Author's Note: So here we are again. Sorry, it's a short chapter, but I meant to add more to it further after writing it, as I was burnt out then. Then some life stuff happened. This week, I've had drumline auditions, an essay, and the game I've been working on crashed before I could save it, so hours of work was gone. Regardless, there's still a chapter! For those of you wondering if this is gonna follow the course of the actual show (with the fall of Beacon, etc. etc.) I have no idea. I haven't watched any of volume 6 or 7, so I really don't know where the show went after volume 5. Eh, I'm sure I'll think of something. We're still in basically the first volume worth of the timeline, so I have time. Also, Edge of Dawn from Fire Emblem Three Houses is a banger. I've been listening to it on repeat for probably 5 or so hours while I've been writing this chapter. In context with the game, it makes me kinda sad. But then if you substitute the game characters for Weiss as the one singing to Ruby in reference to this story, then that's also really fitting, which is strange, but it's also really cool. Anyway, enjoy this chapter!

Days pass by in the blink of an eye. Most of the days consist of helping Ruby with homework and studying, even though we tend to get a bit distracted. Yang has been spending time with Blake a lot more frequently since I told her about Blake's favorite food and to try to ask her about her bow. I can't but smile at the thought of me helping Yang get with Blake. Thinking about it almost made me miss one of the turns to the dorm. I manage to pull myself out of the thoughts in time to catch the mistake. I'm right around the corner to the dorm itself when my Scroll buzzes. I pull it out and keep walking towards the dorm. By the time that I am able to read the message fully, I'm already at the door, hand around the knob, door half open.

From Yang: You may not want to come back to the dorm just yet. I did what you suggested and asked Blake about the bow thing. She got really quiet, so I just kinda reached for it. I ended up grabbing it, but I felt something underneath it. I took the bow off, and apparently Blake's a cat faunus with little ears, but she didn't want anyone to know. She got mad and asked who told me about this. I said that you suggested it, probably because you were curious too, but now she's mad at you. I locked myself in the bathroom to keep her from hitting me.

I look up from my Scroll to see Blake standing in the middle of the room, staring at me. No bow. Only cat ears.

"H-hey, Blake. How are you?" I feign a smile. Blake does not seem to be having any of it. She walks up to me and grabs my arm. She pulls me further into the room, shuts the door behind me, and then pushes me against it. She leans up close to my face, her brow furrowed. I didn't know it was going to make her this angry.

"Who told you about this?" She points up to her cat ears with her free hand.

"Nobody told me about it!" I say back to her.

Blake grabs the front of my shirt and pushes me harder into the door. "Don't lie to me! Who told you?"

"I just kinda thought it might be the case!" I quickly lie. Once again, sweat starts forming on my brow.

Blake's grip loosens on my shirt and her face softens slightly. "What?"

"I just thought that you hearing Ruby and I, even though we were pretty quiet, was a little weird. I looked into it, and I found that some faunus can hear some things better than humans. I didn't think you were, but I was curious. Yang said she wanted to get closer to you, so I just kinda suggested it because I was curious. Plus, your bow has never come off." I explain, even though I'm lying. The sweat that has formed on my brow starts to fall.

"I… I see…" Blake lets go of my shirt and turns around. "I'm… I'm sorry for reacting the way I did. But I suppose my secret is out. I am a faunus. I suppose that I have broken your trust. I'm sorry. Do what you will with me." Blake looks down at her feet, her face clearly fallen and sullen. I step forward slowly and put my arms around Blake. She twitches and pulls back, but to no avail. My hug remains strong. "Wh-what are you doing?" Blake asks, her voice shaky.

"You told me to do what I will with you," I say, removing my arms and stepping back. Blake's eyes are open wide in shock. "So I did." I smile brightly at Blake. "Look, Blake. It is true that you did hide stuff from us. Ideally, at this point, you would have come to trust us enough to be able to tell us; however, I know that's not always the case. People don't look at Faunus with such a kind eye, and that can cause some people to really close themselves off. If things happened differently for me, I could be full of anger and hatred myself. But honestly? I don't care. You are you. I just hope that you can trust us enough from now on to tell us the next time something this big comes up, okay?" A pang of guilt pierces through my mind. How can I tell her this stuff when I myself am basically hiding the reason for my entire existence from them.

Blake slowly sinks to her knees, face blank and eyes still wide. "You don't… you don't hate me?"

I lean down to be eye level with Blake. Her amber eyes meet mine as soon as my face lowers down to hers. "Of course I don't hate you. You had things to hide. It was out of fear. That's understandable. I'm sure that Ruby and Yang have their own things that they hide. It's okay. Now, get up. Everything is fine. Up up up." I say, grabbing one of Blake's arms and pulling her upwards. She stands, somewhat shakily, to her feet and walks over to her bunk. She picks up the discarded bow that was on the ground next to the bed and sits down. I sit down next to her and asks, "Are you going to tell Ruby?"

Blake sighs, grasping her bow in her hands. "I suppose I have to, especially after everything you've said to me."

"Well, then I'll leave that to your judgement. We're not going to tell her, right, Yang? I know you're listening in there," I say towards the bathroom, raising my voice so that it's definitely loud enough for Yang to hear. A small click sounds from the bathroom door, and Yang steps out from behind the door.

"Of course not. That's Blake's reveal to do. Ahahaha." Yang walks into the room from the bathroom, clearly still a bit wary of Blake as evidenced by the laugh that she gave.

"In that case, you should probably put your bow back on so that Ruby doesn't have the surprise spoiled for her." I say to her. Blake nods and fastens her bow on her ears. This process that Blake undergoes absolutely mesmerizes Yang, her gaze almost palpable. "We'll leave the rest to you. Take your time."

"I'll probably just get it taken care of soon. I don't want to drag this out." Blake says, pulling out her Scroll, which she starts typing on. "I'm sending Ruby a text. I asked her to get back to the dorm whenever she could. And Weiss?" She looks up from her Scroll up to make eye contact with me.

"Yes, Blake?"

"What about you?"

"What about me what?"

"You said that I had things to hide and that you were sure that Yang and Ruby have things that they probably hide. What about you? Do you have things you're hiding?"

Instead of responding, I can't help but just look away from Blake, avoiding eye contact.

"I see. Well, whatever that may be, I'm sure you have your reasons. Like we all do. I'll be in the bathroom taking a shower for a bit. Hopefully Ruby will be back by that time. Please excuse me. My ears are rather sensitive, and seeing as how my bow was ripped off of them earlier, I need to relax them." Blake sets her scroll down on her bed, gathers her nightclothes, and disappears into the bathroom.

"I suppose we can only sit and wait for Ruby's return. This… was not what I was expecting," I say to myself as I sit down on my own bed, quizzically thinking about the events that had just transpired.