Yang strolled after her team, smiling at the sight of her sister dragging Weiss down the road by her arm.
"Come on, we need to hurry!"
"Let go of me." Weiss huffed and tried to tug free, for all the good that did her. "When I consented to come out to Vale with you, there was no mention of being dragged through the streets like a piece of luggage. Let go, Ruby! People are staring."
"Those two are certainly energetic," Blake sighed, walking alongside Yang with an air of general reluctance. Personally, Yang felt her partner could have used a little energy herself, but she'd agreed to come with them, so it probably wasn't the time to point that out. The formation of Team RWBY had been difficult enough without adding more drama.
They'd only been a team officially for three days now, though it felt like longer. That was the lessons and studying at work, along with the utterly pointless dramatics Weiss Schnee had thrown around once it was clear Ruby was going to remain the team leader. She was glad that nonsense was over, even if she wasn't sure how or why it ended.
"Don't tempt fate, Blake." she said. "I'd rather they argue like this then hit us with the silent treatment again. Besides, no one said you had to come out as well."
"No, but Ruby had a look on her face that said she'd be upset if I didn't." The dark-haired girl sighed. "It wasn't worth the argument. What's gotten her so excited anyway? She's been harping on about visiting this place since the team was set up."
True, and that was unusual enough to catch Yang's interest. She'd agreed to visit the place almost immediately, but it had taken a few days to get the other two on board, and Ruby had some strange fascination on them all coming as a team. It wasn't like Ruby to enjoy cafés or diners, especially when she could just grab some fast food and go to a comic or weapons store instead. Normally the only way to get her to sit still was to buy her something to read while she waited.
That was what made this oh so interesting.
"I've no idea, but I can't wait to find out. The place must be pretty good if it caught her attention."
"Hmm, we'll see…"
Sheesh, Blake was as hard to please as the heiress, though Yang had a feeling both of them would shout at her if she said they were similar in any way. The team was… still a little awkward around one another. That was probably the best way to describe it. They were all willing, and trying, to get along… but, well, it was never going to be easy. Speaking of getting along, it was probably her responsibility to save Weiss.
"Hey Rubes, why not let go of Weiss and show us their normally? I doubt the place is going to close down in the extra five minutes it takes us to get there."
"It's not that!" Ruby complained, though she did let go of Weiss. "It's a new business, so I'm not sure if it will still be open. I promised to come back and I don't want to break that."
"If the place is any good then it wouldn't go under so easily," Weiss said, rubbing her arm. "If it has, then it clearly wasn't the kind of establishment we would have wanted to visit in the first plac- OW!" Weiss hopped on one foot and glared at her partner. "What was that for!?"
Ruby glared back.
"Take it back!"
"Take what back? You kicked me!"
"Because you were being a meanie," Ruby said, no doubt intentionally using a childish word to rile the heiress up. "Jaune is my friend, so you can't say things like that. It's not easy opening up a new business, okay? How would you feel if someone started saying things like that?"
"Leaving aside that I'm the only one here with actual business knowledge - who, or what, is a Jaune?"
"Yeah Ruby," Yang slid over with a huge grin on her face. "Who is Jaune, huh?"
Ruby took a step back and shook her head, but there was no disguising the quick rush of crimson to her cheeks. Yang zeroed in on it, mood going from `mildly intrigued` to `absolute focus` in an instant. Whatever it was, it sounded like a guy's name, and there'd also been the `friend` word thrown around in there. Had Ruby made a friend? Had Ruby made a boyfriend?
Judging from the embarrassment she was showing, it definitely wasn't the latter, but that didn't mean there wasn't plenty of teasing potential at hand. Yang leaned forward and nudged an elbow into her little sister's side. "Oh, go you~ I can't believe you're growing up this fast. If you need advice on how to make him happy, you know where to find me."
"Yaaang, it's not like that!"
"Of course it isn't," she said, "Wink."
"You're not supposed to say wink… and it's not! We're just friends!"
"Just a friend…"
"Who is a boy, a boyfriend," Ruby finished, growling cutely. "Stop telling jokes that make you sound like Dad!"
Ouch, that was a little savage. Yang waved it off and mentally tallied up a point for Ruby, which still left her at about a million against one. She held back on teasing any further, however, mostly because she was curious about this guy and how her sister knew him.
Ruby led them through some of the more popular shopping spots in Vale, and eventually down a less busy road that had a couple of bakeries and grocers on it. Eventually, they found themselves in front of a wood and glass fronted building with a happy yellow sign over the front door. The red writing labelled it as being called "Jaune's", which was an obvious sign this was the place.
"It's still here," Ruby said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm so glad!"
"You seemed almost certain it wouldn't be," Blake said. "Any particular reason…?"
"N-No… well… maybe…" Ruby's about-face came with a flush of colour. "When we first met, he wasn't sure what kind of things to sell in his café. I helped him come up with ideas."
"You gave someone business advice?" Weiss scoffed. "I'm not sure you're qualified for that."
Ruby didn't react to the not-so-veiled insult as expected. Rather, she gripped her hair and spun about, eyes wide. "I know! I only realised afterwards and I've been panicking all week. What if I caused his business to go under? What if I ruined his only chance of success? Argh! It would have all been my fault!"
Yang laughed to herself, while Weiss sighed and Blake rolled her eyes. It was so like her little sister to freak out like that. "I wouldn't worry too much," Yang quipped. "Look, he's clearly still in business and there are a few people inside."
Ruby's face squashed against the glass, breath misting it on either side of her. "Ah, that's a relief…"
"Don't pull such a ridiculous face," Weiss growled. She hooked a hand into Ruby's hood and pulled her towards the door. "We're here now, and I'm thirsty. Let's get this over with so you can stop whining about how we have to visit it."