Chapter XX: Admissions

Stirred awake by a sound akin to a chainsaw being revved up, Weiss opened her eyes to the sight of Ruby lying asleep next to her. The girl was lying on her side, facing Weiss; she was resting her head on one of her arms, with the elbow of the other covering her upper ear. The wrist of the arm she was using as her pillow was pressing against the headboard of the bed, twisted at a rather peculiar angle. The position couldn't be humanly comfortable, but Ruby didn't seem to mind.

The room was silent, save for her teammates' breathing and Yang's snoring — which had thankfully died down a notch. The entire house seemed to be still asleep, recovering after yesterday's party. The sun was up and it was actually pretty bright in the room, convincing Weiss that the noon couldn't be far off. Nevertheless, she was in no rush to get out of bed; letting out a contented sigh, she pried her eyes away from her sleeping bedmate and rolled over onto her back. With a gentle upwards curve to her lips, Weiss closed her eyes and relaxed.

She was in a genuinely good mood that morning, just lazying around in bed; happy, even. It wasn't the surging, overwhelming kind of happiness that made one's heart pound; rather, Weiss felt as if she was some lazy cat, content with its lot in life as it napped away in a patch of sunlight seeping through a nearby window. She was warm, comfortable, well-rested and no worries plagued her mind, nor were there any dangers threatening the safety of her and hers. In a sense, she mused, that particular morning wasn't any different from the majority that'd followed since their return to Vale, but that didn't change the fact that her spirits were somewhat higher than usual.

Weiss remained like that for a longer while, lying motionless until another obnoxiously loud snore resounded in the room; the noise was cut short by a sudden yelp that caused an amused smirk to creep onto Weiss' face — Blake had finally gotten fed up with Yang's snoring and must've ribbed Yang awake. There was some whispering between those two, but their voices went quiet after a while, and no movement followed; it seemed that they got back to sleeping.

Weiss entertained the idea, as well, until a soft voice spoke close to her ear.

"Weiss? You awake?"

She let out a small huff. "Thanks to your lawnmower of a sister, yes; have been for a while." She cracked her eyes open and looked at Ruby.

"No kidding," Ruby grumbled in agreement. She turned her head slightly, as if to look over her shoulder and give her sister the stink eye, before once again glancing at Weiss. "Planning on going back to sleep?"

"The thought has crossed my mind," Weiss replied softly, then paused for a moment to reconsider, "but I don't think I really need to." She then rolled her eyes, thinking back to Yang's snoring. "Nor would be able to."

Ruby let out an amused hum. "Same. Breakfast sound good?"

"Mhm. Lead the way."

"Think it's a good idea to check up on Coco and Velvet, too? To see if they're awake?"

"Mm, we could," Weiss agreed groggily, sitting up and rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.

The two of them quietly left their bed and made it to the door to the corridor. As they were about to leave the room, they noticed a single golden eye peering at them sleepily from under a half closed eyelid; Blake did nothing to stop them, merely flicking one of her cat ears as she closed her eyes and went back to napping.

Both having eventually come to the conclusion that they'd lazed in bed long enough, Blake and Yang groggily stumbled out of the bedroom and found their way downstairs. When the living room came into their view, Sun called out to them in a greeting, grinning at them as he sat on the couch.

"Yo."

Neptune, still lying under a blanket, also craned his neck to look at them. "Mornin'," he said, before turning his attention back to his Scroll.

Walking up, Blake gave the green couch a long, scrutinizing look, then glanced up at the boys and tented her brows. "You two really managed to fit on that sofa?" she asked, feeling a bit sorry for the boys.

But Neptune just shrugged, his eyes still glued to the Scroll in his hand. "I mean, it is pretty long."

"Decently comfy for what it is, too," Yang chimed in, then breathed out a mildly exasperated sigh. "I keep telling dad we get a sleeper, but nooo. He really likes this one for some reason."

"I sleep on the couch at my aunt's all the time, too, so it's like whatever," Neptune added offhandedly, to which Sun snapped his fingers and pointed at his teammate, as if to tell 'what he said'.

Yang let out a soft hum of non-committal acknowledgment. Burying her hand in her unruly hair, she craned her neck to the side until there was an audible pop, one that made Blake wince. "Anyways, you'd better get your asses moving, or else Ruby won't leave you anything to eat," she half-joked, giving the boys one last look before heading to the kitchen.

"Yeah, yeah, in a minute," they heard Neptune mumble in response.

As Blake followed Yang into the other room, they found Coco and Weiss sitting at the table, as well as Zwei, who was drinking from a water bowl in the corner. Platters with some partially-eaten, reheated leftovers from the previous night lied in front of the girls, left forgotten for the time being while the two of them had their attention occupied by whatever it was that Weiss was showing Coco on her Scroll.

When Yang and Blake made their entrance, Weiss' blue eyes flicked from the screen to the door; folding the device, she gave the pair a small, welcoming smile. "Good morning."

Stifling a yawn with one hand, Yang replied to Weiss' greeting with a small, lazy wave of her hand. She shuffled towards the kitchen counter and nabbed two empty plates, handing one to Blake. Having grabbed some reheated fish, she put it between two slices of bread and marched towards the table, licking her fingers along the way. Blake, inspired by her example, prepared herself two such sandwiches before joining the others at the table.

While not in the kitchen per se, Ruby and Velvet's presence could easily be heard — and seen, for that matter — from the adjacent workshop; rather than sit at the table with the rest of the gang, the two were hunched over a workbench, both engrossed in a rather animate conversation. Yang, noshing silently on her fish sandwich, tried to listen on, but even though she could sort of make out the words, the subject of the conversation continued to elude her.

Eventually she gave up and turned her questioning eyes at Coco and Weiss, gesturing with her head at Ruby and Velvet as she swallowed. "What are they on about?"

The two exchanged a brief, silent look.

"No idea," Weiss spoke. "Velvet has found Ruby's gift lying in your room and got curious, so Ruby's showing her the blueprint. That said, I've lost the thread about five minutes ago."

"Yeah, same," Coco admitted, then let out a small laugh and shook her head. Putting her chin in her palm, she cast a fond look in Velvet and Ruby's direction. "Oh well. Let the dorks geek out."

Soon enough, both the boys and the tech geeks joined the group at the table. Once all people involved had had their fill, the gang disbanded for some time; yesterday's clothes were hastily thrown on and, after some five minutes, the group reassembled in the living room.

The next half an hour was spent on running a cleaning up operation, after which the guests thanked their hosts for the previous evening and unanimously announced that it was time for them to take their leave. Team RWBY saw their friends off to the nearest bullhead stop, where they hung out until all their friends were already on their way home.

Back at the house, the girls lazed around for some time in the living room. They didn't talk much, mostly satisfied to let the minutes go by to the tune of whatever was playing on the TV. They spent the better part of an hour that way, enjoying that comfortable sort of silence one would experience in the company of fast friends; Blake even almost managed to fall back asleep, her head lying in Yang's lap, her eyes occasionally drifting shut.

That relaxed atmosphere was not meant to last, however, coming to a rather abrupt end when Ruby and Weiss noticed the small piece of paper Yang had been pensively looking at for the past while; it took them but a moment to identify it for what it was, their thoughts inadvertently returning to the conversation they'd had two nights prior. Realizing she'd been caught, Yang tensed up somewhat; it didn't take long for Blake to also stir, having sensed the sudden change of mood.

Putting on an awkward, lopsided smile, Yang looked at her sister. "No point in waiting, is there?"

When asked that question, Ruby hesitated for a bit. "Probably not," she let out softly, quietly looking away. A lone, tiny wrinkle appeared on her forehead, as if she was considering something, weighing her options; whatever was the case, Yang didn't seem to notice, occupied with her own musings.

Heavy, awkward silence overtook the room, with Blake and Weiss caught between the two sisters who were each reluctant to take any actual action. After a while that dragged on for far longer than what could've passed for anything other than agonizing, Yang pried her eyes away from the card and glanced up at her younger sister. Watching Ruby for a spell seemed to have helped her make up her mind; before long, she sunk deeper into the couch and took a deep breath, resigning herself to her fate as she fished her Scroll from the pocket of her jacket.

"Fine. Let's be done with it." She punched the number in and called, giving herself no time to second-guess her decision.

They all could hear the dial signal, and how it repeated time and time again unanswered, each time increasing the tension hanging in the air. After the third beep came around, the hand in which Yang had been holding Dr. Glas' business card began to tremble ever-so-slightly. Finally, they were delivered from their wait by a polite, feminine voice speaking up from the Scroll, asking how she can help.

Yang needed a second to find back her voice, but she spoke up without further prompting; she stated her business and, after a short conversation with Doctor's assistant, found herself booked for late evening of that very same day. It left her somewhat stunned, and so when the voice on the line asked her if there was something else, Yang, spooked, scrambled for some answer. "Oh, um..."

Noticing that Blake was reaching out to take the Scroll, Yang asked: "Uh... is it okay if I pass the call to my teammate?" Having been given the green light, she, relieved, handed the Scroll to Blake, who accepted it with a smile that was part-sheepish and part-nervous.

Going through the same set of motions — and with less trepidation, though that was not to say there was none — Blake secured herself a meeting in two days. She then got off Yang's lap and sat up, offering the Scroll to Ruby and Weiss; the latter excused herself by saying that she'd call later, while Ruby replied to Blake with a tiny, awkward smile and a simple 'already booked for tomorrow'.

By the look on their faces, both Yang and Blake found Ruby's response interesting, but neither made any comment; thus, Blake bid the assistant a good day and ended the call.

When Blake folded the Scroll, the tension permeating the air lifted somewhat. Yang threw her head back onto the backrest of the couch and let out a long sigh, deflating a bit on her spot, her shoulders relaxing and arms falling limply along her sides. She remained in that position for a while, even after Blake had playfully placed the Scroll on her forehead, taking a few seconds before picking it up.

Yang stood up and stretched before looking at her teammates and pointing over her shoulder, towards the porch door.

"Think I'm gonna go outside and sweat it out before showering. Anyone with me?"

Kneeling on the grass just behind Weiss, Blake was letting her mind wander while her friend, sitting in a wide split, was busy doing various stretches.

Blake had promised to help her with certain exercises, and to supervise whether Weiss was sticking to the correct form. While she probably should be paying better attention, there simply wasn't much for her to do — Weiss was doing just fine on her own. In truth, Weiss was probably performing all those exercises with far more verve and dedication than she normally would, such strong was her motivation to get over her injury — so much so that at first Blake was actually worried that Weiss was going to hurt herself. As time went on without any incidents, however, her concerns eventually settled and her mind, beginning to grow somewhat bored, started seeking other things to occupy itself with.

At first, she pondered on the little nugget of information that was Ruby having gotten in touch with Doctor Glas well in advance. It wasn't so much a revelation as it was a confirmation of Blake's hunch, and the question remained what was the extent — and the cause — of that contact.

Of course, there was the possibility that Ruby had simply planned to 'lead by example', should any of her teammates need some convincing, but Blake was of the mind that there was more to it — Ruby's momentary hesitation when Yang suggested to call the doctor seemed especially suspicious. Still, she decided not to dwell on it too much, figuring that Ruby would tell them herself once — and if — she'd be ready.

Eventually, Blake's attention turned to Ruby and Yang, who were both engaged in a friendly hand-to-hand sparring. She took a moment to appreciate just how much the younger of the sisters had improved over the years — Ruby sans Crescent Rose had used to be, quite frankly, useless during their time at Beacon, and while Ruby still didn't really pose much of a threat to Yang in a no-Semblance fight, Yang herself described her as 'a fun workout'. Nowadays, after much tutoring from the likes of Ren and Yang, Ruby had a fair shot at beating Blake in unarmed combat, if not without some difficulty.

Ruby sidestepped a straight punch thrown at her face, then locked her sister's elbow when Yang tried to slam it into her head; with an open palm, she smacked Yang in her shoulder, pushing her away while she herself disengaged.

"There's something I should prolly tell you," Ruby let out between two steady, deep breaths.

What Ruby had said seemed innocuous enough, but, out of the corner of her eye, Blake noticed that Weiss stopped exercising and tensed up, watching the exchange nervously; whereas the sisters had had Blake's curiosity before, Weiss' reaction made her perk up to attention.

Ruby threw a quick high kick at her sister's head; after Yang blocked it with a forearm, she pulled her foot back and kicked again, this time to the ribs. Yang just took it, and when Ruby aimed yet another kick at her head, she caught Ruby's leg by the ankle and grinned.

"You and Weiss finally slept together while we've been away?" she quipped playfully, then pressed her free hand to her cheek and let out a small coo. "I'm so happy for you!"

The teasing came so much out of the blue that Blake had no time to mentally prepare herself, thus letting a tiny snort of laughter slip out. It earned her a rather unamused reaction from Weiss, who deigned to turn around and grace her with an eye roll, as well as a half-hearted elbow to the gut for Blake to shut up.

To the credit of Weiss' composure, she wasn't blushing. Much.

Ruby, similarly unperturbed by Yang's attempt at distracting her, replied to her sister without missing a single beat. "Nope. Raven dropped by the other day," she said, turning the tables on Yang in a snap.

While Yang's eyes went wide at that revelation, Ruby jumped up on her grounded leg and spun rapidly in the air. Caught completely off guard, Yang only narrowly avoided getting a heel to her temple, forced to let go of Ruby's leg in order to dodge the spinning kick that had headed her way. Freed, Ruby landed in a low crouch, but no sooner had her feet touched the ground than Yang's eyes flared red.

Yang retaliated with a brutal straight kick to Ruby's face; the girl blocked with both of her forearms, but the force behind the attack still caused her to land flat on her ass. Yang didn't follow up, just continuing to watch Ruby with her red stare while the girl was getting back on her feet.

"Yeah? And what did she want?"

In the meanwhile, Weiss felt how Blake leaned in against her back. "Were you there?" Blake whispered a question in her ear.

"We kind of passed each other by," Weiss replied in a hushed voice. "I got back just in time to see her helping Ruby cook."

Weiss couldn't see her friend's face, but the moment of silence that followed must have spoken volumes. "You are joking," Blake said eventually, delivering it more like an accusation than a question.

Though still somewhat nervous about the situation that was unfolding, Weiss let out a small giggle. "Actually, no. She was peeling some carrot when I got in."

There was another pause while the unlikely scene was playing out in Blake's head. "What the hell," she breathed out, too stupefied for laughter.

"You can say that again," Weiss whispered back.

In the meantime, Yang — rather than let her sister answer her question — mounted a new assault as soon as Ruby hopped back onto her feet. Barraged with quick punches, Ruby just danced around Yang, too preoccupied with defense to try and land any hits herself. Finally, she part-redirected part-ducked under Yang's right hook and delivered a strong shove to her opponent's back, using Yang's momentum against her and forcing the two of them apart.

"She isn't rebuilding her tribe, Yang."

That gave Yang a bit of a pause. Lowering her fists ever-so-slightly, she gave Ruby a puzzled look. "Come again?" The angry frown hadn't left her face, but she was not advancing.

Having taken a few deep breaths to steady herself, Ruby went on to elaborate. "She wanted to take you and Blake on a prolonged Grimm hunting trip. Her idea of a bonding exercise or something, I dunno," she said, throwing her arms up in the air towards the end.

A small, lopsided smile of surprise and amusement showed itself on Blake's face. "...okay, that's actually kind of sweet, in a mildly unsettling way."

For a brief while Yang's scowl had been spirited away, replaced by a strange, complex expression — only to return in full force maybe a second later. "And that changes things how?" she ceded through her teeth.

Ruby shrugged lightly, then shifted her stance a bit, as if bracing for what was to come. "I dunno. You tell me."

With her anger stoked by those words, or maybe simply having no answer to them, Yang snarled and threw herself at Ruby, hammering the poor girl with an unrelenting onslaught of punches and kicks. Ruby was keeping up, but barely, and before long Yang found a way to overwhelm her; swiping Ruby's legs from underneath her, she knocked her down and immediately pinned to the ground.

Straddled on top of her, Yang immobilized both of Ruby's wrists and glared down at the girl. "What, you gonna tell me now that I should give her yet another chance to fuck up?" she all but growled straight in Ruby's face, her eyes blood red, lips curled into a wry, sarcastic smile.

But Ruby remained unflustered. "Nope. I'll have your back whichever way you choose," she said resolutely, meeting her sister's intense glare without blinking. It had an effect on Yang — after a brief while, her irises regained their usual, lilac hue and her vise of a grip relented a bit, her guard lowering.

Without a warning, Ruby buckled up her hips to throw Yang off her lap, then trapped Yang's foot with hers and used one of her sister's arms as a lever to roll her over. Before she could scramble back to her feet, however, Yang's leg slammed into her ankle, knocking Ruby's feet from underneath her and bringing her back down.

Ruby landed on her stomach, and the moment she tried to get up, Yang was already upon her; driving her knee into Ruby's back, Yang grabbed the girl by the back of her skull and slammed her head against the sand. By the time Ruby regained her bearings, she had her left arm twisted against her back, while the other was pinned to the ground beside her.

Doing her best not to mind Yang's knee firmly lodged in the small of her back, Ruby tried to wheeze out an explanation. "I'm not in this batting for her, okay? She cared enough to practically beg me to clear this up, so I did, and my job is done. What you do about her is up to you. Ball's in your court."

Yang remained silent for a second or two, before eventually releasing the grapple and standing up. "Fine. I'll think about it," she grumbled angrily, then turned on her heel and marched towards the house, dusting herself off as she went. "Gonna shower."

In the meantime, Ruby rolled over onto her back, massaging her sore face after it'd been not-so-gently smashed against the ground. When the door to the house slammed shut behind Yang, she let out a weary sigh. "She's handled that pretty well, considering."

Most of the afternoon passed by without there happening anything of note. Taking a shower had helped Yang cool off, warding off the thoughts of Raven and enabling her to act with relative normalcy in the hours that'd followed. That being said, the shower did nothing to chase off the elephant in the room — the prospect of the impending trip to the doctor. The notion lingered in the back of everyone's minds as they went about their day, coloring their interactions with one another and putting a bit of a damper on their mood, especially with Yang growing progressively more quiet and spacey the closer the clock hand drew to zero hour.

When the time to leave was nearly upon them, the girls went outside, deciding to spend the last few minutes of their wait hanging out on the porch. Yang largely withdrew herself from the small talk that ensued, only occasionally chiming in before tuning out once again and returning to her restless pacing to and fro across the veranda. She would repeatedly re-tie her shoelaces, chew on the inside of her cheek or pull out her Scroll only to pocket it again; the longest she'd stay still was when she'd hop onto the porch's railing, but even that wouldn't last long before her pacing resumed.

Having offered to accompany Yang to the doctor, Blake was admittedly a tiny bit antsy herself, even though normally she wouldn't have much of a problem staying put. She had spent the last few minutes watching the forest surrounding the house; on most days, observing nature helped her focus and calm her thoughts, but right in that moment, Yang's anxious pacing was beginning to rub off on her, and to a degree she didn't much appreciate. Finally, the third time Yang sat on the railing beside her, Blake decided to act and lightly nudged her with her elbow to get her attention.

"A Lien for your thoughts?" she asked, giving Yang a concerned look. It wasn't that she didn't know what was on Yang's mind, but she hoped that speaking it out loud would help.

Yang looked startled for a heartbeat, then let out a sheepish chuckle, realizing just how restless she'd been behaving for the past while. "Sorry. Just wondering how it's gonna go with that Glas lady," she replied, staring absentmindedly at the wall of the house.

"I'm sure it'll be alright," Blake said simply, placing one of her hands on Yang's thigh and giving it a reassuring squeeze. It was an empty assurance, she knew, but the sentiment behind it was sincere. "Professor Goodwitch vouched for her."

Though not particularly convinced, Yang let out an agreeing hum. Both of them assumed that was that, fully expecting the subject to be closed and the nervous silence to return between them. While they were correct as to the latter, said silence was cut short by a quiet, hesitant voice — Ruby's.

"She's nice," she let out, giving everyone a pause and getting all eyes on her; even Weiss appeared stunned. "Easy to speak to. Listens to you without interrupting and hears out everything you've got to say, without judging."

She pried her eyes away from her shoes and glanced up, meeting her sister's gaze with a weak smile that was both one of apology and of shame; Yang, for her part, looked as if Ruby'd just slapped her, clearly afraid where her sister was going with it.

"I've been to her a couple of days ago with Weiss. I've—" she said and then suddenly paused, licking her lower lip before mustering up her voice. "I've had a panic attack. Weiss managed to calm me down, but we've figured I should go and see Dr. Glas ASAP, and so I have." It didn't take long before the growing sense of guilt, fed by the pain she saw in Yang's expression, forced Ruby to look away.

Yang remained deathly quiet for a good couple of seconds after that, what she'd heard having not sunk in just quite yet; her mouth hung open, occasionally opening yet wider only for no words to come out, her voice equally as lost as she was herself. Finally, she drew in a long, deep breath through her nose and nodded her head — a small, stiff gesture that could've been easily overlooked had the others not waited for it.

"Got it." Neither of the sisters was looking the other in the face when Yang let those two words out. She didn't yell, didn't get heated — to the contrary. She spoke in a voice so bleak and quiet that it almost felt to Ruby as if it could draw her blood, its tone hurting both of them deeper than any insult could ever have done.

There was a small thud as Yang slid off the railing and got on her feet. She sized up her younger sister silently; slowly, her lips twisted into a tiny, lightly crooked smile. "Any more uncomfortable secrets you wanna share?" she asked with a small laugh. Neither Weiss nor Blake could tell whether it was a poor attempt at bringing some levity to the situation or a very intentional jab.

Ruby considered the question for a second, then looked up and held Yang's gaze. "No," she said simply, her short answer dissolving into unbearable silence.

In the moment that followed, Blake met Weiss' eyes and the two of them shared a brief look, finding little solace in the fact that both of them felt so out of place that words failed to describe it. Weiss was quick to look away, perhaps remorseful for being complicit in hiding the truth... but Blake was not judging her. She wasn't judging Ruby, either. She was simply worried for the sisters... and maybe a tiny bit for Weiss, too.

Letting a shaky sigh out of her system, Yang closed in for a hug, pulling into her arms not only Ruby, but also the slightly startled Weiss, squeezing both girls in a tight but gentle embrace; looking as if she was about to cry, she rocked back and forth for a bit, eventually placing a light kiss of thanks on top of Weiss' head.

The notion that they should all sit down and talk was at the back of everyone's mind, but, for better or worse, it would have to wait, as it was the time for Yang and Blake to head out. They kept their goodbyes brief, leaving a lot unsaid; Blake could feel Ruby and Weiss' troubled stares watch them until she and Yang disappeared in the thick of the woods.

Yang was silent as they walked down the familiar forest path, marching forwards at a brisk pace, as if hoping to put as much distance between herself and the house as soon as possible. Part of Blake was tempted to try and talk to her, to let her vent and maybe calm her down, but she was made to reconsider when Yang's eyes began to flare red sporadically. Afraid that anything she could possibly say would only make Yang's mood even more foul, Blake kept her lips sealed, waiting for her to come around... or explode.

It took three minutes for the bubbling cup of anxiety and frustration to overflow.

"Fuck!" Yang screamed through her clenched teeth, throwing a vicious punch at a nearby maple.

An old thing, wilted and already cracked by a past storm, it stood completely no chance against Yang's bionic fist; hit, the trunk downright exploded into a cloud of fine sawdust, showering the pair with a rain of twigs, tree bark and splinters. The distinct smell of cut timber filled the air while what remained of the poor tree collapsed into nearby bushes; not sparing her victim a second glance, Yang stomped off ahead, growling and grumbling as she went.

Blake frowned, feeling sorry for Yang. She'd known her long enough to see that behavior for what it really was — a coping mechanism. When scared of something or hurt, Yang would lash out, trying to drown out her anxiety. And right in that moment, she was likely very afraid.

Ruby going through a panic attack was undoubtedly bad news — worse than Blake had been expecting. Not world-shatteringly bad, no... but she really couldn't blame Yang for her reaction, especially since her nerves had already been frayed by the news of Raven.

One very important thing to remember about Yang was that she was very protective of her loved ones, and Ruby especially; there was little she wouldn't do to spare her baby sister pain, and it bothered her greatly whenever she didn't succeed — especially so when she was the cause of said grief.

To Yang, Ruby's attack must've felt like her own failure, which was the real reason behind her anger; worse yet, the attack was a sign of a broader problem Ruby had, one that Yang, who'd been battling her own demons for years now, found all the more terrifying, seeing what she herself had gone through now mirrored in Ruby. It just hit way too close to home.

There was little doubt in Blake's mind that Ruby had known the degree to which her revelation would hurt her sister; it very likely had been the deciding factor why Ruby had taken her time to admit the truth, aside from not wanting to ruin Blake's stay with her parents.

It probably would've been easier for Ruby to just keep her mouth shut, but she hadn't wanted to lie to Yang. Blake was willing to bet that the girl felt terrible for giving her sister so much grief, and Yang's sharp remark about 'other secrets' certainly did nothing to help. Yang, on her part, felt none too proud of the way she'd taken the news, with the knowledge that Ruby was worried about her weighing her down. Thus came to a close that vicious circle borne of care and love, where each party wanted nothing else but to protect the other.

Following after Yang with a heavy heart, Blake felt a sigh escape past her lips. It wasn't the first time she'd seen the sisters butt their heads or unwittingly hurt one another, and she was fairly certain it wouldn't be the last — just like she didn't doubt for a second that things between those two would turn out just fine, eventually. Still, seeing the girls like that…

It hurt.

Hesitation accompanied her steps as Yang followed Doctor Glas into the bright study. While the other woman lowered herself on her seat and waited for her assistant to prep the table, Yang just kind of stood awkwardly by the entrance to the room, pretty much frozen in place, staying there motionless up until the doctor's aide passed her by on the way out.

Turning around, Yang managed to catch one last glimpse of Blake's reassuring smile before the assistant closed the door to the study, cutting Yang off from her last lifeline. That was when the full weight of the situation really hit her, the reluctance of her heart slowly turning into a sort of dread.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when a calm, amiable voice snapped her back to reality, her head whipping around to look at the speaker. "Please, make yourself comfortable," the doctor said, gesturing towards the sofa.

A short, nervous laugh escaped Yang's throat. "Right."

Wringing her hands, she made a few slow steps forwards, looking about the room in hopes of distracting herself from her thoughts. The place was... nice, having a similar vibe to some quaint café or a small library, though it kind of bugged Yang just how inoffensive it was — then again, maybe such was the whole point.

One thing in the room caught her eye — Beacon's graduation diploma hung on the wall. Though she couldn't say why exactly, the sight made her relax somewhat.

Sitting down on the chaise lounge, Yang regarded the other woman with fresh eyes. Her initial impression of the lady had been... relatively positive, as much as it could've been given the circumstances. Polite, easygoing, fairly attractive, kind of had gotten Yang swept up in her pace... in a weird way, Glas reminded Yang a bit of Professor Goodwitch, except that the lady in front of her was around ten years younger, and seemed like the good cop to Glynda's disciplinarian persona.

"Not in any way related to Professor Goodwitch, are you Doc?"

The doctor let a small laugh and shook her head. "Not that I know. I did get that a lot in my Beacon days, though."

"Both a Huntress and a shrink, huh? Strange combo."

The corners of the other woman's mouth curled upwards in a somewhat playful smile. "It might seem so, but I personally have always thought that the two go pretty hand in hand. Both are supposed to deal with the monsters that plague humanity, with one kind of beasts living beyond our city walls, and the other within our heads."

That response gave Yang a bit of a pause. "When you put it that way..."

She fell quiet for a spell, what she'd just heard having left an impression on her. The Doctor let her stew for a while, then spoke up, drawing Yang's attention to a thin stack of stapled together pages she'd just lied on the table. "Miss Xiao-Long, could you fill out this form for me?"

Yang eyed the papers warily. "Um, what is it?"

"A form of consent, coupled with a short questionnaire," Doc explained. "You may find some questions unpleasant, but it's important that you answer truthfully."

While the small talk had allowed Yang to relax a bit, the serious tone in which Glas had just spoken restored some tension to her system. She swallowed and nodded stiffly. "Got it."

Although she opened the questionnaire with a decent amount of apprehension, Yang quickly came to the conclusion that Doc had been overselling the difficulty of the questions a bit — though she could see why others would find some of them upsetting. Her, though? The section about family mental health history made her a little bit uneasy, but that was as bad as it got for her.

One question had given her a pause, however: 'are you satisfied with your current relationship?' She'd spent quite a while with her hand hovering over the empty field, finding it really difficult to phrase her answer. Just when she had narrowed it down well enough and had been about to write it down, she'd hesitated and looked up at Doctor Glas.

"This thing's confidential, right, Doc?" she had asked.

"Of course; short of you being a threat to yourself or people around you, nothing you share will leave this room without your expressed permission."

Yang had nodded, then looked down onto the sheet and noted her answer.

'Yes, but I'm worried about my partner's mental state.'

Other than that one question, the whole thing didn't take Yang long at all. She returned the form to Doctor Glas before long, then busied herself for a spell with the brochure Doc had given her.

Once Yang was done reading, Doctor Glas spoke up. "Before we begin, I need to establish one thing. Since it's your first session, I shall not press for any information you're not comfortable sharing with me, but I must ask you to keep in mind that the success of any therapy hinges largely on the trust between the patient and the therapist. It's perfectly fine if we'll need a while to establish that trust, but we do need to communicate if I am to help you."

Yang rubbed the side of her neck and gave the woman a small nod. "Right."

"Very well," the doctor said, satisfied that she'd made herself clear. Crossing her legs, she pulled up her notebook and laid it on her thigh, a pen in her right hand. A small, comforting smile lingered on her face as she proceeded. "With that out of the way, can you tell me what brings you to me?"

Yang shifted her position a bit; spreading her legs, she hunched over and rested both of her elbows on her knees, fingers of her hands intertwined with one another. She gave the doctor a wry smile. "Mostly my sister. Probably wouldn't have come here if she didn't want us all to." Though it didn't quite register with her yet, her right leg began to bounce restlessly, betraying her anxiety.

"I see." Doctor Glas made a quick note. "Is there something you feel I might help you with? For example, you mentioned in the form that you have trouble sleeping."

Yang nipped lightly on the inside of her cheek. "Sometimes," she admitted quietly with a small nod of her head.

Letting her eyes fall to the floor, she remained silent for a while, reluctant to reveal anything further; to her credit, Glas didn't rush her in any way, but that woman's sole presence was enough to stress Yang out.

Then, Yang felt a sensation that made her let out a tiny snort of mirthless, frustrated laughter — her left arm began to tremble, her own body selling her out. Looking up at the doctor, she gave the woman a bitter smile.

"There's also that, when I'm nervous or scared," she confessed dryly, showing her shaking arm, then grabbed the offending appendage right under the wrist and held it tightly until the tick came to pass.

She let out a defeated sigh. Since the secret she was the most ashamed of was already outta the bag, she figured she might as well go the whole way. "There's phantom pain, too. And sometimes I get, like... jumpy. At sharp sounds, mostly."

The expression of the doctor's eyes softened a bit behind her glasses, but the she did not say anything and simply got to noting things down... which Yang greatly appreciated.

While Glas was scribbling something in her notebook, a rather sour smirk slowly began to creep onto Yang's lips. "So, what will it be first, Doc?" she asked when the doctor finished. "How I got my arm chopped off by my girlfriend's psycho ex? How I'm unstable enough that my little sis is afraid to confide in me? Or maybe you want to hear all about my mommy issues? Plenty to choose from."

She spoke with overt sarcasm, trying to put on a brave face while in truth her self-deprecating humor was nothing more than an attempt at hiding just how afraid and insecure she really felt in that moment. They had barely started, and she was already putting walls around herself... and even though she knew it was counterproductive, she couldn't really help herself.

Doctor Glas took Yang's little outburst in her stride. "We may start there, if you feel like you want to talk about any of those issues right now," she said calmly, putting a strong emphasis on the word 'if'. "If not, I was thinking that maybe you could tell me about your favorite book?" A small smile showed up on her lips as she suggested the alternative.

Yang blinked in surprise, taken aback. "My favorite book?"

"Is it so surprising?" Glas asked, her smile growing ever-so-slightly deeper. "I believe that the kind of literature we enjoy can tell a lot about us as people. Not to mention that interests make for a fairly good ice breaker."

"Right," Yang said slowly. She considered her options for a while, then let out a small laugh and shook her head incredulously. "Sure, let's go with that," she agreed, leaning back on the sofa and shooting Doc an amused look.

Stepping out onto the street in front of Doctor Glas' practice, Yang closed the gate in the fence surrounding the perimeter and inhaled deeply, finally being able to breathe freely. With a small jerk of her head she signaled to Blake that it was time to go; not saying a word, Yang started walking down the charming alleyway, her partner quickly falling into step with her. The two walked in silence for a bit; at some point, the streetlights came to life above their heads.

After they were a fair distance away from the place, Blake decided to speak up.

"How was it?" she asked gingerly. "Unless you don't want to ta—"

Before she could finish that thought, Yang just waved her hand dismissively, silently cutting her off. "Nah, s'fine." Putting both hands in her pockets, she pondered on Blake's question for a while; eventually, her shoulders rose and fell in a small shrug. "It was alright, I guess. A whole lot of nothing, pretty much. We mostly talked about interests we have in common. Started off with books."

Raising her brows, Blake huffed out a short, surprised laugh. "Books?"

Yang shot Blake a brief glance, even mustering a tiny smirk. "Yep. I'm guessing it's supposed to make it easier to talk to her, or something. Either way, the heavy stuff was left for later." Having said that, she fell silent for a spell, eventually letting out a thoughtful hum. "I guess I can see what Ruby's meant when she's said that Doc is easy to talk to." Shortly after the mention of Ruby, her expression darkened, bringing a small, worried crease to Blake's brow.

"Still angry at her for not telling you sooner?"

Yang blinked a couple of times and looked at Blake in slight confusion. "Huh? No. I wasn't angry, just... scared," she said, her ponytail swaying about as she shook her head. She barked out a weak chuckle. "And maybe a teeny bit angry, yeah."

The next few steps she made in thoughtful silence; soon, her faint smile fell off, her demeanor growing serious once again — troubled, even. "Look, Blake... I'm a wreck. And it gets to me that now Ruby is going through something like that. Sure, she's had her nightmares, and all that pressure on her, but she held it together somehow, and I was hoping that now it'd, like..." she waved her hand around, as if she herself didn't really know how to explain it, "just go away eventually." Looking at Blake walking beside her, she gave her a wry, self-conscious smile. "Naive, I know."

"You're hurt, not a wreck, Yang," Blake said softly, wrapping her arm around Yang's and linking them together. "You'll get better. And so will Ruby."

Throwing her head back, Yang looked at the darkening sky, finding the first stars twinkling at her from up high. "That's the hope."

Ruby and Weiss had been watching TV when the sound of keys sliding inside a lock prompted them to turn around on the couch and look towards the entrance. Soon, the door swung open and two familiar figures stepped inside; the moment Yang walked into the light, her eyes locked with those of her sister.

"We need to talk."

Ruby replied with a small nod. "Yeah."

And so they did; while Ruby got started with her explanation, Weiss briefly disappeared within the kitchen and prepared some tea for everyone, quickly returning to her spot beside Ruby as soon as she was done.

Ruby told her teammates what she deemed important, keeping the exact contents of her conversation with the doctor private; Yang, for her part, just listened silently from her place in the armchair, here and there asking an odd question had she found something unclear. The conversation was rather skin-deep, but Yang had already somewhat resigned herself to only scratching the surface for now; she learned enough to have the basic understanding of the problem, and after the anxiety she herself had experienced inside Glas' study, she simply knew better than to pry.

After Ruby finished, silence fell between them for a couple of moments, ending when a loud, heavy sigh made it's way out of Yang's system. She stood up, turned towards Ruby and opened her arms wide in an invitation. "C'mere."

Though slightly reluctant, as if having a hard time believing that she was already through with being scolded, Ruby got off the sofa and let Yang pull her closer, returning the embrace.

"Sorry for being a bitch earlier," Yang breathed out. "But you really should've just called; we would've come back."

In response to that, Ruby pulled back a bit and put a finger in her sister's chest. "And see, this is the problem," she said, clearly frustrated, earning herself a single arched eyebrow from the perplexed Yang. "You and Blake deserved some time just to yourselves; a break from it all — babysitting me included. Had I called, you would've dropped everything and you," she turned towards Blake and shot her an accusatory glance, "would've gone with her."

After a while of glaring, she sighed and shook her head, deflating a bit, as if she'd just let out something that'd been nagging her for a while now. "And I appreciate it, really, but all good it would've done would be ruining your week. I was doing fine, and wasn't alone; didn't want to ruin your outing."

Yang fixed her baby sister with a really unimpressed stare, to which Ruby defiantly replied in kind; after a few moments of that staredown, Yang made a show of rolling her eyes and pulled Ruby back into the hug. "Idiot."

"Look who's talking," Ruby snapped back half-heartedly.

Feeling her lips curl into a tiny smirk, Blake decided to chime in. "Yang's got a point, though," she said in a teasing tone; still, the sentiment was genuine.

"Oh shaddap, you."

The sisters remained in each other's arms for a while, the small, relieved smile shared between Weiss and Blake having gone unnoticed. Eventually, a small laugh reverberated within Yang's throat; playfully referring to the snippy question she'd asked earlier that day, she said: "So... you sure there's no more secrets in hiding? Could be of the fun variety, too."

With Yang's hold loosening a bit, Ruby pulled back and gave her sister a puzzled yet amused look. "Fun variety?" she parroted, with a sneaking suspicion that she'd likely soon regret the question she was about to ask. "Like what?"

Against Ruby's expectations, it was Blake who decided to answer her. "Oh, I don't know," she spoke in a theatrically thoughtful tone, a frisky grin beginning to show from behind her stone-faced facade. "You and Weiss spent a whole week just by yourselves."

Weiss, who had been sitting sideways on the couch, rewarded Blake's cheekiness with a kick to her side, causing the other girl to burst into giggles.

Giving Ruby a highly suggestive look, Yang gestured with her head towards Blake. "What she said." As soon as those words left Yang's lips, Ruby stood on her tiptoes and then used her body weight to pull Yang down, in a flash putting her sister in a standing side headlock. "Hey, she said the thing!" Yang yelled, laughing her ass off while her head was stuck under Ruby's armpit.

"But you've been the one with my arms 'round your neck, dumbass. Weiss, get the other one!"

Author's Note:

Hi! Apologies for the short update. I'm hoping to get the other part out within the next two-to-four weeks. The next two updates should be interesting; hopefully this bit here will suffice until then.