It was still early in the morning on Tuesday, Yang and Raven hadn't gotten out of bed yet and Ruby planned to leave before then. She didn't feel like riding to school with them and she definitely didn't want Yang interfering with what she was doing. Ruby had just finished tying the laces of her old black combat boots and stood from her bed. She then picked up her skateboard that had been leaning on her bed, as well as her backpack that sat by her bedroom door, and snuck her way out of her room and down the stairs. Once at the front door, Ruby pulled out an old MP3 player from her school blazer and put the earbuds in her ears before scrolling through the list of songs.

"Ruby? Is that you?"

Ruby nearly froze as she slowly turned her head towards the staircase where a very tired looking Yang was groggily rubbing her eyes. A sudden guilt tugged at the back of her mind for what happened the previous night, but she shrugged it off, she meant what she said, and from her point of view Yang deserved it. "Uh, yeah. I thought I'd head to school early today...to, um, get some breakfast at school."

Yang squinted her eyes and blinked, clearly still half asleep. "Is that your board?"

"Oh, um, yeah…anyways, I better hurry before everyone else takes all the strawberry muffins." Ruby quickly walked out the door and shut it behind her before Yang could say anything to her. She clicked the shuffle button on her "Skating" playlist before shoving her MP3 player into her leather jacket's pocket.

The first song started quick and with an electric guitar being joined by a steady but powerful beat. Ruby bobbed her head ever so slightly to the beat. It was one of her favorites, one that helped create some happy memories. As the song picked up, Ruby dropped her skateboard onto the ground in front of her and immediately stepped onto it in one swift motion, riding it out of the driveway and sped down the street while she sang along to the song playing in her ears.

"She lives in a fairy tale, somewhere too far for us to find~"

There are a lot of things that many people expect out of Weiss. Her insistence on being on time, getting amazing grades on most if not all her classes, as well as being mature and responsible for her age, just to name a few. However, today she didn't feel like living up to those expectations. All she wanted right now is to stay in bed and hug her shark plushie all day. She didn't have the courage to see Ruby first thing in the morning in homeroom, especially when she sits right behind Ruby and will be forced to practically stare at her during the entirety of class.

However, as the sun began to leak through her bedroom's blinds, she wrinkled her nose in disgust and squeezed her shark plushie closer to her chest. The plushie was perfect for cuddling as it was big enough to wrap her arms and legs around it while also being small enough to hide under her bed. However, no matter how much she cuddled and tried to ignore the morning sun, she knew deep down that she didn't have a choice on the matter. Despite that, she used every ounce of willpower to fight against her own conscience that screamed at her to get up and get ready for school.

But a sudden knock on her bedroom door is all that is needed to cause Weiss to feel her resolve crumble, clinging to her plushie for dear life as she feared her father might have noticed her absence at breakfast or maybe even worse. But when she heard Klein's kind voice on the other side of the door instead of her father angrily lecturing her, her muscles relaxed but still kept her plushie close against her chest.

"Miss Schnee, at this rate you're going to be late for school."

Weiss took longer to reply than she'd like while looking for an excuse, and when she failed to respond in time, she heard Klein turning the door knob.

"Weiss, is everything alright?"

As she heard Klein enter her room, she curled into a fetal position under her blankets and turned her back to face the doorway. "I'm fine, I just don't feel well enough to attend school…"

Weiss felt a weight press onto her mattress, prompting her to turn over to face Klein. She was greeted by a brief frown that was quickly turned into a warm smile on Klein's face as he spotted her shark plushie still in her tight embrace. "Well, seeing as you're currently snuggling with Mr. Sharky, I can assume that it's not an illness that troubles you?"

"Y-Yes." Weiss clung to Mr. Sharky but failed to keep herself from smiling awkwardly as she was caught red handed. No one but Klein and herself knew about her Mr. Sharky, having won it at the first amusement park she's ever gone to during a family vacation when she was little, Klein promised to sneak it back home without her father knowing.

"So what's troubling you, dear?" Klein's warm, almost fatherly smile was something Weiss could never overcome, she just couldn't ever bring herself to hide from him.

Weiss sat up against her bed's headboard, still hugging her plushie. God, she felt like a little kid all the sudden as Klein patiently waited for a response while smiling at her. It took a moment to decide how much she wanted to disclose with Klein. "One of my friends is mad at me, at least I think she is...anyway, I found out she has a really serious issue and I told the school counselor, then she got really angry and yelled at me and I'm scared that she doesn't want to be friends anymore."

"Hmm…" Klein stroked his thick mustache as he took a few seconds to think. "How serious is the issue?"

Weiss bit her lip, wondering if she should just explain everything to Klein. He had always been the one Weiss could trust no matter what, right next to her older sister. After a brief moment, she decided to go against her own better judgement. "She's cutting herself…"

Klein's eyes widened briefly before taking a deep breath and letting it out in a heavy breath. "Well, that's certainly serious."

"Yeah…" Weiss hung her head low as she remembered the scars she saw on Ruby's arms. There were so many of them. Weiss had expected maybe a few scars here and there, but she wasn't prepared to see a series of scars all over the inside of Ruby's arm with quite a few overlapping each other. A few even looked pretty recent, the sole thought of Ruby recently cutting herself right under Weiss' nose made her gut churn with anxiety and guilt. She should have done something sooner!

Klein pulled out his pocket watch, checking the time before glancing back up at Weiss. There was a second or two of silence before he stuffed his watch back into his pocket and gave her a reassuring smile. "You know, back when I was a young lad, I had a troubled friend as well."

Weiss raised a brow, perking up as she sensed Klein was about to tell one of his many life stories. She remained silent however, hoping Klein would continue.

"When he and I got out of the army, he quickly became a heavy drinker and was incredibly depressed. He was also a tad too prideful to accept help, even from his best friend."

"What did you do?"

Klein chuckled as he stroked his mustache confidently, no doubt remembering the event as he told it. "Why, I found him at our favorite pub and tried to knock some sense into him the old fashion way, a good old friendly brawl. I must say though, for being extraordinarily drunk at the time, he put up a mean fight. However, in the end, I managed to force him to get the help he needed, even while he fought with me the entire way there. He even said he hated my guts and called me a bastard!"

Klein let out a hardy laugh that made even Weiss laugh a little. "Despite all that though, later down the road he came to me and said 'Klein, you're the best friend I've ever had. If it wasn't for you, I'd probably be drunk on the side of the curb and no one would have given a damn'. And you know what I told him?"

Weiss shook her head.

Klein raised his hand and placed it on Weiss shoulder, giving her a warm smile. "I told him that I would have cared. Weiss, in this world, your friends are the people who are willing to go to hell and back for you. But, if they can also will themselves to kick your sorry butt in order to get you the help you need, even if you don't want it, then they are the bestest of friends. And you Weiss, in my opinion, are truly an amazing friend to have."

Weiss' eyes watered, Kleine always knew how to cheer her up. Maybe it was because it was his job, so to speak, but Weiss knew it better than that. Klein truly cared about her as if she were his own flesh and blood. Without any warning, she hugged him as tightly as she could, hoping that the action alone expressed how much his words mean to her. "Thank you, Klein."

Kleine, after only mere seconds of pleasant surprise, gave her a hug just as tight. "Of course, what kind of butler would I be if I let you wallow in your troubles?"

Weiss broke away, smiling at him. "No, you're not my butler. You're one of my closest friends-no, you're family to me. You've always been there for me when I need you the most."

"Oh, my dear," Klein wiped away a stray tear before it could even escape his eye. "it warms my heart to hear you say so. However, I still have a job to do, and that's currently getting you to school without your father knowing that you're already running late."

"Right, I'll hurry up and take a shower." And with that, Kleine nodded and left to make her a quick breakfast before taking her to school personally, while Weiss went to take a shower in her ensuite bathroom and got ready for school. As she got ready though, she thought of Klein's story and how it relates to her and Ruby. He was right, your bestest friends are those that are willing to go to hell and back for you, even if that means forcing themselves into your problem while you kick and scream at them. Maybe it wasn't the best mindset to have, Weiss considered. After all, some people just want to be left alone. Despite that however, Weiss knew in her gut that if she left Ruby alone, she would regret it for the rest of her life.

Weiss also realized that she wasn't as alone as she always felt. The past couple of days, she had those around her to help ease your troubles. Coco managed to indirectly help build up her confidence in coming out. If Weiss hadn't befriended her after Ruby moved away, she'd probably be in a worse place than she already was. Then there was Winter, despite how distant they had grown up together, She and Weiss had recently gotten just a little bit closer and continued to bond, albeit ever so slowly. And finally there was Klein, like the uncle or father figure she never had, he managed to give her some advice when she needed it the most.

But Ruby, as far as Weiss knew, has only her sister at the moment to rely on. but, judging by what Weiss had observed in the past week between Ruby and Yang, they weren't exactly getting along. So, with a new sense of determination, Weiss began formulating a plan in order to save her friendship with Ruby. She just hoped Ruby's anger had subsided by the time she sees her in school today.

Despite Weiss managing to get ready for school in record time and with Klein driving her there as quickly as possible, She was still several minutes late for homeroom. But being late wasn't the reason she walked briskly down the hall, racing to get to class. No, her reason was Ruby. Weiss' plan to get Ruby to talk to her was simple but had no guarantee it would even work and she had only one shot at this since they had only homeroom together.

Sadly, walking as fast as she could only ensured that she was a couple more minutes late rather than a couple of seconds if she had just ran instead. Regardless, Weiss finally made it to homeroom, standing outside the door that was closed, completely unprepared. She had never been late before and knew that if she walked in now, all eyes would be on her as Mr. Port would no doubt chide her for her tardiness in front of everyone, including her friends. However, she adjusted her scarf and took a deep breath before turning the handle, opening the door as gently as possible as to not just abruptly rush in and rudely interrupt whatever Port may be saying.

When she stepped into class, her assumption was correct, all eyes were on her as Port greeted her while throwing in a joke about her tardiness that fell on deaf ears. Weiss was frozen in place as her eyes landed on the person sitting in Ruby's desk as the rest of class vanished around her. A girl, who looked just like Ruby-no, it was Ruby but it looked nothing like her! Weiss blinked and blinked again, swearing that she was seeing things.

Ruby, the girl that Coco aptly described as a wallflower just last week, was sitting at her desk with a skateboard leaning next to her and wearing what Weiss could only describe as a punkified version of their school uniform. The black and red blazer of her uniform was hidden underneath a bright red leather jacket that was left unzipped, revealing her white button down shirt that had it's top three buttons undone to show off her collar bones and the tiniest hint of cleavage. Her rose printed, fingerless arm warmers stood out to Weiss as they removed any chances to see Ruby's scars, covering her hands and wrists. Her legs, from What Weiss could tell from her position, were adorned with torn-up thigh high stockings that had a snug fit around her legs and black combat boots that went half way up her shins, with her uniform's red plaid skirt seemingly being the only thing left that was unchanged. And to top it all off like a cherry on a cake, there was a small looking choker around her neck with a silver pendant in the shape of a crescent moon.

But then Weiss' eyes caught what was just below the choker and instantly made her stomach do flips. Ruby wasn't hiding the rose necklace that Ruby gave her when they were kids, instead it was hanging freely around her neck and on perfect display for everyone to see over her shirt, resting right where her sternum would be.

"Miss Schnee?"

Time slowed down as Weiss took in the sight of this very different Ruby, who didn't even acknowledge that Mr. port was interrupted by Weiss' sudden entrance as she continued to stare out the window. Weiss, frozen in place from shock, felt an odd heat begin spreading across her face while her mind had questions racing through it. Why is Ruby dressed like that? Why is Ruby suddenly revealing that necklace so freely despite seemingly hiding it before, and why the hell does she look so damn hot?!

"Miss Schnee?"

Weiss felt even warmer all the sudden as the heat slowly spread through her body, this new and different Ruby was doing something to her and she honestly wasn't sure how to feel about what she was seeing. But, before she could process everything, she was brought back to reality by a hand firmly placed on her shoulder, causing her to snap her head towards Mr. Port who gave her a worried look.

"Are you alright, Miss Schnee?"

Weiss simply stared at her teacher before staring back at Ruby, who was now looking at her from the corner of her eyes for a brief second. Weiss couldn't read Ruby at all and quickly looked back to Mr. Port. "Y-Yes, I'm fine. Just not used to being late, I wasn't expecting everyone to just stare at me like that."

It was a lie, she barely even noticed everyone staring, but Mr. Port bought it as he laughed a hearty laugh before gesturing for her to sit and then resumed his morning announcements. But as Weiss sat behind Ruby, that warm feeling in her body pooled around her gut and she did her best to hide it.

Weiss hated to admit it, but she was turned on by this completely different Ruby. The way those ripped stockings showed glimpses of Ruby's pale skin, the way the stockings made indentations in her thighs. She couldn't explain why, but the sight of Ruby's thighs took center frame in her mind, she just couldn't get them out of her head. Fuck it, she knew exactly why. Weiss was a sucker when it came to a girl's legs, especially Ruby's. And Ruby's choice of attire always seemed to show off her legs, whether they be something as tomboyish as shorts or as girly as skirts.

Weiss placed her face in her hands and bit her lip hard, hoping the pain would knock some sense into her. Why was she getting so worked up over this? This isn't the Ruby she knew and fell in love with, okay that's a bit extreme, but she least didn't look like the same Ruby. Ruby had always been that cute, happy girl who stole Weiss' heart, innocent and naive yet surprisingly smart and clever. But this Ruby? The one sitting before her? She wasn't cute, at least not in the same way Weiss considered "Child" Ruby or the Ruby of last week to be cute. No, this Ruby was more than just cute now.

She looked more...sexy? No, sure Ruby is kind of sexy now but that wasn't quite right. Hot? No, same difference. Weiss rattled her brain as she continued to hide her face in her hands, biting her lip even harder to the point where she might even draw blood. What could it be!? Why couldn't she get this version of Ruby out of her head, why was she taking up so much space in her mind first thing in the morning!?

But then it hit her, like an epiphany, she finally found a reason she felt matched what she was seeing, what kind of vibe she was getting from Ruby.

Ruby didn't just move away for eight years and then came back. She grew up, not just physically but mentally as well. For the past week, she had been looking at Ruby as just an older version of the Ruby from her childhood instead of someone who had grown in a completely different environment than Weiss did, with different friends and experiences.

Ruby has matured, she is almost an adult just like Weiss herself. Sure Weiss is a tad bit older compared to Ruby but that hardly mattered. Weiss finally lifted her head from her hands and stared at the back of Ruby's head. She hadn't noticed before, but looking back at the brief moment that Ruby stared at her just a few minutes earlier, Ruby's hair looked a bit different. It's a little messier looking as it looked like Ruby had done it up in a way that got her bangs away from her face and revealed more of her cheeks, which still had a tiny hint of baby fat around them that also helped maintain that cute face that Weiss adored so much.

Weiss took a deep breath to help further calm herself down. Now isn't the time to think, now is the time to act. With refreshed courage and determination, Weiss pulled out her notebook from her backpack and began writing a letter she planned to give to Ruby, telling her that she wants to talk privately during lunch. Once she finished, Weiss ripped out the paper and folded it. She glanced to her side to see Coco sitting beside her, secretly on her phone while hiding it in her lap and none the wiser to Weiss' actions. With Coco seemingly distracted, Weiss took another deep breath and looked up at Ruby and reached out to tap her on the shoulder, only to see Ruby flinch a bit and making Weiss feel a little guilty for surprising her like that. But nothing else happened. Ruby's little flinch was her only reaction. She was ignoring her.

Weiss frowned as her chest tightened. Is Ruby giving her the cold shoulder? Is she still mad? Weiss tapped her shoulder again, this time a little gentler, but unlike last time, Ruby didn't even react at all. Now Weiss was getting scared that Ruby may hate her, but she had to try. She needed to talk to her.

She slowly lifted her foot, raising it to the edge of Ruby's seat and gave her a gentle tap on what she hoped was Ruby's waist or back, causing Ruby to jolt a little in her seat and finally glance behind herself to look at Weiss with one of her eyes. But when Weiss finally saw Ruby look at her, she wished she hadn't.

Ruby had a strange glare in her eye, like she was annoyed with Weiss. But there was something else, something Weiss couldn't make out. It was subtle but Weiss was sure it was there, whatever it was. Ruby then looked back in front of her and Weiss watched her shift to pull something out of the pocket of her blazer. After a half a couple of seconds, Weiss felt a buzz on her side as her phone silently buzzed, telling her she had a message. Weiss pulled it out and unlocked her phone to see the message.

[Ruby: Leave me alone.]

Her chest felt heavy and tight as she swiftly typed out her reply, fighting off the feeling of dread.

[Weiss: Can we talk, please?]

A minute passed, then another, and a third. The tightness in Weiss' chest grew and she finally looked up at Ruby once more but only felt worse when she saw that Ruby had gone back to ignoring her. Weiss reluctantly put her phone back into her blazer's pocket and sunk into her seat. She was hoping Ruby would at least give her some sort of chance to talk or something. But not this, anything but this.

She shook her head to rid the negativity out of her mind and sat up straight in her chair, she couldn't give up. She'll just have to find another way and keep trying until Ruby either gives in or shuts her out completely.

"Come on, Weiss. Cheer up! P.E. ain't that bad."

Weiss shrugged off Coco's arm from her shoulders as they walked down the hall towards the locker rooms. "I told you, I'm fine. I'm just really not in the mood for running around and doing exercise at the moment."

That was only half the truth for why Weiss wasn't looking forward to P.E. currently. The other half was something she wasn't exactly comfortable with explaining to her friends at the moment as they entered the girls locker room. Several other girls were already changing into their running shorts and T-shirts as Weiss, Pyrrha, and Coco walked between small groups of half naked girls, with Weiss trying her best not to stare and look like a pervert or making her classmates spread rumors. She wasn't really trying to ogle them or anything like that, but being attracted to other girls made it difficult not to stare at times and especially when a select few even went as far as changing their bras and briefly displaying their exposed chests. People like Pyrrha.

"Don't fret so much, once you start running or whatever I'm sure you'll get into the mood." Pyrrha started as she already began undressing. "Besides, Exercise is good for you and can help blow off some steam."

"I don't need to blow off steam, I'm just tired." Weiss turned away to face her locker to keep herself from getting an eyeful of Pyrrha's chest as she changed into a sports bra. Honestly, Weiss often wondered why Pyrrha never just wore the sports bra to start with and never bother with her normal one to begin with. It would both save Pyrrha's time while changing and Weiss wouldn't have to get so jealous and embarrassed every time they changed together.

As Weiss undressed, her heart began to race as she got closer to removing her skirt. Just as her thumbs hooked onto the skirt, she froze as her anxiety got the better of her.

'Come on, you bought these to hide the damn patch because you wanted to avoid talking about it. Just pull your skirt down and quickly put on your running shorts!'

"Is that really Ruby?"

Weiss' head jolted upright and snapped towards the source of Ruby's name being said.

"Isn't she that super quiet girl who hangs with that Jaune guy?"

Weiss' eyes darted from one girl to another, listening to a nearby group gossipping. She then saw one of them point just a short distance further down the row of lockers and followed where they pointed, only for Weiss to nearly gasp upon who she saw. Ruby, still wearing her startlingly new look, was shoving her backpack and skateboard into an unused locker after having pulled out a pair of running shorts and a T-Shirt from her backpack. However, Ruby didn't start changing right there but instead walked around the lockers and towards the shower stalls instead.

It hadn't occurred to Weiss, but it only now dawned on her that Ruby practically had to go out of her way to hide her scars from people. The realization only made Weiss' mind come up with various activities that Ruby couldn't participate in because of her desire to hide her scars. She couldn't wear a cute bikini and go swimming, couldn't wear anything with short sleeves like her old favorite sun dresses, and then there was a sudden question that honestly should have been more important than imaging Ruby in bikinis and cute sundresses.

What the hell is Ruby doing in Weiss' P.E. class?!

"Hey Weiss, since when did you start wearing boyshorts?"

Weiss whipped her head around to see Coco staring down towards her butt, prompting herself to do the same. Apparently, while distracted by Ruby, her grip on her skirt loosened and she had let it fall to pool around her ankles, leaving her in her newest pair of underwear, a pair of navy blue boyshorts with white polka dots that covered much more skin than her usual underwear. Weiss sputtered for a moment as she turned her head back around to face her locker, hiding her flushed face. Damn Coco, why cant she just keep her mouth shut?!.

"I-I thought they looked cute." that was only half the truth, she did buy this specific pair because they were cute, but that's not why she had bought a week's worth of them. She got them because she didn't want the estrogen patch that Saphron prescribed her to be visible as she feared it might stick out from underneath her normal underwear and Weiss really didn't want to talk about such an awkward thing with her friends.

Coco, who was wearing nothing but her underwear now, walked over and walked in a semi circle around Weiss' rear, causing Weiss to blush furiously. "They do look cute, don't get me wrong. I just never took you for the type to wear em, they're a little tomboyish for someone as princessy as you.

Even in her embarrassed state, Weiss managed to roll her eyes as she decided to just ignore Coco and get dressed before she gets any funny ideas to tease her with. Luckily, Coco knew when to tease and when not to, especially with Weiss, and so she went back to getting changed as well.

However, doing so only allowed Weiss' train of thought to return to Ruby as she got dressed. That same earlier question remained unanswered in her head. Why was Ruby in her locker room? Did she get transferred to her class or something? Weiss briefly recalled Nora mentioning a fight yesterday with Cardin, was that the reason? It would make some sort of sense, Weiss supposed. But just as Weiss could further that train of that, she saw Ruby return to her locker in the corner of her eye, just in time for the other girls to start talking again.

"Did you see what she did with her uniform?"

"Yeah, didn't even know you could get away with that. I like the arm warmers though, they look nice."

"Maybe she wants attention?"

"Oh most definitely!"

The loud bang of a locker suddenly slamming shut echoed throughout the entire locker room, prompting everyone to stare at Ruby as the source. She stood there silently as everyone stared at her, now wearing her P.E. uniform and kept her arm warmers and choker on as well. Ruby's face was unreadable as she stared at her locker for a few seconds. Then, just as she turned around to head to the track and field, her eyes swept over the group of girls who were gossipping about her and gave them an intense glare that scared even Weiss. It lasted only for a brief second as Weiss watched Ruby disappear around a corner.

The gossipping girls went straight to talking about Ruby again and Weiss did her best to ignore it. But as they started talking about how Ruby is attention seeking, Weiss was starting to seriously consider confronting them. Who the hell do they think they are, anyway? They knew nothing of Ruby or what she might be going through. It's unfair and just outright a bitchy thing to do. Luckily though, Coco had noticed Weiss seething in anger and calmed her down and eventually Weiss managed not to get into a fight, leaving the locker room with her friends.

As they went outside and stepped into the track course, the class huddled around the bleachers and Weiss's attention was drawn to the far side, where Qrow was writing on his clipboard while Ruby was talking to him. Sadly, she was too far to hear what Qrow and Ruby were talking about, but when she suddenly saw Qrow form a soft smile and a nod towards Ruby, Weiss couldn't help but get curious over what they were talking about. Ruby then walked over to stand with the rest of the class opposite Weiss' location and Qrow stood before them. He cleared his throat and scratched the back of his head before finally speaking

"Alright, today's going to be a kind of free day." Qrow started with as little enthusiasm as Weiss expected out of the reluctant teacher. "Go ahead and do whatever while I do some paperwork. However, don't think you can just sit around and do nothing, I expect you all to do at least the bare minimum of physical activity."

There were a few cheers as the class instantly dispersed to do their own things, splitting into groups of friends. All except Ruby, who went over to the bleachers and layed down on the bottom bench, putting on some earbuds that were connected to an old MP3 player. Weiss simply stared at her, unsure of what she should do. Ruby is right there, all alone and doing the exact opposite of what Qrow had told the class to do. Curious, Weiss walked over to Qrow as he worked on some paperwork on his clipboard.

"Mr. Branwen, is it okay that Ruby's choosing to not partake in any-"

"She's got a nurse's note. A bad cut on her arm after an accident in the kitchen at home, can't risk having it reopen while doing physical activity." Qrow didn't even look up at her.

Weiss could only stare as she processed what he said, she couldn't decide how accurate the statement was but it made sense regardless. Weiss sighed and left to join Pyrrha and Coco who were waiting for her to join them in running around the track. It was one of the few physical activities she was good at, but Weiss didn't have it in her to join the track team or anything like that. Regardless, Weiss had nothing better to do and hurried over to join her friends. Actually, she did have something better to do. She should talk to Ruby, but the problem is that Weiss wants to talk privately and she's sure that Ruby wouldn't want to have a serious conversation with so many people around. However, not wanting to keep her friends waiting, Weiss forced herself to put her worries for Ruby to the side for the mean time and caught up with her friends.

Weiss and her friends started off lightly, merely jogging as they chatted away.

"Hey! Earth to Weiss!"

"Huh?" Weiss blinked as she realized she had been spacing out the entire time. "Sorry, what are we talking about again?"

"I was talking about Penny!" Coco chided. "Didn't you hear what happened yesterday?"

"No? I mean, sort of?"

Coco rolled her eyes. "Anyway, Penny got hit by a dodgeball yesterday by Cardin and got a bloody nose, she should be fine though."

"What the fuck? What the hell did he do that for?!"

"It's Cardin, do you really have to ask? Anyway, luckily Penny wasn't hit too bad." Pyrrha added in. "Penny got off unscathed in comparison to what Ruby did to Cardin afterwards."

"What exactly did Ruby do?" Weiss couldn't help but ask, she wanted to know the whole story of what happened before she found Ruby in the locker room. "I heard she got into a fight with Cardin in P.E. yesterday but that's it."

"Well..." Pyrrha frowned and glanced over towards Ruby as they passed her by on the track, she looked to be sleeping on the bleachers and Weiss secretly wished she could do the same. "I heard that one moment she was helping Penny up off the floor and then out of nowhere she just snaps, tackling Cardin to the ground and beating him to a bloody pulp. I heard from Jaune that she was really going at it too, yelling and screaming at Cardin. Your sister had to drag her away and send her to the locker room to cool down."

Weiss could only imagine the scene, which wasn't exactly easy. She had only seen Ruby angry just yesterday, but she still had trouble actually seeing Ruby get into a fight with someone like that. Back when they were children, Ruby was somewhat meek when it came to being bullied. Back then, Ruby would just take each prank without complaining much, despite clearly being upset. She'd never yell or fight back, no matter what happened to her.

"Well, that explains why she's in our class now." Coco added as she gave Qrow a quick glance. "Guess the teachers didn't want to risk another fight breaking out."

"I just wish I knew why she's suddenly changed…"

"Eitherway, she pulls off the leather jacket and choker really well, plus the combat boots I saw her wearing looked pretty fucking real too, I wonder if they got steel toes."

As much as Weiss would like to agree with Coco on how hot Ruby looked compared to her usual look, she was more concerned with what the change might mean. She's almost positive that Ruby's change has something to do with what happened yesterday. If that's the case, Weiss will just need to find a way to talk to Ruby even more. With Ruby ignoring her though, Weiss had two choices. Leave a note for Ruby and hope she listens or she'll have to confront Ruby head on, the second option being something Weiss isn't willing to do just yet. So, Weiss decided that she'll just have to slip the note into Ruby's locker and hope that Ruby comes and meets her.

"Alright, I need a break from running, anyone up for a water break?" Coco asked as she come to a halt

"Huh? Oh, um, I actually need to use the restroom real quick. Be right back" Weiss didn't bother waiting to listen to Coco's and Pyrrha's replies as she walked as fast as she could to the locker room. When she gets there, she goes straight to her locker to take out her backpack and dug out the note she wrote this morning. She then put her backpack away and walked down the row of lockers until she found Ruby's. She briefly looks around, making sure she is indeed alone. With a deep breath, Weiss slowly but effortlessly slides the note through the small slits on the locker door, watching it disappear into the locker with an intense stare. Her heart quickened it's pace, this was it, the only way she could get Ruby to talk to her. If this doesn't work, she'll have no choice but to confront her directly. Now all she has to do is wait.

Or at least that was the plan.

"Come on, Weiss. You are eating lunch with us today and that's final."

"But Coco-"

"No buts! Penny was hurt yesterday and we didn't get to see her since hearing about it."

Weiss couldn't believe this. Of all the things that would keep her from trying to save her friendship with Ruby, it just had to be the need to make sure one of her other friends is okay as well. It's not like Weiss didn't care about Penny, far from it, but it was simply a matter of who probably needs more helping. Penny simply had a bloody nose, a minor issue compared to the horrible fact that Ruby is cutting herself! But if she left her friends now, she'd end up being a horrible friend to Penny. And so, thanks to Coco and Pyrrha rushing her to get changed and get to lunch, Weiss didn't get to leave her note for Ruby and now had to put on hold her entire plan.

Whatever, maybe it would be better if she waited a day before talking to Ruby. "Alright, you have a point."

"Good, now hurry up and grab some food so we can go sit with Penny." Pyrrha said as she grabbed a biscuit to go along with her spaghetti and meatballs.

Weiss sighed and did the same, but then hesitated for a moment before grabbing a second biscuit. She really needed to eat more if she planned on actually growing. However, she couldn't ignore Coco raising her brows at her as she too grabbed a biscuit. "What? I'm hungry."

"Yeah, but you usually don't eat much."

"Well, maybe I've decided to try and eat a little more."

"I'm just a little surprised, that's all."

"Come on guys, Penny's waiting for us already at a table." Pyrrha chided and the three of them, with trays full of their food, made their way over to where Penny is supposedly waiting.

However, as they continued to walk through the cafeteria, Weiss noticed they had passed their usual spot and wondered where they could be going. They couldn't be going outside to eat, it was too chilly today. "Pyrrha, where are we sitting exactly?"

"Guys over here!" Just before Pyrrha could answer, Penny waved them over a few tables away, already sitting with Jaune and his friends. Weiss couldn't help but groan a little, she really hopes that this mixing of her and Ruby's friend groups will end up like last time. Weiss, Coco, and Pyrrha headed over and sat on one side of the table with Penny while Jaune, Oscar, Ren and Nora sat on the opposite. Weiss sat on the far end of her group's side of the table, leaving the spot across from her empty and making her feel a little more alone than she probably should.

"Hey Penny, how's your nose doing?" Pyrrha placed a hand on Penny's back once seated beside her. "Not bleeding anymore?"

"Nope, I'm A-okay." Penny chirped. "Can't say the same for Cardin though, I almost feel bad for him."

"Hey, I think he deserved the beating." Coco chided. "Might actually thank Ruby for doing the dirty work for me."

"Knowing you, you would have probably filled one of your purses with cement and hit him with it." Weiss commented with a laugh, happy to see Penny is okay.

"Oh I can do so much worse than that, sweetheart." Coco titled her shades to give her a wink before taking a ship of her soda.

"Hey Pyrrha, have you seen Ruby?" Jaune asked "We heard from Miss Schnee that she got transferred over to your class."

"Yeah, but I didn't get to interact with her at all. In fact, she kind of just kept to herself and rested on the bleachers."

"Oh! Do you guys know anything about her new look?" Coco asked. "I kind of want to know where she got those boots, I know a girl in the school newspaper who would love to have a pair of her boots if they're real steel toe combat boots."

"Are you sure you're not talking about yourself?" Penny jokes, making a few of the others laugh a bit.

"God no! I'd never wear those boots, not my style."

"Actually, we're just as clueless as you are." Jaune glanced over to the rest of his friends, each looking just as concerned as he was. "Her look isn't the only thing that, well, changed so to speak…"

"What do you mean?" Weiss immediately asked. She couldn't help it, if she was also acting differently even towards her friends, things might be a bit more worse than Weiss thought.

"Yo!" and almost out of thin air, a skateboard was all but slammed onto the table in front of Weiss, with Ruby herself sitting across from her with a tray full of food and an unhealthy amount of cookies. "What's up? Did I miss anything?"

Everyone looked at Ruby with various expressions ranging from surprise and concern depending on which side of the table you sat on. But Weiss was beyond surprised, she was dumbfounded by Ruby's sudden appearance. She wasn't expecting to face Ruby like this, so close and in front of everyone she knew, let alone sitting across from her with the perfect view down Ruby's shirt that she still kept partially unbuttoned as she leaned forward and stuffed spaghetti into her mouth.

"Um, Ruby…" Jaune started with an awkward smile. "We were kind of wondering, but uh, what's with the new look?"

Ruby swallowed her food in one gulp before answering with an uncaring tone. "It's not really new, I just got tired of pretending."

"Pretending?" Oscar asked.

Ruby shrugged and leaned forward to rest her arms on the table, giving Weiss even more of a view down her shirt and Weiss darted her eyes away as she felt her cheeks flare up. "Don't worry about it. Oh! Hey Ren, can I borrow that manga you're reading? I've been dying to get my hands on a copy of that one."

Ren looked up from his manga and leaned over the table to look at her with a raised brow. "You like manga?"

"Yeah! I got a couple from an old friend of mine back in the city, she had a massive collection!" Ruby smiled widely, catching Weiss completely off guard due to how genuine it looked compared to the fake smile she saw last weekend after catching her cut herself. "So, can I borrow it whenever you're done?"

"Um, sure?" Ren, as well as Nora, shared a confused look with Jaune, and then all three gave it to Weiss' friends.

Pyrrha then looked over at Ruby with worried eyes. "Ruby...um, I think you're breaking a few dress codes..."

Ruby reached over and stole Jaune's buttered biscuit from his food tray and took a bite, not looking one bit interested in Pyrrha or any of Weiss' friends for that matter. "So? I ain't bothering anyone."

Nora leaned forward over the table to be able to look at Ruby. "Yeah but like, I never took you for the leather jacket and choker type of girl, or skater girl. Not that you don't rock it, because you really do, but it's just that you're-"

"You seem a bit...different?" Jaune finished with an awkward, worried smile.

Weiss didn't even have to look at Ruby, which she certainly was doing, she could just feel the tense emotion from Ruby as her smile instantly faded and her face became unreadable and she stared at her food. "You think I'm different?"

"We don't mean it as a bad thing, it's just that it kind of came from nowhere and we're kind of concerned, you know?" Jaune tried to reassure her, but it seemed to have no effect on her. "We know you might still be mourning, and everyone kind of does that in their own way, but-"

"I'm not mourning." Ruby finally looked up with a smile, but it was that fake smile Weiss had the misfortune of knowing all too well. "I'm fine. I'm just being myself."

"So...you, uh…" Weiss noticed Jaune briefly and hesitantly glance down at Ruby's shirt, and presumably her chest, before snapping his eyes away instantly and back at her face. Weiss honestly couldn't blame him as she too was struggling not to stare as she tried to casually eat her food. "You like dressing like this?"

"What's wrong with the way I dress?" Ruby casually asked, but Weiss and everyone else knew it was a loaded question. "Am I not how you expect me to be? Simple, girly Ruby from eight years ago?"

"Well...yeah?" Weiss could feel the confusion in Jaune's voice as he watched Ruby attempt to steal his second biscuit and grabbed her wrist to stop her, luckily it was the wrist she wasn't cutting.. "You're acting differently, like stealing my food when you still have your own, or skating in the hall between classes and ignoring teachers and-"

"Shut up!" Ruby jumped to her feet and ripped her arm out of Jaune's grip, staring him down with pure anger in her eyes. "If you have a problem with the way I act and dress then you can go ahead kiss my ass, Jaune. I'm done being scared of what you guys may think of me and I'm not gonna pretend to be that same stupid, defensless little girl back in elementary that was picked on and got a bucket of fucking blood dumped on her!"

The entire cafeteria fell into silence and everyone in the entire room stared at Ruby and everyone else at their table table. While everyone in the cafeteria was confused as to what was going on, Weiss and everyone else at her table knew what Ruby was talking about. Especially Weiss, who shrunk in on herself as a few of her friends glanced at her awkwardly. Nothing would get rid of the guilt she felt for what she did, no matter how much Coco and Pyrrha forgave her and accepted that she changed. However, what made it worse was when Ruby's glare that was aimed at Jaune briefly landed on Weiss as she grabbed her skateboard and backpack and stormed off, leaving everyone at the table in an awkward mess of emotions.

"So…" Nora was the only one with the nerves to speak first. "Did that go how anyone else thought it would?"

"I don't think any of us could expect anything, to be honest…" Jaune muttered.

As everyone fell into a somber silence, Weiss felt trapped within her own guilt that managed to creep up from deep within her. She had never truly forgiven herself for what she did to Ruby, and hearing Ruby mention the event outright like that, especially after what happened yesterday, only made that guilt pull her down even more as she shrunk in on herself. Ruby didn't even look at her the entire time she was here, almost as if she didn't exist…

What is she going to do now? Ruby is very clearly still bothered by what happened after all these years. But then why did she never mention it? Why act like nothing was wrong and even cry when she finally saw Weiss again? Was it all an act? Was she also pretending to be friends with her?

"Weiss, you okay?"

Weiss slowly turned her head to her right, seeing Pyrrha looking at her worriedly. "I'm fine…"

"You're a shitty liar." Coco playfully scoffed, leaning forward to see Weiss from behind Pyrrha. "How about the four of us go somewhere after school to cheer you up, I think I know a good restaurant that'd take your mind off things."

Weiss only had to think about it for a second. When was the last time she and her friends had gone out to eat and hang out without any worries? "Sure, that'd be nice."