73

Chapter 73 Notes:

Shipping time!

Chapter Text

"Wilt and Blush… I never thought I'd be able to look at them without seeing Adam, and to be honest… I still see him sometimes. But… I can't think of anyone I'd rather entrust them to than Ruby," Blake hummed, stretching lightly as she shut her book and set it to the side so she could better watch her Team leader sparring against Professor Vega- it turned out that Beacon's best sword fighting teacher was a pink haired videogame nerd with hip-length pink hair and a jet black katana, but really the important bit was that said professor was also the best iaijutsu fighter that Blake had even seen, and the sheer speed of her attacks left Adam in the dust- to say nothing of the woman's technique being somehow even more overwhelming than her- than the man she thought was her lover.

She couldn't do Adam's trick with his Moonslice duplicates, but she came damn near close with her Critical Strike Semblance. All this to say- it was weird to see Ruby losing a fight in any capacity, but it was also clear to see that Ruby wasn't well versed in iaijutsu and was mostly relying on her basic knowledge of sword fighting to even remotely keep up.

"I'm kinda surprised you actually let her keep 'em," Yang spoke, leaning forward as she watched the match with a keen eye, tracking every hit and strike with unerring precision- she was used to dealing with high speed attacks thanks to training with Ruby her whole life, and that meant that she could keep up with the action even if only visually. "Y'know, if they make you uncomfortable, Ruby'd get rid of them in a heartbeat. Probably let you break 'em and melt 'em down for scrap yourself, honestly."

"It's not that they make me uncomfortable, it's just that… I just… genuinely think that Ruby can make them so much more… noble… I suppose… than they were before," Blake answered, shaking her head and stilling her heart as she kept watch of the fight- observing as Professor Vega and Ruby dashed around the combat arena with flurries of rose petals and splashes of rainbow color that glitched through the air and left both of them feeling like they were seeing spots. "Mnn… I don't think I'm explaining it very well. It's… just that I trust Ruby, is all. She's my partner, a good friend, and a surprisingly good leader."

She paused, then cleared her throat. "And a harsh instructor."

"Yeah, Ruby's always had a thing for super long workouts, it's why she always schedules six hour blocks for us," Yang sighed, rubbing her bicep idly and grimacing at the soreness that came from that week's training. "Ruby pushes herself really hard even if she doesn't seem like she cares much academically. It's the only reason why she can use so many weapons- hell, she pushes herself more than I do, and I spend most of my time in the gym training to be stronger, faster, better."

"I know, I've seen the aftermath. And had to carry you back to the dorms a few times," Blake deadpanned, giving Yang a onceover before averting her gaze with a light blush. "How you keep falling asleep standing up in the shower, I'll never know."

"Me neither, Blakey. Me neither… but hey, at least you got a show, eh? And you didn't have to haul me all sweaty and gross back to the dorm," Yang snickered, making finger guns at Blake and leaning back in her seat to more adequately show off her body. "I'm sure you appreciate it, huh?"

"I-... Maybe some. You're… really pretty," Blake muttered, huffing and continuing to keep her gaze on the fight instead of turning her attention to her teammate. "A-anyway. As I was saying. I trust Ruby. She's… good. A good person. Better… better than I was. Better than a lot of people are, faunus or human. If anyone could take Adam's weapons and change them from a tool of murder and fear into something that can protect the world… it's her. She just… I might need a little time to get used to it, is all. She's already doing so much for me… changing her cloak color, making sure to not surprise me… she doesn't yell or raise her voice or get angry…"

"To be fair, Rubes isn't really great at being angry," Yang pointed, leaning forward and gently laying a hand on Blake's back- softly, slowly, and letting Blake lean into it instead of making contact on her own. "Every time she gets mad she kinda… breaks a lot of stuff, so she's learned to be careful. Either way- you are right. Ruby does a lot of things for everyone. It's kinda why I call her the best of us… even if she is a pain in my ass about eating all of the snacks. And constantly eating cheese specifically to spite me because I complained once about her being lactose intolerant."

"She hasn't done that since Penny got here, now that I think about it," Blake mentioned, then frowned as the match below ended and looked between Ruby and Penny as the red Huntress immediately tackle-glomped her girlfriend with the speed of a runaway train. "... I can't believe she subjected you, me, and Weiss to the occasional grimm toot, and swore off of eating weird stinky cheeses entirely because Penny came along. I take it back, every good thing I just said about your sister is now null because now I'm certain she was doing that on purpose."

"Considering that I've known Ruby her entire life? It's the one prank she kept up since she was four," Yang sighed, palming her face. "She's not even lactose intolerant, she just pretends she is because I tried to tell her that dogs can't eat cheese once when she was like, five or something because she wouldn't stop eating all of the shredded cheese out of the fridge."

"So we agree she deserves retribution, then?"

Yang snorted. "Oh absolutely. What were you thinking?"

"I was just going to tell you and Weiss to bunk with JNPR for a week and then microwave fish without a lid," Blake shrugged, snickering to herself a little. "She might not be able to stand it, but I love the smell of fish so I don't care."

"... Yeah, that'll do it. That's evil , Blake. Almost too evil, but also… she kinda brought it on herself. I may have sworn to protect my baby sister from all the evils of the world but… she did bring this on herself," Yang giggled, throwing her arm around Blake's shoulders and hugging her close until their heads bumped together, Blake's ear twitching madly as it suddenly found itself in a nest of strawberry scented curls- a staple of the Xiao Long/Rose/Branwen family, it seemed, considering how every single sister used a different brand of strawberry scented product.

Hm. Blake may be spending too much time pressed up close against her leader, her teammate, and her upperclassman if she could differentiate what brand of strawberry shampoo they used. Ruby's was natural scented and mild because she didn't like artificial scents that much, Yang had artificial but in extremely high quality, and Cinder… picked out some medium quality strawberry scented hair product on a whim, it seemed.

"Mhmm," Blake murmured, suddenly lost in the scent of strawberry and the glistening gold of Yang's hair, blushing up a storm as she unconsciously pressed against Yang and bit her lip, feeling her heart pounding louder than normal. "Yang, can I ask you something?"

"Hmm? What's up kitty cat?" Yang asked, not pulling away, but subtly shifting so she could give Blake her full attention. "Something up?"

"I was thinking… what… are we to each other?" Blake chewed her lip thoughtfully, eyes wandering about as she bumped her head against Yang's once again, one hand reaching out and searching out for Yang's free hand until their fingers entwined. "You flirt with me a lot when no one's around, you're so close to me all of the time, I'm the one you call to drag you out of the shower if you're too exhausted after one of your frankly insane workouts… you call me pet names, you try to help me whenever Ruby isn't smothering me with her cloak, you spend more time with me than anyone other than Weiss… I just… are we… a thing? Is… are we…?"

"Girlfriends? Maybe. I don't know. I don't think I've ever really had a girlfriend before," Yang shrugged awkwardly, her Aura flushing and bringing a gentle warmth to the area as her hair started to glow with her emotions. "I spent most of my life trying to catch up to my ridiculously overpowered sister, remember? I… I like you, Blake. A lot. I… like Weiss too, honestly, and I… I just feel kinda selfish, honestly. I… don't want to choose. You both are… a lot more important to me than I thought anyone other than my family would ever be. You're both strong, brave, kind, smart, and amazing in so many other ways I can't even describe- I just. Y'know. Don't know what I'm doing."

"Well… what if… you don't have to choose?" Blake asked almost hesitantly, clearing her throat as she motioned over to where Weiss seemed to be talking about spear fighting tips with Pyrrha, the heiress occasionally sending glances back towards the black and yellow pair. "I… don't mind saying that I trust Weiss enough to be in a relationship with me. And… polyamorous relationships do exist. We've all fought together, we've slept in the same tent together, ate together, laughed and cried together… even moreso since Penny came into our lives… why don't we… give it a shot?"

"I- yeah. Um… yeah that… I guess that sounds good. Should we go ask Weiss about it?" Yang sputtered a little, suddenly embarrassed to be put on the spot and blushing a little as she looked between Weiss and Blake. 

"Sure. We'll… find a private place then," Blake nodded, standing up smoothly and marching towards Weiss' position before she could lose her nerve.

"A-ah wait hold up wait for me!"

And, as the three girls murmured to each other and left the room as a group, Ruby smiled into the crook of Penny's neck and hummed in satisfaction, purring quietly as she felt the emotions of her sister and teammates start to swirl around each other.

"Aww… it's about time."