Ruby shut herself away from the world with her headphones. Though the music was playing at the loudest volume, it was just barely loud enough to keep out Yang's voice. Ruby loved her sister, but sometimes she wished that the blonde could play a videogame in silence, especially when the Ruby could hear her sister clearly from a different room. The music blasting into her ears was all she could do to have the solitude to properly immerse herself in her book. Although the redhead could have walked to the library, Ruby found that she lacked the energy to get out of her comfy bed. The sheet hanging over it also helped to keep the rest of the world out and provide the ultimate sanctuary from everything but Yang.

However, the world always found a way to intrude upon her private time. This time, the avatar of annoyance took the form of a pale hand. Ruby felt a brief flare of agitation as she saw her curtain get pushed away. A blast of cold air hit the side of her face and she groaned. All Ruby wanted to do was finish some personal reading that wasn't a textbook. Was that so much to ask? Her annoyance faded when she saw Weiss's head peeking over the edge of the bed.

Ruby turned down the volume of her music, hoping to get back to her book as soon as possible, but conversations with Weiss seldom went in the redhead's favor. Ruby still remembered when she had gone two meals without eating a vegetable. The verbal lashing she received from Weiss was enough to make half of the cafeteria go back in line to get something healthy. Ruby steeled herself to face the consequences of whatever miniscule mistake she had made before facing her partner. However, all of her defenses were blown away and were replaced with surprise.

Weiss's expression was impassive, which was a far cry from the irritated look Ruby expected. The heiress's ponytail was frayed and looked as if she had been playing with it. Her cheeks were redder than usual, and her icy eyes were dull. Ruby leaned forward. The sudden movement snapped Weiss out of whatever internal struggle she was experiencing, which caused her to give a tiny jump when she noticed Ruby was looking at her. The redhead waited as Weiss composed herself as best she could, even though only her head was visible. When she was done, her face was still red, though for what, Ruby didn't know.

"Can we talk?"

Confused, Ruby closed her book and sat up. "You don't need to ask permission, but sure. What's up?"

"I've been thinking about our partnership, and I want to try something."

The words triggered a memory of Ruby's pre-teen years. Weiss and their Beacon dorm faded away, and Ruby was back home. It was dark and Ruby wanted to stay in her bed and sleep, but nature had an awful habit of calling when she was having a good dream. All she knew was that the dream revolved around a gang called the Tunnel Snakes. Ruby saw that the light to her father's study was on. Since it was on the way to the bathroom, Ruby had no choice but to pass by. She could hear two women talking, but fatigue and inattention allowed her to block most of it out.

However, as she passed by the opened doorway, she couldn't help but looking at the computer screen, which depicted two half-naked women that looked like they were trying to eat each other. Their moans were so loud; Ruby wondered how she hadn't heard it sooner.

"I want to try something," said one bronzed woman with unnaturally large breasts to her companion before throwing her against a wall and resuming their tongue wrestling. Ruby never saw what "something" had turned into. She had immediately run back to her room and hid under the covers.

"Ruby!" Weiss scolded. "It's rude to not pay attention when someone is trying to talk with you!"

Ruby blinked. Beacon reformed itself around her. Weiss didn't look happy. She kept looking at the door as if she expected something awful to happen.

"Sorry. Just," Ruby paused. She couldn't explain what had happened. What the words did to her. There was no way Weiss was there for that sort of something. Or was she? Ruby wanted to strangle her mind, but that could wait until after she told a lie. "I was just thinking about an upcoming project."

The answer satisfied Weiss. "That's good. So like I said, I was thinking about how to increase our partnership with some trust exercises. So I wanted to tell you a secret about myself and you can only keep it between us. Deal?"

Ruby fought the urge to roll her eyes, though she did find the idea exciting. But didn't a trust exercise involve two people having less than complete trust in each other? "Is this something we have to do?"

"If I'm going to be your partner for four years, yes. Though I don't like to admit it, I am going to place my life in your hands."

Ruby pouted. "But I already trust you."

Weiss blinked. Ruby wondered if her partner was having trouble understanding the concept. After a long pause where she didn't make eye contact, Weiss said, "That's fine. But I still need some proof."

Ruby wanted to protest, but she decided against it. Perhaps Weiss was so bad at regular social interactions that she could only open up to others on her own terms. "Fine. What's the secret that I will take to my grave?"

Weiss quickly looked at the door again as if she expected someone to come through right at that moment. Ruby wished Blake would come through just to see the heiress's reaction. Her efforts to summon Blake failed. When Weiss was satisfied, she turned back to Ruby and blurted, "I also like the Achieve Men."

Ruby raised an eyebrow. She looked at Yang's poster and then back to her partner. The remains of Weiss's stand-offish demeanor had shattered with the confession, and her face had turned blood red. Her eyes had shrunk to pinpoints and her head bobbed as she shifted her weight.

Despite Weiss's reaction to her own thoughts, Ruby couldn't see why anyone would consider that a deep, dark secret. Plenty of people liked the Achieve Men. Perhaps it was because Weiss was always so proper that anything associated with the common-folk was taboo. Ruby sighed, but she saw no need to make her partner more uncomfortable. And it did make the redhead happy to see Weiss open up.

"Alright, Weiss. Your secret is safe with me."

"It better be," Weiss snapped.

"I have to admit, I didn't think you'd like the Achieve Men. I think Yang is a fan, too."

"Ugh, don't remind me."

Ruby narrowed her eyes. "What's wrong with Yang?"

At that moment, Yang shouted, "Oh, you think your little miracles are gonna save you? Ah, crap. Maybe they will. Just let me heal and we'll see if you like my fist shoved down your throat!"

Weiss looked at Ruby as if the outburst would be a sufficient reason. To the redhead, it was just her sister's usual antics. Videogames pulled out a weird part of her.

Seeing that her message was lost, Weiss said, "There's nothing wrong with Yang. She's just a little too passionate at times. Plus, since she's also a fan of them, it makes it very difficult to be around her because—" Weiss paused. Ruby leaned forward. Weiss looked everywhere around Ruby before finally letting out a loud sigh. "Because I kind of want to join in with her."

It took all of Ruby's willpower to not let out a squeal. The heiress's opinion of Yang had changed from Weiss's usual, icy self to something too cute to bear. With the two teammates often arguing or simply civilly living together, Ruby thought it was great that there was something the two shared in common.

The train of thought was derailed as soon as Weiss spoke again. "Remember, you promised not to tell anyone. Especially Yang."

Ruby deflated. She had already forgotten about the trust exercise. "Fine," she groaned. "Will there be anything else?"

Weiss shifted her weight. "Not unless you want to tell me a secret."

"But I don't have to?" The mere possibility of spilling her deepest, darkest secret was enticing. Ruby could feel it surging within her, begging to be released and known to the world.

Weiss huffed. "I suppose not."

The blood pulsed in Ruby's ears. Sure, finally removing the burden of the secret would be great, but the possibility of others learning it would be too great. Plus, she would be altering Weiss's perception of the world forever. Provided that she lived long enough. If Ruby told the prim and proper heiress the secret, how soon would she have to make sure that her partner suffered a potentially-fatal "accident?" There would be so many factors at play, though. Beacon was large, but there was always somebody walking around. Ruby shook her head. It was neither the time nor place to be thinking about that. It could come later.

"In that case," Ruby said, "I'll choose to go back to my book."

Weiss showed no reaction as if that was what she had been expecting. She gave a curt nod and walked out of the room. Ruby watched her go and put on her headphones. Before losing herself in her book, she thought about how keeping Weiss's secret would be a piece of cake.