Chapter 22: I now have a Dragon Issue...

The flat was surprisingly silent despite the words that had just been uttered.

I was incredibly tense as I tried so ‘reduce my presence’ by pressing onto the closest edge of the couch. Blake was following a similar pattern, but her act was more evident by the flat hears and legs lifted up near to her chest.

In front of us was… a calm Yang.

While in a normal circumstance the situation shouldn’t have warranted this much worry, the real problem was that the blonde had just listened to the full story behind the last few weeks, the truth about what happened after the battle at the docks.

I was slightly irritated by the fact that Blake, in her grand wisdom and capacity to think, had seen telling the truth to her partner right in my home and right with me in the brawler’s proximity. While I was slightly happy that she had dived into the issue and tried to find a good solution to it, albeit without my consent, the thing was that I really couldn’t see the lucidity in having Yang aware of what had truly happened.

Having seen the Xiao Long mutter with utter sadness and minor despair about her possible fault behind the Belladonna’s disappearance, I knew that this approach was meant to cause no little reaction out of her.

And so I was bracing for a sudden pounce from the possibly angry blonde. It wouldn’t be unusual, and it wasn’t just because Blake had mentioned the moments of fury the brawler was known for, but the fact that I spent plenty of times around the girl to know myself that she wasn’t someone to piss off. Ever.

But instead of looking for the sensible development to finally happen, I found myself staring at the most absurd move Yang could’ve ever dared to pull in that kind of instance.

Lifting her right leg and crossing it above her other one, the blonde hummed thoughtfully as she scratched softly at her chin.

“So you mean to tell me… that you weren’t kidnapped until the very end of your disappearance. All because you were sleeping here all the time?”

“Not all the-”

Yang huffed, her hands slamming calmly by her knees.

“You’re both morons,” The brawler stated with a serious tone. “Morons I would like to punch for not only leaving me to sickly worry over this silly cat’s conditions, but because you literally held me from exploiting countless hours of teasing.”

“Of all things you could be most irritated about, you decided to go after the teasing,” I mused with a frown. “And you’re not even looking that much angry. Why is that?”

…

She sighed. “You know how things ended up like this, right?” The girl started to elaborate through the queries. “With me trying to ‘check’ if you were a good keeper or not?”

I merely nodded, and I could see Blake from the edge of my sight starting to understand what I was referring to with my confused question.

“Well, thing is that… while I should be pummeling both of you for making up this much shit, I’ve to admit that the aftermath isn’t a terrible thing,” The blonde continued, nodding to herself as she thought back at the various instances after her partner’s return. “Especially with Blakey starting to put more attention on school and… actually talking with the others.”

“So you’re conflicted about what to say-”

“Because I did wrong myself- and I don’t see the lie worth much of stirring trouble considering why you keep this from the others,” The blonde interjected, her lilac-eyed gaze offering a stern glare back to me, prompting me to keep quiet. “I’m still angry. But I can see why the headmaster would decide to stay silent about the matter and leave the lie persist.”

“So you’re angry… but also not,” Blake commented blankly, highlighting how strange that explanation was.

“Sounds like a complicated mess, but I can assure you that I still want retribution,” The blonde exclaimed loudly. “And I want… an individual favor each.”

...What?

The grin, the amused glint in her eyes… I could tell that she was trying to get something incredibly complicated and dangerous. While Yang lacked the ‘means’ to get some big favor out of either me or Blake, she still had enough to make some substantial move that could either screw us both or actually ‘let us be’ with minimal damage.

“The first favor is about you, Sid,” She mentioned with a strange smile on her lips. “I want a place to crash by in case I can’t make it to the dorms before curfew.”

I frowned at that sudden demand, but then again it wasn’t one of the worst scenarios I had in mind. It would mean keeping an eye over this new secret for the time being while also having my fridge filled with enough food for three people instead of two.

Which meant a newer pressure to my finances. Goddammit.

“I can give you the guest room I tried to give Blake,” I proposed quietly. “And before you ask no, I did offer the guest room first and she just found the couch ‘comfier’ and-”

“Is that true?” The brawler inquired suddenly. The Cat Faunus offered a nod, making way as Yang stood out of her chair and quickly sat down in the middle of the couch, between the Belladonna and me.

“Holy shit, that’s some comfy fabric and pillows,” The girl muttered in unexpected surprise, her stare quickly returned to me. “How much did it cost?”

Why the hell is everyone interested by my couch? Is this some curse I ended up inherited by buying this cheap thing?

Like really, I could understand a single individual making it a proper reason to prefer it to a mattress, but I had tested thoroughly if the guest room’s bed was ‘lesser’ than the sofa, and I ended up learning that there was literally nothing much different from both sleeping spots.

“It was a sale, I don’t really remember where did I-” I paused for a moment, realizing that the Belladonna’s eyes were glimmering with a strangely familiar glint. Was it… nervousness? It took me just a moment to understand why this derail existed and why Blake seemed so earnest to go through with ti. “Wait no, we can’t just digress on this. Not when-”

“We should actually,” The dark-haired girl muttered a little too eagerly for my tastes. “In fact, you never told me where you brought it and-”

“Blake, you can’t just delay the-”

“Delay? What delay? I’m just studying how this fascinating piece of furniture ended up in your care,” The young woman persisted, forcibly ignoring my efforts to bring normality back in that conversation. “I mean, I could buy this for my room once I’m done with Beacon.”

…

“Blakey, I will be honest with you,” Yang finally commented with a dry tone and look. “I might be interested in that trail of thoughts you got going, but I’m not forgetting that I’ve to cash in the favor you owe me.”

The Belladonna’s cat ears twitched in minor irritation, and a grumpy look appeared on her face as she knew that her ploy had gone wasted like that. “Fine, what do you want from me?”

“Oh, compared to Sid, yours is pretty tame… but also one I can’t budge away from,” The blonde started with a happy tone, her smile resurfacing. “From now on, I want you and I to have a serious partnership over our career as huntresses.”

…

“What?”

“Yeah, I didn’t catch the meaning myself,” I muttered with a frown.

“Up until now we’ve been training as partners very sparsely. And that is something that Weiss has been nagging to me for days now,” Yang elaborated after letting out an annoyed huff at the combined confusion. “Since Vytal is around the corner, I thought about how important it would be for us both if we increased our chances of winning. Not only the prestige and all of that crap… I really want that improvement to our grades.”

“Maybe you should just start studying seriously instead of grasping at glass,” Blake retorted hotly, only for Yang to wave at her with an unfazed look.

“I think the chances of us winning the tournament are higher than me actually drowning myself in books,” The Xiao Long pointed out with a cheeky smile. “Plus, I’m already working on improving on that too. I know that winning Vytal wouldn’t stabilize everything.”

“Would be quite annoying if you ended up unable to proceed to Year 2,” I commented back, and her cheekiness disappeared in an exasperated sigh.

“I know right?” The blonde said while leaning her head on my shoulder. “By the way, I still retain cuddling rights despite us breaking up.”

I frowned. “On which basis?”

“That I’m cute, and I trust you to not abuse my hair while I’m like this,” She smugly admitted, her violet stare turning at Blake. “And I wouldn’t mind extending this trust to you, Blakey.”

The Faunus snorted. “As if I would want to be cuddled.”

I felt the need to intervene at that point, but Blake seemed to realize what she had just said, swiftly glancing at me and gesturing for me to keep quiet about ‘past interactions’.

“I call bullshit,” Yang quickly interjected. “I believe the kitty-cat is just grumpy because she got yanked into more work.”

“Could be,” I agreed much to the Belladonna’s growing irritation.

“It’s not like that and-” She huffed. “Why are you two lovey-dovey? Didn’t you say that you were through?”

“We are.”

“But that doesn’t mean that we need to part away completely,” Yang pointed out. “In fact, we have the cuddles; then we got the fact that we can offer each other contacts about possible friends we could date and… cuddles. Cuddles are always the best part in this kind of breakup.”

“It’s just… why?”

...Why what? She had this confused look I couldn’t just make sense about and why was she blushing- Oh.

“Yang, stop lifting up my shirt,” I chided the girl, her hands subtly letting go of the half-lifted shirt.

“Sorry, but I really needed to look at a pair of abs right now,” The blonde giggled. “Do you know how draining the last topic was?”

“It just sounds so… strange. And wrong,” Blake argued back with a quieter tone, getting our attention back on her. “It’s not like I find it bad but-”

“It’s just unusual for you to see two individuals break up and be like this, isn’t it?” I suggested, getting a nod from her. “Well, I think that’s what happens when you base your knowledge of relationships in Ninjas of Love.”

“What does it have to do with you and Yang.”

“Nothing,” The blonde promptly replied. “Which is why he is saying that it doesn’t work as good material for relationships.”

She didn’t comment after this, merely staring right at the TV and… I sighed.

“We could go ahead with our planned movie marathon,” I offered, getting a quick nod from Blake as the Belladonna stood up from her seat and walked towards the kitchen.

“I’m getting the pop corn and chips.”

Without Blake around, I was left alone with Yang, and, before I had a chance to rekindle a conversation, I felt her right hand rise up quietly right to my cheek.

She started to pull, quite viciously I might say. I flinched a little at the hold, but my attention was fully on her as she let out a sigh.

“While I might not be angry at Blake, I’m still miffed over the stunt you pulled about having ‘not seen her around’,” The Xiao Long quipped with quite the incensed tone. “And the worst bit? I know I can still trust you, and that you’re a good guy.”

“Yang-”

“I’m not going to make a scene, but I will tell you this because I care and you care,” The blonde huffed, finally letting go of my cheek. “Next time you pull a stunt like that… I will kick you. Really hard. And I don’t need to point where I will aim said kick.”

I gulped nervously at the threat. “Understood.”

Another sigh. “I don’t hate you by any mean. You’re nice and caring- but also terribly dumb in your own ways when you need to cover for someone,” The brawler hummed happily. “Which is why, once we got some time for ourselves I will see to have a legitimate spar with you. I will not pull my punches about it.”

“Anything else?”

Snorting, she carefully turned to me and her lilac eyes stared up at my own eyes.

“You and Blake, did you two cuddle?”

I tensed up a little at the unexpected question… but I nodded at her.

Her interest was piqued by my silent answer. “Really?”

“It was more of a hug actually-”

“Was she nuzzling on your chest, while you had your arms pressing her onto it?”

Kind of? It was quite difficult to remember how something like that went through. It’s been a while ago and I really don’t keep track of details about those moments. Still, I nodded at her with some uncertainty.

“You cuddled. And I wasn’t there to record this from happening.”

Yang sounded disappointed, and I frowned once more.

“How is that something important?”

“You know that Blake isn’t the kind of gal that accepts being too close to people on a physical level,” The young woman explained. “She doesn’t hug people. Period. And I can say that after having been her partner for a while now.”

“But… she does with me.”

“She does, and that leaves me more puzzled than angry,” The blonde continued. “I know you’re friends and all of that… but can I say it’s just plain odd that you two are so attached to each other.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Are you jealous?”

“Of the fact you’ve higher chances of scratching those adorable cat ears? Yes. Immensely so,” Yang admitted with a big grin. “But not aggravate me about it. I will destroy you if you dare me like that.”

I chuckled. “Wouldn’t want to do that.”

Her grin widened. “Damn right you are.”

Blake returned shortly after, blissfully unaware of the conversation that had happened while she was by the kitchen. Still, she gave us a suspicious stare over why we both looked… giddier than before.

Instead of asking, she merely sat down, offering the two bowls filled with snacks to us while she hold onto her own. I went to set the first movie of an action-filled trilogy that was just two years old now and… things proceeded smoothly.

It was odd to say, but for some reason I felt like things felt incredibly calmer than I felt them being.

I frowned at this, still keeping track of the movie as I pondered about it.

Why I felt like something odd was happening… and it was somehow connected to me?

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

Everything was a blurred. Almost nauseating to look at as he quietly woke up in that dark alley.

A cough, then two. His lungs were burning a little bit, the result of what had been a furious exchange between him and the unexpected guard that had prevented him to truly strike.

Adam was still dealing through the painful concussion preventing him to make complex thoughts, and his first issue was the lack of the mask that helped to hide his scarred self.

Growling, he noticed a mix of white, brown and pink taking a couple of steps toward him.

The girl was smiling, deviously so as she twirled around the thin blade that had been kept within her parasol.

Silence was her reign, one that Adam had been caught off guard by as he tried to fight her off when she struck her first hit. His senses had yet to recover from the fight against both Blake and that puny human, and his fighting prowess was way too weakened to keep up a serious match with this watchdog.

It didn’t help that he had lost his customized blade, leaving his capacity to fend off bladed strikes relatively null compared to before.

Wakey-Wakey!

The Bull Faunus frowned at the strange sign the girl was holding in front of him.

“Y-You.”

She twirled it, and he realized that the words had changed in that simple action.

Yes, me. The one that kicked your butt into submission.

“Your gloating is futile, human. Once I break out from these restraints you-”

Will perish at the mighty of the big, bad Faunus?

Another growl left his lips. “You think this is all a joke? My people’ plight is-”

Inconsequential~.

A silent giggle followed the newest interruption, further spurning at Adam’s growing frustration. It was a torture similar to the one he had suffered so many years ago, the one that had left that bloody mark on his eye.

There was none of the malicious commenting, or the racial slurs thrown his way in that moment of fragility, but the silent poking was already sending him in a frenzy. If it hadn’t been for the chains tying his hands at a reinforced pillar, then things would’ve gone way more differently than now.

Still, he couldn’t exactly act upon the infuriating teasing… but he could do something to agitate his captor in making stupid moves.

“I suppose you’re quite close to man, the one that stole my Blake,” He said, starting from a blunt but slow approach to the topic.

Kind of. His workplace makes some delicious ice cream.

He twitched at that comment. Surely, the woman wasn’t doing it just for-

“But you’ve to be close to him to go through to this.”

She shrugged, keeping ‘quiet’ for a while as she pondered about that comment.

He’s nice, but I’m not doing it for that. At least, not as my priority. It’s a job.

“Someone else hired you to protect him?”

That meant that someone else was keeping an eye out for him. Could it be Beacon’s headmaster? No, it wasn’t his style to just employ dangerous assassins to guard people that hardly had any connection to his school.

Yep. She’s a massive bitch, but I can dig this work. Ice cream and talking to a cutie? I see it a win-win.

She? Why did this sudden detail brought him a sense of dread about the current and previous circumstances?

And now that his sight was getting better, he could get a clearer look of the young woman. She was familiar. He had seen her somewhere else.

But where-

“Let’s go, Neo. Can’t linger too much ‘to disgust’ pretty guy over there.”

Torchwick, always the thorn on his side, was speaking to the same individual standing in front of him.

Neo smiled down at him as realization finally struck. “You work for Torchwick- but why would you-”

She didn’t need to ‘say’ anything, and the girl merely grinned as she enjoyed the horror building up in Adam’s features as he continued to think more over the matter.

It was Cinder. The blasted woman had decided to take a hit at him by setting off this chain of events that ultimately led him to this state of utter weakness.

Anger surfaced again, but not before he had the chance of asking one last question.

“So, Cinder sent you to deal with me? Is she so much aggravated by my presence that the decided to cover for her pawn’s wellbeing?”

Neo’s grin disappeared on that, and she stopped her sign with a single twirl.

I mean, she is just protecting her younger brother. Kind of ‘caring’ from her part considering how much of a bastard she can be.

…Brother?

…

...

“WHAT?!” His anger tried to keep up at the shocking news, but the surprise was just that much that it all melted away. “Cinder’s brother. He is- He is Cinder’s brother?!”

Yep.

“And he stole my Blake!”

It’s more like your kitty girlfriend preferred a friend that didn’t try to hit on her, especially one as pushy as you sound like.

“What are you talking about? She likes this- This act! This is an act,” Adam pressed on. “I know she likes this. Ilia- Someone we both knows told me it was something she likes!”

And now it was the time for Neo to provide a confused look.

I’m fairly sure she’s just a repressed dummy. And I can tell when someone has a knack in that kind of stuff.

“Then you’re wrong!” He pointed out brazenly, only to pause as he saw her blade now aimed at his good eye.

Now now… who said it was nice to tell a girl is wrong? Didn’t your mama tell you that it’s not nice to do that?

“I’m pretty sure that you don’t enter well in the standards that makes a girl a ‘girl’.”

His head was struck swiftly by the sheath portion of the parasol, sending him tumbling down on the cold ground. Soon he was lifted up by his shirt through it, and his eyes locked onto the young woman’s irritated look.

That was rude. And sad. Mostly sad.

“You seem angry, so it’s more than just sad,” Adam said defiantly, knowing that his time was now coming. “And why don’t you just go ahead and finish this. I don’t plan to entertain you- just kill me already.”

A strange smile crept on her face as she pondered over his words.

Kill you? Why now?

“What? Aren’t you going to just dispose of me?”

She huffed, shaking her head.

Not now. Not when you gave me plenty of reasons to coax more answers from you- like how the hell did you, the leader of the White Fang in Vale, get tricked by some friend in being the ‘creepy moron’ with your crush.

“B-Blake is more of a crush- and what do you mean tricked?!”

She was still talking about it? Surely she had to have seen Blake be more open about the matter.

Surely- Surely-

I mean, did ‘Blakey’ offer you hints that she was into it?

No. He held himself from actually answering, knowing that this was one of the things that just made his romantic efforts the more frustrating.

The Bull Faunus had more than once told himself that it was just because he wasn’t giving out enough of this acting, that he wasn’t offering the most endearing performance for his love interest.

Over-confidence, an aggressive way of doing things… being pushy. Ilia had mentioned this while highlighting characters from within Blake’s favorite book. And he trusted Ilia to have not lied to him.

Despite the fact that a distraught Blake would always end up getting comforted by the Chameleon Faunus, always belittling or calling him names behind the safe walls of his love interest’s room.

…

Why now that he thought about it, he could see where things had gone wrong? WHY NOW AND NOT BEFORE-

Before…

“I’m an idiot.”

Neo nodded happily, her blade retreating as she once more returned to watch his complete downfall.

“And I’m not just saying I’m the ‘oops, I made a single mistake’ idiot. I really fucked things up with what I just did,” The young man muttered with wide eyes and shock taking over his body. “And I told her that I was going to kill civilians… despite the fact it was just a fake flex. Why would killing civilians help our cause?!”

Silence resumed for a while, with Neo quietly looking around the empty warehouse and paying him little to no attention as he continued to wallow in his own shocking thoughts of revealed failure and idiocy.

It was… It was all Ilia’s fault. If only he had stuck to the ‘nice, helpful, and trusting’ companion kind of person as he once was, perhaps he would’ve had a chance with the lovely Cat Faunus.

But now it was all lost and… he was nothing.

…

…

“Kill me.”

Neo glanced back at him, her eyebrow arching in a curious manner.

“Kill me. There’s nothing left to do for me now,” The Bull Faunus conceded weakly. “At this point… everything’s lost.”

She blinked, tilting a little to look closer at the depressed young man.

Her sign twirled again, and he stared hardly at the single word in it.

Nope.

“Of course. You just want to torture me more. Maybe even get some fun out of it and-”

Nope and- Heck nope! As if I’m into that crazy stuff.

“Then why!?” He exclaimed incensed. “I told you everything, you’re happy. What do you want from me now?”

I want you to send a message- to be one, actually.

… “What?”

Stand up.

The sign disappeared as she used her parasol to lift him by the chin up from his crouched form. He was confused when he felt that his chains were no longer attached to the column.

“W-What are you doing?”

I already said it. Now please follow.

The request turned out to be something a little more of a demand that else as he was wacked softly on the back and pushed out of the warehouse.

It was still daytime outside and people were wandering the streets of the capital. But none was paying attention at the squalid sight created by a tired Adam being led around by a smiling-looking Neo.

The young woman was quiet thorough the trip, barely offering any signs that she was paying attention at the clueless questions coming out of his mouth. Frustration continued to grow within the young man at the lack of answers, but soon his irritation turned in dread as he recognized the building he was being led into.

The complex of apartments… was the very one he had entered to try and infiltrate the man that took in Blake.

…

Oh no, now he knew what was happening.

So he tried to push back, to bat away the parasol so he could leave that place… only for Neo to tilt her sheathed weapon and wack him to press on, shoving him harder into the horrible situation that might happen anytime now.

He gulped nervously, preparing for what was going to be quite the horrifying situation. He was standing in front of the door as Neo’s parasol reached for the door bell and gave it a solid poke.

Panic swelled more and more, but soon the Bull Faunus was left alone to deal with whoever was going to open the door.

Either Blake or the man. And both scenarios were going to end poorly for him.

The door opened, and someone unfamiliar appeared in front of him.

Wearing an orange shirt and a pair of tight jeans, the blonde regarded him with a quizzical look as her lilac eyes trailed down from his face right to his chest. Right where Neo had somehow left her sign resting to.

There was a misunderstanding.

I’m an idiot.

Please don’t kill me.

“Oh,” The girl commented with a nod, then turning her head to look inside.

“Blake, did you invite a stripper for that talk?”