Author's Note: Sorry for any confusion; if you're seeing this chapter for the seond time as an update, that's because I realized that I had the wrong file posted to chapter 53's Short 3: All Mine; I've just corrected the error - it's short, but if you want to read it, it's chapter 53, so there's that.

Mina's eyes flickered open drowsily as she felt movement beside her; apparently morning had come already…

"Mina…" It was Blake's voice, of course. Mina dimly remembered going to bed with Blake after they'd retired from the dance the previous evening – although perhaps it had technically been earlier that morning… "Mina… we have class in an hour…"

"Mmmmm…." Mina groaned, shutting her eyes again. She never had been much of a 'morning person,' and rather than stirring further, she tightened her arms around Blake and nuzzled closer.

For a cozy little while, Mina just persistently laid there, her head rather obstinately resting on Blake's chest. On the one hand, they did have class, but on the other, Blake was finding it very difficult to bring herself to disturb Mina's rest, and there would be no avoiding that if she tried to get out from under Mina…

Mina stubbornly clung to Blake as the latter let out a sigh and gently brushed a few unkempt locks of hair out of Mina's face, "Come on Mina…"

'Nnnnn…."

"Well so much for the gentle approach…" Blake lamented, seeing that she was getting nowhere. Instead, she took hold of Mina by the shoulders and sat her semi-conscious body upright to free herself from the encumbering – if no less warm and comforting – embraces so that she too could get up.

Looking around Blake could see that her other teammates were not all so motivated to get ready for class. Barring Weiss, who was of course sitting at her desk already, fully dressed and writing something in her diary, Ruby and Yang were both as yet snoring. That was probably best though; she'd had the presence of mind to change into her nightgown before bed, but the most Blake had been able to persuade Mina of was to take her dress off, so as she got up, Blake draped her blanket over Mina's shoulders for modesty's sake and left Mina quietly yawning and rubbing her eyes as Blake herself went over to their dresser to pick out two sets of clothes, and after setting them down on the vanity in the dorm's bathroom, she returned to Mina's side.

"Time to get up, Mina…"

In response, Mina simply flopped back down onto the mattress.

"Nope…" Blake shook her head as she took hold of Mina bodily and pulled her up to her feet to then guide her to the bathroom by the shoulders, "I know you're tired, but you need to shower…"

At this, Weiss closed her diary and looked up bemusedly, "I know she's a heavy sleeper but-," she blushed and turned away, seeing Mina's mostly undressed state, "Carry on…"

Blake nodded, somewhat exasperated; Mina wasn't usually this bad about getting up, but then she wasn't usually up until three A.M. dancing either…

"Almost there…" Blake assured quietly as she shut the bathroom door behind them, "Now why don't you just finish undressing and I'll start the shower for you?"

Mina just turned around and leaned back up against Blake, resting her head on Blake's shoulder.

"You… aren't going to make this easy, are you?" When no response came, Blake sighed again before helping Mina out of her underwear and further coaxing her into RWBY's shower stall, "Go on…"

As… irksome as this was, Blake didn't really mind babying Mina a bit, particularly when she was so obviously exhausted, not to mention how she'd been neglecting Mina recently. This was a small price to pay, and besides, Mina was being positively adorable. Blake reached inside the shower stall to turn the water on, thinking maybe that might wake Mina up a bit more, but no; after a brief initial jolt of half-asleep surprise, the water warmed up, and Mina got used to it teetering precariously on her own two drowsy feet.

"Honestly…" Blake shook her head, pulling off her nightgown before stepping into the shower after Mina, "What am I going to do with you?"

Without much thought, she took her bottle of shampoo and lathered her own hair first, then, squeezing another dollop into her hand, she ran a palm over the top of Mina's head to clean her hair as well. It wasn't so difficult to work her fingers through Mina's comparatively short straight black hair, and after a little maneuvering to position Mina directly under the showerhead, she rinsed the shampoo out of Mina's hair before grabbing the bar of soap to again scrub herself down first for efficiency's sake. It had taken some… creativity to wash herself whilst sharing the rather cramped shower stall with Mina dead on her feet, but when she had done it, she gently guided Mina to stand under the showerhead once again and placed the bar of soap in her hand.

"Mina, your turn…" Mina's fingers made a feeble play at obedience, but the soap slipped from her hand and clattered uselessly to the floor. Blake gave her a little shake, "Wake up already…"

Getting nowhere fast, Blake crouched to pick the soap back up, resigning herself to the fact that Mina was still just too tired to operate. Standing back up, she gently lathered Mina's back, then shoulders. It was probably a good thing Yang and Ruby were still sleeping – between Ruby's little sketchbook and Yang being, well, Yang, they'd have a field day with this… Blake preferred not to think about how long it would take her to live this down if either of them got the wrong idea… Of course, it didn't help that they had used the showers for… intimacy in the past… Blake tried to avoid thinking of that while concentrating at the task at hand…

She isn't even awake – Dammit Blake! Time and place! Of course, it must be admitted that it was considerably more difficult to keep entirely pure thoughts when she turned Mina around to wash her front, but Blake tried.

"Not that I'm complaining…" Blake mused quietly as she ran the bar of soap over the swell of mina's chest, "but I can't help but wonder how you got so big when all you ever have is blood and tomato juice…"

"Good genes…?" Mina mumbled groggily.

"Now you wake up…"

"I am ticklish…" She still didn't sound very lively…

"Alright, alright, just hold still; almost done," Blake sighed; she was mostly done anyhow, she saw no reason to hand Mina the soap only to have her drop it again.

"Thank you…"

"Don't mention it," Blake smiled, repositioning Mina so as to rinse her off, and stealing a quick little kiss in the process, "Are you awake enough to dry yourself off?" Blake added, turning off the water.

"If-," Mina yawned widely before accepting the towel, "If I must…"

Handing the towel off before grabbing her own and drying her hair, Blake couldn't help but notice that Mina was taking it very slow, so she paused to wrap her towel about herself and take Mina's again. Once she was satisfied that Mina was dry, she grabbed Mina's underwear off of the vanity, "Now come on; lift your foot…"

With a little grunt, Mina obeyed with one foot, then the other, "Thank-," Another yawn, "Thank you Dearest,"

"Yeah, yeah, just… don't you ever doubt that I love you again, okay?" Blake joked melancholically, "No matter how bad I screw up…"

Languorously, Mina reached for her toothbrush and set about brushing her teeth even as she mumbled out her words, "Do we have Mr. Port first…?"

"Yep…" Blake answered, her face bearing a little grimace as she thought of it – although that may have been because she was having considerable difficulty getting the clasps of Mina's bra to meet… "I don't get it… there is no way that you got too big for your bra over – wait… this is mine…"

Mina giggled drowsily, "Oops…"

"Just what I get for picking ones that match…" Blake sighed, switching her bra for Mina's to put it on Mina, "Better…"

Mina washed off her toothbrush and turned around, "Now let…" she still couldn't quite stifle those yawns, "Now let me help you…"

Blake sighed with a slight smile as she grabbed her own toothbrush, "Alright…"

"So… Some dance last night…"

Mina's eyes snapped open as she lowered herself into the resting position on her pull-up bar. People did not generally approach her in the gym – not people she didn't know very well anyway – perhaps that had something to do with the fact that she never really approached anyone either. That was fine though; while Blake was enjoying her library time, Mina had her gym time, and that was fine. That said, she still felt a bit tired from having been up so late the previous night, so she imagined that she did not look particularly approachable today, yet nonetheless, here he was.

"Mr… Black, was it?" Mina raised – or in this case, lowered an eyebrow.

"That'd be me," He answered, "Carfax, right?"

Mina bent upward again, "I am; can I… help you?"

"Pity we never ran into each other last night; I'd have loved to… go a few steps with you…"

"You will have to be subtler about your double entendre, Mr. Black; you are in the presence of an expert," Mina relaxed into the hanging position again, "Otherwise you'd best not waste your time pretending to wit you do not possess,"

"I'll do that…" There was an audible quality of a smirk to his voice, "So do you prefer the direct approach, or do you go for clever?"

Mina chuckled dryly, "I am afraid that you are wasting your time, Mr. Black; perhaps you'd not know, seeing as you've not been here long, but I am taken,"

"Close your mouth Mercury; you're drooling," Mina recognized that voice too; Mr. Black's partner if she was not mistaken, "Sorry about that Carfax; he's just an idiot,"

"Is he now?" Mina did another rep, "I'd wager there's a difference between ignorance and stupidity…" Having now counted fifty, she reached up to take hold of the bar and dismounted to land on the floor, "And neither of you strike me as fools…"

"Thanks…?" Mercury Black responded with a raised eyebrow, "You come here often?"

Mina cast an appraising look is way, "When Blake goes to the library. What of it?"

"Just being neighborly…"

"He means that we may as well get to know the other students while we're here," Clarified Mr. Black's female cohort, "My name's Emerald Sustrai, nice to meet you in person,"

Mina activated her Semblance for clarity, and noticing it, she hesitantly accepted the offered handshake after a moment's pause, "And you as well Miss… Sustrai…"

"You about done? Maybe we could grab some lunch…"

"Easy Mercury," Emerald rolled her eyes, "I'm sorry; he's laying it on a little thick… but if you're done, and you'd like to join us…?"

"I am afraid that I have a very strict diet…"

"Tomato juice only, right?"

Mina's eyes narrowed as she grabbed her towel to wipe the sweat from her brow, "You are quite observant, Miss Sustrai…"

"Yeah, she's a creep like th-," The boy grunted before finishing his sentence, having been elbowed in the stomach.

"People-watching's just a hobby of mine…" Emerald corrected, unamused as she started following Mina to the locker room, "So anyway, you in? I'll buy the tomato juice if you've got nothing to do,"

Mina sighed holding the door open for Emerald, who had apparently decided that her own gym session was at an end as well, and unable to come up with a 'polite' way to outright decline, Mina answered, "Very well; we can shower quickly, then you have half an hour, Miss Sustrai. Then I must needs return to my dorm."

"Actually…" Emerald interjected, "I wasn't working out, I just came by to pass something along to Mercury. I can wait for you in here though,"

"Is that so…" What it was, Mina couldn't place, but she did not like something about this girl or her smug partner. Granted, Mina had never been one to trust perfect strangers, but for some reason, the way Miss Sustrai was reaching out to her put Mina on edge. Nonetheless, she tried not to make an issue of it, instead going over to her locker and depositing her clothes as always, and grabbing her towel. It was perhaps this same fit of unreasoning paranoia which prompted her to lock her locker behind her as she headed for the showers, but she left that extra prudence unaccounted for in her mind.

"So…" She heard Emerald's voice from the edge of the shower room as she turned the dial and the hot water poured down on her for the second time that day, washing away the sweat but not the anxiety, "I've got to say, it's hard to believe someone who looks – and exercises – like you do has to be on such a strict diet…" she laughed with casual bitterness, "The rest of us don't stand a chance at keeping the pounds off if that's the case…"

"It is not for my weight, Miss Sustrai," Mina answered carefully, "I simply have a… delicate digestion…"

"Well that's a relief…" Emerald did not sound particularly interested, but nor did she sound bored, "That it's not your weight, I mean – it's a real pity about your stomach, though…"

"Hmm…"

"So…" Miss Sustrai changed the subject, "There are some interesting rumors going around the school…"

"Is that so?" What does she want?

"Yeah," She seemed somewhat more intent on the subject by the way she spoke; there was a more articulate quality to her speech conveying engagement with the subject, "Some of them are pretty out there, like Weiss Schnee's engaged, or Neptune Vasilias is gay… seems like there's something floating around everyone here – even the exchange students…"

"You should not so waste your time prying into people's private affairs, Miss Sustrai…"

Mina noted with some satisfaction as Emerald fell quiet for a moment, "Can't help it… like I said, it's a hobby… I've even heard a few about you,"

"Have you now?"

"So are you and Belladonna really…?" she seemed to consider her words a moment, as though looking for the most palatable choice, "You know…"

"That one is hardly a secret…"

"How about the one about you two groping each other in Oobleck's class?" Emerald chuckled, "I've heard some weird rumors before, but-,"

"It was a dull period," Mina cut in, her tone stern despite the cavalier attitude her words might have conveyed, "But we… paid for stepping over the line, Miss Sustrai..."

"I'd… imagine so…" Mina could hear Miss Sustrai leaning up against the bank of lockers now, "Gotta say though, the strangest one I've heard… Apparently some folks think you two used to be White Fang…"

Mina's blood ran cold. She had been trying very hard not to think of the White Fang since Nadia Undine… the faction meeting not having been particularly helpful on that front, and now here was the memory again…

"Don't tell me that one's true too…"

"I am afraid that you are mistaken… on that one, Miss Sustrai,"

"Well that's a relief…" it was a rather pointed statement, and plainly so now, "Just thinking about having White Fang terrorists running around a respectable institution like this isn't a comforting thought…"

"Certainly not…" Mina turned off the showerhead and retrieved her towel to wrap herself with before heading back to her locker and finding Emerald now standing on the opposite side of the room, "But then, one shouldn't put too much stock in rumors…"

"Fair enough; maybe it's just last night's dance – that sort of thing's always a goldmine for gossip…" Emerald shrugged, "But the place does seem to be getting back to a semblance of normalcy quickly enough…"

Mina just focused on getting dressed as quickly as possible. Something about the way Miss Sustrai just stood there, watching her was unnerving. It wasn't embarrassment – that wasn't something Mina had ever had an issue with, but still… Despite being half a room away, she was too close…

As she slipped her arm through the sleeve of her blouse, Mina cleared her throat to speak again, "I am sorry Miss Sustrai, but I just remembered that I have a tutoring session with Miss Schnee…"

Emerald stood up from the lockers, "Oh really? Guess it'll have to wait…"

"And Miss Sustrai?"

"Yeah?"

"I will have to take an… indefinite raincheck…"

"I see…"

Blake sighed, I really should go back to the dorm now… she closed her novel, Mina's probably done at the gym now… don't want her getting the idea that-

Before she stood up though, the door of her quiet study room opened up, and in the doorway, who should be standing there but mina. Blake stared up in surprise as Mina wordlessly entered the room and seated herself beside Blake. She leaned up against Blake and quietly rested her head on Blake's shoulder for a while, a faint relieved smile on her face until Blake finally spoke.

"Mina…?"

"Please Dearest… Let me stay…"

"Of course… but… why are you in the library…?"

"I met Mr. Black and Miss Sustrai in the gym…"

"Did they say something to you?" Blake asked with concern.

"Mr. Black was a bit cheeky, and Miss Sustrai was… sociable… but… she does not seem to have a grasp of… privacy…"

"Did you have a problem with her..?" Blake gave her a hug, "We can go to Goodwitch if she-,"

Mina shook her head, "That shouldn't be needed… just…" Mina hugged Blake more tightly, "Can we stay like this for a while?"

"Are you sure?" Blake pressed, "They weren't rude or anything?"

"Maybe…" Mina begrudgingly allowed, "But that doesn't… shouldn't bother me…"

Blake furrowed her brow, "Shouldn't?"

"Mr. Black was flirty, but nothing of the sort I've not seen before… Miss Sustrai… She was interested in actually talking to me… I do not why… but I felt… unnerved…"

Blake's head tipped to the side as she tried to reason that out, but eventually decided that it wasn't important – not here and now anyway, "Alright…" she ran her fingers through Mina's hair gently, "I'm right here… just let it go; maybe I can talk to Emerald and sort this out, does that sound alright?"

Mina nodded slightly, "Very well…"

"Good," Blake tightened the embrace briefly, "Alright then, why don't we head back to the dorm and take a little nap? Maybe you're just still overtired…"

"Perhaps…"

Author's Note: Okay, so first, as I mentioned, we're deviating from canon a bit more here now by not having a mission right after the dance; I thought I'd get a bit more of a character arc in here. That said, I'm going to let you all in on something for the sake of clarity – Mina suspects nothing – that said, why she was having issues is for you to guess at for now if you so desire; good luck, and as always, feel free to fav, follow, and review if you are so inclined, and thank you for reading!