In the Beacon dorms, Ruby was laying on Blake's bed, head across Blake's lap as Blake absently played with Ruby's hair. It was a chilled evening, Weiss and Yang were out on a mission, so the girls had the room to themselves. They were dressed in their pajamas, and relaxing in each other's company.
Ruby sighed contently. "That feels so good..." She hummed.
Blake smiled at her. "I'm actually surprised you like it so much." Blake said, then her smile turned into a frown as she brushed across a scar on Ruby's scalp. "Ruby, what is this scar on your scalp here?"
"Oh, just something from a childhood accident." She said as if it didn't matter. "I have 2 up there."
Blake felt around and found the other one. There was something familiar about their placing and size to her but she couldn't place it. "They are almost symmetrical Ruby, almost surgical... I don't see how this could have been an accident…"
"I don't know Blake." Ruby sighed. "I don't know exactly what happened, Dad says I was 3 when it happened."
Blake sighed and nodded. She felt around the scars again, then it finally clicked in her head. 'Wait… This is where a faunus' animal ears would…' Her eyes widened in surprise. 'Is it possible?'
Ruby noticed her girlfriend's expression change. "What is it?"
"Ruby…" Blake said, "I think I know what these scars are from..."
Ruby raised an eyebrow. "Really? How? You only just found out about them." She asked confused.
Blake started to look angry. "I think... Your Dad has some explaining to do." She said calmly, but there was subtle anger to her voice that put Ruby on edge. "Because these scars feel like you had your ears surgically removed, and ear conals closed by scar tissue."
"Ears? Wha…" Ruby then realized what she was saying. "Wait, you're saying you think I'm a faunus?"
"Yes Ruby, I do." She said. "Now call your father..."
Ruby had to call 3 times before Tai answered. "Hey Ruby." He said smiling, "Sorry for making you wait, I was in the kitchen making my dinner."
"It's fine dad. A friend and I actually want to ask you something." She said, next to none of her usual cheer in her voice, which took Tai aback a bit.
"Of course, but who's your…" He cut himself off when Blake came into frame, obviously annoyed. "Oh, you must be Blake, I've heard a lot of good things about you from Ruby and Yang."
Blake nodded, not trusting her voice, so Ruby continued. "Um… Dad… Is there something you wanna tell me about my accident when I was 3?" She asked, indicating to the scars on her scalp.
Tai's eyes widened a bit.' I knew it was only a matter of time, especially with her having a faunus teammate.' He sighed.
He was about to start speaking, but Blake decided to step in. "Why were her ears removed, and why not tell her she's a faunus?" She asked coldly.
Tai was shocked by how cold that was. "It wasn't my idea to do it." He explained. "Ruby was kidnapped by an anti-faunus creep. When she was found by her uncle, her ears were mutilated, So much so that they had to be removed." The girls looked at him in shock, that was a lot to take in. "As for why I didn't tell her? How would you tell your young daughter, who was already scared of people, that she was kidnapped?"
Blake sighed and nodded. 'I don't know what I'd do in his place.' She thought.
"So… I'm a faunus… What kind am I?" Ruby asked after a minute.
"You're a wolf faunus Ruby, so was your mother…" Tai replied.
She nodded. "Okay… Um, I need some time to think…"
"Of course." Tai said. "I'll talk to you later." He said hanging up the scroll.
Ruby stared at the blank screen of her scroll for a minute while she digested this information.
Blake brought her into a hug.