Weiss led them off in the direction of the local mall, pointing out other buildings and locations as they went to help Neo get more familiar.
"Here, we'll cut through these alleyways to save some time," the heiress suggested.
"You sure? It's looks kinda sketchy."
Weiss sighed, "It's the middle of the afternoon, we'll be fine."
Neo was hesitant, but decided Weiss was probably right. They entered the alley and turned a few corners as they walked. As they rounded another bend, a deep voice called out behind them. "Well well, what do we have here?" Both girls jumped and spun around to see who was speaking. Out of the shadows stepped a very large man, holding an beaten iron pipe. "What're two lovely ladies like yourselves doing back here?"
"Just passing through," Weiss said in her most proper tone. "Come on, Neo, let's keep walking."
They turned back around, but found their path blocked by a group of three men, equally as large as the first, and each armed with a different blunt weapon. Uh oh, this is not gonna end well, Neo thought as she felt herself losing control. For them at least.
"Leaving so soon?" the first man asked, taking a step toward them.
"Don't take another—" Weiss started as she reached down to her belt, but froze when she realised she hadn't brought Myrtenaster with her.
"Don't worry, princess," the man smirked. "Just don't struggle and this'll be over in no time."
Weiss turned to Neo in a panic, who had been quiet so far, "Any ideas?" She locked eyes with the girl, and made a startling realisation. She wasn't looking at Neo.
"Relax, honey. I've got this," Harley said with a wicked smile. She started walking to confront the man while Weiss just backed away from her, afraid of what was about to happen.
He raised his weapon as she neared. "Wrong move," he said, and charged toward her.
In a swift, fluid motion, Harley pulled the sword from her umbrella and sliced clean through his throat, stepping to the side as he fell past her. His hands flew to his neck in a desperate attempt to stop the river of blood gushing from the wound. He flailed on the ground for almost thirty seconds, gagging and coughing up blood, before his struggles began to grow more and more feeble. With a final twitch he went limp, and all eyes turned to his killer. Harley pouted and wiped the blood off her sword with his shirt, "Aww, I thought he'd put up more of a fight."
"That was a big mistake kid," one of the other men growled, and the second group moved in on her.
Harley only grinned, "Weiss, you should probably close your eyes." The heiress complied without hesitation, and braced herself for whatever she would see when they reopened. She heard a lengthy series of slashes and stabs, each followed by a primal scream or groan. Her lunch started making its way up into her throat after she heard the sickening splat of something she didn't dare venture a guess as to what caused it. After a final squishing sound and ragged gasp for air, it went dead silent. Weiss yelped as a hand suddenly grasped her wrist, but quickly relaxed after feeling how small it's fingers were.
"I think we should head back to Beacon," a sweet but concerned voice said, and Weiss knew she was talking to Neo again. Neo lead her out of the alley, and signalled it was alright to open her eyes again. "Sorry you had to hear that," Neo said sadly.
Weiss was amazed as she looked at the girl; There wasn't a drop of blood on her, or any other indication of what she'd just done. "D-don't worry about it," the heiress stammered. "Do... do I want to know what you did to them?"
Neo shook her head, "Absolutely not. I think you'd throw up if I told you."
"What, you think I'm too sensitive to hear it?"
"I hung a guy by his intestines," Neo said flatly. Weiss instantly turned green, and her hand flew to cover her mouth. "See? I told you."
"Alright, alright, don't say any more. Let's just go home. Oh, and never call me honey again."
Neo smiled and nodded, and the pair made their way back to their dorm. The walk back had the same awkward silence as their walk from earlier, and Neo was afraid she'd already ruined her friendship with Weiss. "I-I'm really sorry about that. I shouldn't have let myself switch so easily."
Weiss sighed, "It's alright. It's not like we had another option."
"That's the thing," Neo said sadly. "If I hadn't let Harley take over so quickly, I could've used my semblance to just teleport us out of there."
Weiss put a hand on Neo's shoulder, "Really, it's okay. You acted on instinct to protect us. I wasn't able to help, and you did what you had to do to get us out of there by yourself. Yes, you could've handled it a little better, but all that matters is we're both okay."
Neo smiled, "Thanks. You should probably remember your sword next time."
"Yeah, that is absolutely the last time I go anywhere without Myrtenaster."
At last they arrived at their dorm building, and Neo couldn't wait to collapse onto her bed. The fight had taken more out of her than she'd realised. She started up the stairs, but noticed Weiss had gone a different direction. "Hey, aren't you coming back to the room?" Neo asked.
"No, I need to talk to Sun quick, I'll catch up with you later."
"Alright, see ya!"
I guess all in all, this afternoon went really well, Neo thought as she neared her room. I hope she'll agree to hang out again after what happened in the alley. I'd hate to have messed up our friendship that quickly. I think it'll be fine though, she's been really understanding so far. I thought she'd be a lot colder on her own, but she actually really sweet, and caring, and beautiful... Wait, why did I just call her beautiful? She shook her head and opened the door to the room, and walked in on a very interesting discussion between Yang and Blake.
"No way, I think she'd be into some crazy BDSM shit," Yang said to her partner.
"What're you guys talking about?" Neo asked with a laugh.
"We're discussing what Harley would be like in bed," Blake answered as if it were a normal topic of conversation.
Neo paused to let the statement sink in, "How the hell did that even come up?"
Yang shrugged, "I dunno, it just sorta did. So how was your date with Weiss?"
"Pretty good, I only got to second base though," Neo joked, getting a laugh from Blake. "I'm kidding, but it did go really well. She actually called me her friend."
"That's awesome!" Yang cheered.
"Then I sort of eviscerated a couple muggers in front of her," Neo continued. "Well, Harley did."
Blake laughed, "Sounds like a good time to me. I'm glad to see she's coming around."
"Yeah, me too," Neo yawned. "I think I need a nap, there are some images I need it of my head." She leapt into her bed and was asleep within seconds. A huge smile spread across her cheeks as she began to dream, leaving Yang and Blake to wonder what she could be dreaming about.
𖦹𖦹𖦹
Neo found herself in the middle of the Beacon gardens at night. The air was still and cool, moonlight filtered through the clouds overhead. She turned to see Weiss walking toward her with a smile and an outstretched hand.
"You ready to go?" she asked.
Neo nodded and took her hand, their fingers intertwining as they walked toward Beacon's main gate. "Where'd you decide we're going tonight?" she asked.
"I thought we could go to that diner we had our first lunch at. It's only fitting," Weiss replied with an innocent smile. They arrived at the familiar location and were seated at the same booth they had been at before. They ordered their drinks, and Neo raised her glass in a toast. "Here's to our first year together," she said happily.
Weiss tapped her glass to Neo's, "And to many more to come."
"Never in a million years did I think we'd be back here like this."
"I knew we would be," Weiss grinned. "Ever since the day you showed up at the dorm room, all I wanted was to be with you."
Neo laughed, "You had a really funny way of showing it back then."
Weiss giggled, "I love you."
"I love you to," Neo smiled, and leant in for a kiss.
𖦹𖦹𖦹
Neo shot up in her bed, covered in sweat. She quickly looked around, and was relieved to see she was alone in the room. Holy shit, that dream... Neo thought, resting her head on her hand. I can't believe it, am I...? Am I in love with Weiss? She let those words and the events of the dream sink in, turning them over and over again in her mind, but couldn't come up with another explanation. I can't be can I? Sure, she's a cool person, maybe a little cold on the outside, but do I really feel that way about her? I think she's great, but... Well... Wait, is that why I called her beautiful earlier? Oh my God... It's true... I'm in love with her...
At that moment the door swung open, making Neo jump. "Oops, didn't mean to startle you," Ruby said cheerfully. "I came to see if you're coming to dinner with the rest of us."
Neo glanced over at the clock, 7:24, so Weiss is already out. Good, I don't know if I want to see her right now.
"Um, yeah. I'll be down in a few minutes," she said, starting to get out of bed.
"Okay, see ya in a bit!" Ruby replied and closed the door.
Neo laid back down and put her head in her hands. This is bad, really bad. She's got a boyfriend! Of all the people I could've fallen for, why did it have to be her? Maybe I can talk to Yang about it, she seems like she would know how to help. She wiped her eyes and got up to leave. She was very unsure of how the next few days would pan out with her newfound feelings. She laughed to herself as she walked out into the hallway, Out of everything I've gone through in the past two weeks, how is this the scariest thing that's happened to me?