It was an intense scene. Both teams were being lead expertly and were performing admirably. Plays and counter plays, predictions and deceptions, neither team could get a firm hold over the other. Until… until they messed up. It happened in just an instant. A heartbeat of an opening presented itself and she seized it! No one else saw the minuscule chink in the armor that existed for only a blink. She rushed in and disrupted their formation, commanding her teammates to collapse with her and finish the game. The audience was cheering, the shout casters were ecstatic. Their play-by-play filled with legitimate excitement. In short, it was a very exciting battle.

"-And they have taken the title of victors! Nobody could have guessed that this team sprung out of nowhere could compete with such finesse! Let's meet our champions!" The announcer doubling as a hype man made his way to the stage where the competing teams just finished shaking hands. He clasped Sun on the shoulders and asked, "Are you the leader son?"

And for a moment, just for a moment, he thought he wasn't. It was a light kick to the leg that brought about his senses. He turned to the source, he felt guilty for what he was about to say. He knows he isn't the one that lead his team to victory, but if she's the one encouraging then… "I am! Sun Wukong! A faunus!"

There wasn't as much murmuring of confliction that he imagined there would be. He started feeling nervous. Was it really such a big ordeal that a faunus won a Schnee gaming tournament? The longer he thought about it, the more he realized that it was rather trivial; the event was more of an afterthought, really. Sure it was hosted by the prestigious Schnee corporation, but it was more for fun than competition. Still, that didn't stop some big names coming out and trying to win.

In actuality, the tense air wasn't all that thick, and the time passed was simply a moment or two, but to someone in the spotlight, it felt so much longer.

"Well there you have! Our leader and victor, Sun Wukong!" Naturally, the crowd cheered. The hype man and energy were so contagious, the announcer could have said anything and the crowd would erupt into cheers. "Now, it you'll step over here," He gently pulled Sun to a podium, "Here we go, and a member of the Schnee family will gladly present you with your prize!"

It was a small victory, but to him it felt monumental. To have the upper class who practically enslave his kind, come and serve him because of his accomplishments, oh it felt good to get back at them! As the oppressed kind, there's not much his kind can legally do to cause upsets as large as this, but whenever one comes about, a faunus is sure to take the chance at it.

Winter was away on a mission, Jaque is too proud to stoop so low as to do anything for anybody except for himself, and the mother was out of the picture. That left Weiss and Whitley. Weiss thought the whole thing a bore and a waste of, well everything. Whitley wasn't exactly one to represent the Schee household as he is the youngest and is yet to be… refined.

With a resigned sigh, Weiss stood up from her cushioned chair, grabbed the faux gold trophy filled with lien, and tried her best to not look annoyed as she presented the trophy to Sun. Taking it with great enthusiasm, Sun raised it and cheered with the audience.

"One more victory," Sun grinned maliciously. He quickly looked over his shoulder and flicked his tail so as to trip the retreating Schnee.

Her foot got caught up and she had no time to stumble and right herself, she was going to fall. Hard. In front of all these people.

She had just begun to tilt forward when a breeze speckled with rose petals brushed across the stage. No one was sure what had happened except for a certain, quiet guest in a red hood.

Ruby, her reflexes and reactions being accustomed to sudden changes in the environment, had seen Sun's intent, realized his actions, and reacted to the situation, all immediately as it occurred. When Weiss had barely entered the stages of tripping, Ruby used her semblance to rush in and give the Schnee just a little push to have her weight shift back into place and keep her from falling. Then, she rushed back and resumed the position she was in just before saving the heiress of the embarrassing moment.

Moving faster than anyone's eyes could comprehend, and catching the trip-up nearly even before it happened, it simply looked liked Weiss just took a very slightly emphasized step. Out of everyone there, it's likely that only one person knew what happened and one person could guess at it. Nobody else was any wiser to the simple prank the monkey faunus had tried to pull as one last jeer to the Schnees.

Weiss had automatically continued her walking, still being a bit shook up from what had just happened to her. One instant, she was falling, the next she was fine. As she walked past the winning team members, her mind made a random connection. Red rose petals, red cloak. But that was as far as the thought went because something more dramatic took her focus away. Why the red cloak? Instinctively, she tried to see who was under the hood, but couldn't make out any distinctive features. Her legs were still walking though, so she continued onward back to her seat trying to brush the thoughts away.

The convention continued for another few hours, but Yang took Ruby home immediately after the competition discreetly. Much to Sun's dismay because he wanted to give the trophy to the rightful owner but she disappeared before he had even turned back around from the crowd.

"Did you see that Weiss Schnee is having a concert at Vale?"

"Seriously?! That's insane! I love her music. It's so emotional and beautiful."

"I know!"

Ruby listened to her friends, she didn't see the big idea of concerts. Sure, meeting the person might be cool, but to her, that wasn't such a big deal. To her it's another person on Remnant with talent. Woopie. There's also the money, nachos for 12 lien! That'd absurd. Pay like… 45 for the ticket, 30 in transport IF it's nearby, can't bring food or drink inside, large sweaty crowd, and on top of all that, the music quality isn't as great as what you can find on the Internet. On the Internet, there are people whose careers are based off of making an artist's music sound perfect. She preferred to listen to the digitally mastered version in the privacy and security of her own home. Still…

"You're working that one, right Ruby? On the eighth ?"

"Mm-hmm." She took a sip of her drink.

"Why do you work these again?" the other friend asked for conversation sake.

They were her friends, she doesn't mind being vulnerable with them. "Since it's just dad, I don't want to put a burden on him for my gaming stuff. Working these concerts, I make below minimum wage, but it's easy and mom always said to volunteer so…"

It grew somber at the mention of Summer's involvement. After a moment if silent, but not necessary apology, "So uh, why do you work again?"

"Dad can't make dinner all the time and insists that Yang and I don't because it's his 'parental responsibility and a way to show us his love' but it's hard for him. Yang eats at school for free. Signal doesn't have that program yet, so I volunteer at these events in exchange for food. It helps with not wasting good food and is easy. Lots of food for easy work! I would use the money I get from streaming to buy food, but all that goes to my gaming setup."

The scythe-wielder's scroll buzzed and their laughter faded to smiles. "I've gotta go. Thanks for taking me out!" She reached back for her wallet.

"Oh, no you don't! Nu-uh. We said we'd treat you and we are! You are not paying a dime girl!"

"At least let me-"

"Nope!" the scroll buzzed again. "Get going girl! You'll be late!" Ruby danced in her boots for a second before leaning in and giving them each a grateful hug.

"Thank you! I love you guys… oh! If you come to the booth I'm working, I can hook you up with some things, ok!" she offered a smile before running out the door.

"Hey, sis! Sorry about the last second text. I thought I would be able to, but the study session doesn't have any other time. Dad's working late, and I can't take it to him. Will you take him this? His dinner, I snagged some extra food at the cafeteria today. He'll have to heat it up a bit, but yeah. Here you go. Love ya sis! I gotta get to the class." Yang kissed her baby sister's head and have her a tight, brief squeeze before jogging into the academy.

Dad's work is downtown, sooo… bus 25 which will be here… in 10 minutes. With paper sack in hand, she began her stroll to the appropriate bus stop. She has plenty of time, in fact, she can see the station from where she is. A two minute walk tops. Two minute walk, eight minute wait, thirty minute drive, two minute departure, nine minute walk to his office, four minute chat, nine minute walk out, and a twenty-two minute wait for the next bus. Just a bit over an hour in total. Then there's the drive back and by then it will be-

She stopped at the sound of breaking. The bus had pulled up while she was going through her calculations. Boarding, she dropped the thirty cent lien travel fee and took a seat at the front most, available seat.

By then it will be too late to play any amount of time worthwhile. Pulling out her scroll and opening her social media app she uses to make announcements under her screen name, she let all her followers know vaguely about the circumstances and mostly that she won't be streaming tonight.

A few immediate reactions spawned; understanding statements and encouragement in the comments section.

A small smile tipped her lips as she read those comments before shutting her scroll up and putting it back in her pocket.

With a slight sigh, she got comfortable in her seat as the bus took off.

She really needed to get to bed. The eighth is tomorrow. Seven hours on her feet without any rest.

Flopping down on her bed, she stared at the darkness for a moment, her mind just idle. With a deep breath, she rolled over and pulled her covers up.

It felt like she had just pulled the covers over herself when the alarm made its horrendous sound. The sound all dread. If it were a character in one of her games, no doubt she would go out of her way to kill it again, and again, and again.

Rolling over and sleepily hitting the off button, she filled her lungs with some morning air and sat up. Rubbing away sleep and standing up, she went about getting ready. She has to be at the plaza in two hours. Thirty minutes to get ready, twenty minutes to-

Clearing her head, she cleared her anxiety with a fresh breath and clean shirt.

She has this… problem. Ever since her mom died, she sees time so particularly. As though she regrets not spending more of it with Summer. Now, it's not like she was distant or anything. They were probably closer than most mother and daughter relationships, but it's as though… it's like… she wishes she had spent more time with her mother to fill all this time she has without her. She knows it's impossible but she can't help it and she just-

Toothpaste was all over the sink, she had clenched her fists so tightly that it just splattered all over the porcelain bowl. Closing her eyes and taking a steady breath, she swiped some up on her toothbrush and scrubbed her teeth while cleaning the mess. Maybe she should just go back to bed, things seem like they're going to be messy today.