"...Weiss Schnee. Blake Belladonna. Please. Come inside my room, you have nothing to fear here."
The two fellow RWBY members glanced at each other worriedly, even as Kirakishou levelled one of her better smiles in their direction. From their human compositions it was rather late at night for a meeting, judging by the two wearing what Kirakishou assumed to be their night wear. She had known the time would come where the two girls approached her and felt that a beautiful display would set their minds at ease.
A shame that they had interrupted her play time.
Kirakishou had even taken the time to dress herself in her beautiful clothing in order to appease the two girls, instead of settling for her undergarments. She had toyed with the idea of revealing her doll joints, but had decided against such actions. Now was not the time. Her darling rose would grow quite upset if her two partners reacted negatively. Even deep within her N-Field, such a brash action would be difficult to rectify without Ozpin growing suspicious.
Besides, in the current condition that her N-Field was in, Kirakishou doubted she had the space to house two more strong souls before the next expansion phase. With Laplace-no-ma around and causing trouble, it would be a dangerous endeavour. Thus, it was best to simply converse with the two girls under the illusion of humanity.
Regardless of her attempts to mediate their negativity it seemed as if the two were determined to be unsettled by her very appearance. It was where her darling red rose maiden differed from most other souls; where others scorned or feared her following the display of her powers, her relationship with little Ruby had only grown ever closer.
At the current moment, it appeared as if Ruby Rose was laying unconscious on her bed, slumbering in her adorable little pyjamas. The little reaper had felt rather uncomfortable sharing her presence with anybody except for the Rozen Maiden following her bout of unconsciousness at the hands of Mercury Black and the summary explanation of Laplace-no-ma's trickery.
General James Ironwood gaining the body of Summer Rose would prove difficult to manoeuvre around, but for the meantime she would need to focus her attentions on her beloved master and the connections she was establishing.
It was a startling development in the mind of her beloved, but it was one that Kirakishou was all too willing to exploit for her own selfish desires. In the eternal Alice Game, one must learn to turn negative reactions into positive outcomes. That was the key to success. Even if the other contenders to Father's accursed dream were no longer available, the lessons she had learnt were applicable to her current situation.
Blake Belladonna was the first to enter her room, surprise radiating off her form at the sight of her slumbering team leader. Had she not known? The black rose possessed an inquisitive mind, albeit one typically aimed at uncovering the happenings of the White Fang. Surely she would have noticed the absence of her own team leader in the later hours of the evening.
Perhaps not. From her understanding, the two girls had been meeting in the dark hours of the night on a rotating schedule following their defeat of Roman Torchwick the previous week. Perhaps their nightly activities prevented them from noticing Ruby's own predicament? Hm. Had Kirakishou still remained within the confines of the N-Field, she would likely have noticed such a development prior to this reveal.
Her darling red rose was delightfully needy, wasn't she? Hmhmhm… Not that there was anything wrong with that, of course.
Originally the Schnee heiress, Weiss Schnee, had found her attention drawn to the large ornate mirror that Kirakishou had drawn out of the N-Field. However, she soon found herself following her fellow teammate's gaze to the bed.
"...Is that..." Weiss gave a low whisper, a hand moving to cover the gasp that had almost escaped her throat.
Kirakishou gave a light giggle, closing the door behind her to prevent sound from escaping into the hallway. The two guards sent to keep her confined in her room had long since retired to bed following her prompting and supposed good behaviour. Whilst a shift change would occur in the next hour, it was more than enough time for her to conduct appropriate business with the two trainee huntresses.
There would be no witnesses, save for Ruby.
"My beloved red rose reaper grows disquieted without her pure maiden. She seeks comfort in my Palace of Beginnings, to escape the treachery beget by the enemy." she answered succinctly, moving to stroke Ruby's cheek in a consoling manner. From what she had uncovered, Ruby quite enjoyed the subtle nuances of a lover's touch during long periods of rest. As Kirakishou was busy entertaining guests, she hoped that her gesture would still be appreciated. "You needn't bother with keeping a level tone; she will not respond. She is far too tired."
The feline faunus continued staring at Ruby, disbelief colouring her perception. "...I cannot believe that Ruby would be so trusting of you after everything that's happened."
"Why would she not trust in her white rose? I have protected her, kept her safe and opened her up to a world that has seen fit to ignore her eccentricities in favour of false stability." Kirakishou cocked her head in confusion, before noticing the hardened looks encroaching on their faces. "...Or do you refer to the incident with her little Summer Rose?"
"...So you do know." Weiss hissed, eyes narrowing in cold fury. "We came to question you about that, but here you are openly admitting your actions. You were involved with the Summer lookalike. You were the one who made her. Do you have any idea what that's done to Ruby? To our team?"
Kirakishou glanced down at Ruby and away from the irate heiress, smiling gently at the young girl that had captured her heart so intently. She had nothing to fear inside her Palace of Beginnings, even in the world of conscious minds. Her wonderful little seedlings would provide her more than enough aura to handle any attacks should the heiress decide to become unruly.
Whether they needed to provide such nourishment to her beloved master or Kirakishou herself was left to chance. Irregardless of how the little dolls reacted to her pure self, this interaction held no danger in their current predicament.
"…One does not revive a mere empty vessel. What possible use is such a thing to a heart as forlorn as hers?" she questioned rhetorically, cupping Ruby's cheeks and giving the girl a chaste kiss on the forehead. The two girls visibly balked at the display, likely unused to such vibrant displays of intimacy. Poor wretched things.
Weiss in particular appeared three seconds from conjuring up a glyph of some kind using her semblance and attacking her in her own palace. Truly, rage was a horrid emotion. Her own experience with the emotion during several previous encounters had taught her that much in the very least.
"Then who was responsible? Who else could have caused all this nonsense?"
Kirakishou gave a small little titter of amusement. "Who else?" the doll shook her head, blonde locks shaking with her before she turned to stare at the heiress with her lone amber eye. "It was Ruby." she breathed rapturously, taking in the shock on their faces with no small amount of glee.
The two girls reacted with shock at her brazen words, as was expected at such a reveal. Following that, came the disbelief.
"What in the world are you on about?" Weiss crossed her arms, frowning. "What does Ruby have to do with all of this?"
"Everything." Kirakishou announced with a delighted flourish, glancing down lovingly at the unconscious reaper that lay in her bed. "It was all Ruby. She was the one, the only one, who held onto the memory of Summer Rose. Through Ruby, a small fragment of Summer Rose still held on to life. A pure white rose like myself only used her power to create a vessel to house Summer's wayward spirit and keep her safe from those who would do her harm."
Blake was the first to piece things together, her cheeks paling considerably at the implications of her statement. "...That would imply that the doll that everyone believes is just an impostor was actually Ruby's departed mother. Whom was then promptly killed. And judging by how Ruby reacted to the discovery about Summer by jumping into your bed, she knew all of this already." she accused, eyes narrowing intently.
To be blamed for the actions of her master was a quaint little thing. They were right, of course, but it was still rather odd to experience. It would be the first time she had been 'allied' with another. Her little bout with Suiseiseki in regards to her possession of Souseiseki's body notwithstanding, of course. The twin doll had only protected her to protect Souseiseki's body, not Kirakishou's pure form. This was different. There was a unity between parties.
Sharing responsibility with her master was quite the affair.
Kirakishou gave a curt nod as she stroked Ruby's hair, keeping her lone eye focusing upon her cherished reaper. "Correct. A doll without spirit is unfinished, unfurnished. An impure act for a noble craft is a desecration of everything Father held dear. And Ruby knew all of this from the start, because I told her willingly and without pause."
Before she could continue, the Schnee heiress rounded on her faunus partner. "Hang on! You can't seriously be considering that she's telling the truth, right? People don't just come back, Blake. That's not how it works. She has to be lying."
The ebon-haired faunus looked her way for a moment, giving her a searching look that Kirakishou returned blankly. She quite wished that the two girls would leave soon, so that she may return her attention over to her master. Whilst the conversation with the two huntresses-in-training was rather intriguing, she was growing quite bored of playing with dolls this evening- no matter how exquisite their craft.
"She has no reason to lie." Blake pointed out, eyeing Kirakishou critically. "Think about it. Following everything that's happened so far, what reason does she have to withhold any information? She wasn't even surprised that we came here tonight. Which means that she knew we were going to come and ask her about this and she allowed us in anyway."
The white-haired heiress looked between her faunus partner and Kirakishou, confusion dancing across her features. Originally she'd appeared ready to rebuke her partner's claims, but the downright resolve in Blake's voice had temporarily quieted her. "...What are you implying? That she did all of this for some ulterior motive?"
Blake smiled. It was a poor imitation of one of her smiles, but Kirakishou would appreciate the effort.
"She's done this, all of this, resurrecting Summer Rose and acting the way she did with Ruby for one reason and one reason only." Blake stated, her eyes glowing in intensity. "...She's in love with her. Infatuated, really. I doubt a single day has passed where Ruby hasn't crossed her mind. Ever since they met on the docks, I bet. She knew that we would piece this all together, but she doesn't care. She just wants Ruby. Nothing else really matters to her in the end. That's what love does to people."
Kirakishou gave a delighted giggle, her interest in the conversation renewed as she moved her body ever so slightly to give her darling reaper room to adjust during her sleep. She opted to sit on the bedside, resting a hand over one of Ruby's legs atop the blanket whilst she diverted her sole attention to the two young trainees.
"To be bound by the brambles of love..." she murmured aloud, gazing up at the ceiling as she idly stroked her slumbering master's covered limb. "Truly, a maiden like me finds herself in the most perplexing of situations. Why, I only wish I had paid more attention to Suigintou during her romantic experience..."
Weiss stepped back in shock at the reveal, her back impacting against the wall as the heiress seemingly fought with her ability to breathe for a brief moment. Shock, was it? Disbelief?
"Everything you've done, you did it as… what? A gift? Something to make her love you?"
Kirakishou smiled. "The gift of life is a suitable offering in return for the girl who gave a pure rose a reason to live, is it not? So that she may never leave me to wilt and wither, like my lowly wayward sisters."
"...That's impossible. You couldn't possibly… Oh my oum. But… that would mean Summer Rose was revived, just… in an artificial body?" the heiress questioned.
The Rozen Maiden gave a short nod, the beginnings of irritation beginning to make itself apparent in her thoughts. Honestly. How many times did she have to tell them? Interrupting her play time with her master was one thing. But to refute her? In her own palace?
"Now you see why my dearest rose yearned to return to my embrace. Nobody would believe her, were she to speak the truth in regards to Summer Rose."
Conversation with the two shell-shocked academy initiates appeared to temporarily fade, the only sound being Ruby's over-exaggerated snores and delighted sleepy murmurs whenever Kirakishou touched her. She remembered how she had responded similarly when Ruby had accosted her in her room.
"How did Ruby find out?
Kirakishou glanced up at the question that had clearly fought to escape Weiss' lips. There were tears in her beautiful little blue eyes. Trauma. Whilst the two girls had clearly approached Kirakishou's room in the hopes of gaining answers to their many questions, they were paradoxically unprepared for her words.
"...You will have to be more specific." Kirakishou answered softly, "My dear rose has discovered many truths since our bond. And yet… she has taken each blow and grown ever stronger… such a beautiful little soul..." she trailed off, feeling a delightful little weightless feeling in her chest when she thought about her bonded human.
"About Summer." Weiss stressed, grating her teeth. "How did she discover that Summer was a doll?"
Oh. So that was what the heiress had been talking about. It made sense that Weiss would grow curious in regards to such a thing. She had likely expected Ruby to go to her team about such a matter and was likely feeling rather hurt. Understandable. A shame she hadn't came to question the aura manifestation that Kirakishou had generated during the fight with Emerald and Mercury. From what she had understood, the heiress had been quite intrigued by her power.
Such interests had paled in comparison to the reaction by her beautiful maiden of the red rose when Kirakishou had revealed the depths of her encounter with the two little cutthroats. Her beloved possessed a keen intuition for the uses of a large quantity of aura. Such ideas. She was keen to put such ideas into fruition when the time came.
For now, she would continue her moment with the two little trainee huntress, then return to her master.
"Summer revealed her artificial body during her initial confrontation with Ruby atop the docks during an emotional moment. When questioned, Summer stated that I had been the one behind it. Considering the battle raging below, the two put their differences aside and worked together against a common adversary." Kirakishou answered in a fond tone, smiling down at her beloved maiden of the red rose. "...Even when her mind is warped with uncertainties and torn by pain, she put everything aside in order to focus on protecting those she cares for. A truly fine soul."
Blake glanced down, her feline ears noticeably drooping in reminiscence of the encounter with the White Fang. That was right, she had been a member partnered alongside Adam Taurus, correct? They had possessed an intimate relationship, which had given Blake the knowledge required to piece together Kirakishou's intentions through her own experiences. A shame it had ended on a negative note. Poor little girl. It was good that Blake had a fellow soul to nurture her when her darling Rose was too busy.
"...And how did Ruby react, to finding out you were behind Summer's appearance?" Weiss continued onward, her tone noticeably pointed.
Why- Ah. She had been staring at Blake. She hadn't even noticed. Perhaps the heiress was feeling possessive over her recent partner. Kirakishou levelled an apologetic smile towards the two girls that was rebuked by harsh glares that were noticeably lacking any real fire.
"My beloved rose sought me out immediately after she was released from VPD custody. She approached my pure form, encroached upon my palace with the very core of her being, just to demand answers. I gave the information willingly."
Despite how Kirakishou would have preferred to remain in the present time, she found her mind reminiscing about the moment of Ruby's appearance. It was a weakness she had developed during her time trapped in the Palace of Beginnings. With only herself, too fragile to venture out into the waking world, she had possessed only her memories of her birth. Reliving said memories had been an experience in agony and despair.
Yet to remember how exactly her beloved rose had approached her pure form… they brought with them another emotion, one far greater than anything Father or even Jun had managed to conjure.
"...You… You're a doll too..."
"Of course I'd come check up on you, you goof. I promised I'd be there for you, didn't I?"
She remembered how Ruby had correctly deduced her reasoning for resurrecting Summer, as Blake just had. Love. Abandonment. Infatuation. Loneliness. Each two sides of the same coin, endlessly rotating for most. Kirakishou had experienced the worst that life had to offer for the longest time and had desired to finally experience something positive. To turn the world in her favour.
And Ruby?
"I'm not going to leave you, Kira. I'm not going to choose anyone else. I'm here. Right now in this very moment. With you and you alone. And I wouldn't ever want to be anywhere else."
Ruby had understood.
Tears trailed down her cheek, flowing from her lone amber eye. Sniffles escaped her. Yet these were happy tears. Happy sniffles. Because, finally, after so very long… she wasn't alone anymore. The world was hers. Ruby was hers. Bound together. Rozen Maiden and Silver-Eyed Warrior, by the power vested within the Rozen Maiden contract.
When the heiress' voice came once more, as she knew it would, her tone was noticeably subdued and lacking in fury.
"...And what exactly happened following your revelation? What did Ruby do?"
Was the Schnee heiress that conflicted? Kirakishou burbled out a wet laugh amongst her tears.
"She kissed me."
Kirakishou watched as the two girls departed from her room in the middle of the night, her lone eye trailing their departure long after she had closed the door and bid them their farewells; a feat made possible only through the powers she had gained over her command of the N-Field.
The N-Field was a versatile utility, she mused. Following the partners of her master was most certainly within the realm of possibility, considering how long the girls had spent immersed so deep within her Palace of Beginnings. It was quite amusing how two simple humans could encroach upon her most treasured location without a contract to a Rozen Maiden, without even realising it no less.
With the veil between the waking world and her own N-Field being so very thin following the blanket of darling souls she had gathered, Kirakishou had wondered if the two would be able to see her room for what it was. In the end, her concerns had been for naught. Both Weiss Schnee and Blake Belladonna had been far too occupied with her words to see the terrain around them for what it truly was.
Her Palace of Beginnings and her dorm room were one in the same. Were it not for their deep connection to Ruby Rose, she would have simply added them to her garden and been done with the matter once and for all.
She glanced over her shoulder and towards the bed.
"You can stop pretending to be asleep now, Ruby."
Following her proclamation, Kirakishou witnesses the little reaper's eyes open. They were ever so slightly red and there were faint tears sliding down her cheeks, indicating that Ruby had been crying during her feigned sleep.
"...Thank you." Ruby answered quietly, looking solemn as she slide back against the bed and rested her back on the bedhead. "You didn't have to… do all that. Say all those things. They don't deserve to know."
Kirakishou cocked her head to the side, placing her palms on her cheeks in a decidedly cute gesture that had, once upon a time, captured the heart of the red rose reaper currently resting upon her bed.
"Yes, I did~" she cooed, colouring slightly at the heated gaze that the young huntress-in-training sent her way. "Y-Your presence would have drawn them here, eventually. Such is the nature of a bond. A connection..."
Her beloved possessed beautiful lips.
Breathing heavily, Ruby shook her head from side to side. "...When I… When I found out about mom, I was devastated. I knew what happened. Someone had figured out what mom had become, what you'd turned her into and… and they killed her. I don't know what's worse, the chance that my dad may have killed my mom or that somebody else managed to sneak into the house and kill her."
Kirakishou remained silent as she watched the young rose go through her feelings. Contrary to what she may have lead both Weiss and Blake to believe, Ruby hadn't spoken much following the incident at the infirmary. Whilst Kirakishou's N-Field bolstering their bond had much such things irrelevant, she knew that the only way her beloved could push forward was by speaking about the matter to somebody.
When she had first arrived in the world of Remnant, she had taken a chance and spoken aloud to Ruby of her outrage and grief following the Alice Game. Ruby had consoled her. Given her a purpose once more.
She would do the same for her rose. After all, it was through the actions of her Father that had ultimately resulted in Ruby feeling this way. It was only fair. Their bond would grow ever stronger, in spite of the actions of Laplace-no-ma.
"...They put me under. Knocked me out." Ruby continued, whispering. "Everything went hazy. When I woke up, Yang and Dad there to try and explain things. But they didn't understand what had happened. They wanted me to realise that I shouldn't be sad over a fake." she choked out a sob. "All of this, because somebody decided to attack my mother the moment something went wrong instead of asking her about it."
She went to move towards the bed and comfort her beloved rose, only to be met halfway with a semblance-empowered shove that had her slamming up against the wooden door. Reacting quickly, she lessened the connection of the dorm room with the outside world, preventing any sounds from escaping and alerting the guards outside. They were her dolls, yes, but even her deft manipulations had their limits.
Ruby was upon her in an instant, nimble hands grasping her wrists and pushing her fiercely against the door in a rudimentary binding. With their bodies in such a close proximity, she could feel the heat radiating off her beloved, likely amplified by the blanket that had been long-since discarded following Weiss and Blake's departure.
"And then you were here. Alone in your room. You didn't come to see me. You didn't wait for me to wake up."
Blinking in confusion at the sudden change in tone, Kirakishou went to retort. "Darling… There were too many minds. Too many witnesses. You know I would have if I could-"
"I know!" Ruby shook her head frantically, tears in her eyes. "Because I know you. You resurrected my own mom for me, just to make me smile. To make me l-love you. You've done everything you can just to make me happy. To be happy with me, despite all the craziness happening in my life and all the classes and...- And... And those… those fucking morons LOCKED YOU UP!"
Kirakishou went to investigate her beloved's emotions through their bond, only to find a whirlpool of loathing, passion and envy swirling tightly around her core. They appeared to be extending outwards, towards other souls that had loosely connected with her beloved's slowly-growing N-Field.
The one pulsing the strongest, however, was the one tied with the Rozen Maiden contract. Their bond.
"...But I'm here. You're here. With me." she answered succinctly, trying to understand what was ailing her master so terribly. "...Why does it matter how we arrived here?"
Ruby's hands tightened ever so slightly against her own wrists.
"You shouldn't be locked up, Kira! You shouldn't be criticised for every little thing you do. That's not how it works! It's not your fault you are the way you are. You're just trying to be yourself. To live your own life. So what if you made mom into a Rozen Maiden? Why does it matter to them?! What right do they have to lock you away from the world?! They were supposed to help you! Not do this. It's not fair!"
...She was concerned over Kirakishou's wellbeing? Warmth found itself flooding to her cheeks at the thought. There wasn't any reason to be upset for her. A pure rose will not allow such weak little dolls to impede her grand movements, even if said dolls were acting in such a manner due to the wayward actions of her father's little enigmatic sycophant.
"You needn't concern yourself with the other roses or their intent. Their actions are irrelevant. I'm still here. I'm not going anywhere, no matter what words the others say. I'm all yours, Ruby."
Following her words, Kirakishou found herself suddenly pulled forward into a tight embrace at the hands of the diminutive reaper, said girl wrapping her arms around Kirakishou's artificial frame and crying into her shoulder.
"I love you, you know." Ruby's words are shaky, muffled by Kirakishou's dress, yet the doll hears the words with ease. The little reaper pulled back from the embrace, as Kirakishou finds herself reluctant to allow the girl to move away. "I'd been meaning to say it before all this happened, but I was too nervous. I'm not going to let them just lock you away. Guess we're both… hm… how did you put it again? Bound by the brambles of love? Oum, you have the silliest way of phrasing things, but I have to admit I liked that one..."
Kirakishou giggles at the teasing, despite the turmoil rushing through her inner self. From the faint wetness she could sense on her cheeks, some time in the middle of Ruby's declaration she had begun to cry as well. To have her rose speak her own words was… remarkably pleasurable in a certain sense. She moves to wipe away the tears from her cheeks, only for her beloved to do it for her.
Following everything that has occurred, Ruby loves her.
She is loved. A lowly little rose like her, possesses a master that loves her above all else.
Oh Father. I wonder what you would say, if you heard the news? Your seventh little daughter, whom you saw fit to lock away, has discovered love… Would you be happy? Hm… It doesn't much matter what you think, does it? Ruby's mine. Not yours. All mine…
Mine mine mine.
As am I hers.
"...S-So we are." Kirakishou answers, feeling uncharacteristically shy in front of her darling rose's deft attentions. A quick moment of indecision passes through her before she steels her nerves and pulls Ruby close to her. Their lips meet in a soft kiss. She feels Ruby freeze at the sudden unexpected moment, before melting into the embrace and gripping the back of Kirakishou's dress in a decidedly needy manner. Kirakishou feels the young trainee huntress grinding against her body, pressing the soft fabric of her ruffled dress against Ruby's cute pyjamas.
It was not their first kiss. It would undoubtedly not be their last, not if Kirakishou had anything to say about it. Yet there was something special about that particular exchange. A kiss to reaffirm their connection, perhaps?
"...Know that you are loved by this little doll, Ruby Rose." she answered, before giggling at the embarrassed blush that soon appeared on her little reaper's tear-stained cheeks. It felt so very satisfying to admit the true depths of her feelings for the girl, limited as she was by the constraints of Remnant's native language. Her darling rose may have acquired the ability to speak the languages of Kirakishou's original world, but she felt the words were owed to be spoken in Ruby's native tongue.
In an instant, to borrow a phrase from the memories of her seedbed, it was as if the tables had turned. Her darling rose, which had previously displayed such confidence in her actions, suddenly became demure and fidgety under her longing amber gaze. "Y-You do..? You love me?"
Kirakishou pushed forward, resting her forehead against the young girl in a display of intimacy. Her hands slid and held onto Ruby's shoulders, pulling the girl close. She could feel Ruby's breath against her artificial skin, panting heavily in response to a quickened pulse.
"Of course. I have loved you from the very moment you vowed to be by my side. My heart became yours the instant you chose to connect with a broken little doll who had lost to her elder sisters, to the world of others. Because you understood me. Because, in the end, we're the same. For you, I would remake the world. I would change the past and correct the present. Just to have you here, with me."
The blonde Rozen Maiden leant forward once more as her gaze slipped to Ruby's lips that had parted following her words, her intent made obvious to the quickly-reddening little reaper. Her emotions were racing through her artificial body and she was having trouble controlling her actions, but she didn't let that stop her. She wouldn't ever allow such a thing to impede her desires.
It would appear that her darling little reaper agreed with her musings on that matter. Because, this time, Ruby seemed to crave far more than a little peck on the lips.
Weiss and Blake stalked through the halls, thoughts weighing heavily on their minds following their encounter with Kirakishou and Ruby. Whilst their team leader had been noticeably unconscious for the entirety of the conversation, her mere presence in the bed of the woman behind several recent events had been damning enough.
They passed the door to their own dorm room, continuing down the hall and walking down the several flights of stairs. Whilst the elevator was operational at the time, it was rather loud and more than a few noise complaints had arrived from students using the elevator in the middle of the night, prompting that ghastly elevator music to wake up the poor souls unlucky enough to have a dorm room close to the elevator. It had soon become an unspoken rule to simply use the stairs during the evening if at all necessary.
"...I didn't expect to see Ruby there." Weiss' voice was quiet and noticeably subdued. Blake had to strain her ears to understand the muttered words for what they were; lost and uncertain.
"Neither." Blake responded, walking down the stairs beside the heiress. "Following everything that's occurred, I'd have expected Ruby to react… differently. But just seeing her there. It was nothing like how I would have thought that Ruby would react to the news. She seemed almost..."
"Happy." the Schnee heiress finished for her when she had trailed off. "...It's revealed that her mother that was miraculously revived was not only a duplicate, but one that was promptly killed off and she goes right into the arms of the girl behind it all. Why? Because she knew, the whole time, that the 'impostor' truly was Summer Rose. Merely placed in an artificial body created by Kirakishou. As impossible as that sounds." Weiss recapped, before shaking her head. "...Yet with all of this happening, she still goes and sleeps in the girl's room, over the dorm room with her own teammates. It doesn't make any sense. There HAS to be some small part of her that wonders if the doll truly was Summer. If Kirakishou is just lying to her out of some deluded fantasy to acquire her heart."
Blake gave a nonchalant shrug, shivering slightly from the rush of cool air that greeted her. By the time that Weiss had finished her little recap, the duo had made their way down the staircase and out of the entry hall for the dorm rooms. The Beacon Academy courtyard was a beautiful place at night, yet there was an awful wind this night, it seemed.
"...I doubt she's even thought about the possibility. If Kirakishou truly did resurrect Summer like she said, then it's pretty obvious what Ruby must be thinking at the moment."
Weiss gave a curt nod. They had decided not to bring it up at the time, especially with Ruby in the same room. Buying into the blonde's recounting of Ruby's apparent decisions was one thing, but speaking about it to a crazed girl with a seemingly astronomical amount of aura is likely to end poorly.
Not to mention that she got the impression that Kirakishou had only been speaking to them truthfully because, as Blake said, she had no reason not to do so.
"You're suggesting that, even with everything that is happening… with Kirakishou being placed under house arrest and the uncertainty surrounding her, Ruby would still reach out to her in the hopes that she would bring back her mother?"
It was an odd avenue for their team leader to take following her recent developments in the area of strategy. The idea alone seemed dangerously reckless, let alone astronomically stupid.
Blake shrugged. "She did it the first time. Think about it. You're a young girl, you've lived most of your life following a traumatic death in the family only to grow close with a woman capable of bringing your mother back from the dead. How would you act? How far would you go in the pursuit of love?"
The heiress looked down, biting her bottom lip in contemplation as she went through the narrative that her fellow partner had suggested. Whilst both of her parents were alive, there had been a great many people that Weiss had known that had been executed or murdered over various incidents in the past. She had been quite close with a fair few of them, as Blake could attest to considering their odd shared memory incident a few weeks ago.
To grow up with a major family member dead, however? She could only imagine the horrors that her team leader had been forced to endure. Even with her big sister Yang there to support her, it was clear that the girl would have suffered.
"...If there was a chance that she could bring someone close to me, someone I'd once loved to the degree you're describing, back from the dead?" Weiss asked herself aloud, regarding the question thoughtfully. "Why, I would probably do just about anything, just for the possibility of bringing them back."
"Throw in the fact that the two girls are obviously sweethearts and Kirakishou is most certainly batshit insane and you have a steaming crockpot just ready to explode." Blake responded dryly, sighing heavily. "With Beacon officials somehow discovering that Kirakishou was involved in creating Summer, impostor or not, and then choosing to place her under house arrest instead of an actual arrest? Well. That's not standard operating procedure, if you know what I mean. Something else is going on behind the scenes."
Weiss nodded agreeably. She had witnessed similar shady dealing in Atlas. Certain wrongdoers had been pardoned in exchange for service in the Atlesian Military under General Ironwood's rule, under the behest of the council. Many a time had she been forced to listen to her father rant about such things.
To think she had once assumed Vale would be any different.
"Well I-"
"There you two are!"
A familiar blonde brawler came running towards them in the dead of night, clad only in her pyjamas and gauntlets. Weiss blinked in confusion at the sight, before glancing down at her scroll to notice that they had long since passed the scheduled meet up time in lieu of both their longer-than-expected conversation with Kirakishou and subsequent revelations.
"So how'd it go?"
Blake and Weiss traded glances, discomfort apparent on their faces. Yang being the social butterfly that she is, caught on immediately and her eyes quickly hardened.
"W-Well..." Weiss began, wringing her hands nervously. "...You may wish to sit down. Things are… not so clear cut as we first believed."
Yang crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at the soft tone. "I'm not some delicate little girl you know, Weiss. You really don't have to skirt around things with me. Please, just tell it all to me straight. Did you two manage to squeeze any information out of Kira or what?"
Blake gave a sarcastic chuckle that sounded more than a little tired.
"Oh, you have no idea. She was more than forthcoming..."
A/N:
Hello again! This was a fun little chapter to write. Kirakishou has a flair for dropping bombshells in a borderline casual manner.
Originally, this chapter was going to feature a lemon- as odd an spontaneous as such a scene would infer. It was to highlight the effects of the Rozen Maiden contract and Kirakishou's presence on Ruby Rose. However I found myself feeling it a little too spontaneous. A little too early. What do you think? Would it have been a worthwhile addition to the chapter, or seen as a bizarre reaction for a more plot-focused chapter?
For those of you who are interested in a more combat-heavy setting, eventually the story will be moving towards such. At the moment, think of everything as being set in a low simmer. There's certainly reactions taking place, but it's more preparation for the actual main event. Looking forward to posting again! Feel free to post a review, I'll be looking forward to reading them!~