Qrow was on the kids in a matter of seconds, kneeling over the shivering red shape that was his niece. When Winter reached the group of kids Yang and the boy with long black hair were talking to Qrow so fast she couldn't understand what either of them was saying and doubted Qrow could either. "Alright, everyone quiet!" She snapped a bit louder than she wanted. Everyone's mouths stopped moving at least. "Yang, what happened?" Winter asked, quickly looking over Ruby.

Ruby was on the ground, blood pouring down her nose and staining her shirt, she was ghostly pale, shivering, wide-eyed, and didn't look like she could move. She turned around and nodded at Yang, "She got hit in the face! That guy kicked the ball too hard and it smashed right into her!" Yang's face was contorted in rage, her usually beautiful lilac eyes almost looked like burning coals, there were tears in her eyes and her hands were shaking badly.

"Alright, Now, what were you saying- I'm sorry, what's your name?" Winter asked the boy who was standing by Yang. He was trying to stay calm, but his eyes were flicking fast between Ruby, Qrow, Yang, and Winter.

"I'm Lie Ren" His voice was as shaky as Yang's hands. "And Yatsuhashi didn't mean to hit her, it was an accident. He was trying to pass to me" He explained looking at Yang, who scowled at Ren. Then, Yang turned to Yatsuhashi. The boy was a lot bigger than her, but he cowered under her burning gaze, backing away slowly even though he was a few feet away already. "She got hit in the face. I went to check on her and she seemed fine, then she froze up and her legs looked like they gave out" Ren sounded more panicked with every word out of his mouth, talking quickly and breathing faster and faster.

"So she didn't fall when the ball hit her?" Winter asked

"No, I even thought I heard her laughing a little when I walked over" Ren looked down at Ruby and got quiet. Winter turned away from Ruby and kneeled, putting her hands on Ren's shoulders gently. He looked up at her, snapping away from Ruby.

"Ren, this was an accident. Nobody's mad, and we're gonna get Ruby some help, ok? You don't have anything to worry about" Winter froze, looking down at her hands. "Ren, when you checked up on Ruby, did you happen to touch her?" Winter questioned softly, casting a glance back at Ruby.

"Maybe? I think so. Why? Does it matter?" Qrow heard his response and gave a loud sigh.

"I haven't seen her this bad in a while, I thought she was getting over it," He said quietly as he sat down in the grass and rubbed his eyes with his hands. "Yang, do you have Rubys toys?" He asked her with his hands still in his face.

"Never leave home without them," Yang declared, walking over to Ruby and pulling something out of her pocket and putting them in her sisters' hands. It looked like the shaking in Yang's hands had gone away and her eyes looked red but dry.

"What's wrong with her? She's gonna be ok, right?" Ren pleaded, still not sure what was going on.

"Ren, Ruby is someone who doesn't like being touched. She's gonna be fine. You couldn't have known" Winter explained slowly and clearly, but it didn't seem to help with his confusion.

"Something like that can happen just by touching her? I'm so sorry" His eyes looked like they had dulled as he looked at the ground while his shoulders slouched. Winter tapped his chin with her finger, making him look up at her again.

"Like I said, you couldn't have known, Ren. Nobody got hurt, and everything fine. Don't go blaming yourself an accident like this, ok? Everythings gonna be fine" Winter implored him to believe her. His shoulders straightened a bit and his eyes looked over to Yang.

He looked at Winter and smiled it was small, but Winter stood up and returned the favor. Then he walked over to Yang and the two of them started to talk. Yang ended up giving him a big hug while and patter her back awkwardly.

Winter turned to Qrow and Ruby. Qrow looked like he had aged ten years in the last few minutes. The lines on his face, that usually weren't even there, were clear as day. Winter sat down next to him, the grass felt nice on her fingers, relaxing some of the tension out of her body. "It's been this bad before?" Winter questioned, remembering how Ruby reacted to her touch. It hadn't even been half this bad.

"Yeah. I would brush her arm in the hall or something and she would freeze up like this. Her legs only gave out once or twice when it was really bad. It hasn't been like this in over a year" Qrow sounded like a man who was lost, with no idea where to go anymore.

"It was probably al of the stress of today, it would be a lot for anyone" Winter was eying him as she talked, but he only managed a nod.

Ruby moved her hands together and started to twist them. That's when Winter noticed what she was holding. The 'toys' she was holding were a screw and a bolt. She was screwing the bolt-on and off over and over again, gaining a little bit of speed with each movement. Her fingers were tarnished by black grease, and Winter could smell from where she was sitting.

Ruby sat up slowly, still twisting the bolt. She was pale, breathing deep and slow, slouched over, and looked like she was about to pass out. She held the screw and bolt in her left hand touched the sticky blook under her nose with her right. The bleeding had stopped, but the blood wasn't dry yet. "I blocked the pass to Ren at least" Ruby giggled up at the two of them, it was weak but full of spirit.

Yang walked over with Ren and the tall boy, Yatsuhashi, trailing behind her. Winter noticed a few of the other kids behind those two, but they were all a few feet back and were looking everywhere but at Ruby.

"Ruby, I just wanted to say that I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hit you, it was an accident" Yatsuhashi mumbled, almost like he was talking to himself. But Ruby kept smiling.

"I got in the way of that pass on purpose, Yatsuhashi, I was trying to block Ren since he's so quick! My nose didn't even hurt much, so don't worry about it" Yatsuhashi smiled at Ruby, grateful she wasn't angry.

"I'm sorry too, I had no idea you didn't like being touched" Ren gave a small bow, apologizing again under his breath. Yatsuhashi looked at Ren, then gave a sloppy bow himself.

"Don't worry about it. It's happened tons of times, today was just a bad day is all. Just don't tell Nora, ok? She worries about me and I know you two are close" Ren looked up, puzzled at the mention of the name.

"You know Norra?" He looked like someone had just splashed cold water on his face.

"Course! I have a few classes with her and she waked me up when I fall asleep! She's always so nice!" Ruby gushed excitedly, "I've seen you two together a lot so don't tell her, please?" Ruby pleaded again, doing the puppy dog eyes that always worked so well on her uncle.

"I didn't know we went to the same school. I guess I won't say anything to her unless she asks. She can get scary when she wants to"

"Right! She almost fought these two girls the last week of class for saying something about my outfit" Ruby laughed, and Ren joined her.

"I hope we have some classes together when school gets back in session" Ren smiled at Ruby.

"I hope so too! I hope you're with us too, Yatsuhashi!" The four kids talked for a few more minutes before the guys had to leave, Ruby and Yang waving them off with big smiles on their faces. Ruby down while everyone else was waving, but Winter was watching her. She had a small smile on her face as she grabbed her shirt and said something so quietly Winter could barely hear her, "I think I made some new friends"

-Authors note-

Happy Thanksgiving! I hope you guys are having a good holiday, and hope you enjoy these latest chapters! I just wanted to thank everyone and anyone who's reading this story still, it really means a lot! Also thanks to everyone who's commented on these chapters, including Daring-Moon, Timrocks99, Steelrain66, and anyone else who has! It's hard to really know what people like or don't like, so any comments really mean a lot. Anyway, hope you enjoy!