Yang POV

After turning away from Coco, I felt like an idiot. Why the hell had I blown her a kiss? Would she think I had some ulterior motive to befriending her? I was so distracted by worrying about those thoughts that I almost walked past my dorm room. I entered, and saw Blake without a book for once. However, she had a look on her face that bothered me somewhat.

"Sooo...how'd it go?" she asked.

"How did what go?"

"You and Coco, just there now," she answered.

"We were just hanging out, Blake," I told her, decidedly unimpressed at her line of questioning.

"Sure you were."

"You want me to put catnip in your pillowcase?" I asked irritably. Some would consider that question racist, given Blake's feline traits, but we'd known each other long enough for her to have realised I'm only joking when I made comments like that. Even so, I generally tried to avoid them out of respect for the bookworm.

She gasped in mock surprise, before exclaiming, "you wouldn't!" I raised an eyebrow as if to say try me, honey. She didn't seem fazed. "Seriously though, Yang. It's clear you like her. Are you gonna do something about it?"

"I invited her to New York with me! What more do you want?" I asked.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but most of that weekend will be spent with her in the stands and you fighting strangers, will it not?"

"Well, yeah," I admitted. "But not all of it."

Blake sighed. "Be honest with me, Yang. Do you like her?"

"Yeah, I do."

"Then do something about it. This masking how you feel…it's very uncharacteristic of you." She spoke softly, telling me she was actually concerned about my situation.

"What if I fuck up, or…come on too strong, or…she thinks I'm weird?"

"Yang Xiao Long, is that insecurity in your voice?" Blake demanded, smiling a little.

"Course it isn't," I answered, also smiling. "But seriously."

"Not my area," she replied wistfully.

"Then why did you say you'd listen if I ever wanted to talk?" I asked, suddenly confused.

"Because listening is something I'm good at." For such an antisocial person, the Faunus could say some infuriating things.

"Fair point. I guess you do have four ears," I teased. She gave me a death stare, but there was a smile on her face.

"So, getting back on topic: what are you gonna do?" she asked, suddenly serious again.

"I don't know. I'll think about it."

"Don't think. You'll second-guess yourself and do nothing," she told me.

"I thought this wasn't your area?"

"I've uh…read a lot of romance novels," she answered. Well played, Blake. You got yourself out of that one.

"Good talk, Blake," I said truthfully. "Very uncharacteristic of you," I added cheekily. She threw her pillow at me. I threw it back before going to the bathroom to get my pyjamas on. As I lay in bed, I thought about Coco. Should I just ask her out next time I saw her, or be less straightforward in my approach? Rather than dwelling on the matter, I decided to just go to sleep.

Over the next few weeks, I didn't see Coco very often, because I was spending increasingly longer amounts of time at the gym, training for the tournament. I'd even cut back on my hours at the coffee shop to make more time. It wasn't until two days before we were due to leave for New York that I had time for a real conversation with the girl, one that involved something other than hot chocolate.

"I've been meaning to ask you, where've you been lately?" she asked me after I'd served her her signature drink.

"Training, mostly. You definitely coming?" I'd been having this irrational thought that she might suddenly decide to bail on me.

"Yeah. Why wouldn't I?" she replied. I shrugged, and she continued, "you think you're ready?" I gave her the cockiest what do you think look I could muster, and she laughed. "You know what I mean. You said it yourself; the best fighters from around the world will be there."

"Yeah, but this is me, remember?" She rolled her eyes at the question.

"Just don't get overconfident. I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Aww, you're so sweet," I told her playfully.

"Shut up, Yang. Am I not allowed to be concerned about my friends' well-being?" she asked, blushing a bit.

"I'm just saying. I mean, if I didn't know better…never mind."

"What would happen if you didn't know better, Yang? Do tell," Coco said, suddenly blushing more.

"Nah, it's nothing. Forget I said anything." If she picks up on that, surely she'll just think it was harmless flirting, right? Can't have her confronting me before I'm ready.

"Fine then. Be like that," she told me, feigning indignation. At that point, a large amount of customers had come in, so I had to serve them. "Bye," Coco said, turning to leave.

"Bye."

I didn't see her at all until the day we were leaving for the tournament. Ren, Qrow and I were standing outside Qrow's gym, waiting for a couple more students and everyone's invitees to arrive. Our overnight bags were already in the coach Qrow had rented, which idled on the street in front of us.

A sudden scream of "REEEENNNN!" alerted me to the fact that Ren's best friend, Nora, had arrived. The girl was short, with ginger hair, and was batshit crazy. She was nice enough, but could be a little overwhelming. Within a few minutes, everyone else showed up. In total, there were three other students besides Ren and me, along with four guests, Coco and Nora included. With the coach fully packed, we all filed on board. Coco and I took the back row for ourselves, which no one else seemed to mind. As the coach trundled north-east, everyone got comfortable for the four-hour journey. I noticed Coco looked a bit nervous.

"What's wrong?" I asked. "Seems like something's bothering you."

"It's fine. I'm just worried about what'll happen to your ego if something goes wrong," she answered with a cheeky smile.

"We've been through this," I told her.

"Yeah, but it's fun to annoy you about it." I shook my head in exasperation, but couldn't help smiling. She really had grown on me. "Back in a minute," she suddenly said. She got up and went to talk to Qrow, who shook his head like he was politely declining something. Coco shrugged and made her way back to where I was sitting.

"What was that about?" I asked as she sat down.

"Just making sure Qrow doesn't want any money for the trip."

"I told you he wouldn't. He's won several tournaments and invested his prize money well. If we'd been taking a plane it would be different, but…" I said.

The rest of the journey was spent with everyone just making small talk and killing time. We arrived in New York around mid-afternoon and checked into our hotel, where we discovered we'd have to share beds. I wasn't too surprised, but I hadn't thought about it happening.

"So, uh…you and me?" Coco asked nervously.

"Yeah, sure. I'll sleep with you," I answered. As the brunette blushed furiously, I cursed the immature part of my brain for controlling my mouth at the worst moments. "Sorry. You know what I mean," I told her, smiling.

"No need to apologise," she told me, also smiling. "Sleeping with you would be great." Wait, what? I wondered. She's flirting back?

After everyone was settled, we went out for dinner, which was uneventful. When we got back to the hotel, Qrow insisted that Ren, the other students and I have an early night to be fully rested for the next day, so Coco and I got ready for bed.

"Hey, Yang?" she asked as she turned out the light.

"Yeah?"

"Do me a favour and don't fuck up tomorrow, okay? I couldn't bear to see you with a tarnished ego," she teased. I stuck my tongue out at her in the dark, but I didn't think she saw.

"I'll be fine," I promised.

"You'd better be," Coco told me, rolling over to go to sleep. With that, I figured I'd better go to sleep too, so I did.

The next day, Qrow had us up bright and early so we wouldn't be late for the tournament and so our guests could get decent seats. I'm not a morning person, so I barely said anything as Coco and I got ready and went downstairs for breakfast. It wasn't until I'd had three cups of coffee that my brain was ready to function.

"How you feeling?" Coco asked.

"Fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

"This is a big deal for you. I figured you'd be at least a little nervous," she explained.

"Nah, I'm always good. You planned your congratulatory speech yet?" I asked, prompting her to roll her eyes. "Well, the final is tomorrow morning, so you have until then."

"All right guys, let's go!" Qrow called. We filed into the parking lot and once again boarded the coach, which would take us to the venue. When we entered the building, there were three people sitting at a table, who I figured were there to mark down all the participants who'd arrived. There were also two signs pointing in opposite directions: one marked SPECTATORS; and another marked COMPETITITORS/TEACHERS.

As Qrow went to sign in, Coco unexpectedly hugged me. "Good luck," she whispered. I was going to point out how I wouldn't need it, but then I realised she even smelt like cocoa. She smells really good, I thought as she pulled away. I smiled as Qrow told us we had to go.

Ren, the other students and I followed our Shifu to the tournament floor. There were a dozen mats laid across the room, surrounded by spectator stands on three sides. The remaining wall was occupied by a giant screen. Not too many other schools had arrived yet, but I did a double take as I recognised one of the rare independent fighters skilled enough to be attending this event.

It was Pyrrha Nikos, a celebrity from the West Coast known for her athletic abilities, especially martial arts. She had Greek roots, but you wouldn't know it to see her pale white complexion and long, flaming red hair. My only thought was that if anyone was gonna beat me, it would be her.

Over the next half hour, the stands started to fill and more fighters arrived. It wasn't too long before the feedback caused by a microphone being plugged in got everyone's attention, and the announcer started to speak.

"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome. We are gathered here to determine the world's best young fighter. I very much doubt that you're here to hear me talk, so to our competitors: good luck, and to the viewers: enjoy!"

The screen turned on, announcing the first matchups, and I saw that I was scheduled to fight immediately.

"Don't be cocky, Yang," Qrow warned as I made my way over to the mat my match would be on. When I got there, my opponent seemed perfectly confident in his ability to beat me.

"I swear on me mum, I'm gonna win!" he told me in a British accent. I smirked as the ref told us to make the traditional sign of respect: the right fist in the open left hand, with both palms facing downwards. "Ladies first," the guy said condescendingly after the ref had signalled the start of the match. I shrugged before running towards him, jumping over the low sweeping kick he tried to trip me with. When I landed, I launched a spinning kick at his face, which connected. He went down, but got up just as quickly, looking annoyed, or "minged off", as he'd probably say. He tried to punch me in the face, so I grabbed his fist and made a wide circle with it, bringing my other hand down on his arm as I stepped back. He grunted in pain and tried a jumping spinning kick. I sidestepped and caught his leg in mid-air, swinging him down to the ground. The ref declared me the winner, and I went to stand with Qrow and the others until my next match was decided.

Coco POV

Yang won her first fight in no time. The guy she'd been fighting looked seriously pissed off at having been knocked out of the tournament immediately. Watching the other matches, I noticed that Yang was one of the only girls attending. The only other girl who really caught my eye was a tall redhead whose ponytail reached her waist. From what I saw of her fights, she seemed to be winning just as easily as Yang had.

The level of skill in the room was like something out of a movie. Nora cheered really loudly every time Ren did something she found cool, which hurt my ears even over the roar of the crowd. That was the problem with having twelve matches at once: there were always people cheering and booing.

Throughout the day, the only difference I noticed in Yang's matches was how long it took her to win. At each level of the competition, her fights lasted a little longer than before, but she still didn't seem in any danger of losing. Maybe her cockiness is backed up, I thought, hoping that cockiness wouldn't cause the blonde to make any stupid mistakes.

I didn't really know what was going on most of the time, or if the fighters were being judged on anything other than who won. Given the number of different trophies under the giant screen, I figured there were plenty of other awards to be given out.

By evening, the semi-final matches started. The mats were removed and replaced with a single larger one on a raised platform. Apparently, the two fights would be held consecutively, with the winners facing off tomorrow morning.

"Ladies and gentlemen, your attention please," the announcer suddenly called. "Everyone fought well, but the field has now been narrowed to just four competitors. Let the semi-finals begin!"

First up were the redheaded girl and Lie Ren. They bowed, then the match started. They circled each other, neither one going on the offensive. Eventually, the redhead attacked. Ren blocked her strike and tried to counter, but the girl ducked. She then executed a low sweeping kick which Ren was able to dodge, but followed up with a spinning kick to his face. This time, he wasn't so lucky, and the redhead was awarded a point. A minute later, Ren had tied the score and the next point would win. Unfortunately for Ren, though, I could tell he was getting tired and the redhead wasn't. I figured it would be an easy win for her if he didn't do something soon. This prediction was right, as the redhead hit Ren almost too fast for me to see, then roundhouse kicked him in the stomach.

"Congratulations to Pyrrha Nikos!" the announcer called. "Good luck tomorrow, young lady."

Next up were Yang and some Chinese guy. He made the mistake of immediately charging the blonde, whose fist shot out and hit her opponent in the face. Comically, the guy's lower half kept moving as his upper half stopped. As he was in free-fall, Yang brought her elbow down on his chest, winning a point. When her opponent was able to stand, he looked to be wheezing a bit. The guy was now clearly at a disadvantage, and the match ended shortly thereafter, with Yang emerging victorious.

"Yang Xiao Long wins!" the announcer yelled. "And now for the first time ever, both our finalists are female! Good luck, ladies. Everyone, don't forget to be back here tomorrow at ten A.M sharp for the final."

With that, people started filing out of the room. With some difficulty, I made my way through the crowd to meet up with Yang, Qrow and the others. Fighters and teachers must have had a quicker route, because they were already waiting outside by our coach when I got there. Immediately, I ran over to congratulate Yang.

"Told you I'd be fine," she answered. "But thanks."

"How do you think the final will go?"

"Just between us, kinda worried…that girl is a badass," she whispered.

"You? Worried?" I asked incredulously.

"Didn't you see her? She might even be as good as me!"

"There's the cockiness. It's back, no need to panic," I teased. We all filed onto the coach to go back to the hotel, where Yang immediately collapsed on our shared bed.

"God, I'm tired," she announced.

"I'm going to the vending machine down the hall; want anything?" I asked.

"Yeah, like, everything. Actually, no, not peanut M&M's."

I smiled as I left the room, and got Yang three bags of chips, some regular M&M's and a Kit Kat. For myself, I just got some Dairy Milk chocolate. When I got back to our room, I gave the blonde her food, and she practically inhaled the first bag of chips. I watched with an eyebrow raised as she contemplated what to eat next.

"What?" she asked when she saw me looking.

"Nothing," I answered, smiling.

"Hey, can I ask you something?" Yang suddenly asked.

"You just did, but I know what you mean. Shoot."

"Promise you won't think I'm weird." I frowned at this request, but agreed. "Do you…wanna go out with me sometime?" she asked, clearly extremely nervous. My breath caught in my throat. Did she really just say that? I wondered. Oh god, what do I do? I don't wanna seem too eager. Maybe I'll play hard to get.

"Win tomorrow. Then we'll see," I answered slyly, with a wink.

A/N: There's chapter 4. Sorry about the delay; I had too much work to do. I gave you an extra-long chapter though, so there's that. Anyway, hope you enjoyed. So, will Yang win? If she does, what will Coco say? If she doesn't, what will Coco say? Stay tuned to find out…

Meanwhile, follow/favourite if you want to. Thanks for reading.