Hello again friends.

I'd like to apologize if I'm not as enthusiastic as usual. The last time I posted a chapter, someone died. It still haunts me a bit, really. But the show must go on, as they say.

This chapter was also a bit more of a chore to write than usual. It's a bit filler, to be honest, but it's important to the story nonetheless. Transitions, although sometimes overlooked, can make or break a story.

The song title is "Me and All My Friends" by Walk the Moon. It's definitely a song that I've been frequently jamming out to in my car. Their new album is pretty good, too.

Beta: Maxaro. Neptune shall now be referenced to as "The Turd."

Enjoy!

Chapter 6: Me and All My Friends

"Arriving at destination: North Vale Station."

The door of the subway car slid open in a most lethargic fashion. As expected, there was no one at this particular station, but if there was, they would have witnessed the grand sight of a very annoyed and grumbling Sun attempting to keep a very passed out Yang from falling flat on her face onto the subway floor.

He had initially tried to prop her up against the side of the subway car, but every time he would manage to balance her for a few seconds, she would come sliding back down and land in the crook of Sun's neck. He had since given up, as apparent by the growing patch of drool on Sun's shirt.

"Oh, thank God," he muttered as the car door opened up. "C'mon, Yang, we're going." He nudged the sleeping girl.

No response.

"Earth to Yang? Yo, wake up already, dammit, we're here."

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

"Oh, fuck's sake…" He lifted the girl bridal style and carried her out of the subway, careful as not to bang her head on the door. "At the very least, that Blake girl isn't going to cut my nuts off yet."

He stopped a moment and looked back into the subway car. Somewhere along the way, his sandwich had fallen victim to Yang's flailing and now lay pathetically on the floor.

Sun sighed gloomily, and started walk. "It was a good sandwich, too."

"Yep. This ain't it."

"That bit of information would have been useful about ten minutes ago, Nora."

"I swear, Ren, I thought this was where it was!"

"So explain the gas station."

"… Maybe it's a disguise?"

The building that the van had pulled up to was, indeed, a gas station. Nora's navigating was not quite as effective she had anticipated.

"Oh well," sighed Ren. "We're a little low on gas, anyhow."

Nora grinned. "Aw yeah! I'm a psychic!"

As Ren went to go fill up the gas, Nora and Pyrrha went inside the convenience store to raid, leaving Blake and Jaune alone in the van. Blake shifted nervously for a moment, then spoke up. "Hey Jaune?"

The boy looked awfully distracted and did not respond.

"Jaune?"

"Huh?" He seemed to jump at the sound of Blake's voice. "Sorry… I, uh, I was thinking about… stuff."

Although curious, Blake did not prod him. "I… I just wanted to apologize for lashing out at you earlier. You totally didn't deserve me going off on you like that."

Jaune offered her a faint smile. "It's alright. I said some pretty nasty shit, too. I should be the one apologizing."

"No, you're good. You did nothing wrong."

"Nah, I totally did. You were stressing out pretty bad, and I got all butthurt about it."

"Trust me, if anyone was butthurt, it was me."

"I was the one said you loved drama."

"… Okay. That was pretty out of line, I'll give you that. But seriously it was my fault."

The van doors suddenly slid open. "No you hang up! No you hang up!"

Blake and Jaune started, and looked up to see Nora and Pyrrha reentering the vehicle, with Nora teasing the pair. "Jesus, you two sound like a broken record player."

They both shared a knowing look and chuckled awkwardly.

Within another minute or so, Ren finished fueling the van and sat back in the driver's seat. "Gas is expensive these days," he muttered. "So, who can actually get us where we need to go?"

"Nora, don't you have Remnant Maps on your phone?" interjected Jaune.

"Uh… yeah…" Nora trailed off.

Ren smirked at her. "And you didn't think to use it?"

"Yeah I did!" retorted Nora.

"Since when?"

"Since… now. Hush, you."

Blake stifled a snicker. "Are they always like this?" she asked Jaune.

"Yup. I've put up with these two for a good eight years of my life," he replied with a smirk.

Blake grinned. "I might know how that feels like. I've had Yang to put up with for about just as long."

"Oof. I think you might have the shorter end of the stick."

Blake cringed. "Although I'm inclined to agree with you, I hate phrases like that."

Jaune gave an unsure laugh. "Why's that?"

"Listen to it. 'Shorter end of the stick.' It's a stick, Jaune, how can any one side of the same stick be longer than the other?"

Jaune though about for a second. "Huh… I never thought of it like that before…" He made the hand motion for "mind blown."

Blake laughed and shook her head.

"Got it!" yelled Nora from the front. "We have our destination!"

"I'm sure we do," snarked Ren.

Nora pouted. "You're not helping."

"Well you can drive the damn car yourself, then."

"Oh I will, Ren, and at least I won't run into a bunch of trash bins while I'm doing it!"

"Hey guys, I don't want to be the one to keep Kato and the Green Hornet from arguing," chimed Pyrrha meekly, who earned a guffaw from Jaune, "but it's almost midnight. The Casey show should be starting soon."

Ren frowned. "That's a bit racist."

"Well, she didn't necessarily say you were Kato," added Nora. "I'll be Kato."

"No way. You'd make a terrible Kato."

"W-wha? Why?"

"Because you're the talkative one. I'm the one who's actually useful."

Nora grumbled. "Some boyfriend you are. So are you Kato or nah?"

"See, but that's totally raci- what are you three laughing at?" Ren turned towards the back, where Pyrrha, Blake, and Jaune were busy trying (and failing) to keep from bursting into laughter.

"Jesus, dude," groaned Jaune, who was having the hardest time keeping a straight face out of the three. "You are Kato, you're not Kato, you wanna be Kato, you don't wanna be Kato – make up your mind, man!"

Ren narrowed his eyes irritably at him. Then he sighed. "Fine. I'm Kato. Now can we go?"

"For fuck's sake, dude, yes! Drive the damn car, Kato!" yelled Jaune in exasperation, and the van was sent into another fit of stifled snickering.

"I hate all of you," Ren growled.

As the van finally pulled out of the gas station and made its way towards their destination, Weiss and Neptune continued to trail closely behind it. The noises of the relentlessly excited city surrounding the car greatly contrasted the rather tense silence in the inside of the car. Neptune occasionally glanced at the girl beside him, who seemed very concentrated on the vehicle in front of them.

After another five minutes of deafening silence, Neptune steeled himself and hesitantly began to speak. "Hey, Weiss?"

"What?" she replied shortly, her expression distant.

Neptune took a deep breath, the pressed forward. "This… this Jaune guy. He mean a lot to you?"

"Huh?" Neptune's question seemed to catch Weiss off guard. "N-no. Not at all. Ha. Why would you say that?"

He frowned at her. Weiss never got this flustered over most things. He knew something was up.

"Don't lie to me, Weiss. I know you're hiding something. Let's ignore the fact that you were all touchy-feely with him at the bar. You don't have to lie to me, okay?"

Weiss remained silent, but her expression had suddenly grown anxious.

Sighing, Neptune continued. "Look. I like doing nice things for you. I like hanging out with you. I guess I really like you, even if you're not the most considerate person ever sometimes. But even if it means talking about people who mean more to you than me… I still want to help you out. So please, tell me what's going on."

Weiss seemed to shrink in her seat. The regality that usually held her together slunk away noticeably in that night. "You're a lot more perceptive than I take you for, you know that?"

Neptune smiled at her faintly. "I'm not just some cool guy. I mean, I am a pretty cool guy, I'd like to think. But I digress. I notice things here and there."

The white-haired girl simply nodded, looking at her feet. "I… well, Jaune and I used to be… close. And then… I guess I got mad at something really stupid. I suppose I was just really needy and he was so dedicated to his band. So… I broke… I mean, we stopped talking."

"You mean you broke up with him."

"… Yes. I broke up with him."

"And now you feel guilty about it?"

Weiss hesitated, then nodded. "Yes," she replied softly, her voice wavering.

"And so now… you want to get back together with him?"

"No!" Weiss cried out rather abruptly, even surprising Neptune. "I mean… that is to say… you're here after all…"

"Hey," Neptune took a moment to gather his thoughts. "I… understand if you want to get back with him. I understand if I'm not that important to you-"

"Don't say that!" hissed Weiss. "You… you do mean something to me. You've been very kind to me, after all. It's just that after all this time, he randomly shows up out of the blue," Her expression turned brooding. "Not to mention… he's hanging out with that stupid faunus girl…"

"Take it easy," Neptune cautioned sternly. "What's with the racism?"

Weiss squinted at him. "What racism? That's just who she is!"

"You say it like it's a disease."

"Hmph. You think that's bad, you should try growing up where I did. Aristocracy, as dainty as it is, tends to frown upon those of lower status."

"Ah," murmured Neptune. That explains that. "You jealous?"

"Of Blake? I don't think so. She hates people, anyway. Why would she care?" Weiss sounded incredulous, but the boy picked up on her unsureness.

"But there's still that possibility, right?"

Her irritated silence was answer enough.

"Sorry," intoned Neptune. "You were saying?"

"Hmm. What I was saying was…" Weiss continued, growing solemn. "He just… appears, and I… I don't know what to do. I thought I would. Hell, I've even recited the things I would say to him if I ever ran into him again, but quite frankly, I have no idea what to say to him… or anything."

She turned to Neptune, her brow furrowed in frustration. "I still want to be with you. I do. But… I just need to move on from Jaune first. I just don't know how."

Neptune sighed thoughtfully. "So… do you want some more time to think about it?"

Weiss nodded, her eyes distant once more. "Yes. I would very much appreciate that. Do you mind if we follow the van a bit longer?"

"Sure," murmured the blue-haired boy. "We've got time."

"Hey Pyrrha," Jaune turned towards the red-headed girl in front of him. "Can you sing at all?"

"Umm… a little bit," she answered over the van's bass-heavy music. "Why do you ask?"

Jaune grinned. "I've always wanted to have band where all of us can harmonize together as well as play our respective instruments. I mean, Nora and I do that already, and we need to pressure Ren into doing more vocal work, too. But can you imagine four-part harmonies? I think that could be really rad."

Blake snickered. "Did you just say rad?"

"Yeah, I did." Jaune frowned. "Why?"

"I was not aware that people still used that word," said Blake, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

"Hey, it's a pretty cool word," argued Jaune.

"Would you say that it's… rad?"

Jaune rolled his eyes, trying his best not to laugh. "Awful. Just awful."

"Sorry," chuckled Blake. "I'm just trying to make up for the lack of Yang here."

Jaune grinned mischievously. "Well, we might have some duct tape and a couple of 40s back here somewhere."

The only response he got back from Blake was a half-frown, half-smile.

"Jaune – 1, Blake – 0," he teased triumphantly, before shifting his attention back to Pyrrha. "So are you interested in doing some vocal stuff? You don't have to if you don't want to."

"Oh, no, I would love to!" exclaimed Pyrrha. "I've done both drumming and singing in the past, but I've just never done them both at the same time. I'd like to try though!"

"Awesome!"

Blake smiled to herself as she watched the two discuss harmonies and equipment. In the whole of the night, this was probably the most happy Jaune looked, which sharply contrasted his worriedness not ten minutes ago. I guess we both really needed to get all those apologies off our chests. I still don't know why I yelled at him… he's a really cool guy…

In fact, one of the things she least expected to occur that night was her meeting people as cool as Ren, Nora, Jaune, and Pyrrha. The plan had been just to go see Casey with Yang then head home, but instead she had somehow made some friends that night. It was hard enough finding people that Blake could even tolerate, even with Yang's incessant coaxing, but these people… she actually wanted to hang out with them.

Ren and Nora, the package deal, brought an interesting dynamic that made every situation easy and lighthearted. Pyrrha was just the absolute nicest person that Blake had ever met – who wouldn't want to be friends with her?

As for Jaune… they had so much in common. From their love of obscure music, to their shared apprehensiveness towards social situations – hell, she'd even revealed her faunus heritage to him. And she didn't regret it. Their awkward banter was something that she truly enjoyed. Even if just as friends.

And I mean, Yang's still out and about God knows where, she thought. But if it weren't for that…I think I would be okay with this.

And as at ease as she was with the current situation, there was still one thing she could not let go of.

"Hey Nora!" Blake called to the front. "Does anyone besides Jaune use the word 'rad' anymore?"

Nora called back. "Nope. I've only ever heard Jauney saying it, and he keeps insisting it's a thing."

"It sounds pretty stupid," added Ren.

"That too," agreed Nora.

"What…?" Jaune remained stubborn. "Nah. It's totally a thing! Back me up, Pyrrha!" He turned desperately towards the red-head.

"Honestly…? I've only ever heard people from Vacuo say 'rad,'" admitted Pyrrha sheepishly.

"See?" Jaune remained adamant.

"We live in Vale, Jaune, where nobody says 'rad,'" giggled Blake. "I'm sorry, but I have to agree with Ren and Nora. It sounds stupid."

Jaune crossed his arms. "I'm gonna make it a thing. Just you watch."

Blake smiled. "Nora?"

"Not in this van, it won't," Nora replied. "Lame-o."

The blonde boy grumbled. "Stop using my friends against me."

"Oh hush. You're just mad that I'm right." Blake playfully poked him in the shoulder, much in the same way a cat would.

"You win this round for now... kitty-cat."

"..."

Pyrrha chuckled leaned forward towards Nora. "They would make a cute couple," she whispered.

Nora grinned. "I'm saying!"

"Didn't Jaune say he wasn't looking for potential dates?" butted in Ren.

"Just focus on the driving, Kato," teased Nora, and Pyrrha snorted.

Ren sighed. "Really?"

One thing that Sun learned very quickly was that carrying around an unconscious girl through the city was a surefire way to get you a lot of weird looks.

"Nothing to see here, move along," he grumbled as Yang flopped in his arms. As most people do when given that piece of advice, they continued to stare.

The second thing Sun learned slightly less quickly was that he was lost.

Finding the nearest comfortable looking building, he carefully leaned Yang against it in a sitting position before sitting next to her.

After making sure she was still breathing, he pulled out his phone and made a call.

"Hey dude. Yeah listen, I kinda have a few problems here. First of all, I don't really know where the venue Casey's gonna be playing at. What? They're not playing at midnight? Oh shit. Okay. I guess I got a lot of time to find this venue then. It's where? Ah, okay, got it. Nah, I'm like a few blocks from it. Wait, don't go there? Oh yeah, I guess we can meet elsewhere. It's just… there's this girl with me. No no, nothing like that. I mean, she almost straight up ripped my pants open before she passed the fuck out. Yeah, I was told by her friend to deliver her at the venue. Her name? I think it was Yang… huh? You know her? Yeah, her friend was called Blake, crazy one. Threatened to… never mind, that's not important. Okay, yeah, sure. I'll bring her with me, if you guys can get her back. Yeah, totally rad, man. What? Of course it's a word! What do you mean 'rad' is not a word? Alright, yeah yeah. I'll see you guys in a bit. Bye."

"'Rad' is totally a word. Fucking plebs…" he muttered to himself as he put away his phone. As he did so, a hand grasped his shoulder, and he froze.

"Okay, Yang, we're not doing this here…" he started before seeing the confused expression on Yang's face.

"Right…" she murmured slowly, as she got to her feet and tightened her grip on the cuff of Sun's shirt. "Who are you? Where are we? How do you know my name? And where the hell are my friends?"

By this point, Yang had completely lifted him off the pavement by the collar and tightened her other hand into a fist.

Sun blinked.

"Oh… I'm not sure if this is better or worse than before."

Yeah, it's much easier writing from Blake's perspective. You can't really do much from an oblivious standpoint.

I've already begun working on the next chapter, and it is coming out in waves. I might have it out a bit earlier than usual if I keep up the pace. Shit starts to go down, too, so that will be loads of fun.

Oh, and I actually do use the word "rad" quite often. It's totally a thing; I'll fight you over it.

Anyway, that's enough out of me. I tend to ramble.

Til next time!