CHAPTER 9:
Secrets In Plain Sight
"Thank you, Ruby."
"Thanks for breakfast, Ruby!"
"Can you make pancakes next time? I love pancakes!"
"Thanks for the food, and sorry about Nora."
Team JNPR filed back into their dorm to get ready for the day, and Ruby felt a sense of absolute pride at the joy she had seen in their faces. There was something about seeing smiles because of something she'd done that Ruby revelled in. It was a lovely feeling that was already beginning to flounder at the curious stares she was receiving from her own team.
Ruby turned around and faced the rest of Team RWBY, who had gathered in the centre of the room. Weiss and Blake looked much more alive than they did before, and Yang was watching her with a slight frown. Ruby tried to convey with her eyes that she had thought this through, but Yang continued to stare.
Thought continued to cross Ruby's mind, where she was still unsure about telling Blake and Weiss about her abilities to read their weapons' histories, and to an extent, figure out some of their secrets. She knew it was the right thing to do, and it would only hurt Team RWBY in the long run if they found out later that she had known so much about them already from one look at their weapons.
"Well?" Weiss asked, irritation already creeping back into her voice despite the full breakfast she had just eaten. "What is it you wanted to talk about? We still have to get ready for the day, you know."
After a moment, Blake nodded reluctantly alongside Weiss. "We have to unpack, too. Don't forget that."
At their sudden onslaught to make her talk, Ruby defaulted to a pleading look at Yang, who shrugged. "You're the one who wanted to do this out of the blue," said Yang, "So you can either tell them, or you don't. It's your thing, after all."
Blake looked between Yang and Ruby with narrowed eyes. "What are you talking about?"
Realising that Yang was going to let her decide for herself on this one, Ruby looked between Blake and Weiss for a long moment. She could almost imagine seeing Weiss fighting against her giant robot, Arma Gigas, and every painful step she had poured into her practice of the sword only to struggle in defeating it. Ruby then felt like she could see Blake fighting her way through a train, only to be torn with the decision to sever the train car coupling so that the bull-faunus she was with couldn't hurt innocent people.
Two hard workers, two amazing people, two opposite ends to the same coin of trying to find themselves in an unfamiliar place. Did Ruby have any right to upset that? To destroy that balance that they had so painstakingly crafted for themselves? She already gleaned some of the reason why Weiss was so opposed to Faunus, but she could only begin to guess at why Blake had a strong dislike for Weiss, and it led to some unpleasant things that Ruby didn't want to think about.
They were watching Ruby expectantly. She clenched her fists tight and looked down. She knew it was the right thing to do. But it was so hard. So very hard. She didn't want to hurt them. She didn't want them to hate her, or each other. What could she do?
What could Ruby do?
Taking a deep breath, she nodded. "Blake. Weiss. I need to tell you something."
"We've figured as much."
"Out with it, already. We haven't got all day."
"I know about your weapons."
There was a pause in the air as they processed Ruby's words. Yang could only facepalm as Blake and Weiss shared a look. "What are you talking about?" Weiss asked. "We've both used our weapons in front of you."
"I mean, I know their names," said Ruby.
Weiss frowned, and Blake twitched. Ruby saw Blake's bow move while Weiss glanced at where she had stored her combat attire. "What do you mean by that?" asked Blake, her voice now cool with suspicion. "Prove it."
Weiss, on the other hand, was looking at Ruby with a confused look. "I–what? No, that's right. I haven't told you my rapier's name. How would you–"
Ruby pointed at Weiss. "Myrtenaster." Her finger trailed to Blake, who had grown wide-eyed at Weiss' own surprised look. "Gambol Shroud."
Blake dashed forward, slapping a hand over Ruby's mouth with a slightly crazed look in her eye. "How do you know that name?" Blake hissed. "Who are you? How did you–"
A hand tore Blake's hand away from Ruby's mouth. Blake swung her head and bared her teeth, only to see Yang with a deceptively bored face and flickering red-lilac eyes. "Hey. Hands off."
"This doesn't concern you."
"That's my sister you're attacking."
"It's okay, Yang!" Ruby pushed Yang and Blake apart, and Blake tore her arm away from her partner's grip. "I know why she's scared!"
Upon hearing that comment, Blake once again whirled on Ruby with a snarl as Weiss stared at the two in a daze. "What is going on here?"
"Please, don't be mad, Blake!" Ruby cried, her hands outstretched. "I have an ability. I–I just got it, and I can't control it. It lets me Read weapons, anything that can be used as a weapon, anything!"
"That sounds absurd," Weiss said. "A Semblance like that–"
"It's not a Semblance," interrupted Ruby. "I don't know what it is! But it tells me the history of your weapon. How it was made, what its made of, its name, things like that–"
"History!?" Blake gasped, stumbling backwards. "What–What do you mean? You didn't find out from someone else?"
"I find that hard to believe, Ruby." Weiss folded her arms in anger. "If you called this meeting to joke about something like this, then it proves you were the worst decision for Team Leader. Snooping around our weapons and learning their names just because you're some sort-of weapon nut is hardly leader-like conduct."
Ruby couldn't take it anymore. It was devolving so fast that Ruby felt like she was getting whiplash. Blake was looking at her like she was a monster, and Weiss was getting angrier by the second. Yang was standing close to her, just out of sight but within arms length, and Ruby herself was growing frustrated with her own inability to speak right.
Just as Weiss was about to continue berating her, Ruby had enough. She shut her eyes and yelled. "You got your scar from fighting a giant robot!"
A small gasp was all that broke the ensuing silence. Ruby opened her eyes to see Weiss staring at her in the same way Blake had already been doing, and Blake herself had grown pale as she turned to confirm Weiss' reaction. "How do you…No, there's no way you could know," Weiss murmured.
Blake looked between Weiss and Ruby as if the both of them had suddenly dropped dead. "Is she right?" Blake took a shaky step forward. "Schnee–I mean, Weiss; Is Ruby right?"
Weiss turned to Blake with wide eyes. "I, my scar, I mean–"
"Answer me!"
"Yes! I got it fighting our Arma Gigas, but how?"
Ruby watched Blake turn to her in horror. "Then–That means?"
The room suddenly felt like a vice that was crushing Ruby from all sides. Blake was terrified, almost shaking. Weiss had lost any semblance of anger and was now in a listless daze. Ruby knew it was going to be bad, but she didn't think it was going to go like this. She tried to fight the urge to just scream in frustration and anger at herself, and nodded slowly at Blake.
"I–Yes. I know about you too. You were on a train. You saved those people."
Blake's hands nearly went up to her bow before she froze and she realised what Ruby had said. Her eyes then grew glossy as she tried to breathe. "I thought…I thought I could start new here, but someone already knows–"
"What else?" Weiss whispered. "What else do you know? What else–"
Ruby was crying. She didn't know when she had started. She just knew that she was wiping at her eyes and hiccupping and she felt a deep anger and sadness at her own incompetence at being a leader and at using her abilities. "I'm sorry! I couldn't control it! I just, I saw a lot, and I know about both of you now, and–!
"Alright, that's enough!" Yang screamed. That seemed to snap everyone out of their despair as they all focused on the sight of Yang with eyes now fully red and her hair beginning to wave and spark. Recognising the signs of danger, Ruby, Blake, and Weiss all froze in terror. "No more crying, no more confusion, no more being scared! Everyone just shut up!"
When Yang saw that everyone's attention was on her, she nodded sharply. "Good! Are you listening to me? You better be, because I'm not saying this twice!
"Ruby, that was just terrible. I was cringing the entire time. Weiss, Blake, my sister is an idiot! She has zero way with words and her tact is god-awful, and she's really trying; But she's still my sister, so don't go trying to hurt her unless you think you can get through me! Lastly, I don't care about your pasts. Neither of us do! Ruby wanted to tell you because she's the leader and she doesn't want any secrets between the four of us! Right, Ruby?"
Ruby quickly wiped at her eyes and nodded with a hum.
Yang nodded. "So let me say this again for my dumb sister: She can 'Read'–" Yang made air quotes, "–Your weapons, meaning she can understand things about them and the people they belong to. That does not mean that my sister is someone who will spill your secrets without your permission, because my sister isn't like that! Right, Ruby!?"
"Y-yes! I would never!"
"There you have it!" Yang yelled. "Do you understand?!"
Both Blake and Weiss jumped in place as they shouted, "Yes!"
"Good! So let's stop freaking out, take a chill pill, and let's talk this out like the goddamned team we are before I really get mad and do something we'll all regret!"
Everyone screamed in terrified agreement.
There was a bit more shouting after that, but everyone finally calmed down enough that they all sat on their respective beds and looked at each other with guilt. "So there you have it," Ruby said. "I have the ability to know everything I'd want to know just by looking at your weapons." She bowed her head. "I'm sorry about Reading your guys' weapons! The moment I found out about my ability I went a little crazy and I couldn't control it! Please forgive me!"
"While it is a terrible invasion of privacy, I can't really fault you for something you're still figuring out…" Weiss sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "But this is both really good and really bad, isn't it?"
Blake had pulled her legs close and was leaning against the wall. "Just…I need some time to process this. This is all pretty crazy."
"You had the worst reaction out of everyone," Yang said. "While I don't know what you're hiding, we're a team now, and you're my partner. If there's anyone you can trust, it's us. If all else fails, you can trust me. I'll keep your secret, alright?"
Ruby nodded furiously. "What Yang said! As Team Leader, I want everyone to be happy. I knew I couldn't do that if I was keeping this a secret from all of you, so I wanted you to know. I won't tell anyone anything you don't want me to, Blake. I promise." She turned to Weiss and smiled weakly. "Same thing, Weiss!"
"Whatever. Whether you now know about my past or not, I still think I should have been the leader." Weiss scoffed and turned her head, but Ruby could tell Weiss was still unsettled by what she had learned.
And Blake…Ruby looked back and locked eyes with Blake, and Ruby couldn't help but glance once more at her bow. Blake flinched again, and she looked away. "I don't know if I can trust you," Blake said simply. "We might be a team now, but I still don't know any of you. It doesn't matter what you say."
Ruby deflated. "Okay…" She sighed and flopped onto her bed. "I guess we should get unpacking then."
"Man, you'd think someone died with how depressed everyone is," Yang said as she stood up. "Alright, Rubes. Let me get ready and we'll go get our stuff. Sound good?"
"Yeah."
When Yang disappeared into the washroom, Ruby found the silence to be as oppressive as it had been when she was still trying to explain herself. She twisted and turned in bed until she could see both Weiss and Blake in her peripheral vision. After another moment, Ruby heard a sigh from Weiss.
"How much do you know about me now?" Weiss finally asked in a whisper.
It was the worst question, because Ruby had seen a lot from Myrtenaster. She gulped as she tried to think of how to answer Weiss. "I know that you designed Myrtenaster after your sister's sword. That you've practiced a lot with it. And that you're here because—"
Weiss cut Ruby off before she could say anymore. "That's enough. You don't need to say more." After a pause, she got up and made her way to her suitcase. "Thank you for satiating my curiosity."
The sound of her suitcase zipping and Weiss ruffling through her clothes for her uniform filled the otherwise quiet room. Ruby looked over to Blake, who she found was stealing glances at her. When Blake found that Ruby had noticed, she quickly looked away.
Blake's uncertain and quiet voice then reached Ruby's ears. "…What about me? How far have you seen?"
She gave herself a moment to think. Ruby hadn't really seen too much. Just enough to know that Blake was skilled, and the basics of what Gambol Shroud was, its capabilities, and how it was made. "Like I said," Ruby murmured. "The train. That's as far as Read before I shut it down. But I saw what you did. You're a hero."
"I'm no hero," Blake immediately responded. "Just…did the right thing. That's it."
Ruby sat up from her bed and frowned. "Isn't that what a hero does, though? Do the right thing?"
Blake uncurled and bunched her sheets in her hands. "A hero doesn't do the things I've done," she said. "If you'd seen more, you would know that."
This couldn't stand. Ruby saw what Blake was trying to get at, but she couldn't believe it was as bleak as Blake was making it seem. "But think of all the people who are smiling because of you," she argued. "The people who are alive because of you. They get to see their friends and their families today because of what you did."
"And I betrayed my best friend! The person I, I…" Blake gasped and looked away as she saw Ruby's surprise and Weiss' curious gaze. "I deserve everything that's coming to me and more."
Ruby opened her mouth to speak, but was surprised to hear Weiss' voice ring out beside her. "Stop that."
Apparently not liking Weiss' tone, Blake snapped her attention to Weiss with a narrowed glare. "What do you want, Schnee—"
"I don't know why you hate me so much," Weiss said, cutting Blake off, "And I don't know what secrets you have. But it's clear to me that you hate yourself as much as you hate me."
Blake looked taken aback at that as she stared at Weiss.
Weiss frowned. "Look. I don't care if you hate me. A lot of people do. It's something I've learned to live with being the heir to my father's company. But I can't stand by and watch you put yourself down after hearing what little I've learned from Ruby."
"Who are you to tell me—"
"I hate myself too."
Ruby watched as Blake's composure fell completely. "What…how could you? What?"
"It takes one to know one, right, Blake?" Weiss smiled sadly. "Perhaps…I have a lot of problems, too. And I definitely wouldn't say that under normal circumstances, but circumstances aren't normal, are they? It's not everyday you find out that someone knows everything about you." Weiss looked at Ruby, who nodded mutely.
"I think I know what train you're talking about, in any case," Weiss continued. This revelation caused Blake to flinch, and before she could speak, Weiss said, "I want you to know that every person that was working that day is incredibly grateful for their mysterious saviour. And while it never made it to the news, I did my own digging and was able to talk to one of the people who was working that day.
"They said that they wished they could meet their saviour in person so they could thank them for letting them go back to their family at the end of the day."
Blake's eyes looked glassy with tears as she frowned at Weiss. "Why…Why are you telling me this?"
Weiss smiled a little more warmly this time "No reason. Just a thought."
After a long moment, Blake wiped at her eyes and stood up from her bed. "It looks like we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. You're different from what I expected."
"Expectations often differ from reality." They both glanced at Ruby, who pouted at their gazes.
"Hey!"
Blake stretched out her hand. "Blake Belladonna. Let's work together."
Weiss took it. "Weiss Schnee. I look forward to it."
It was then that Yang finally stepped out of the washroom with her uniform on and her hair styled to perfection. She froze as she saw Blake shaking hands with Weiss, and Ruby beaming at the two from where she sat on her bed.
"Uh…What did I miss?"
A/N: This was actually a lot harder to write than I thought, but I'm glad I was able to get it out of the way. Lots of things changing here, including interpersonal relations among Team RWBY, and I really hope I captured everyone's voices in a believable way. If not…Well, I definitely tried. I'm glad everyone is liking the story though, and while I haven't been saying anything here, I think it's absolutely crazy that over 800 people are actively following this story, and we're almost at 1k! That's absolutely bonkers! Thanks everyone for enjoying and reading my story!
And now, onto the RESPONSES!
AxlrexKingu:
Spoilers! But in all honesty, probably not, except maybe a few white streaks in her hair because I think that would look pretty cool.
5h1n Z3r0:
Thanks for following my story, and for supporting me despite my whacky writing schedule! But yes, Mom Ruby was fun to write, and I'm glad you liked the previous chapter. About your last comment, yeah, I realised after the fact that he was talking about that, so… haha!
Wyran cost:
I really hope you liked how I executed it! If not, I'm sorry!
Ooga Booga:
Good points there, and I hope you liked how I ended up doing it!
Kleave guy:
Spoilers :D
Chermobile:
Your little review is review enough! I just love seeing my story get comments in any way shape or form!
ivanruzic3758:
Hell no!
BlueBR:
I don't know how that would be possible since attempting to project a Divine Construct ranges from 'impossible' to 'barely holding onto life' within the boundaries of Shirou Emiya, but then again, this is Ruby Rose we're talking about and not Shirou Emiya. Plus, it's the world of Remnant as well. So yeah…Spoilers :P
Azelios:
All good points! Don't worry, we'll get more into Ruby's psyche as the story progresses!
Apolios:
I'm honestly happy my story is good enough to elicit a reaction like that from you XD. I hope you liked how it turned out!
ExploerTM:
Don't worry about it, but SPOILERS! Also, thanks for liking my story!
TalonScythe:
Ayo, nice to see your review again! I decided to skip around because I'm going to be merging aspects of each route into this Shirou's essence, so it isn't strictly bound to the Fate route, and thus, things can happen out of order. I'm definitely brainstorming how to go about a lot of things with Aura and Ruby's natural Reinforcement among other things. And as for Ruby's design…RIGHT? It's crazy how much they seem to match up! But then again, black and red and silver with belts everywhere is just a really nice style, you know?
And that's it for today folks! Again, no omake, but that's also because I've been working on an 8-page paper do on Thursday this week. I want to die, haha!
I hope you enjoyed, and onto the next one!
