Ruby Rose
I manage to get Alan's base down to his last little bit of health and I think that I might finally manage to take him down but in a flash that beautiful dream is dashed when he sends out a full on assault that decimates my forces and destroys my base.
"How do you always manage to beat me!" I shout, slamming my head down on my desk.
"What can I say?" I don't even have to look at the video feed to tell he has that cocky, smug look on his face. "Some people just have natural skill."
"Oh shut it!" I'd hit him if he was here in person. "Just wait until the tournament next month, I swear that I will finally take you down!"
"Yeah yeah, I'll believe it when I see it." He cracks his fingers. "You up for another game?"
"Sorry I can't, don't you remember? Weiss invited us to go for a swim at the beach." I turn off the video feed so I can get changed. "Apparently her family owns a small beach house, she offered to fly us all out there for spring break."
"Oh yeah, I gotta get packed still!" he shouts, I could swear I hear his chair fall over.
"I swear, you are probably the only person more irresponsible than me."
"Oh shut it squirt!" he says while what sounds like rushing around his room. "Are you and Weiss doing any better by the way?"
"What do you mean?"
"I mean lately you two have been kinda squirmy around each other, did something happen?"
"Not really…besides I haven't noticed anything different."
"Sounds like denial to me."
"Just focus on packing! We gotta be at the airport in like an hour and you still gotta pick up Inu too!"
"Ah that's right…I just remembered that Inu has to bring her little brother and I promised to help keep an eye on him." He makes a sort of annoyed groan.
"Yeah because you just hate the idea of spending an entire day chilling with Inu." I roll my eyes sarcastically as I slam my suitcase shut. "Honestly Alan, are you ever gonna give Inu a chance? She's a great girl and-"
"No idea what you are talking about gotta go bye." he quickly ends the call. He always avoids that topic whenever anyone brings it up. I try not to press him too hard but I really feel like Inu would be great for him.
I finish getting ready and rush down the stairs to see Yang waiting with crossed arms and tapping her foot. I look at the clock and realize I was supposed to be downstairs twenty minutes ago. I just nervously put my hand on the back of my neck.
Yang just lets out an annoyed sigh. "I'll give you crap for it in the car, let's go."
"Yes ma'am…" I follow behind her as she walks out the front door, grabbing Dad's car keys as she goes. Dad agreed to let her borrow the car today since her bike is in the shop and mine isn't exactly…street legal at the moment. Besides, he is just going to Uncle Qrow's apartment today. Apparently they have something important to talk about.
As soon as we pull out of the driveway Yang shoots me an annoyed glare. "Ruby, you really need to stop being chronically late for everything."
"I know I'm sorry, I just get lost in whatever I'm doing and the rest of the world just melts away."
"Yeah and that can be great to an extent…I have never seen someone with the kind of focus that you have when you really care about something BUT you can't let it cause you to shirk your responsibilities."
"I know…I'm sorry." She sighs and lightly slugs me in the arm.
"Don't sweat it sis, just promise me you'll try harder to be on time for things from now on."
"I promise…" I look out the window, watching the green fields outside of our neighborhood pass by.
It takes nearly an hour to make it to the airport but we barely manage to get there with just enough time to get to our gate. As we rush inside we see Alan and Inu, along with her little brother Azu, who I guess got here at the same time we did, figures. We rush to get checked in and make it through security.
There was a bit of worry when Alan's bag got flagged. Apparently it was an error with the machine and it was resolved fairly quickly. As soon as we made it through onto the terminal we practically sprinted to our gate.
"Guys over here!" Jaune shouts, waving us over. Standing behind him is Pyrrha, Yang's girlfriend Blake who caught a ride with Ren and Nora, our friends from the town over. Ren's adoptive parents are pretty chill but frankly I'm shocked that Nora's foster parents let her come.
Finally I spot Winter and next to her is Weiss who looks…mildly annoyed to put it nicely.
"Hey Weiss." I say in between panting. "S-Sorry we just barely made it I-"
"Make excuses later, our group is boarding." She cuts me off and grabs my wrist, pulling me so hard that I nearly fall over. We all rush onto the plane, loading our overhead bags and grabbing our seats.
I could tell Weiss was irritated at me which made the flight a bit awkward. Luckily it wasn't a very long flight, only about a half hour. It helps that by the time we landed she had calmed down a little, my consistent apologizing probably had something to do with it.
As for the ride from the airport, we were all crammed into a massive van that Winter rented for the occasion. It was a little bit of a tight squeeze but manageable. The closer we got to the beach house the more beautiful the view became.
White sandy beaches and a crystal blue ocean, not to mention plenty of palm trees. It was almost like paradise, I couldn't help but smile most of the way there. Then there was the beach house itself. It was…a fair bit bigger than I was expecting. It sat on a massive platform supported by metal beams and it was at least twice the size of our house back home.
The walls were mostly made up of windows and the inside was just as impressive. The living space took up the entirety of the downstairs with a huge entertainment setup. A small part of it was portioned off for the kitchen.
"Alright everyone!" Winter shouts, getting all of our attention. "We have several rooms up stairs, the girls will be divided into the two near the stairs and the boys will be in the room at the end of the hall."
"Sounds good to me." Yang winks at Blake who rolls her eyes.
"Yang and Blake are in separate rooms." Winter adds.
"Why!?" Yang protests but Blake just shrugs, being the more reasonable of the two. Everyone else just laughed.
Weiss and I ended up in the same room with Blake. Winter, Yang, Inu and Pyrrha were in the other room across from ours. Inu's little brother stayed in the last room with the rest of the boys, Alan promised to keep an eye on him.
These weren't exactly small rooms either, ours had two king size beds that fit more than comfortably in the room alongside a tv and a desk. The other rooms were very similarly sized and each had their own bathroom which was nuts to me and Yang since our house only had the one bathroom.
At the moment though, sleeping arrangements were the least of our worries! We all quickly got unpacked and most of us quickly got changed before rushing down to the beach. Weiss was taking a bit so she told me to go on ahead. I told her I didn't mind waiting but she insisted so I changed into my swimsuit and bolted to join the other.
As beautiful as the view from the car was, it's got nothing on this. It's so pristine, I've been to the beach before but that didn't even compare to this. I close my eyes and take in a deep breath, I didn't even realize it was possible for air to be this clean.
I look around at the others and see that while Yang and Pyrrha were having a one on one volleyball match, Winter and Blake made the predictable move of laying out on a beach towel under a massive umbrella, Blake still making sure she can see Yang's game of course. Jaune decided to be the score keeper, typical.
Alan and Inu are building a sandcastle with Azu. I swear that those two basically already act like a couple all the time, it's a wonder they aren't already together. Then again I could say the same about Pyrrha and Jaune. In that case though it's just Jaune being too big of a scaredy cat to speak up. I really should give him a push sometime.
I decided that the first thing I'd like to do is go for a swim. I mean how could I resist with how beautiful and clear the water is. I make it out just far enough that the water is up to my hips before-
"Ruby!" I am snapped out of my daze by the sound of Weiss' voice.
"Weiss I-" I stop mid sentence, as soon as I turn to look at her, a stunned silence. I mean Weiss is always pretty but this is my first time seeing her in a swimsuit. I didn't expect the sight of it to give me a strange feeling in my chest.
"So what do you think?" she asks. "Sis and I went swimsuit shopping just for this trip."
"It uh…looks good." I say, trying to avoid looking directly at her.
"So um…it's kind of embarrassing but I don't really know how to swim." She lightly kicks the sand and puts her hands behind her back. "I was sort of wondering if you'd-"
"Hold that thought, I sort of promised everyone I'd make a drink run, I'll be right back!" I ran off toward the nearby vending machines. One of the few reminders of the outside world on this beach.
I just had to get away because I'm sure she was gonna ask me to teach her to swim and I'd love to but…I don't know if I could handle it right now. I still feel a bit awkward about that whole…kiss on the cheek thing but besides that everytime I look at her right now I get this weird feeling in my chest.
Once back I quickly handed out all the drinks I bought, which I wasn't actually planning on doing and so it ended up costing me all the money in my bag…not that there was a lot there to begin with.
I spot Weiss walking over as I'm handing Jaune his juice and quickly think of something.
"Hey Jaune, what do you say you play on Pyrrha's team and I play with Yang, make it a two versus two game."
"That's kind of out of nowhere.." he says but Pyrrha thankfully chimes in.
"That is a lovely idea!" She puts her hands together and smiles sweetly at Jaune whose face turns redder than a tomato.
"A-Alright I guess I'm down." he runs over to Pyrrha's side of the net and I quickly run over to Yang's. Weiss stops walking beside the net looking a bit confused.
"Don't get me wrong, it sounds fun but wouldn't you rather hang with Weiss." Yang says which does make me feel a little guilty, it's not like I don't want to but-
"It's quite alright Yang, we are here for a week after all, go ahead and have fun. I'll just watch." Weiss says.
"Well alright I guess."
The match starts and while it was technically a two versus two match…let's just say Jaune and I weren't exactly useful. It was mostly Yang and Pyrrha scoring back and forth. I atleast did manage to get a point off though, which Weiss did clap for. Honestly Weiss cheering for me motivated me to try and score more but the game came to a sudden end.
It ended when Yang accidentally spiked the ball right into Jaunes face. I'm sure it hurt pretty bad but to his credit Jaune insisted we keep going. Pyrrha on the other hand wouldn't allow it when she saw his nose was bleeding and pulled him aside. She is always super doting in general but especially when it comes to him. I'm sure he doesn't mind though.
"Well…with that over, how about that swimming less-"
"S-Sorry Weiss, I gotta run to the bathroom really fast!" I pretend to have to go really bad when I really didn't.
"O-Oh okay…I guess I'll just go chat with Blake and Winter."
"Be right back!"
I ran off to the bathroom and spent just enough time there for it to be convincing, by the time I got back though it was already fairly late in the day and the others started setting up some fireworks. Apparently Winter bought them to celebrate the first day of our vacation.
I offered to help set them up but once we were about half way done I noticed Weiss walking off on her own with a sparkler in hand. I think about ignoring it at first but something tells me she is really upset.
I sigh and decide that I can't keep running from the issue.
"Hey guys, I'll be right back okay."
"Sure thing but hurry or you'll miss the show!" Yang replies. I turn and run in the direction I saw Weiss go.
Weiss Schnee
I wonder what's been going on with Ruby today…I mean don't get me wrong, things have been a bit awkward lately but I was hoping we could use this trip to get past it and just spend time together.
Everytime I try though she makes an excuse or decides to spend time with someone else. I don't mean to be selfish, I know she probably wants to spend time with her sister and other friends and I did enjoy spending time with Winter and Blake but...
As the sun starts to go down and everyone starts getting ready for the fireworks show, I decide to grab a sparkler and sneak off on my own. I just feel like being alone right now…besides Ruby seems to be just fine spending time with everyone else.
I found a nice secluded spot near an overlooking cliff. Deciding it's good enough I kneel down and get ready to light my sparkler when I'm caught off guard by the sound of Ruby's voice.
"Hey Weiss, whatcha doing over here all by yourself?" She kneels down next to me.
"Oh nothing..just decided to get some quiet time." I make an excuse, hoping she doesn't pry.
"Ah, well that's understandable I guess." she says as I light my sparkler. "But…are you sure that's the only reason?"
Of course she didn't fully buy it. It was a pretty clumsy excuse I guess. That said, Ruby has always sort of been good at seeing through these sorts of situations. She may not be able to tell what's really going on but she can always tell when something is bothering me.
"Ruby…I'm sorry about that night." I sadly twirl my sparkler with one hand and hug my knees with the other. She seems a bit taken back by what I said, nervously scratching her cheek and trying to force a smile.
"It's not like I'm mad or anything.." she lets out an extremely forced chuckle.
"Then why have things been so weird lately…you won't look me in the eye anymore and any chance you get to spend time with someone other than me you take it."
"Weiss…"
"I mean we are still friends aren't we?..." I ask.
"It's not that!" she leans in closer to me, making me drop my sparkler in the sand. "Of course we are still friends Weiss!"
"Th-Then why?" I look away as the heat rises to my cheeks.
"I've just…I don't know, I guess I just can't stop thinking about it…" she puts her hand on her cheek. "Plus..I guess I was just really nervous because of your swimsuit."
"Wh-What about it?" I ask, not expecting that at all. If I wasn't blushing before I'm certain I am now.
"I don't know, it's just the first time I've seen you in one and it gave me a weird feeling in my chest." She is now pushing her index fingers together and blushing even more than me. "As for the other night..it's not like I didn't like it or anything like that, I just can't stop wondering…why did you do it?"
"I…I'm not sure, it was an impulse, just a spur of the moment thing.."
"I guess that makes sense…" she looks away a little, she seems almost disappointed by my answer.
"Ruby I…I'm not sure what is going on with me but…I do know that you mean a lot to me." I stand up and walk over to the edge of the shore, looking up at the moon that is now slowly peeking out from behind the clouds. "All I really know for sure is that I want to stay with you for as long as I can."
I stiffed up at first, nervous and slightly embarrassed. I'm not usually this open with people, even Winter. Something about Ruby makes me want to be though. All of the sudden I feel her hand clasp mine. I turn and see her smiling sweetly at me, her face bathed in moonlight…I can't help but think about how beautiful she looks right now, her silver eyes practically shining as they reflect the moon's beams.
"That's good to hear Weiss, because all I really know for sure, is I want that too…I'm sorry about today and I promise that tomorrow I am all yours!"
Before I could think of anything to say, I only managed to smile back at her before we are both slightly startled by the fireworks display kicking off. Exploding overhead, the sky is lit up in all different colors.
I was about to comment on how beautiful it was but before I get the chance I feel Ruby's head on my shoulder. I stiffen at first at the contact but it only for a moment or two. I loosen up and gently lean my head on hers as we both quietly watch the display together. I honestly am so happy at this very moment, I wish I could make it last forever…especially when I remember what summer and graduation will bring.