Chapter Nineteen: Touch

"How come you never get bored of this stuff?"

Pyrrha gazed curiously at her study buddy. "How do you mean?"

Ruby's head softly thudded against the huge, open textbook laid out in front of her. "We've been at this for, like, two hours…" the younger teen whined before looking up at Pyrrha. "Aren't you bored? It's a Friday night, after all. We should be having fun."

"Not really." The taller girl shook her head. "We need to study for the next week's test, and there are still a few more hours until the library closes for the night."

"Stop being the voice of reason, Pyrrha." Ruby mumbled into her textbook, eliciting a smile from Pyrrha. "Can't we just play video games tonight instead of studying? Then we'd get back to it tomorrow, all ready and refreshed!"

As tempting as the offer sounded, Pyrrha decided to stick to her guns; if I budge an inch with her, then we're never going to study. Clearly, Ruby's attention was wearing thin at this point, though, so something had to be done. "We can't stop now, but perhaps we could take a five minute break?"

"Yay." Ruby's textbook muffled voice barely registered to Pyrrha before she sat up. "I'm gonna go get something to drink - want me to get you anything?"

"Thank you for the offer, Ruby, but I'm good." Pyrrha held up a half-full water bottle. Ruby gave a quick nod before skipping off towards the small café in the school library, while Pyrrha took the chance to get up and stretch her sleepy limbs.

On the first weekend of the semester, Ruby had convinced Pyrrha to spend a night playing video games and watching bad movies. It was only the beginning of the semester, so what was the harm in having a little fun? A night had turned into a second day, though, and before Pyrrha knew it, the entire weekend was swallowed up. An entire weekend done without any readings or studying or homework. While very, very fun, the two were still playing catch up because of it and with the first major test of the semester on Wednesday, they could ill afford to fall any further behind.

We've only covered maybe a third of the material... perhaps if we can get about halfway done tonight, we could be able to finish by Monday. Pyrrha sat back down in her chair before leaning back slightly, her long ponytail swaying behind the chair's back. The cafeteria should still be open when we leave, so we can grab a bite to eat before I go train with Jaun- no, he has a date tonight with Velvet. I suppose my evening is free, then.

Pyrrha hummed in thought as she tried to figure out what to do with an unexpected boon in free time. Perhaps gaming with Ruby tonight wouldn't be such a bad idea after all? Speaking of which, where is she? It shouldn't take her this long to order something from there. Glancing towards the small café, Pyrrha noticed that Ruby was chatting with her sister. No sooner after she turned around did Yang pat her little sister on the head before heading off,, leaving Ruby to plod back to their table.

When Ruby wordlessly sat down, posture scrunched up and head covered up by her hood, Pyrrha sensed that something was off. Ruby pulled up one of her textbooks and buried her nose into it, not really focusing on anything in particular - Pyrrha didn't believe for one moment that she was making any real attempt at studying. Concern crossed into her mind. Yang usually cheers Ruby up, not bring her down like this. "How was Yang?"

"She's fine, I guess," Ruby muttered after a pause, her voice muffled by the textbook she was holding. "Wanted to know if I could spar after dinner."

"I see." That concretely blew Pyrrha's plan out of the water. That still doesn't answer why Ruby looks so down. "Did you not want to spar with her?" Pyrrha asked tentatively.

Ruby lowered her textbook to face Pyrrha - her muted expression lit up for a moment. "Huh? No, it's gonna be fun. Why'd you think that?"

"Well, you don't quite look all that excited about it" Pyrrha stated flatly. "Like something is on your mind."

"Oh." The textbook came right back up. "I-i-it's nothing."

Pyrrha's brow furrowed; that did not sound like "nothing" to me. "If you say so, but I'm always willing to lend an ear if you want to talk to someone." Ruby's red hood bobbed slightly, which Pyrrha took as a nod.

Still, as they studied in relative silence, Pyrrha glanced back every other minute at Ruby. I shouldn't push the issue, but it's clearly eating at her. Ruby might have looked like she was focused to a random passerby, but Pyrrha knew better. Ruby focusing on something was never a slow endeavor, rather, she was animated about it, energetic.

To Pyrrha's surprise and relief, Ruby eventually spoke up. "Is it easy for you too?"

"Easy?" Pyrrha parroted back as she bookmarked her page.

"This. Y'know, homework and studying?" Ruby gestured lamely to the pile of notes scattered across the table. "Classes in general?"

"Hmm." Pyrrha tapped her index finger against her chin. "It depends," she answered after a pause. "If I work hard enough, then the material from class sticks in my head, allowing me to perform better on exams and better understand future material. I suppose as long as I stay on top of the classwork then it's not too difficult."

"So it is easy for you." Ruby sighed dejectedly while staring sullenly at the table.

"It's not that easy," Pyrrha gently reassured before holding up one of the textbooks, a text so large that she was half certain it was heavier than Magnhild. "The laws of the four kingdoms is dense for anyone. That's why I need to take the time to carefully read through it." Ruby barely glanced at it before staring back down at the table, causing Pyrrha's lips to quirk into a frown. "Is something about class troubling you?"

Ruby halfheartedly shook her head. "Not really," the short girl groaned as she picked up the textbook, doing her best to go back to hiding behind it.

That still doesn't sound like nothing. To her credit, Ruby did well in subjects she was interested in; her grades in combat classes, engineering and Grimm studies were quite good. Outside of those subjects, she certainly struggled but always seemed to have it under control. Wait, Ruby said 'is it easy for you too?' Pyrrha realized she had missed something. Replaying the scene in her head, it clicked. "Is it because Yang isn't studying?" Ruby shrunk under the question – her red hood was no longer visible over the textbook - which confirmed Pyrrha's suspicions., Still, she decided to tread lightly. "I'm sorry, forget I said anything."

"No, you're right." Ruby finally said after a pause. "I… I just don't get how everyone just sort of passes without having to study. Like, if Weiss decided to skip studying, she'd still probably pass with an A… not that she'd ever skip! Yang rarely studies, but she always passes with at least a B," Ruby huffed dejectedly. "Even when I study super hard, I barely get a C plus if I'm lucky." She looked up at Pyrrha. "I mean, I've been doing better since I've started studying with you, but it still sucks, y'know?"

Pyrrha's lips compressed into a thin line as Ruby moped. I knew she had problems with studying, but I didn't realize it was quite that bad. It must hurt her pride to ask for help all the time. "Just because you aren't getting a high grade doesn't mean you aren't progressing," Pyrrha gently suggested. "You were jumped ahead by two years, which means you have a disadvantage compared to all of us… the fact that you are getting C pluses is more impressive than the rest of us getting a perfect grade." Pyrrha got up from her seat, walking around the table and laid a comforting hand on Ruby's shoulder. "If I had been moved ahead, I don't know if I would have even of done half as well."

"Thanks Pyrrha." Ruby may have said it quietly but that hint of despair from before was gone. Her smile - however weak it might have been - told Pyrrha all she needed to know about Ruby's sincerity.

That was something that Pyrrha had noticed about Ruby; whenever something started to get to her, she'd turtle up in her hood until she stopped feeling so stressed. Although from how red her cheeks were, it may have been from overheating more than anything else. The important part was that Ruby wasn't despairing anymore, a step in the right direction in Pyrrha's mind.

With that, the two returned to studying.

Ren might be able to do some sparring tonight?

Pyrrha was still trying to figure out what to do with her night. Ruby is busy, Jaune is on a date… and it's been sometime since Ren and I have sparred. Ever since the tournament, the two had taken to rather infrequent unarmed sparring matches.

Of all the huntsmen and huntresses that Pyrrha knew, Ren was the best when it came to unarmed combat; therefore, Pyrrha was always quite excited when they had their matches. Everyone had their own weaknesses, and Pyrrha's biggest was the fact her semblance didn't work if her opponent was not using a metal weapon. Usually that wasn't the case, but it never hurt to be safe.

A few keystrokes later and Pyrrha's text message to Ren had been sent. Right, back to studying for the test. After the brief interruption, Pyrrha resumed studying with Ruby. They had made major headway through the material and were close to calling it a night - that and the library was about to close.

Ping!

Pyrrha blinked in surprise at the new message notification. That was fast. Tapping the message, the corners of Pyrrha's mouth drooped. Nora and Ren were currently stuck in detention, although Pyrrha was quite certain that it was more of Nora's doing then Ren's.

The tall redhead's brow furrowed. My evening is open again, it'd seem. I suppose I could always go train by myself-

"They got another detention?" Pyrrha had to stop the very sudden urge to jump out of her chair as Ruby spoke right next to her ear.

"Yes, well, Professor Goodwitch is quite strict with deviation from the course work," Pyrrha replied after a moment to still her heart from jumping out of her throat. "Nora is just… energetic is all."

"That sucks." Ruby sadly shook her head as she scanned the contents of Pyrrha's scroll. "Oh, you were going to spar with Ren?" Pyrrha bobbed her head as a big grin spread across Ruby's face. "Y'know, you should spar with me and Yang!"

"Are you sure? I wouldn't want to intrude, and I was going to do hand to ha-"

"Nope! Intrude all you want, it'll be great!" Ruby waved it off as her infectious smile started to spread to Pyrrha.

"I'm looking forward to it the-" The automated notification of the library's closing over the intercom cut through Pyrrha's voice and drawing her eyes to the closest wall mounted one.

"I'll see you at the training room after dinner~!" Ruby happily sang as a pile of rose petals took her now vacant spot.

Ruby was excited.

The tedious, dreadfully dull, ceaseless studying had finally ended for the day, the cafeteria still had cookies when Ruby got there, and now she was going to spar with her sister and her best friend. That easily outweighed the boring part of the day!

Though, not all of it had been boring. In particular, Ruby liked it when Pyrrha had said some very nice compliments to her. It kinda felt like back at the river, all war-

"Someone seems awfully chipper tonight." Yang's voice shook Ruby out of her thoughts, the blonde strolling up to her with a smirk on her face.

"Duh! No more studying or answering professor Port's questions! Now my sweetheart gets to do the talking!" Ruby couldn't help but pull out Crescent Rose from her holster. I almost forgot! "Oh, um, would it be cool if Pyrrha came too? I kinda-maybe-sorta invited her..."

Yang rolled her eyes as Ruby sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck. "It's fine, Rubes." A mischievous glint entered Yang's lilac eyes. "I call Pyrrha on my team!"

"What-the?!" Ruby blanched at the thought of fighting both Yang and Pyrrha at the same time. "That's no fair! We don't have sides!" Plus, she'd be on my side anyway since she is my friend!

"Then how are we gonna do three-person sparring?" Yang inquired with an upraised eyebrow. "Either it's two versus one or someone has to sit out."

"I… uh…" Ruby had clearly not thought this through. "Um… I guess we ask Pyrrha what she thinks."

"Ask me what I think on what?" the familiar, warm voice asked.

"Heya Pyrrha, ready to-" Yang's mouth scrunched up with a quizzical expression, prompting Ruby to turn on the heels of her feet and face the newcomer.

Pyrrha wasn't wearing anything ridiculous, no, but instead of her usual shield, sword and armour, she was wearing a tank-top and shorts. It wasn't like her to forget her equipment.

"I-is something wrong?" Pyrrha asked as the sisters stared at her in mild confusion. "Did I arrive late…?"

"Nope, you got here early," Yang finally responded. "But, uh, ya do know we are sparring right?" To articulate a point, Yang pulled Ember Celica out of its compacted form. "You sorta need your weapons for that."

Pyrrha's emerald eyes went from Yang to Ruby, who was still holding Crescent Rose before widening. "Oh. Oh! I misunderstood, sorry! Let me grab Milo and Akoúo." Pyrrha turned around before jogging off to the locker room.

Misunderstood? Ruby and Yang shared a confused look on their faces as they watched the tall redhead's retreating form. "You did tell her we were going to be sparring, right Rubes?"

"Yeah, I think I did?" Ruby's head bobbed in an uncertain nod as she scratched her head. "She was going to spar with Ren, but he's in detention with Nora tonight. I thought it'd be perfect for her to join us instead." That's what the text said, they were going to do unarmed sparring or some- "Oops."

"Oops?"

"I think Pyrrha was going to do some hand-to-hand stuff with Ren… instead of weapons sparring."

"Oooooh." Yang's grin stretched from ear to ear. "Actually, that sounds like fun, let's do that instead!"

"What!?" Ruby was not quite prepared for that. While Yang excelled at martial arts, Ruby didn't. In fact, outside of Crescent Rose, she wasn't all that much of a fighter. It wasn't from a lack of trying so much as a lack of interest. Why punch something when you could slice it in half with a scyther rifle ? "Pyrrha is already getting her weapons, it'll be fin-"

"Nah, this sounds way better. I'll be right back sis!" Yang jogged off towards the locker room, promptly ignoring what Ruby had been saying..

Ruby had the distinct feeling that she might regret inviting Pyrrha to join them.

"I call dibs on fighting Pyrrha first!"

"I accept your challenge, Yang." While Pyrrha answered with a smile, Ruby was more than happy to watch her sister and best friend go at it from the sidelines. At least it should be fun to watch!

After squaring off in the ring, hands raised, Yang made the first move, going in for a hard right hook off the bat.

Instead of dodging like any sane person would have done –even without Ember Celica, Yang had a mean right hook- Pyrrha stepped closer to the blonde, twisting around and grabbing Yang's arm and throwing the teen over her shoulder. Yang stopped it mid-throw, instead planting her feet on the ground and counter-throwing Pyrrha.

Unlike Yang, Pyrrha went with the motion, sailing through the air before rebounding off the wall towards Yang. What surprised Ruby was the fact that the normally tall redhead was crouching low to the ground as she dashed back. Evidently it surprised Yang too as Pyrrha grabbed onto the blonde's legs and pulled her to the ground in a resounding thud.

Not to be deterred in the slightest, Yang scrambled into a roll and sprung back onto her feet, this time taking a left jab at the redhead. Pyrrha did the opposite, this time backing away from the blonde. Yang threw another jab and Pyrrha strafed right.

Ruby could see the frown creasing Yang's mouth as Pyrrha just kept dodging the blonde's increasingly aggravated punches, her ponytail whipping behind her. It wasn't until Yang gave a low kick that Pyrrha did a different reaction, this time giving a sweeping kick, causing Yang to crash into the ground.

"Y'know, it's kind of annoying when all you do is dodge." Yang huffed as she pulled herself up. She could already seeing Pyrrha start to apologize before cutting her off. "No, no, it's fine, just throw a punch once in awhile, 'kay?"

"Sorry, I keep forgetting that I'm not holding Milo and Akoúo, let me try again!"

Ruby watched as Yang and Pyrrha went at for a few more rounds, Pyrrha getting knocked on her butt next before the fighting broke into a fairly even rounds. It wasn't too long before one of them had decided they had enough. "I'm gonna go get some water. You're up, sis!"

It was with shaky steps that Ruby slowly, almost robotically, found herself in the ring in front of Pyrrha, who adopted a ready stance across from her with open hands. "Whenever you are ready, Ruby."

"O-okay." It shouldn't be that hard, right? Ruby had seen Yang throw enough punches to know the very basics. I got this, I totally got this! Ruby took a few steps forward and threw her left hand out in a fist at Pyrrha's chest. Or at least, that's what Ruby thought she did. Right now all that Ruby could see was the ceiling as she was sprawled out on the mat.

"Are you okay?" The perfect view of the white ceiling was broken by a cascade of red hair and Pyrrha's very concerned eyes followed by soft hands gently trying to rouse her. "Ruby?"

"Y-yeah, I think so?" Ruby felt herself being pulled up into a sitting position as Pyrrha squatted next to her. "What happened?"

"I threw you." Pyrrha absently said as she tried to assess if Ruby was truly okay. "Then you didn't get up for a good minute, so I got worried. How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Uh, three?"

Pyrrha nodded encouragingly. "Correct." Her lips quirked as she gave Ruby one last glance over. "I think you were just a bit dazed is all. Think you can stand?"

"I think?"

"Up we go." Ruby felt herself being pulled off the mat by her friend and led to a nearby chair. "And here we are." Once more, Ruby felt Pyrrha's concerned, emerald eyes focus on her. "If you aren't feeling dizzy for another few minutes, you should be fine."

"Oh. Okay." Ruby dumbly nodded as she listened to her. Pyrrha, meanwhile, pulled up a folding chair next to her. "I'm really bad at that kind of stuff I guess, sorry."

"What kind of stuff?"

"Y'know, wah-pow!" Ruby struck a pose much to Pyrrha's amusement – at least if the poorly suppressed giggle was anything to go by. "The unarmed stuff."

Pyrrha frowned. "I'm sorry, I thought you were more proficient in it, since Yang is so good at it."

"Nope. I'm not exactly… good without my sweetheart." Ruby embarrassedly admitted as she shook her head, it took Pyrrha a moment - at least if the confused expression was anything to go by - to realize that she was referring to Crescent Rose. "All those kung fu moves are more Yang's thing."

"What's more my thing?" Yang curiously asked as she walked over, holding a couple bottles of water. "Did you guys already finish?"

"Um, well, ya see, uh-"

"I may have used just a tad too much force." It was weird hearing Pyrrha act so sheepish to Ruby. "So we decided to sit out for a bit."

Yang merely raised an eyebrow. "Ruby got knocked out in one punch, didn't she?" Pyrrha's silence was telling as the blonde gave a snort. "I'm always telling her she really should try and learn how to fight on her own."

"Every time you try and teach me, all you ever have me do is punch stuff!" Ruby indignantly huffed. "And then you tell me to dodge and suddenly I'm seeing stars."

"I…" Yang held up a finger to disagree before lowering it and giving Ruby a hopeless shrug. "You aren't wrong. Maybe martial arts isn't for you?"

Ruby wilted from the suggestion. "Doesn't matter as long as I have Crescent Rose…" Ruby couldn't help but think back to right before the Breach, when it had mattered. The point when she had fallen into a sinkhole without her beloved weapon. White Fang members had captured her effortlessly, and when Torchwick was right in front of her, Ruby could do nothing.

The experience, being utterly powerless in the face of danger, had been more than terrifying. If her team hadn't showed up she would have been dead right then and the-

"Hey Pyrrha, I noticed that you do mostly throws, right?" Yang's voice pulled Ruby from her thoughts. "And kicks?"

"I do. Punching doesn't come up very often in combat since I'm holding Milo and Akoúo." The red-haired teen's head tilted. "Why do you ask Yang?"

"Your style might fit Rubes better."

Ruby's head perked up, fit me better? From when Pyrrha and Yang had been going at it, it looked more or less like they were doing the same moves; just a blur of flailing limbs.

"You might be right." Ruby felt emerald eyes focus on her again. "Ruby, I could try to teach you, if you feel up to it?"

"I… I guess I can? You won't make me dodge, will you?" Ruby glared at Yang who merely stuck out her tongue.

Pyrrha was thoughtfully tapped on her chin. "Mainly we'll be sticking to kicks and throws." Red hair swished as Pyrrha shook her head. "So no, probably no dodging today."

Kicking wouldn't be that bad; if Ruby couldn't do upper body strength to save her life, then perhaps she could made up for it with lots of leg strength. "That doesn't sound too bad," Ruby quietly agreed as she gave her consent. "I'll give it a shot!"

"Let me just get a pair of dummies and we can get started!" The warm smile that was lit across Pyrrha's face made Ruby feel like she'd made the right choice.

Several minutes later, Ruby found herself in her workout clothes, standing on a mat in front of a pair of dummies. Yang was half-paying attention from a chair while Pyrrha seemed to be lost in her thoughts.

Nodding to herself, Pyrrha turned to Ruby. "Okay, I'm going to teach you the most basic kick. It's called 'gastrizein' in Mistralian, but you'd probably know it as a front kick. I am going to show you how to do it, then you try, if that's agreeable?" Ruby nodded as Pyrrha shoo'd her to back up.

Pyrrha turned towards the dummy, dropping slowly into the same fighting stance she'd used against Yang, bouncing on her feet. A few bounces and the calm expression on Pyrrha's face left as her eyebrows furrowed. Taking a half step forwards –it seemed more like a hop then a step to Ruby- the tall teen's left foot went up until Pyrrha's knee was mid-chest before her leg extended. The result was the bottom of Pyrrha's left foot whacking into the dummy, the humanoid shape wobbling before righting itself from the impact.

That doesn't look too hard, Ruby idly thought as she watched Pyrrha kick the target a few more times. After the fifth kick, the redhead dropped her stance before turning back to Ruby and simply gesturing over at the other dummy. "Now you try."

The younger girl walked confidently up to the dummy. It's just a front kick, that's not hard! Adopting the same stance that Pyrrha had, or as close as Ruby could get to it, she kicked at the dummy. Unlike when Pyrrha did it, though, the dummy didn't wobble or make much of a satisfying noise from the impact as Ruby found herself stumbling backwards. Ruby was certain she would have hit the ground had Pyrrha not steadied her.

"Um, thanks Pyrrha, did I do okay?" Clearly Ruby was nowhere near Yang or Pyrrha's level, but this was just a first attempt, maybe I did alright for that? Ruby's small level of self-confidence took a hit when she noticed Yang trying her best not to laugh - the mirth still clearly visible in her eyes regardless of the lack of actual laughter. That answers that.

"Ruby, you-" Pyrrha stopped as hopeful silver eyes stared up at her. "You kick good." The short teen felt a comforting hand rest on her shoulder as Ruby felt heat rise to her face from the compliment. "But we could improve it."

"Oh." For a moment Ruby forgot that Yang was laughing out loud a few feet away as emerald eyes stared encouragingly at her. It was feeling rather warm all the sudden for Ruby, despite the tank top and shorts that she was wearing.

"You just need some practice and you'll be better, I know it." The comfortable weight left Ruby's shoulder as Pyrrha took a couple of steps back. "This time, go into a ready stance and we'll start from there."

"O-okay." Ruby slowly got into a stance as the room slowly dropped a few degrees back to normal, that was really weird. Hands half raised in fists as she stood at a slant, facing the target almost sideways, knees bent and legs shoulder width apart, Ruby looked back at Pyrrha. "Like this?"

"Close, but not quite... here." The muffled pitter-patter of footsteps on the mat was the only indication Ruby had of Pyrrha walking up to her before a pair of hands gripped her shoulders and started to turn her. "That's closer to what Yang's style is, which is good if you are punching like a boxer. The system I use, however, is more reliant on throws or takedowns, so you have to be ready to switch to a frontal stance." Pyrrha gently turned her until Ruby was only slightly off-kilter. "There we go. Does that all make sense?"

Pyrrha's words were going in one ear and out the other; - something involving facing slightly off center or something. Ruby's attention was instead pulled to the sudden welling of heat in her, like if she had one too many blankets on. But I'm wearing less I usually am, I should be cold, not hot! Trying to focus on what Pyrrha was saying, Ruby lamely nodded her head. "Um, yeah sure."

"Good, now you want your arms up." Ruby felt Pyrrha's hands let go of her shoulders, only for a muffled step later, Pyrrha's chest to press lightly against her back. Long arms stretched out to gently pull Ruby's half-raised hands up from waist height to mid-chest height. "You want your arms up so you could block a strike to the head or chest or even your neck..."

That warmth in the short redhead's body went from feeling mildly uncomfortable to alarming as Pyrrha's voice started to get tuned out of Ruby's head by the obscenely loud beating of her own heart. It felt different, not like the feeling she might get when sick or in a sauna, yet at the same time, it felt familiar. Very familiar. Almost exactly like when Pyrrha had carried Ruby along the river.

Yet the sensation was foreign to Ruby as she felt her body flush. Her heart was pounding loudly, and she felt very out of breath all the sudden as she became very acutely aware just how close Pyrrha was to her. The small little breaths she took as the tall teen whispered instructions into Ruby's ear, the fact Pyrrha's thinly clothed and rather generous chest was pressed up against Ruby's bare upper back.

It made Ruby feel dizzy as her pulse beat like a war drum, drowning out whatever Pyrrha was saying. There was one overriding sensation, one that was the hardest to ignore, more so than all the points of contact between the two, her heart beat or even Pyrrha's breath.

While Ruby kept comparing the sensation to heat, that wasn't quite the right term – the warmth came after the feeling. No, it was this itchy feeling that Ruby feel uncomfortable, like something down in her was far tighter than it should be. Then it had ever been.

The sensation made her feel tense, like her whole body was constricting and she didn't have the faintest idea as to why. Why she felt like this, heck, even what this was.

The prospect that she had no control over it was terrifying to Ruby.

What is going on?! Why is this suddenly feeling all weird, how- why?! Ruby's thoughts raced through her at a speed that put her semblance to shame. Why does my body feel like it's burning? Am I sick? Did I eat something that went bad? Is it bec-

"Ruby?" The sudden appearance of very concerned emerald eyes in front of the panicking teen made nearly made her fall over. "Ruby, are you alright?"

Words weren't coming to Ruby in the face of those eyes, and her throat felt tight and constricted. "I-I-I don't know?" Ruby finally croaked out as Yang worriedly started to hover around the two. The feeling, that itch, the uncomfortableness started to slowly subside.

The feeling was abating ever so slowly as Yang and Pyrrha exchanged worried glances with each other before Yang started to check Ruby over, carefully leading her over to a chair. "I think you might be done for the day. Rubes." Her big sister gave Pyrrha a glance. "I know I joked about Ruby getting knocked out in a hit, but are you sure that you didn't hit her too hard?"

"I-I don't believe it was that hard? All I did was a shoulder throw, she didn't get up after that so we stopped." Pyrrha glanced from Ruby to Yang and back again. "I didn't hurt you, did I Ruby?" Pyrrha's voice sounded mortified.

Ruby felt lame for only shaking her head, but forced herself to speak as it was clear that Pyrrha was starting to blame herself. "It's not you… I just feel really… off. Maybe Yang's right." Stiffly Ruby got up and started to meander over towards the locker room to change back into her normal clothes. "I-I think I'm gonna head back to the room for the night."

"Do you want me to help you back?" Pyrrha asked quietly. "It's getting late anyway and my room is next to your guys' dorm anyway…"

"I'm feeling better now." Ruby's voice had a bit of confidence back into it as she was truly starting to feel normal again. It was clear the normal chipper-ness in her voice put Yang and Pyrrha at ease, if only a little judging by how they visually relaxed, however slight. "I think I can make it."

The moment that Ruby was back in her dorm, she face planted into her bed.

All indicators were starting to point to something she was sincerely not liking, something that had become abundantly clear as Ruby had mulled over in the shower. The heat, the sensations… she'd seen it a number of times in her friends at Signal, and especially with Yang. It was textbook, really.

Nope! Ruby mentally shouted to herself, even going as far as covering her ears with a pillow. It's not that, it can't be that… that'd be impossible! Simple as that.

Yet the explanation answered what exactly Ruby was feeling gave an answer that Ruby could not possibly accept.

It's just not possible!

Editor: ASouthernRussian

Author's Note: I LIVE! Oh, and Ruby is getting all kinds of feelz and is confused. Ahhhh shipping.

A big thing to note, is that the part where Ruby is essentially feeling something, I don't know if this was done okay or just seemed like an alien wrote it... did I do okay?

Now you can probably tell what I meant when I said I jumped the gun early last chapter. NOW THE SHIPPING WILL COMMENCE IN EARNEST!…also yes, there is a reason she is feeling this all of a sudden. It will be explained in good time :D

Can I just point out to everyone that Acceptance is now the most followed Pyrrha-ship! Arkos has been beaten out with this crazy little ship on the site! HUZZAH!

Couple of house keeping things before I get rambletastic about what took so long for this to come out.

First, THERE IS NOW ART OF THE STORY! :D

Seriously, I'm commissioning a piece of art for each chapter from Jo3mm. Chapter 1 is the new story cover and the second chapter's art was just finished yesterday if you want to see! Just google Jo3mm and RWBY and you should be able to find his DA page pretty quick!

Second, I AM SO SORRY FOR NOT RESPONDING TO THE REVIEWS! D:

Life, as I'll explain got ahead of me and that's why only maybe five or six people got responses to their reviews. I totally read them, just never got around to responding which I usually try and do.

They really do mean a lot to me, and I feel just terrible for not responding to them because of life. I will really try and get better at this. Serious this time because it was pathetic when I don't respond at all.

Thirdly, chapter 20 release date.

Oh boy, I am so uncertain about this. I'm going to shoot for the first Friday of April, if not the second Friday. I am currently competing in the RWBY subreddit's monthly fanfic challenge and am writing a rather long story for it, so that will eat into my time this month greatly which is why I'm so uncertain about a release date.

I'll try to get it out in early April, but no promises? At the very least, it should be sooner than this wait.

Be warned, this might get a tad rambly, and I'm only slightly sorry for that :P

OKAY SO IT'S BEEN LIKE TWO MONTHS WHEN I SAID IT'D BE ONLY ONE, WHAT HAPPENED?!

I need to answer this.

Remember in the author's note for the last chapter, I said "Though, in my outline this was supposed to be next chapter (which is now two chapters from now), but then again, that chapter was originally this chapter. My outline is confusing sometimes."?

Well, what happened was I had decided to do a chapter concept that wasn't in my outline between the Vacation chapter and this chapter. Problematically, that chapter did NOT pan out. Wait, that wasn't even the first thing that went wrong either. After I posted the last chapter I was rather sick for two weeks, one week spent mostly stuck in bed and feeling like crap. So when I finally was feeling well enough to write Acceptance… I had only two weeks left. I did a stupid thing when I tried to force the concept I had to work without even realizing it'd change every part of the story and I couldn't even get it to work in that chapter in the first place.

I was feeling sorta burned out and decided to take a week off… and then fucking canon happened.

They killed my muse.

Fuck man, that screwed me up for a good week at least – almost two. I'll try and keep the ranting to a minimal about that, but basically it hurt me in ways that are still hard for me to come to terms with.

Before anyone asks, I don't blame them [RoosterTeeth] for anything nor am I going to deny what happened.

Basically we, as a fanfic community, tell stories. What RoosterTeeth does is tell stories. That's what they do. I've had people tell me I'm writing my story wrong and I have very choice words to say about those people which I will refrain from uttering in public. These are my stories and I want to tell them how I intend to tell them. Why should it be any different for RoosterTeeth?

Moreover then that, as cheesy as this sounds, Pyrrha would rather people move on then just stay in a ball of bitter rage. Keep moving forward is the phrase I believe.

Am I going to keep writing stories? Yes, albeit my fluff will probably suffer for it. There was a moment where I had told myself if they killed Pyrrha, I would finish my stories and leave. I don't think that's the case now, so no need to worry about that :P

Also, thank you to everyone who sent me messages and reviews worrying for me or encouraging me. It means more than I can express and while I didn't respond to most of them, I just didn't know how to accurately show how much they made me feel. Like, the ones I did reply to, I did in tears. That's how much you guys and gals moved me :D

RIGHT OKAY, THAT'S IT, Go enjoy the omakes now!

Thank you all for reading and putting up with me for as long as you have, have a great day everyone! :D

Omake I:

"There can only be one."

It was with those words that had led to Yang challenging Ren to find out who was the best martial artists amongst their friends group.

For some reason that escaped Pyrrha, they had decided the match must take place at dawn. As interested as Pyrrha was in watching the match, she had opted to get sleep instead of attending it, a sentiment shared by everyone besides Nora.

Now, however it was breakfast and the two had yet to show up – three if one included Nora. So it was with curiosity that Pyrrha made the trek to the training arena. This early on a Sunday morning, no one was using it besides the missing trio, so when Pyrrha walked in, the sight that greeted her was… surprising, to say the least.

The arena was in tatters, massive craters littered the ground, parts of the stands had huge dents in them – are those fist indentations? – and most of the rubble was on fire. Somehow.

I thought they weren't going to use their weapons? How do you get fire from just punching and kicking?!

"Hiya Pyrrha!" Nora's singsong voice rang out from the stands, the bubbly redhead holding a half-eaten popcorn container. "You just missed the match!"

"Just missed it…?" Pyrrha shook her head. "Nora, didn't they start three hours ago?"

"Yup, Yang was really good! But so was Ren so it took a while."

"Speaking of which, where is he?" Yang was half passed out against a wall, mumbling something that made it clear to Pyrrha that the infirmary would be getting at least one new patient today.

"Oh, he is up there!" Pyrrha followed where Nora was pointing to the ceiling, where a very unconscious Ren was hanging from the rafters.

"I…what… how?" Nora just shrugged her shoulders as Pyrrha resisted the urge to pinch the bridge of her nose. "Well, who won?"

"They tied!" The sudden glee in Nora's eyes was very concerning all of the sudden. "Rematch is next Sunday!"

Omake II:

"Wait a front kick?"

Yang had gotten up from her chair and was staring curiously at Pyrrha as she stood in front of the practice dummy. "That's super basic, why not a side kick, or a jump kick or a flying spin kick?"

"Because all you need is a front kick."

"But-"

"THIS. IS. SPARTA!" Yang gets front kicked through a wall by an irate Pyrrha.

"What's a Sparta?"

Omake III - Guest author: Super Saiyan Cyndaquil:

Click

Jaune lazily opened a single, tired eye to glance at his girlfriend who lay next to him, or at least should've been. Instead, he found her kneeling on the grass of the hilltop, face obstructed by her prized camera.

"Sorry, did I wake you?" Velvet grinned bashfully as she peeked around the side of the device.

"Nah…" Jaune shook his head, feeling the blond hair on the back of his head rub against the forearms he crossed behind him in a makeshift pillow. "It was more like a meditation, or something." That's what Ren always called it, right?

"You certainly looked quite peaceful." She didn't press it any further as the camera disappeared back into the box she kept it in. After, she curled up next to him, resting both arms over his waist and snuggling a cheek to his chest. The tip of her bunny ears tickled his chin but he didn't mind as he pulled one arm out from behind him and unconsciously began drawing little circles on her back.

"Yeah… this is nice." It wasn't often they got such beautiful weather such as this on a day off. The wind wasn't too harsh, but just gentle enough that it felt good as it filtered between exposed toes and tickled the blond bangs on his forehead. In contrast, the warm rays of sunlight provided a comfortable balance that made it perfect to just laze about outside. "So what are you going to do with that picture?"

"Hmm…" He could feel Velvet's voice vibrate softly against his chest as she thought about the question. "I'll probably develop that one. It'll make a good memory."

He gave a small snort of mirth. "You say that about all the pictures you take of me." Her head shifted and he knew her eyes were gazing up at his face curiously. "You saying you don't want to copy my sword and board style with your Semblance?"

Velvet must have realized he was teasing and not actually troubled by the question. In the past, she would've stuttered out a million excuses to make him feel better. Now, she just giggled along with him. "If I was going to copy a sword and shield, I would just use the pictures I have taken of Pyrrha. Her sword is also a rifle, after all. Quite a bit more function than yours."

"Ouch. That stings, you know." Jaune clutched his chest with the other hand and let out a groan of mock pain, succeeding in making his girlfriend giggle even louder.

"Should I kiss the wound to make it feel better?" She scooted up and shifted, pressing her body down on top of him.

"You can't simply kiss a man's pride-"

He was cut off as a warm pair of lips pressed down on his own. Despite himself, he leaned into the kiss, cupping Velvet's back a little more tightly as he pulled her into him. As she pulled back, there was a slightly mischievous smirk to her lips. "You were saying?"

"Huh. Well, I guess that does remove some of the sting." She rolled her eyes as he grinned back up. "Maybe… one more and it'll be all better?"

"Uh huh." She gave a small snort of laughter…

...before leaning down for another kiss.