Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY in any way, shape or form. Risqué scene and brief, strong language ahead.
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Weiss Schnee could count on one hand the number of times she'd been called in to see her father – and all of those times had been about something bad. She simply knew, by pure instinct, that this time would be no different.
If she had known just what he was going to say, she would never have gone to see him in the first place.
"I trust you are well, my daughter?" the man asked with feigned interest. The patron of the Schnee family could have cared less about her daily life in a mere public school… he was just trying to play the part of the concerned father.
"Well enough, I suppose," she replied automatically. The young Schnee was currently sitting in one of the man's two office chairs, ignoring the glass of water provided for her. She was more dressed up than normal, but around her father, there was no such thing as too dressed up.
Jacques Schnee stood equal in height to Weiss, a fact that always infuriated him, but wore shoes with thick heels to compensate. His three-piece suit was pristine as always, glowing white in the brightly lit office they were currently occupying. He twisted the end of his thick, almost-white mustache as he studied her, a habit he'd always indulged in. At least, as long as Weiss had known him.
"How are your studies coming along? Any difficulties dealing with the other students?" His expression remained flat as he continued his charade of acting like a real parent.
Weiss sighed, bracing herself for the coming storm. Delays like this were the man's way of softening up his victims before delivering the killing blow. "I think we both know you have something important to say, so why don't we just get on with it?"
It almost felt like the clock on the wall forgot to tick for a few seconds as the tension in the air grew palpable. Few could get away with talking to Jacques Schnee like that.
Luckily, Weiss was one of those few. "Very well, … … …As you know, I have never approved of your choice of schools. And you know why…"
Weiss nodded, remembering their last face-to-face meeting. And the harsh words they exchanged at the time. No point in re-igniting that fire.
"That being said, I have taken the liberty of checking up on you from time to time… without your knowledge. And a disturbing rumor has reached my ears."
Normally Weiss would have said something about invasion of privacy, but his tone had become… dangerous. Something had gotten under his skin, and no one would interrupt him until he said his piece.
"I understand you have taken a… female lover… for yourself?"
Weiss could feel her normally pale complexion turning completely white. He knew about Ruby. He shouldn't have known, but…
"I'll take your silence as confirmation. Young Lady, this is unacceptable. You are a Schnee, and I will not allow you to sully my good name by indulging in animalistic debauchery with some… some… misguided peasant trash!"
Weiss' face quickly turned from white to a deep shade of red as she fought back indignant rage. How… DARE…
"However… I am not completely without a heart. My sources tell me that you are rather… smitten with this girl. While I don't approve of it, I will not force you to dump her right before the holiday season starts. Instead, I will give you an ultimatum…"
Weiss gulped. This would not end well.
"If you manage to dump this girl before the new year, I will stop keeping tabs on you. If not…"
Weiss was trembling in fear of what was coming next. Anger, too.
"…I will pull you from that peasant school and return you to RTA Academy… where you belong."
Fear, rage, sadness, indignation, and a dozen other emotions came together in Weiss' mind much like a combination of all soda varieties in one drink at a convenience store. And much like said combination, the resulting crash left the platinum blonde rather speechless.
Two words, however, found their way out of her mouth: "The… tradition…"
"If it means preserving my legacy for the next generation, then I will break not only our family traditions, I would break more than a few laws." The man took a swig of his own drink which Weiss suspected was a bit stronger than normal tea. As in, at least 20-proof. "My family will not end with you, my daughter."
This news forced two additional words past the barrier that was Weiss' mind: "Winter… Whitely…?"
"Your sister is a lost cause, you know that. Ever since she joined that God-forsaken military service, she was lost to me. Your brother… well, let's just say that he is no longer a member of this family. You are all I have left."
One of Weiss' eyebrows shot up at that last part.
The elder Schnee gave a deep sigh and said, with a bit more emotion, "He seems to think I was too forceful in my method of training him to take over my position. He vanished from the manor grounds a week past – all he left was a note that said he was going to live with someone named 'Oscar,' but little else."
Weiss found herself having trouble breathing. This was just one too many blows at once to cope with.
Winter and Whitely were no longer considered part of the family? She had to break up with Ruby by the new year or risk getting sent back to RTA? What was next? Was father going to marry Yang?
If he even implied such a thing, Weiss would probably find a gun and blow her own brains out.
"Despite our differences in opinion, I do still care about you – my family means a lot to me. I just want what's best for you, Weiss…"
She couldn't reply. She couldn't say anything. All Weiss could do was turn stiffly on her heels and hobble out of the room before she passed out. The man did nothing to stop her, thankfully.
Things couldn't get much worse…
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Ruby was having a wonderful day so far… despite the fact that it was Monday.
She'd slept well, had a good breakfast with both Dad and Yang, and even got to talk to everyone in front of the library (a rare treat of late). Her focus was sharper than ever as she progressed through her classes, her mind eager to see her girlfriend again.
Weiss had been on her mind ever since she'd been dropped off at home after their date last weekend. Her hair, her eyes, her smell – while Ruby was simply attracted to the girl at first, she was close to obsessive now. She found herself wanting to go as far as possible…
But how far was too far?
Out of the numerous dates they'd had so far, both Ruby and Weiss had …enjoyed each other's company to great effect. As in, 'enjoyed' each other enough to leave both of them flushed and breathing hard afterwards.
It wasn't her fault Weiss tasted so good…
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Weiss didn't show up for art class that day – instead, an emotionless clone that looked just like her came in and sat at her desk.
"Weiss, what… what's the matter?" Ruby mumbled as they worked on their assignment.
No response. The girl barely glanced at her.
"Weiss."
The girl's pencil faltered a moment, then paused fully. Ice-blue eyes finally looked at Ruby and the redhead was shocked by what she saw in them – tears. But why?
"Who was it?" Ruby asked quietly, yet with a hint of venom in her words. "Who hurt my Weiss? So help me when I'm done with them, they'll…"
"It's nothing," Weiss cut her off with an obvious lie. "I'll be alright."
Ruby exhaled loudly through her nose. Did Weiss really believe that? Did she really expect her to believe it?
Weiss Schnee was clearly in some sort of pain, but if she couldn't talk about it here…
Without thinking about what she was doing, Ruby stood to her feet and grabbed Weiss' hand, declaring to Ms. Fall, "We're going to the bathroom."
The art teacher sighed, but didn't argue. She simply gestured at the door, as if saying go on, get out of here. A few snorts and giggles followed the pair from the room.
Let 'em laugh. Ruby was going to get to the bottom of this.
Weiss protested all the way into the ladies room, but none of it was very harsh. Once inside, she quieted down. Ruby blinked at the personality shift – Weiss Schnee had never been this …timid before.
"What. Is. The matter?" Ruby tried again, this time with a bit more force. Seriously, what could possibly make her change so far from normal? She was fine on their date…
"My father… found out about us… and he… he… he wants us to break up."
Ruby's heart fell into her shoes. That was bad news, alright. Weiss came from a well-respected family, and never dared go against her father's wishes.
"Is …that what you want?" the redhead asked carefully.
"What? No! No-no-no! I… I don't…" Weiss blurted out loud, but quickly pulled back. "I don't want to… leave you…"
Ruby gulped. "Then… … … don't."
"It's not that simple," Weiss said, shaking her head for emphasis. "If I don't break this off, Father will pull me from this school and put me back in RTA! I don't have a choice!"
Forget her shoes, Ruby's heart just started a tunnel to the Earth's core. Next stop, China.
"So… we don't have any time left, then…?"
"He gave me… until the new year…" Weiss was starting to let loose a few tears as she gave the damning news. "After that, it's… it's… all over…"
Click.
Both Ruby and Weiss were startled to find Ruby's hand holding the lock closed on the bathroom door. It literally moved on it's own.
Ruby's mouth then said, "No time like the present…"
Weiss' eyes went wide as Ruby moved in, pushing the young Schnee up against the back wall. The redhead moved automatically as she pressed close, letting loose her pent-up sexual tension in this moment.
Getting back to class was forgotten. Monday was forgotten. Nothing else mattered right now.
Nothing but Weiss.
"Ruby…" the girl's gasping voice pulled her back just enough to see something dangerous. Ruby's hand was underneath Weiss' shirt and had just started sliding down the front of her Capri pants…
Oh, no… No no no… this wasn't… this wasn't what she wanted… was it?
"Oh God… Weiss, I… I didn't mean…" Ruby started to choke out, but was interrupted by a light kiss on the lips.
Those ice-blue gems glittered as Weiss said, "Did I tell you to stop…?"
Weiss' hand gently grabbed Ruby's hand and guided it further down. Ruby's heart began beating so hard that she was sure the whole school could hear it.
Ruby had to suppress a yelp as a slender hand started inching down the front of her pants next. Weiss had a grin of mischief on her face as she returned the favor.
"Weiss… oh fuck…"
A giggle, followed by, "If you insist…"
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Thankfully, the bathroom door was thick enough to muffle most of the noises coming out of the room beyond.
It was not, however, completely soundproof. Anyone standing just outside the bathroom could hear some noise if it was loud enough. Like moans. And names shouted between gasps.
"Jesus Christ, you two…" Coco muttered as she waited for the delinquent pair to finish. "Even I don't go that far in the goddamn school bathroom…!"
She'd already waited several minutes, and it didn't look like they would finish before the bell.
"They're lucky I didn't grab my phone to record the lovely sound effects…"
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The only way Cinder Fall would have missed the signs of what just happened would have been if she was blind.
Sign 1: Both Ruby and Weiss were out of breath when they came back to the room.
Sign 2: They had been gone for over half an hour.
Sign 3: Both girls were thick with the afterglow. A subtle nod from Coco was confirmation enough.
For crying out loud… why did she have to get the class full of hornballs? At least that Neo girl wasn't in here…
Almost as though she heard the woman's thoughts, Neo entered the room not even 5 seconds after the bell rang. Cinder fully expected her usual antics to start up again, just like normal – she'd been suspiciously absent ever since the trip to PlushWorld.
But this Neo was a shell of her former self. No swagger, no confidence, and no sense of purpose.
Most startling of all was her face – both brown eyes were now hidden behind an old pair of glasses, rife with scratches. There were also large bags under both eyes, as though she hadn't slept.
Weiss walking in like the living dead was bad enough, but Neo too? Was the world about to end or something?
"Ruby Rose…" the midget said in a quiet voice, "…One more t-t-time."
Both Ruby and Weiss exchanged a look of purest shock before the redhead replied, "Um… 'one more' what…?"
"One more d-d-drawing c-c-contest. Winner t-t-take all."
"… … …All?"
Just a little of Neo's old confidence swelled back up as she finally looked the taller teen square in the eye. "Yes. The winner g-gets to date Weiss… unchallenged. The loser… g-gives up. Forever."
Weiss flinched at that statement. Ruby grew quite pale.
The redhead opened her mouth to reply, but Coco quickly stepped over and pulled the girl aside to exchanged a few quiet words. The brown-themed girl was not smiling.
Cinder watched all of this unfold, wondering just what they were saying, when Ruby turned back and said, "Agreed."
Neo stood just a bit straighter as she nodded her assent, then said, "Friday after school, like usual?"
"We're both in the Art Club now, so yeah," she answered.
Neo tilted her head in an oh yeah posture, then turned to walk out of the room. She passed Cinder's desk on the way, and the teacher got her first good look at the pink-and-brown girl.
Her eyes were… empty. No life in them anywhere.
Bad sign.
The door barely clicked shut before Cinder was on her feet, muttering a quick "Stay here" to the remaining students as she went after the shorter girl.
She'd seen that look far too often in teenagers before, and it never ended well.
"Neo, wait…" She called before the midget could get too far. Neo stopped, but did not turn around. "Are you… are you feeling okay?"
No response, but the girl slowly turned to look at the art teacher. Her eyes were still empty. Cinder suppressed a chill.
"Look, um… I know I don't look it, but I am licensed as a therapist. I actually specialize in helping teens deal with …depression," she said carefully. "So believe me when I say I know that look in your eyes."
Neo didn't even blink as Cinder pulled a business card from her pocket.
"I know you probably don't want to hear this, but if you ever need someone to talk to, at any time, give me a call. I keep this phone on me at all times, and I always answer it."
A small hand lifted robotically to accept the card, but Neo's eyes didn't so much as twitch during the entire exchange.
"Please, Neo… I just want to help…"
"I can take care of myself," the girl replied in a frightening monotone. She then turned and walked away, not giving the teacher so much as a second glance.
It was times like this Cinder wished she wasn't an atheist – relying on an imaginary god had to be better than banking on pure dumb luck that Neo wouldn't… go too far.
Neo was turning out to be eerily close to Emerald, one of her former students. Cinder had already had to deal with one suicide attempt last year, and she was in no hurry to work with another.
Coco must have recognized that look, too. Her brief conversation with Ruby must have been a warning. That girl might make a good therapist, one day… if she could keep her hands to herself.
Her phone rang, and Cinder checked the caller ID. Callows. Now, of all times?
She swiped 'ignore' and headed back to the classroom.
So many students with uncertain futures… but with enough work, she could make sure at least one of them was a bright one.
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Story Note: I knew I wanted someone to step into the role of counselor, so it was either Cinder, Qrow, or some other adult character I'd have to introduce late. I simply went with Cinder; she was already far removed from her canon character anyway, so adding something like this on top of that wasn't much of a stretch for me (and if you've seen some of her portrayals I've seen in the deep dark world of fanfiction, you wouldn't even bat an eye at this one). And as a forewarning, the next chapter will be a bit darker than the previous stuff we've seen - and it's related to that ending.
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