Crushed

Yang

When I wake up, Blake is still asleep, which is odd, considering it's past noon. This morning I don't have her trapped in a bear hug, so it's easy enough for me to get up without waking her, which I do. Taking a look around, I see Ruby and Weiss studying. Well, Weiss is studying. Ruby is searching the room for something to distract her and free her from the boredom that, presumably, Weiss subjected her to.

"Morning, you two," I tell them. Weiss grunts "it's the afternoon" without looking up, but Ruby perks up immediately.

"Yang! You're up!" she exclaims, probably convinced I'm gonna rescue her from the clutches of boredom. I have other ideas. I'm planning to spend the day with Blake, so Ruby can either enjoy some quality time with her partner or come up with her own way out.

"I hadn't noticed, sis. I'm going for a shower," I reply. Just before entering the bathroom, I see a look of confusion on Ruby's face. She probably hadn't noticed the sarcasm. Such an innocent young girl… Well, apart from the giant scythe. Which is also a gun.

In the shower, my mind turns to thoughts of Blake, and last night. That sounds incredibly dirty, Yang. You're getting good at thoughts like this. I can still scarcely believe that it worked out, and that Blake doesn't hate me for kissing her unexpectedly. Speaking of which, I now want to kiss her unexpectedly more often. But the fact that I was so close to catching Torchwick pisses me off. Granted, I could've gone after him, but what I chose to do instead was so much better. Next time, though, we won't let the bastard escape. If he tries to keep someone I care about away from me again, he can just pray the police get to him before I do. Even if the person in question is Weiss, I'll still hurt him. I wonder if she'd do the same for me. Probably not right now. I'm pretty sure she still hates me for getting wasted. She really needs to lay the hell off. We can't all be perfect, and it doesn't help that I've always had a wild side. A lot of the problems between her and I wouldn't even happen if she'd just learn to deal with it. Thankfully, it's never come to blows.

After exiting the shower and drying off, I get dressed and leave the bathroom. By this point, Blake is awake and smiles at me. "Morning, beautiful," she says, making me blush.

"Uh, Blake? You do realize that it's not the morning anymore, right?" I reply, not even trying to conceal the blush. Hopefully I'll get used to compliments though. She looks surprised, and I realize it's the second day in a row when she wasn't the first to wake up. I must have a serious effect on her.

"Oh. Well, I'm going to get dressed, then we can get food. I'm starving," Blake declares, before heading past me into the bathroom. After kissing me, that is. She is one hell of a good kisser. I wonder if she's a natural or if she's just had a lot of practice, I think. Considering her general antisocial personality, probably the first one. In that case, I intend to give her plenty of practice. With that thought in mind, I sit down and wait for her to finish.

While waiting, I notice Ruby looking at Weiss weirdly, sort of like she's seeing her in a new light. I raise an eyebrow at my sister, which causes her to blush when she sees me looking. I say nothing, but silently ponder it. Maybe Ruby really does have a crush. That thought worries me greatly, so I push it aside. I really don't want to think about our fearless leader potentially liking the Ice Queen. It's not that I have a problem with Ruby dating anyone, I just don't want her getting hurt. She's already somewhat socially inept with most people, and rejection could turn her into a recluse. Plus I can think of loads of people whom I'd rather see Ruby with than Weiss. That's not to say I'll interfere if anything happens, but still.

Blake finishes in the bathroom, so we head to the cafeteria for some food. Breakfast is no longer being served at this time of day, so we have to choose from the lunch options. Beacon is probably the only school in the world with a decent cafeteria, so it's not a problem. Team JNPR are all there, so we sit down with them, right in the middle of one of Nora's stories. Or recurring dreams, as Ren puts it.

"So then we get attacked by an Ursa Major and its-oh, hi, Blake and Yang-pack, which sounds terrifying but it wasn't because Ren is a total badass and of course I had Magnhild…" Nora rambles on, Ren making corrections occasionally.

"Hey, Yang, I heard you beat up Team CRDL yesterday," says Jaune, sounding impressed.

"That I did. Totally unarmed, because I'm just that awesome," I tell him. Blake looks confused, and I realize she hasn't heard the story. Jaune seems incredulous.

"What happened?" she asks me.

"I went to the training room while you were in the shower yesterday so I could punch things. I thought it would help the hangover. When I arrived, they were there, and they attacked me. Well, I say 'attacked'. If they were going all-out, I have my doubts about placement at this school. Goodwitch showed up before I could hit Cardin though. I didn't get in trouble because I was just defending myself. Two of them are now in the infirmary, and all I got was a warning about using violence to solve things," I explain. Blake looks concerned. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Only my hair was damaged," I reassure her.

"Shit. I almost feel bad for them now," she says, remembering what happens if someone touches my hair without permission. "They deserve it though."

"Are you guys going to the dance?" Pyrrha asks, probably bored of Nora's stories.

"Probably," I reply, while Blake shakes her head. I can probably change her mind about that, I think.

"Pyrrha and I have a bet about the dance actually. I really hope I win…" Jaune chimes in.

"Oh yeah? What's the bet?" I ask, curious.

"Jaune says if I don't have a date he'll wear a dress," Pyrrha answers. I burst into laughter.

"Blake, now you have to come, to see Vomit Boy in a dress," I tell my girlfriend when I can talk.

"Um, hello? Have you met Pyrrha? She'll have no problem getting someone to go with her," Jaune protests, but he does look a bit worried.

"Oh, Jaune, you poor, clueless boy," I tell him, knowing he has no idea what I mean by that, before getting up to leave with Blake. We decide to go for a walk in the Emerald Forest, so we swing by the dorm and grab our weapons first.

It's a great day to go out and kill Grimm, but instead I focus on enjoying my time with Blake. For a while neither of us say anything, and just hold hands while admiring the forest. It's a lot prettier when I'm not worrying about initiation, and I know someone's got my back if anything should happen. But really, I'm not worried about the creatures of Grimm. I'm not worried about anything when I'm with Blake.

We happen to reach the forest temple, where Teams RWBY and JNPR had come together for the first time, before we'd even been assigned our teams.

"Remember when you freaked out because crazy stuff kept happening around here?" Blake asks.

"Yup. I still have no idea how Ruby and Weiss managed to grab the talons of a Nevermore, let alone stay on that long," I answer, remembering the day fondly.

"And then Nora riding in on an Ursa. Sometimes I can't handle her, honestly," Blake says with a smile.

"Yeah, she's… She's pretty special."

Suddenly, Blake's eyes get a mischievous glint, and she pulls me in for a very unexpected, but very much appreciated kiss. Loving the feel of her soft lips on mine, I let myself get lost in the moment. I run a hand through her hair, wishing we could stay here forever. Annoyingly, we do need to breathe, so we separate and look each other in the eyes. After a couple of seconds, I kiss her again, slightly rougher this time. As she gets more into it, I gently run my tongue over her lips. They part, allowing me access. Our tongues dance around each other in her mouth, before Blake gets more aggressive and pushes me to the ground.

The sound of approaching footsteps stops us from going any further, then we hear a startled "oh! Umm… Sorry."

"Wait, is that Jaune?" I ask Blake, who nods. "This… Just got awkward."

"Yeah. At least he won't judge us," Blake says.

At this point I look up and see Vomit Boy with a deep blush on his face. His face is the colour of my eyes when I get angry. Like I said, a deep blush. Pyrrha is with him, looking more composed.

"We… Didn't mean to intrude, we were just hunting for monsters so Jaune could practice on non-human or Faunus opponents," she explained, sounding sorry for interrupting.

"No, that's fine. We just weren't planning on telling anyone yet. Ruby and Weiss knew already, but that's it," I tell them. Pyrrha and Jaune both look relieved that Blake and I aren't mad at them, then promise not to tell anyone else. Honestly, I don't trust Jaune to not accidentally let it slip out, considering he once almost announced to everyone in the library that Blake's a Faunus.

At that moment, a fully-grown Deathstalker appears from the trees, even larger than the one that chased Pyrrha on initiation day. Jaune looks ready to run, but a stern look from the redhead keeps him in place. We take up battle stances, and prepare to kill the damn thing.

It stares at us for a few seconds, almost compelling us to attack. When none of us do, it makes the first move. It takes a jab at Blake using its pincer, hitting a shadow copy. The real Blake is in the air, Gambol Shroud in pistol form. With deadly aim, she shoots at one of its eyes, taking it out before landing gracefully. Meanwhile, Jaune is flanking it, and stabs at a leg. Wounded in two places, the beast turns in Jaune's direction to deal with the new threat. At this point, I decide it no longer needs its stinger, so I fire a couple of long-range blasts from Ember Celica, getting its attention. The stinger is wounded, but still connected to its body. Before it has a chance to attack me, I charge it and punch its bone mask a few times. The mask cracks in a few places, but I don't seem to have hurt it much. I did serve as a distraction, allowing Pyrrha to throw Miló in its javelin form and have a clear shot at the stinger. Miló goes straight through, causing the Deathstalker to roar in pain. While its mouth is open, I fire a shot from Ember Celica at the unguarded flesh inside, before retreating to plan my next move. I see Blake behind it, signaling to the rest of us to keep the Grimm occupied. With a couple of shotgun blasts from me, and a shield bash from Pyrrha, it focuses on us. Blake jumps on its back and shoots out three more eyes before being shaken off. Now half-blind, the Deathstalker becomes more defensive.

"Someone needs to get underneath it!" Pyrrha yells at us, which Jaune volunteers to do. While us girls buy him some time, he prepares to get a running start to slide under. Blake throws Gambol Shroud in pistol form and gets it jammed in a chink in the Deathstalker's armour. She takes a running jump, grabs her weapon and fires just as Jaune slides under the beast and delivers a lethal strike to its underbelly. He manages to get out from under it just before it collapses on him.

"Well, I guess it's a "Dead"-stalker now, am I right?" I say, feeling pleased with my pun.

"…Goddammit, Yang," Blake says, rolling her eyes, but there is a smile on her face. Reveling in our victory, the four of us head back to Beacon where we spend the rest of the day without incident.