Semblance of Brutality

Semblances and Anger Management

Doomguy's perspective

"Well, we did it! Great job, Doomguy!" Yang exclaims.

"Waitwaitwait," Qrow stops us. "Did what?"

"Yeah," Ruby agrees. "From what we saw, it looked like he was attacking you."

"Guys, you mistook the whole situation! We were sparring; I took it up a notch and really pushed him to keep up and, well... he unlocked his semblance!"

"Which is?" Qrow prompts.

"He gets stronger, faster, and quicker to react. The only downside is that it takes a lot out of him to maintain. When you four showed up, we were testing how strong he actually gets, and, as it turns out, I don't think I'd win any arm wrestling matches with him like that," Yang explains.

"Whoopsies!" Ruby says embarrassedly while rubbing the back of her head.

"'Whoopsies' is right!" Yang's eyes turn red; she's angry. "I don't even know how Qrow mistook this! He was watching us!"

"I... may have jumped the gun a bit," he tells us.

"You think?" Yang closes her eyes and exhales shakily. When she opens her eyes, they're back to their normal shade of lilac. "I'm sorry. I got a little out-of-hand. I just-"

"Yang is just a little stressed," I cut in, saving her from tying up her words. "It was all just a misunderstanding. We're all fine," I say, looking from Yang to Qrow, Ruby, Weiss, and Blake.

"We'll, um, leave you guys alone," Ruby says, a bit of shakiness in her voice.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," Qrow advises us before herding the others back inside his house.

"I just don't get why they think they have to protect me," Yang says. "Ever since this," she raises her prosthetic arm, "they've treated me like a porcelain doll."

"Yang... I think they don't want to see something like that happen again," I broach. "I realize how patronizing it can seem, but, in the end, they're doing it to try to make it up to you for not being there when you needed them to be."

"Yeah, I guess," she admits, rubbing her arm embarrassedly. "Do you think you could... I dunno, talk to them about it sometime? I appreciate it, but they should also respect the fact that I'm capable of defending myself."

"Yeah, sure thing," I accept. "I'll bring it up with them later today if I have a chance."

"Thank you so much! It's kinda funny; in fights, I'm always rushing into the fray, eager to start the action, but with stuff like this? I've never been good at facing these things head-on."

I relate well, and chuckle a bit at how well her description matches mine. "I'm the same way, actually. I've always used my fists to solve problems rather than my words. I don't know what I'd do if I had to face a situation where punching something isn't a valid option," I add a bit of a chuckle to the last sentence.

There is a noticeable silence after that. I hear Yang mutter something to herself that sounds like "Now or never." Suddenly, she springs to life. Is it just me, or is she acting very out-of-character?

"Well, I guess it's time for both of us to do something we aren't good at," she says cryptically.

"What do you-"

I stop my sentence when Yang suddenly kisses my cheek. She withdraws quickly afterwards, leaving us both a bit stunned. Well, punching my way out doesn't seem like a valid option here, I tell myself. I press my hand against the cheek Yang had kissed, still a bit stunned. She, however, seems to have recovered a bit quicker.

"Sorry if that was... odd," she says.

"No, you're fine. I'm just... trying to figure out what to do that isn't related to punching something," I tell her, trying to lighten the mood for both of us.

"If it helps, we could spar some more," Yang suggests.

"Any other time, I'd be fine with it. Right now, though? I'd like to find some other way to handle it," I chuckle.

There is more silence between us. This time, the air seems a bit thicker with the weight of awkwardness. I didn't mind it at all, I say to myself, so why is this so hard to talk about? Just as I begin to think about this, Yang breaks the silence.

"That wasn't out of line or anything, right?"

"Not at all," I assure her.

She seems a bit surprised. "Cool," she says simply.

"Hey, do you want to go shop around or something?" I ask. "Y'know, just as a change of pace?"

"Sure. That'd be nice."

"Race you to the market?" I ask playfully.

"You'll lose," she assures me.

With that, the two of us race off in the direction of the marketplace. This day is taking some crazy turns already. As we race each other, I find myself wondering what other crazy things might happen today. Maybe they'll find me a way back? Even if that happens, will I want to go back?