Five Kisses – Just The Start
Chapter 2
The Forehead – I Care for You
In hindsight, Yang should have known that even though the ball a couple of weeks ago had gone brilliantly, the fact that it wasn't on the very last day or even in the last week before they broke up for their seasonal holidays should have told her that they still had a few last minute boring things to be taught and boy, was Port's lesson dragging it out. You would have thought there were only so many things you could learn about the metabolisms of different kinds of Grimm. Beowolves have fast metabolisms making them hungry all the time and driving them to feed more often as opposed to a Goliath which has an incredibly slow metabolism represented by its lack of hostility towards humans and no eye witness accounts of them ever feeding. It was pretty much common sense to Yang, did they really need to go over this stuff when her mind was still in party mode after all this time?
Yang looked around the room at the various faces of her peers and saw pretty much the same expression on all of their faces. Boredom. There were a few exceptions like those that found this class genuinely engaging i.e. Weiss. Those that were trying their best to learn but could barely even grasp the basics i.e. Jaune and then there were people like Blake by her side that just looked perpetually bored. Yang looked at Blake's exercise book and found that even though she was still making notes, they were sloppy, even she was running on autopilot.
Yang tried to pull her attention back to the lesson but she soon realised she had stumbled in to one of Port's riveting tales from his youth and chose to stumble right back out, laying her head on the desk and letting out a sigh. She gazed in to the distance and apparently in the distance sat Pyrrha. The layered rows of desks were arranged in a C shape around the room, ensuring that whoever had the floor was sure to have all eyes on them, unless they were Port of course, but this also meant that Yang and Pyrrha, though sat at opposite ends of the room were still facing each other. Pyrrha's pretty face was a sight for sore eyes and that sleepy look on her face as she leant her chin in her palm was just the icing on the cake.
Pyrrha apparently wasn't happy that her hair flopped down over her shoulder on to the desk and effortlessly flung it back down her spine whipping Jaune across the face in the process. She muttered an apology to him but the fact that her eyes didn't even flicker in his direction told Yang that she really was tired. Behind Port's back Yang sent a few tentative waves in Pyrrha's direction and some other people managed to spot it before Pyrrha managed to zone back in long enough to notice the gesture but when she did, Yang knew that she had Pyrrha's undivided attention.
"You OK?" Yang mouthed to her and she was relieved to see her nod.
"Tired." Pyrrha mouthed in reply and Yang had to chuckle as Pyrrha rubbed at her eyes.
Since the dance, Yang had hung out a few times with Pyrrha one on one and had come across a strong bond between them. They were opening up to each other a little bit and Yang liked what she saw. There was a genuine diamond in the rough inside Pyrrha and Yang couldn't wait for the day she'd get to see her in all her glory. She only hoped that Pyrrha was as enthusiastic about their new friendship as Yang was.
But before Yang could lose herself to her thoughts anymore, there was a strong knock at the classroom door that stopped even Professor Port in his tracks. Yang leant over the railing on her left to watch no one other than Professor Ozpin walk in and for Port to greet him with a smile.
"My, Professor Ozpin!" He said with just as much enthusiasm as one of his stories. "To what do we owe the pleasure?"
"Oh it's quite alright Peter, you'll be able to continue your lesson quickly enough." He said before turning to the students and scanning them momentarily before stopping at the end of the row of seats, across the way from Yang. "I'm actually here for Miss Nikos."
Pyrrha looked a little confused but she handled it well.
"Me, Professor?" She asked.
"Indeed." Professor Ozpin held his hand out to the exit. "There's someone here that would like to speak to you rather urgently."
"Oh, of course."
Pyrrha quickly stood up and trotted down the stairs and approached Professor Ozpin. He looked Pyrrha over for something and his expression said that he hadn't found whatever it was.
"Mr. Arc." Ozpin addressed unexpectedly. "I would like for you to take care of Miss Nikos' things if she hasn't returned by the end of class. Do you understand?"
"S-sure thing." He muttered unconfidently. "I've got them."
Ozpin nodded to him, turned back to Pyrrha and spoke quietly this time, but not quietly enough for Yang not to hear, considering they were stood just below where she was sat.
"She's waiting for you just outside." He told her. "If you would like to follow me."
Pyrrha didn't say anything and just followed him out of the room. Yang watched them leave along with everyone else, but because she was the closest one to the edge of the seats as Yang continued to watch, she realised that they never actually left her line of sight. She took note that there was a small period of time between Professor Port actually starting the lesson back up and the door shutting behind Pyrrha. There really wasn't much time there at all but it was more than enough time for Yang to catch just a few words. Just a few of the most horrifying words she would ever here in her life.
"Oh please god no. Anyone but you."
With those words every sense of Yang's that might've been unconsciously paying attention to the class, died. She almost didn't recognise the voice as Pyrrha's own. Her usual smooth tones had been torn apart in an instant and Yang could feel that panic creeping up even her own spine. Yang had never heard her talk like that even in the most dire of circumstances, the amount of times Jaune had had a near death experience and she had never once used that broken tone of voice.
Yang could only see up to the waist of the person who had come to visit Pyrrha. She saw her sensible, flat-soled shoes and the bottom of what looked to be a white coat. Possibly a doctor's coat but it didn't explain much.
The door had now closed behind Pyrrha, cutting off the sounds that Yang was tuning finely in to. Yang watched the doctor move forwards and try to touch Pyrrha's arm and without reason, Yang instantly wanted to punch her and had to grab the railing by her side to stop her from vaulting it, but Pyrrha surprised her once again by quickly yet forcefully slapping the doctor's hand away. Something else she'd never seen Pyrrha do.
The doctor stopped trying for physical contact and instead clasped them together on her stomach. From the way the doctor moved Yang could tell she was talking and she then broke the clasp to gesture to one of the seats just outside the classroom. There was a pause in which Pyrrha thought about her options but Yang saw that her cautious stance wavered and she slowly took a seat and clamped her hands over her knees. Yang could now see her face at the lower angle and she didn't like what she saw at all. Usually her sun-kissed skin was full of vibrancy and just waited to make those laugh lines that Yang knew would don her face in later life. Though that wasn't the case in this moment, her face was ashen and fearful. Yang could see that she was shaking, like she could vomit at any second, from the look of her Yang wouldn't be surprised if she did.
The woman moved again and sat down carefully in the seat on Pyrrha's left and Yang saw the redhead flinch away from her. She could now see the woman's face and it revealed that she might have been in her thirties, with her brown hair up in a tight bun and her rimless glasses close to her tired eyes. But it was those same tired eyes that looked so pained in that moment. Like they didn't want to be there, like they didn't want to have to see Pyrrha.
But Yang watched the woman speak. She saw the way she spoke slowly and took regular pauses like she was trying to preserve something fragile but another glance at Pyrrha's sickly form instantly made Yang connect the dots. Pyrrha didn't want to hear whatever this doctor person was saying, she physically couldn't handle it and Yang physically couldn't sit there and watch something horrible happen. But it seemed that she was just a few seconds too late.
Yang watched Pyrrha's shoulders buck and all of a sudden there were tears, so many tears that were nowhere close to stopping and Yang was nowhere near close enough to wipe them away. Her world was shaking and she was seeing red but she wavered when she felt a hand tug the back of her blazer. She turned to find Blake behind her and she took a step back when she saw the wild look in Yang's red eyes. But quickly Yang realised it wasn't just her partner that was watching her, the whole room had stopped including the Professor.
Yang took only the slightest notice of the fact that her Semblance had struck up, the heat causing Blake's face to scrunch up. The way Yang was feeling right now, so torn, so helpless, there was no real wonder why she had subconsciously activated her Semblance.
"Yang!" Blake called to her. "What in the world is going on?"
The question was clear. The answer was even clearer, but Yang couldn't speak. Her throat was tight and she so badly wanted to call attention to Pyrrha's situation so somebody; anybody could help her but she knew she couldn't. The last thing she should do is draw attention to Pyrrha while she was so broken. Yang tried in vain to convey these feelings to Blake or maybe to all of them but the words just wouldn't come out. Her eyes and hair blazed away with no clear path or target. She searched for something to make them understand but looking to Pyrrha was probably the worst thing she could've done as all she saw was the girl with her head in her hands trying so desperately to regain some kind of composure but it just wasn't happening. Yang's hair surged up with renewed power and she felt her hand sink in to the melting steel railing she was leaning over. She had to go!
Yang couldn't leave Blake with any comforting words or even an explanation for her actions, the only thing she could do was shake her head and vault the molten railing on to the ground below. She stopped before setting off again and it looked that Blake was ready to jump after her but a hand grabbed her partner's and held her back.
"It's OK, Yang." Ruby spoke softly to her. "Go to her."
Yang nodded. Thank god someone understood but she couldn't linger on it, she could see Pyrrha's hair covering her face through the glass in the classroom door but she still hesitated.
"What will you do, Miss Xiao Long?" Professor Port asked. "Will you forsake your lifelong education for a fleeting moment or will you allow yourself to be swayed by the emotions of others?"
It was a cruel way to put it, there was no doubting that but it forced Yang to make her final decision and as she passed through the classroom door leaving Port to fume to himself she knew she wouldn't regret this.
The doors slammed as Yang burst through them and both Pyrrha and the doctor jolted in surprise. Pyrrha's flooded eyes met Yang's own and she just about melted as Pyrrha choked out her name and held a pleading hand out to Yang. There was no stopping Yang then as she basically charged Pyrrha in to the tightest most protective embrace she could muster.
The only other time Yang had held Pyrrha was when they danced together, not a care in the world but that was where any similarities stopped. The way Pyrrha clawed so hopelessly at Yang's back, the hoarse voice that she muffled in to Yang's chest and the lack of strength in her legs as she sunk to the ground with Yang only made her hold the girl tighter, the cinders crackling from one lock of Yang's hair to another acting as a protective barrier.
Pyrrha didn't try to tell Yang anything nor did Yang ask any questions. It wasn't the time for that. No words needed to be spoken between the two, Yang knew that her agonised friend needed her, just to be with her and that was more than enough for Yang to stick around.
Under Yang's fingers, Pyrrha's skin felt even hotter than her own like her body was trying to rid itself of something. A horrible pain within her bones that no one but her could hope to comprehend yet Yang tried her best to soothe her with gentle fingertips across that same boiling skin. Her free hand threaded itself in to her warm glossy hair and held her poor soiled head against her chest.
Yang talked to her. There wasn't much to talk about and she couldn't really try to be supportive since Yang didn't understand what had made Pyrrha this way but almost as if on cue, the doctor spoke up.
"I'm so sorry that it had to be this way, Pyrrha." She said and the girl in Yang's arms flinched so terribly that they both let out a whimper and Yang renewed her grip on her friend.
"Who are you?" Yang asked and the woman took a moment to sigh before she answered.
"I am Dr. McKenzie." She said as she took her glasses from her face and wiped them on her coat. The motion aggravated Yang, like she was trying too hard to be casual about her friend's situation, that kind of thing wouldn't fly with Yang and a pulse of Aura pressure through the air on Yang's behalf told the doctor the same thing. "I've been associated with the Nikos family for a few years now but I'm afraid today, things took the worst possible turn."
"I-Is there something the matter with Pyrrha?" Yang asked the question faster than she could convince herself not to. Yang wasn't sure how she would take the news if she knew their time together was limited but McKenzie shook her head.
"It really isn't my place to say." She told Yang and she was suddenly so close to snapping the doctor's neck. There was no mistaking that she was talking down to Yang now, possibly even trying to place some kind of blame on Pyrrha. She had no idea what this woman's beef was or if she was just naturally rude but Yang wondered if she could keep that tone even while choking on her own teeth but Yang wouldn't leave Pyrrha alone.
"Then maybe you'd be better waiting outside for a few minutes?" Yang suggested with absolutely none of the heat she was radiating. "If you've got nothing to say here."
Dr. McKenzie didn't look to be scared by Yang's underlying threat but it hung in the air and Yang certainly wasn't someone whose patience you should test so she did the right thing, she struck up a cigarette and left leaving Pyrrha and Yang alone.
"Sorry about that Pyrrha." Yang said as she smoothed Pyrrha's hair again. "She didn't get you too bad did she? I mean I can sort her out if you want."
It was a childish thing for Yang to suggest but there honestly wasn't many other solutions that she could find to try and console her friend. She really doubted if there were many for her to find in the first place. She knew one way that would definitely get answers but she didn't want to ask that question, it meant making Pyrrha revisit everything and one glance told Yang that she wasn't in any state to do so.
Thankfully, the tears had slowed and the sobbing was reduced to nothing more than hard sniffing as Pyrrha dropped her arms from Yang's back to her waist and pushed her full weight in to Yang's arms as she made herself comfortable.
"Thank you." Pyrrha croaked. "For coming after me."
That was the first real thing that Pyrrha had said to Yang that day and it was impossible to imagine this girl in her arms and the girl that was sat across from Yang giving her tired smiles and little waves could ever be the same person. Yet here they were.
"That's nothing to thank me for, Pyrrha." Yang told her as equally quiet as Pyrrha was. "I saw the waterworks start from the classroom. I couldn't just sit by with that going on."
"You're a good friend." Pyrrha told her honestly but she didn't meet her eyes. Yang wondered if she even could.
"I try my best." Yang was uncharacteristically modest then but something about it called out to Pyrrha's broken heart. "And I can see that you've been trying your best too."
A couple of fresh tears spilled and rolled down Pyrrha's cheeks and Yang was in the middle of apologising profusely when she was interrupted by Pyrrha speaking again after a deep breath.
"M-my father, he eerr…" She took a pause to wipe at her eyes but they filled right back up. "He passed away. This morning."
"He… He passed away?" Yang echoed and that seemed to trigger another fresh batch of tears from Pyrrha. "Oh, honey, I am so so sorry."
Yang tightened her grip around Pyrrha now that she had settled on her side but words failed her. What could you ever say to a person in this situation? Yang didn't know and she was sure that even if she tried they wouldn't be enough.
"One last time…" Pyrrha said and if the tightening of her fingers on Yang's skirt was any indication, she attempted to brace herself for the punchline. "I wish I could've seen him one last time."
But it was really no use as Pyrrha fell back in to her violent sobbing, Yang felt tears slide down her own cheeks as well. This was just too cruel. Why on earth did this have to happen to the most wonderful soul? This was just way too cruel.
For what seemed like an eternity, the two cried together in an empty hallway finally unhindered by anything. They shared the pain, the grief and every last bit of sorrow they could hold and still they knew that there might be countless more times like this in the future when they both needed the shoulder of a real friend and all Pyrrha could do at this point in time was hope that Yang might be still be there to bear her burdens.
Despite Yang's tears, despite the fact that she must've only been feeling a fraction of what was going on in both Pyrrha's heart and mind, she understood that Pyrrha was relying on her. What little comfort she was offering was stopping Pyrrha losing herself and both girls knew that it would be vital to bringing them both back up on to their feet again. Yet for the moment, Yang stayed where she was, on the floor with her shattered friend in her arms.
Suddenly, a bell sounded all around them signalling the end of class and for a few seconds Yang panicked. How was she supposed to stop them coming through that door and seeing Pyrrha at her most vulnerable? She had no time to get the girl out of there and knowing how eager some of them were to leave that classroom she didn't know if she had time to get to the door to block it either. All she could do was wait, hold Pyrrha to herself and wait out those agonising few seconds but oddly, the surge never came.
The two waited a few more minutes than they needed to but not a single person came out of the door. When Yang deemed the coast clear she gently pulled herself away from Pyrrha fighting her instincts to jump back on to her at every moment and quietly went to peek through the window in the door at the classroom but as she cleared her eyes of tears for the final time she saw the classroom was empty, there wasn't a soul left in there. Over the other side of the room, Yang spotted a second pair of doors, exactly mirroring the ones she stood at, closing with a soft bang.
Professor Port must have told the students to go out of those doors and to leave these ones be. She couldn't hear her team's voices echo in the large room either so Yang assumed that they had been ushered out with the rest of them. Yang was slightly relieved that they weren't here as she turned back to Pyrrha, who was now sat back up on the bench trying her best to recover.
"They all went out the other door." Yang kept her voice uncharacteristically tender for Pyrrha, like the slightest loud noise could knock her in to oblivion and she wasn't about to take that risk. "No one saw us."
"Thank you." Yang barely heard Pyrrha whisper.
Yang once again knelt on the floor at Pyrrha's feet and carefully laced her fingers with Pyrrha's own on her knee. Pyrrha locked them in a kind of grapple that Yang didn't even attempt to break free from.
"I can't believe this." Yang sighed in to Pyrrha's knuckles as she laid her forehead in Pyrrha's lap. "I'm so sorry."
Yang felt Pyrrha sigh so very shakily as she sat back smushing her ponytail against the wall and hesitantly stroked Yang's head with her free hand as the last few tears for now rolled down her cheeks.
"It's not your fault, Yang." Pyrrha spoke low. "You've done me a kindness."
Yang wished she could do so much more for her friend than just provide a kindness. She wanted to take it all away from her, maybe let her find out at a less inopportune time or at the least, Yang wished she could have taken her to her father's side. There must have been so much for them both to say and it made Yang feel sick to think that now they never can but she still couldn't shake the knowledge that Pyrrha had it so much worse than she did and the shaking of Pyrrha's hand running through her hair only confirmed her fears.
"Were… were you expecting this Pyrrha?" Yang asked carefully. It was a horrible thing to ask but no more so than any other questions in this situation.
Pyrrha sighed again before she spoke.
"I barely know what I was thinking… feeling." She paused but Yang knew she wasn't done, she stayed quiet. "He has… had been ill for a number of years before now. A kind of cancer in his lungs at first, but we caught it early and it went away. But a lot of chest based cancers like lung, throat, breast because of them being used so much, they're constantly doing something, they're always active, the cancer even after removal can spread elsewhere and it's always more difficult to remove the second time around."
Yang squeezed Pyrrha's hand again. She could hear the girl's throat closing up again.
"It spread to Dad's spine." She continued. "By that point I had already won the Mistral Regional Tournament twice and a lot of the winnings were used to help fund the surgery the first time round. I thought I was pretty much done, but once it came back I dived in to that harder than ever. I took more jobs that required public appearances, talk show interviews, photo shoots, and cereal box appearances of all things. I even came here knowing that my skills would improve and I'd have a better chance of winning the competition again in coming years not to mention the pay of being a Huntress by itself."
"This must have been sooner than you'd thought." Yang said.
"Dr. McKenzie had told us back when he was diagnosed again that it was aggressive this time." Pyrrha's eyes welled up once again and Yang watched her clench her jaw and blink hard to keep the tears away, at least for now. "It was being treated appropriately and you always like to think that things'll turn out for the best in the end. Fat lot of good that did."
"Don't talk like that, Pyrrha." Yang said firmly at first and then repeated it more softly. "Please don't talk like that."
"Sorry."
"You've got nothing to be sorry for Pyrrha." Yang finally brought her head off of Pyrrha's lap and cupped her tearstained cheeks as she stared the girl in the eyes. "You're angry and confused and of course you're upset. I'd want you to be diagnosed if you weren't upset. But good god, Pyrrha, you're allowed to be. You're a young, up and coming girl that just lost her father, you have every right to be upset."
Pyrrha tried looking away multiple times but Yang held her own eyes steady always luring Pyrrha's own back to her. Pyrrha moved her hands to Yang's forearms and curled them round for some kind of support.
"This changes everything, Yang." Pyrrha told her so painfully honestly. "What am I supposed to do?"
Yang had no idea where her sudden confidence came from but all of a sudden she knew exactly what to say.
"You're gonna go home, Pyrrha." Yang rubbed the tears on Pyrrha's cheeks away with her thumbs. "You're gonna be strong for me and go see your family. They'll need you and you will need them. You're going to tell Dr. McKenzie that you want to go home and I swear that if she tries any funny business I'm gonna eat the fucker alive."
"Are you sure?" Pyrrha asked as Yang stood up and took her hands from Pyrrha's face even though Pyrrha didn't let go of her sleeves. "Wh-what about Beacon? What should I tell them?"
"You don't need to worry about us here, I'll sort everything on this end. Even if Ozpin might already know the situation I don't want you to leave me in the dark."
"No, I'll never leave you in the dark." That was the most powerful thing that Pyrrha had said for a while now.
"You promise?"
"With everything I have."
"Good… thank you." Yang pulled Pyrrha to her feet and suddenly the redhead found that she had all the strength in the world to stand, maybe even walk. "Now you get going, the sooner the better."
"Alright." Pyrrha took Yang's hands as they stood face to face both with their burning eyes and stinging cheeks. "Thank you Yang, for everything. I'll make this up to you."
"I don't want a reward, Pyrrha." Yang shushed her. "As long as you're safe."
There was a moment of awkward silence as their hands parted and they both nodded to each other, both as a goodbye for now and as a promise to meet again. Pyrrha turned with her head held high though her shoulders were heavy and she made for the door.
"Pyrrha." Yang called as her hands touched the door and when she turned she was immediately pushed backwards through the door as Yang flung her arms around Pyrrha's neck and pulled her in to another impossibly tight embrace and planted a kiss to her forehead. "You'll come back to me, right?"
Yang realised that she was being selfish here but for what felt like the first time in a thousand years Pyrrha smiled and returned the hug with just as much feeling.
"Always."