Countdown in: 1 (Yang x Male Reader)

In an instant all the spectators went from cheering to erupting into an uproar.

Ruby, Weiss and Blake looked at the scene horrified at what had just unfolded.

And your mind raced a mile a minute while you tried to make sense of what just happened.

You refused to believe that Yang would just attack someone without provocation, but what you had just seen said otherwise.

Yet her face told a different story. Even from where you sat in the stands you could see how confused and frightened she looked as the monitors in the arena replayed the moment over and over. Just seeing that look on her face, like a child after realising what they just did was wrong, was soul crushing, especially on Yang of all people.

Perhaps the worst thing about it all was the conflicting feelings you were having. The person who the crowd was jeering and booing at was not the outgoing, funny, affectionate person you had spent countless hours and had fallen in love with. You could say with one hundred percent confidence that Yang was not the type of person that would attack someone out of the blue; but you had just witnessed that very thing happen with your own eyes.

Security personnel were quick to respond, surrounding her shortly after the situation.

“What the hell are they doing!?” you shouted as you stood up. “Why are they pointing guns at her!?”

“(Y/n) calm down.” Ivan advised. You didn’t listen to him, instead opting to jump into the arena. “(Y/n!)”

It didn’t matter how you looked to everyone else. You didn’t even take a second to glance at any of the monitors showcasing your mad dash to reach your girlfriend, with your best friend trailing behind you. As you reached closer one of the Atlesian Knights turned around and aimed its gun at you, one of the soldiers following immediately after.

“Sir, I have to ask you to step back.” he ordered.

“Or what? You’re gonna shoot a civilian?”

“Step back now!”

“Tell them to put down their weapons now you…”

From behind someone grabbed you and began dragging you back.

“Ivan let go!” you yelled.

“You’re going to get yourself hurt.” your friend rebuked.

You twisted and contorted in a futile attempt to escape your friends hold. Throughout the whole thing you were looking at Yang’s despairing face, which only motivated you to fight back against Ivan’s grasp.

“I really don’t want to do this.” Ivan said, putting a hand to your stomach. He fired a small shockwave into your gut, which felt like being hit with a strong punch, winding you in the process and allowing Ivan to drag you away without you putting up any resistance.

He finally stopped once he had dragged you out.

“What the hell did you do that for?!” you shouted once you recovered your breath.

“You were acting stupid!” he reprimanded. You shook off his words and attempted to run back in, getting stopped by him once again.

“I can’t leave her like that.”

“You’re not gonna do her any favours acting like that. Do you really think she’d want to see you get hurt on top of everything that’s happening right now?”

You both took a glance at a nearby TV. It showed Yang being escorted away.

“I should be with her.” you said.

“Will you just calm down?!”

“How can I? Didn’t you see the look on her face? She needs someone with her.”

“And you’ll be with her soon, but you need to cool off before you do.”

“Fine.” you stubbornly growled.

Ivan chuckled to himself quietly, making you glare at him with slight annoyance.

“What?” you demanded.

“I’m not used to being the responsible one out of the two of us.”

You didn’t bother to justify him with a response.

A good hour and a half passed, enough time for any anger and impatience you were experiencing to fade, with the only thing to happen in that time was you making the trip from the colosseum to Beacon, where you were informed Yang would be from the rest of her team.

Your anger may have left, but it was easily replaced with unease once you began to think about how you were going to talk to Yang.

You approached team RWBY’s dorm and were about to enter when you heard talking coming from the inside.

“What’s going on?” Ivan asked.

“It sounds like someone’s inside talking to her.”

Ivan put his ear to the door and listened in for several seconds.

“That sounds like General Ironwood.”

“Should I just go in?”

“Wait until he’s done talking.”

You took a deep sigh and sat down on the ground, leaning your back against the wall. In a way you felt relieved that you didn’t have to face her just yet. As ashamed as it made you feel, this delay did give you the chance to find your bearings on the current situation. Of course you wanted to be there for her, the hour and a half was more than long enough already. But the more you were away from her, the more you realised that you had no idea how you were going to face her. Even hearing her side of the story wouldn’t change what you saw.

“I don’t even know what I’m going to say to her.” you sighed.

“I’m afraid you’re gonna have to figure that out on your own.” Ivan said.

“I figured.” you responded, groaning in frustration.

“You’ll be fine. Just go in and be there for her.”

“A lot of help that is.” you muttered under your breath.

“What?”

“Nothing.”

The door opened, and while you didn’t bother looking up, you could tell that a single person walked out.

“He’s gone now; ready to go in now?”

“Just… another minute or two.”

“The longer you wait the harder it’ll get.”

“I know.”

A few minutes passed and all of team RWBY, except Yang, walked out. You listened to ensuing conversation between them and team JNPR until it was just you and Ivan alone in the hallway again.

“Alright, I’m going in.” you stated, getting up from the ground. “I’ve put it off long enough.”

“And you can put it off for another few minutes while I talk to her.” Qrow said as walked up to you.

“No.” you said defiantly. “I’ve been away from her for too long.”

“You know, between this, the stunt you pulled at the arena earlier and your little cabaret performance I walked in on the other day, I really don’t know what to make of you.”

“I’m not waiting out here any longer.”

“Too bad kid. This is a private conversation.”

Before you could respond he opened the door and walked in. You attempted to walk in only for the door to be locked on the other side.

“First question…” Ivan began. “… who was that?”

“Yang’s uncle.” you replied. “And talking to him like that probably wasn’t the best thing to do.”

“Okay. Second question; what does he mean by cabaret performance?”

“Well… you see…”

Despite your friends best attempts to squeeze an answer out of you, his attempts were in vain. Eventually he realised it was pointless prodding for information and gave up, for a change, deciding to leave since you’d be on your own with Yang in just a few minutes.

Shortly after he left you heard the door unlock and Qrow walked out. You looked away awkwardly, not wanting to look him in the eyes after what you said to him earlier.

“Relax I’m not gonna take your head off. Go on in, she’s waiting for you.”

You took a deep breath, grasped the doorknob, and finally entered the room.

There she was, sitting on the bed, looking over at you, disheartened, as you finally made your presence known. You stared back, quiet, frozen, heart pounding in your chest. It reminded you a lot of your first date, how you worried that one bad sentence would alienate her, how you found yourself unable to talk at one point because of that reason.

Of course you wanted to know why she did it. Everything you knew about her was the opposite of what her action in the arena earlier would have people to believe.

You took the first of many anxious steps towards her.

“Yang…”

You paused for short, but uncomfortable, few seconds. You felt it was necessary to choose your words carefully.

“…I’m sorry I wasn’t here sooner. I’ve spent the last, I don’t know how long, outside; when I should’ve been here with you and…”

Her sudden embrace cut you off. Gently you wrapped your arms around her while she buried her head into your chest, weeping quietly. In response, you slowly began stroking her back, the only thing you felt you could do. The previous day you told her that you were no good when it came to helping people when they were upset. That was when you were going to talk to your friend when he was frustrated after losing a match, nothing compared to what was going on now.

“We’re disqualified from the tournament.” Yang stated, retracting her head back from your chest, leaving your shirt stained slightly with her tears. “That’s why Ironwood was in here. All because of me.”

“Why can’t I say anything?!” you cursed yourself as your heart clenched. “Should I just be blunt and address it head on?”

“Yang…”

You paused again, no less uncomfortable than the first time.

“… what happened out there? I saw you hit that guy… and I know you would never do something like that… but… I just don’t know what to make of this.”

“He attacked me!” Yang shouted, making you jump. It was obvious that she had been giving that answer all day and was now completely frustrated with doing so. When she spoke again she was more subdued. “I saw him attack me and I fought back in defence.”

You didn’t know what to make of her response. You could tell she genuinely believed what she was saying, she wasn’t trying to lie to you.

Now it was even harder for you to try figure out what to say. An uncomfortable silence took over the room again, with only a gentle breeze coming in from the open window being the only thing coming close to breaking it.

“You don’t believe me, do you?” she asked, sounding devastated.

“Yang, I …”

Her hands shot forward and reached around your neck to pull you forwards so her lips crashed into your own. There was a brief moment when your lips parted where you tried to speak, only to be cut off just as you began.

“Right now.” she said, lying back on the bed and dragging you down so you were on top of her. “Lets do it now.”

She smashed her lips into you again, not allowing you to form a response.

“Go ahead.” she instructed. “It’s what we’ve been waiting for all week.”

It was true. All week you long had been waiting for the moment where you would consummate your relationship with her. Yet now, when it was finally in front of you, it felt wrong.

“No.” you solemnly declined, sitting back up on the bed. “I can’t do this.”

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want this?”

“Of course I do.”

“So why’d you stop?”

“Because this is wrong.” you stated firmly. “You’re not thinking straight Yang. This is supposed to be a special moment for both of us. You’re just rushing into this because you’re upset. Aren’t you?”

There was no reply.

“Exactly. I can’t go ahead knowing that. I love you Yang and I’m not gonna let you do this.”

She grabbed in a sudden, tight embrace. You hugged her back, holding her as close as you could. It remained like that for several minutes. Yang never said anything, no crying, not a sound. You wondered momentarily whether or not she had fallen asleep. It didn’t take long for you to get an answer.

“(Y/n), you’re not going to like this but, I need to be alone right now.”

“Yang I can’t just…”

“Please.”

“I’m not leaving you alone.” you stated firmly.

“I’m calling it in.” she said half-heartedly.

You looked at her confused.

“Calling in what?”

“A while back you promised I could ask you do anything for me. This is it.”

“That.” you said quietly. `

“I know you don’t want to leave me alone, but I need this, for now.”

“Okay.” you said reluctantly. “If it’s what you want.”

“Thanks.” she said faintly, managing to force a weak smile.

You walked hesitantly towards the door.

“The moment you need anything call me.” you stated before exiting.

It crushed you, seeing her like that. You left off a quiet, frustrated groan. You may have agreed to leave the room, but that didn’t mean you couldn’t stay outside the room and wait. You had nothing else to do for the day and had already spent a good amount of time at the fairgrounds over the past two days to be done with it, and it wasn’t like anything was going to get you to leave the building.

You resumed sitting on the spot you took while waiting to enter the room and, once again, waited. You were unmoving, unwilling to budge just the slightest, even if it was getting uncomfortable. You just stared blankly at the wall for the good part of an hour.

Eventually it was broken when your scroll began ringing.

“Hello?” you answered quietly.

“(Y/n)?” your mom asked.

“Yeah?”

“Are you there?”

“Yes.”

“I can’t hear you, speak up.”

“Hang on a sec.”

You stood up and walked several feet down the hall. You had intentionally spoke quietly so Yang wouldn’t know you were just outside.

“Alright go ahead.” you instructed.

“How’s Yang doing? I saw her on the TV, she looked completely mortified.”

“She’s… keeping it together.”

“Are you with her right now?”

“No… she… wants to be alone right now.”

“I can’t understand what happened. She’s such a friendly and sweet girl, I never thought she’d do something like that.”

“That makes two of us.” you said faintly.

“Are you doing okay?”

“No, I’m not.” you sated bluntly. “I could barely say anything to her, even after she gave me her side of the story. She’s upset and there’s nothing I can do. I’m useless.”

“Come on now (y/n) don’t be saying that. You did what you could. All you can do is be there for her.”

“That doesn’t help.” you snapped.

You worried that you would only get more frustrated if you continued talking to her, so you immediately hung up on her to avoid it.

“And now I’m gonna have to deal with that when I go home.” you remarked.

Since you had gotten up, you decided against returning to your spot. As reluctant as you were to leave, sitting around doing nothing wouldn’t help you with anything, and in the past going for a walk often helped clear your mind and calm you down. You also trusted Yang enough to call if she needed you. You would only be gone for an hour at most, probably less.

With a heavy heart you walked out.

You had to admit, it did feel good to get outside, as opposed to staying in a stuffy hallway, especially considering that it was a warm day. You unintentionally walked into the fairgrounds, despite having no interest in, perhaps it was just an instinct that had been ingrained into you after spending plenty of hours there over the past two days.

Shortly after you entered a friendly voice called out to you, bringing with it some much needed company.

“(Y/n)!” Ivan called out. He was sitting at one of the stands getting a drink with Deena. Inside the stand was a TV playing the news, reporting on the incident. Thankfully the volume was fairly low, which made it easy to ignore.

“Hey. How’s it going?” you greeted.

“Oh good I don’t have to go looking for you.” Deena said, tossing you your backpack. “You left this in the stands when you went running into the arena.”

“Thanks. I must’ve forgot about this after getting caught up in everything that happened. So what’re you too up to?”

“We are drowning our sorrows from losing yesterday.” he replied.

“With cola?” you asked, taking a glance at the contents of his glass.

“We’re just waiting for Owen to come with the good stuff.” Ivan answered.

“What do mean we?” Deena sighed. “(Y/n) how’s Yang keeping?”

“I don’t know. She wants to be left alone for a while. I told her to call me if she needs anything but… I…”

By that point you were sill frustrated and weary from earlier. Truth be told, you didn’t want to think about it for a while, hence the reason you went for a walk.

“It’s okay.” Deena assured., noticing your low mood “If she needs some space then give it to her.

Before you could muster a response the owner of the stand began turning up the volume on the TV, getting the attention of the three of you.

“We are now receiving a call from an anonymous person who claims to have witnessed the incident in the arena first hand.”

“Am I okay? Can you hear me?”

“Is that Owen?” you asked.

“Yes we can hear you just fine.”

“That’s sure sounds like him.” Ivan observed.

“Hi! I’m Owen Marron and I’m here to tell you all that Yang Xiao Long is innocent. Yang Xiao Long is two hundred percent f[bleep]ing not guilty. And if any of you b[bleep]rds don’t f[bleep]ing find her innocent, then you can just [bleep]ing kiss my fat [bleep]ing [bleep]. And that goes for the rest of you motherf[bleep]ers at home too. Yang, I’m so f[bleep]ing sorry that none of us are there to help you deal with all these bullsh[bleep]t accusations. But let me tell you something Yang. If I was in your spot I to would’ve kicked the sh[bleep]t out of that b[bleep]rd Mercury myself, along with that b[bleep] Emerald and that cheap, black-haired skank they call a leader.”

In the background of the call you could hear the sound of a door opening before someone stormed.

“Owen! Get the f[bleep]k off your scroll!” Nima shouted.

“Ha ha you swore on live TV.” Owen mocked.

“Owen put it away now!”

From the sound of it, there was a brief scuffle between the two, ending when it sounded like some glass was after breaking.

“The booze!” Owen cried.

“F[bleep]k your booze!... Oh for f[bleep]k sake I’m after swearing agai… Sh[bleep]t!”

“Yang, I hope this sh[bleep]t helped.”

The call abruptly ended.

“Did that really just happen?” Deena asked, her face covered by her hands.

“I didn’t know Owen could be so… ‘poetic’.” you remarked.

“I wonder how the teachers are gonna react to this one.” Ivan added.

“He’s getting expelled for this, isn’t he?” Deena groaned.

“I’m just after messaging Nima telling her where we are.” Ivan said.

“I’m gonna have to have a little chat with our dear teammate Owen when he arrives.”

“He doesn’t seem to have a high opinion of team… whatever they’re called.” you claimed. “Guess they’re not the type of people who leave a good impression on others.”

“I don’t know, they seemed friendly enough when I first met them.” Deena claimed.

“Well I can’t say much about the rest of the team, but that green haired girl, Emerald…”

“What about her?” Ivan asked.

“Yesterday, after I left you, she tried to steal my wallet.”

“Really?”

You nodded.

“Did you report her?” Deena asked.

“No. Mercury said he’d deal with her. But here’s the weird part; when Emerald tried to steal it from me, she just walked up and tried to take it from me…”

“What kind of thief does that?” Ivan questioned.

“That’s what I thought as well.”

“What did you do when you saw her?” Deena prodded.

“I pushed her away and…”

“And what?”

“She was surprised that I saw her. What was she expecting?”

“Maybe you weren’t meant to see her.” Ivan proposed.

“You did hear what I said right? She walked up to me and tried to take it from my hand. I’d have to be blind not to see that.”

“Shut up and listen.” Ivan reproached. “I wasn’t done talking.”

“Alright, go on.”

“Look, the other day I was talking to the team that Emerald and Mercury beat in the doubles round. Their team leader took on Emerald and started seeing things during the fight.”

“What did she see?”

“She said that she saw her teammate join up with her, despite the fact that he was already knocked out. It might be a safe guess to say all of that was Emerald’s doing.”

“Like she can make people hallucinate.”

“Exactly.”

“When I was with Yang earlier she said that Mercury attacked her, that’s why she hit him.”

“But we didn’t see him attack her at all.” Deena said.

“Where was Emerald during the match?” you asked.

“In the stands, just like everyone else.” she replied.

“Which gives teams the closest view of the arena. It’s just a guess, but I doubt she’d have much problem working it from there.”

“But why?” Deena questioned. “I can see why she would do it in a match she’s fighting in, it would give her a huge edge over the people she’s fighting. But why would she do it to Yang after she won? Wouldn’t it make more sense for her to use it during the fight?”

“That’s a good point.” you noted.

“Doesn’t matter.” Ivan declared. “We can at least tell someone about our suspicions. We should have enough proof for them to at least take us seriously.”

“And prove Yang innocent.” you added.

“Maybe we could also talk to the people they fought in the team round and see if anything strange happened to them.” Deena suggested.

“That’s not a bad idea.” Ivan said.

“Pyrrha’s match is starting soon, which means anyone we can talk to will probably be at the stadium to watch it.” Deena said. “It’ll probably be easier for us to get a hold of someone after it.”

You let out an impatient groan.

“Don’t worry (y/n) it won’t be too long.”

“I just…”

For the second time your scroll went off. You yanked it out of your pocket immediately, hoping it was Yang who was calling and, to your luck, it was.

“Yang, what’s going on?” you asked.

“I need to talk to you right now. Can you come back up?”

“Of course; I’ll be there in no time.”

“Thanks.”

“Guys, I have to…”

“It’s fine. Go to her.” Ivan assured.

“We’ll go tell someone after the match.” Deena added.

“Thanks.”

You were about to bolt away, only for Deena to stop you.

“What?” you asked.

“One thing I want to know first. If Emerald tried it on you, why didn’t it work?”

You thought about it for a second. The answer struck you instantly once you thought about what was different between you and everyone.

“I don’t have an aura. Maybe her little trick works by manipulating a person’s aura. Since there’s nothing there it won’t work on me.”

“Is that why you look different?” Deena almost shouted in surprise.

“Excuse me?”

“Sorry, sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound like that.”

For a short couple of seconds Deena’s eyes glowed lime green before going back to normal.

“That was my semblance.” she began. “It lets me see through things like walls or a thick cloud of smoke. Humans, Faunus or any other thing with a soul appear as a bright green spectral body, while grimm appear as black. But you… you’re very faded, almost invisible. I’ve never seen anyone like that.”

“Well I’m glad I could give you a unique viewing experience, but I need to get going.”

You sprinted all the way back to the dorm, passing Owen and an annoyed looking Nima on the way. By the time you reached the door you were gasping madly, forcing you to wait a minute to catch your breath before going in.

Once you entered Yang was standing in the centre, having waited for you to arrive. She wasted no time in talking to you.

“You were right…” she stated. “… about what I tried to do earlier. I wasn’t thinking properly.”

“It’s okay Yang, we didn’t go through with it.” you assured her

“No it’s not! I was upset and… it felt like you weren’t on my side after I told you what happened, so I did that because I thought it would get you on my side.”

She looked away from you in shame. You walked towards her and gently pushed her head back to look at you and slowly stroked her cheek tenderly.

“I’m always on your side.” you said quietly.

You gently eased her into a loving hug.

It was then you thought of what you talked about with Ivan and Deena. You could only imagine how she would react to hearing that she was right. Of course there was a big chance that your testimony wouldn’t be taken as one hundred percent proof of Yang’s innocence, but it was a chance you had to take; for her.

In a bold decision, you decided not to tell her just yet. You thought it would be a good idea to suprise her with the news once the match was over. Whether Pyrrha won or lost, you had something that would definitely brighten up her spirit.

“You’re not a terrible person Yang.” you stated. “I know it, your sister knows it and so do all of your friends. Nothing anyone else says will convince us otherwise.”

You placed a kiss on her forehead.

“Thanks.” she said softly before a lively smile slowly grew on her. “You know, there’s another reason I wanted you up here.”

“Which is?”

“I wanted someone to keep me company while I watched the match.”

“Well, you asked the right person.”

“Actually, you were my last choice.” Yang joked.

“And here I was thinking you liked me.”

You opened your bag and pulled out a heart shaped box of chocolates.

“Guess I need to find someone else to share this with.”

You pretended to walk away from her, prompting her pull you back playfully.

“Oh no you don’t.”

“I got these for tonight, help with the romantic mood, but maybe now is a better.”

“Guess I’m not the only one who got something for tonight.”

“Dare I ask what it is?”

“Just some special oil I wanted you to rub all over my body.”

You froze for several seconds so you could imagine that scene in every vivid detail.

“Take it easy there.” Yang said. “You look like you’re about to start drooling.”

“Just getting a picture of that.” you claimed.

“Don’t bother, you’ll be doing the real thing tonight.”

“Yang you don’t have to…”

“I want to. What I tried earlier was a mistake because I was scared when I thought you didn’t believe me. This isn’t the same thing.”

“I just want it to be something you’ll enjoy. It’s our first time and it shouldn’t be something you’d end up regretting.”

“I know that. But this isn’t something I’m just rushing into. We’ve both been waiting for this and I want it to happen.”

“That’s all I need to know.”

Yang walked over to her bed and removed the blanket from it.

“What’re you doing?” you asked.

“I was thinking we’d cuddle under this while we watch the match.”

“Now that is something I won’t hesitate in doing.”