Chapter 20: When there's a Rainbow...

~Cinder’s POV~

The infiltration was finally complete.

Cinder was glad with the situation. Not only Ozpin had failed to take notice that his enemies were currently hiding among his students, but the headmaster had also been distracted elsewhere to notice how some bits of Beacon’s database had been copied and downloaded in her trusty pen-drive.

While it wasn’t part of her current plans, the acquisition of a full list of active Huntsmen and students within the school was going to prove important in the long run. The Queen would surely approve to have a defined list of her preys. Maybe the half-Maiden could finally request a little more ‘attention’ over the Grimm presence in the Emerald Forest, to increase the numbers needed for the invasion.

Despite her best efforts to secure ‘smart’ grunts by hiring mercenary groups and criminal gangs within the city, the recruitment campaign was… disappointing. At least compared to how much manpower had been spared by Valean Branch of the White Fang.

A massive pity, but a much-needed sacrifice to actually avoid any major attention from the Wizard. It’d been a surprise to notice how ‘smoother’ the operation to infiltrate the Academy had been now that the headmaster believed that the ‘worst was now over’.

It made her almost chuckle. But her mood was dampened by the fact that she was now forced to wear a bright green long-haired wig to cover her dark locks. Since one of the students was now aware of her appearance, it was only for the best to adopt some changes to avoid getting recognized by the little naughty cat.

Blake Belladonna. The name mattered little at first if not just for the nuisance factor caused by the bow-wearing girl’s closeness to her younger sibling, then Cinder learned some interesting details. Daughter of Ghira and Kali Belladonna, the girl was a precious pawn within the chessboard. One that actually would help in the eventuality that Menagerie tried to rally up any resistance against Salem.

Which is why, against her utmost irritation over dealing with the Cat Faunus, the young woman had well thought about kidnapping the brat once the plan was in full swing. It would’ve been difficult since Sid seemed to have a ‘silly aversion’ to keep close to the girl. Truly an annoyance that would be eased up only when her job here was done.

And hopefully things would break too much between her and her family. Cinder was still latching at the memories of her past, it wasn’t possible to sleep without thinking back about these times. She was slightly tired, but not truly interested by backing away from her plans. Especially when those would’ve ended with true World-Wide peace.

It was a big ambition. One that would warrant some frowns from her family because of the toll imposed by her ideas. But she couldn’t just back away, the Half-Maiden just needed to… do it for the sake of good.

But while her mind had been prepared to be labeled a monster by the large majority of the world, her core clenched at the mere thought that Sid and the others were going to join that group. The angry stare, the hurtful words, and the trust broken so suddenly and unexpectedly.

…

As much as Cinder wanted to consider it poetic, the truth was far from melodious. It was chaotic, it was messy. She didn’t want to hurt her brother, not after what had happened in the past. Not after she had run away from home. It was frustrating, she repeated again within her mind, but it had to be done.

Still, even though her main priority was to go through with her mission, Cinder wasn’t shy from actually focusing her attention elsewhere. There wasn’t much to do up until Atlas arrived with their envoys, and thus she was left to interest herself over a curious discussion Emerald had caught while wandering the walls.

A discussion between a blonde girl and Blake Belladonna. A discussion about some concerning topics for an old sister like she was. A discussion that saw her going alone in Vale to keep an eye to a possible attempt at her little brother’s heart.

Unacceptable. The database even reinforced the Half-Maiden’s perception of disdain over the efforts being displayed by Yang Xiao Long. Unruly, quite careless, and the prime example of an irresponsible young woman. All these details only burdened even more Cinder’s mind as she switched to her usual clothes for this occasion.

Following the blonde up to Sid’s workplace allowed the young woman to contemplate how she was going to approach this situation. While in her mind ‘rushing in and kill the harlot’ sounded like a good idea, there were things she couldn’t just ignore because of her blood-thirst.

The first thing was… Sid’s own presence there.

If there was something that the dark-haired woman had learned from past experiences, it was that her foolish little brother was quick to anger at the thought of someone monitoring him. It had been when mother had wanted to know more about his first crush, and it had been when Stacy had gone as far as flirt with the few girls that actually showed interest in the young man.

Cinder had always restrained herself from trying to act in broad daylight and in a manner that Sid would recognize her own ‘footprints’, and the results were interesting to say the least. The young man was angry, but devoid of any targets at the sudden rejections from those girls greedily aiming at his heart, and his lovable big sister would offer him hugs and a shoulder to cry upon.

A massive win-win that… now couldn’t just be achieved in this specific case. The girl in question was a Huntress-in-training, and one that could push her well enough to tap in her Maiden powers thanks to her Semblance.

A direct approach was quickly ditched, but her creative mind didn’t shy away from pondering some more about other solutions. It was by the time that the blonde entered the ‘Morning Sip’ that Cinder started to evaluate a convoluted plans to ruin the date.

She didn’t have to actually ‘make a ruckus’ out of that hang out, and it would take only a couple of ‘adjustments’ through her own semblance to get a fiasco out of that attempt. The flawless plan that just waited to be properly elaborated as both Yang and Sid finally walked out of the pub a couple of hours later.

It was the first time in a while that the dark-haired woman was forced to wait in her hiding spot to see some actions to happen, and she quickly regarded it as a training to her patience. Through patience she shall gain victory.

And that success was right within the small cafe that the blonde had taken her brother into. Sid made a comment about the place, perhaps sweetening a lament over the stupid decision of spending a date by a place similar to the one he worked for. Quite silly, but not enough to get a scowl out of him.

The brawler merely joked about it, sheepishly denying any major effort from her part. Stupid, but endearing. Cinder could see how the student was just playing with the fact that she was trying to restrain herself from going ‘too far’ with the planning.

Oddly enough, she could see the useful in that approach for the occasion. It was just so… precise. It seemed like it had been gauged by someone that knew how Sid behaved with this kind of situations, and the young man just liked way too at ease.

But… Yang wasn’t supposed to have spent that much time to know with Sid. And that was worrying to a newer level. In fact, instead of keeping away from interacting with the couple, Cinder decided to take a huge risk and actually move her current position away from her hiding hole.

Entering the cafe through the flow of people entering and leaving covered her from getting spotted by the two. It also gave the dark-haired woman the chance of fishing a spot where to sit and watch the situation from a closer perspective.

She couldn’t still hear what they were talking about properly, but the sight over their table was good enough for her. There were other tables between hers and theirs, but those served as barriers to keep herself from getting caught.

From that post, the chances of her quickly intervening if the situation took a sudden and sharp turn south were high enough to soothe her concerns. Just enough to make contingencies over whatever was happening with these two. Did she miss something happening during the infiltration? Should she plan out something to keep track of her brother while she is busy?

These thoughts kept her from focusing too hard on the theories behind Yang’s knowledge, and more into the current state of things. Distractions weren’t accepted, and her eyes were all fixed at the scene when-

“S-Sorry, Miss,” A soft, nervous, but feminine tone asked shyly, causing her to glance to the side and right onto an unexpected individual standing close. “Is that seat occupied?”

A blink, then two. But Cinder couldn’t just digest the fact that a familiar red-caped girl was standing there and looking at her with an uneasy look.

Silver eyes. This element just confirmed her concerns as she finally grasped at the reality. Ruby Rose, the little girl that was the blonde’s young sister and team leader of Team RWBY, was standing there.

Another blink. “It’s free.”

The implications were massive, but Cinder wasn’t going to divert away a source of fresh info over this very situation, especially since her presence seemed to be tied to the date too. As the girl took the chair, and patiently hummed at the sight of her sister and the young man, a waiter finally arrived at the table.

“Do you wish to order something?” A formal query, a standard from places like this. The half-Maiden nodded, while the young Rose was a little bit more hesitant to accept. Still, she ended up giving a quiet ‘yes’, leaving Cinder to pick her own order. The choice wasn’t difficult, and the dark-haired woman picked her usual favorite.

“A glass of milk.”

A little childish, but not something that the woman deemed outright silly. The sweet flavor of milk was just too good, especially if it was mixed with cookies. It reminded her of… the delicious meals prepared by her mother.

Yet, as she turned to gauge the girl’s reaction at the order, surprise swelled within her chest at the happy look now replacing the previous nervousness in Ruby’s face.

“I-I will take the same.”

...Oh? So the caped girl liked milk too? There weren’t any details related to favorite food and drinks among students within the database, so this came to Cinder like a fascinating development. One that she could exploit for some conversation.

“It’s quite surprising to find someone else that prefers milk to coffee,” The half-Maiden commented quietly, gaining Ruby’s attention on her.

The girl gave a shaky smile. “It’s- I just like milk. Plus I know it’s the best thing to grow up healthier and properly!”

A strong response that was met with a nod. Cinder herself could remember when she’d been so sure of that detail herself. Then she grew up, and puberty bestowed with a body that she couldn’t exactly be embarrassed by. If only people could restrain themselves from staring.

“It’s an interesting grasp over the matter. Have you found any success yet?”

The inquiry was meant to be a simple question, but perhaps it was confused as a form of teasing by the little groan leaving Ruby’s lips.

“Only my height. I’ve grown taller since last year- but I’m sure that I-I will achieve more.”

She was determined. That was already a good headstart as far as the woman was concerned about her success… and that was odd. It shouldn’t be a concern to her. She shouldn’t be caring about this matter.

Yet the more Cinder looked at the easygoing expression, the serenity that the younger girl had… she couldn’t help but see a mirror of her young self in her stead. Young, happy… naive. Painfully naive.

Ultimately, the woman sighed. “And I suppose that you’re not here for some conversation with a stranger. Or else you wouldn’t have spent so much time staring at them.”

Getting called out in these circumstances must have been dreadful. Yet the girl merely tensed, looking away like a child caught in some cheeky but naughty deed. A little blush, a moment of weakness. Just like she would behave when her mother had a stern glance directed at her after something unpleasant had happened because of her actions. But still a far cry from the shyness that Cinder was once caged by.

“It’s- It’s complicated.”

“I suppose,” The half-maiden rebuked softly. “But maybe you could start by introducing yourself.”

The indirect query was matched with a quick nod from the young girl. “Ruby. Ruby Rose.”

“Nice to meet you, Ruby,” The woman replied kindly, mustering up some of her past self to appear as close to a civilian as possible. “I’m Cinder Tremaine. You can start by explaining why are you spying on my little brother and his date?”

Calm, suave, confident. She needed to embody these three elements within her speech pattern. Trust wasn’t difficult to gain, but it was hard to keep with people as young as Ruby. The young Rose herself looked shocked at the revelation combined to the question, yet, despite her pale-faced complex, the student offered a weak look of uneasiness before trying to answer.

“Well- I mean, I’m surprised to- and-”

Keyword was trying, as the mumbled mess just rendered difficult for Cinder to get a coherent explanation out of the embarrassed girl. Truly an annoying sight, but one forgivable with how ‘strong’ she had gone with her presentation. Maybe it was the result of her nerves finally showing at the presence of someone that was so familiar to her.

She could still remember the first encounter with the scythe-wielding girl, the fierce and admirable standoff making it certain that despite her young age, Ruby was prepared to become a powerful huntress. Still, to see her so closely and so ‘privately’ was enough to give Cinder a different perception of the silver-eyed teen.

Not a fierce enemy that she would’ve to eventually kill, but someone that surprisingly enough matched with her past self. And this wasn’t a good thing. Not at all. Especially since she would’ve to still kill her when the proper time will come.

A saddening thought that couldn’t just be ignored considering that the topic was standing in front of her. Ruby was clueless about it, and perhaps thinking that Cinder was just contemplating over her mess of words. She looked nervous and awkward, the byproduct of a girl with few friendly connections and… without a mother.

...Why are things so fucking complicated!

But there was no time to whine over the unfair situation. She didn’t have much of a choice… and the moment she will have to do what she has to was still far from happening. Cinder finally hummed, holding back all negative emotions and trying to make a genuine smile devoid of awkwardness.

“Is that your sister?”

A little nudge to unlock the situation. Ruby’s eyes widened a little more, but instead of asking how she had come to guess so easily, the girl merely nodded.

“I-I was just… seeing if things were going alright,” The girl meekly admitted, her stare still directed at the table and away from Cinder’s own eyes. “I don’t want to annoy them. They seem to be having fun, plus everything looks fine there and… It’s just odd.”

The woman blinked. “Odd?”

“Yeah, it’s… kind of difficult to explain in simple words,” The young Rose continued with a nervous tone. “I know things are going fine, but I can’t help but expect things to do bad too. It’s a hunch, but I don’t really have anything to- to base it of to.”

“Maybe you’re just concerned for your sister’s heart?” Cinder guessed, only for her little deduction to be dashed away with a shake of head. Slight irritation grew from that, but she didn’t display it on her face.

“I know that Yang can handle this stuff. It’s… not the first time she has to deal with it,” The student explained. “But I also feel that she deserves to be happy and… I think Sid would be a good boyfriend material.”

An intrigued look replaced her confused one, with the half-Maiden hiding away the fact she was seething at this very comment.

“Truly? I don’t see how that could be,” The woman admitted with a restrained tone. It wouldn’t be convenient to spit poison early on. The girl would react badly, and mess up their current covers for the sake of protecting her older sibling. “I don’t wish to sound too much disrespectful, but I can assume by the way she is behaving right now to be quite the opposite of what Sid is.”

Cinder expected a quick reply to that. Either to confirm or disagree with what she had just said. But much to her surprise, Ruby took a moment to think about those words. She contemplated about those and… finally she sighed.

“I suppose that’s what it looks like… and I know that Yang can be overly-irritating with her puns, or how much she tries to tease me about my accomplishments,” Ruby started with a legitimately serious tone. It was a change from the previous voice, as the stammering and stuttering were gone. In their places was a steel-like resolution that made Cinder freeze up in fascination. “But I can also say that she is just trying to… be the funny one. To be the one that helps people cheer up, or even going as far to help them on a more direct way. When mom… died, she took care of me as much as she could, trying her best to hide away the fact that mom wasn’t coming back home.”

“You don’t need to-”

“I think I want to,” Ruby interjected with a sigh. Her eyes sporting a mix of sadness and determination. An odd mix for sure, but woman decided to still listen at her points. “In fact, I think I should’ve done this much before. I… I always try to sound mature, to be mature… to be an adult. I want to be an adult and yet I still rely on Yang. She doesn’t mind, or at least she tries to not show it. It’s… something that confuses me, but also angers me because I know I can help her myself.”

“It’s the duty of a big brother or sister to help their younger siblings,” The half-maiden pleaded, for some reason feeling directly interested by the words coming from Ruby. While she wasn’t the Rose’s older sibling, the claim she was bringing forward was… quite familiar, but on an opposite scale.

Sid had always been there. There was no occasion where he would just skip giving her attention, devotion, emotions, and genuine happiness. It was mesmerizing, but also addicting. He was there, and things were fine. But…

…

But when was the last time she actually showed more interest in what he cared for? When was the last time he checked on his emotions rather than selfishly think that things would just be fine until they were together?

There was no moderation, there was no reassurance. It would be wrong to say otherwise.

“I think it’s nice to be cared like that,” Ruby rekindled the discussion with a small smile, drawing Cinder out of her own mind and back to reality as the caped girl addressed the matter once more. “To be spoiled, pampered. To know you can fall back and have someone to trust without hesitation. But I also think that everyone deserve to be happy. One can’t just live to make people happy, and then deprive themselves of their own happiness. It’s unfair. It’s wrong.”

The dark-haired woman stared at the table. “It’s bad.”

The comment was matched with a nod from the girl, the student unaware of the impact her speech was having on Cinder’s mind. The entire situation put a single but unmovable doubt that was halting the half-maiden’s thoughts of conquering her step-brother. It was strange to just accept this and… there wasn’t anything to do about it for now. With the situation forbidding her to not think thoroughly about this, Cinder decided to restrain herself from pondering about this up until she was left alone in a safer place.

“This is why I wish for them to succeed,” Ruby concluded with a brighter smile. “I want them both to be happy.”

…

“That’s… an interesting thought about the matter,” Cinder confessed quietly, glancing as both Yang and Sid seemed to have finished their meal, paying the waitress coming to their table… maybe they were going to continue elsewhere.

There was a temptation to still follow them, but her mind was once more ensnared away as Ruby spoke again. Having grown accustomed with the older girl, the young Rose decided to inquire some more about their family

“Sid mentioned that he was the youngest sibling, as in that there is you, his big sister, and his big brother,” The girl started with immense curiosity just barely held back by her mouth. “Can you tell me more about it?”

A smile now adorned Cinder’s face. “Only if you give me some more about your sister.”

And from a simple but awkward conversation, to something a little more complex and serious, two unlikely individuals shared a pleasant afternoon together among teasing stories and fond memories.

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

~Sid’s POV~

This was perhaps the smoothest date I had in ages. And that was an achievement on itself.

Yang looked to be positively elated by the entire situation, and I was actually finding her personality to be a little less pushy than usual. I was unsure if it was something born from Blake’s advices, or if this was a genuine attempt coming from the blonde alone. Nonetheless, I wasn’t having any issues with how things were developing between us.

The visit at the cafe, albeit a little bit cliché and awkward because of the fact that I worked at a bar, seemed to be domineered by small jokes over this very element. I hadn’t put too much thought over the possibility of having to deal with an elaborated schedule, and for now things were being reasonably acceptable. If not better considering how the brawler’s humor worked without too many puns at once.

Her jokes were fine as they were and she knew when to throw those in at the most opportune time without sounding overly-cheerful about the situation. She was giddy. I could see her almost vibrating as we made our way out of the cafe and into the nearby park. We took a moment to sit by some of the available benches before resuming our previous conversation.

“But how much strong are you now?” The blonde quickly pressed on. “Sure, you got plenty of training in the past, but you’ve to admit that you’ve got to be rusty now.”

I shrugged. “I didn’t have much practice, so I would suppose I’m not 100% as ready as I was before dropping my training. Is there any reason why that’s important?”

“Lemme see...” She hummed sarcastically, listing up her reasons with her fingers. “I would have a permanent sparring partner; We can learn each other fighting styles; You can admire my hot bod; And I think you would want to admire my hot bod.”

“You’ve a hot bod alright, no need to doubt that,” I commented calmly, my smile twitching at her amused giggle. “But I think you’re missed a point in your ‘enlightening listing’.”

She frowned. “I did not.”

“I believe you forgot the fact that I would’ve a lovely woman with a big heart to talk to before, during, and after the spars,” I pointed out with a genuine note of amusement, drawing a huff from the girl as her arms crossed below her bosom. “What? I’m telling the truth.”

“I know,” Yang muttered with a small pout. “Doesn’t mean I can feel surprised by the smooth flirt you pulled there.”

“Aw, is someone unprepared for some calibrated compliments?” I teased, only to recoil a little bit as she playfully punched my arm. “And ouch, that did sting a little.”

“It’s not my fault you turned in a wimp,” She cheekily rebuked and I snorted. “What? I’m telling the truth.”

My eyes narrowed at her, a small scowl on my face. “I can easily say this ‘wimp’ can still beat you squarely in match.”

“Bah, you’re tripping now,” The blonde giddily remarked. Then she tilted her head to the side, her lilac eyes regarding me with an interested look. “Are you betting on a match?”

“A bet needs to have a wage. It’s like yo-”

“I win, I get to do whatever I want to do to you. You get a shot at me if you win,” She quickly brought up with a smug tone. “Nothing too crazy, nor perverted.”

I shrugged. “Sure.”

“Then we can go there and see how much of a ‘professional’ you are.”

I blinked at the large patch of short grass she was pointing at and I pondered about it. This was still a date, not just a friendly hang out. While I know that Yang is someone that likes to fight, it wasn’t no intention of mine to-

Ya know what? Fuck it, we going in!

I was feeling excited at the situation, plus I knew that the brawler was just craving for a quick fight to test each other abilities. And I wasn’t going to deny her the pleasure of checking me out… heh.

Soon we were standing a couple of meters one away from the other. She was already taking her stance and I slowly took mine as we waited for something to start the match. There was a suave breeze cooling off my skin, giving me a state of peace that was just difficult to achieve in a normal situation.

I felt electric, I could feel my muscle tensing in preparation for a match. Not one driven by panic, or need. But a fun game between two morons to see who was the greatest moron. Either by winning or losing, I was still unsure about that.

It was nice to finally be granted the opportunity to spar again. We both heard a dog barking in the distance, and the noise proved to be what we were waiting for. Bolting towards each other, I studied the situation with a careful approach compared to Yang’s aggressive pace.

There was moderation in her attacks, and her fist were focused and well-aimed, enough to paint me surprised a couple of time about how precise her hits were. Of course my speed gave me some edge, enabling me in countering and dodging her attacks. Some still reached through my guard, dignifying the pitiful state of my memories over my current stance. I was too sloppy with my movements and… I was really growing embarrassing about it the more the fight continued.

The girl wasn’t picking up any speed, restraining herself to just probing, attacking, and outright rushing me with a brazen posture. She wasn’t by any mean holding back the power in her punches and kicks, mostly her punches. I was fighting a hardcore boxer that just seemed to have endless stamina. A boxer that had a pretty grin on her gorgeous face within her beautiful body.

Dammit, I was getting too distracted- didn’t Blake say something about keeping out from reaching her hair?

I pondered over trying to strike her face, just enough to make her back away from the active persecution onto my sore body, but I was worried over the ‘berserk button’ that the Belladonna had mentioned earlier that morning. Her Semblance was something correlated to heat, power boosted through suffering damage, and something that was defined as ‘everything she touches technically burns’.

I was wary of it all, and so I tried to unbalance her footing with kicks. With her stance focusing on keeping most of her attention on her upper body, her legs were the least defended and active bits within the fight excluding the quick pacing. She seemed to realize almost too quickly about what I was trying to accomplish, but I noticed how there was little effort made to switch out of that stance and cover for that flaw.

I didn’t hesitate in mustering up some serious kicks to try and weaken up her balance. There was some progress alright, but my defense against her continuous barrage of punches wasn’t doing well. We were both taking damage in that battle of attrition. I could see some white glowing spreads through our bodies as our auras manifested by how swift our strikes were on our mutual openings.

Her grin widened at the heated exchange of blows, and I would be lying in saying that I wasn’t actually liking how intense this spar was being. No foul hit had been thrown yet, we were both respectfully holding back from being utterly murderous, and I was doing my utmost to not come anywhere close to that golden mane.

Despite my best efforts to keep her from tapping in her Semblance early on, my hopes crumbled as I saw her hair glowing a little bit and her eyes switching to a strangely familiar blood red. I felt confused at the sight, feeling like I’d seen someone with this characteristic before, but now I couldn’t help but frown in confusion at the weird sense of familiarity I had over Yang’s current state.

The girl seemed to ignore my confusion, rushing to land stronger hits on me and forcing me to employ my own Smoke to deal with the brutal rush of attacks. Her punches were quicker and stronger, but those had nothing that could manage to inflict damage through my ‘defense’. Her eyes widened a little as she realized that she wasn’t doing much with this, forcing her to back away and… throw a sweeping kick to keep me away. She severely misunderstood the situation I was in, and the brawler seemed to understand without any input other than me rushing behind her thanks to my augmented speed.

A shocked look greeted me and I swiftly threw a steam-powered punch on her cheek. It was in that very moment that I introduced Yang’s face to the ground. Much to my surprise, the blonde recovered quickly and her speed picked up thanks to the damage inflicted.

I was put in a difficult situation. A dilemma weighting over my head while the girl resumed with her charge. I finally started to land some destabilizing blows by her legs, with her lower body starting to tremble at the damage but not bend over the pressure. I was impressed by her resistance, but I could see that she was already starting to get winded because of this.

I could technically overwhelm her right now by putting pressure on her upper body’s defense at the risk of reaching her hair, or I could just make a prayer and hope that she would tire out before I had to resort to that. But with more time passing and her determination hardly allowing her to falter even a single moment in her assault, I knew that I had to take a huge risk.

And a huge risk I did take by rushing a powerful steam punch by her face. Her Aura tanked the attack perfectly and without leaving much of a small bruise by the cheek, but as soon as the first hit reached her and with Yang blinked in surprise at the sting going through her face, I decided to exploit the situation to land two more punches.

Two strikes later, and she was having trouble with a small concussion I’d caused through that three-hit combo, and I decided for this instance to be my opportunity to end the match. I was feeling particularly tired, and I was sure as heck going to lose if I didn’t rush for victory. So I ran towards her and pushed her forward and towards the ground, a gasp left her lips as I succeeded in wrapping my arms around her waist.

I counted on Yang’s surprise distracting long enough to pull that pounce-tackle properly, and I sure had high hopes for it to go through without any problem. I was proven to be the greater moron because of a sudden development that I thought only when I went through the first two steps of my three-steps to victory plan.

There is a part of physical training in preparation school that just helps you understand how to counter this kind of situations. I’d completely forgotten about the anti-tackle protocol, but I remembered it quite easily when I saw the blonde’s arms quickly running down and then lift up suddenly, slamming my own ones away and then pulling me in a bear hug. I then braced for impact as she fiercely turned me around and used my chest as a landing mattress when we finally reached the floor.

I groaned at the weight pressing me down, and her victorious giggles made me realize how my little anxiety had costed me a close victory. I glanced at the giddy girl as she continued to straddle me like a big pillow, her face leaning down with a smile.

“Seems like someone bit the dust,” The blonde commented eagerly. “And you know what? I like how you’re right now.”

“On the ground and defeated?”

“Nope,” She popped the ‘p’ as she leaned a little more. “I was thinking that you’re just ready for me to take my reward. And I want some sugar~.”

At first I was confused at her comment. My mind wasn’t just there with how crazy that fight had been and I was ready to inquire some more about it-

“Wha-mhh?!”

But Yang wasn’t in the mood for more talks. I saw her lilac eyes closing up as she rushed for my lips. I tensed up a little bit at the sudden kiss, surprised when I was met with some tongue on her part. It wasn’t even a particularly long one, and I returned the favor almost instantly with how enticing the entire situation was.

Moments passed, but soon she retracted away with a satisfied smirk. “And sugar I got!” The cheeky proclamation was met with a frown from me.

“For a moment I really thought you just wanted normal sugar,” I confessed almost too quickly, causing her to snort and redden up at the amusing comment I forwarded. “I mean, we went through a fight and my brain isn’t just there.”

“But it seems it’s now back after getting some honey,” The girl continued with her eagerness, staring down at my face with a degree of confidence that was all deserved after this fight. “By the way, how was it?”

I blinked, a small smile appearing on my face at the query. “I might… need a little more testing.”

“Really? Why didn’t you ask?”

She leaned back down, stealing another kiss as this time we properly enjoy this through. No surprises, just shared happiness.

Backing away, the brawler’s lilac eyes returned the question once more and I sighed.

“You’re a marvelous kisser, m’lady.”

“Flatterer. But yes, I know that I’m good,” The blonde admitted with a snort. “Yet I didn’t expect you to be this good. I thought you mentioned having no relationship before now.”

“And I didn’t lie. Plus, I could swear you said something similar to that.”

“Yep.”

…

“No further comment?” I inquired, only to be met with some shuffling down below my chest as she carefully settled her head there, basking in the pleasant warmth coming from there. “Really?”

“The wind is nice, plus I need a moment to recharge,” Yang said flatly, yet her small smile suggested satisfaction at the situation. “And I can see you need some rest too. It’s a nice day after all.”

I snorted, but I didn’t mutter anything else after that as I focused on some rest. She was correct in saying that I was drained after that heated spar, but I didn’t fall asleep much to her inner surprise. Instead I just stared up at the sky and pondered well about this successful date. It would seem like I had scored a relationship. One that seemed fairly serious from the first step.

But while I contemplated about the good spin at my current luck, a certain cat-eared Faunus stared at the sight with a small blush on her face, a notebook in her hands and some scribblings being done in the name of ‘good literature’. Who would’ve thought that Blake was planning to start a writing career…