The Other Daughter

Chapter 12

Yang leaned casually against the wall, feeling oddly at peace for someone who'd just made the terrible first impression of manhandling one of her new classmates. She looked up and smiled when the boy, whose name she now knew was Jaune, emerged from the bathroom doorway, not a speck of evidence of his recent regurgitation on him.

"You all cleaned up?" she asked in as pleasant a tone as she could.

"Yeah. Thanks for staying with me."

"Oh, it's the least I could do for embarrassing you like that."

He waved her off. "Trust me, I'm used to it."

Yang frowned, breaking eye contact.

Way to make me feel like even more of a jerk.

Deciding not to voice this thought, she strolled outside to look for Ruby with Jaune in tow. He seemed to have forgotten her transgression and taken to her like a puppy in the space of a few minutes. She couldn't help but wonder why he would want to hang around a girl who just beat him up, but shifted her focus back to her sister.

First, she saw only a sea of unfamiliar faces wielding various weapons, carrying books, and chatting about inane subjects. Then she spotted her. Ruby kicked one leg out in a repetitive motion as another girl, dressed in frilly white clothing, pointed and berated her about something. Yang was too far off to hear anything, but she forced her way through the crowd, hoping to make it in time. Halfway through her journey, a loud, resounding boom shook the landscape, and a plume of colorful smoke rose into the air. Students shouted and hurried away from the source of the spectacle, thinning the irksome masses that kept Yang from her sister. When she finally emerged into the open space where Ruby stood, the girl in white was angrily storming off, her clothes blackened and tattered. Another girl clothed in black and white garments was turning to leave just as Ruby attempted to speak with her. Anger boiled in Yang. Was every student here this rude?

She tempered her emotions, careful not to let anything set her semblance off. For that matter, why did she care so much? Ruby could take care of herself, after all. She knew how to fight, and it wasn't like Yang had even known she had a younger sister for very long, so the two weren't exactly close. Still, something tugged at her heart and made her want to give both of the random girls a piece of her mind. Jaune outpaced her while she was so wrapped up in her thoughts. He extended a hand to help Ruby, who had collapsed into a puddle of nerves and regret, to her feet.

"Aren't you the guy who threw up on the ship?" Ruby asked, flinching in hesitation. She stared at their joined hands. Before she could hurl in an amount equal to Jaune's earlier torrent, she saw Yang, and a smile bigger than she seemed capable of producing overtook her previous disgust. "Yang! Hey."

"Hi," Yang said, looking from Ruby to Jaune. She pulled out the half-sized brochure that someone handed to her as she stepped off of the airship and waved it through the air. "So, are we gonna head to the opening ceremony?"

"Yeah, sounds good," Jaune said, breaking into a steady stride.

"Let's go!" Ruby gave off far more enthusiasm than Yang felt was necessary as she trailed after their new companion.

In no time at all, it became abundantly clear that neither of the two overly cheerful students knew where they were going. Yang finally held up a hand to stop them, pulled a random student aside to ask for directions, and then led the way to the auditorium. She realized with amusement that Ruby truly did need her if she was going to survive at Beacon.

The auditorium was open and airy somehow, even as droves of students packed into the space and split off into their respective areas. Yang hung back, watching her fellow students with a detached curiosity. Ruby and Jaune seemed to be getting along well, briefly touching on Jaune's vomit episode from earlier, and even chatting a bit about each other's weapons. As it turned out, Taiyang hadn't been lying when he spoke about Ruby's obsession with the latter. Her cheeks took on a warmth Yang hadn't seen before. Her eyes became twinkling stars as she gabbed about designing Crescent Rose.