blake to make them drinks and think about what she would say to her daughter. She ran the cold tap, mulling it over in her mind which parts would be appropriate or not, as she poured blackcurrant juice into the plastic cup then held it under the running water, then did the same for her own drink minus the juice.
When Blake walked into the lounge she saw Kit curled up at one end of the settee with her head resting on the armrest and using the throw as a blanket. Blake placed the drinks on the coffee table then plopped herself down in the middle of the couch by Kit's feet. In an instant Kit sat up, took a quick sip of her drink, then turned to lay the other way with her head resting on Blake's lap. Blake smiled fondly and began to gently run her fingers through Kit's hair as she continued to dab at her tearing eyes and runny nose.
"Come on, don't cry," comforted Blake. "It's okay to get angry sometimes, everyone gets angry over something they care about."
"B-But t-they don't h-hurt people," sobbed Kit.
"Not always but it happens. Getting involved in a fight for standing up for someone else doesn't make you a bad person."
Kit's eyebrows furrowed together. "But y-you said dad-"
Blake let out a long sigh. "Your father...he was a very bad man. He would get angry and start fights with innocent people for no reason thinking it was the right thing to do. He never fought anyone to defend a friend from someone else like you did, Kit."
Amber eyes met each other. "You know that fighting with Charlotte was wrong, don't you?"
Kit nodded her head and Blake wiped away a stray tear. "Then you're nothing like your father. Sometimes anger can build up, and I know you get angry Kit, I do too, whether it's people teasing us about our cat ears or people making fun of those we care about, but we don't let it resort to fighting. Think about what Yang did the other day. She was angry at those men for making fun of her for having one arm, but she chose not to fight them."
"Yeah," sniffled Kit, "but she raced them."
"She did and it's a much more better approach than to start a fight. How about we brainstorm some ideas that you could do so whenever you feel angry you can go and do them instead?"
"Can we stay like this for a bit more?" Kit asked, snuggling closer to her. Blake smiled and scooped Kit up in her arms and cuddled her closer.
"Of course we can."
For a while the two of them sat their cuddling each other until Kit's crying ceased entirely and the balled up tissues were going unused in her lap. Her breathing was steady, her chest rhythmically rising and falling, and Blake wondered if Kit had fallen asleep when her quiet voice piped up against Blake's collarbone.
"He hurt you. Didn't he mommy?"
His furious red eyes, his raised voice, his slaps, his punches, his forceful sexual advances, her terror, her screams, her bruises, her broken bones, and her tears long throughout the night flashed inside her mind like a nightmare movie on fast forward.
"Very much so," replied Blake, swallowing with difficulty.
"I would never hurt you mommy," replied Kit, holding her mother tighter. Blake squeezed her even closer.
"I know you wouldn't sweetheart," said Blake, pressing a kiss between Kit's ears. "You're nothing like him."
Author's Note: Not much plot wise for this chapter, more of an information filler, but I hope you guys don't mind that.
Don't forget to leave a review and let me know what you thought!
Lots of Yang and Blake in the next chapter, don't you worry, our bees will be buzzing!
Reeves3.