A/N: Apologies for the late update. I had a really hard time coming up with this chapter as the contents kinda struck home and I wanted to portray it to the best of my ability. Very big thank you to XAnonymous, I reformatted all the chapters with your advice and hope it's easier to read now. The characters are still developing so they will definitely be OOC sometimes, please bear with me if it isn't to your taste! Glad to see you're still enjoying the story Takogirl! Thank you readers who stuck with me this far. Introducing Chapter 5!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY and its characters, story is purely fan made!

Shadows of the Past

The brightest lights cast the darkest shadows..

After the incident in the canteen, rumors regarding herself and Yang had faded, much to Blakes relief. The weekend came and went and it was already the last day before the next weekend. They didn't really hang out often, mostly only during breaks where they sat and laughed together in the group. Furthermore, the two were in different classes.

Come to think of it.. I still have no idea which class Yang and Weiss are in.. wondered Blake as she walked in silence towards the Student Council room for the Cultural Festival meeting where representatives of the different classes were to present their forms.

She had fitted in relatively well with her class thanks to Ruby, Nora and Jaune who actively engaged her in conversation with the other classmates. Moreover, for someone who had just joined the school recently, she was already catching up and even helped classmates who had trouble understanding concepts.

Blake was enjoying her new school life very much, though there wasn't anyone she was particularly close with.. yet. The voting for what the class would be doing at the Cultural Festival went pretty well, aside from a few eccentric suggestions like 'Unicorn cafe' or 'House of Bugs' that Blake tossed away immediately.

In the end, the whole class had finally managed to agree on a greek mythological themed cafe and the class was divided into three groups, costume, menu and decoration, headed by Nora, Ruby and Jaune respectively after putting it to vote. They were to start brainstorming for the Cultural Festival that would be taking place in two weeks in their groups.

Having memorized the school layout thanks to Ruby who had pointed out the different buildings and their function rooms, Blake had no trouble getting to her destination this time. Other class representatives were already making their way in and Blake followed suit. There was still time before the scheduled meeting time.

The tables were arranged in a large rectangle with Pyrrha and Ren seated at the head of one of the rows of tables whilst the rest of the Student Council, including Weiss, filled the remaining seats in that row. Blake sent them a small smile as she entered and proceeded to her assigned seat that was indicated with a '2-D' card on it.

The remaining representatives thronged in and occupied the other seats according to their year and class until all but one seat was left. Class 2-A huh..? If I'm not wrong, A is the best class of each year, for the representative of the best 2nd year class to be the last to arrive.. how weird.

Everyone was getting restless as they awaited the final person and Weiss could feel her veins popping since she knew exactly who it was. The clock ticked as it slowly approached the scheduled time till the last ten seconds remained when the door burst opened, causing everyone to jump in their seats.

"SAFE!" exclaimed Yang as she strolled in like a boss towards her seat, conveniently ignoring the crazy look Weiss was shooting her. She waved at Pyrrha and Ren who nodded amusedly back. Almost at her seat, she caught amber eyes which were wide open in astonishment.

As soon as she heard the voice, Blake whipped her head to confirm the owner of the voice and got her answer. SHE'S the representative of the smartest class?! Still stupefied, she met Yangs eyes and saw the area around her eyes crinkle in amusement. Bringing up her finger, Yang pointed to the corner of her own mouth.

Blakes eyes followed the movement distractedly. What is she doing.. her lips are chapped.. but looks really soft.. Mimicking her out of reflex, Blake felt something wet on her finger and snapped out of her thoughts.

The situation finally dawned on her and she flushed a deep red that would put a tomato to shame. Hastily wiping away the drool that had escaped during her gaping session at Yang, the mortified Blake dropped her head onto the table with a smack in embarrassment as loud chortling was heard from Yang.

The exchange went unnoticed by everyone, who just gave Yang weird looks when she had chortled all of a sudden. Everyone except Weiss, who had raised her eyebrow in interest. Hmm.. that's unusual, for Yang to pay such attention to a girl she met just last week.. Normally it's the other way round.. Could Blake be the one..?

Her thoughts were disrupted by Pyrrha who had cleared her throat to get the attention of everyone. "Thank you for coming today everyone. Hope you're all as excited as I am about the upcoming Cultural Festival! Before we begin discussing the budget, please pass your forms to my members as they go down the row."

Two Student Council members went around the tables collecting the forms and tallied them, signalling to Pyrrha that it was good to go. "Great! Let's start the ball rolling then, classes that are doing cafes please state your desired budget and we will decide on an appropriate amount."

The meeting went on as budgets for haunted houses and plays were decided, as well as venue and timing slots for classes doing plays. It turned out that Yangs class was doing a cafe as well. After everything had been concluded, Pyrrha and Ren dismissed the representatives, handing out the allowance that was negotiated earlier to them.

The Student Council had to stay back for work, which meant.. This is a great opportunity! thought Weiss. "Yang! I have to stay back for Council stuff so I can't accompany you. Why don't you hang out with Blake since Ruby already went home?"

At the mention of her name, Blake turned abruptly and replied earnestly, "Uhm it's okay! I'll be going to the library to study, and Yang would probably be bored to tea-"

"Okay! Let's go Blakey. Bye Weisss!" cut off Yang as she tugged Blake out of the room, who was still confounded that the hyperactive Yang would want to study with her. Yang, on the other hand, was glad to be able to spend time with someone other than Weiss or Ruby who wasn't her fangirl or fanboy.

Weiss let out a small smile. I hope she'll be the one to open your heart, Yang.

When they arrived at the library, Blake finally snapped out of it and asked incredulously, "Wow Yang, I never expected you to be the type to study."

Pouting slightly, Yang replied with mock offense, "Hey hey how rude! I'm among the top five in our year when it comes to studies y'know."

Blake gasped loudly at the shocking news but was quickly shushed by the librarian nearby. She offered a sheepish bow in apology and dragged Yang to a table in the corner, taking one of the seats. "Unbelievable, I can't imagine you actually being good at studying.." murmured Blake as she took out her study materials.

As Blake flipped through her math workbook, Yang sat next to her and stopped her at one of the pages. "This one here, the answer is wrong. You can't integrate it directly, you gotta expand it first before integrating." stated Yang in a bored tone.

Going through the question carefully, Blake realized, in surprise no less, that Yang was right. "I guess you're not in the best class for nothing.." Blake huffed indignantly as Yang chuckled at Blakes disgruntled face.

"Well it's not like I was born a genius or anything, I just had a lot of time when my stepmom homeschooled me after my real parents-" Yang caught her tongue before she let slip anymore. The atmosphere turned sour as Yang had on an unreadable expression.

Hurt? Anger? Loneliness? There were too many emotions flickering across her face to be confirmed, but none of them were good. Blake watched in concern as Yang tightened her fist. Fearing she would hurt herself if she tightened any further, Blake reached out and placed her hand over Yangs clenched fist.

Blake was no stranger to the pain of a sad past and she could tell that Yang, too, had a past that wasn't all sunshine and flowers. Yang tensed at the contact, but relaxed in response when Blake stroked her knuckles tenderly. By some invisible magnetic pull, both decided to glance at the other at the same time.

Ba-thump. Blake felt her heart rate increase as she lost herself in morose lilac eyes. She could totally feel the heat radiating from Yang due to their close proximity. Unable to control the mysterious emotions that were flooding her, Blake increased her grip on Yangs hand unknowingly.

That seemed to brought Yang out of her haze, who broke the eye contact and retracted her hand slowly. "T-thanks.. Geez I can't believe what a wimp I'm acting like now haha! Must be because I'm on my period ughh.." Yang explained while laughing awkwardly to cover up her vulnerability.

Blinking at the loss of contact, Blake processed Yangs words and frowned. Before she could stop herself, Blake had turned in her seat and embraced Yang around the neck from the side. "Don't. You're not a wimp." stated Blake firmly as she buried into Yangs neck.

Eyes wide with shock, Yang could feel her walls crumbling down. The playful exterior she worked so hard to achieve was about to be destroyed by this girl, this girl she had met just last week. I-I can't.. At this rate I'm going to end up worrying people again!

Pushing Blake away, Yang held her at arms length. "I'm sorry, I forgot I have to be home early. Bye." She hastily grabbed her bag and dashed out of the library noisily, much to the chagrin of the librarian.

When Blake finally registered what had happened, she packed up her stuff and hurriedly chased after Yang. It was to no avail, however, as Yang was too fast and there was no trace of her no matter how hard Blake looked.

Did I go too far? Afterall, we're like, not exactly close.. It must have been weird for me to hug her out of the blue. Uuugh thinking back, why'd I have to go and do that! She clawed her hair at the embarrassing memory.

Stopping suddenly, she traced her arms that had embraced Yang, and thought absentmindedly. But I couldn't leave her alone after seeing her lonely smile.. I shouldn't have assumed she didn't have a care in the world..

Gripping her arm tightly, she pondered in confusion. Why am I so affected by her anyway.. Is it because we're similar..? That look in her eyes.. it radiated loneliness.. even though she's so merry on the outside..

Blake looked up to the sky and contemplated. Somehow I want to know even more about her.. Even though I shouldn't.. Even though I am not the best person for this.. I can't leave her alone!

Boiling with determination, Blake stalked home, ready to form her battle plan.

The wind whipped against her face and hair as Yang sprinted all the way home. Her mind was a swirling mess and the run did little to clear it up. T-that was close, too close! I was about to break down in front of her!

Panting heavily, she entered the house and gave Ruby a brief shout to announce her arrival home. Sweat soaked her uniform but that was the least of her concerns. She dashed into the safety of her own room and slumped against the wooden door.

How could I have been so careless.. Just when I've finally found someone who would talk with me without fawning over me every other second.. I went and blew it up by remembering the shitty parents..

-3 years ago-

"Yang, we're leaving. Take care of the house and don't make a mess." were the last words she would hear from her parents. They had gone on a trip to Las Vegas to gamble but were unfortunately mugged and murdered at one of the casinos. The killer was never found.

Neglected no matter how hard she tried to gain the attention of her parents, Yang had gave up trying. She grew up alone, without love or affection. The death of both her parents at once left an impact on her. Why did I have such irresponsible parents. Why couldn't I have had a normal childhood like my classmates. Why.. me?

She resented her parents but at the same time she was lost. After a simple funeral was held, none of her relatives wanted to take her in, claiming it was too much of a responsibility. Well fuck them too. But a single lady with a child by her side went up to Yang and reached out to her. Introducing herself as the former wife of Yangs father, she captured Yang with a single sentence. "I'll be the mom you never had."

That was the first Yang had cried in a long time. She began her new life with her new family, though it was difficult in the beginning. Yang had to be homeschooled for a year due to her unstable temperamentals and lack of social skills. However, they had gotten Ember around this time as well who became fast friends with Yang.

Showered with care and plenty of love, her ability to feel returned and she became more cheerful than anyone. A little too cheerful actually. Turns out, she was still tormented by her past, but her gratitude to Ruby and her mom had caused her to adopt a bright appearance. Yang wouldn't allow these kind people to worry themselves over her.

She went on to high school in Beacon Academy and became the popular and smart kid any parent would be proud of. But why.. why was it she still felt lonely? Even though she had the best mom and sister anyone could ask for, sometimes she felt like she was intruding, like an outsider.. At school she had friends but they all had someone closer to them rather than her. Even Ruby, who was spending most of her time with Weiss.

Her only consolation was Ember but the difference was obvious. She craved human contact.. Someone to talk to, to rant to about the parents that were never there for her, to hold her.. but it was impossible. Yang was too strongheaded to show it.

-end of flashback-

It's been so long but I still haven't let go of my past.. If I'm not a wimp then what am I..? Yang frowned as she recalled Blakes words.

How does she see through me so easily.. It felt good to have someone close, too good..! But I can't get attached to anyone! The demons inside kept reminding her.. reminding her that she couldn't let anyone near or the past was going to repeat itself.

Exhausted to the core, Yang opted to take a cold shower to shake off her bad thoughts. As the water streamed down her face, memories of Blake and her touch surfaced, sending tingles through Yang.

It was the first time someone could calm her with just a touch. She's too dangerous.. I'm the one who breaks down other peoples' walls! Not the other way round! I have to maintain my distance from her before it's too late!

Yang punched the air in resolve but failed to consider the showerhead that was above and ended up hitting it instead, sending it to the floor with a crash.

"YANG ARE YOU OKAY I HEEARD A CRASH!" screamed Ruby from outside the bathroom.

Fumbling with the showerhead to stop it from spraying all over the place, Yang finally managed to grab hold of it and yelled back, "Y-YEAH JUST DROPPED THE SHOWERHEAD DON'T WORRY SIS!"

A loud "Alright!" was heard as Yang sighed in relief. Guess it's about time to get out anyway. She turned off the faucet and dressed in a tanktop and shorts. Feeling the sprint from earlier taking its toll on her, she dropped heavily on her bed and escaped to another world where the monsters in her head could not reach her..