Aloha and welcome to chapter 6!

Full speed ahead!

She stared blankly at the bottom of her partner's bed, lost in her thoughts. Her night vision had never bothered her before, but tonight it was grating on her nerves.

The events during the day played out in her head, each scene lucid and every word crystal clear. Why she was so disturbed by them, even she did not know.

Blake sighed. She had been a part of the White Fang. She had robbed, deceived, destroyed, and betrayed. She had done all that and so much more, so why should a little secret like Weiss's matter? She had lied about being a Faunus herself, so why was she getting mad at Weiss?

Turning her head, the raven-haired girl look at her half-Faunus teammate. Instead of fidgeting as though she had lice shoved down her pajamas like she usually would, Weiss was sleeping peacefully – for the first time since they started sharing this room.

Of course she'd sleep well, Blake thought. Her worst fears were addressed after all.

Just then, a ball of fire ignited in her chest, fueling her anger once more. It was all directed at Weiss, urging Blake to choke her life out.

What's wrong with me?

Curling up into a ball under the bedsheets, Blake sighed. She wanted to cut something up, or just do something to vent all her frustration, but there was no outlet. There was nothing she could do except lay there and hope that sleep would eventually-

"Problem sleeping, kitty cat?"

Blake had always fancied herself the silent type, which was fortunate since due to her lack of screaming, Ruby and Weiss did not stir from their sleep. And it allowed her to smother Yang with her pillow without anyone stopping her from committing homicide.

"Mm! Mm-mmph!" Yang's yells were rendered muffled and incomprehensible by the pillow, as her arms thrashed about wildly.

"You have five seconds to explain yourself," Blake whispered into her ear. "And since your life depends on it, I'd choose my words wisely if I were you."

"Geez, Blake," Yang whispered back as Blake removed the instrument of her imminent demise. "I don't have nine lives you- mmph!"

"Strike two, Yang," Blake warned as she removed the pillow again after a good, agonizing ten seconds. "Three strikes and I'm pulling out every last strand of hair you have."

"I-saw-that-you-were-having-trouble-sleeping-and-I-thought-I'd-help-you-out," Yang replied swiftly and seriously, which made Blake wonder why she did not use that threat more often.

"What?" Blake asked.

"I saw that you were having trouble sleeping and I thought I'd help you out," Yang repeated, slower this time.

"I'm not having trouble, Yang." Blake sighed, laying back down onto her bed. "I just… have a lot on my mind."

"About Weiss?"

Blake stiffened.

"You're easy to read, Blakey," Yang chuckled.

"Fine," Blake sighed again, giving in to her partner's smug grin. "You're right; I was thinking about what she said earlier."

"And you got all frustrated because Weiss didn't need to worry about hiding any Faunus appendages?" Yang asked.

"… Yes," Blake admitted. "I know I shouldn't be, but… I just…"

"You've spend your whole life hiding from the world," Yang finished for her. "You had to cover up for the sake of fitting in, simply because you had another set of ears. But Weiss didn't need to be afraid of that, since she didn't stand out physically. You're jealous of her because despite being a Faunus, she never once had to hide, right?"

"… I don't know whether to applaud you or knock your teeth out," Blake mumbled.

"But I'm right, aren't I?" Yang asked cheekily. Blake was unsure if she was doing it on purpose, but the blonde seemed to be smiling not because she could not help herself, but because she knew Blake was looking. It was infuriating either way. "I'm always right."

Blake, being unable to reply, simply turned away from her and settled for exposing her back to the blonde, in a futile attempt to end the conversation then and there.

"But you know," Yang whispered, wrapping her arms around Blake's waist, causing the latter to flinch. "It's not like she had it that much better than you did."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Blake hissed, completely forgetting about prying away her hands.

"Think about it," Yang replied patiently. "She's a half. You're a Faunus. Even if you weren't accepted by society, you had people who shared and understood your pain. Other Faunus, the White Fang… They gave you a place to belong. But as a half, what about Weiss?

Blake kept silent.

"She may not have grown up facing discrimination," Yang went on. "But she was still living with expectations befitting a Schnee heiress. She had to face that along with the solitude of possibly being the only one of her kind in the world. Who on Remnant could she turn to for help or comfort?"

Again, Blake did not reply. Yang tightened her hug in response, smiling at her partner.

"She was alone, Blake," she whispered. "More so than you, I'm afraid. I can't even imagine how much courage she had to muster just to tell us the secret she's been hiding for all this time. She's suffered with her own identity too, Blake. So all the more reason we – and you, especially – need to help make this place somewhere she feels like she belongs, right?"

"I…"

Blake could not believe that she was rendered speechless. She – Blake Belladonna, ex-member of the infamous White Fang – was unable to come up with a response. And her adversary in question was Yang of all people.

"You're right," she said at last. As infuriating as it was, the blonde won this round. Even if she hated to admit it, Blake was not a sore loser. "That was childish of me. There. I said it."

"But do you mean it?" Yang pushed her luck, even though her days were already numbered; in the dark, Blake could totally rip her throat out without anyone knowing. "Well, so long as you understand, it's all good. Any other troubles preventing you from sleeping?"

Blake resisted rolling her eyes, then remembered that Yang could not see her expression anyway. She had a ton of problems on her mind, but she was not going to just spill them so easily like a kid (even if she was still a teenager).

"Well, if there was one, it would be that Weiss has this annoying smile on her face," Blake pointed out.

Weiss, having been busted, swiftly turned away from Blake, causing Yang to chuckle. Blake chuckled along, albeit half-heartedly, wishing that the topic would never come up again.

And, for the rest of the night, it did not resurface.

"Weiss."

Weiss, for all her supposed composure, jumped like she was Ruby caught with her hand in a cookie jar. Keeping her gaze away from Blake's eyes, the heiress swallowed.

"Y-yes?" she asked apprehensively.

"I'm not going to eat you, you know," Blake reminded her. "You got a minute?"

"Y-yeah, sure," Weiss replied. "What's up?"

"I wanted to ask you," Blake said slowly, then paused. Was it really alright to ask this? "From the first time I saw you, there was this one thing on my mind…"

Weiss gulped, giving her teammate a slow nod. It was a sign for her to go on, but the words had already left Blake's mouth by the time she saw it:

"Who was… your mother?"