Coco POV
After making sure Yang was asleep, I carefully got out of bed. After getting dressed, I very quietly made my way out of the hotel, hoping I'd be back before Yang woke up. The difficult part was finding a store with the item I was looking for that was still open at two in the morning. Eventually, though, I found what I wanted. As I brought the object to the cash register, I noticed a sign saying CUSTOM PAINT JOBS ON CERTAIN ITEMS, and got an idea.
"Can you have this painted yellow, please?" I asked the clerk.
"No problem, miss. Which part needs painted?" he responded in a friendly, albeit tired, voice.
"Just the white part," I told him.
"Sure thing. Cost you an extra five bucks, though."
"That's fine. How long will it take?" I asked.
"'Bout ten minutes, maybe less. You can come back for it later if you want, you don't have to stay."
"No, I'm good here, thanks," I said, getting out my phone to play Angry Birds. I sat down on a chair at the front of the store as the clerk started painting my item.
"Done," he called a few minutes later. I got up and paid for my item before heading back to the hotel. I changed back into my pyjamas and got into bed. I didn't think Yang had even stirred.
Yang POV
Truthfully, I was a bit worried about fighting Pyrrha Nikos. The girl was a prodigy. Hell, if she were a movie character, she'd probably be able to break solid concrete with a finger. Nevertheless, given Coco's answer the night before, I was determined to win. At this point, it wasn't even about my ego. I just wanted that date with Coco. The glory of victory would be a sweet bonus, though.
During breakfast and the ride to the tournament venue, Coco kept giving me mischievous smiles. "You know, Coco? I think we both know what's gonna happen out there. So you might as well answer me now," I told her, figuring I'd have a better chance of winning the match if I wasn't stressing about what the brunette's answer would be.
"I know nothing, Yang, except that you'd better not fuck up," she answered. A few minutes later, we arrived at the venue. "Good luck," Coco said with a wink. I headed to the mat to wait for the match to start, where Pyrrha was already waiting.
"Hello," the redhead said in a friendly tone. "No hard feelings no matter the outcome?"
"If I do hold a grudge, it won't be about losing, per se," I replied. "But still, let me win, okay?" Pyrrha laughed at that.
"I won't hold back," she told me.
"Good, because I'd hate to win too easily." Despite my confident demeanour, I was still worried.
"Well, I'll keep that in mind," Pyrrha said with a smile. At that point, the announcer called for everyone's attention.
"And now, the moment you've all been waiting for!" he shouted. "Pyrrha Nikos and Yang Xiao Long, both very talented martial artists, will now square off for aaalll the glory! Who will prevail? Let's find out!"
To my surprise, Eye of the Tiger started playing as Pyrrha and I bowed and took our stances. I tuned the song out and slowly made my way towards the redhead, who narrowed her eyes. I started on the offensive, with a kick aimed at Pyrrha's face. She jumped back then attempted to sweep my feet out from under me. I jumped over her leg then tried to punch her in the side of the head, which was facing me as the momentum from her failed sweep had continued to carry her round. She ducked the strike and grabbed my arm, flipping me over her shoulder. While I was on the floor, she tried to hit me in the face, but I rolled to the side and got to my feet. The next thirty seconds were spent with the two of us exchanging blows, each blocking or dodging too fast for the other to land a hit. Eventually, after deflecting a punch with my left hand, I feinted at Pyrrha's stomach with my right hand, changing direction at the last second and going for her face. She couldn't block in time, and I followed up with a kick to the thigh. The redhead went down, and I was given a point.
When Pyrrha got up, she was laughing. "Impressive," she told me, before charging me. This time, she was more aggressive, attacking so often I didn't even have time to hit back after blocking. I focused on learning her style so I'd be able to anticipate her attacks and maybe fight back, which led to me failing to deflect a kick. I'd gotten used to blocking punches and the occasional chest-level kick, so I wasn't prepared for Pyrrha to turn her back to me and drop to the floor, bringing her foot up to connect with my chin. The force of this kick knocked me off my feet and I fell, banging my head when I landed.
"The score is now tied!" the announcer called as I was seeing double. "Next point wins!"
As he finished speaking, I recovered enough to stand. Come on, Yang, I told myself. You have to do this. Steeling my resolve, I ran at Pyrrha, drawing back my fist as I did so. She raised her hands to block the punch she thought was coming, but I suddenly turned and did a backflip. My foot hit Pyrrha's face on the way down, knocking her to the floor. The crowd erupted in cheers, and I could have sworn I heard Coco over everyone else. I scanned the crowd and saw the brunette on her feet, waving.
"Yang Xiao Long wins!" the announcer yelled as I waved back at Coco. The crowd went wild again, and the announcer waited for quiet before continuing, "Pyrrha, you put on an impressive show. You may have fallen juuust short of glory, but to have made it this far is a victory in itself. Congratulations."
Ten minutes later, I was leaving the venue with my trophy, which was comprised of a pair of eighteen-inch gold poles with a sheet of glass between them. The glass had my name written in traditional Chinese frosted over it, which had been done immediately after I dealt the finishing blow. At either end of the poles, there was a block of wood. The bottom one had a plaque reading YANG XIAO LONG – U18 INTERNATIONAL KUNG FU CHAMPION,while the one on top had nothing. Due to the personalised nature of the trophy, it had been given to me at the very end of the awards ceremony, after the engraving and frosting had been done. My prize also included five grand in cash, which Qrow insisted I either invest or put towards my education.
Speaking of Qrow, he and I waited by our coach for everyone else to get out of the venue. Coco exited the building and tackle-hugged me, whispering "it's a yes on that date, by the way" in my ear. My heart did a relay race when I heard that, but I didn't dwell on it because Coco's cocoa aroma had invaded my nostrils. I now realised that I couldn't think straight when I smelled that, pun not intended.
Soon enough, the others arrived and we boarded the coach to go back to DC. Like we had on the journey to New York, Coco and I claimed the back row. We got comfortable as the coach made its way out of the metropolis, which took quite a while given the traffic in the inner city. Eventually though, we were on the highway heading southwest.
"I have something for you," Coco suddenly told me, getting something out of her bag. She handed me a small white paper bag, encouraging me to open it. Inside, there was a yin yang pendant. The yang side, which is generally white, had been painted yellow.
"I love it, but really…you didn't have to," I told the brunette, who had been watching me intently.
"Yeah, but I wanted to," she answered. "Got a problem with that?" Her tone told me she was teasing.
"No, like I said, I love it. It's awesome. But can I just ask: when did you get this?" I asked, putting the pendant round my neck.
"Around two A.M.," she replied. Seeing my sceptical face, she added, "seriously. You didn't even stir when I got out of bed."
"Ooooh…kay then," I said, still somewhat doubtful. "So, how does dinner on Friday sound?"
"Sounds great, I can't wait," Coco said with a smile. The rest of the journey was spent much like the one to the city we'd just left, except I was much more tired. We got back to Qrow's gym several hours later, and Coco and I walked back to Beacon together. We separated and went to our respective dorms to relax and be rested for classes the next day. When I got back to my room, I was met with a pleasant surprise.
"YANG!" my sister, Ruby, yelled after I opened the door. I didn't see her much, because she was still in high school, so I wasn't expecting her to be waiting for me.
"RUBY!" I yelled back, just as enthusiastically. I put my bag and trophy down and enveloped the girl in a bear hug that squeezed the air from her lungs.
"Can't…breathe…" she panted. I let her go so she could catch her breath, then she asked, "I assume you won?"
"Of course I did, Ruby," I answered. She rolled her eyes, long used to my cockiness.
"Can I see the trophy?" she asked.
"Go ahead," I replied, gesturing at it.
"Congratulations, Yang," Blake said. I noticed for the first time that she was there. "Good trip?"
"You could say that," I told her, trying to keep my voice level. I didn't want her thinking anything had happened with Coco while Ruby was in the room. That would be a can of worms I didn't want opened. Unfortunately, I had forgotten that I was still wearing the pendant Coco had given me. At least, I forgot about it until Blake noticed.
"Nice pendant," she told me.
"Yeah, thanks. The yang side is yellow," I replied, hoping I wasn't blushing. Thankfully, Ruby unknowingly came to my rescue.
"What does this say?" she asked, pointing at the Chinese lettering on my trophy.
"My name," I told her.
"But it says that down here," she said, pointing at the plaque at the bottom.
"Your sister's so cocky she needs her name at least twice on her trophies," Blake told Ruby. "Why didn't you get it in Korean while you were at it?"
"I didn't design the damn thing!" I protested. "I didn't even know what it looked like until they gave it to me!"
"I know, I'm just teasing."
"Is this real gold?" Ruby asked.
"No idea," I answered truthfully.
"Well, I'd better get going," Ruby said wistfully. "I have a lot of homework to do. I'll miss you."
"Bye. Great to see you," I replied as my sister left the room.
"So. You didn't buy that pendant for yourself, did you?" Blake asked.
"No…?" I replied warily.
"Anything else happen with Coco?"
"Maybe," I told her.
"When's the date?"
"You're perceptive," I said, impressed.
"I read a lot, honey. Sherlock Holmes taught me a lot about deduction. You gonna answer my question?"
"Friday. Dinner. Don't know where."
"What does she like?" Blake asked.
"Hot chocolate. No idea what else," I answered.
"Take her to a steakhouse. They're not exactly cheap, she'll know you're serious about this." Seeing my quizzical face, she added, "Oh yeah, you're paying."
"Why?" I asked.
"Who asked who out?"
"I asked her. What difference does that make?" I replied.
"It's courteous. You pay for your date," she told me.
"I've never had to pay," I said, confused.
"Ever asked anyone out?"
"No, guys ask me."
"There you go. How you getting there?" Blake asked.
"Motorcycle?"
"Why are you asking me that? You should be asking Coco, 'hey, should we take my motorcycle?'"
"Fair point. I'll ask when I see her," I replied.
The next few days were spent with me anxiously awaiting Friday. I was excited, but also nervous. I really didn't want anything to go wrong. The week felt like an eternity, but finally date night rolled round. I dressed in my best outfit and started taming my blonde mane. During this ordeal, Blake watched with a smile.
"You could help," I snapped.
"No, you're the hairstyling student," she replied. "I'm studying literature." I groaned, and continued my efforts. Half an hour later, I couldn't be bothered doing any more, and figured I looked fine anyway.
"See you later," I told Blake.
"Good luck," she replied as I left our room. I walked to Coco's dorm and knocked. The door opened, and I was greeted by a rabbit Faunus with brown eyes and hair.
"Hi," she said shyly. "I take it you're Yang?" I nodded, noting her Australian accent. "Coco! She's here!"
"Hi," Coco said, suddenly appearing in the doorway. "All right, Velvet, I don't know when I'll be back," she told the Faunus, closing the door. "Shall we go?" she asked. I nodded, and walked with her to Beacon's multi-level parking facility where my motorcycle was located.
"You look great, by the way," I told her on the way.
"Thanks. You do too," she replied, blushing. We got to the parking facility soon after, where motorcycle owners had lockers in which to keep their helmets. I always kept an extra one in case I had a passenger, which I gave to Coco.
"Steak okay for you?" I asked, putting on my own helmet. She nodded as she put hers on. I climbed onto my bike with Coco right behind me. I was very aware of her arms round my waist and her breasts pressing into my back. Throttling up the bike's engine, I eased my way out of its parking space and onto the street. The ride to the steakhouse took about five minutes, during which it was all I could do to focus on the road. When we arrived, we entered the restaurant and I announced to the host that I had a reservation for two.
"Name?" he asked.
"Long," I told him. He nodded, and guided us to our table. We sat down and perused the menu, making small talk as we did so. We ordered a bottle of wine to go with our meal, which we finished in no time. The steak was fantastic, but I was too busy thinking about what was going to happen when we left to truly enjoy it. After we'd both finished, the waiter came to see if we needed anything else.
"No, thanks. Just the bill," I replied. He nodded and walked off.
"I'm having a really nice time with you, Yang," Coco told me.
"I am too, but wait til we get out of here," I replied with a wink. She blushed as the waiter came back with the bill. I paid it in a hurry and left the restaurant with my date. When we got outside, the moon was out. We put our helmets back on and got on my bike, but I wasn't driving back to Beacon just yet. I took Coco to a park that was deserted at this time of night and parked the bike. We got off and removed our helmets, then I took Coco by the hand and walked with her to the moderately sized pond in the middle.
"Nice place," she said nervously.
"Yeah, it is. I wanted a little more privacy," I told her, also nervous.
"Privacy for what?" she asked.
"This," I replied, turning to face her. I put my free hand on her cheek and brought her face closer to my own, allowing our lips to meet. She stiffened at the contact, but kissed back. The kiss was slow and gentle, but damn, was it an enjoyable one. I'd never kissed a girl before, but Coco's lips were just perfect. Hell, I didn't want to kiss any others but hers. After several seconds, I pulled back for air.
"Makes sense," Coco said, her voice higher than usual. "That was amazing," she said a second later, in her normal voice.
"I agree. Wanna do it again?" I asked, smiling.
"Definitely."
A/N: There you go, chapter 5. Hope you enjoyed. Thanks to everyone who followed or favourited. So, Yang and Coco are now dating. Don't worry, that doesn't mean the story's over. Hell, I don't even know if I will end it. It might just be one of those stories that goes on. Bit like Coronation Street for those of you who know what that is, but I like to think this is better, because, you know, stuff happens and that. It's also got Yang and Coco in it, and those two are brilliant. Anyway. Sorry if I wasn't clear about the kick Pyrrha used on Yang to score; it's a real kick in Northern Shaolin but I wasn't sure how to describe it, so I did my best. Hopefully you understood well enough. If you're wondering about Yang's backflip, think about the end of the 2010 Karate Kid when Dre won, if you've seen that movie. That was my inspiration. I skipped the boring part of the date following my friend's advice, and went to the important part. You probably figured that out, but still. Anyway, leave a review and follow/favourite if you want to. Thanks for reading.