Pairing: White Rose, ish
Summary: Blake follows a hunch about her teammates.
For the last half hour, Blake had snuck glances overtop her book while Weiss and Ruby got ready for the evening. Weiss looked in the mirror and ran a brush through her hair about a thousand times. Ruby smoothed hundreds of invisible wrinkles from her skirt and nearly scuffed a hole in the floor. Then both of them checked, rechecked, and checked again to ensure they had everything - wallet, scroll, nerves...
"Ok!" Ruby finally called out, drawing Blake's gaze to the door. "We're leaving now! So...see you later!"
"Have fun..." Blake replied while forcing her eyes back to the pages in her hands.
She didn't want to appear overly zealous, but the instant the door closed she snapped the book shut and set it on the bed beside her. After listening to a full thirty seconds of Ruby's boots skipping down the hall, she slid out of bed and crept to the other side of the room.
Now that she was alone, she could finally answer some of the questions that had been eating away at her for weeks now. All she needed was a little deductive reasoning and a bit of snooping around...
Something was going on between Ruby and Weiss. She didn't know exactly what it was, but it was something. She felt it. Saw it. Practically smelled it in the way they alternatingly basked in each other's presence before acting like they had to walk on eggshells around one another. That abnormal behavior culminated in tonight - dinner for two, where she and Yang were conspicuously uninvited.
Yang had complained about it for about a half second before going to the gym, but Blake was determined to figure out what was going on. She had to know. And, with her expert-level sleuthing skills, she knew she would find an answer.
With one ear trained towards the door, she knelt beside Ruby's open backpack and glanced inside. She could see several notebooks, a couple textbooks, and way too many pens, but she needed a reason to poke around her leader's personal belongings.
"I...need to see her notes from Professor Port's lecture," she told herself before reaching in and pulling out the red notebook Ruby used for Professor Port's class. Logically, Weiss' notes would be more complete and accurate because Ruby spent most of her time doodling in class. But maybe she'd drawn something interesting…
Flipping through the notebook, she found nearly every page covered in doodles. Some were in-depth and intricate. Others were clearly meant to pass the time or were interrupted mid-drawing. But almost all of them featured a certain combat-skirt-wearing heiress.
Surprisingly, a good portion of Ruby's doodles didn't even feature Myrtenaster. Most of them featured Weiss, and Weiss only. Weiss singing. Weiss studying. Weiss taking notes. Weiss reading on her bed. Weiss laughing. Basically, Weiss in a variety of situations or poses.
After reaching the end of the notebook, Blake put it back exactly where it had been. From that single bit of evidence, it was obvious that Ruby had an avid fascination with Weiss - so much fascination that she could picture Weiss clearly enough to recreate the images from scratch. It was cute, and Blake already knew that Ruby thought Weiss was one of the coolest people on the planet, but what did Weiss think?
That question was a little more difficult to answer.
Moving over to Weiss' desk, Blake made every effort to memorize exactly how things were laid out. Of all her teammates, Weiss was the most likely to notice if something moved or was somehow out of place. Even if it didn't move, she had the uncanny ability to create suspicion from nothing.
Starting with the most easily accessible information, Blake carefully flipped open the cover of a notebook. As suspected, however, the pages were filled with nothing but meticulous notes from their classes. Even the margins - typically a space for sidebars or personal reminders - were filled with class material.
Nothing in the notebook answered Blake's questions, so she closed it and turned her attention to Weiss' day planner. The rest of them teased Weiss about it - because who kept a paper planner when they could use their scroll? - but it was worth a search for clues. More specifically, she wanted to know what Weiss wrote for this evening's one-on-one dinner with Ruby.
When Blake turned to the day's page, however, she found only a small 'R.' Moving back in time, she found more 'R's in various dates and times, but no further description than that.
Just an 'R'? Nothing else? For someone who took meticulous notes and maintained a meticulous schedule, the brevity was out of character. What was the time blocked off for? Did Weiss omit the details because she didn't feel the need to write them down, or was she paranoid that someone might peek at her calendar and read it?
Unfortunately, the information was less helpful than Blake would have liked.
After closing the planner and making sure she hadn't inadvertently moved anything, she stood in the middle of the room and thought about the two varying clues. Ruby drew Weiss often. Weiss made plans with Ruby often, but didn't keep track of what those plans were.
This really only left Blake with one choice - the choice she'd hoped not to use but...she had to know the answer. Which meant she had to know what this dinner was about.
Fortunately, Ruby had told her where they were going - one of the restaurants at the edge of campus. This particular restaurant was always full and always needed a reservation, but, if Weiss and Ruby decided to eat outside, offered the perfect lookout point from a nearby park.
Without hesitation, Blake left the dorms behind and hurried towards her new destination. Just this one last attempt, then she would stop. If they were really just having dinner, then she'd give up and go home. For now, at least. Until they did something else suspicious.
Darkness was her friend as she slunk across campus, taking to the less-traveled paths to avoid recognition. No one noticed her presence until she made it to the outskirts of Beacon, where lights and jovial feelings permeated the air. But she skirted around the feeling of jolly, sticking to the shadows and searching out the restaurant where her teammates should be.
As soon as she spotted the outdoor patio filled with tables and diners, her anticipation increased. Ruby and Weiss were sitting outside, which meant she only needed a decent vantage point in order to figure out what this meal was all about. With her above-average hearing and the tree cover just across the street, there was a good chance she could overhear bits of the conversation.
...who was she kidding. She could hear every word if she wanted to.
Before getting any closer to the restaurant, she picked out a perfect hiding place for the evening - a tall, bushy tree that was covered with leaves at this time of year. Now she needed an opening to dash over there...
Weiss and Ruby's waiter provided just such an opening, stopping at their table and drawing their gazes towards him. As soon as they were distracted by the man, Blake hurried over and easily pulled herself into the foliage. Once she was within the branches, she moved as carefully as possible while maneuvering upward. The last thing she wanted was to disturb the leaves and give the diners a reason to look over.
It wasn't long before she found the perfect spot - a sturdy branch surrounded by leaves that almost fully concealed her location, but had a small opening with the perfect view of Weiss and Ruby's table. If it got too dark, she would need to be careful about her eyes giving away her location, but hopefully she wouldn't be here too long.
She only needed a few sentences of uninhibited conversation. Just a few sentences, and she could confirm her suspicions once and for all.
The moment she tried to turn her ears towards the restaurant, however, a nearer and louder sound drew her attention downward. Lots of scratching...lots of rustling...accompanied by slightly-labored breathing.
Quickly determining that someone else was climbing the tree - for what reason, she couldn't possibly comprehend right now - she moved into the highest branches and waited for the disturbance to show itself.
Her brow shot up in surprise when Sun pulled himself onto the branch she'd just occupied, followed closely by Neptune. The two boys gave each other high-fives before exhaling in relief and settling in - on her branch.
"Can't believe they didn't see us," Neptune whispered while Blake silently lowered herself towards them.
"Told you." Sitting comfortably on the branch with his tail swinging below, Sun picked off a nearby leaf and let it flutter towards the ground. "The distraction worked!"
Crouched on a limb just above and behind them, Blake shook her head when they high-fived again. She didn't know why they were celebrating what seemed like a minor accomplishment, but she didn't care. What she cared about right now was their interference with her snooping.
"What are you doing here?"
Neptune screamed and nearly fell backwards out of the tree, but Sun clapped a hand over his mouth and managed to catch him.
"Holy - shit - Blake! Are you trying to give us a heart attack?"
"Sorry," she replied, although she didn't feel very apologetic. "But what are you doing here?"
"Junior Detectives!" Sun replied in a hushed whisper, flashing a child's police badge at her while Neptune clutched one hand over his heart. "We're investigating a case!"
"What case?"
"It's extremely confidential - client told us we can't tell anyone about it."
"Who's your client?"
"That's, uh, also confidential."
Narrowing her eyes at the response, Blake turned to Neptune. When his gaze immediately flitted towards the restaurant, she had her answer.
"It's Yang, isn't it."
Sun's eyes widened, but he quickly waved off the response and tried to play it cool.
"It's confidential."
"Really?" Blake asked. Even though Sun insisted it was confidential, she knew exactly what was going on. "Yang hired you to spy on Ruby and Weiss at dinner."
"Heyyy…" Neptune whined, looking at Blake in disbelief. "How did you know that?"
Sun sighed and shook his head as the 'confidential' information was spilled, but Blake rolled her eyes.
"Well back off, Baby Detectives. This case is mine."
"It's Junior Detectives," Sun corrected her.
"Whatever. Find another tree to spy from."
Part of her expected the duo to argue - or, at least, bargain for another branch. Instead, Neptune looked at her and scoffed.
"Come on, Sun," he said while scooting back to the trunk of the tree. "Clearly, we're not welcome here."
Before Sun could respond, Neptune lowered himself towards the branch below. When he tried to let go, however, his footing slipped, and he shrieked while falling out of the tree and crashing onto the ground below.
In the process - the incredibly loud, disruptive process - he caught the attention of every single person sitting on the patio. Weiss and Ruby included.
When Weiss' first response was to look at the tree, Blake slipped into the shadows while Sun scrambled down to help his friend.
"Dude, you ok?" he asked while kneeling by Neptune's side.
"I think I broke my back..." Neptune groaned. It looked like he wanted to spend the next few minutes wallowing on the grass, but Sun looked over and quickly realized the entire restaurant was staring at them.
"Uh...we should get going," he said, pulling Neptune to his feet and flashing a smile to the onlookers. "Nothing to see here, folks! Have a good evening!"
Blake rolled her eyes while the two scurried off - their 'detecting' done for the night - but felt her heart still when Weiss again looked towards the tree.
"You know...I don't feel like eating here anymore," she suddenly said.
"Oh, really?" Ruby asked, following Weiss' gaze but quickly turning away. "Ok, where do you want to go?"
"We'll find someplace," Weiss replied while standing up to leave. Ruby, of course, scrambled to follow, always willing to go with the flow.
"Uh, since we're alone, maybe we can...hold hands?"
Blake froze at the question, watching and listening intently for Weiss' answer.
First, Weiss stiffened, and her gaze flitted to the tree once more, as if she somehow knew someone was watching. But then she looked at Ruby, relaxed, and smiled.
"Sure," she agreed, reaching out and lacing her fingers with Ruby's. "Tonight's about us, after all."
While the two girls walked away, Blake watched them go with a smile.
'Us,' Weiss said, and she didn't mean it in a friends, partners, or teammates way. She meant it as more than that - exactly like Blake had suspected.
After waiting in the tree for several more minutes, she finally jumped down and brushed off her legs. Now that her investigation was complete, she could go home and finish her book. And she would remind Yang never to hire juniors when a master was needed.