A day earlier than expected, but I don't think I'll hear anyone complain :) The next chapter has arrived! Thank you again for everyone who has reviewed, followed, favorited, etc. I really appreciate all of them.
I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter!
Yang bounded out of her room the next morning earlier than usual, already dressed and ready to start the day. While she was normally somewhat of a slow riser, that was not the case today. She was enormously excited to take Blake shopping for a dress.
It was well known that Yang personally enjoyed shopping to a high degree, but shopping for Blake was on a whole different level entirely. The thought of having Blake try on multiple cute dresses in one sitting was enough to make Yang's heart swoon. It was an added bonus that Yang had only seen Blake wear a dress a handful of times, all for special events at Beacon. Those events had been nowhere near as extravagant as the ball Schnee Dust was going to be throwing though.
Skipping lightly to land outside of Blake's bedroom door, Yang made sure to temper her excitement and remember to knock this time. She felt her face heat up at the memory of Blake standing there in nothing but her underwear; that had been quite fortunate timing for her rudeness.
Rapping her knuckles sharply against the door, Yang bounced lightly back and forth on the balls of her feet as she waited impatiently for Blake to answer. She had to be ready to go already!
After several seconds the door finally opened, revealing her Faunus partner. Thankfully, Blake was already dressed, as well. Yang didn't know what she would have done if she had had to wait a minute longer to get on their way.
Now their adventure could finally begin!
"Good morning, partner!" she said enthusiastically, giving Blake a big smile. "Are you ready to go?"
"Good morning," Blake replied calmly. "I'm happy to see you've learned how to knock."
Yang couldn't help herself. She burst out laughing, earning a pleased grin from the Faunus girl to go along with a slight blush. This was one of the things she had always loved about Blake. While she appeared on the outside to be serious and unyielding, the Faunus actually had a good sense of humor and was able to easily laugh at herself.
Her laughing subsiding, she motioned for Blake to follow her downstairs.
"Come on," she said along with a wave. "Those dresses won't try on themselves!"
Blake sighed before obediently following as Yang hopped down the stairs two at a time and skipped to the front door. Pulling the handle, she held the door open for Blake with an exaggerated bow, nearly touching her nose to the floor as she waited for the girl to walk outside.
Once Blake had passed her, Yang let the door swing shut with a heavy *click* and joined her partner at the sidewalk. Yang gestured towards the direction they would be headed, to the right of where their house sat, and the two girls set off.
"We're going to a store that Weiss recommended," Yang said preemptively, knowing that Blake's innate curiosity would force the girl to ask sooner rather than later.
Blake sighed at Yang's comment. "Knowing Weiss, this place is going to be ridiculously expensive…" she lamented.
"You know it!" Yang said confidently. The heiress had never been great at understanding the difference between "affordable" and "I'd need to sell my kidney to make the down payment."
Thinking of her teammate brought Weiss' words of advice back to her mind, causing Yang's excitement to flicker slightly. 'You need to be become friends again before you can even think of anything else.' Stealing a glance at the quiet girl walking beside her, Yang knew that Weiss made a good point. It was just extremely difficult to not flirt with someone so cute and funny and kind and selfless and…
"Oh!" Yang exclaimed as she suddenly thought of something, "But Weiss will be paying for your dress, so why not buy something super extravagant with the snow queen's money?"
Yang watched for the ear flick that she knew was coming, grinning when it did. She had known that Blake wouldn't enjoy that little revelation of hers.
"Why would Weiss pay for it?" she asked in confusion.
"Because…" Yang began slowly, "she wants you to have a beautiful dress you can wear to events like this!"
"I somehow don't think that's the reason…" Blake said doubtfully as they continued walking.
"Ok, ok. She wants everything to be perfect at her giant party, which means all of the people need to be perfect too," Yang blurted out, hoping that Blake would just go along with it.
She watched carefully as Blake slowly nodded her head, smiling at the girl's agreement.
"Good. Now let's rack up some credit card debt for the ice queen!"
With that, Yang turned her attention back towards her surroundings. They had just entered one of the more popular shopping areas in Vale, an area frequented by many of the more wealthy citizens as well as the hopeful window shoppers. However, as Yang looked around the stores she began to get that weird feeling that something wasn't quite right.
"Uh, Yang…" Blake spoke quietly, as if afraid she would wake someone if she was too loud. "There don't seem to be many people here today…"
The light bulb went off in Yang's head. That's what was wrong! Normally this area was filled with shoppers, but today it seemed almost like a ghost town. She could only see a handful of people walking around far in front of them.
"Hmm…I wonder why…" she began before she realized that Blake was no longer walking beside her. Turning back, she found Blake had stopped several paces behind her. Walking back to her partner, Blake pointed at a rack on the edge of the sidewalk holding a stack of The Daily Vale newspapers.
"That probably has something to do with it."
Yang leaned in closer to see what it said. She was surprised by the photograph on the front cover which looked like a warzone, crumbled buildings and crushed glass everywhere. Picking up a copy, she unfolded it to read the headline. She winced as she read the abnormally large type taking up nearly all of the bottom of the first page.
"Sapphire Square Destroyed as Grimm Attack. Is Vale Safe from New Threat?"
"Well…" Yang began as she carefully folded the paper back up and set it back with its siblings. "That will certainly keep people at home!"
She attempted a smile, but Blake looked back at her with concern filling her eyes. Sighing, Yang continued.
"It was only a matter of time before everyone in Vale realized just how serious these attacks are. At first, with only one or two Beowolves to deal with, we could clean up the mess easily. But with something like yesterday…it was bound to happen, eventually."
Nodding, Blake continued for her, "People will either stay inside or avoid heavily congested areas…"
Not enjoying the depressed mood settling over them, Yang decided to try to lighten the mood once more.
"Hey, that means less people to bump into while shopping, right?"
Blake gave her a thin smile as they resumed walking. At least the atmosphere seemed a little less heavy than a few seconds ago, which Yang was thankful for. She didn't want anything to ruin her day with Blake!
Finally reaching their destination, Yang skipped ahead once again to hold the door open for Blake. Although, this time she did not bless her with a bow. She didn't want to embarrass the girl too much in public, after all.
Once inside, Yang was pleased to see that they were currently the only shoppers. This would certainly make their outing much more enjoyable, since she knew that Blake would be much more comfortable modeling outfits with no one else around to see her.
"Good morning," the young store associate said as she walked over to greet the two shoppers. The attractive redhead gave Yang a wide smile as she none too sneakily looked her up and down. "Is there anything I can help you with?" she continued as she continued to stare at Yang, eyes burning with attraction.
"We're just going to be browsing," Yang answered lightly. "But thank you…" She leaned forward slightly to get a better view of the girl's name tag. "Taryn," she ended with a smile.
Taryn's grin widened at Yang's use of her name. "I'll be right over there if you need me," she said, although she seemed to only be offering her assistance personally to Yang.
"So…" Yang continued awkwardly as the store clerk finally left them alone, noticing Blake staring silently after her. "Why don't you pick out some dresses that you like?" she suggested, turning towards the first rack of dresses.
Blake nodded as she walked off towards another row of dresses while Yang absentmindedly browsed through the ones closest to her, not looking for anything in particular. She would know it when she saw it though.
Several minutes later, Blake walked back towards Yang with several gowns draped over her arm. Yang beamed at the sight, motioning for Blake to hold up her choices. As Blake held up the ones she had selected, Yang giggled. They were all so…Blake. The girl was modest to a T.
But, not wanting to make her partner horribly uncomfortable this early in the day, she nodded her head in approval and pushed Blake towards the dressing rooms.
"Try each one on and come out to model for me!" she ordered with a firm push into the first open room. She smiled as Blake grumbled slightly before obediently closing the dressing room door.
Taking a seat on the plush chair located closest to the dressing room, Yang waited for her partner to reappear.
A couple minutes later, Yang sat upright as she heard the door handle begin to turn. She held her breath in anticipation as Blake walked slowly out in a floor length black gown. Letting her eyes slowly move down Blake's figure, Yang greedily took in the girl's image. Realizing that she was staring a little too hard, Yang finally decided to speak as she thought to herself, she's just a friend, she's just a friend. Your very attractive, sexy friend…
"You look beautiful, Blake!" she said honestly as she motioned Blake to spin around, which her partner immediately did.
"You think?" Blake replied with a small smile and light blush as she gazed down at the outfit she was wearing.
Yang nodded her head enthusiastically, extremely grateful for this opportunity to stare at Blake's body without seeming too infatuated.
"So…is this the one I should wear?" the Faunus girl asked hopefully.
"Oh, no, of course not," Yang replied with a chuckle, quickly dismissing Blake's attempt to get out of trying on more dresses. "Go try to other ones on!"
Blake sighed as she walked back into the dressing room to try on the next one. A few minutes later, she returned in another dress, this one maroon in color with a full length ruffled skirt and sleeves that hung off the shoulders slightly.
Yang couldn't help staring at Blake's exposed collarbones, recalling the image of the girl she had seen yesterday evening in Blake's room. Her silky smooth skin…her toned arms…the way her black hair fell down to the small of her back…
"Are you sure that you wouldn't like any help?"
Yang jerked abruptly out of her thoughts at the voice, realizing that she had been on the verge of fantasizing a bit too vividly.
Turning to find that Taryn had returned to help "them," she tried to politely decline the girl's offer again.
"We're fine, thank you! Just looking for a dress for my friend for tomorrow," she responded.
Taryn looked vaguely disappointed at her response, but pressed on.
"Won't you be needing something, as well? I'm sure that I could pick out a dress to highlight your…assets…incredibly."
Yang felt herself flush slightly at the comment and glanced towards Blake to see if she could get a little help.
But her partner was looking towards the ground, looking defeated as she softly said, "I'm going to try the next one now," before heading back into the dressing room.
Sighing, Yang turned towards the expectantly waiting girl, now feeling slightly annoyed at how she had scared Blake away before Yang had had the chance to adequately compliment her.
"Thank you, but I already have my dress," she responded with a small smile. "We'll make sure to call you over if we need any help."
Finally getting the hint, the girl blushed softly and slunk off towards the counter at the front of the store once more. Yang turned her attention back towards the dressing room door, waiting for Blake to emerge in the next candidate.
This cycle continued through many more dresses, though thankfully without any more interruptions. Yang could have sworn that Blake became more beautiful in each one, but none of them were perfect. They needed to find the one. The perfect dress that matched both Blake and the event. And they needed to find it soon, before the increasingly exasperated Faunus clawed the dresses into very expensive shreds.
As Blake dragged herself back into the dressing room, Yang looked casually around the empty store. The sales clerk was happily sending messages on her scroll over at the front counter. Chuckling at the oblivious girl, a dress hanging to the left of the counter suddenly caught her eye.
Standing and crossing the store to better examine what she had seen, Yang pulled out a black dress, holding it out in front of her to take a better look at it. Grinning like a madman, Yang clutched the item in her hands and skipped back to her seat, waiting impatiently for Blake to reappear.
As soon as she stepped out of the dressing room, Yang rushed forward and pressed the dress into her arms, hardly looking at the outfit Blake was currently wearing.
"This one," she said excitedly. "This is the one."
Confusion filled Blake's face as she looked at the gown she was now holding in her hands. Holding it up and looking at it more closely, the Faunus girl's confused expression turned in to one of apprehension.
"I don't know, Yang…it's pretty…"
"Slutty?" Yang cut her off with a laugh, knowing that was exactly what Blake was thinking, ear twitches confirmed that she was correct.
"It's not slutty, Blake," she continued as she tried to assure the girl. "It's just not as modest as the ones you're used to!"
Blake opened her mouth to protest some, but Yang interjected before any words came out.
"Please, Blake? Just try this one…for me?"
Yang didn't want to use a guilt trip to get Blake into the dress, but she couldn't think of anything else that would work in the moment. And this was the dress; Blake just had to try it on!
As she suspected, Blake's ears drooped slightly as the girl retreated into the dressing room without another word. Yang immediately felt horrible for having made the poor girl feel so guilty, but it couldn't be helped now. She made a mental note that she would somehow make this up to Blake later on as she paced outside the room in anticipation.
The door opened moments later and Yang felt her heart stop beating as Blake shyly emerged.
The dress was strapless, with a bodice made of a fine weaved fabric that gave the appearance of ripples in the material. The gown clung to Blake's body, perfectly accenting her hips. The skirt of the dress fell into a black sheer fabric that provided a clear view of Blake's long legs, showing off her pronounced calve muscles. A slit in the front of the skirt ran all the way to her thigh. Intricate white beading across the bust as well as a white ribbon outline to the skirt finished off the effect, adding a dash of color to the otherwise dark tone.
Blake stood bashfully in front of her, clearly feeling self-conscious, but Yang could not take her eyes off of the girl. She let her eyes slide up and down the picture of perfection in front of her time and time again, feeling more voracious with each passing.
Blake looked absolutely radiant. Yang tried to speak, but found that her mouth had gone exceptionally dry. Swallowing thickly, she finally managed to say, "Wow…Blake, you look amazing," before she went back to unabashedly staring at the girl.
Blushing, Blake turned away from her in embarrassment, but Yang could swear that the girl looked slightly pleased with the reaction.
"D-do you think this is the one then?" Blake asked quietly as she turned back towards her, amber eyes shining in virtually concealed delight.
Yang could only nod her head stupidly as she thought to herself, Yes, that's the dress for the party…but you're the one…
She quickly shook her head; Weiss would be so angry if she knew what had just gone through Yang's mind!
"Yes, that's the one," she confirmed. "You should just wear that every day!"
Blake laughed, causing Yang's heart to soar as Blake's beauty skyrocketed through the roof.
"How on earth would I fight in this?" she asked incredulously, gesturing towards the floor length skirt falling around her feet.
"Well…" Yang began as she walked slowly around Blake, taking in the dress from every angle, praying that she would be able to commit the image to memory. "Wearing something like that, you wouldn't need to fight at all. You're so drop dead gorgeous that the bad guys would just give up and run away. That, or they would try to ask you out..."
Blake blushed fiercely as Yang continued looking her up and down, drinking in every curve of the Faunus' body. She was only half kidding that Blake should wear that every day. Although, if she did, Yang was pretty sure that she would die from blood loss within a couple of days. That, or she would go to prison for punching all of the suitors Blake would attract.
"So…we're done now?" the blushing girl asked hopefully.
Yang nodded as she chuckled. She would never get tired of seeing Blake try on dresses, but she imagined that it was quite tiring to try on so many in one sitting.
"Thank god," Blake replied as she set off for the dressing room one last time. "I think I might have shredded the next dress I came across…"
Once Blake was back in her usual attire, the two girls carried their selection to the front counter to pay. As Taryn rang up the gown, Yang slapped one hand to her forehead as she pulled out her wallet.
"Oh shoot, I forgot my scroll over by the dressing rooms. Could you go get it for me while I pay?" she asked Blake with an innocent smile.
Blake replied, "Sure" and set off across the room as Yang handed her card to the girl at the counter, who swiped it after glancing at the name on the front.
"This is quite the gift you're buying for her…Yang," she said politely as the receipt printed up. "She must be very special to you."
"We're just friends," Yang replied quickly, and maybe a little too defensively since the girl chuckled at her response. "And…uh...if anyone asks, can you say that Weiss Schnee paid for this?" she asked as she stuck the receipt in her back pocket.
Taryn giggled as she handed the bag over the counter.
"She's very lucky. I'm more than a little jealous, but your secret's safe with me," she said, adding a wink just as Blake walked up beside Yang, holding Yang's conveniently misplaced scroll in her hands.
"Thank you, Blake!" Yang exclaimed, ignoring Taryn as she took her scroll from Blake's hands before pulling her towards the exit of the store, slightly worried about what else the store clerk might say.
Just as the partners were about to push open the front door to return to the street, they caught a glimpse of a Beowolf rushing past the storefront.
"What the hell?" Yang yelled as she opened the door in time to see the creature round the corner.
She threw the dress back to the clerk, yelling, "We'll come back for this!" as she ran out into the street with Blake right on her heels.
They flew off in the direction they had seen the creature heading in, turning the corner just in time to see the Beowolf sniffing around some trash cans halfway down the block. She grinned. Her and Blake versus one Beowolf…this would end quickly.
Shooting off, she reached the creature in no time. Lunging towards it, she watched as Gambol Shroud wound its way around the creature's neck from behind her. The Beowolf finally noticed their presence as Blake yanked it forward, directly into Yang's fists. She quickly put an end to its existence with several pummels to the skull.
Once the creature had been destroyed, they paused for several seconds as new sounds began reaching their ears. Focusing intently, Yang was able to make out the sounds of crashes and glass breaking somewhere nearby. Glancing worriedly at Blake, they ran off in search of where the sounds were coming from, realizing that there might be more Beowolves nearby.
Rushing around the corner onto a narrow street lined with small, mom-and-pop shops, Yang couldn't help but grin as they finally found the source of all the commotion. Standing in the middle of the street was none other than Nora Valkyrie, slamming Beowolves through shop windows with her trusty hammer, Magnhild.
A little ways down the street, Yang picked out Lie Ren, busy fighting his own set of creatures.
"Nora!" Ren shouted as he lithely dodged a leaping Beowolf. "You're...causing…more damage…than they are!" he managed to get out between the endless sounds of destruction and fighting.
Nora only giggled in response as she effortlessly knocked another Beowolf through a plate glass window, clearly having the time of her life. If Yang didn't know any better, she could have sworn that the girl was intentionally aiming the creatures towards the unbroken windows on the street.
Just then, one of the Beowolves broke away from the crowd surrounding Nora, hurtling towards Yang and Blake as it ran from the maniacal huntress in fear. It skidded to a stop as it saw Blake and Yang standing at the end of the street, but decided to try running through them anyway. Yang waited patiently as it approached. When it was close enough, she shot forward a few steps, leveling the creature with a single punch before unloading several shots into it.
"Need a hand?" she shouted towards the hunter and huntress pair, not waiting for a response as she set off to join Nora in a friendly game of window smashing while Blake went to assist Lie Ren.
With the four of them together, the Beowolves didn't stand a chance. When the fight ended a few minutes later, the four convened in the center of the street, looking around at the mess surrounding them.
"Thanks for the help!" Nora said happily as she held up her hand for Yang to give her a hi-five.
Slapping the girl's hand with enough force to knock a regular person through a wall, Yang grinned at her kindred spirit.
"You're welcome!" she replied. "I haven't seen you guys in forever!"
It was only then that she realized Ren and Nora hadn't been informed yet that Blake had returned. Turning apologetically towards Blake, she prepared herself for what could possibly be a very uncomfortable line of questioning. She just hoped that they wouldn't make Blake feel too badly.
"It's good to see you, Blake," Ren said quietly, cutting Yang off before she had a chance to speak as he gave her a small smile and a nod.
Nora looked quickly from Ren back to Blake before unleashing one of her own giant smiles.
"Looks like you haven't missed a step!" she said as she punched Blake "lightly" on the shoulder, sending the poor girl staggering backwards several feet.
Blake smiled widely as she rubbed her shoulder gingerly. "Well, you didn't see me on the first day back," she added with a laugh.
Yang joined her laughing as she slung her arm casually around Blake's shoulder, happy that Ren hadn't asked any questions about how or why Blake had returned. They were also fortunate that Nora had become slightly better at reading social cues from Ren's own behavior.
"Don't listen to her modesty," Yang commented with a grin, feeling giddy at her increased proximity to her partner. "So do you guys want to come say 'hello' to Weiss and Ruby? I know they'd love to see you two!"
Nora gasped before turning to Ren with pleading eyes, clasping her hands together in front of her chest. "Please, Ren? Please, please, please? Just to say hello!"
Ren rolled his eyes good naturedly as he tried to hide a slight smile from appearing on his face.
"We can…" he said, smiling at Nora's squeal of happiness, "but only to say hello. We don't want to keep Pyrrha and Jaune waiting for us again."
Nora didn't hear the rest of Ren's answer as she was too busy bouncing around happily.
"Come on, let's go!" Nora said, motioning for everyone to follow her.
Setting off after the girl, Yang suddenly remembered why Blake and she were out to begin with.
"Oh!" she exclaimed as it hit her. "We have to go pick up Blake's dress!"
Nora and Ren looked at her, eyebrows raised in confusion, but Nora quickly shrugged her shoulders as they followed Yang back to the dress shop. Yang motioned for them to wait outside as she ran through the door, quickly locating the girl sitting behind the front counter.
Jogging over, she waved as the girl looked up at her.
"Hey, I'm here to pick up that…"
"Dress for your girlfriend?" Taryn finished for her with a sly smile as she grabbed a bag and walked out from behind the counter to meet Yang. "I have it right here for you," she said as she held the bag out towards Yang, who took it from her uncertainly.
As soon as her hands closed around the bag, the girl pulled it back towards herself, drawing Yang in with it. Surprised to find that their faces were now mere inches apart, the girl leaned in even closer to whisper to her.
"And…I put a little something in there for you, as well."
With that, she released her hold on the dress, allowing Yang to step quickly away from her.
Yang often wished that she didn't receive as much attention from strangers, as there was just one person whose attention she truly desired. However, all of the practice did allow her to deal gracefully with situations such as these, without becoming flustered.
Grinning as she stepped towards the door, Yang replied, "Thank you…but, like you said, I'm taken." She winked as she made a beeline for the exit, making a note to check the bag before she gave it to Blake.
Back outside, she smiled at her waiting friends.
"All set! Let's go!"
The four slowly made their way back to the mansion, enjoying the opportunity to catch up with each other. But when they finally reached their home, Yang raced up the front steps and pushed open the door, striding into the foyer.
"Ruby! Weiss! Guess who we brought home?" she yelled out.
Her sister came whizzing in from the kitchen, stopping abruptly in front of Yang before noticing the two new people standing behind her. Letting out a giddy squeal, Ruby ran to wrap Nora in a huge hug.
Weiss sauntered in several seconds later, perpetually trailing her speedy girlfriend.
"Who is it?" she asked curiously before she noticed Ren and Nora. Her eyes narrowed as she stalked directly up to Nora and held out one hand towards the girl, saying, "Manghild."
Nora pulled her trusty weapon off her back and clutched it tightly to her chest, a pout settling on her face.
"But…he promises to be good this time!" she pleaded, lip quivering slightly.
"No," Weiss remained unmoved, hand still extended to receive Nora's weapon. "He goes into the closet while you're here."
"It will be fine, Nora," Ren said calmly in an attempt to get the girl to acquiesce.
But Nora only turned towards him with a hurt expression, lip quivering and eyes brimming with tears. Ren quickly opened his mouth to say something else, but Ruby motioned to him that she would help as she moved closer to Nora and placed a supporting hand on the girl's shoulder.
"Don't worry, Nora, he won't be lonely. Crescent Rose and Myrtenaster are in there too!"
Ruby's words seemed to reassure the girl, who hesitantly extended Manghild and dropped it in Weiss' hand. Not prepared for the weight, Weiss nearly dropped the weapon, causing Nora to let out a strangled "eep." Thankfully, the heiress finally caught the weapon before it touched the ground.
Huffing in an attempt to hide her embarrassment, Weiss walked to the closet and, very carefully, placed Manghild on the ground next to Crescent Rose. She then motioned for everyone to follow her into the kitchen so that they could chat.
Blake stepped next to Yang as everyone else followed Weiss.
"Why can't Nora keep Manghild with her?" she asked curiously.
"Well…" Yang began as she turned to face her partner. "The last time Nora was here, she kind of…removed the floor of Ruby's bedroom..."
Blake laughed as she asked incredulously, "How did she do that?"
Remembering the scream she had heard reverberating through the mansion that day, Yang couldn't help grinning. "Nora was trying to prove to Ruby that Manghild was more functional than Crescent Rose and…they got a little out of hand."
"Yang! Blake! Come here!" they suddenly heard Ruby shout from the other room. "Nora and I are going to arm wrestle!"
"Oh, we have got to see this," Yang said, grinning as she grabbed Blake's arm and rushed towards the other room.