Ozpin, Headmaster of Beacon Academy, was just sitting down at his desk to settle in for the day's work when Glynda Goodwitch, his personal confidant, barged into the room, that perpetual look of annoyance the same as every other day. He smiled at her gently as she approached, but otherwise forewent the usual pleasantries. Instead, he got down to business as he opened up his scroll, scanning the various pieces of paperwork that required his attention.

"Glynda. I suppose you have a report for me?"

"I do, Ozpin. Regarding your newest pet project."

The professor tapped the screen of her scroll a few times, causing Ozpin's to display the written report while Glynda began to go through it verbally, not bothering to hide her distaste.

"Asher Mercury is, to put it simply, far below standards. About the only class he does reasonably well is History, and that is simply because large parts of it simply require you pay attention. As for his other classes, he either lacks the interest or the ability to perform well. Dust Theory remains the only class so far I have seen the boy actively attempt to participate in, if only so that he can learn how to handle dust properly, although I doubt it's for good reasons. To oppose this, he is openly ignoring Professor Port in Grimm Studies, and as such has the lowest grade in the class. As for combat... I can only say that the potential is there. Despite his aura having lain dormant since his time at Signal, I allowed him to participate in weaponless sparring matches. Even after I reawakened his aura, he basic combat skills have suffered from neglect, and even when he does somehow gain an advantage, his lack of training and experience against skilled opponents results in his loss regardless. All in all, I feel like he isn't anywhere near ready to be a student here at Beacon."

Glynda finished her report simply, eyes boring into the man with her desire for him to agree and send the boy back to where he'd come from. Ozpin, however, skillfully ignored the woman, instead sipping from his coffee as he tapped the report away for later review and instead opened another file, glancing at it briefly before addressing Glynda again.

"And the additions to the curriculum?"

"... They are in place, and we can begin during todays classes. I still don't think allowing the students to study the criminal mindset is the best idea though. Particularly with a criminal present."

"Sometimes, Professor Goodwitch, the best methods are the most unorthodox."

"Sometimes, Professor Ozpin, I think you do things to just to annoy me."

For the past two weeks, Weiss Schnee, heiress to the most productive dust company in the world and one of the best students among the first years(if she did say so herself), had been driven to the limits of her patience. It started the Tuesday of the week before, a normal start despite the announcement the day before that the criminal who had robbed the Schnee family of a massive payroll of lien would be attending the school as rehabilitation. She'd decided, after venting to her teammates, that she'd just have to deal with it, given as there was likely little she could do. Still, no one said she had to get along with the low-life, and she planned to deal with the man as little as possible. Unfortunately, not even half a day later, her team leader was escorting the criminal to the medical wing, and even worse, she'd come back to the dorms later that same day, missing the rest of classes and their planned study session, just to disappear up into her bed and start scratching away at papers. When asked, quite politely, where she'd been, the red-cloaked girl simply stuttered something about a new weapon design she'd thought up, then promptly shut her mouth and refused to speak anymore on the subject. Unfortunately, Weiss didn't need much to put two and two together, but Weiss decided to ignore the issue. Maybe Ruby would snap out of it before too long.

The next day it had been easy to ignore that during the one class they shared with the criminal, Ruby had sat next to the man. The day after that, Weiss' eyebrow began to twitch when Ruby happily teamed up with the same man for a project they'd received in Dust Theories, something that Weiss couldn't have been more appropriate for. Her patience was tested even further by the rumors that began to float around on Friday, Ruby Rose and her new "friend" at the center of them. Over the weekend, the girl was gone from the dorms before anyone else, unusual to say the least. When Weiss went looking, the team leader could be found pouring over engineering manuals or sketching things out in a notebook, which quickly grew to three before the weekend was over. When Weiss finally managed to catch the girl as the weekend ended, Ruby had deflected the issue by saying she was "getting a lot of inspiration". Yang teasingly stated that she must be abandoning Crescent Rose, but the resulting chaos that ensued in the room, caused by the two sisters' playful combat, forced Weiss to drop the issue yet again. It only aggravated her further when the same kinds of things happened the rest of the next week, until they reached today, Friday, and Weiss could no longer stand watching her partner, HER partner, cavorting around with the kind of criminal scum that shouldn't receive anything more than a pitying glance, at best. Which is why, now at lunchtime, the proud woman retrieved her lunch, then stalked over to the table the criminal had long since claimed as his own, slamming her tray down with enough force to rattle the frame. Asher raised an eyebrow in question, fork halfway to his mouth, before he set the utensil down and gave her his attention.

"Can I help you?"

"I have to talk to you! About Ruby!"

"Oh... Uh, ok?"

Weiss sat down, carefully rearranging the disheveled plates of food placed in front of her before folding her hands over her lap and taking a breath. She needed to be the better of the two, she was born and raised among the elite, there was no reason she should have to stoop to his level. She would show him poise and grace, warn him away from Ruby, and put everything right. Her leader did not need to be misled by men of his caliber, and she wouldn't stand for it. Not anymore. And once this was done, Ruby could return to her studies, become the best leader and huntress she could be. Everything would be properly back to the way it used to.

"I don't think it is acceptable for Ruby to be spending any time with you. It is taking away from her studies, and is she's already beginning to fall behind thanks to your need for a new weapon."

"I agree."

"I don't care what you have to- What?"

Weiss' surprise was practically tangible, her eyes widening for a second before sharpening into razor-thin slits as she studied Asher in suspicion. He couldn't possibly have agreed with her. She must have hallucinated. Something she ate, perhaps. She'd come here expecting to have to fight for her partner tooth and claw, but he was agreeing with her, and it was destroying her planned, and she hesitated to call it such, lecture. Asher didn't look the least bit surprised by her reaction, answering the question while he continued eating his food.

"I said I...this is pretty good... agree with you. She needs to focus on her studies more."

"Wha- I- What?"

"You ok?"

"You- You're not supposed to agree with me!"

Weiss was unsure how to continue the conversation, at a loss now that the person she'd thought would argue with her hadn't. Her mind worked overtime, trying to establish something else, anything else, to save face in some way and stop her own stuttering. Nothing came to her mind, and she could already feel herself losing her composure. Thankfully, Asher picked up the slack, continuing on as if he hadn't noticed her uncertainty.

"Why wouldn't I agree with the truth? She spends way too much time on designs for weapons, and not enough on what's important. She doesn't ever stop, either. I swear, every five minutes it's-"

"Asher! I've got the best idea EVER!"

"That."

Ruby Rose bounded up to the table with a look of utter confidence, clearly proud of whatever she'd thought up. Her enthusiasm disappeared in an instant, however, when her eyes locked onto her white-haired partner, and the glare that accompanied her. Ruby shrank away from the judgmental look before sliding onto the bench next to Asher, offering Wiess a guilty grin.

"Uh, hey, Weiss. Enjoying your lunch?"

"No, thank you, I've been trying to get you back on track with your studies."

"I know! I know! I promise as soon as I'm done helping Asher, I'll go full speed ahead on studying. I just need some more time to help him out. He's hopeless when it comes to engineering."

"Ruby, I'll be fine on my own. I don't think I'll make any masterpieces, but..."

"You shouldn't settle for anything but the best! She's gonna be your partner after all!"

"I still don't get where you're getting this 'she' from. A weapon is a weapon, right?"

"Finally! Someone who agrees that her ridiculous obsession with her weapon is odd! Even if he is a criminal!"

"You to, huh?"

"Of course! While it is true Myrtenaster is an fine weapon, it is still just that, my weapon. Not some person capable of thought. And on top of that-"

Weiss suddenly realized who she was talking to, and threw up her hands in disgust, even as Asher hid a grin. Unbeknownst to the two girls with him, when he'd learned that the white-haired girl with the scar on her face was Wiess SCHNEE, he'd thought his life was over. He'd quickly discovered, thanks to talks with Ruby, that the woman who now sat in front of him was a lot of bark, but not so much bite. At least, not without reason. As such, he found himself at the very least indifferent to the heiress and her seeming hatred of him. In the end, her opinion didn't much matter, and if all she was going to do was yell at him and give him nasty looks, he'd gotten plenty of that already at the hands of the police. Still, he let the matter drop and turned his attention back to Ruby.

"But honestly, as much as I appreciate your help, Ruby, I think seven notebooks full of designs is overdoing it a bit."

"You think?"

"SEVEN NOTE-"

"What's going on over here?"

Asher dropped his head slightly, cringing at the sound of a rather unwelcome voice breaking in. Unlike Weiss, he'd learned early and often that Ruby's sibling was more on the bite side of things. Every chance the blonde brawler got she stepped into the ring with him, and with his aura now active again, she usually got a few good, solid, painful hits in before he was down for the count. He'd also learned that she didn't think much of him, believing him to be a murderer just as much as Weiss did, even if the more proper girl wouldn't actually come out and say it to his face. Yang, however, had no such fear, and spoke with her fists instead of her mouth. The only reason he was sure he hadn't been jumped in the corridor yet was Ruby likely stepping in and forbidding it. Or maybe the teacher's had talked her down. Regardless, Asher did his best to avoid dealing with the volatile blonde. Behind her, silent and mysterious as ever, was Blake Belladonna, eyes briefly taking in the scene in front of her before setting her food down and dipping her head into an already open book.

"I'm attempting to convince our leader that spending so much time around that isn't good for her." Weiss accented her point by sticking her finger in Asher's direction, which caused the man's eyes to narrow slightly.

"I'm just helping him a little! Besides, no one ever asked you to come bother him about it!"

"But he agrees with me!"

"But he still hasn't picked a design yet!"

"Ruby, most of your designs are completely beyond my skill level. One of them is basically just a copy of your's, only painted gray, and that is a little too much to ask of me."

"AW! But it would be so cool to have another scythe wielder here at the school."

"Sis, with the way he fights, I'm pretty sure he'd cut his own head off before learning to use the thing."

"Well gee, thanks for the vote of confidence."

"Anytime." Yang's gave that smile that Asher hated, the one that promised pain, and he shied away again, mumbling something incoherent under his breath.

"What about the drill? That one was pretty easy!" Ruby continued on, oblivious to the exchange between her sister and her friend.

"It shoots lightning, Ruby. Lightning! I don't know about you, but I don't want anything that shoots lightening anywhere near me. Where'd you even get the idea for that?"

"Wow sis. I didn't think you were taking me seriously."

"Of course it would be her."

The three students continued their back and forth as Weiss stared at them all in disbelief. Ruby was literally churning out ideas, each just as ludicrous as the next, while Asher turned each one down in turn, citing this reason or that, and Yang poked fun at the both of them. Weiss' temper quickly started to grow, however, as she realized that her conversation had essentially been hijacked and taken in exactly the direction she didn't want it to go. Her anger continued to mount as they seemed to completely ignore her, and minutes later she reached her boiling point, standing up and slamming her hands down onto the table.

"WHY NOT JUST GIVE HIM A STICK AND BE DONE WITH IT ALL!"

Silence followed, the entire cafeteria waiting breathlessly for whatever was going to follow. Ruby nearly fell out of her seat at the outburst, Blake seemed to merely flinch slightly, Yang raised her eyebrows in wonder, and Asher seemed taken aback, before he frowned in thought. For the next minute, Weiss' heavy breathing was the only sound heard, and then Asher's frown slowly grew into a grin. Weiss braced herself, ready for some scathing remark or blatant insult, and just as ready to insult him right back.

"That's not actually a bad idea."

Her anger dissipated instantly, even as the rest of her team all turned to look at the criminal. Yang was just as shocked as Weiss, mouth moving without a sound. Blake actually pulled her book down, curious about what he'd meant and not quite as quick to jump to conclusions as the rest. Ruby seemed the most distraught, clearly in some sort of engineering version of a seizure. She stuttered something unintelligible, before getting a hold of herself and grabbing the poor man, shaking him violently in protest to the creation of a simple 'stick'.

"NO! You can't just use a stick! How lame is that? YOU. NEED. A. PROPER. WEAPON!"

"R-r-r-u-u-u-b-b-b-y-y-y! C-c-c-a-a-a-l-l-l-m-m-m d-d-d-o-o-o-w-w-w-n-n-n!"

Asher eventually managed to get the girl off of him, and he straightened out his uniform before continuing, pointing his fork into the red-cloaked girl's face. Ruby went cross eyed as her eyes tried to focus on the utensil, hands swatting at it to get it out of her face.

"Let me explain before you go all crazy on me next time. First off, I'm not actually thinking off a stick. I was actually think more of a straight-stick."

"I hate to break it to you, but I don't think a straight stick is going to be any better than a crooked stick." Yang cut in, getting over her shock quickly, if only so that she could point out what she saw as an obvious flaw in his thought process. However, Blake jumped in after her, clearly understanding the man's intentions better than her fellows. It helped she'd had experience with the particular weapon she believed he was referring to.

"It's a police baton. Or a form of one. I've seen them used, and it seems like an easy weapon to wield. Much easier than a more complex design." Blake chose to keep it to herself that police batons were usually non-lethal weapons, designed more for crowd control and suppression than killing, making them an unusual choice for fighting Grimm.

"Hey! Don't diss my designs!"

"I'm not, Ruby. I just don't think anyone could handle some of your designs. You are rather... imaginative."

Ruby humphed in disappointment, arms crossing in front of her chest. Then, as if struck by a bolt of inspiration, the girl's eyes lit up and another notebook suddenly found its way into her hands. She was barely opening the pages before the buzz of a scroll was heard, and Asher extracted the device from a pocket as he put the last of his food in his mouth. His eyes scanned the message sent to him before he snapped it closed and stood, picking up his now empty tray in one hand as he did so. The other ruffled Ruby's hair, and Yang's eyes flashed red in anger. No one was allowed to do that but her! That was a sibling thing only! Oh, he was going to get it next sparring match. Ruby, however, didn't seem to mind at all, flashing a grin up at the man.

"Where you going, Asher?"

"I'm sure you'll found out in a a little bit. See ya, friend and three people who hate me."

"They don't hate you!" Ruby shouted after her departing friend, who only offered a half-hearted salute in response, before turning to her teammates with an inquisitive look. "You don't hate him, do you?"

"I don't hate him, Ruby. I loathe him."

"Uh... well..."

"I have no opinion one way or the other."

"Aw, come on, guys. He's pretty cool once you get to know him! I even found out he went to Signal at the same time as Yang!"

"Really? I don't remember anyone like him around..."

Yang dropped into thought, eyes closed as she tried searching her memories for anything about the man. Nothing seemed to come to mind, but she still had her Signal Academy yearbooks... somewhere. Maybe she'd see if her father couldn't find the guy inside them. It couldn't hurt. But the sudden revelation did throw the blonde brawler into confusion. If he had been at Signal, and probably doing at least decently, given he had his aura active during the second or third year, then what would drive him to just up and quit like that? And all to start robbing banks? There had to be a story, and while Ruby could be somewhat naïve, Yang had to admit she had a knack for sniffing out good stories.

"Say... Ruby?"

"Yeah, Sis?"

"You wouldn't happen to know why he suddenly quit Signal, would you?"

"Nope. He just said it was for personal reasons. I didn't think it was right to pry at the time, and it hasn't really come up since."

"What now, Ruby? You think that criminal trash has some pure motive for his criminal ways? Please, there's never an excuse good enough for murder."

"Don't say that! Sometimes, the worst methods are the only ones that will work..."

Blake's response to Weiss led the team into silence, each trying to work through their own thoughts. The questions brought up didn't sit well with Weiss, as if it did turn out to be true that he had some real motive for his deeds, it would throw her tidy conclusions into disarray. Blake was now only pretending to read her book, mind miles away remembering things she sometimes wish she'd never done, but still uncertain as to what similarities, if any, existed between her and the gray-haired man. And Yang, so used to clear cut methods and charging ahead, could barely begin to wrap her head around all the questions getting thrown at her. She needed to figure this out, or it was going to drive her nuts. Ruby, on the other hand, was already hard at work designing a new weapon. A straight-stick, huh? What did those look like? Maybe she could ask Blake about it later. It was the first time Asher had actually offered an opinion other than rejection, and she wanted to see if she could include it in a design. Maybe it would be more awesome than she originally thought. The silence was broken, however, as every scroll in the cafeteria, and the rest of the school, buzzed with a message. Everyone pulled out the mobile devices and popped it open to find a short invitation to something most would ignore.

To all students:

Report to the training arena for a special class on criminal methods immediately after lunch, if interested. If not, report to your preassigned classes. -Professor Goodwitch

Ruby's following grin after reading the message was noticed by all her teammates, but before she could even open her mouth, Weiss was already jumping the gun with her refusal. No Schnee would be found studying criminal methods from a convicted felon, not before, not now, not ever! She absolutely refused!

"No."

"Wha- Aw, Weiss, come on!"

"I said no, Ruby, and I mean no! We need to focus on our main studies, not some... some... look into the criminal mind!"

"I don't know... much as I hate to admit it, it does seem kinda fun."

"Yang?"

"It couldn't hurt to take a look."

"Blake? Am I the only reasonable person here?"

"Aw, come on, Princess. You don't have to come if you don't want to."

"It's not a matter of wanting to or not. Learning to be... criminals... is not something that any self respecting person should want to do!"

"But it's just learning how they do it! Come on, Weiss! Please?"

Ruby threatened to pull out the puppy eyes, but Weiss steadfastly refused to budge. Admitting defeat, Ruby said goodbye to her partner, while Yang waved to the heiress as the leader led the march away, Blake trailing behind the pair. Weiss steadfastly refused to move from her spot, arms crossing in defiance, even as she watched the rest of her team disappear out the door. A moment passed, then Weiss let out a small shriek of fury before gathering up her uneaten lunch and dashing off after friends. She'd promised to be the best teammate ever, hadn't she? And what best teammate would simply leave her team because of one little class? Not her! But she promised herself that she would refuse to take it seriously. It was not mandatory for her education, so she would waste as little time on it at all as possible. Besides, what could it hurt to humor Ruby just this once? Surely she'd see reason after watching her newest friend being the low-life he was. Right?

Right?