Chapter 5 - On a date?

Days flew by. Red and Ruby got along with more silence and smithing than talking, but neither of them felt awkward.

Another day with their assignments. After the instructor got the general level of everyone.

He split them into groups. Those that wished to be grouped up got together and others got split according to their level of smithing.

With Red and Ruby talking almost every time. They got grouped up together.

Ruby happened to have no one comparable to her sheer skill and knowledge and thus, it didn't really matter.

Except for exceptionally difficult tasks. He gave Ruby the green light to teach Red while he concentrated on others.

If they got it in time. Then he'd give them a task that even Ruby had to struggle with for days.

While trying to create an intricate pattern to embed dust into it. She squirmed for a bit before taking a deep breath.

"Hey, Red, wanna go out on Saturday? Wait! Not like that, uhm, my sister is reaaally curious about you and wants to get to know you." She said.

"Sure, when?" He asked and continued to smith.

Seeing him, she breathed out the tension.

"In the morning at 8?"

"Got it." He said and made a mental note.

…

For Ruby, the time flew by quick. The day came and as she looked at her wardrobe. Her expression remained stoic.

It would have been a struggle to pick her dress if it wasn't for one thing.

Her sister's clothes dominated the entire wardrobe.

Hers took out the space for just 4, including her combat uniform.

"I told you, sis. You should always go shopping with me, now you have nothing to choose for your boyfriend."

"Yang! He's not my boyfriend! He's just my first friend outside the school, okay?!" Ruby said with a dangerous glint in her eyes.

"Don't worry, if he has any devious thoughts, I'll turn his kneecaps into something so magical that he'll kneed a unicorn to cure him." Yang said with a grin and casually fished a couple of dresses.

Ruby looked defeated at her sister's puns and assumptions.

Though her sisters had a point… Her repertoire of clothes didn't match the desired amount.

After all, she saw Red wearing at least 5 types of shirts since he started coming to the camp.

"Ruby, what do you think about this one?" She asked as Ruby's eyes grew wide.

"Didn't dad throw those away for being too… Exotic?" She asked as Yang just winked.

Ruby looked at her foolish sister. She already knew the fate that awaited her once their dad found about it.

At least she would owe her once again.

"Oh! We gotta hurry up. It's already 6.30! The ship is leaving at 6.45!" Yang said in fright as she noticed the clock.

Although there was still one airship leaving at 7.30. They wouldn't be able to make it in half an hour to their selected destination.

Of course, if there's a will, there's a way. Which neither of them wanted to resort to.

Ruby sadly couldn't take out her Crescent Rose yet. Due to her inexperience, she couldn't quite make it fully transformative.

So outside combat. It remained too difficult to carry around just for fun.

Yang, on the other hand, brought them in case she had to show some fists of love for uneducated fools.

With everything done and ready. They locked the house and left.

…

It was 7.44 and Red stood near the chosen spot.

He had a simple shirt, jeans, and a cap. Though honestly, he didn't know if they were actually jeans or something else.

Although he usually arrived on time a minute or two earlier. This time, he felt a throbbing feeling whenever he thought about the upcoming event.

It felt weird, but not harmful.

His mind wandered, and he felt different. The throbbing feeling came back, each heartbeat boosted up his awareness.

With a deep breath. He forced it down and calmed down.

"Sup."

Red felt a hand on his shoulder as he got out of his stupor. A girl with long hair and pretty eyes greeted him.

"Hi Red." Said Ruby, standing beside her.

"Hello, I'm Red." He said as he went in for a handshake.

A bit caught off guard, Yang quickly grasped his hand. 'Strong', that's what Red felt.

"I'm Yang Xiao Long, Rubes big sister. By the way, your parents didn't really think much about your name, huh." She said with a grin.

"Yang." Ruby said beside her with a weak voice and pinched her.

Yang's commanding and powerful aura reminded him of someone, before he shrugged her off his mind.

With the greetings over. The group went around the city, with Yang leading the way.

Ruby remained a bit meek. Something he hadn't seen.

He deduced that it must have been her day, week, or month of the month. And from the instructions he heard.

Never mess with them or make it harder for them, otherwise he might find himself friendless again.

Apart from the occasional awkward silence. It went on well.

"Oh Rubes! That's the best spot in the city. We have to try it. Red, you down?" She asked Red with stars in her eyes.

"Sure." He said and went along.

Although he visited many places, the really good ones still remained elusive.

The place inside looked cozy. It was actually a cat café. Fluffy loafs hung around with some curious walking amongst the customers.

Just one door separated two worlds.

It felt so incredible that he got swept along with the atmosphere.

"Oh, my gosh! Yang, they have two new strawberry desserts. What do I choose? Oh! Let's share!" Ruby said as her eyes locked onto her sister.

"Sure, oh~ they have a strawberry sunrise too." She said and decided on her drinks.

With their orders basically complete. Red began to sweat a bit.

The names looked like jargon. While some of the desserts had cute photos, some did not.

Éclair? Ambrosia? Like that mythical elixir? Fraisier cake, Marjolaine. Except macaroons that he recognized and cheesecake, he found himself lost.

Surely, he couldn't order the most basic dessert when they chose something new that wasn't a classic.

And the waitress was coming.

He took a deep breath and pointed at something random in the catalogue. They all tasted like sugar anyway…

"Welcome to our café. What would you like order?" The waitress said and took out the orders.

"One strawberry icebox cake, strawberry pound cake and two strawberry sunrises." Yang said and waited for Red.

"I'll take Fraisier cake." He said and tried to pronounce the name.

Of all of them, he chose some kind of weird sounding one.

"Oh~ three strawberry desserts coming right up!" the waitress said and skipped away.

"I didn't know you like strawberry desserts, too. Already laying down foundation for my sister?" Yang asked.

"No, I chose something random." He said and admitted to the truth.

Much better than a misunderstanding he didn't understand. He didn't know why she gave him a side eye glance though.

And Ruby was staring down at the table.

Her saviour, a siamese cat, jumped on her lap and purred. Ruby jumped up a bit when she realized a cat appeared on her lap, prompting it to jump down.

With her target down, it looked at the other two.

Yang stared at the cat while making puppy eyes and weird sounds.

"Come on, I know you want this beautiful lady." She said and patted her lap.

It circled her twice before jumping onto Red.

In no time, it turned into a loaf and began napping on his lap.

"Tsk."

Red felt a wave of animosity for a second before it vanished. He realized he committed a major mistake.

With Ruby potentially being inflicted by 'it'. Yang, her sister, might have been as well.

They were sisters, after all.

To his dismay, the cat didn't even budge and continued to nap. The more he tried to get rid of the cat, the more intensive the stare became.

He looked at Ruby in search of help. His eyes met hers.

Soulless and directionless. She looked like she didn't eat for a month straight.

He realized that her eyes watched the cat.

"Here are your desserts, enjoy." The waitress said as she came just in time.

Ruby underwent revitalization like a phoenix. Yang also took her dessert and began watching her sister.

"Rubes!" she said as Ruby looked at her dessert.

Half remaining in a flash.

Ruby sighed to herself before pushing the plate towards her sister.

By the time, Yang also somehow ate half of her dessert and pushed it towards Ruby.

Red couldn't even comprehend what was happening there.

He barely ate his first piece and both of them finished. They sipped on their drinks while giving him a not-so-subtle side eye.

"Want to try mine?" He asked.

"You sure?"

"Thanks!" Yang said and grabbed a portion.

Ruby took hers too after seeing her sister jumping into action.

Seeing their faces. He sighed in relief as he knew his plan to pacify them succeeded.

Though he couldn't understand one thing.

How could they like something so sweet? If they didn't take their portions, he didn't know if he could finish it all…