The Golden Room (ch3)

EARLY RELEASE FOR ALL MY PATRONS! THANK YOU ALL SO MUCH!

All right so Weiss is gonna try to step out of her comfort zone and watch one of Yang's practices! Let's see how this goes!

Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY.

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													Chapter 3. Friends

After that, Yang could barely sit still throughout all of her classes every day.

She would whittle away the hours during each lecture by thinking about what she'd do if today was the day Weiss came to see her.

She'd told Ruby and Blake about Weiss already, and they'd both seemed very curious about this strange, white-haired soloist whom they'd only ever seen onstage before.

They made Yang realize what a special relationship she had with Weiss. Most people only tended to see Weiss when she was in the middle of a performance singing. Other than that, people only saw her sitting in class, and then she would disappear after school and no one would consider where it was she'd gone.

Only Yang had ever seen Weiss practicing alone in the music room after school, and only Yang had ever gotten close enough to her to forge a special bond.

Realizing as much made the blonde feel warm inside. She hoped Weiss enjoyed her company as much as she enjoyed Weiss'.

Unfortunately, Weiss didn't make it to Yang's practices for the next three days.

Each time, as soon as Yang came out of the locker room, dressed in her volleyball uniform and ready to play, she'd scour the bleachers. Most of the friends and significant others of her fellow players would sit and wait and watch from there like a tiny audience.

But each time, Yang failed to spot a familiar white ponytail.

However, she didn't get disheartened. She still hurried to get dressed afterward and rushed to the music room to find Weiss herself.

But on the fourth day, Yang received a rather pleasant surprise.

The volleyball players had just finished their warm-up jog and stretches. Yang was heading to the space by the wall where everyone kept their water bottles to refresh herself.

But no sooner had she unscrewed the cap and put it to her lips than all the water came spurting back out.

Her eyes, which had so idly been scanning the rows of bleachers, came to a sudden halt as she glimpsed a familiar girl making her way across them.

Weiss had her book bag on one shoulder and was clasping at the strap with both hands as she found a fairly empty place to sit down. Unlike the crowds of other people sitting there who were all laughing and talking and eating, Weiss looked rather out of place.

It was clear that she'd never attended sports practice before, and that the rowdy environment wasn't at all what she was used to. She seemed to be fidgeting a lot as she got herself situated, and for a moment, Yang thought she might take out a book and start doing work.

The blonde quickly wiped her mouth off and cleared her throat, gathering up her voice to call out across the din of the gymnasium.

"Hey, Weiss!" She waved enthusiastically at her, a huge grin spreading across her lips.

Weiss half-jolted at the sudden shout of her name, but when she looked up, her eyes locked directly with Yang's.

Even from this distance, Yang could see her cheeks flush a little as Weiss timidly raised a hand and waved back. She appeared to be chiding Yang under her breath, and the blonde felt she knew exactly what Weiss was bemoaning.

I wish you wouldn't make such a big deal about this!

But Yang was too ecstatic to do anything other than brag about the fact that Weiss Schnee had come to see her today. She was determined to give the singer a display she'd never forget.

The coach blew his whistle, and Yang dropped her water bottle before jogging over to stand with the other girls and listen about today's practice. They'd be playing mock matches against each other, focusing on their different types of hits and how to aim them.

They were divided up into teams of six and took their positions on either side of the many nets set up around the gym. Yang cracked her knuckles then crouched down, bracing her palms on her knees as she waited for the serve. She was going to impress Weiss today no matter what.

Knowing that she had someone watching her and possibly even cheering her on, even if Weiss would only do that in her head, it made Yang all the more motivated to do her best in the sport that she loved.

Overall, she gave a flawless performance that afternoon.

She returned every hit, made every serve, and scored almost half a dozen points per game. She demonstrated great focus and flexibility, as well as superb reaction times. Her depth perception allowed her to accurately determine if the ball would make it over the net or not, or if it would end up near herself or one of her teammates.

Whenever she got a second to spare, she'd glance over her shoulder to where Weiss was sitting.

Half the time, she expected Weiss to have really gotten bored of the sport and decided to read instead, as Blake would often do.

But every time Yang turned to seek her out, Weiss was sitting upright in her seat, eyes wide and focused entirely on everything Yang was doing. She seemed to have a real interest in the game, or perhaps it was just Yang herself.

The blonde shook her head, not wanting to flatter herself. She gave Weiss a wave and a wink before directing her attention back to the game.

There were only a few minutes left for practice, and Yang was beginning to feel the ache in her muscles and the sweat on her skin. But she wanted to try and do one last cool thing for Weiss to see.

She played as per usual for a few minutes, making great returns and serves.

At last, the other team hit the ball just right, high up over the net and aimed directly towards her.

Yang wanted to make a high jump and follow it with a spike to end the game. She didn't bother to judge the height of the ball in comparison to that of the net. She simply made the jump as soon as she could, without really thinking it through.

She'd regret that soon enough.

As the ball came down, Yang realized too late that she wouldn't be able to make the hit. Yelping, she was suspended in midair for a second before the ball smashed into her left shoulder, then bounced off to the floor.

Unbalanced by the blow, Yang landed horribly wrong, her ankle twisting painfully just before she went crashing to the floor.

All at once, people started gasping and crying out as the whistle was blown. Yang could only cringe and whimper as she curled in on herself, hands clutching at her injured foot.

"Shit, shit! Ahhh... Damn it..."

She'd done so well up until the last second. She'd just had to try and look cool to show off to Weiss...

Her teammates were huddling around her worriedly as the coach brushed through them and crouched over Yang, asking her a million different questions. But the tears trickling down her face ensured she couldn't speak just yet, only inhale sharply as she cringed on the floor.

/Shit... How embarrassing.../

But then, past the barrage of voices swirling around her, one in particular stood out.

"Yang?!"

Weiss was in more of a panic than anyone else. That much, Yang could tell just by hearing her cry out her name.

As the blonde cracked open her eyes, she saw Weiss elbow her way through the crowds and drop to her knees at her side. Her blue eyes were wavering with concern, her lips parted in gasp after gasp of shock.

"Yang?" Gently, Weiss placed her hand on her friend's shoulder. The volleyball player winced, but not because of the contact. It was more due to the fact that Weiss was looking so scared, and Yang knew it was all her fault.

"H-Hey..." she said meekly, and it was all she managed.

Weiss placed her other hand over Yang's, helping her cover her twisted ankle. Yang couldn't stop a sigh as her cool fingers relieved a bit of the pain.

At the very least, Weiss was relieved that Yang was still able to send her a grin, feeble as it was. While everyone else was just standing around gabbing and gasping, Weiss was already planning action.

"I'm taking you to the nurse. Can you get up?"

"Yeah... I think so..."

Yang braced her palms on the hard floor and pushed herself up as best she could. Weiss shooed the rest of the onlookers back and got beside her friend, offering Yang her hand. Weiss dipped her torso and allowed Yang to drape her arm across her shoulders.

"Don't rush," Weiss murmured. "Just take it easy or else you'll get hurt even more."

"Y-Yeah..."

Yang did as advised and took her time getting her bearings. Everyone else kept their distance, as Weiss had made it clear that she was going to be the one to take care of their teammate.

Yang curled her good leg beneath herself and pushed up a bit, keeping her injured foot to one side so she wouldn't bump it against herself. She caught Weiss' eye and gave her a nod to tell her she was ready.

Slowly, Weiss got to her feet, keeping Yang close to her side. The blonde used her free hand to push herself off the floor as she hobbled onto her good foot. Weiss staggered a bit with Yang's added weight, but she refused to slip or let her fall. Despite their obvious difference in size and muscle, Weiss managed to help Yang up all on her own.

The rest of Yang's teammates and her coach were all dumbfounded. They had no idea this petite singer would be here to watch their practices, let alone take one of their strongest members to the nurse all on her own.

But Weiss wasn't about to let anyone or anything stop her.

With a calm voice and steady step, she began leading Yang across the gym to the exit doors, then out into the hallway. Yang hopped and hobbled beside her, only barely tapping her bad foot on the floor to help herself slide forward. Only once they were out of earshot of others did Weiss break the silence.

"Goodness. I nearly had a heart-attack..."

Yang cast her a sheepish smile.

"Sorry. It's my own fault."

"You've got that right, you big show-off." She said it playfully, and Yang laughed.

"Yeah, I just wanted to show off a bit. Wanted you to think I was cool."

"You oaf. I'd thought that already without your jumping into the air and crashing down like a plane with no pilot."

Her analogy was so peculiar and unexpected that Yang burst out into laughter, despite the discomfort of her injury. Weiss heaved a sigh, but smiled, glad that her friend was all right.

They eventually made it to the nurse's office, where Weiss was able to let Yang down onto one of the beds. As the nurse tended to Yang, Weiss sat down on a chair nearby and caught her breath, clearly exhausted from the trek.

The nurse gave Yang an ice pack to hold against her ankle and advised her not to put weight onto it. Yang explained to her that all of her school-related items and clothes were in the gym, and that she also needed to pick up her sister and friend from the fourth floor library.

Clearly, neither the nurse nor Weiss was willing to let her do that.

Weiss immediately offered to go back to the gym to retrieve Yang's things, while the nurse made a private call to the library to have Ruby and Blake be sent downstairs.

Weiss hurried to the gymnasium, where Yang's helpful teammates had already prepared Yang's bag and folded-up uniform to be sent to the nurse for her. Weiss graciously accepted everything from them, then grabbed her own things from the bleachers before hurrying back to the nurse's office.

As soon as Yang saw her return, a look of relief and the utmost gratitude curled onto her lips.

"Thank you so much, Weiss. You didn't have to do that."

"But I wanted to." With a playful huff, Weiss deposited Yang's things onto the bed. "Are your sister and your friend coming?"

"Yeah, they're on their way now." She patted the bed beside herself, inviting Weiss to sit closer. The singer accepted the offer, folding her hands into her lap.

"What did the nurse say? How bad is it?"

"Just a sprain! I'll be fine. This is nothin' compared to the time I broke my leg freshman year."

Weiss grimaced just at the thought.

"You've got to be more careful."

"Aw, broken bones are a symbol! Proof that you did something cool, right?"

"Or something foolish."

"Don't tell me you're one of those people who've never broken a bone in their body."

Weiss shrugged indifferently.

"I guess I don't have as many opportunities as you do. Or an uncanny desire for bodily harm."

Yang laughed again, bringing a hand up to wipe her eyes.

"Gosh, Weiss, you're killin' me. But all jokes aside, thank you for helping me out."

"No need to thank me." Weiss paused for a moment, then lowered her voice into a more private tone. "That's what friends are for, right?"

Yang's eyes widened a little. That was the first time Weiss had ever explicitly called her a friend. It made her so immensely happy she couldn't stop herself from grinning again.

"Yeah! You bet'cha!"

"Is this going to prevent you from playing?"

"Just till the end of the week or so. I'll still go to practices, but I'll just take it easy. And hey, this might be a good excuse to leave a little early so I can come and see you!"

"You oaf! Don't get injured just so you can leave early!"

"I didn't, I swear!" Yang found herself laughing again, glad that Weiss was finally smiling, too. At that point, her eyes happened to wander over to the clock on the wall, which made her stop laughing altogether. "Um, Weiss? What time does your dad usually come to pick you up?"

Weiss froze like a prey animal being hunted before she whipped around to face the clock.

"Oh no! He must've arrived ten minutes ago!"

"What? But your alarm-"

"It must've gone off when I left my bag in the gym. Oh drat, he'll be angry..."

Hastily, she grabbed her bag and got off the bed, clearly in a panic. It was all Yang could do to reach out and grasp her wrist firmly, causing the girl to look back at her.

"Hey, easy. Take a breath. It'll be okay." Yang offered her a soothing smile. "I promise."

Weiss swallowed, but did her best to get herself under control.

"Thank you..."

With that, she slipped away from Yang and hurried out the door.

Ruby and Blake were just coming in as Weiss darted past them.

"Yang! What- gah!" Ruby jumped aside as the white-haired girl pelted past her and down the hall without so much as a second glance. Ruby stumbled back and Blake reached out to steady her and smooth out her uniform.

"You okay?" Blake wondered.

"Yeah." She then seemed to remember why they'd been called down here. "Ohmigosh! Yang! Are you okay?" Ruby dashed over to her sister's bedside nervously.

"Chill out, lil' sis. I'm all good. Just a sprain."

"Really?" asked Blake. "I'm surprised. Usually you're a lot more careful ever since the time you broke your leg."

"Yeah well, y'know. A girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do."

"What the heck's that mean?" Ruby mumbled. "Well, I guess Blake and I have to carry you out now, huh?"

"Where are your keys?" Blake asked. "I'll drive."

"Front zipper."

As Blake pulled the car keys out of Yang's school bag, Ruby helped her sister sit up straight. She gave the ice pack back to the nurse and thanked her on Yang's behalf before returning to the bed.

Together, Blake and Ruby helped Yang to her feet, then called out more words of thanks to the nurse as they hobbled out.

"What a day," Blake sighed. "I can't wait to go home and have a cup of tea."

"Oh!" Ruby peeped. "Yang, that girl who ran out of here before! Who was she?"

Yang presented the two of them with a grand, white smile.

"She's a friend."

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A/N: They got to the friend tier! Took a bit of a minor crisis on Yang's part, but they got there!