{ Yang }
"Shut the cameras off! Now!" Mercury was on the mat, clutching his leg. I stood there frozen, not knowing how to comprehend what just happened. What happened to me? I'm usually good about control myself!
"Yang, get out of the ring now," my coach ordered. I thought I wasn't going to be able to move but I did, climbing under the ropes and then landing on the floor. I kept my head down. I'm done for now. "What the Grimm happened up there?!"
"I-I don't know. I thought he was going to attack me after the match was called! I saw him coming for me, coach! So I reacted on instinct," I said through my tears. I handed him my gloves and just walked out of there, heading right for security. It's better to turn myself in rather than run from the authorities.
"YANG!" Ruby was calling my name as she ran for me. "Yang, are you alright? What happened out there?" I didn't want to talk to her, well anyone really. Everything I worked for just went down the drain. "Yang, stop!"
"Ruby, just leave me alone and let the authorities take care of me," I said solemnly. Then my boyfriend stood in front of me so I would stop walking. I reluctantly looked up to meet his cold gray eyes. They didn't hold the same warmth or love anymore. I already knew where this was going to go. "Stone, move out of my way."
"No. Your sister is trying to talk to you and you're just brushing her off," he hissed. Stone and I kept eye contact for several minutes.
"Stone, let me explain," I started saying.
"No Yang. I don't want to hear it. You just broke that guy's leg for no reason! Why should I believe you like anyone else?" That really hurt, like actually hurt. I looked away from him and just started walking towards security again. "You're nothing now to people!" Tears were falling from my eyes as he said those harsh words. Did he even love me to begin with?
I stared at the photograph of that young man and I, the two of us smiling and happy. Stone Sterling, a boy that no longer loves. I sighed and put it away with the rest of the things I already had in a box from five years ago. Yes, it's been five agonizingly long years since that dreadful day. I'm hated by everyone, just like Stone shouted at me. Someone on knocked on the door. "It's open," I said. The door opened and closed as I was storing the box in a closet.
"Hey sis," Ruby greeted.
"Hey," I said solemnly. My sister looked at me with gloomy eyes. "What?"
"You were looking through that box again weren't you," she asked. I nodded solemnly as I walked into the bedroom and burying my face into my pillow. "Yang, you need to let go of the past. You look tired more by the day. Why don't you come over to my place and we can have dinner and I'll invite Weiss." I groaned at her. I didn't want to do anything. I've hardly shown my face out in public because I only get glares, people talking about me, having insults shouted at me, and people just walking farther away from me as they passed by me. The outside world hated me and I hated the world. A perfect relationship in my opinion.
"Ruby, just go home and leave me alone," I mumbled. My sister sighed and just left, knowing that there wasn't a point on trying to convince me to change my mind. My bedroom door was closed behind her. That's when I decided to do something that would break the hearts of my family and what I have of friends. Tonight I'm going to end it all.
***
I rode Bumblebee out to the more mountainous area near my home. Tears no longer filled my eyes. I was numb to everything. This was the only way that I could spare everyone the burden of knowing me. The sun was starting to set by the time I came to a spot that I found suitable. I turned the engine off and placed my helmet on the seat once I got off of it. My feet carried me to the ledge, only to have me sit on the edge of the cliff face. I stared out to the horizon, absorbing what beauty I could find in this world. A sigh escaped me again. Tears were actually starting to fill my eyes as I began to think of Ruby and dad. The last words I said to my sister were hurtful. There wasn't a way to fix that now. I didn't leave a note, didn't send out a message to those who still loved me, just nothing. I wasn't going to tell them what I was about to do. There wasn't a point to it. Finally I got the courage to stand up and just let the wind gently blow through my hair. It's now or never. With, what I thought would be my last, a deep breath, I closed my eyes and was about to walk off the edge. That didn't happen though. Someone tackled me to the ground away from the edge and pinned me down. I opened my eyes to see who it was and it was a girl that I've never seen before. "Let me go," I shouted. She just held me down tighter, actually starting to hurt me. "I said let me go." My eyes were switching from lilac to crimson as my anger was starting to increase.
"No. You were doing something dangerous," she said.
"I know I was! That was the stupid point! Now let me go so I can rid the world of my horrible existence," I growled. Her eyes went wide in shock and disbelief. She shook her head as she slowly backed away, letting me go. I sat up and eventually stood up again. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to be alone. I don't want anyone stopping me." She just stood there with a blank expression coating her face and not taking her eyes off of me. She wasn't going to leave, that was pretty obvious. When I looked back her as I came to the edge, I saw this sadness in her eyes. Why was she upset about this? I groaned and then took another step forward.
"Wait, I know that you didn't mean to hurt him," she said. I froze immediately. Slowly, I looked back at her. What did she just say? "You didn't mean to hurt Mercury, Yang. I never doubted you for a second. I knew that the match was rigg-" She stopped talking as I had tears running down my cheeks. She took one step closer to me, hoping that I wouldn't back up and fall over the edge to my death. I couldn't move. How could I now? This complete stranger knows who I am, why I'm doing this, and actually believes me compared to everyone else. I just completely broke down as she was only a foot away from me. No one has ever said anything like what she just did. My own sister hasn't even said anything like that to me! I don't even know if she believes me or not. What can I do now? I have nothing left in my life that holds some sort of purpose. I lost all of that on the day of that match.
"How can you not see me as a monster and a liar like everyone else," I cried. I didn't understand. She had this ability to completely change my perspective of the world. As she stood in front of me, she wore a soft smile.
"Because the Yang Xiao Long that I remember from a long time ago wasn't one then and I still don't see that now," she spoke softly. "You haven't lost everything yet Yang. You still hold love within you." I don't know why I did this but I hugged her as I cried. She didn't tense up or try to push me away. She just hugged me back, a hug that was like no other.
"T-Thank you," I mumbled. Just from hearing her say those things changed my mind and somehow unlocked something that I've long forgotten. I felt alive again, my heart finally free from being encased in stone. I always believed that everyone would hate me and would be glad that I was gone. I thought like this for five years. Suddenly everything changed just from one girl that was a complete stranger to me. I pulled away so I could wipe my eyes from my tears. "How do you know all of that?"
"I would watch your matches on TV and read articles in magazines," she admitted, blushing faintly with embarrassment. She was a fan? "I'm sorry. I never introduced myself. I'm Blake." Blake, it suited her well. I smiled slightly at her. What I said next made me somewhat regret it.
"Do you have somewhere to stay? I mean, well, you appeared out of nowhere honestly and we're basically in the mountains," I said. I wanted to smack myself in the face for saying that. I sounded like an idiot! Why did I sound like that, like I was nervous? She shook her head and then looked to the ground. "Did I say something wrong?" She seemed a bit off now.
"N-No. It's just that...no one really hasn't expressed their kindness to me," she said. That was a surprise. Why wouldn't they? She's a sweet girl, not to mention my savior.
"Well, let's start that happening now Blake. We're both not used to being treated fairly by others," I said, my voice filling with sadness at the end.
"Okay," she said, wearing a smile. Seeing her smile made me feel better for some reason. The two of us got on Bumblebee and then I drove us back to my apartment near the outskirts of the city. Well, I kind of took shelter in an abandoned building that still had electricity, heat, water, and some of the basic furniture. From there I just slowly progressed on adding to the place. Ruby would help me get some things but that was three years ago. Things have changed since then.
When we got back to my place, it was already dark. I pulled Bumblebee into the building that I called home and parked it under the stairs where I made a little garage in a way to store it. Blake looked around the place, not sure what to really make of it. "You live in an abandoned building?"
"Yep. It was the only place where I could go after what happened," I said. I led her down the hall and into my apartment. "Well, this is it. It's not much but it works." She smiled a bit when she looked around. "Are you hungry? I can make something."
"No, thank you." To be honest, I wasn't either. After what happened today, I just lost my appetite. I led her into my bedroom, which is where I was going to let her stay.
"You can sleep in here and I'll take the couch. Feel free to find something else to wear if you'd like," I offered. Something about the way she looked at me got me a bit curious. I grabbed my pajamas and was about to walk out. "If you need anything, I'll be in the living room." She nodded and thanked me.
I had shut the door behind me to give her some privacy. Once I got into the living room, I started to get changed into my pajamas. Once that was done, I grabbed a blanket from the back of one of the chairs and then a pillow from the same chair. Then I turned off the lights and went to bed. Maybe tonight will be a better night for me.