Aural Square was one of those places that anyone who'd been in Vale for at least a week could point to. It wasn't exactly a major historical landmark, nor particularly different from the many other plazas that dotted the city, but its proximity to Beacon University made it a favorite haunt for students, and many shrewd businesses had set up shop around the place. As a result, Aural Square was alive and bustling with people at almost all times of day. Weiss was not particularly fond of being in such a public space, especially with so many students milling about, but she couldn't deny how convenient the location was. At the very least, with all the shops and lights lining the square and the grand fountain that she was sitting by, Aural made for a reasonably picturesque location. There were worse places to wait for someone.

While she didn't consider that evening to be something particularly special – this was no gala or important reception, at least – Weiss had dressed quite smartly for the occasion; a Schnee wouldn't be caught dead wearing anything but their best. Although springtime was right around the corner, the final chill of winter still hung in the air, so the heiress had donned a beige one-size-too-big sweater with a brown miniskirt and black leggings, complete with a voluminous brown scarf. All told, she looked like some sort of coffee-flavored dessert with cream on top – her long white hair had been done up into a neat little ponytail. Although she would never admit it to her pestering roommate, the heiress was anxious to look good for Yang. After all, first impressions are important, and while her trainer had obviously already seen her before, tonight would be the first time they met up as, well, just regular people. Weiss was hesitant to use the word "friend", as she didn't want to assume that their relationship had already reached that place after only a short few days.

A thundering noise came from up the street leading into the square, a low rumble that seemed to be getting closer and closer. Weiss turned her head in the direction of the sound, curious to see who or what would cause such a commotion this late in the evening, and noticed a light starting to creep around a bend in the road. Of course, reckless driving on a Thursday night, she thought, rolling her eyes. How typical. Many students at the university made it a point to have no classes scheduled on Friday mornings, just so they could start their weekend partying a day early. Ironically, the heiress couldn't afford that luxury, as her workload often meant spending nights in the library, with this night being an exception as a treat to herself. Speaking of which, where the Dust is Yang? She's already over 10 minutes late. At that moment, a motorcycle rounded the bend with a deafening roar, its headlight shining directly on Weiss – it was headed straight for her. Blinded by the light, she feared the worst, letting out a final shriek and standing frozen in the middle of the square. She continued to scream until a familiar, comforting voice stopped her.

"Whoops, didn't mean to scare you that much."

The heiress opened her eyes and saw that the voice did indeed belong to Yang. It never occurred to her before, but Weiss realized that she had never seen her trainer outside the gym, so she almost dropped her jaw when she saw what the blonde was wearing. The tall blonde unsurprisingly did not show up with anything fancy, but instead had donned a slim, black biker's jacket with all the top buttons popped, revealing only a sports bra underneath. Together with the ripped, faded jeans and tall boots, Yang made for an intimidating yet sultry figure.

Attempting to snap out of the dream-like state she was in, Weiss blurted out, "Do you have any idea how stupid that was?! This is a pedestrian-only area, so you can't come in on your bike and… and almost BULLDOZE me!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, easy there, Weiss," Yang said, raising her hands up defensively, "I got myself here as quick as I could 'cause I was running late and I didn't want to keep you waiting – I just got carried away."

"I thought you said you didn't have any more work for the evening?"

"What, do you think I'm a workaholic or something?"

Weiss immediately realized how ridiculous her question was and recoiled slightly out of embarrassment. "N-no, that's not what I mea-" Before she could continue, though, the blonde grinned and punched her lightly on the shoulder.

"It's fine, because I kinda am a workaholic. I freaking love my job!" She laughed for a bit before continuing. "But no, I had some errands to run and ran into a friend of mine earlier, so I came here as fast as I could. I maaayy have overdone the speed, though. Still, I pulled a pretty sick stop just then, if I do say so myself – you might even say I stopped Weiss-cold, eh?" The heiress responded with a groan.

"That wasn't even a good one."

"Mmmm, a six out of ten, at least?"

"Sure, you can call it a six. Anyway, you need to go put this motorcycle away before we can go watch that movie."

"Oh, right! Wouldn't want to leave ol' Bumblebee out for someone to take away, now would we?"

Weiss cocked her eyebrow at the mention of the name. "'Bumblebee'? Are you telling me that you named your motorcycle?"

Yang looked at her companion with a confused expression. "Yeah?"

"What, do you have a name for you scroll as well?"

"Of course not! Don't be silly! Names are only for important stuff – Bumblebee is special to me because I've had her for 4 or 5 years now, and we've travelled together to a lot of places over those years. Sure, she's a bit old now, and I have to repair her more and more often as the years go by, but I can't just give up on her. Because of that, she doesn't give up on me." The blonde paused for a moment to pat the seat of the motorcycle affectionately. "You could almost say that since I know your name now, I can't give up on you – that means that tomorrow, you better have your ass in the gym!"

Weiss laughed at the story, but even so, she felt something warm in the blonde's words. Sure, she encouraged her like this before whenever they were in the gym, but there was something about hearing them now, outside of that world, where Yang wasn't her trainer but instead just...Yang.

Luckily, Yang found a spot for Bumblebee very quickly, leaving the pair with just enough time to buy tickets, grab popcorn, and find the perfect seats – right in the middle of the row and just far enough back so that all they could see was the screen before them – before the trailers started. They engaged in idle chatter, going back and forth about how their respective weeks were, what plans they had for the weekend, whether or not buttered popcorn was better than the plain kind. It was enjoyable enough, but Weiss couldn't help but feel that their conversation was just like the kind she would have with anyone else she was acquainted with – inane and without much substance. Perhaps I was just too hopeful, she thought mournfully. Her train of thought, however, was broken when she felt a finger stroke her left cheek.

The heiress recoiled immediately, turning to face the culprit, whose lilac eyes gazed at her with curiosity. "What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she cried indignantly.

Her companion's ponderous look quickly turned into a grin. "Awfully jumpy today, aren't we?"

"Yes! I'm already worrying about the exam tomorrow, and then you come in, almost running me over in the plaza, and just as I'm about to finally settle down and relax, you decide to prod my face out of nowhere! So yes, I'm a bit 'jumpy' right now." As Weiss finished, she noticed a few of the silhouettes sitting around them had turned to face her, and the ensuing embarrassment cooled her temper significantly. She looked at Yang, who shared the same frozen expression as everyone else. Oh, great, now she's going to think I'm crazy or something. Way to go, Weiss, way to make a good impression on your first night out. "S-sorry about that, it's just…"

"No, I'm the one who should be sorry," Yang replied, voice filled with understanding. "I forgot about your thing tomorrow, and so I just acted like my normal self, all loud and playful and whatnot." She placed a comforting hand on Weiss's shoulder before continuing. "I'll be a little calmer for you tonight, alright?"

If she wasn't embarrassed enough, the heiress felt completely ridiculous after having Yang apologize to her for her own outburst. Still, she was thankful that her trainer could be so accommodating. "Right. Thanks." The pair remained in silence for a moment or two before Weiss asked, "Why did you poke me, anyway? Just being random?" She felt rude for asking, but she was certain that Yang had a reason.

The blonde's expression wasn't quite sure what to do with itself. "Oh, I, uh, was going to ask you something, but I'll just ask you later," she responded uneasily. Weiss caught onto this and soon put two and two together; it's about the scar, isn't it? Most of the time, she took great care in covering up the thin gash across her eye, but tonight she must have been less thorough, since Yang had never mentioned it before. Even so, she didn't feel ready to reveal the nature of the scar and the unhappy memories that carved it. Still, she admired Yang's concern and didn't want to leave her thinking about it later, so Weiss settled for a half-truth.

"If you're talking about this scar, it's the unfortunate result of a fencing duel. I was foolish and challenged my opponent without any of the standard protection. I managed to hold my ground well enough until he swung his foil across my face." The heiress saw Yang wince a bit at the mention of the strike, so she spun the story in a different direction. "Of course, such a strike results in an automatic disqualification, so I still won the duel." She punctuated her victory with a proud smirk. The tale seemed to satisfy Yang's curiosity, who visibly relaxed.

"Oh, good, I thought it was something worse, like someone attacked you in a dark alley or something. And I didn't know that you played sports before! Wouldn't have guessed it from your body type, at least."

"Not all sports require you to be a bulky sack of meat, thank you very much."

"You calling me bulky, Weiss?"

"N-no, not at all! I didn't mean to-" Weiss was cut off by the sound of Yang's snickering. "What's so funny?"

"I'm sorry, it's just that you look super adorable when you're flustered. Besides, I know I'm big in all the right places." She gave the heiress a wink, to which Weiss simply smacked herself on the head. "Ooo, look, the movie's starting now!"

Weiss soon discovered that this was not the best movie to watch that night. True, Yang did say that "Ten Little Roosters" was a murder mystery, though thankfully it started out with a whole lot more mystery than murder. Indeed, some of the deaths were just plain hilarious – I mean, who gets themselves and their clone killed by mousetraps? – but that wasn't why the heiress was so anxious. As the movie progressed, the deaths became more and more intense and elaborate, losing the comical effect of those in the beginning. Of course, Weiss was no weenie, but her mind had been on edge for most of the evening, mostly about her exam the next day. She knew that she had learned all the formulas and tables inside and out and that she had thus far been performing very well in the class, but this test was worth a third of the course grade, making it something that the heiress could not mess up on. If I make anything less than an A-, Father's going to be disappointed for sure… As much as she tried to keep it together, the music started to rise in trademark suspense. On the screen, a masked figure was approaching one of the remaining survivors, pitchfork hoisted like a spear. The man had no idea of his impending doom, but right as he turned around, the pitchfork landed square in his chest.

The heiress couldn't contain herself any longer. With a yelp, she squeezed her eyes shut and curled up in her seat to defend herself from the world and the images that were assaulting her head. Rocking back and forth as she tried to calm her mind, Weiss barely noticed that something was tugging at her. She ignored the pulling until she heard Yang's voice.

"Hey, Weiss? I know you're scared and all, but it would be really awesome if you weren't crushing my arm."

The jittery girl snapped back to reality and saw that she had indeed been holding onto the blonde's arm the whole time. She had just assumed that she had been hanging onto the armrest of the seat and certainly not Yang's arm. For a moment, Weiss found herself feeling the woman's powerful forearm, tempered by so many hours at the gym, and all the muscles tensing and relaxing under her fingers. Something so strong could easily snap her own arm like a twig, but there it was, harmlessly resting in her arms. She felt she could stay like that forever, but as the moment passed, the heiress remembered that the arm she was holding so tightly onto belonged to her trainer, who certainly was not prepared for one of her clients to be clinging onto her like a girl might to her boyfriend. Luckily for her, the theater was dark enough that no one could see her face glowing red as she quickly relaxed her grip and sat upright.

"S-scary movies, am I right?" Weiss managed to stammer out in her attempt to diffuse the situation.

"Sure, sure." Yang then leaned in closer to whisper, "You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd almost say that you specifically chose a thriller just so you would have an excuse to do that."

"You were the one who suggested this movie! Don't you go associating me with your weird fantasies!"

"Please, you think that's weird? You should hear some of the other ones I got." Her tone then turned more serious. "Are you doing alright, though? This isn't even one of the scarier movies I've seen before."

"I'm…" Weiss didn't think it would be wise to say exactly what had been going through her mind yet, so again, she came up with a little lie. "I'm fine, really. Just tense today."

Yang frowned. "You sure? We can leave early, if you want."

"Absolutely not," the heiress stated firmly. "I'm not about to end this night on a bad note. Besides, most of this movie is… enjoyable." She smiled nervously, knowing full well that there was no way Yang didn't notice her fib. Nevertheless, the first part was true enough – Weiss had set aside tonight to be her one rare time of relaxation out of all her sleepless nights spent studying, not to mention that this was the first time she'd ever been with Yang outside the professional setting of the gym. Hell, this was the first time in a very long while when she'd hung out with anyone. No, she was definitely not backing out now. With a sigh, the heiress turned her attention to the screen in front of her and tried to gather what she had missed. Apparently, only three of the characters remained, with the latest death being that of the Linda girl by a tiger, wherever that came from. Or was it Lindsay? Weiss could barely keep track of the names, but what did stand out to her was that Lindy sounded almost exactly like her roommate, and even acted like her. I wonder if they're related… Her thoughts, however, were interrupted by the feeling of fingers pinching the back of her neck.

Weiss instantly snapped her head to the left to glare at the blonde – who else would do it? – but before she could speak, Yang held up a finger from her free hand to her lips. "Just try to relax a little," she said softly as she began to rub the tense muscles in the snow-haired girl's neck. Weiss had almost forgotten about how those hands felt back from her first trip to the gym, but boy, did they work their magic. Just like before, the strong fingers soothed her skin with their warmth, and she could feel the fibers of her flesh uncoil and loosen under the continual rubbing. Dust, that hits the spot, she thought as Yang's thumb found a knot close to her shoulder, I should really get a massage more often. How is she so good at this? She figured that her trainer had an intimate knowledge of human anatomy, so it shouldn't be all that surprising for her to extend that knowledge outside of simply working out. Whatever the case, Weiss didn't really care about why it felt so good, but rather that it did. Weiss didn't even bother to pay attention to the movie anymore, instead choosing to close her eyes and let Yang's hands gently guide the movements of her head. She even let out a slight moan with each stroke of those fingers, though, fortunately for her, no one could hear them over the sound of the movie playing in the background. Rocking her head back and forth slowly, the world around her started to fade, and the last thing she could remember was Yang's warm caress around her nape.

"That ending was so bogus!" the blonde exclaimed as the pair exited the theater into the cool air of the spring night. "Ryan was the perfect killer! He's weird, wears a kilt, and is always talking about being the 'Mad King' or something; how come he's the survivor?"

"I don't know, it all seemed fine to me. I actually quite liked the ending," Weiss replied, stretching out her arms with a great big yawn. In truth, she only remembered bits and pieces of the plot, but something about the final 30 minutes really left a good impression on her.

"Oh really?" Yang cocked an eyebrow, a knowing grin sliding across her face. "Do tell what you liked about it."

"I… oh, I liked the part when Barbara died while composing her feelings about her inner tomboy! Tragic, but in a good way, almost."

"That was Gus, and he was writing about his inner girl." The grin grew into a smirk. "And Barbara was the last to die, since she was the killer."

"Oh, right, she was." She was?

"You know, I'd almost say that you don't remember the ending of the movie because you slept through it."

"What?! No, I wouldn't do that! I thought it was really compelling, and… and… okay, maybe I took a nap during the final scene and missed who the real killer was."

Yang tilted her head to one side as if to say, "Oh really?"

"Alright, fine, I'm pretty sure I wasn't awake for the last half hour of the movie," Weiss conceded. "And I didn't think most of the movie was all that good, since it sacrificed solid plot for little inside jokes a few times too many. But on the whole, it was decent enough!" She didn't want to sound ungrateful for her trainer coming along with her.

Of course, Yang was far more perceptive than the heiress gave her credit for. "It's fine to say you didn't like the movie, Weiss. I also didn't think it was that good, since they killed off my two favorite actors from the very beginning," she said with a pout and then muttered, "Stupid directors and their stupid decisions…"

The pair walked across Aural Square, still bustling with life for being so late, to find where the blonde had parked her motorcycle. Yang continued to rant about the movie and what choices she would have made had she directed the production, but the heiress remained in silence. She felt horrible about the whole evening. Sure, she got what she wanted in hanging out with Yang, but the night had just gotten progressively more and more stressful for her from the very start. First, there was the looming threat of the next day's exam that was ever-present in the back of her mind, despite constant self-reassurance that she did everything a responsible student could. That led to more anxiety when Yang arrived in the most sudden fashion, and throughout much of the movie. The worst part was that her trainer had to deal with it all, and while she did a good job in soothing her nerves, the girl felt ridiculous for putting her through all that trouble. When they arrived at where the motorcycle was parked, Weiss finally spoke up.

"Yang, can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, shoot." She continued unhooking the bike from the rack without looking at her.

"Why have you been so nice to me? I mean, don't get me wrong, I really appreciate it, but I feel like you've had to look over me this whole evening, and I wouldn't have brought you along if I knew I was going to be such a bother. I could have just taken the evening off by relaxing in my dorm, and you could be doing whatever it is you usually do on a Thursday night without my anxiety over an exam around."

Yang stopped unlocking Bumblebee and faced the worried girl, a smile mixed with the tiniest of frowns on her face. "You're naming all the reasons why. I've only known you for about two weeks, but I can already see that your life is a ball of stress, ready to explode. You wear yourself out so thin that even the smallest thing will probably set you off, and I can't just let that slide. Besides, you're my client, and one of my better ones at that – what else can I do but help you out?" She paused for a moment, a new thought popping into her head. "And don't worry about what I could have been doing; if I had other plans, I wouldn't have been here, right? I came because I wanted to." The woman heaved the motorcycle out from its narrow parking space and onto the road, holding out her helmet to Weiss. "You ready to go home?"

It took a moment for Weiss to process what she meant. "Wait, are you saying that you are-"

"Going to take you back to your dorm, yes. It's that time of night when creeps are out and about, so I figure it would just be safer to bring you there myself."

"I've been in town this late before, and I handled myself just fine. You don't have to worry about me."

"Says the wound-up coil of a girl that sprung when I poked you in the cheek," Yang retorted with a short chuckle.

The heiress searched for a worthy response, but surrendered with a sigh. "Point taken. But… how are the two of us going to fit on that?"

"Oh, that's easy!" Yang piped up, swinging her leg over the seat of Bumblebee. "This baby is made to carry two people – all you have to do is scoot up real close and hold on to me. Whaddya say?" Despite how casually she talked about it, Weiss did not feel any more comfortable about it. Knowing Yang, she was going to be in for a wild ride, and as much as she had been working out, the white-haired girl wasn't all too certain that she would be able to hang onto her blonde partner. Still, it would probably be fun, the more adventurous part of Weiss's mind thought, and you get to snuggle up real tight with that hot, juic-

"Alright, I'll trust you," she said, catching the helmet that the blonde tossed to her. "Just don't do anything too crazy."

The wild grin bearing gleaming teeth was not the response Weiss was hoping for.

"Alrighty then, I think we're here," Yang declared as they skidded to a stop just in front of the place Weiss had directed her to. There was something familiar about the dorm – after all, she did at one point also attend Beacon – but she could not quite put her finger on what it was. The few orange streetlights that were around did little to illuminate the features of the building. Oh well, I'm sure I'll find out soon enough. The woman attempted to dismount from her motorcycle, but she found that she was being held down by her heiress friend, who clung to her back, her small frame vibrating with little jitters – ah, adrenaline. "I'll take it that this was your first time ever riding a motorcycle, then," she said following a quick snicker. "How ya feeling?"

"I don't know if I'll be able to go to sleep for the next couple hours," Weiss said in a distant, breathless voice, her eyes looking nowhere in particular. "But I think I'm okay with that."

Yang was happy with that response. At least you can end this night on a good note, just like you wanted. "That's good to hear, but I think you should get to sleeping real soon," she said as she slowly pried the tired girl's arms from around her waist. She then pointed to the dorm before her. "You live there, right?"

Weiss took her time in slumping off Bumblebee, stretching her limbs one by one before replying. "Yeah, that's the place. The 'Great and Venerable Ironwood Hall, named in honor of General Ironwood of the Atlesian Army,'" she recited with little enthusiasm. "Dust, the tour guides really drill that one into our heads."

Aha! "I thought I remembered this place! This is my old dorm from back when I was here! Man, how could I forget about it?" She turned to the surprised Weiss and asked, "Hey, are the floors still made from that worn-out wood and all? Is there still that one bathroom on the third floor that has the showers that run ice cold water after five minutes? That was the worst. And, and are the walls still so thin that you can hear people 'doing the do' in the next room over?" Yang could barely contain her nostalgia.

"I think they fixed that bathroom, but I live on the fifth floor, anyway, so I wouldn't know. The other two, regrettably, are still as you said they were."

"Ahhhh, that's so cool! It's good to know that even when you grow up and your life keeps changing, there're are still little bits that stay the same."

"Even if those things that remain are crappy and annoying?"

"Eh, I can live with those. Besides, those walls made for some very funny stories, if you know what I mean." She was about to say goodbye and head back home, but then an idea popped into her head. "Say, Weiss, would you mind if I came inside with you? I just wanna take another look at this place."

It was probably a trick of the light, especially considering how dark it was outside, but Yang could have sworn that the heiress's cheeks became a shade darker. "Uh… sure, sure, you can come in," Weiss said, almost tripping over her own words. "My roommate is a bit of a handful, though, so be wary of that."

"Aw, she can't be all that bad. After all, she did push you to go to the gym, and that's always a sound decision!"

The girl chuckled at that comment. "Well, don't say I didn't warn you." The two walked over to the staircase that sat at the end of the dorm and began to climb up the steps. I sure don't miss this, that's for sure, Yang thought as she cursed the fact that this dorm was too old for there to be an elevator. As they ascended, they passed by the third floor, the one that the blonde used to live on. She looked down the walkway, reminiscing the many times she had seen it like this, dimly lit after a night of partying. Of course, she still found time to party on most weekends, but it was at Beacon when she first really got into it. Her face glowed with those memories, until one of them spoiled the rest, the last and darkest memory of her time here.

A bar. A wild crowd. A friend.

Drinks. Lots of drinks. Don't know how many we had.

The approach. The kiss. The romp that followed.

Before the images continued to invade her mind, Weiss called out to her, "Hey, are you coming up or what?"

Yang only just realized that she had been standing there at the threshold to the third floor for almost a minute. Dust, I don't have time for these thoughts. "Yeah, sorry about that, thought I forgot something," she replied hurriedly.

"Well, did you?"

"Nope, just my imagination! Just two more flights, right?" Regaining her cheerful demeanor, Yang bounded up the steps to catch up with and surpass Weiss. "C'mon, hurry up now!"

After climbing their way to the fifth and final floor, Yang followed her exhausted, panting companion to her room. Man, she really got out of shape in the past few days, didn't she? Oh well, we'll fix that soon enough. Weiss stopped in front of room 511 and looked down at the crack under the door, light shining through. "Well, she's definitely here, alright," Weiss sighed. "Just prepare yourself, I have a feeling that she's going to be extra bubbly tonight."

Almost immediately after turning the key, a girl in a red dress practically pounced on the unsuspecting heiress and squeezed her with a mighty hug. "Weiss, Weiss, Weeiiiiiisss! It was amazing! Everything went so well! Jaune had everything set up perfectly, the food was amazing, and we had such a good time! And guess what? We're already talking about a second…" The girl stopped gabbing happily when she saw the tall blonde woman behind her roommate, and her expression went on a rollercoaster from joyous to shocked to mildly horrified. "…date."

Weiss, confused with the sudden change in tone, turned around to look at her trainer in hopes of seeing what would elicit such a reaction from the merriest girl she knew. Yang just stood there frozen, like she had seen a ghost.

"Well, hello, lil' sis."

EDITORS: condor700 and Just_one_more_

OH BOY, this is going to be one heck of a family reunion, and man, did Ruby pick the worst thing to say in front of her big sis?

This one went on a bit longer than expected, but I'm very happy with the result! And yes, this didn't come out quite two weeks after the last one, but I ran into a bit of a writer's block with this one (if you could even tell) – expect future updates to be roughly 2 weeks apart.

That's all for now! Please leave a review if you want to offer some feedback or if you just want to speak your mind. Ta-ta~