Picking up right back where we left off last time! Before we start, however, a special thank you to Roseflare, pikaree1 and DaPokemonMadster for reviewing last chapter!
Disclaimer: I do not own RWBY or anything related to the franchise.
After leaving Blake and her sister, Ruby had rushed off in a sprint towards the hospital. With her sights set on where she was running to, the brunette did not do a very good job at keeping a good eye on her surroundings…
"Oof!" Ruby breathed out as she fell flat on the ground, "What was that…?"
"Hey Ruby," a familiar yet pained voice greeted from beside Ruby. At recognizing the voice, Ruby's eyes widened, "Are you alright?"
"Jaune! I'm so sorry!" Ruby quickly got back on her feet before extending a helping hand to Jaune; a helping hand that the boy gladly accepted, "What are you doing out here?"
"I have to meet with my new boss… he is supposed to be working around here somewhere…" Jaune murmured, trailing off as he looked around him in slight confusion. Seeing this, the brunette's expression changed almost instantly.
"You're lost, aren't you?" Ruby deadpanned in response, stifling a giggle as she saw Jaune flinch.
"No! How could you think I— yes… I am…" Jaune finally admitted after seeing the look on Ruby's face. Trying to avoid the lecture that he knew was coming, the sweating boy raked his brain frantically for a change of subject, "What about you? How have you been? It's been so long!"
"It sure has!" Ruby smiled, reminiscing her prized memories before realizing that she was wasting time, "I love to stay and chat, Jaune, but I'm in a hurry. I'll catch you around another time, alright? Bye!"
And with that, Ruby ran off again in the direction of the hospital before Jaune could even move.
"That Ruby… she never changes…" Jaune smiled as he watched his friend run. The smile changed into a look of worry and concern as Jaune resumed walking himself, "Now where is it…?"
"Hi Neo! It's me, Ruby!" Ruby called in front of the hospital room, knocking rapidly in an effort to be heard. Much to her pleasure, the door clicked open and Ruby walked in, "Hi!"
"Back again?" Neo signed with an unamused expression on her face the moment that Ruby walked in, "You were only here yesterday, remember?"
"So I'm not allowed to visit you everyday?" Ruby pouted, playing along with Neo as she slowly shuffled away from the mute girl, "If that's the case I'll be on my way again and—"
"You know that wasn't what I meant, Ruby!" Neo interrupted her friend, both frantically and with a hint of displeasure in her gestures. With a look on her face that hinted at embarrassment, the mute added, "It's just that I'm not used to having you visit everyday… It's nice."
"Well, you better get used to it because I will be visiting you everyday from now on!" Ruby beamed, closing the door behind her and plopping on the chair beside Neo's bed, "So… any news on your condition?"
"You know it has only been one day right?" Neo deadpanned before quickly adding after seeing the look on Ruby's face, "Nothing new… I suppose that's to be expected, after all…"
"It couldn't hurt to ask," Ruby shrugged, and Neo had to admit that she had a point, silently adding that she wished that the doctors had some good news to bring herself, "Don't worry! It's you we're talking about, here! I'm sure that you're going to be fine!"
"Thanks for the word of confidence, Ruby," Neo couldn't help but smile at Ruby's words, glad to hear words of support from someone else, "But enough about me, have you done any interesting things lately?"
"You mean as in the last twenty-four hours since I last visited you?" Ruby laughed, her response earning a firm and painful jab in the side as Neo clearly did not appreciate that comment. Wincing, Ruby rubbed her now sore side as Neo's expression hadn't changed in the slightest, "Owww… careful there, Neo, or you may very well be the one who has to visit me in the hospital soon."
"You earned that one…" Neo huffed, turning away stubbornly.
"Aw, come on Neo… Don't be like that," Ruby tried to get Neo to act normally again but, as she soon found out, her efforts proved to be fruitless, "To answer your question, not a lot. I spend the morning with Yang and Blake and ran into Jaune on my way here."
"I really appreciate that you're going out of your way to come visit me everyday," Neo began, being forced to turn back around in order for Ruby to read her hands correctly, "But you shouldn't forget about yourself, either."
"I'm not! I'm really doing stuff for myself, too!" Ruby exclaimed hastily, knowing where Neo was going with this. When Neo arched an eyebrow in disbelief, Ruby frantically added, "I know that look of yours, Neo, and I really am making sure I take care of myself!"
"Really?" Neo asked, still in slight disbelief, but Ruby nodded her head, "Then where have you been accepted? I don't think you have told me yet."
"That's because I haven't looked yet…" Ruby admitted sadly, "I'm taking another year off… it's—"
"I know, Ruby… I know…" Neo forced a smile as she quickly put a stop to Ruby's sentence, knowing better than anybody, anybody except for Ruby, how hard it was for Ruby. With a small sigh, Neo carefully asked, "It still… controls you…?"
"I wouldn't say that it 'controls' me, though," Ruby breathed out, resting her head on the backrest of the seat for a while before continuing, "But I would be lying if I said that it doesn't still affect me."
"That's good," Neo responded with a small smile. Before Ruby could respond to this herself, however, Neo continued, "Don't get me wrong, what happened was clearly a bad thing and I won't be signing otherwise. It's just that it is a good thing that it affects you; it shows how important it was and just how much you care. I am sure that you'll end up growing more from this in the future."
"Thanks Neo," Ruby smiled, something that was returned by the shorter girl, "Oh! I almost forgot! Yang and Blake brought me to this great pastry shop earlier! I think it was called… wait… Pasticagni Manicerri…?"
Hearing this, the bedridden woman was visibly trying her best to keep a straight face, much to Ruby's confusion and slight irritation. Neo, not knowing how to sign what she wanted to sign, searched her bed for her phone before typing quickly. Once satisfied, she showed the screen to Ruby.
"Pasticceria Manicagni?"
"Yes! That's the one! The food was soooo good! I should take you there sometime!" Ruby broke off, reminded of how good it was until she remembered something, "Hold on… how did you know?"
"I may or may not have been the one who told Yang and Blake about it," Neo smirked, showing the chat between Yang and herself to Ruby. Seeing the change in Ruby's face was all it took for Neo to tremble with silent laughter once again, needing several minutes to calm down her breathing, "My regular nurse was absent a while back, and the substitute brought some samples from that place with her when doing the usual checkup. Best pastries ever!"
"I know!" Ruby agreed quickly with a smile, "They were—"
Unfortunately for Neo, she would never find out what word Ruby would use to describe Pasticceria Manicagni's pastries as a knock on the door caught both of the girls' attention.
"Miss Neopolitan? I am here for your daily checkup," a nurse, one that Ruby did not recognize, said as she walked inside the room. Ruby was not the only one who didn't recognize another in the room as the nurse, once her eyes landed on Ruby, added, "It looks like you have a visitor. It is nice to see that you have caring friends, Miss Neopolitan."
"It sure does. This is Ruby, by the way; we've been friends for years," Neo signed, introducing Ruby to the nurse before turning to Ruby, "Ruby, meet the nurse I told you about earlier: Camellia."
"So you told Neo of that Manicagni Pasticceria—?" Ruby began, turning to Camellia with a smile before a harsh kick to her legs made her look at Neo's phone again. Chuckling sheepishly, and making a mental note to get back to Neo for that surprisingly painful kick someday, Ruby continued, "Sorry, 'Pasticceria Manicagni' is a hard name."
"No worries," Camellia smiled as she walked to Neo's side, "Please hold on for a little while so I can check up on Miss Neopolitan."
"Oh no, that's alright. It's getting late anyway," Ruby replied, grabbing her stuff before turning to Neo, "Bye Neo, I'll see you tomorrow!"
And with that said, Ruby hightailed out of the room without a second thought, leaving Neo quietly sitting on her covers with a dazzled nurse.
"She did not have to leave you, the checkup should only take up a few minutes…" Camellia managed to say after a few seconds, quickly trying to regain herself so as to remain professional but keeping an eye on Neo's hands all the same, "Even then, she did not need to leave the room at all."
"That's just how she is… I asked her once not to be here when I got a checkup and she hasn't been with me for even a single one," Neo shrugged, smiling softly at her friend's behavior but thankful that she had remembered, "She's amazing, and I'm really glad that she makes such an effort to see me all the time…"
"She really does seem amazing," Camellia smiled as she began the checkup, "So… have you told her yet?"
"… How can I tell her…?" Neo asked hesitantly, wanting to look away but knowing that she couldn't, "It's not something I can just tell her at anytime… I've been meaning to find the right time to tell her, but…"
"You still have not?" Camellia guessed after Neo choked. Receiving the nod of confirmation, Camellia fell silent for a while as well, not knowing what to say to cheer Neo up. After a few minutes, Camellia spoke again, "I think that there is no right or wrong time to tell her, you just have to find the courage. She deserves to know. And you better do it soon."
Sighing, Neo turned to look out of the window to see the setting sun bathing the trees in a warm orange hue.
'I know…'
After leaving Neo's room, Ruby made her way to the elevator to go back home, humming a certain tune quietly yet cheerfully all the way. After pressing the button, she felt the familiar vibration of her phone in her pocket before taking it out and holding it by her ear.
"Yes Yang?" Ruby asked into the phone as she stepped into the elevator. Making sure to press the right button, the brunette moved her phone to her other hand before speaking again, "Don't worry, I'm on my way home now."
"That's not why I called," Yang replied, other voices could be heard from her end but Ruby could not pick up what they were saying or who her sister was currently with, "We're a bit short on a few things, so could you stop by the store to pick up some things?"
"Sure, but what do I need to get?" Ruby wondered out loud, being able to recall a few things that they had run out of but not remembering the entire list.
"Hold on, I'll send you the list," Yang responded as Ruby could hear footsteps, the brunette assuming that and imagining Yang walking around their house, "Love you Rubes!"
"Love you too Yang," Ruby smiled before ending the call, stepping out of the elevator as her phone vibrated again. Taking a quick glance at the screen, she found the list of items that she needed to get and found herself smiling, "Well, can't let Yang down!"
With something new to motivate her to act, Ruby dashed out of the hospital's front doors with a cheer…
Before finding herself down on the ground once again.
"Ow… I really need to start looking where I go…" Ruby whined from her spot on the ground, rubbing the sore spots on her legs and back.
"You should be careful where you going," a male voice that Ruby did not recognize spoke from in front of her, causing the brunette to look up. What she saw was the last thing that she had expected.
The man, evidently in his fifties and maybe even older, was almost completely dressed in white, from his hair to his mustache to his jacket; even his shoes were white. The man would have been near elegant had it not been for the scowl on his face, and Ruby had a decent guess as to why that scowl was even there to begin with.
Right when Ruby wanted to apologize, another voice, one she did recognize, could be heard behind the man.
"Father, what is wrong?"
Ruby suppressed a gasp as Weiss Schnee stepped from behind the man, wearing the same clothes that she had when Ruby first met her. Weiss' eyes were first on her father before slowly gravitating towards Ruby. After a few silent yet tense seconds where neither Weiss nor Ruby broke eye contact, the snow haired woman's eyes widened slightly in recognition.
"Father… may I please have a moment?" Weiss asked in a surprisingly soft tone, her eyes never leaving Ruby's as the brunette gulped nervously.
"Make it quick," the man Ruby now knew was Weiss' father grunted.
After receiving permission, Weiss swiftly grabbed Ruby by the wrist and, with more force than Ruby thought possible, dragged her into the hospital. As Weiss looked around for a quiet place to sit, her eyes landed on the deserted café.
Without wasting another second, Weiss brought Ruby to the café, pushing the brunette on a seat before taking a seat for herself.
"W-Weiss?" Ruby stammered, looking at the white haired woman sitting opposite to her. Before she could utter another word, however, Weiss turned to her with a glare.
"What were you thinking?!" Weiss hissed, causing Ruby to shrink away from the angry woman.
"I-It was an accident, I didn't mean to crash into your father," Ruby tried, but she had a feeling that nothing she said would save her.
"Guess it can't be helped…" apparently, Ruby's thoughts were wrong as Weiss almost instantly calmed down after having taken a deep breath, "You really should be looking where you're going you know."
"I know…" Ruby whined, dropping her head on the table before jolting back up, "I'm really sorr—"
"You know as well as I do, if not more so, that I'm not the person you have to be saying that to," Weiss sighed as she interrupted the younger woman, "Look… my father may be strict, but he won't bite your head off. The least you could do is apologize for literally running into him."
"Alright…" Ruby forced a half smile, knowing that Weiss was right but unable to not feel intimidated in her father's presence.
With a small smile of her own, Weiss stood up and made her way back outside. Ruby, knowing that she had little choice, and not feeling like she could leave the hospital without getting noticed, was soon to follow her white haired friend.
"My apologies for taking so long, father," Weiss bowed her head slightly as she got within earshot of her father, "My friend here, Ruby, wants to say something."
"I'm sorry!" Ruby blurted, bowing deeply as Weiss' father raised an eyebrow in shock, "I was in a hurry and I didn't see where I was going and I crashed into you as a result and I'm really really sorry!"
"It is all right," Weiss' father responded and, when Ruby stood back up, the brunette could see hints of a smile on his face. Before she could fully process this, however, Weiss' father spoke again, "I do want to ask you something: Weiss said that your name was Ruby. Are you, by any chance, Ruby Rose?"
"Yes, I am," Ruby answered, unsure as to how or why he knew her name. She figured that Weiss could have talked about her with him, but why would she? They've only been officially introduced earlier that day, and even then Ruby doubted that Weiss would have enough time to talk about her. With a nervous gulp, Ruby turned to Weiss' father once again, "How do you know about me?"
"The real question is why you are asking me that," Weiss' father responded, amusement evident in his voice as he took out a tablet from his jacket's inner pocket, "Ruby Rose… graduated from Patch Senior High after only turning seventeen in her final year; top of her year… graduated from the University of Vale studying the four year medicines program in only three years; top of her year… I do not normally look into random people's performances and pasts, but when it comes to a prodigy like yourself, Miss Rose, I do not think you can blame me for being interested."
"Thank you… I guess I just like to learn," Ruby mumbled, not knowing how to properly respond to his words. Yes, his words spoke the truth, and she couldn't deny them to stay humble even if she wanted to, but it somehow felt much more like a compliment coming from Weiss' father's mouth than she had expected.
"I suppose you do," Weiss' father smiled before storing his tablet away again, "Considering how fast you were running, I am assuming that you have somewhere you need to be soon. Weiss and I will not hold you here any longer."
"It's alright, it's just a few errands that I need to run," Ruby shrugged, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear, "It was nice talking with you, bu—"
"Weiss, you can accompany Ruby on her errands and meet me in the lobby in an hour," Weiss' father said, interrupting Ruby's sentence and receiving two pair of shocked eyes.
"Father, I—" Weiss tried, but was soon cut off.
"That was not a question, Weiss."
"Yes father…" Weiss gave in with a sigh. Her father, seemingly satisfied, turned around and walked inside, leaving Weiss alone with Ruby outside, "So what are your errands, anyway?"
"Just some grocery shopping," Ruby shrugged as she started to walk in the direction of the store with Weiss by her side, "You know, your father is a lot nicer than I thought he would be."
"I never said that he wasn't," Weiss deadpanned, causing Ruby to chuckle slightly. After a momentary period of silence, Weiss turned to Ruby again, "I didn't know you graduated a year early… twice…"
"What can I say, there are a lot of things you don't know about me," Ruby grinned, glad to know that not every part of her being was known. When Weiss looked at her skeptically, Ruby added, "You looked into me… didn't you…?"
"Not at all," Weiss replied with a dismissive wave as the two women entered the supermarket, "Blake Belladonna is a good friend of mine as well, remember?"
"Riiight…" Ruby took a basket with her and began walking down the aisle, seemingly picking up things in every other shelf as Weiss was content at following the brunette, "What did Blake tell you about me?"
"Nothing bad, I can assure you that much," Weiss responded immediately, her gaze focused on a box of sweets before shrugging and taking it with her, "She has a pretty good opinion of you and your sister. If you don't mind me asking, how long have you known Blake?"
"Seven years… I think…" Ruby answered after a moment to think of the answer, throwing in a few packs of strawberries in the already overfilled shopping basket, "Yang worked part-time at the local library back then, which was when I think when she met Blake."
"Blake sure loves her books alright," Weiss smiled as the two of them reached the cashier and Ruby began unloading, "What about you? What are you doing now that you have a degree in medicines?"
"I actually got it last year," Ruby muttered as she took out the ninth pack of strawberries and gave it to the cashier, "I'm taking another year off. It's a shame that the university already accepted me, but it can't be helped…"
"Why?" Weiss asked, genuinely curious as she made a mental note of Ruby's change in demeanor after saying this, "I know that it is not uncommon for people to take a gap year between degrees, but you withdrew your application after being accepted. Isn't it a shame?"
"It is, but… a lot of things can happen in a year's time…" Ruby mused, her mind bringing up the two people who had moved her to make the choice that she did. Before she knew what was going on, Ruby noticed that Weiss had taken out her wallet and was searching through it, "Weiss, no! This is my stuff; you don't have to—"
"Yes, you're right. I don't," Weiss smirked, standing straight as she eyed Ruby from the corner of her eyes. This act would have been a whole lot more intimidating for Ruby if Weiss was not standing a little shorter than she was. With a genuine smile, Weiss took out her credit card and handed it over to the cashier, "But I want to. I can see why Blake is so fond of you; you've gotten my interest as well. Perhaps a friendship with you could work out after all…"
"Do you really mean that Weiss?" Ruby exclaimed happily, turning to her white haired companion. As Weiss nodded, Ruby tackled her in a hug that almost caused both of them to fall over, "Thank you! I won't let you down, Weiss!"
"I would hope not as I would fall down if you did," Weiss managed, using all of her strength to prevent herself from falling down. As soon as Ruby pulled her back up, Weiss put back her credit card and took several of the bags while Ruby took the remaining ones. Once outside, Weiss turned to Ruby again, "Where are we going?"
"Are you sure that you—" Ruby tried, but fell silent once she saw the look on Weiss' face. Clearing her throat awkwardly, Ruby started walking, "It's this way. May I say again that I really appreciate all of this?"
"Don't worry about it," Weiss huffed, panting slightly as the weight of the bags was quickly taking a toll on her. Fortunately for the snow haired woman, the two reached Ruby's home within ten minutes.
"I wish I could go and help you with bringing it inside…" Weiss trailed off, putting the bags she was carrying on the ground before taking out her phone, "But I have to hurry back or I will keep my father waiting. Say hi to your sister and Blake for me, alright?"
"Nonono, don't worry! You've done more than I could ever ask for! Thank you so much for everything Weiss," Ruby smiled as she picked up all the bags in one fluid motion, "I guess I will see you around, then. Bye!"
And with that, Weiss turned around to make her way back to the hospital, with Ruby standing out there, watching her go, until the former was out of sight.
"That Weiss…" Ruby smiled, chuckling lightly as she turned around, "She's really cool!"
And with that last thought, Ruby Rose entered her house as the sun started to set behind her.
And that's the end of this time's chapter! Hope you enjoyed it!
In accordance with the color naming rule: "camellia" is a type of flowering plant that has white, pink or red flowers.
I know that some people will note this in the future, but I will say it nonetheless: this chapter was published on the eighth of August before RWBY Volume 4 was released (in 2016). As a result, we knew little to nothing about Weiss' father at that point in time and, as he will be playing some kind of role at the very least, his personality has been "chosen". If this doesn't match with his canon personality in volumes four and beyond, please keep this mind.
Take care and until next time!