Weiss finished the last of her pull-ups, practically crumpling on the floor as she let go of the bar. Yang had to give it to her, though – the extra weight on her ankles surely would have dragged Weiss down, but she pushed through the pain anyway.

"Hey, not bad for your first try!" the trainer exclaimed as she held out her hand for a high-five. Weiss swung her hand lamely at it and missed completely. "Although that could use some work."

"Oh, shut up," Weiss shot back between heavy breaths. "Not everyone has the insane stamina that your family apparently does."

Yang knew that she meant Ruby by that comment, but her little sister's energy was of a different sort. She could yammer on and on about the things she learned at school and did get from one place to another extraordinarily quickly, but the thought of Ruby attempting to lift weights made the blonde snicker uncontrollably. "What's so funny?" Weiss demanded.

"Oh, it's nothing. Just thought about how wrong you are," Yang retorted with a grin. "Ruby and I might both be energetic, but she'd burn out like a fuse doing anything I do here. Besides, it's not about what you got, it's about what you can do with what you have." She then offered her hand to the fallen heiress, who promptly accepted it and allowed herself to be pulled up.

"Well, having more still means you can screw up more often without having to worry so much." As if to emphasize her point, Weiss attempted to stretch out her limbs until Yang could hear how sore they were. "I bet Ruby would have a much better time of this than I am."

Yang tilted her head thoughtfully to the side, considering Weiss's assessment of her little sister. "True. Then again, you're the one out here, not her, so it doesn't really matter what Ruby does or doesn't have." She slapped her trainee on the back and continued. "Anyway, don't sell yourself short. You've come a long way in these past few weeks. You even know how a treadmill works!" That last comment elicited a groan from Weiss.

"I would really like to forget that ever happened, thank you very much," she said begrudgingly, ignoring Yang's laughter. Weiss looked up at the clock up on the far wall and froze up momentarily. "Crap, it's five minutes past the hour!"

"I don't have another client after you, so you're not cutting into my time or anything." Of course, Yang meant more than that. She quite enjoyed Weiss's company, especially after the events of the past weekend. Speaking of—

"No, that means I missed the bus back to the dorms!" Weiss grunted in annoyance, wringing her hands.

"I don't see how that's a problem," Yang said plainly. "I'm sure there are more buses that'll come by later, and it's not like I'm gonna kick you out of here. I might have been busy, but you're always welcome to stay as long as you want here."

This answer didn't seem to satisfy Weiss. "Yes, and I thank you for your offer, but the next bus in twenty minutes, and that's twenty extra minutes of sitting around in these… disgusting clothes." She gestured to her current garments, which were indeed thoroughly soaked through with sweat. Even Yang had to agree that it was a little gross.

"Well," Yang started, playfully drawing out the "L". "If it makes you feel any better, I have some news that might brighten your mood."

Weiss raised an uncertain eyebrow. In the weeks that she'd gotten to know Yang, one thing was for certain: Yang was almost never up to any good. "And what, may I ask, is this news?"

"Well, it's got two parts. First, you don't have to come tomorrow—"

"Ohthankgods," Weiss quickly breathed out in relief. "I don't know if I could make it to Sunday for a break this week."

"Wow, tuckered out already? You were doing so well last week," Yang teased.

"Well, sometimes I don't want to have to torture myself like this every day."

"Everyday but Sunday," Yang quickly corrected. Even someone as dedicated as she was knew the value of a proper rest every once in awhile.

"Right."

"Anyway, that's not the best part." The heiress once again returned her attention to her trainer, a cautious look still painted on her face. "No, the best part is why you get a day off."

"I don't suppose you're going to say that it's because we're going to a spa or something instead?" Weiss must've known how ridiculous that proposal was, but after Yang saw the hopeful look on her face, the blonde couldn't help but keep a mental note of that. Princess likes to be pampered, I see.

Yang shook her head. "Nah, something better. A while back, I skipped out on going out with a friend of mine and promised that I would come the next time he was out and about. That next time happens to be tomorrow night, and I—" Yang pointed at herself with her thumbs "—want you—" and then toward Weiss with her fingers "—to come with me." Yang paused for a moment, crossing her arms proudly as she waited for the idea to sink in.

Weiss didn't look nearly as excited as Yang was expecting. "Wait, by going out, you mean to say that we will be going to a club and all that?"

"Yep!"

"With alcohol and people I don't know?"

"Of course! Well, only as much alcohol and socializing as you want, but you get the idea." Yang's voice grew a little more serious as she stood up straight and level. "Consider it my treat to you for helping out with my little sis."

Weiss's defeated sigh and hand on her forehead were also not part of the response Yang was expecting. Maybe she's got plans already?

"Yang, I'm glad you thought of including me in this plan, and thank you for the offer, but I'm going to have to pass on this. Partying isn't really my thing, anyway."

The blonde frowned. "You sure? I guarantee that you'll like my friend Sun – even if he is a bit of a handful – and I personally know the owner of this one really sweet club."

Weiss gave Yang a polite smile but shook her head. "Thank you, but no," she said a little more firmly.

Truth be told, Yang was a little disappointed with this response. She had been looking forward to treating Weiss to something loose and free ever since she helped her reconcile with Ruby. Of course, there were other ways of doing so, but seeing how Sun had invited her to party that weekend, it seemed like an all too perfect idea. There was also a part of Yang that was curious to see what the cool heiress was like when unwound with a little drink. Nevertheless, if Weiss was unwilling, she wouldn't press the matter any further.

"Alrighty then. Well, you've still got tomorrow off, so you get to relax for an extra day at least." Yang flashed Weiss a broad grin. "And if you change your mind, my invitation still stands, 'kay?"

Weiss returned the smile. "Thanks for understanding."

"Sure! I'm not always in the mood to party myself, so I see where you're coming from."

Weiss shot her a questioning glance. "Really? You, not in the mood to party?"

"What? You think that just because of my sunny, energetic personality and good looks, I'd be partying every weekend?" Yang teased, well aware of how much she was exposing her chest to Weiss as she leaned over.

"W-well, I mean…" Weiss stammered, somewhat taken aback by the sudden display from Yang. "You do seem to fit the part?"

Yang grinned again and conked Weiss on the head. "Way to judge a book by its cover. I actually haven't been going out as much ever since I got this job – if I went out as often as I did before, I'd never make it to the gym. Still, every now and again, I make an exception – a girl's gotta let loose, y'know?" Yang then proceeded to sway her body to imaginary dance music, eliciting an awkward cough from her trainee.

"Right. Well, I should get going now – bus should be nearing the stop soon."

"Huh… has it already been fifteen minutes?" Yang asked as she looked at the clock. Nope, only about ten minutes have passed. Why—

"Not quite, but you know how the bus system can be," Weiss said with a slight tone of unease. Yang had to admit that Vale's transit was never that consistent, but it still seemed that Weiss was trying to scurry off in a hurry. "Anyway, I'll talk to you later. Bye, Yang."

"See ya," Yang replied with a weak wave as Weiss swiftly made her way to the exit of the gym. That's weird, does she really not parties? That was the only explanation that Yang could muster up. Still, it seemed odd; Weiss didn't strike her as one to be as one to shy away from social situations. Then again, it could be something else entirely that Yang didn't think of.

I shouldn't be jumping to conclusions, Yang thought as she shook the questions from her head. Let Weiss do her thing, and I can do mine. Yang smiled at that thought. Yeah, Saturday night's gonna be great – I just know it!

Weiss plopped down limply onto her bed, the soreness in her muscles reaching a painful peak. That wasn't what was on her mind, though.

Do I really have a good reason not to go out with Yang tomorrow?

The answer seemed simple enough: no, of course not. Weiss had one too many a night during her first couple years at Beacon when something went wrong, either because of creepy guys all approaching her unsolicited or getting out-of-control drunk just to keep up with her friends back then. She could never hold her liquor well, so she had no idea why she bothered. Perhaps she'd feel left out if she wasn't as inebriated as everyone else? It sure felt that way.

And then there was the issue of control. Weiss was a girl who was always in full control of her actions. Every move she made was precisely calculated, but with just a couple drinks, all that went away. First, she'd lose control of her thoughts, doing things she would normally never dream of doing, and soon Weiss wouldn't even be able to tell her body to move where she wanted. Add to that the disgusting feeling of her gut rebelling against her and the headache wracking her brain the next morning… no, there was no reason for Weiss to ever want to subject herself to that again.

Then why am I so doubtful right now?!

Weiss knew well why – her alternatives weren't too exciting. She was going to have dinner with Coco and Velvet later that night, but other than that, she had no real plans for the weekend. Well, more like no plans that she was excited about. Weiss hadn't planned around doing anything Saturday evening, but she knew she always had the option of… well, not much, really. One of her classmates invited her to a house party, but Weiss had no inclination of going. Sure, it was not like she would not have anything to do there – plenty of people to talk to, plenty of music, plenty of shenanigans occurring – but it would all be so shallow. Weiss would come back from all that, crash in bed, and wake up in the morning not remembering anything exciting. Joy.

Of course, there was always studying that could be done. Professors always thrust upon her more things than a reasonably functioning human being could handle, so any extra time would be a godsend. Weiss smiled at the idea. Yes, I can start working on that presentation for history a day early. And if I do that, I can have just a bit more time on Sunday to work at the lab and finish the last bit of optimization! Then I can start my week with so much more free time!

Weiss tried to continue forcing the smile, but there was no use lying to herself. Yes, all that free time to do more work. Lovely. Weiss sat up and rubbed her forehead, nursing a headache that had burrowed into her skull. So much of her life had been about being the best, performing perfectly. She had forgotten what it meant to relax.

…except for that one time, Weiss mused. That night wasn't entirely therapeutic, but Yang really did try her best to get Weiss to wind down the stress that had been coiling up within her that week. Besides, the movie, as stupid as it was, did distract her from worrying about exams for just a little bit, and there was something exhilarating about clinging onto Yang and her monstrous vehicle as they jetted down the streets of Vale. Weiss felt… normal, for once. No tests, no family to appease, no stress about small failures, just… anything else.

Perhaps… perhaps it might really be different this time.

Weiss whipped out her scroll and began scrolling through her contacts until she reached Yang Xiao Long.

BETA: Jefardi

EDITORS: Just_one_more_ and Leivve

Short one, eh? In fact, this is the shortest chapter of them all, which is primarily thanks to this being only part of the original chapter. It turned out to be massive again, and when discussing it with Jef, we agreed that the pacing would be better if broken up like this. So, while this may be a shorter update than usual, it will be followed up with something much larger much sooner, as I already have a good portion of the next chapter already done! Stay tuned for more.

Also, I've recently released chapters for my other story, The Purrfect Day, a RL Pussy Magnet fic, and a brand-new story called The Many Escapades of Mercury and Emerald (or MEME for short :D)! If you like my writing, you're likely to enjoy those stories as well. Feel the Burn will always my main baby, but these other stories are what keep me sane in between writing sessions for FTB.

That's all for now!