A/N 100 followers? No... way. Thank you all! So that very same guest left a review, which contained an awesome idea; to show my thanks how about I do two [2] chapters in a week? So I was like hells yeah! So to show my gratitude, you lovely readers will be receiving a second chapter on Friday! See that's what you amazing readers get; double the dose of Falling Petals! Can't forget about the Misunderstood AU thing I'm posting alongside this.
I'm also making a promise to you guys; as the only negative thing I've received about this fic was the shortness of the chapters. So, all chapters after this week will be over 4.5k words, I tried to do it this week, but I was pretty constrained with time, so after Friday no more 3k word chapters anymore, they'll gradually increase over time.
~Shout-out to my friend ClockPop, she's got a Cinderuby High School AU hitting the shelves very soon! So keep an eye out, from what she's told me, it's pretty great!~
Chapter 6. Change Is Good.
Brrriiinnnggg!
"Gah, man..." Yang sighed. That loud, incorrigible screech of her alarm clock is the bane of her existence. It's Thursday, and the only thing on her mind right now was smashing the stupid thing and taking the longest nap humanly possible. After all; who likes School? Yang certainly doesn't. No matter what you did, you couldn't change Yang's perspective on School. Even if one was to offer her a million dollars, she'd still turn It down, arguing the fact that it wasn't just the day, but the principal of it all.
The hectic weekend she'd just pulled from didn't help either. She was having a perfectly normal Saturday, her Uncle Qrow had chosen to stop-by as Saturdays were his off days from work. So the blonde spent the day "chilling" with her Uncle, as her father was away on business. The two ended up spending most of the daylight inside, protected from the swirling of ocher leaves, and the drizzle of rain. Yang's father had recently purchased a state-of-the-art Smart TV, but hadn't even unboxed it to set it up; so that's what Yang and Qrow ended up doing. Mounting the TV and commencing the set up.
As the sun had set and their project tore into the evening, the home phone chirped, and Yang broke away from Qrow to answer it. At this late in the evening she'd been expecting a telemarketer, or solicitor to be on the other end of the line; the blonde readying herself to give whoever it was, a piece of her mind.
The call she answered in turn though was the polar opposite of what she'd been expecting...
It wasn't a telemarketer she could have fun messing with, but rather, a nurse from Vale City Central Hospital.
At the mention of those words Yang practically glued the handset to her ear, her senses scrutinizing every word. As the nurse verbalized each detail, Yang grew more and more anxious, her breath catching in her throat when the nurse had finished her report. Qrow idling by wondering what the heck was wrong with her niece.
There was four words that picked at the blonde's nerves the most;
Ruby, Unconscious, Assault, and one final word that almost set her off into a rampage right then and there;
Cinder.
At the mere mention of that name, Yang dropped the phone, the clattering of the device echoing in the otherwise dead silent room. "I knew it!" She shouted.
Qrow watched in mock analysis at the sudden movements of his niece. After dropping the phone, the blonde made a mad dash for the apartment door, erratically forcing her boots on and grabbing her keys. Halfway out the door, Qrow looked to Yang and asked. "You mind telling me wh- SLAM!" Qrow recoiled at the force Yang slammed the door shut with.
After her sudden leave, Yang bolted down the hallway, slipping on her light parka in the process. Reaching the elevator within seconds, the blonde dug her phone from her pocket, and started a group chat with Blake and Weiss, her shaky fingers typing out one simple message;
/Ruby's in the hospital, got attacked by Cinder, meet me there ASAP/
She followed by sending the location to the both of them. The blonde had hit send with such force that it almost knocked her phone right out of her grasp.
As the elevator made a painstakingly slow trip to the bottom floor; a million thoughts raced through her mind. "I should've known! I knew it, I knew it!" Yang thought."When I get my hands on her..." She could feel her body temperature rising as guilt slowly stabbed at her soul. Yang began blaming herself for this mess. Cinder didn't even deserve a single chance, no wonder everyone thinks she's a delinquent. Yang began brainstorming ideas for what she'd do next time that snake was in her presence. She was hoping the police hadn't dealt
"C'mon!" Yang stomped her foot, waiting for the elevator countdown to reach one. After what seemed like a millennia; the elevator came to a halt, and the doors slid open, revealing the main entrance to the complex not top far away. Slipping out, Yang ran as fast as she could not caring about the rain filled potholes as she went. She rounded a brick corner and made it to parking lot C, where Bumblebee was waiting for her. She fumbled for the keys in her pocket, pulling them out, she realized something rather important;
Bumblebee wasn't made by Infiniti!
In her hand was the key fob for her Uncle's brand new black Infiniti Q50, it's shiny emblem reflecting off the light posts that dotted the parking lot. "Ah crap!" She shouted. "Wrong damn keys!" In her rush she grabbed Qrow's car keys from the bowl rather than her own.
Yang now faced two decisions: option one; go back upstairs and swap Qrow's keys for her own, or take Qrow's Infiniti, under the premise of a dire situation.
She gave it little thought. For Yang's case, the end does justify the means... so-
Mind made up, Yang hit the unlock button on the key-fob, the luxury sedan beeped twice signaling a successful unlock. The blonde practically ripped the door open before climbing inside, her eyebrows rising in awe, "Uncle, you've been holding out on me."
Her face twisted in confusion, eyes glancing over all of the bells and whistles the car contained.
She had no idea how the hell this thing works.
Her eyes met a larger button located in the center deck, the word 'Start' printed on in red letters.
"Oh..." She sighed, feeling like some kind of moron.
Shutting her door and clicking in her seat-belt, Yang pressed the button and smiled as a low roar from under the hood emanated into the cockpit.
She was probably going to get in trouble for this, but best have some fun first.
Putting the car in reverse, Yang backed out of the the visitor parking space and peeled out of the lot, tires screeching on cold wet pavement echoing through the neighborhood.
Meanwhile...
Qrow scratched his brown hair, wondering what in the world made Yang leave like that. Deciding It was best to follow her, Qrow slipped on his beige trenchcoat and walked to the front door, looking down to the short cabinet to his left he reached his hand into the key bowl only to find out... that his keys were gone?
"What the?" He patted himself down, turned his pockets inside-out and even dug around in the couch for a bit, hell-bent on finding the keys to his brand new car. Her encircled the couch but stopped at the window as he could see Yang on the ground floor walking outside.
The thing her didn't expect was for his niece to get in his car and peel off like some kind of madwoman, he facepalmed and sighed, praying that the Q50 would be okay. He'd be stranded for now, as there's now way he'd ride on a motorcycle to chase after his crazy niece.
Nope, no way.
######
"Yang take it easy!"
Yang jerked the wheel far right. "Calm down Blake were almost there!"
The hospital was less than a kilometer away, Yang would've reached her destination a lot faster, but Blake texted her halfway through her crazy drive, telling her that she doesn't have a ride and needs someone to pick her up. So, Yang did, Blake's house was only a few minutes out of the way anyway. Of course Yang wouldn't just give rides away like that. The entire trip to the hospital Yang drove fast and erratic, even enough to make the aloof Blake Belladonna; fear for her life.
Yang swerved into the bottom level of a multi-story parking garage, lilac eyes locked on the first open spot she saw, down at the far end between a load bearing column and a pickup truck.
"Yang slow down you're gon-"
CRACK!
Yang miscalculated her trajectory as the right side of the car was too close to the column, before she could stop quick enough; the passenger side mirror contacted the pillar, effectively smashing it off, an audible crunching sound rung in her ears.
She pulled the car to a stop, and stumbled out; Blake following suit. The blonde darted over to the passenger side, and gulped at the frayed stump where the mirror once sat.
"Oh you're in for it now." Blake teased.
"Shut-up, well deal with this later." Her phone vibrated, pulling it out she scrutinized the text from Weiss.
/Hurry up u oaf! I'm waiting!/
"C'mon, Weiss is waiting." Yang jogged ahead with Blake not to far behind. They exited the garage and ran around to the front doors, through the rain they could both see an impatient Weiss waiting for them. Arms crossed and foot tapping; Weiss spotted a yellow blob in her peripheral vision.
"Took you long enough!" She scolded them both.
"Yeah yeah Weissy, let's just get inside." Yang ordered.
"How dare you speak to me like that! I'm your-"
"Not now you two!" Blake shouted, cutting Weiss off. Not even giving them a chance to respond, Blake grabbed them both by their collars and pulled them in.
The three stumbled through the doors of the hospital, rounding the first corner they were met with a waiting room where a police officer and what looked like a doctor were conversant with a man sitting down.
"Yang!" The man yelled.
The blonde turned away from her friends. Her eyes quizzically eyed the man over before realization dawned on her of who it was.
"Dad!? What're you doing here, I though you had work?" Yang ran over gave her father a tight hug.
"Well I assume you're here for the same reason as I am, about Ruby?" He asked.
"Y-Yeah I got the call too."
Yang looked from her father to Weiss and Blake, "Guys this is my Dad." She gestured to them. "Dad this is Blake and you've already met Weiss."
"Nice to meet you Mr. Xiao Long." Blake droned.
Her father spoke up, "It's nice to meet you Blake, I'm Adrian" Her father was a middle aged man with short blonde hair and a five o'clock shadow. Dressed in a casual silver and purple business suit. "This probably isn't the best way to finally meet you, but it'll do, no?" He asked with a smile.
Blake grinned at his kind attitude. "Yeah i guess you're right."
"Ahem." A gruff voice interrupted. All four heads turned to the source; a heavyset police officer with a small book in his thick Palm. "Excuse me sir but are these girls with you?"
"Yes this is my daughter and some of her friends." Adrian replied.
"Well I just checked in with the doctor." He paused before surveying all four of them. "Your daughter is going to be just fine; the damages aren't as bad as they thought. She can demit as early as tomorrow."
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh thank God..." Adrian muttered.
The cop cleared his throat again. "Now that's not why I'm here." His comment caught everyone's attention again. "I'm here to discuss what happened earlier this afternoon." He flipped a page in his book and continued. "Now I've already spoke with Miss Fall and she's been dealt with, righ-"
"Is she in jail!" Yang barked.
The cop backpedaled. "No, why would she be in jail?"
"Cause she's the one who assaulted Ruby!"
Adrian placed a hand on Yang's shoulder, "Yang settle down, let the man speak."
Drawing in a breath the sighed. "We have confirmed reports that it was, Cardin Winchester and a boy named, Dove Bronzewing who deliberately assaulted Miss Rose, Miss Fall had nothing to do with it, in fact if it wasn't for Miss Fall, Ruby would be in a much more critical condition right now." The cop finished.
"W-What?" All three girls said in unison.
"Yes, we have eye witness accounts from the surrounding neighborhood that Miss Fall came to Ruby's aid whilst Mr Winchester assaulted her. She was able to scare them off, and called for an ambulance not soon after. It didn't take us long to track down and arrest the two boys either."
That statement perplexed Yang's mind. Her mouth was stuck on stutter mode, having no idea what to say of all of this. Not only was Cinder not the assailant in the assault, she was the one who actually came to Ruby's aid, and quite literally; saved her sisters life. Yang remembered Ruby telling her about how Cardin was acting like a bully ever since their first encounter. The blonde felt... odd right now. She should be eternally greatful to Cinder for her act of bravado right? But the idea of it being... Cinder, just made it sit wrong with her.
The same girl who attacked her girlfriend in the halls, also saved her sister's life?
What?
Blake was the first to speak up, she knew why Yang looked so dumbstruck right now. "See, maybe Cinder isn't as bad as we assumed."
Weiss crossed her arms. "I don't care if it was the president she saved, it doesn't change the fact that she is and always will be a delinquent. Think what you want, but I'm not taking my chances with her." She huffed.
"What do you think Yang?" Blake questioned.
"I-I don't, it doesn't make sense..."
Yang had a goal in mind, this whole two-sided thing with Cinder was really starting to bother her. A lot.
"I'm gonna get to the bottom of this..."
######
Thursday October 9th ...
Ruby sat in her Advanced Arts class, a course she had elected to take due to her fondness of drawing and painting. The walls of the room where covered in various forms of art; ranging from abstract and minimal, to portraits and landscapes. She had been released from the hospital Sunday evening and just had to keep it easy, the only major damage she received from Cardin was some fractured ribs.
In the elevated seat next to her, sat Blake, silently drawing the outline for her next masterpiece, she too was interested in art, and was glad that she had Ruby around, as both of them shared a common interest.
But today was different, something was amiss with Ruby, as class was almost half over and the crimsonette hadn't even touched her brushes or her canvas. She just sat there, staring off into space with a glum expression tugging at her features.
The young girl couldn't concentrate enough to figure out what to draw, any and all coherent thought processes where all drawn to one person;
Cinder.
After their brief talk at the hospital on Sunday, Ruby hadn't seen a trace of Cinder, bar her last period class she shared with the older girl. Their walks had all but ceased. She wasn't in the cafeteria anymore, and as soon as the bell would ring at the end of the day; in a blink she was gone, not even giving Ruby a chance to talk to her.
That was another thing, Cinder didn't even speak to Ruby anymore, and in last period history; deliberately sat across the room from her at an empty desk. Not even acknowledging Ruby's presence in the room. Even in the halls, Cinder would ignore her completely or go and find Mercury to talk to.
At first it bothered her only a bit, bit Cinder's new actions dragged on for three days, leading up to today.
This led Ruby to believe that it was in some way; her fault. She had spent the entire night before tossing and turning, wondering what went wrong. Ruby ended up narrowing it down to three reasons;
One: Cinder thought she was weird and clingy and distanced her. Two: After saving her twice; Cinder thinks Ruby is weak and can't take care of herself. And three: the simplest of them all;
Cinder is hiding something.
What she's hiding Ruby had no clue. But the way she had acted on Sunday screamed something along the lines of fear or even... dejection.
In the time that she was away from Cinder, Ruby had formed a plan. She hadn't forgotten about the fact that today was Cinder's birthday, and had even gone out of her way to buy Cinder a present; hoping that it'd be her ticket to be able to talk to Cinder again, because in all actuality; that's all Ruby wanted to do, just talk. She enjoyed being in Cinder's presence than anyone else, and it really tore at her insides that their connection had seemingly broke over one little thing.
And Ruby hated th-
"Ruby is everything okay?" Blake whispered.
She perked up. "Oh! Yeah...everything is fine, just a little shaken up from Saturday."
Blake frowned sadly, she knew Ruby flat-out lied right the and there. The crimsonette hadn't mentioned anything about being 'Shaken up' all week, and it was clear that something else was bothering her.
"Ruby I know you're lying." Blake tutted.
"N-No I'm not."
Blake gave her an 'Are you serious' look.
"Alright... but promise you won't tell Yang."
Blake gave a quizzical look but nodded. "It's... about Cinder."
Blake struggled to maintain her composure, but motioned for Ruby to carry on.
"I don't know... ever since she left the hospital on Sunday, she's been avoiding me..." Ruby droned.
Setting her brush down, Blake eyed Ruby with confusion. "Sunday? You mean she came to see you?"
"Yeah, she did, we talked for a minute or two and then she practically ran off, like she was in a hurry or something..."
Blake placed a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder, she gave the girls words some thought; So first Cinder attacks Weiss, saves Ruby from Cardin not once but twice, visited her in the hospital, and then runs off and goes into avoidance mode?
What kind of mess is this?
But out of all of that, one thing piqued Blake's nerves; Ruby was one of her closest and only friends, she hated to see the normally over excited crimsonette sad, just wasn't right. And the reason for the girls current state of disdain was Cinder herself. Blake knew the both of them had become closer as the weeks went by, but now -all of the sudden, Cinder just turns on Ruby after saving her life?
"Maybe Weiss is right..." Blake contemplated. She wasn't the type to 'read a book by it's cover' but the negative odds for Cinder's behavior outgunned the positive ones, and quite frankly; pissed Blake off a bit.
She can't just toy with Ruby's emotions like that and think she can get away with it.
Blake gave Ruby a warm smile, she rubbed her shoulder a bit and gave her a simple answer;
"I'll talk to her."
"What?" Ruby questioned.
"Well its obvious, if Yang talks to her; we all know that'll end bad, Weiss is terrified of her, and she's avoiding you, leaving me as the best candidate."
Ruby smiled. "Okay smarty pants, just be nice, okay?"
"I will."
######
Art class came and went, as both Ruby and Blake walked together in the halls during the time in between classes. It didn't take long for Blake to spot Cinder, the ebony haired girl standing at the far end of the hall whilst placing things in her locker. Her expression giving Blake the 'I don't care' feeling.
Blake strolled ahead of Ruby, the crimsonette gave an affirmative nod, signaling Blake to go over and begin assessing the so-called 'damage'.
Blake made her way up to Cinder, Blake tapped the girls shoulder to get her attention. Turning around, Amber met Saffron as the two stared eachother down.
"Is there something you need?" Cinder sneered.
"You don't have to be so hostile, I'm not Weiss." Blake blanched.
Cinder slammed her locker door shut. "Look, I'll be going now..." Cinder started to saunter away, leaving an increasingly peeved Blake behind. Right as Cinder turned the corner, Blake used the only thing that could stop her at this point; "It's about Ruby!" She shouted.
Cinder stopped dead in her tracks, "What?" She muttered.
"I want to know why you're avoiding Ruby, you just save her and then run away like that?" Blake said, trying to keep her tone non-hostile.
Cinder gritted her teeth and turned back. "And I want to know why you think it's okay to meddle in my personal life."
"Maybe because Ruby is my friend and I care about her? You know for being her so-called friend, you're not really acting like it." Blake explained.
"Who do you think you are? Some kind of arbitrator?" Cinder spat back.
"Answer the question." Blake seethed.
"No, and I suggest you back off, unless you want to end up like Weiss."
"Why did you do it?" Blake asked, switching gears.
"Do what?"
"Save Ruby like that."
"Right place right time." She blatantly answered. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd rather be left alone." Cinder spoke before walking off.
Blake watched the girl walk off down the hall. Right up until Blake asked why she saved Ruby, there was a flicker in Cinder's emotions, Blake was good at reading emotions and interpreted the shirt shift as..she couldn't believe it...
Sadness.
That all top brief shimmer in Cinder's eyes told Blake that maybe something really was bothering her. And that something wasn't resent for Ruby, but rather rejection. Like Ruby had done something to push Cinder away...
What is going on with those two?
######
Cinder stroked up the driveway to Mercury's house, smiling at the fact that Mercury nor his parents car was there, she was still angry at how Blake had acted like that. Who the hell was she to stick her nose where it doesn't belong?
Before reaching the porch, she took note of the neat piles of leaves Mercury had raked up the day before, deciding she'd use those to take her anger out on; Cinder walked over and kicked each one, effectively scattering the leaves in every direction and making a huge mess.
It was her birthday, who gives a hell, right?
Cinder inserted her key into the slot and shoved the door open, before slamming it shut with the same force not soon after.
The thing with Blake really bothered her, not because of Blake herself but because it was about Ruby. Ever since Sunday Cinder distanced herself from the bubbly redhead in hopes she could forget all about her and move on. That action though just made things worse for everyone, face of the matter is? Cinder can't erase Ruby from her mind. The girl was her first actual friend in god knows how long; she can't just forget.
Every night Cinder would think about what would've happened if she hadn't done this whole distancing thing. Maybe things would be even better than before the incident; who knows?
"Such an idiot!..."
Cinder forced herself into contention with what she'd done. Screwing up their relationship to an irreparable state.
Just the what if's crossed her mind, telling her she did everything wrong and absolutely nothing right. Telling her tha-
Knock Knock Knock
Cinder leaped up from the sofa, and tiptoed over to the door, she peered through the slots in the blinds to try and see who it was, but to no avail, as whoever it was couldn't be seen.
She absolutely hated answering the door in her uniform, bit options were numbered so she did it anyway.
Grasping the doorknob; Cinder turned the cold brass in her hands and opened.
"H-Hey Cinder!"
It was Ruby...
Cinder just eyed the girl, way to befuddled to know what to say.
Ruby reached behind her back and produced a small red box from it. Holding it triumphantly she said two words Cinder almost broke down at;
"Happy Birthday!"
...
A/N Oh snap! What's Ruby's present? Find out on... Friday. Yeah not a big wait for chapter 7. To avoid confusion, the scene with Yang and Qrow's car actually has some significance in the next chapter. Not sure how I feel about this one, but eh, I enjoyed it nonetheless. Leave a review with your thoughts, and keep those follows coming! Thanks again guys.
-ARMV7
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