Chapter 19: There is an explanation to all of this!

~Blake’s POV~

Sunday seemed to be a slight rehearse of what had happened Saturday, with just a twist to the early bits of the day.

Instead of bolting to reach Vale without her team in the early morning, Blake had been forced to be a little less eager at the opportunity of spending some time away from the burdens here at Beacon Academy.

Boredom proved to be a troublesome beast to tame while waiting for the rest of the girls to be prepared for their little trip to the city. Two hours had gone through just because of the lengthy bathroom routine that both Yang and Weiss seemed so attached to.

And while the Belladonna could easily understand the need of the blonde to have high maintenance over her golden mane, the reasons behind the Schnee heiress’ constant need to keep a perfect appearance had eluded her tired mind.

While sleep had come easily for her the night before, the fact that she had woken up so early had ended up leaving her in a somewhat drained state. It wasn’t terrible, but it could’ve been better.

Once everyone was done with their little routines, Ruby took the lead in guiding her team through the halls of the school and right where the Bullheads directed at Vale city were. The hangar of the Academy was one of the few places that Blake had just seen and been around in a couple of occasions.

Most of those connected to the fact that she had done something awkwardly bad. Or just horribly messy and worth of some disappointment by the staff here at Beacon.

But now the situation was completely different as this little trip wasn’t going to end up in a disastrous and panic-worthy aftermath. No, the Cat Faunus had set up a clear plan to avoid any awkward circumstances that could lead to anything the opposite of normal and good.

She had to appear calm in front to the other girls, to look as happy and ‘certain’ that there weren’t any other plans meant to happen for the rest of the day. Her team couldn’t learn, not like this- not this suddenly.

Thus her face was devoid of any uneasy hints that could suggest that she wasn’t truly ‘glad’ that she was going to spend some time with her team members.

Hopping inside the plane and taking a seat beside Yang’s, her attention was half-drawn by Weiss’ speech as she offered a very simple but quite bland schedule for their trip in Vale… up until lunch.

The rest of the girls had decided to not stay beyond that time, leaving just Blake to happily enjoy some time alone with movies, popcorn, the couch and…

Oh right, a certain friendly human.

She almost snorted at the mere idea of being finally granted some space away from the never-ending troubles of being an active individual in a fighting-related sector of the world.

Beacon Academy would usually offer some pauses, but nothing was capable of clearing her mind as much as being left to enjoy a nap by that comfortable couch… away from the responsibilities and the nagging.

The flight wasn’t long and soon they were already walking on the streets of the city. Weiss had decided to take on command of their next few steps, starting from one of the few cafes that were open during the weekends.

It wasn’t like the Morning Sip in terms of size, but the place was homely enough to relax a little while Ruby and her partner entertained the rest of the world with their unique style of bickering.

Differently from the early time of their friendship, both the caped girl and the heiress had developed a display of understanding which was exemplified in some of the most amusing scenes available within the school.

While Weiss would eagerly flex her knowledge over things that not many individuals knew about, Ruby would act like the compliant listener that would press for more details with a bubbly tone.

And despite the Atlesian girl’s best intentions to be actually helpful, the simple amount of puppy-like attention would make her capacity to keep a straight face very difficult and very entertaining.

From there, the heiress would then retaliate with some attempts to sound authoritative and stern, to chide the little Rose about her earnest tones.

Which wouldn’t actually work and only end up getting even more adorable responses from a clueless Ruby.

The entire exchange would provide no little reason to get distracted in that simple day, and the coffee she was able to get from one of the waitress helped up restoring some sanity to her poor brain.

But while the little friendly quarrel persisted before her amused amber eyes, there was a little issue she had really hoped to not be dealing so soon in the morning.

Lilac eyes flickered at her, an amused smile painting Yang’s face as the blonde finally decided to start a conversation with her.

“This place is quite nice,” She commented curtly and quietly, yet her interested tone suggested that it wasn’t a sentence meant to be left without a respons.e

Thus Blake let out a sigh and nodded. “It’s quite warm. Really rare to see one of these during weekends.”

After going through a brief tenure as the only waitress for the Morning Sip, Blake had been able to study a little more how the ‘simple business’ truly worked like.

The sector itself was terribly extensive compared to any other jobs that she had the opportunity to learn deeply about, and the competition could easily become antagonistic without some proper diplomacy.

By looking at the slightly-strained expressions on the workers’ faces, the young woman could see how cumbersome working during weekends was.

People were freer by Saturday and Sundays, and while this could be ideal to make huge gains from a few shifts, the amount of clients to serve could easily become troublesome to deal with, especially with a limited staff as the one of this cafe.

“Do you remember the guy that I mentioned you? The one that I found while searching for you?” Yang continued with a strange tone, drawing the Cat Faunus’ attention on her at the mention of that very individual.

Panic swelled a little at the sudden queries, but her mind soothed her worry before she could’ve done something terrible. There was no way that the brawler had discovered anything about her little escapade the day before. But what if she did?

“Hm? Yes… what about him?”

Calm and steady. Blake couldn’t afford to face something so dangerous to obliterate her little lie, but she would’ve to ride the wave to avoid getting hit by a golden-haired tsunami.

“I’ve been thinking about this for a while now,” The blonde began talking once more, her lilac eyes flashing a worrying degree of seriousness over the matter. “And since I’ve been talking with him sometime now, I wanted to ask you what would you think if I tried to ask him out.”

...What?

Her mind put a struggle to avoid any of the shock within her thoughts to actually appear within her current expression, but her brain was just frozen by this very affirmation.

She had listened to her partner going through some statements regarding Sid, but nothing that could’ve suggested this kind of interest from her part.

Plus, it was odd to consider someone like Yang actually thinking about trying her luck with someone as serious as the waiter.

Sure, there was a correlation between the two over some temper issues, but that very detail shouldn’t actually be known to the brawler, and thus there was no actual logical reason for the girl to even think of going for that.

“Wait, really?” Blake let out with a faux clueless tone painting her words. She didn’t need to sound overly-surprised, but some shock was expected by her partner considering the way her question was phrased.

“I mean, I can see why it can sounds odd but- I had been thinking about this for a while now,” The blonde explained genuinely. “While I can give chase to hot studs forever, I think I… I actually want to put a limit to my little quirky self.”

Now, that was oddly mature coming from the generally-unruly girl… but not truly impossible to see it happening. It just sounded so sudden and quite odd to listen to.

“But why? You are almost sounding like you’re already planning to have a solid relationship or-”

“That’s the plan.” A sigh from Yang’s lips interrupted the Faunus mid-sentence. “Let’s just say that while I can have some little fun, I think a proper relationship is the thing that needs to be legit in my life.”

“Paint me surprised but, I really can’t see you going after a waiter of all people.”

Blake almost flinched at her own words, knowing full well that it wasn’t just nice to label Sid just as that. He was a ‘little’ more than just a waiter.

“A waiter that got some muscles underneath his shirt,” The brawler rebuked happily, a cheeky smile on her face. “You see, there was this time that he got sick and had collapsed over and when I went to help him up, I got a ‘glimpse’ of his frame. Those aren’t something you find in a normal waiter.”

She was referring to the time when she had come close to find out that Bianca was Blake, the Belladonna tensing up at that very notion.

Sure, Yang had been there to try and help up early on with Sid’s little act, but to think that she would notice this very detail in such a crass way? Now there was a good reason to be worried about the current knowledge her partner had about the young man.

“So, how do you plan it? A date and then you’re a couple?”

“What? No!” Yang looked scandalized over that very quick interrogation. “I mean, if the date goes well, I will try to have some more. I’m not in the mood of rushing things so suddenly. And I’m not even sure he’s the right one, I just think it might work as a serious relationship.”

At least the brawler wasn’t trying to rush things up. That would’ve been a very awkward situation to bear through while also keeping what had happened in the previous few weeks a secret.

It was hard enough to not make false steps with how inquisitive Yang was on a normal basis whenever Blake showed any attitude that wasn’t ‘usual of her’. Even considering the possibility of having to keep this secret while the blonde was dating her co-liar was enough to warrant some uneasiness at the possibility.

“That sounds… nice?”

“I was thinking about asking him tomorrow,” The girl continued without hesitation. “Which is why I would need a wingkitty for the occasion.”

The Cat Faunus frowned at the nickname, but her eyes nonetheless widened as she realized why the blonde had been speaking to her of this very argument.

For a brief moment, Blake could now see why Sid had been very adamant in her keeping an alerted state while talking about her teammates about anything related to him or his workplace.

“Yang, I don’t think that-”

“I will pay for you coffee, you will get a few hours out of the dorm and… I will buy a book?”

The bribery was duly noted and partially rejected. There was this new book from the writer of Ninjas of Love that- No! She couldn’t. Not now that the situation required her to be incredibly serious about this bad development.

“I can’t really-”

“Or I will tell the girls that you’ve not been at the library,” The blonde continued, delivering a sudden threat at the young woman.

Cat ears twitched at the ultimatum. “This is ridiculous. Of course I’ve been going to-”

“Tukson has been closed for a while now. And I’ve been looking around for any other libraries where you might have been,” She interrupted again, her smile widening and yet her eyes sporting a suspicious look. “Still, it’s up to you to tell me what the heck you were doing yesterday… or maybe we can talk about tomorrow’s arrangements.”

As if there was any choice to made here with how everything was settled in such a manner that nothing Blake could think of could work with the things Yang had brought up.

She was at least glad that both girls on the other side of the table were still bickering with one another, distracted enough to not be hearing what kind of problematic supposition the brawler was bringing up against her.

In the end, the Belladonna couldn’t do much but sigh at that dreadful imposition, one that was surely going to ‘irk’ Sid a little more than usual. And for good reasons she herself could see on the immediate circumstance.

“So, will it be in the morning or in the afternoon?”

Lilac eyes displayed some mirthfulness as blonde decided to finally expand more on her plans for Monday, dragging the reluctant dark-haired girl’s attention all on her as she detailed perfectly what kind of idea she had plotted up until.

But while both partners were well-distracted in that very conversation, a certain caped girl had a minor frown appearing on her face while still investing most of her focus on Weiss.

Ruby might have failed to listen to the whole discussion happening while she was dealing with the usual fun predicament with her partner, yet the young team leader had heard enough to actually understand that there was something worth of some investigation once this trip was concluded.

If Blake didn’t go to the library, then where did she spend her time yesterday?

------------d-d-d-d---------------d-d-d-d--------------d-d-d-d-------------

The atmosphere within the flat was quite tense as Blake stared carefully at the human currently sitting beside her on the couch.

She had just finished telling him about the situation that was going to happen with him and Yang tomorrow, deciding to ditch the need to keep secrecy of this matter with the kind of leverage that her partner had tried to use against her.

The young man had been close to settle the DVD disc of the first movie inside the player when the Belladonna started to tell him about what had happened hours earlier, driving the waiter to a silent but surprisingly calm moment of stillness.

This very situation persisted for some time, enough to drive some more worry within her mind that she was going to assist to a glorious (but incredibly unpleasant) situation with the human as he carefully went to lean back by the couch.

“Uh- So Yang likes me?”

“I think it’s more that she finds you a good candidate for a serious relationship,” Blake corrected with a hint of nervousness. “She mentioned that it was just an attempt. Nothing overly serious and-”

“I guess I will see it for myself tomorrow,” Sid interrupted with a nod, drawing a frown out of the Cat Faunus over this strange and sudden dismissal.

… “You’re not going to question the whole-”

“I mean, it’s pretty much a surprise, but she did make some hints at that a while ago,” The human pointed out with a shrug. “Plus, it’s just a date.”

“A date that could go well, and get you in a relationship with my own partner,” The Belladonna retorted with a tight tone. “Which would make things difficult for us to keep our friendship a secret.”

The young man sighed, his left hand reaching the top of his head, settling by there for a while as he thought about the complex situation.

“That sounds like a bad aftermath, but you’re forgetting that I can easily refuse a relationship,” He admitted with a sigh. “I don’t see a reason to be that much worried about this-”

“You don’t understand. Yang will not stop just because you said no,” Blake interjected with a tense voice. “She will take it as a challenge for try some more and-”

“She will start to investigate about-”

“About you, then about me and finally discover everything,” The girl counter-interrupted without hesitation, her amber eyes narrowing in an annoyed look. “And don’t interrupt me.”

The stern reprimand was met with a surprised look from the young man as more silence resumed from that very point of the situation.

There wasn’t much to think too hard about. Now it was about time to ponder how they were supposed to make the date go in a way that would see Yang being the one to dismiss the chances of going through that kind of connection with the waiter.

“But what if I actually let that one happen? What if you just end up meeting up with me and we decided to hit it off by having movie marathons together?” Sid inquired with a hint of curiosity. “We wouldn’t have any reason to worry about the secret being discovered… since there would be a ‘logical reason’ behind our friendship.”

She opened her mouth, ready to advance some protest at this very scenario as this- This-

But while the girl had wanted to oppose such a thought, her traitorous mind decided to wholeheartedly agree to what the young man had just pointed out.

If Sid ended up together with Yang, then there would be a reason for him to know about Blake and… so all their problems would vanish without any complications.

So, why was the Belladonna still so unwilling to even just consider this option? Why it felt so difficult to even accept such a change of things so radical and sudden?

Just as she thought about it, having yet to offer a true response to his questions, her trail of thoughts were interrupted by the sudden noise of a doorbell ringing.

It was the one from the flat and… nobody was supposed to come around at this hour from Sid’s confused frown.

The young man merely graced her a nod as he quietly stood up from his seat on the couch and walked up to the front door, eyes sporting a certain amount of tension born from the unexpected development.

He stood for a moment there, carefully looking through the peeping hole before going to unlock the door. From his disbelief, he hadn’t seen anyone beyond the barrier, and his guarded stance suggested that whoever could’ve been outside wasn’t anyone friendly.

Some smoke started to form around his free hand, the young man preparing for any sudden fight while the door slowly started to open, enough to give space for him to peek on the other side… and blink in surprise as he yanked the entire door open.

“Hello?” He greeted quietly, with some shock and panic dripping from his tone.

“Wait, you?!”

Blake tensed up, her eyes widening in sudden dread as she recognized the high-pitched voice almost too quickly.

She gulped nervously, her attention on Sid intensifying as she hoped and prayed that her ears had just tricked her about this very situation.

“Yes, me?”

“But- But I was following up-”

There was no doubt about it, the Belladonna could feel horror crawl up on her back as she prepared for the worst situation possible.

“This is my flat, why are you here, Ruby?” The waiter finally confirmed her suspects, and Blake prepared to bolt out of that situation if the caped girl managed to break through the obstacle presented by the owner of the house.

“I was- wait, no. I know what I’ve seen and- Where is Blake?!” The leader of team RWBY demanded sternly, showing a surprising amount of anger in that brief moment. “I saw her coming through here and-”

“Well, she is not here,” Sid interrupted with a frown. “And you shouldn’t be screeching like that. People are actually sleeping at this hour.”

“B-But it’s afternoon-”

“And people can still end up working at unfair morning shifts,” The young man pressed on with some irritation. “So, why are you here?”

“Blake. I saw her walking inside and- she is here.”

“She is not,” He rebuked easily, only to deal with a huff from the young girl.

“Then I’m going to call Yang!”

Oh Gods, no!

Blake could feel herself shivering at the ramifications of this unplanned visit. Ruby had seen her coming here… but why? And how?

The Belladonna had been careful that she hadn’t been tailed. It had been one of the few things that she had to go through everytime she was outside of Beacon Academy, especially since she realized that there were people that still hunted her.

So how did she miss the ‘red-caped girl shadowing her steps’?

Truly an embarrassing note in that sea of dread.

“And?”

“She will help me find Blake- I know she’s here,” Ruby continued adamantly.

The young man merely shrugged. “How about we make a bet?”

...What?

“A… A bet?” The young girl parroted with a frown. “Wait, why should I-”

“Considering the hostility you’re showing right now, I think you expect me to have kidnapped Blake or something worse,” He interrupted with a sigh. “If that’s the case, then you would easily beat me up since I can see you’ve brought your own weapon and I’m unarmed. But-”

…

“But?” She pressed a little annoyed, almost childishly as Sid smiled at the rapt attention from the caped girl.

“But if she is fine and she is here by her own free will, you will allow us to give an explanation… and I can also offer some cookies as an appeasing bribe.”

There was some silence at that offer, and Blake genuinely hoped that she had really failed to listen up the kind of madness that the young man had just proposed to the scythe-wielding girl.

There was no way that Ruby would’ve accepted such a bargain without-

“Deal!” The team leader accepted eagerly, perhaps her resolve crumbling before the chance of getting some cookies anyway.

Nevermind, then.

Sid made way so that the shorter figure that was Ruby Rose had free access inside the flat and… Ruby stopped by the doorstep leading to the living room, with her silver eyes widening at the sight bestowed to her.

“Blake- you...” There was so much betrayal, so much shock at the dreadful discovery that it wasn’t a kidnapping but-

“You were having a movie marathon- about Spruce Willis’ amazing movies too!!”

“You mean that you’re angry about-” The Cat Faunus tried to inquire, only to be interrupted by a groan from the incensed brunette.

“How could you?! You know that I love his movies!” The younger girl continued with her contempt. “And I thought that you were in a dangerous situation- when you actually were being a selfish jerk by keeping this opportunity for yourself!”

Blake actually flinched at the legitimate anger coming from Ruby, her cat ears going flat in sign of distress as she was subjected to this sudden and bizarre predicament.

While she could’ve understood if the situation had been just about her getting kidnapped and this turning out to be wrong, Ruby seemed to actually be more furious about the fact that she hadn’t been invited to a movie marathon with action movies.

But before the shorter huntress-in-training could have gone further than that, her attention was stolen by a large plate appearing before her sight with numerous cookies on it.

Her already wide-open eyes turned comically even wider as she took the first cookie with her hands, munching happily on it.

“That’s every cookie I managed to find in the house,” Sid commented with a calm hum. “And I suppose that you will listen to a truthful explanation about what is going on… right?”

There was a lot going through Ruby’s mind in that very instant. While she could easily give a dry ‘nope’ and merely call Yang to screw them up about having failed to invite her to the movie marathon, she still found the sweet fragrance of the snacks before her eyes making her consider the merciful path over this confusing situation.

“Okay,” She mumbled before taking her second and third cookie, taking a seat by the couch much to the Belladonna’s increasing shock over the strange route this situation was taking before her eyes.

While she hadn’t known Ruby that much, Blake had thought that the girl was still someone capable of making ‘logical and normal choices’ about this crazy predicament.

Calling Yang from the brunette’s standpoint would’ve been the smarted decision to make as to not complicate things even more than those needed to.

And yet Ruby had sat down and she had quietly listened to their side of the story. The caped girl would still offer some questions, her curiosity flaring more than once with what turned out to be twenty minutes of intense explanations.

The plate with the cookies turned lighter and lighter the more time passed, the voracious girl devouring the sweet treats while she continued to allow this very odd situation to continue to the very end.

There were some awkward points that Blake herself was urged to answer on her own by Sid’s own insistence and Ruby’s fascination over the topics, some of those related as to why she had shied away from returning back to Beacon Academy and about her parents.

Through some queries were unpleasant, the final results ended up being fairly lenient considering the messy circumstances that led them to this very aftermath.

Ruby was disappointed with a couple of parts, but she seemed to keep a generally calm and respectful attitude over the full length of the explanation.

“Wait, Ozpin knows about this?” The caped girl had inquired with some surprise. “I- But why would he just keep up this lie? Isn’t that bad?”

“I think it’s connected to the fact that if Blake revealed the truth, it would fracture the team to a point of no return,” Sid had pointed out calmly, drawing a nod from the Cat Faunus. “Right now, both Yang and Weiss are relieved by Blake’s return- but if the truth was to come out so suddenly, and with them still recovering from the rollercoaster of emotions that came with the end of this ordeal, I think the results wouldn’t be pretty.”

The little Rose huffed. “This is so complicated. I understand it- It’s just that… Ugh!”

“We’re working on defuse this bomb, Ruby,” The young man continued with a tired sigh. “And that’s why I would ask from you to keep quiet about this.”

“I would’ve to lie to Yang,” She pointed out with an uneasy tone. “I- I really don’t want to do that.”

“Because she is your beloved sister and she is part of your family,” Sid reasoned with a nod, getting a surprised look out of Ruby. “I can relate to this because… I’m a young sibling too.”

Her eyes widened with renewed interest. “You mean that you have big brothers… or sisters?”

“A brother and a sister, both older than me,” He replied with a smile. “I care a lot about them.”

“But they can be so pushy, right?” The young girl whined with a groan. “I mean, Yang has been telling me that I’m super-special for getting into Beacon this early on.”

The young man nodded. “Oh, I can relate to that one too. In fact, there was a time when my father wanted to send me early to Haven since I trained with my Semblance to a decent degree- but I kind of diverted from there.”

“And you’re a waiter-” She stopped there a frown replacing her surprised look. “Wait, you were going to become a Huntsman? Why didn’t you go through with it?”

“I had some reasons that got me think away from it,” Sid answered with a shrug. “Still, I’m fine with what I got. I hope you’re happy with your school experience.”

“It was difficult- my partner was a little bit annoyed that I’m the team leader but now things are fine.”

“I’m glad to hear that and… I’m sure that you will help us to keep the situation from escalating any further with Blake’s bad luck streak,” He commented, drawing a frown out of the Cat-eared girl.

“I don’t have bad luck-”

“I think you have bad luck,” Ruby interrupted with a clear and truthful tone. “And… I will keep an eye on her if she does something stupid.”

And now the situation was turning once more against her. Blake had yet to decide if it was worst to be told she had bad luck by Sid or by someone as young and honest like Ruby.

Truly a dark day for her luc-

No! I don’t have any bad luck! It’s all a stupid estimation!

“Good to know, I can see why Blake consider you a good team leader.”

The praise was met with a giddy look from the young Rose. “Really?” The girl glanced to the side, right to her teammate. “You think I’m that good?”

Not that she had been praising her that much about it, only muttering about it rarely and sparsely while talking with Sid… but-

“Yes.”

She decided that it wasn’t just worth to ruin the moment.

Ruby looked incredibly convinced of their genuineness and there was no reason from her part to try and screw things up.

Just as the Belladonna had started to seriously hope that the situation was finally coming to its closure, her poor mind was gifted with one last predicament.

“Can I please stay? I really want to see some Spruce Willis’ movies and- Wait, you have Try Hard 3: Try the Hardest?”

…And while Sid conceded her a proper seat by the couch so that Ruby could’ve taken part to that Movie Marathon, Blake couldn’t help but sigh at the unfairness of this very development as she soon ended up getting to deal with some childish commentary from Ruby herself over the movies.

Not the worst, but undoubtably not the best situation ever she could’ve drawn from that few hours away from responsibilities and other stuff connected to Beacon.

…

Goddammit.