The old but reliable yellow Jeep that used to be her father's slowed to a stop as Yang pulled it into the driveway, parking it right alongside the sleek, silver luxury sedan which of course belonged to Weiss. The engine puttered out as she turned the key and removed it from its slot in the ignition, leaving things just as silent as the passenger that the vivacious blonde had unexpectedly acquired during her brief excursion to the store just down the block.
"Okay, I'm guessing that by now Blake is probably in bed too, so the only other person you'll probably have to meet tonight is Ruby." Yang told Neo as she turned to look at the small, almost frail looking girl who was seated beside her, noticing the look of hesitancy that her expression took on at the prospect of having to get acquainted with yet another person tonight. "Hey don't sweat it! Ruby is like, the awesomest little sister in the world. Trust me, she'll like you. If you're lucky she might even bake you some cookies!" She added to try to improve Neo's spirits, and it seemed to do the trick as the girl with the multicolored mane softly grinned at her new friend's reassurance.
With that, Yang exited from the vehicle and Neo followed right after her, both of them shutting the doors behind them near simultaneously and proceeding to make their way towards the front door of the cozy suburban house. Neo made sure to stay a step behind the much taller resident of the home though as they approached the porch, intending to use Yang's body as a makeshift shield to keep herself hidden behind to hopefully make everything less intimidating. This didn't go unnoticed by Yang, but she said nothing to Neo about it since she was fairly confident that she'd reach the same level of comfort with Ruby that had already been established between the two of them in no time. Her little sister might not possess an abundance of social grace, but she was as a sweet as could be and Yang knew that she would sympathize with Neo's plight just as strongly as she had.
Shimmying her keyring around until she found the one for the front door, Yang inserted it, twisted it, and felt the tumblers click into place before pushing the now unlocked door open so that the two of them could venture indoors together. Under different circumstances, she might have asked Neo to wait outside for a moment so that she could explain the situation to Ruby first, but considering the weather she figured that the miniature-sized girl was probably just as eager to get inside as she was – even while wearing the coat that Yang had given to her.
As Yang had expected, she spotted her younger sister almost immediately. Ruby had taken up residence in the same spot on the couch that Yang herself had been occupying earlier, and the dark-haired girl lit up with delight upon seeing that her sibling was back home and had brought back with her the hot chocolate that she had been so desperately craving.
"Yang! You're finally back! What took you so-…" Ruby's enthusiastic reaction quickly morphed into one of great confusion as she realized that her big sis hadn't returned alone, her silver eyes landing upon the tiny, unfamiliar figure whom she only got a good look at for a fleeting moment before Neo retreated fully to put Yang in between herself and Ruby; only barely peeking her head out to make eye contact with the pajama-clad girl who was now sitting up at attention on the couch. "Ummm…Yang?" Ruby probed as she shifted her gaze to her sister, looking for answers to the various questions that were now swirling around in her head from this unanticipated turn of events.
"Ruby, I'd like to introduce you to my new friend, Neo. I met her while I was at the store and I invited her over for the night. Hope you don't mind." Yang at least partially explained as she smiled back and forth between the two other young ladies in the living room with her. The manner in which Ruby's brow furrowed and her eyebrows arched indicated that she was not yet satisfied with Yang's clarification of things, but if her sister was willing to vouch for this girl then she was going to trust her judgment.
"Well, of course I don't mind! Any friend of my big sis is a friend of mine! It's nice to meet you Neo." Ruby replied with a bright and genuine smile of her own sent in the direction of the girl who was timidly stepping back out from behind the cover of Yang's tall and curvaceous frame. She didn't get a verbal response from her, but Ruby settled for a nod of acknowledgment from Neo's multicolored head as she also noticed that Neo was draped in Yang's silver jacket for some reason. She hoped she would be getting more information rather soon as to how exactly her older sister had met this strange girl.
"Neo, how about you go upstairs and take a nice hot shower? I'll bring you some clothes that you can change into once you're finished, and then if you want I can fix you up something to eat if you'd like." Every part of this proposal from Yang sounded like heaven to Neo's ears as the silent houseguest of hers smiled with appreciation and keenly nodded, her reaction being enough to make Yang's smile brighten as well. She hadn't a clue when the last time was that Neo had bathed or worn clean clothes, but the marks of dirt on her face and the unkempt condition of her current attire told Yang that some basic hygienic upkeep was long overdue. "Great! If you go upstairs, the bathroom is going to be the first door on your right. I'll be in in a few minutes with a change of clothes."
Neo nodded once more with immense gratitude as she removed Yang's coat from her petite figure and returned it to the blonde who dwarfed her in height before embarking on her trek to the second-floor bathroom. Both Ruby and Yang waited until they could no longer hear Neo's soft set of footsteps climbing up the stairs before resuming their own conversation, of which there was no doubt she would be the topic of much discussion.
"Soooo…you wanna tell me what happened?" Ruby asked with expectant eyes that peered up into Yang's lilac ones, able to put some of the pieces together on her own just from what she had observed but wanting to hear the full story straight from the source to fill in any gaps there might be.
"I was walking out of the store when I found her. She was in that alley between it and the hardware shop, and I'm pretty sure that she was planning on spending the night inside of a refrigerator box next to a dumpster." Yang let out a sigh at simply recalling the living conditions – if you could even call them that – that she found Neo dealing with as Ruby nodded with understanding and continued to listen. "I asked her if there was anyone I could call to come get her, or anything like that, but she told me there wasn't. I know that I should have called and asked you guys first…but there was no way I could just leave her there Rubes. You understand, right?"
The corners of the smaller girl's mouth turned upwards back into a small grin at being asked that.
"Of course I understand. Yang, you did the right thing. If you had just left her out there, who knows if she would have even survived? We can explain everything to Blake and Weiss in the morning, but I'm sure they'll agree too!" Her little sister's reassuring words helped take a great weight off of Yang's ample chest. Yang knew that she had made the right decision by offering to take Neo in for the time being, but she also knew that doing so would probably inconvenience the rest of her housemates in some capacity, and that they'd also probably be upset with her for making a decision that affects all of them without consulting anyone else first. Hearing Ruby agree with her that she made the right call without being mad about it was therefore very therapeutic to her nerves.
"Thanks Ruby, I knew I'd be able to count on you. Now, how about I whip us up a few toasty mugs before I grab some clothes for Neo?" Yang held up the plastic bag she was still carrying in her hand with the tin of hot chocolate mixture residing within it, prompting both girls to smile like goofballs in agreement.
A pair of piercing blue eyes fluttered open in the darkness of a room only faintly illuminated at all by the moonlight wafting in through the windows. The owner of these eyes had been enjoying a peaceful slumber, but something had disturbed her from her dormant state. She picked her head up by about an inch off of the pillow it had been resting upon, attempting to adjust her vision to the shadows and identify whatever or whoever the culprit was. Suddenly she took notice of a continuous sound, honing in on it and tracing the source to one of the rooms adjacent to the bedroom that the annoyed, awoken girl was currently within. In her still drowsy state, it took her a few seconds to figure out what it was that she was hearing, but then it clicked in her head; somebody had the gall to be taking a shower this late at night while others were trying to sleep.
And Weiss Schnee did not appreciate having her beauty sleep interrupted.
Growling softly through gritted teeth, the white-haired menace of the night still took care as she got herself out of bed not to awaken her still sleeping roommate; though as she looked over towards the other twin bed in the room, she silently cursed Blake's ability to be such a heavy sleeper. Weiss used her hands to smooth out the crinkles that had formed in her slinky, silver nightgown, wanting to look presentable while she was chewing out whichever one of her other housemates who had made such a foolish choice.
It's not as if Weiss had expected to be anyone other than one of the two half-sisters, knowing that Blake had far too much sense to be so inconsiderate when it was well known just how preciously the Atlesian girl valued her sleep. If she was being honest, she was hoping that it would be Ruby in the shower as it would likely be much easier to resolve things with her than it would if it were Yang currently making use of it. Ruby could have moments of obliviousness, but was always very apologetic if she was informed that she had accidentally inconvenienced someone else. Yang on the other hand would be far more likely to just shrug it off, and then probably make some kind of wisecrack about their relative bust sizes. It was enough to make Weiss preemptively pull up on her satin nightie to make sure her demure chest was properly covered as she exited her bedroom and emerged out into the second-floor hallway.
The feeling of hot water streaming down all over Neo's bare, exhausted body as she stood there in the shower was tantamount to pure bliss for the homeless runaway. It had been weeks since she'd been able to enjoy such a simple luxury, and refamiliarizing herself with it only made her appreciate the sensation so much more. She would be more than content to simply lean up against the tiled wall of the shower just like she currently was doing, and stay that way until the water that was dousing her began to drop in temperature.
Slowly, she turned and pulled her hair around so that it was draped over her shoulder, thus leaving her back completely exposed and able to fully receive the soothing downpour emanating from the metallic head mounted into the wall and angled down towards her. Almost subconsciously, one of her hands placed itself upon the small of her back and drifted upwards as if conducting an examination. Neo let out a small squeak of discomfort when her fingers lightly pressed down upon the spot that she was hoping would have cleared up by now.
If she wanted to visualize what the bruise on her back looked like, all she had to do was glance down at the matching twin that was present on her left side, just below her rib cage. Her otherwise soft and pale skin was discolored to an unsightly brownish-yellow where the marking was present, though she supposed this was at least better than the deep blue and purple shades it would bear when it was much more freshly inflicted. This one, and the one on her back, were ones that she had received on the same night.
Two nights before she finally ran.
Neo was abruptly broken from her reverie by the sound of the bathroom door opening, causing the poor girl to jump with a bit of a startle. It subsided just as quickly as it came however when she remembered that Yang said she would be dropping in during her shower to deliver some fresh clothes for the silent waif to change into once she was finished cleaning herself up. Neo found herself slightly smiling again at the reminder of the consideration and generosity that the affable blonde was showing to her, along with her younger sister.
"Just what in Remnant do you think you're doing?"
Neo inhaled and for the moment forgot how to let the oxygen back out, her breath catching in her throat and her heart sinking as she heard this new voice that was not familiar to her at all. Its tone was sharp and biting in all the ways that Yang and Ruby's voices had been anything but. This must have been one of their other housemates that Yang had mentioned during the drive here from the store. Why did she sound so angry? What had she done wrong?
"Excuse me, I asked you a question! Yang? Ruby? Don't just ignore me!"
What should she do? What could she do? Neo was extremely limited in her options considering the confined space of the shower that she was restricted to, with only a curtain hanging up on a metal rod to separate her from the clearly peeved girl on the other side who was demanding an explanation from her, wholly unaware that she was not one of the friends whom she assumed was making use of the shower at this time. There was no place for her to run or hide, and at once she was gripped by an aura of fear that she was all too accustomed to by now; frozen in place and unable to defend herself from the hostilities being levied in her direction.
"Well fine, if you're going to be so immature about it then you leave me with no choice!"
What did that mean? What was this new girl going to do? Neo now felt the need to act in some manner, especially once she started to hear footsteps stomping closer and closer towards the shower. Tentatively she reached a hand out towards the curtain with the thought of pulling it back so that she could poke her head out and show herself, but she realized that would likely only cause further confusion and distress for the already irritated girl to discover a total stranger in her bathroom this late at night. Neo retracted her fingers and shied away from the curtain, but it mattered not as only a second later the drapery was grabbed onto and yanked open from the other side.
A loud, prolonged slurping sound followed by a heavy sigh of satisfaction signaled that Ruby was indeed pleased by the hot chocolate that was now traveling down her esophagus and warming up her pajama-clad body from the inside out.
"Aaahhhh, that's the stuff. Excellent job as always, Yang. Nobody handles hot chocolate mix in the kitchen like you do." Ruby commented with a smile and a tilt of her head towards her older sister, playfully ribbing her as of course it could hardly be more simple to follow the instructions printed on the canister that the mixture came in. Still, Yang would always make the hot chocolate when they were kids, so there was at least some legitimate appreciation in Ruby's words.
"Hey, that's not the only thing I've been told I handle better than anyone else, if you catch my drift." Yang came back with a smirk and suggestive wink as she cleaned up the countertop. Ruby in response let out a particular groan which conveyed just how grossed out she was by what her big sis was implying, to which Yang couldn't help but laugh at Ruby's still intact sexual innocence.
"So, what are we going to tell Weiss and Blake tomorrow when they find out we're letting Neo stay here with us for now?" Ruby asked as she took another sip from her personal black mug decorated with a pattern of red rose petals, happy to change the subject to anything else and figuring that the topic of their new houseguest would be as pertinent as any.
"I don't know, just the truth I guess. I'm sure that Blake will understand once she hears about just how bad off Neo was in the alley and the snow; she's a softie like that. And Weiss…well, I'm sure that Weiss will come around to it if we give her a little time to get used to it." Yang replied feeling quite confident about her assessment on Blake, and more hopeful than anything else regarding her assessment on their friend: the notorious ice queen.
"Yang, I'm your sister, and how many months did it take for Weiss to finally admit that she and I were friends?" Ruby was decidedly more worried about Weiss being less than hospitable towards Neo at a time when it definitely seemed like the girl with the colorful hair could use all the hospitality and affection that she could get.
"Yeah, but that's only because you kept opening your mouth around her all the time and you couldn't stop all these words from coming out. From what I know about Neo so far, that doesn't seem like it's going to be a problem with her." Yang teased, prompting Ruby to stick her tongue out at her older sister who was happy to reciprocate before both girls busted out into a giggle fit. However, as their laughter gradually died down, they both heard a bit of commotion coming from upstairs.
"Hey, did that sound like…" Yang trailed off once the gears clicked into place in her head. "Oh no! Weiss! Wait!" She then exclaimed before racing out of the kitchen and bounding up the steps to spot the open doorway to the bathroom, just in time to hear Weiss let out a cry of shock as the white-haired girl pulled back the curtain and discovered someone that she had never seen before in her life was in their house and using their shower.
The alarmed blonde rushed the remainder of the way into the bathroom just in time to see Neo jerk the curtain back the other way in order to cover up her nudity, leaving only her head visible and a mortified expression on her face as her ghostly white eyes flickered over to Yang; momentarily pleading for help before ducking herself fully back behind the curtain and leaving Weiss to turn and face the newest occupant of the bathroom looking extremely bewildered.
"Yang? Who is she? What is she doing in our shower?" Weiss asked just as invested in seeking answers as Ruby was when she first saw Neo walk in through the front door with Yang, although being much more blunt about it than the younger freshman had been. For her part, Yang was reluctant to have this whole conversation while standing right in the middle of the bathroom and knowing that Neo was literally hiding herself on the other side of the shower curtain, which is why she motioned for Weiss to follow her back out into the hallway. The ice queen glanced back towards the shower briefly, but acquiesced to Yang's request and proceeded to make her exit.
"I'll be right back in a few minutes with those clothes I promised you Neo!" Yang called as she grabbed onto the doorknob and lingered for a second, hoping for some kind of cue or response and frowning a bit when she received none. It wasn't until Neo finally heard the door to the bathroom shut once more that she let out all the breath she had been holding in, leaning her back up against the narrow back wall of the shower opposite the head and slowly slumping down into a seated position from her panic.
Meanwhile Weiss let out her own exasperated sigh as she and Yang now stood together in the upstairs hallway, both of them catching notice of the soft footsteps that were approaching and both of them casting their eyes towards the source to find Ruby standing midway up the steps with a look of concern on her adorable face.
"Is everything okay?" She asked with disquiet in her voice, hoping that this wasn't about to become a fight between her sister and her close friend. Ruby hated it whenever there was arguing in the house, or between any of her friends, and she felt so bad for Neo that she loathed the thought of the homeless girl being responsible for any conflict between them.
"Yeah Rubes, everything's fine. Weiss just walked in on Neo in the shower and…"
"I just wasn't expecting to find…her…in there. I thought it was one of you two, so I was a little shaken up. That's all." Weiss finished with a soft smile that made Ruby much more relaxed now with the knowledge that the Atlesian girl wasn't mad at Yang or anybody else.
"That's a relief. How about I go and pick out some old clothes for Neo to wear? My stuff will fit her a lot better than yours will anyway." The dark-haired girl offered as she climbed up the rest of the steps, receiving a thank you from Yang as she passed by the two and headed into the bedroom she shared with her older sister at the other end of the hallway.
It wasn't until Weiss cleared her throat that Yang was reminded she still had some explaining to do.
"Alright, so, Ruby got me to go run to the store because she wanted hot chocolate, and while I was there I found Neo." Yang began with a gesture towards the closed bathroom door to indicate that Neo was the name of the girl that Weiss had walked in on; something that Weiss had already picked up by now after hearing Yang and Ruby both mention her by name multiple times. "She was outside in the alley, sitting in a box, looking like she was going to freeze to death. She told me that she didn't have anywhere else to go…so I told her she could stay here for now."
Weiss rubbed her temples with her thumb and index finger for a couple of moments after listening to Yang give her the details, exhaling again at learning that at least for the near future she'd be having a fourth housemate in addition to her three best friends.
"You're not mad…are you?"
"No you dunce. How could you think I would be mad about this?" Weiss answered with a small smirk, this time being the one to put Yang at ease. "It might have been nice to receive some knowledge about this ahead of time, but considering the circumstances I suppose you didn't have much of a choice. Either way, you did the right thing Yang."
"Phew! Thanks Weiss! Honestly I wasn't sure how you were going to react. Glad to see that your heart hasn't frozen over completely just yet." Yang joked with her own effervescent smirk that Weiss guessed she probably should have seen coming. Same goes for the playful punch that she felt upon her upper arm from the strong and heavy-handed blonde.
"I'm not incapable of sympathy! Just not for idiots!" Weiss retorted as she rubbed the somewhat sore spot on her arm, which just so happened to remind her of what else she had seen in that brief period of time between when she first pulled back the shower curtain and when Neo had overcome her own surprise to wrest it back into place. "Yang…if by chance anyone comes looking for her, we probably shouldn't let them know we have her here."
"Huh? How come?" Yang wasn't exactly sure what Weiss was getting at. Obviously Neo had been through a lot to end up where she was when she found her, but if someone was trying to find her then surely it would be someone who deeply cared about her, right?
"When I pulled the curtain and I saw her…I noticed that she had a bruise. It was sizable, and right below her ribs; the kind of place where it's rather difficult to get a bruise accidentally." Weiss tried explaining in the most delicate way that she could, hoping that Yang would understand what she was trying to convey without having to come right out and say that Neo was almost certainly the victim of physical abuse wherever she was before she ran away. The solemn look that overtook Yang's features indicated to Weiss that she had.
"What kind of monster would do that?" Yang asked rhetorically as her fists automatically clenched at her sides, part of her wishing that whoever it was that had abused Neo would try to pick a fight with someone their own size. Her stance was softened however when she felt a porcelain hand placed upon her shoulder, and she picked her head back up to find Weiss right in front of her.
"What matters now is that that person can't put their hands on Neo anymore. She'll be safe here. We'll make sure of that." Weiss smiled with warmth and causing Yang to do the same in their agreement that they were all responsible for giving Neo the home that she may have never had before. Soon enough the two girls found themselves wrapped up in a tight, friendly embrace and an unspoken mutual appreciation between them.
An embrace that Ruby was all too eager to join in on as she bolted out from the bedroom and flung her arms around the other two girls, all three of them devolving into laughter at the youngest one's exuberance. Ruby may have hated arguments, but boy did she love group hugs.
The sun had barely begun to rise when the next train pulled into the station and all of its passengers emerged from the various cars now that they had arrived at their intended destination – the city of Vale.
Among them was a girl in her early-twenties who possessed a particular set of skills, and carried a reputation for being able to find things that had been lost. Her services were by no means cheap, but her results spoke for themselves. If you had the lien, you would soon be reunited with whatever prized possession you had been separated from. Her occupation was exactly what had brought her here to the coastal college town of Vale this time.
She had to admit, this job hadn't gone as smoothly as most of her others usually do. For the past two weeks, she had been traveling from city to city on the trail of her target; getting closer each time but each time unable to tie the noose around the neck of the one she was tracking. She was beginning to grow irritated at this one's unusual amount of ingenuity; despite how much she could enjoy a challenge, every day she was out on this job meant more money being lost from other potential clients that she didn't have the time to entertain.
"Excuse me Miss, do you need directions?" An elderly man dressed in the uniform of a station employee asked her with a friendly smile that she returned in kind.
"No thank you! I've been here on business before, I know my way around."
It wasn't a lie either. Vale was a notable enough place that she'd been brought out here for work a few times in the past. The university and the shipyards provided plenty of opportunities for people to start their lives anew and try to escape their pasts. She had made some contacts here and she planned on putting them to good use as soon as she got situated. She could feel something in the air as she walked through the bustle of people gathered in the train station; a certain sixth sense which told her that there would be no more trains to take except the one back home after this job was done.
Emerald Sustrai was certain now that Vale would be the place where she finally found what she had been hired to seek out, and she was certain that this was the place where she would finally lay claim to that elusive Neapolitan trophy that had been just out of her grasp.
A/N: Chapter two is here! Just a note to any readers who might be sensitive to themes of abuse, there likely will not be any graphic depictions of abuse within this Fic. It's not the direction that I intend to take this particular Fic, and as such it will likely only be alluded to as it was in this chapter. Other than that, please remember to give this story a Follow and a Favorite if you enjoyed it, and it helps if you leave a review too! Those numbers help draw more eyes, and the more the merrier!