"Yang?"
I could recognize Blake's voice even in my sleep. I groaned and rolled over as I woke up, wiping sleep from my eyes. I opened my eyes to see Ruby, Weiss and Blake at the edge of my bed. I was confused for a second before I remembered why today was so important.
"I cannot believe you're still asleep, on today of all days," Weiss said huffily, hands on her hips as she chastised me. Somehow she was already fully dressed. I'm positive Weiss liked waking up hours before the rest of us just to joke on us for sleeping in so long.
"I'm up, I'm up," I yawned, hopping out of my bunk. Today was the day! The beginning of the Vytal Tournament's finals matches!
"Remember, Yang, today's match is gonna be decided at random, so you might not fight today, but you-" I playfully ruffled Ruby's hair, stopping her in her tracks before she started explaining basic tournament rules again. She always got like this when she was excited, it was pretty adorable.
"I'm ready, Rubes. I got this," I reminded her.
Today was finally the day! I'd been practicing for weeks, ever since Weiss and I won our doubles match! I'd been studying up on all of the other double's round winners, studying their Semblances and weapons and fighting styles. What kind of Dust they used, what leg they preferred to rest their weight on. Everything I needed to know on how to beat them. I wasn't usually the kind of person who really thought out strategies before a fight- I liked being in the moment more than anything- but at least knowing the kind of person I'd be fighting made it easier to imagine how best to take them down.
"I brought breakfast," Blake said softly, handing me a plate of something that smelled delicious. I smiled, kissing her on the forehead before taking it. There was a loud bang on the door before I'd even shoveled a forkful in my mouth, Nora excitedly barging in.
"I don't care if they might be against us in the next round, they're our- Hi guys!" Nora scooped up Ruby, Blake and Weiss in a backbreaking hug before setting them down.
"Pyrrha's going to be representing JNPR. It was almost a unanimous decision, big surprise right? Pyrrha voted for me but I can barely even knock her down when we spar! I'm guessing you guys are sending Yang! Oooooh, that's such a good idea! Pyrrha, you've been saying all week Yang would be super tough to fight," Nora rambled, giggling as Pyrrha tried to rein her in. Normally that was Ren's job, but he'd stopped at the door with Jaune, a hand over their eyes as they hesitated before barging into a room full of women early in the morning. What cute guys.
"You guys can come in, we're all already-"
Knock Knock!
"Hello, ladies! The boys want to know if they can be invited in. You can take your time making your decision though, I personally want to see how long before they fall," Scarlet says, a playfully smug look on his face as he rested his elbows on the open window.
"Tell them I can't stay up here forever! I don't like heights," Neptune shouted, his voice coming from further down the same ledge Scarlet was standing on.
"Wait! Tell Blake I can't join her in the audience because I'm gonna be- Ow!"
"That's supposed to be a secret." That was definitely Sage's voice.
"How are you up here," Jaune asked, eyes wide as he moved closer, trying to get a better look.
"Since when did our dorm become the meeting hub for everyone," Weiss asked, moving to help Scarlet into the room.
We only had a couple of hours before the finals matches would start. But this might as well have been any normal day. Neptune was flirting with Weiss, Jaune and Pyrrha were pretending they weren't madly in love, Ruby and Nora were stuffing as many cookies into their mouths as they could while Ren tried to hide the rest of them, Blake and Sun were chatting about who knew what...
"Hey guys?" Everyone quieted down looking up at me as I stood up. That felt really weird- I definitely wasn't leadership material.
"I just wanted to say, no matter what happens today, we're all still friends, right?"
"Of course, Yang! I couldn't imagine it any other way," Pyrrha said with a smile.
"My ego doesn't bruise easily," Sun chuckled, his tail handing Blake a coffee mug.
No matter what happened, today would be a great day. Even better if I get chosen for the finals match! I don't plan on losing.