Whitley felt one corner of his mouth twitch up in a smirk as he watched Weiss eat her breakfast. Weiss was looking at Father more than usual this morning, which meant she had either done something or was planning on doing something. Either way, it meant trouble for Weiss, and he was going to enjoy that. Now to figure out what it was…

"Weiss." Father picked up his morning paper as one of the kitchen staff picked up his breakfast dishes and refilled his coffee. The paper was an obvious prop; their father made sure to be informed of anything of interest to him long before it made print. Most mornings he didn't even bother opening the paper.

"Yes, Father?" Weiss set down her knife and fork, pausing in the act of demolishing one of those loathsome omelets she loved. She was wary, wary was good. Whitley picked up his coffee to hide his growing smirk.

"This game console you want, do you need a television as well?"

"You have the option; you can play either on the built-in screen or connect it to a television. The Switch itself is small enough to be hand-held, if a bit large."

Whitley choked as some of his coffee went down the wrong way. "A g-game console?" he gasped as he wiped coffee off his shirt. "Father doesn't allow those, Weiss."

Now Father looked over the paper at Whitley, frowning. "I think I will be the judge of what I do and do not allow, Whitley. And remember to change your shirt before school. You've spilled coffee all over yourself. Now, Weiss, don't get too carried away when you go shopping. Let's say, half a dozen games to start. And we'll discuss a television for your bedroom later."

"Of course, Father." Weiss smiled. She didn't need to let her father know she intended to get Ruby the Deluxe Collector's Edition of Grimm Reaper VII and one for herself, now did she?

"Yes!" Ruby barely suppressed a whoop of joy as her locker opened on the first try. Starting the day off on a good note, oh yeah! She slid her civics books on the shelf and checked herself in her mirror before shutting for the door. Ruby hadn't given too much thought to her looks before, but now, well, she was starting to care. Love was weird, and it made you do dumb stuff like worry about your looks. Idly Ruby tilted her hair to one side, wondering what she'd look like with longer hair. Not as long as her sister's, or Weiss or Blake's, but maybe down to her shoulders?

Suddenly a pair of hands dropped over her eyes from behind, blocking her sight. "Guess who?"

There was no way Ruby was ever not going to recognize that voice, but she decided to play along. If Weiss was feeling playful… "Uh, Rumpelstiltskin?"

"Dolt." Weiss spun Ruby around and pulled her in for a hug. "I missed you."

"Missed you too." Ruby pulled back a little and looked at Weiss, a mischievous twinkle in her eye. "Hey, now that your dad knows, are we still keeping things cool in public?"

Weiss opened her mouth, but before she could say anything, a hand grabbed her arm, jerking her away from Ruby. "You and I need to talk, Schnee."

"Cardin." Weiss' voice was cold and level, far nicer than she felt like being. "I don't think we have anything to talk about," she said, shaking his hand off her arm.

"No, we've got something we need to get straight between the two of us." Cardin leaned forward, crowding her, and it was all she could do not to gag. "You're mine, Schnee, and you and I have a date Saturday night. Got it?"

Weiss sighed. Cardin had always been a little… pushy with her, but this was beyond next level. "First things first, your breath is atrocious. Breath mints are a thing, invest in some. And second, I never have been nor will I ever be 'yours' in any sense of the word. I was being polite to you, nothing more. I don't want to think how stupid you have to be to think otherwise. Third, I already have plans for Saturday."

"Yeah, with me," Cardin growled, reaching out to grab her again.

Weiss scoffed and batted his hands away. "No, with my girlfriend. Who is definitely not you, although it might be amusing to see you in a skirt." There, the die was cast, Weiss had said it in public, where someone who couldn't be trusted to keep the secret might hear. Though Cardin was probably too dense to notice.

Or maybe not. "Skirt-what? You're a dyke? I'll fix that, you'll see." Cardin stepped closer, still trying to grab her, and Weiss danced out of his reach, Ruby's movements matching her own. Cardin's head turned and he glared at Ruby. "Oh, I get it. She's the one that turned you against me. I'll settle up with her first, then." He turned and lunged for Ruby, but before he could connect, Ruby dodged and Weiss planted her foot on his ass, sending Cardin crashing into a locker before slumping to the ground. The students watching laughed as Cardin rose to his feet, face red with fury and humiliation. "You little bitch, I'll wipe that smirk off your face."

"You'll do no such thing, Mister Winchester." Headmaster Ozpin stood there, leaning on his cane. "I saw enough as I approached to have a fairly clear idea of what was happening, and that kind of behavior is not acceptable on this campus. I am suspending you and will be discussing your expulsion with the board of directors."

"Yeah, right," Cardin said, standing up with a laugh. "You'll never expel me. My father-"

"I wouldn't be so sure about this, Mister Winchester." Ozpin glared at Cardin as he stepped between him and Weiss. "You have a stack of… disciplinary incidents involving other students, particularly those who are Faunus, female, or both. None serious enough to call for your expulsion individually, but added to this incident…. And I'm fairly certain Miss Schnee's father will have something to say about this as well. You will accompany me to my office immediately. Miss Schnee, Miss Rose, I would appreciate it if you accompanied me as well so I can contact your parents."

As they sat outside Ozpin's office, Ruby stared at her shoes and sighed. "I'm sorry, Weiss. I didn't mean to-"

"It's fine." Weiss reached over and took Ruby's hand, giving it a squeeze. "You didn't make Cardin be an asshole. And if nothing else, my father's reaction to this should be… informative."

It was less than twenty minutes before Weiss' father arrived and stood there, glaring at the pair of them. "Never before have I been summoned to one of my children's school because they were involved in an 'incident.' And I see Ruby is here as well. Explain yourself."

Weiss straightened her jacket, taking a deep breath. "Cardin accosted me in the hallway, insisting that I was 'his' and that I would be accompanying him Saturday. When I refused, he got violent and attempted to assault myself and Ruby. Thankfully Headmaster Ozpin was nearby and intervened."

Jacques grunted. "I see. Well, I will certainly be pushing for Cardin to be severely punished. Was either of you hurt?"

"Thankfully, neither one of them was injured." Ozpin smiled as he stepped out of his office. "Forgive my delay, Cardin's father had… quite a lot to say about today's events and, unfortunately, Miss Schnee's character, none of which I wish to repeat. Mister Schnee, I have already placed Cardin on suspension and will be convening the school's board of directors to discuss his expulsion. If you like, I can notify you of when the board will be meeting. Now, if you and Weiss will step into my office, Mister Schnee."

Now Ruby was left sitting alone, waiting. She was pretty sure she and Weiss wouldn't be in too much trouble, would they? Cardin had started it, being such a big jerk! But maybe Ruby should have encouraged Weiss to stand up to him sooner. She sighed. Being a grownup was really complicated but it came with good stuff too. Like girlfriends, and kissing.

She was so lost in thought that she didn't notice someone sitting next to her. "Hey, kiddo, hear you got into a scrap."

Ruby blinked and looked up. "Oh, hi, dad. No, not really. Cardin was being a big jerk, telling Weiss she was his and going on a date with him Saturday whether he liked it or not. She told him off and he got grabby, and then she tripped him but the headmaster showed up before things got really ugly." She chewed her lip and lowered her voice before continuing. "Oh, um, Weiss' dad knows about me and her now, did I remember to tell you that yesterday? But if he asks, you didn't know till last night, okay?"'

Taiyang laughed, ruffling Ruby's hair before she could stop him. "Don't worry, kiddo. I know a thing or two about keeping secrets. Where's Weiss?"

Before Ruby could answer, the office door opened and Mister Schnee stepped out. "Thank you, Headmaster Ozpin, and I appreciate your actions in this matter. Weiss, I'll take you home before I have to head back to the office. I think it may be time to re-evaluate the bank's involvement with Winchester Heavy Industries. Downward, and rather sharply."

Weiss glanced at Ruby. "I'd like to wait for Ruby, Father. We were going shopping today after school, after all. No need to let Cardin ruin our plans."

"We were?" Ruby blinked, puzzled. "Oh, yeah, I forgot, in all the fuss."

When Ruby left Ozpin's office, Weiss was waiting, playing on her phone. "Shopping?" Ruby asked, giving Weiss a look.

"I was planning on talking to you about it today, Cardin just got in the way. Plus it got me away from my father and gave me a chance to… check on something." Weiss stood and cleared her throat. "During our altercation, I… accidentally said I had plans Saturday with my girlfriend. Unfortunately, someone heard me, and it's all over the school's social media sphere. Half the school is saying it can't be true, and the other half is trying to figure out who my girlfriend is. You are one of the top candidates, as far as I can tell."

Ruby snorted. "Who're the other front-runners? I'm kinda curious about who."

This made Taiyang laugh. "Yeah, let's see who they think could win you away from my little girl. You can tell us on the way to the car."

"First runner-up goes to Blake and Yang, either individually or in varying combinations." This got a laugh from Ruby, who stifled it fast. That was prime sister-teasing material there. "Close behind that is Pyrrha, as if anything could ever pry her away from Jaune, and Nora, ditto for her and Ren. Penny gets some mention, as does Cinder, though I'd be willing to bet she started that herself or had Emerald or Mercury do so. Several people have 'outed' themselves as my one true love, to the derision of our peers. And," Weiss stopped as they reached the car, not sure how to put this. "there is a growing swell of support behind someone I can only call something of an underdog candidate: Chelsea Winchester."

"Cardin's baby sister?" Ruby asked as she opened the passenger door. "Oh, um, do you want to sit up front, Weiss? Since you're the guest and all. Plus you know where we're

'going shopping.'"

"The very same. I feel sorry for the poor girl; she's painfully shy in the first place, and this is only going to make things worse. Ruby, I need to ask you something important." Weiss reached forward and gave her girlfriend's shoulder a squeeze. "Are you going to be okay about everyone knowing about us? It might make things rough on you."

"I'm cool if you're cool, Weiss. Hell, post it on Spacebook if you want."

"Weiss?"

"Yes, Ruby?"

"This is a GameZone, not a fashion boutique."

"I know, Ruby, and I do buy things besides clothes." Weiss smiled. "Remember how I never played video games growing up because Father banned them from the house?"

"Yeah, you super-sucked at them. But you learned really, really fast, and you're pretty good at them now," Ruby added, at a glare from Weiss that quickly disintegrated into both of them laughing hysterically.

"Well," Weiss continued, wiping her eyes, "my father has relented. I am now permitted to buy myself a Switch and a few games. And there is a specific reason we are at this particular GameZone." With that, Weiss marched inside, straight up to the counter. "Hello, I'm Weiss Schnee, and you're supposed to be holding something for me?"

The clerk nodded. "Yep, got them both right here. You're lucky you called when you did, and insisted on paying for them over the phone. These were the last two we had, and someone came in trying to buy both of them not ten minutes after you called. Even tried to bribe the guy working. Probably planning on selling them online or something. Here you go."

Ruby's eyes got wide. "Is that Grimm Reaper VII? I'm still saving money to buy it!"

"Not quite. These are, as far as I can tell, the last two copies of the Deluxe Collector's Edition of Grimm Reaper VII for sale in the entire city, one for each of us. And a standard edition for Yang, so she's not bugging you to borrow yours all the time." Weiss leaned over and gave Ruby a kiss on the cheek, making Taiyang shake his head. "Ruby, I know you said not to buy things for you, especially not without asking first, but… can we break the rules, just this once? Please?"

It took Ruby a minute to respond. She was too busy staring at the box, with the resin statuette of the game's main character, Maria Calavera, battling a Nevermore. "Weiss, I don't know what to say. It, it's so expensive."

"And you're worth every Lien. Please, Ruby, for me?" Weiss gave Ruby one of her special smiles, the genuine ones that Ruby brought out in her so often.

"Fiiine," Ruby said with feigned reluctance, getting a chuckle from her dad. "But only on the condition that we go to my house so I can get started wiping the floor with you."

"In your dreams"

"Oh, it's so on."

"I hear you got into a fight at school today, sister."

Weiss rolled her eyes. "Not a fight, exactly. Cardin Winchester decided I was his property. I disagreed, he got aggressive, and now Cardin might be getting expelled." Thank the Maidens.

"That's unfortunate, I thought you and he had-" Whitley stopped, at a loss for words. "Is that your game console? It's rather small, isn't it?"

"It is, and its portability is one of the reasons I wanted this one." Weiss spared a moment to envy the collection of consoles at Ruby's house. Some of them were older than Weiss.

"Is that where you were tonight, buying that? I wondered why you were home so late." Whitley took a step toward where the Switch lay on Weiss' desk, regarding it curiously.

"No, after the incident with Cardin, they let me have the rest of the day off, so my girlfriend and I went and bought this, plus some games, and then we went to her house and played for a while." Inside her head, Weiss started counting. Five, four, three, two, one…

"Oh, she was teaching you to-girlfriend?" Whitley spluttered.

"Yes, Whitley, I have a girlfriend, please try to keep up." She was fighting to keep a straight face now, her brother's expression was absolutely priceless.

"Father will be furious if he finds out." Now Whitley was back to his usual self, trying to figure out how to use this against her.

"Father already knows, and he's even met her."

"I see." Whitley's expression was the definition of the word 'perplexed' if Weiss had ever seen it. "Weiss, may I ask one favor? Can I play on your, I'm sorry, I don't know what kind it is?"

"It's called a Switch, and no, you can't. Now please leave, I've had a long day and I'm going to bed early."

"But-"

"Go. Now."