NOTE: So here's something I should address from Craxuan. First, I'd like to thank this person for the review. Helps me do better.
Now then, if you read his review, he mention Yang's behavior as totally unnecessary. I agree with this, and reason being is because I purposely wrote it as such. As Craxuan mentioned, Yang attends Fight Club to release stress and sleep well. If she's stressed, she doesn't sleep well. And if she doesn't sleep well, she may not be the same Yang you know. Essentially she acted as a different person and interpreted situations differently. Blake prying causes some stress for her, so she she responded a lot differently than you may expect. That includes how 'telling the truth' equates 'threaten the s*** out of Blake without actually telling the truth'.
But if none of that still doesn't sit well with you, hopefully this last part does a lot better in making my intentions clear.
You can tell when Yang Xiao Long has had a bad day by the way she fights; the difference in strength between her normal, cheerful self and angry, aggressive self are as different as the earth and the sky. Whereas normal Yang always fought with energy that could be described as confident, relaxed, and playful, it is a far departure from the Yang that in enraged. It is burning, uncontrolled, and violent. Best described as spontaneous combustion, her anger goes away as quickly as it comes when she is allowed to relieve herself, but not without casualties from the focus of her aggression.
Yang knows this, she know she is a destructive force that is bounded only by the limits of the sky. Nonetheless, Yang is a responsible person, for the most part. She knows she needs to learn to balance stress and keep her emotions in check. And since coming to Beacon, Yang has learned to do so. But Yang needed this; she really this. Today had been one long test or her patience, which was in very short supply today, and her only salvation was Thursday night Fight Club. The weekend would soon be upon them and she rejoiced in the fact that her Friday schedule was light and her classes were early. But tonight she needed to let out some steam.
It never really matters what events happened during the day, though if one must know, the blond had a bad hair day and terrible set of morning classes that ended in a disastrous team mission. The only thing that mattered was her ability to vent before a meltdown and with whom or what would Yang release her bottled up fury upon.
But much like today, something felt off, as if something was here that shouldn't have been. Yang took her time to examine the basement and saw that it wasn't the usual crowd for a Thursday night. The basement was light of students, mostly Faunus, with some faces Yang didn't recognized right away but knew weren't newcomers. Despite the rules being read, the blond assumed they had to be people who rarely showed up. Yang tried to find fault with this but didn't see any.
Then she noticed there were more amounts of alcohol and smoke floating around the room. This group had a wave of drunks and chain-smokers that the blond wasn't used to. They appear more rambunctious in nature, meaning they had a high probability of pissing her off and dying on the floor tonight. This could have been it, but she realized this wasn't the source of her discomfort. Some crazy idiot challenging her to a death match was welcomed, and besides, the more vodka the better right?
Yang studied the crowd closely to look for a contender. Ren, Nora, and Velvet were all here tonight, although the bunny Faunus was more reserved than usual, which is to say she looked tortured to be here. Yang looked for the source of the Faunus' discomfort and saw Cardin Winchester out among the people. Velvet must have been afraid the bully would request her to fight, since his usual prey of students were in low numbers.
Yang decided he'd make good for her first of many brawls but no sooner had she stood from her seating position did a first year student, drunk and hardly aware of his surroundings, ask her to a match. Watching him slur in speech and nearly fall over his own feet the blond couldn't even suppress her laughter. He probably never seen her fight, but heard she was one of the few of the few undefeated boxers of the club; someone who would go as far as to break arms to keep her title. He was probably looking for a good time, a better reputation, and people to give him more alcohol.
Well if not Cardin, then he'd make a nice warm-up; she'd sober him up real quick.
The moment she stepped in the center she got to work. Instead of her usual dancing and laughing about, teasing her opponents with weak throws, she laid down a flurry of punches and kicks that proved why no one beat her in a match. As usual the crowded bellowed advice and words of encouragement; "Keep your distance", "Watch her legs", and "Don't touch her hair". They were hoping, but really knew he wouldn't be the one to dethrone her as one of the queens of the concrete.
Whenever he fell Yang picked him up before she pummeled him again, purposely knocking him down to bruise his ego. She even encouraged him to stand up, despite his bloody body and weak legs protesting, but she didn't allowing him to fight back.
After about the fifth time he spat blood and saliva that accumulated in his mouth, the first year realizing he literal signed his own death certificate; especially when he saw that it was only his blood on the stone floor. He didn't know what he had done to piss her off, but he wasn't about to give up. His common sense told him not to keep boxing in a losing match; no matter how tough he was, she was leagues better than him. Yet the vodka he consumed wasn't allowing him to think straight.
Sensing his confidence nose drive as he struggled to decide if he should tap out, Yang kicked him to the floor, straddled him, and rained down blows to his face. He looked like he needed the extra encouragement and Yang loved overpowering her opponents like this.
The basement long went deaf for Yang, she knew they were shouting but found when she was extremely focused on hurting someone everything else goes silent. But something told Yang to look up from her opponent and scan the boisterous crowd. She did briefly after a jab in her opponent's face that would allow her to break away, and in the sea of people she saw her, black hair, cat ears, and angry amber eyes.
It was probably a mistake at that moment to look up, Yang's concentration broke and the guy she sat atop of recovered, throwing a heavy punch into her face. With confidence soaring as he observed Yang tumble off him, the first year tackled the blond to the floor and punched again, reeling back his fist with a few strands of the blond boxer's golden locks tucked in between his fingers.
He expected cheers in his honor but the outside crowd grew silent, some of them gasped, and even one yelled "Boy, you fucked now!" Confused he examined the girl before him, and nearly chocked on his spit. The expression on her face was nothing but unbridled fury. He eyes red like blood as she bared her teeth like fangs.
He didn't have time to run. She pounced on him like a tiger, and with snarls to mimic a wild animal proceeded to try to tear him asunder. But between the cheers from indifferent patrons, laughter from her opponent's enemies, and prayers from his friends, she heard her name and someone yanked her from on top of the boy before he went limp.
Yang turned to look at who was bold as to touch her and drag her way when she was met with an unforgiving amber gaze.
Pinching the bridge of her nose, the brawler let out a heavy grunt. "You really are as fuckin' stubborn as Weiss. I never pegged you to be so headstrong."
The Faunus rolled her eyes and turned away from Yang, dragging her away from the mock ring, while still maintaining her glare. "Well hey, there isn't a lot you know about me."
Yang pulled her hand away as they stood in the middle of the crowd. "You're right, there is a lot I do not know about you."
"Seriously Yang, what the hell?!" Blake exclaimed, whipping her head back to her partner who was trying, but failing to hold a neutral expression.
"I'm trying to salvage what's left of my Thursday", the blond responded, gnawing her teeth as she spoke.
"Friday, in case you haven't noticed, it's three o'clock in the morning."
Frustrated Yang growled and threw her hands into the air before forcing them down at her side, fist balled up so tight her knuckles were turning white. "Fine whatever, it's fuckin' Friday! Honestly Blake it doesn't matter what fuckin' day it is. What does matter; however, is that I specially remember telling you never to show up here!"
"Yang, what type of shit have you gotten yourself into?"
"I'm pretty sure you know", the brawler mocked.
"Then you must understand the amount of trouble you're in. Yang, this entire thing here is illegal! And you could seriously get yourself hurt, or worse!"
Yang knew Blake would react like this, but the blond really didn't need a lecture on just how suspect this place was. Nor did she need a lecture on the possibility of getting hurt to the point of severe injuries, getting expelled from Beacon, or actually dying. But most of all, she certainly didn't want to hear it from Blake.
"Well aren't you the pot callin' the kettle black?" the blond sneered. "Okay, let's ignore the fact that I'm hardly ever in danger because I'm strong enough to handle these bastards. Let's ignore the fact that I am the strongest boxer here. But let me ask, what's make you think you're the right person to tell me how illegal this is?"
Yang leaned in close to the Faunus to whisper in her human set of ears. "Let us not forget you probably have a lot more blood on your hands than I'll ever have, Miss Former White Fang—"
Blake slapped her; hard.
"Fighting for social and economic change for my entire race is not the same as fighting in this shitty basement blood brawl!"
Yang looked as if she wanted to respond with a harsh rebuttal, but the duo was interrupted by a male student calling out to Blake, informing the two she had an opponent waiting to fight her. The two turned their attention to the middle of the crowd where Cardin stood, hand tapped up extra thick and grin spread far too wide for Yang to like.
As the dark haired Faunus began to walk back into the center, the blond grabbed at her wrist, pulling her back.
"No," Yang commanded when Blake attempted to walked forward, ignoring the person pulling her elsewhere.
"You can't be serious?"
"I am! I wasn't shittin' with you when I said I can't guarantee you I'll be able to protect!"
"Fuck you Yang! I'm not your sister nor am I weak!"
Yang wanted to protest further, but the look of disappoint, hurt, and rebellion on Blake's face killed all her arguments. She knew Blake would no longer tolerate Yang insistence on her safety, mentally communicating that the blond had damaged the trust between them, and even lost all of her respect with her quip about her past life. They were going to have a long and difficult conversation after her bout, but for now Blake herself needed to vent, and she wasn't in the mood to fight with Yang any longer.
Moreover, Blake was on a mission to prove she could handle whatever mess Yang got herself into, and that she could handle herself without the blond playing protector.
So, the blond released Blake's smaller wrist. "Don't expect me or anyone to jump in when he fucks you up. And if you're as wise as I believe you to be, you'll tap out early."
The Faunus hardly nodded before Yang angrily sulked away to the back of the room. The crowd parted before her like the Red Sea, and remained as such, the threatening aura Yang emitted convincing people to keep from blocking her view. With Yang irately watching for the distance, Blake cautiously approached the middle of the crowd, where two students dressed her hands in cloth and gave her a pair of black boxing shorts, convincing her to strip her combat clothing down to her own sports bra and white tights.
Something had gone wrong, and Yang wanted to go in to stop the situation before it became worse. Cardin was cheating, in some way, and strange enough, no one else noticed it.
While Yang claimed Blake would receive an ass beating from her opponent should she decided to fight him, in actuality, she knew Blake would most likely defeat Cardin. Blake wasn't as strong as Cardin, but what she lacked in strength she made up for in other skills; she was naturally faster than him, and cleverer; the time she spent sparing with Yang had improved her endurance, and the blond even taught her a thing or two about grappling.
So when they began to square off, Blake in her usual calm and focused manner, was making a laughing stock of Cardin, her quick and fast punches doing more to him that his heavy jabs and kicks. He wasn't graceful on his feet and was sloppy in the way he fought, leaving himself open to attack and slow to defend. The lad had no real formal training, so despite his power, he tired easily. It all begged the question "How did he get into Beacon anyway?"
That said, so long as Blake could keep her momentum and manage the energy she spent, she'd outlast him. At least, that's what should have happened but fate had a different outcome in mind.
"Wait, I want to see more of how she fights at a disadvantaged."
Yang gritted her teeth, and for a moment, considered punching the man who held her back in his chest before going off to rescue Blake from the trouble she had gotten herself into. Just how this sneaked in and remained invisible to everyone but her was beyond Yang's comprehension, not that she too particularity cared at the moment. So instead the blond held her ground, she anger rising with each jab Cardin threw at Blake's body.
"She's getting beatin' enough", Yang argued with hint of frustration straining her voice.
The man sipped at his coffee mug branding Beacon's logo on the front. "So she is", he responded, locking his brown eyes with Yang's own lilac eyes briefly before turning his attention onto the match. "However, I think you confuse 'receiving a beating' with 'being beaten'. Look, she's fighting back."
Yang watched her partner stand to her feet and resume fighting, doing her best to find the momentum she lost to stand against Cardin, before once again falling, almost cowering as she covered her cat like ears that lay back against her head. She yelled at her opponent, something that sounded like she was accusing him of cheating but was quickly silenced with a kick to her ribs.
"Not yet Miss Xiao Long", the professor responded, his own aura flaring as Yang's spiked, just enough to calm the blond but strike her with an warning feeling. Without much effort he was communicating it would be wise for the brawler to follow his command; just an ounce of his aura was intimidating enough for Yang to wait.
Blake was at Cardin's mercy as she looked as if she was trying to block out the sounds around her, her painful cries echoing louder than the roars from the spectators in Yang's ears. She was bleeding from wounds on her arms and her torso looked bruised from repeated poundings. For the most part Cardin avoid her face but Yang found it hard to look at, her cheeks turning purple under the weight of his fist. It was a pitiful sight to look at that made the brawler feels very uneasy.
"She doesn't look too good. She could use some advice", Professor Ozpin spoke with a small grin.
Trying her best to shout over the crowd Yang called out to Blake. When their eyes locked Yang made motions for her to tap out when she realized Blake was having a hard time listening out for her partner.
It took a moment for the Faunus to comprehend what she was being told; when she did Blake tapped on the ground to signify she was in too much pain to continue. Cardin didn't seem to notice and even as the voices died down Cardin continued to attack in his own lust for blood.
People were still shouting, but not for a good show, but because Cardin wasn't ending the match. Shortly after tapping out, someone shoved the heavier boy off Blake and began yelling at him. He looked confused, almost as if he didn't understand why people were giving his dirty looks and why some of his friends were attempting to defend him. Of course, Cardin didn't need a reason to argue, and without really understanding he was being accused of breaking one too many rules, he started to pick fights with whoever was in his face.
Yang rushed to Blake's side, ignoring the cryptic professor that held her back and sea of students in her way, scooping up the smaller girl in her arm Yang.
"Didn't I tell you there would be consequences to follow if you didn't let it go?"
"Jackasses, both you and Cardin", she coughed earning a scowl from the blond.
"I know. This is my fault. I'll take care of it", Yang softly spoke. Her voice; however, not without malice intended for a certain individual.
"Don't kill him", the Faunus requested, catching the resentment in her partner's voice.
Yang strolled over to a distressed Velvet, and a worried Ren and Nora, who had been watching from afar. None of them spoke, stunned silent from fear, sensing the fury from Yang's aura and burning gaze.
"Velvet, patch her up for me will ya?"
The rabbit Faunus nodded. "As soon as the ringing from the whistle in my head stops", she responded. Taking note of the Faunus' remark Yang handed Blake to the shorter Nora, who had no trouble carrying the Faunus, before walking away.
"Hell hath no fury…" Nora commented as she turned away.
"Y-you think she's mad at us?" the rabbit Faunus tentatively asked as she glided her hand over Blake forehead, "For not stepping in?"
"Hmm, probably. But if I was to guess, she's choosing to ignore you all to vent her rage elsewhere. It doesn't look to well for Mister Winchester", Professor Ozpin spoke as he approached the group.
"We can explain!" Nora cried earning a chuckle from the headmaster.
"No need Miss Valkyrie. None of you are in any trouble", he interrupted, sipping on his coffee mug. "I know of your actions and of Fight Club. This underground club is rumored to have existed since Beacon was first built, and I guess you can say I'm an alumni from this place."
"An alumni?" the short girl repeated as she laid Blake on a cot near Velvet.
"Yes. I must say the smell of blood and sweat brings back fond memories."
"Sir, just how old are you—", Ren began.
"That said it is within my power to shut down this establishment. However, I do not desire to mess with tradition. Fight Club is actually quite valuable to me."
"Why is that?" Blake asked.
The grey hair man smiled. "Knowledge only carries you so far. My aim is not just to educate you but prepare you for something biggest than yourselves. Consider this as one of my many methods towards reaching that goal."
Blake and Ren seemed to nod in understanding while Nora and Velvet gazed at the brown eyed man in confusion, prompting a question from the normally timid rabbit Faunus. "What are you preparing us—"
"Now then, as headmaster of Beacon I have much to do, so I cannot stay to watch the unscheduled execution tonight." Ozpin took a glance at his scroll as he tapped his cane on the concrete beneath him.
"Miss Belladonna, you and Miss Xiao Long may have today off to recover. Mister Lie and Miss Valkyrie, please make sure that after his bout, Mister Winchester is taken to the infirmary immediately." Sipping his coffee Professor Ozpin pointed his cane to the middle of the room. On cue Ren and Nora could see Cardin being flung across the room, hitting one of the stone walls before a bloody hand grabbed his brunt orange hair to pull him back into the center of the room.
Without so much as a goodbye, the professor disappeared leaving Nora and Velvet to gaze questionably at the space he once occupied before turning their attention to the massacre happening before them, the shorter Nora craning her neck to watch on.
"Come on Nora", Ren sighed, "We should head up front so we can get to Cardin. And so you can get a better view."
Once Yang handed Blake off to Nora, the blond pushed her way back into the front of the crowd. Vision already flooded red with anger, Yang could hardly see or hear anything or anyone other than Cardin. The brawler caught on the small bits and pieces of information. The accusing crowd wanted Cardin to remove his so called mouth guard. Arrogantly the boy proclaimed he wasn't going to because he did nothing wrong.
As Yang approached the center, the blond called out to Cardin, who in his foolishness grinned at Yang and responded with the less than flattering nickname "busty babe".
Poor Cardin, he has never had an opportunity to experience Yang's strength or fury first hand. The cards never aligned for him until tonight. Always on the outside looking in, be it in his combat classes or in Fight Club, the boy never received the privilege of fighting the bruiser. Cardin, bless his heart, knows he's strong, but often overestimates his might when he attempts to fight someone outside his league. But the teen thrives on ego, so he relents to picking his weaker opponents or using carefully planned cheats to ensure victory.
That said he should have known when Yang called out to him, it wasn't for a friendly chat. And any other day he would have forgone his pride for his personal safety. But he wasn't in his right mind; the alcohol was impairing his judgment and the so called friends at his side speaking nonsense in his ears. Knowing Yang wanted to fight the boy pushed his teammate to the side and lifted his fists, sinking down into a fighting stand.
The moment he did so; however, Yang was in his face and before he could blink the blond jabbed him in the face and sent him flying into the wall.
"You little shit! Wipe that smile off your face!"
Cardin grimaced at the pain in his cheek, but had no time for composure. Yang pulled him off the wall by his short brunt orange hair and drag him back into the center before serving him another jab to his face and a cross on his jaw.
But Cardin wasn't just going to let Yang hit him however she pleased, and in an act of retaliation swung his right fist towards the blond. But he was slow, much too slow compared to Yang. She side stepped him and responded with a roundhouse to his face that had him crashing to the ground.
Cardin was sluggish in moving after the last assault, eyes shut, groaning in pain as he rolled over on his back. He had never known someone to hit so hard, rather he never fought someone with so much superior strength. With his head spinning he almost didn't recognize the heavy body sitting on him or callused fingers digging into his mouth. Cardin shot his eyes open to see Yang attempting at what he thought was pulling out his teeth. The boy moved a hand to her face to try and shove her off, but when that failed to deter her he bit down on her fingers.
Yang angrily cursed at the boy and reeled her right fist back to knock him across his face. With him wailing at the sting of her punch the blond yanked out his so called "mouthpiece" and a tooth. Yang instantly recognized the metal piece she pulled out his mouth, and judging by the shouts from around her a few others did as well. It was sheepdog whistle, a strangely modified one at that, and one of the worse devices made for pets and young Faunus.
Tossing the saliva coated object out into the cheering mass Yang returned her gaze to Cardin, who had so much as the audacity to sheepishly grin at her. "Aw you lost a baby tooth", the blond cooed as placed the bone in the palm of her hand. "Here, you can take it back and maybe the Tooth Fairy will give you some fuckin' lien!" Squeezing her fists she pounded into his face twice, Cardin's head jerking in each direction as he coughed out spit.
Yang lifted herself off the boy and once again, by his hair, dragged him to his feet. "Fight me damnit!" she bellowed.
Shaking his head Cardin lunged at the blond again, but much like before he couldn't touch her. He could only do so much as drive her back to the stone wall before she attacked again, with quick jabs to his face and body kicks, pushing him back to the center of room.
Not yet satisfied with the beating she was giving him, Yang grabbed Cardin by his waist, lifted him, and threw his entire body down on the concrete. Falling on her knees with him she shuffled off to Cardin's right and draped her legs across his chest, pulling his right arm in between her thighs and stretching it as far as it could go.
"Wait, stop!" Cardin cried out, mouth bloody and face full of bruises and cuts. But it was too late; he could hear the bubbly Nora shout "break it", and no sooner than he identified the voice did he cry out at the unmistakable snap that was an arm bar, every curse word imaginable coming from his mouth.
At this point Cardin had given up, and with his aura working overtime to fix his injuries, he resorted to the most shameful thing he could imagine. "I'm sorry. Please stop", he begged over and over again, tears forming in his eyes to show just how remorseful he was.
"No Cardin. You don't get to tap out of this one. But allow me to re-educate you", the blond spat at him in response. Straddling Cardin Yang rained down furious blows on whatever part of the Cardin that didn't look to be bruised. The brawler was intent on putting him out of his misery as she recited the rules of Fight Club to him like they were the Miranda Rights. At the final rule Yang socked him across his face one final time and Cardin went limp.
The crowd suddenly went hushed as Yang rolled off the boy. Ren walked to the center and checked over the body that wasn't moving from its sprawled position on the floor. It was one thing to hurt him, but another to actually kill him. No matter how low Ren thought of Cardin, even he didn't wish this sort of death.
"He's still alive, surprisingly", the lotus boy said to Yang, but loud enough for everyone else to hear him. "Fortunately you just knocked him unconscious."
As if they had witnessed a miracle, the mass cheered louder than Yang had ever heard them. Nora, who was laughing and dancing about with some fourth year students approached the center, and under Ren strict instructions, carried Cardin out the center and out of the basement to head back to Beacon. With a long sigh from Yang, and a couple pats on her back from some Faunus students and enemies of Cardin, Yang slowly trudged back to Velvet, the fury she had before gone but her body seemingly drained of energy.
"I have no fuckin' clue what I would have done if I had killed him", the blond admitted as she sat on a bench near the bunny girl.
The rabbit Faunus chuckled. "I imagine the only people who would care would be his family." Velvet motioned to the cheering mass, celebrating as if the Vale national team had won an Olympic gold medal in a team event.
"Pity", Yang replied, rubbing her shoulders. "By the way, where's Blake?"
"She left long before you broke Cardin's arm. I..I'm sorry I didn't convince her to stay around."
Yang waved her hand as if to say "It's alright". Shuffling away Yang picked up her belongings and that of Blake's she could find before exiting the basement.
The Garden of Eden; it is said in the oldest religious text that in this garden a benevolent god created man in the likeness of his own image, giving him dominion over the creatures in his garden. But man was mischievous, and when they disobeyed one of his most sacred rules he cast them out into the world where Grimm, rejects of his holy creations, were living. It is said that this god, still loving of his children gave them aura, semblances, and eventually Nature's Wrath so that they could live in the harsh environment of Grimm.
Under the nighttime sky the garden was surprisingly peaceful and soothing. It was hard to imagine that there was an illegal boxing ring underground. But Yang supposed that was the genius in it. To find something as chaotic as Fight Club, one would have to look in somewhere as tranquil as here. This garden was not Eden, but it was a visualization of what the Garden of Eden may have looked like; every piece of floral that could exist in the world, or at least bloom in Vale, planted on this soil, with the statues placed about telling a story of mankind's early struggles. Looking about Yang commented that nothing looked out of place, every plant and stone in perfect balance.
Well, minus the Faunus sitting on a backless stone bench in the middle of the garden.
Cautiously approaching the girl she watched as the Faunus jerked up at the sound of her footsteps before slumping over again. Yang couldn't see her face, the girl sitting with her towards the dragon Grimm statue, but with the way she clutched at her side, the blond knew the sudden movement caused her a little discomfort.
"Waiting for me? I thought you went back to the dorm", Yang called out as she approached.
"I was going to, but something told me to wait here", the Fauns answered.
Yang figured it wasn't something; rather it was someone who told her to wait. With a long sigh the brawler took a seat next to the Faunus, staring back at the dragon Grimm statue. They sat as such for what seemed like forever, neither girl turning to look at the other but peacefully sitting beside each other. Yang's anger had long left her, fatigue slightly overcoming her body but her aura emitting a warming pulse to relax her muscles. Yang thought about getting closer to Blake to share her warmth and offer some of her aura to heal her. Instead, after twenty minutes, the brawler chose to break the silence with an apology.
"I'm sorry Blake, for all of this. For your fight with Cardin, the part where I brought up the White Fang, lying, sneaking around, threatening you", Yang paused. "Especially for threatening you, my best friend. I didn't know what else to do, but I know I wasn't myself then, and looking back now I regret it. I'm a jackass."
The Faunus was mute, but if the twitching of her cat ears meant anything, Blake heard every word of her apology. A minute of silence passed before Blake spoke.
"I'm sorry too. Given what I now know, it isn't exactly your fault. Fight Club was supposed to be a secret and your stress relief. It wasn't very nice of me to distrust you so much and trick you into telling your secret. However, just so we understand, you really were out of mind when you threatened me. Don't do that again, clear?"
The young blond sighed. "Crystal clear." Jumping to her feet and stepping over the bench Yang came into view as the Faunus turned away. "Come on, let me see your face", Yang cooed as she bent down to Blake's level and placed her palm on her cheek, "Please Blake."
With her partner's warmth emitting over her face and soothing her, the Faunus slowly turned to give Yang a clear view of her injuries.
Fortunately Blake aura's kept her face from swelling, but the bruises plastered over her face did not look good. Concerned about the rest of the Faunus, Yang kept her hand rested on Blake's cheek but proceeded to examine her body. Velvet did a good job of cleaning the girl up, and what was showing could be hidden with makeup. But Yang was dismayed at the number of bandages adorning her body. Had she not have been focus on the types of injuries her partner received, Yang would have noticed the girl was blushing at each touch. Despite being dressed in medical tap and cloths Blake felt she was virtually nude as she hadn't changed back into her full combat attire.
"Ugh, Ruby and Weiss are going to chew my ass out for this shit. You look like you went twelve rounds with me", the blond grunted. "No way I can really explain away or cover this up."
Blake placed her hand over Yang's, causing her lilac orbs to shoot up and looking into Blake' own amber eyes. "Then just tell them what they need to know. I went out late last night and ran into Cardin. We got into a confrontation. You came to my rescue then fixed me up as best as you could."
Yang didn't seem to comprehend what Blake suggested, shaking her head "no" and furrowing her brows.
"It's partially true. And besides, they could argue with you but there is little they can do if I go along with it."
"No, that isn't it. I agree with you. It's just", Yang took a moment to pause before asking tentatively, "You're not mad at me anymore?"
Apparently the earlier apology did little to convince Yang it was all water under the bridge. "I was", Blake chuckled. "But you and your sister seem to have this amazing ability that keeps me and Weiss from ever staying angry at our partners."
Yang's aura spike a bit at what she believed was a compliment and forgiveness for the conflict between them for months. Internally Yang was relieved and in an impulsive "thank you" leaned in to kiss Blake.
The Faunus froze when she saw the blond move in with intent on displaying such affection, shutting her eyes to mentally prepare herself for this candid display of feelings. But intend of a kiss on her lips, Blake was surprised to find her imagined passionate kiss would be a motherly peck on her forehead.
Yang reeled back to see a rather deflated Blake stare back at her.
"You didn't…like it?" the blond hesitantly asked with a scowl on her face.
"No, I was just expecting something different."
She wanted to ask what Blake meant when she said something different, but with the heat of a blush overcoming her cheeks Yang pushed it aside to save for another time.
"Sorry. I used to do it to Ruby all the time when we were younger. I still do, so I can't help it if I do it to my teammates too."
Blake rolled her eyes, a small grin appearing on her face. "Well while I don't mind, Weiss may have a problem with it."
Yang returned Blake's grin. "Speaking of which…" the blond started as she stood to her feet, holding out her hand to her partner, "Come on, we should head back before my sister wakes up and starts having a panic attack because we've gone missing."
The Faunus took Yang's hand but was slow to stand to her feet, still in obvious pain her aura couldn't quite stop. The blond shot Blake a concerning look before bending down and sweeping Blake in her arms to carry her bridal style.
"The hell Yang, I can walk—"
"Didn't I tell you there would be consequences for your actions?" Yang interrupted with a mischievous grin. "Calm down and just let your knight in…" Yang looked down to examine the clothing she wore before laughing, "Blond hair and sweaty gym clothes take you back to your castle."
"Knight huh? I don't know; I considered you more of my trusty steed or trouble making ass."
"Oh I see we have jokes now. You know I could just drop you", said "steed" teased.
The Faunus relented. "Please don't. It's much too comfortable in your arms and my body is still sore."
Smiling as Blake snuggled closer to her the brawler began the trek back to the main part of Beacon. Tired beyond all reason she barely settled herself and Blake in bed at their dorm in time enough to avoid their leader.
From then on, Yang almost stopped attending Fight Club, showing up every so often just to grace the crowd with a good match from their favorite boxer. And just like before, with the exception of Nora, no one could best the Blond Bombshell in a fist fight.
As for why she stopped attending so frequently, it turned out that she was finally able to get over her illness. She could sleep much more peaceful at night, even better than before. Yang didn't understand what was troubling her so much before but didn't complain. "All's well that ends well" the blond took to saying. After all, she did become closer to her partner and best friend; that is, if you consider shared a bed together close.
Yang promises she didn't get Blake drunk so that she'd agree to it.
That's it. If you liked great. If you didn't, I'll try to do better in another piece. Something not as as dumb as this. Peace.