A/N: Yes, I wrote another one of these, and it's not even Omake Week!

~X X X~

It was a beautiful day in the kingdom of Vale.

Or at least it had been when the four girls that made up the members of Team RWBY went out into the city. Somewhere between the Cookie Monster's Den and Wellman's Book Emporium ("We Still Have Everything, Despite Being Under New Management!"), gray clouds had rolled in and it was revealed that none of the girls had checked the weather reports. A half-hour later, the floodgates opened and their walk to Sashes'N'Such was cut off by the need to duck into the nearest open shop to escape the downpour. Four girls and one dog found themselves dripping on the carpet in the lobby of Casbah-in-a-Box ("Vacuo's Largest Department Store Chain").

"Well, that was a thing," Yang decided, wiping streaming water out of her eyes with the back of her hand. "Do they sell towels here?"

Zwei decided to take his own steps against the rain and shook vigorously, spraying water in every direction. Blake flinched away from the bonus shower.

"Don't you think I'm wet enough already?"

"You know, if you keep up with the cat jokes, Blake, you're just going to end up stereotyping yourself," Yang pointed out. Blake moved her sack of canned tuna behind her back.

"How long do you think this will last, anyway?" Ruby wondered, looking out through the panoramic glass walls. There wasn't any thunder and lightning, thankfully, nor even a lot of wind, but there didn't really have to be when there was enough rainfall that passing cars kicked up six-foot waves.

"I don't know, sis. It looks pretty bad."

Weiss pulled out her scroll and opened it up. A couple of quick taps and swipes brought her to the Vale weather forecast.

"According to this, the rain is going to last until sometime after six this evening."

"That's four hours from now!"

"I don't think even Yang could shop here for four hours without getting bored," Blake said. Revenge was a dish best served with a side order of snark.

"Forget the shopping; I need to finish up my paper for Dr. Oobleck's class. If I can't write it this afternoon, I'll be up all night!" Ruby exclaimed.

"You still haven't written that?"

"Well, Weiss, some of us don't write ten-page essays on the night they're assigned. Right, Yang?"

"Okay, yeah, but I did finish mine yesterday. I wanted to make sure we had time to have fun in town today without any pressure."

"Traitor."

Zwei, who liked Dr. Oobleck, yipped once at Ruby.

"Even you?"

"A good leader should set an example for her team," Weiss noted primly.

Ruby sighed.

"I guess there's nothing for it but to get wet. My meringues are going to melt."

"Don't be so dramatic," Weiss advised. "We can just buy some umbrellas."

Blake decided that an idea to stay dry made up for stealing one of her lines, and nodded in agreement.

"Gotcha! I'll be right back," Yang said, and darted into the store. She returned in five minutes carrying two massive umbrellas, one with blue and white stripes and one with black and yellow.

"Two?"

"Yeah, they were on sale." She tossed the blue-and-white one to Weiss. "They're kinda huge, so there's plenty of room for two of us under each one."

"Well, then, there's no reason to wait," Weiss decided. She stripped off the plastic sleeve, then slipped her hand under the umbrella to push it open.

"Wait, Weiss, it's bad luck to open an umbrella indoors!" Ruby called, scooping up Zwei before scurrying up behind her partner.

"Bad luck!"

"Yeah, you know. Like walking under a ladder or breaking a mirror. You'll be sure to lose your history paper or get mud sprayed on your skirt by a passing car or something."

Weiss sniffed.

"I hardly think it's appropriate to concern myself with the superstitions of commoners."

"But—"

"And furthermore, no partner of mine is going to hold herself hostage to those silly folk beliefs. Now, come along, Ruby."

She pushed the umbrella open while heading for the door; it really was large enough for the two of them to walk comfortably underneath without even having to snuggle close. That was probably why it had been on sale, as most people who bought two-person umbrellas were couples who wanted an excuse for snuggling.

It was so large, in fact, that the automatic front doors of the department store couldn't open fast enough to accommodate it while Weiss walked briskly towards them. Both edges crashed into a door and bounced back, making Weiss jolt to a halt. Ruby, already dashing to catch up, didn't have time to stop and crashed into her partner's back. They went over in a tangle of arms and legs, Zwei spinning through the air to land squarely on Weiss's face.

For a long minute, there was no sound other than the crunching noise of the dog helping himself to a spilled cookie.

"You know, Weiss," Blake finally commented, "there's a lot of practical purpose underlying most of those common folk superstitions."

"…Do…tell…"

~X X X~

A/N: …I wonder if stealing a line counts as more Schnee Dust Company oppression of the Faunus?

Trying to fit an open umbrella through a door, particularly if that umbrella is large enough to provide decent coverage, is one of the great irritants of life, and pretty much demands standing out in the rain for a few seconds while opening and closing the umbrella if the place you're leaving or going to doesn't have a sheltered outdoor area like an awning outside the door.

I admit, I'm cribbing somewhat off my own work, here, in that there's a chapter in Tales of the Guild Bar where a character ends up coming to grief by going against a superstition and finding that it in fact has practical consequences. Of course, that had a different superstition and a different outcome, but the principal is similar. But I doubt I'll run into accusations of being unoriginal because nobody reads my Phantasy Star fanfiction, anyway! So, there!