He'd spent months setting it up. It was his master plan, his one way of finally getting things out into the open. He'd started small of course, approaching her for study sessions, being confident and smiling all the while. She'd agreed easy enough, as everybody needed help from time to time when it came to Oobleck's class.

He'd continued it by studying beforehand, trying to impress her with his effort. Of course it only resulted in being called a nerd, but he'd got what he wanted, he was leading the conversations. He initiated, he made her laugh, he decided when it was time to cut the conversation short to get places on time. Everything was going to plan.

Once he was satisfied with his work on their conversations, he moved to actions. As they walked and talked, he decided the paths they'd walk, walking just slightly in front of her to better lead. He brought up the ideas of spars, more studying sessions, even group training exercises. All just to take command, to prove that he was the one in charge.

After dominating their actions, he went bigger. He suggested shopping trips for the two of them, from mundane things like some school supplies, to more suggestive places like coffee-shops and bakeries. He intermingled the mundane with the fun, but always choosing the places, sometimes even daring to order for her, but only after he'd learned what she liked. It was cathartic in a way, being the one that made decisions, it wasn't something he often did, even with his being team leader.

Slowly, he made sure that they began to frequent food and drink shops more often that supply ones. She would always smile when he said where they would be going, her lavender eyes lighting up when he mentioned a coffee-shop. He found it adorable, but never mentioned it, just giving a smile and a laugh in return while walking with her to the nearest one.

The final phase was the one he was most worried about, despite his previous successes. A coffee-shop was one thing, but an actual restaurant? That was entirely different beast. Yet when he suggested it, she smiled and readily agreed, much to his joy. It wasn't anything too special, but he'd made sure it wasn't just some random burger joint either. It was nice, but not overly flamboyant or suggestive.

He made it a regular occurrence, their restaurant outings. Sometimes the same places, but never back-to-back. He'd made a point to slowly begin walking closer to her, nothing too fast, and never more than an inch at a time, but he made sure he progressed each night. Never met with a rebuttal, he continued until their hands were close to hitting while they walked. The outing after that, he bridged the cap, entangling his fingers with her own with a smile in her direction, one she readily returned with a slight squeeze of his hand to accompany it.

They never made it official in the sense that they spoke it aloud to others, but it was not needed, and everyone that needed to know already did. Their dates began to last longer, their walks home now filled with unnecessary paths and walks in local parks. After enough of these days passed, he made another move, and lightly pressed his lips to her cheek, seeing it turn slightly red before she enveloped him in a hug that was tender and warm. He could feel her smile against his cheek, as he imagined she felt his.

He thought everything was going fine until a couple weeks after their latest milestone, when as they began to walk their normal path in the park, she spun him suddenly around and pressed a kiss against his lips. He barely had time for his eyes to widen before she'd ended it with a sly smile, waiting for him to continue walking. They finished their round, and walked to the bullhead station, back to Beacon.

Something felt off the next day, as Yang approached him to offer help with the Grimm Theory work he'd been procrastinating on, but he dismissed it as he pressed a kiss to her cheek and patted the seat next to him. He'd worry about that niggling feeling after he finished the work that was due tomorrow.

He felt it again all too soon after the first time, when during a study session, Yang knew the answer before he could find it in the book. He wasn't sure what to make of it, but once again dismissed it as she laughed at his confused expression. His pride wouldn't let him take that without retribution, but he'd pay her back some other time. After all, it was hard to be mad at a smiling Yang.

The third time he felt that niggling sensation in the back of his head heralded the thought that it was a pattern, but as Yang led him to a new shop she'd found, he couldn't find it in him to explore it in depth. He'd figure it out another time, when her smirk wasn't teasing the hell out of him.

He'd grown to dislike the feeling, but still couldn't place it when Yang offered to pay for their drinks at their newfound coffee haunt. Before he could even argue, her lien had been swept up by the waiter, leaving him with more money, but a feeling in his gut that told him something was off. However, as Yang stood and offered her hand as they left, he pushed it aside with a smile and a joke, taking pleasure in her quick laugh.

It was after Yang had taken him to a nice restaurant that he'd finally connected the dots, and came to the discovery that he'd been had, beaten at his own game. He'd grown complacent, and now he wasn't the one calling the shots, and yet he couldn't find it in himself to be angry, not when her smile was lighting up his night, and her laugh quickly draining all negativity.

After that night, he thought long and hard about what to do, and how to fix his plan that had been torn to shreds. He came up with a daring plan, one that was sure to restore his strategy to its previous glory. It had to be after another date, at night, in the park. He'd choose the venue, the route, and the execution. It was perfect, foolproof even, and yet he felt a new feeling in his gut, this one even more foreign than the last, and entirely implacable. He ignored it once more, disregarded it as nothing but nervousness, fear that his plan might fail.

He'd done it. He took her a fancy restaurant, made sure to steal the check before she could even see it, and then walked out with her hand in his, striding confidently on the path he'd planned out days before. As he began to reach his planned execution point, he suddenly spun her towards himself and pulled her into a deep kiss. It was done with perfect execution, the suddenness of it giving him complete dominance over the situation, and yet something felt off about it. It wasn't until she'd pushed him up against a nearby tree and deepened their kiss that he realized something very important about himself.

Sometimes it felt damn good to not be in control.