"I'm late, I'm late, crap I'm late!" Ruby skidded into the door as she hopped on one foot, struggling to get her uniform socks and shoes on as a piece of toast dangled out of her mouth. She had been up too late reading last night and had overslept, now she was paying the price. How she'd slept through Weiss and the others getting up she had no idea but even if she left now she'd likely be late. She opened the door only to run head-first into Yang and Weiss as they entered.

"Ack!" Ruby fell over and the piece of toast flew out of her mouth, landing directly on her face. Brushing the crumbs off of her, she looked up to her sister and her teammate, blinking softly. "You guys are gonna be late too, what the heck!? We have to get going!"

"Ruby… it's Saturday…" Weiss gave her a sarcastic stare.

"Oh… I knew that…" Ruby giggled nervously and stood up. "Guess I'll go get some breakfast then…"

Yang cleared her throat and shook her head. "You're not leaving here looking like that sis." She pulled the younger sibling close and adjusted her collar, making sure her skirt was flat and tucked in properly. Normally Yang wasn't the type to fuss over or coddle her sister but she did have something of a protective instinct for her when she got like this.

"Yaaaang… come on… I'm hungry… lemme go…" Ruby whined, this sort of thing happened often given that the two had very different tastes in clothing. Yang tended to dress for practicality with a hint of fashion while Ruby put o whatever she thought looked cool at the time despite Yang's chiding that her cape would get her into trouble one day.

Yang finished fixing her little sister up and patted her on the head like a good puppy and grinned. "Alright go ahead 'lil sis…" She chuckled as Ruby disappeared down the hall in a flash.

"What was that?" Weiss crossed her arms with a soft scowl.

"What was what?" Yang shrugged a bit and looked at her white-haired teammate.

"THAT." Weiss sad simply with a dismissive gesture. "Ruby's a big girl and you usually don't fuss over her like that. It's… kind of weird honestly."

"She's only fifteen." Yang shrugged. "And yeah I'd like for her to be able to sink or swim on her own but I still have to look out for her too. She is my sister after all."

"No." Weiss stuck her finger in Yang's face. "Look, I don't want you to think this is coming from a bad place but it's just something you need to hear. She's not just your sister anymore, she's your leader. I had trouble coping with it too but it's true. Ruby's the leader of this team. She's young, inexperienced and she got into this school the quick way unlike the rest of us, but like it or not she's our leader. If you keep treating her like a little sister you have to protect it's only going to hurt the team." She said sternly before sighing deeply. "Like I said I don't mean any disrespect, but she's not just your sister anymore…" She quickly walked past Yang through the doorway out of the room.

Yang clenched her fists, looking behind her and whispering. "I… know that… of courseI know that… right?"


Later that day the group of four girls met in the dining hall for lunch. Weiss and Yang sat on one side of the table silently while Ruby and Blake sat on the other. "Hey Blake…" Ruby whispered to the girl with her nose buried in a book. "Is it just me or is something going on? Yang's um… quiet. I'm not used to that."

Blake's yellow eyes scanned from the top of her book, spotting the other two girls quietly pecking at their food. "It's not just you." She said, somewhat muffled by her book. It was not unusual for Weiss to be somewhat quiet at meals occasionally but Yang was usually the loudest second only to Nora and possibly Ruby herself. Both girls could tell something was up with their teammates, especially Yang.

"So umm… Jaune's group is out and about today." Ruby said, trying to start up a conversation. "Jaune said he was going to train with Pyrrha and it's probably best not to ask what Nora and Ren are doing." The two girls remained silent, causing Ruby to chuckle nervously and act as if they had responded. "Yeah… I'm glad they're getting along though. That's always good for teammates and stuff, right?" More silence greeted her. "Yang? Anybody in there?"

"Huh? Oh… yeah…" Yang looked up briefly before looking back at her plate, pushing her fork back and forth absentmindedly, her lilac eyes dull and zoned out as she was lost in thought.

"I thought since we have the day off maybe we could do something like a team-building activity, go window-shopping, play soccer…" She noticed neither one was paying attention. "Get abducted by aliens, defend the town from giant killer strawberries… come on guys! What's going on?"

Weiss looked up quietly but didn't say anything, glancing away softly. She didn't intend for what she said to get to Yang so badly but she didn't regret saying it, she thought it really was something that she needed to hear.

"I…I'm sorry guys, I'm just a bit out of it today. I'll be back a bit later." Yang sighed, getting up from the table and heading out.

"I have some studying to do." Weiss said as she stood up soon after and left through the opposite exit.

"Guys…" Ruby slumped in her seat, putting her elbows on the table and sighing. "What are we gonna do Blake?"

"Clearly something's happened between the two of them. We'll help them work it out but I think they need some time to sort it out for themselves and cool down before we go intruding." She suggested.

"Yeah… I guess..." Ruby sighed deeply. "Still, I hate seeing them like this…"


Ruby sighed softly as she returned to the room a few hours later. Blake was outside curled up under a tree trying to finish her book and Weiss was at her desk, writing out a three page essay with what must have been no less than fifteen pages. "Weiss, do you have a minute?"

"Not really." Weiss said without even really looking backwards, focusing solely on writing.

"Let me rephrase that. You have a minute." Ruby said more sternly, sitting on the bed across from her teammate. "Do you know where Yang is?"

"Her bike's not in its usual spot, she probably went for a ride." Weiss said curtly without looking up from her paper.

Ruby gave a sigh of exasperation and decided to cut to the chase. "What's going on with you and Yang?"

"I didn't tell her anything she didn't need to hear." Weiss sighed and pushed her chair away from the desk, putting her writing implement behind her ear. "Everyone thinks I'm so harsh, and I'll admit I had my problems with being on this team at first, but I'm here now. Just because I'm working with you all and trust you doesn't mean that my goals have changed, I may want to excel on a team now but I still want to excel. I will do whatever it takes, so I'm going to call them as I see them."

"Weiss, whatever you said seems to have really gotten to Yang…" Ruby sighed again.

"Any problem she's having is with herself, not with me." Weiss huffed and stood up, doing a quick turn. "I'm tired of everyone thinking I'm a horrible person just because I say what needs to be said…" She walked out quickly, the sound of her heels angrily clacking down the hall filling the empty room.

Ruby groaned softly and flopped backwards on the bed. "We're supposed to be in this together…"

Around the corner Weiss sighed softly, pushing her back against the wall, laying her head back and giving a soft sound. "I just did what I thought was best… I didn't do anything wrong… I didn't… I didn't…" She slid down to sit on the floor, pulling her knees into her chest. "I didn't mean to hurt Yang…" She wrapped her arms around her ankles and gave a soft whimper. "This whole teamwork thing is new to me… what should I do?"

Yang revved the engine on her bike Bumblebee, her eyes piercing through her goggles focused straight ahead. She often took a ride on her motorcycle when she needed to clear her head but for some reason this time it wasn't helping. She was happy for Ruby becoming such a strong person, she was happy that she'd gotten into Beacon two years early, she was happy that her sister had become a leader, but at the same time she hadn't expected her to become HER leader.

She had worked hard to get into Beacon, she had even had a hand in training Ruby. It was just strange now to see Ruby get into the school she had entered two years early and as her superior no less now that they were all on a team. She'd always somewhat hoped she could work with her little sister but she hadn't be prepared for the possibility that said little sister might become the boss of her.

She'd tucked these feelings away in the back of her mind, hidden them behind bravado and jokes and confidence like she usually did. She was Yang the strong, flirty one, she had to let Weiss and Blake and even Ruby get the angst out of their systems so she couldn't ever show her doubts. First Weiss has thrown a hissy fit about Ruby being leader and Ruby's own doubts about leading the team, then the whole incident with finding out Blake was a Faunus, everyone else had their own things going on so she tucked her doubts away and kept moving to be strong for everyone. But now what Weiss had said made it real for her. She couldn't tuck it any farther.

She felt so conflicted, and she felt even more guilty because it should have been an easy answer. Of course she should be happy for her sister, but at the same time she had these nagging thoughts in the back of her head. She couldn't remove these lingering doubts. She clenched her gloved fingers on the throttle, speeding the bike up a bit and doing a quick U-turn, heading back towards the academy and leaving a trail of smoke in her wake.


Yang had arrived back at the room late that night and had fallen asleep soon after, not leaving a chance for Ruby or the others to talk to her. That was somewhat intentional on her part though she had also been out on her bike all day as well. However the next morning the group had been called out to do a little practice mission Ruby had signed them up for. It was a simple task, a small pack of Beowolves had been migrating a bit too close to the outskirts of town so they were to be taken out.

"Well this is nice, finally something we can do as a team." Ruby smiled and moved between Weiss and Yang. "Some teamwork is always helpful… because we're a team? Let's go team? Teeeeeeeeeam" She wrapped her arms around the two girls and tried to hug them together but their size kept them anchored, causing the girl to pout.

"Stop saying team, it's starting to sound weird." Blake glanced over to her with a small smile.

"I agree, I think we're in need of something to prove we're a team." Weiss nodded quietly, glancing over towards the still-silent Yang. "Lead the way Ruby."

Yang clenched her fists, she knew Weiss and Ruby meant well but emphasizing the team part of this was only bringing the doubts further forward in her mind. Soon they were faced with about a dozen Beowolves in a pack and the group readied their weapons before Yang stepped forward, Ember Celica covering her hands and forearms. Her face brimmed with anger as her thoughts raced through her head, her eyes turning red. "Leave this to me…"

"Umm… okay…" Ruby nodded softly, recognizing that look in her eyes and knowing it was unwise to get in her way when she got like this. "Sure Yang, go crazy…"

Yang dashed forward, delivering an uppercut to the nearest grimm wolf with a shotgun-like sound. Shockwaves appeared out of the ends of her fists as she punched and kicked her way through the horde of grimm. The air around her seemed almost to be lit aflame with her movements as she kicked a wolf back and punched two more into trees with her fists.

She slammed one's head into the ground and fired a shot from her gauntlet while it was pinned, practically crushing its skull. She jumped and flipped behind another, catching two more off-guard and breaking through the crowd with more shockwaves as the number of enemies steadily decreased. The blonde woman screamed in a fit of rage as she vented all of her frustration from the past day onto the animals, slamming them down and punching through their hides, scorch marks left on the ground and trees. She grabbed one's head and rammed it against her knee repeatedly until it fell over and stayed down. There was only one left now. As soon as the wolf realized he was alone he made a break for it. "YOU'RE NOT GETTING AWAY!" Yang shouted as she chased down the wolf, jumping and landing on his back before punching down into him again and again with both gauntlets until black gunk was all that remained in the area of her fists.

The other three members of her team just stood there in awe, silent for a moment as Yang turned back around, walking back and heading towards the academy again, panting softly from the exercise. "Ummm… Yang? When I said 'go crazy' I didn't literally mean go crazy…" Ruby blinked.

Yang said nothing and the group went back to the academy in relative silence until Weiss stopped Yang in the hall. "Look… Yang… I know what I said bugged you, it's obvious that's what's bothering you lately and I wanted to say… well… I wanted to say… um… I'm… uh…"

"You don't have to apologize." Yang said simply.

"Oh thank god, I'm no good at it." Weiss gave a sigh of relief.

"You were right I've still been treating Ruby like my little sister instead of my leader. I want to be happy for her and I am but part of me can't get past seeing her as the little girl I helped raise and protect. The person I tried to be strong, it's a little rough to accept that maybe she's surpassed me… that maybe she doesn't need me anymore." Yang sighed. "I guess I've always wanted her to be strong and independent, I just wasn't ready to deal with the results when she came here and excelled."

"Yang… I…" Weiss's frost blue eyes softened a bit, she didn't know what to say to her. With her own family issues this kind of thing wasn't exactly her area of expertise.

"Don't worry, I'll figure out something." Yang gave a soft smirk and patted Weiss on the shoulder. "I'll find a way to protect Ruby in my own way." She walked past her and sauntered carefully down the halls.

Weiss turned and looked down at the floor, shaking her head a bit. "Yang…"


Yang's mind was still racing, still trying to sort everything out in her head but feeling quite a bit calmer after venting some frustration on the wolves and talking about it with Weiss. She was still somewhat troubled but she figured that she might as well get some normal things done to take her mind off of it for a bit so she could get her head clear. She headed down to the academy common area to check her mail and do some other routine daily tasks. Since it was Sunday there was no mail that day but she had been out all day yesterday and hadn't checked. There was nothing except an unmarked envelope that someone had clearly just stuck there instead of mailing it.

"Another confession note? When will these boys learn?" She gave an exasperated sigh as she took out the note and several photos fell out of it. She picked up the pictures and immediately her fingers gripped the letter tight. They were all pictures of Ruby around the academy: pictures of her at campus, sleeping in class, walking around and even in their room. Whoever had taken these was able to get dangerously close to her little sister and was showing clearly threatening intentions. She looked at the note the pictures were enclosed with. It was a simple letter with cut-out words like one would see in a clichéd crime movie.

"Someone's been sleeping in my bed… and they're still here." She read aloud, her fingers gripping the paper almost to the point of tearing it. At the bottom there was a symbol of a bear head and the epithet 'Baby Bear' scrawled into it. She crumpled up the note and threw it into the trash along with the pictures. She grabbed her goggles for her bike and headed off in a brisk walk that quickly turned into a run. Ruby was still with the others so she knew she was safe for now, but someone had threatened her. And that someone was going to pay dearly.