Jaune paced up and down the library "this is just going to waste time..." he thought. Beacon's library was huge, he could be here for weeks searching for a book on how to reverse Dust "looks like I'm gonna have to resort for help..." he thought.
He paced up to the front desk to see a student sitting there, he looked about the age a junior would look "hello?" Jaune asked, the boy ignored him.
"Ahem!" Jaune cleared his throat, this finally got the boys attention.
"Huh?" He said "oh, sorry" he threw away his tablet and asked Jaune "need something?"
"Where's the librarian?" Jaune asked "shouldn't she be here by now?"
"Well, she's out to archive some books," the boy said "so I'm all that's left, I have to be her "assistant" for dozing off in class. Ooblek says that this ""will make me appreciate hard work and labor more"" but in reality the librarian asks me not to touch jack so I'm stuck here for 6 hours"
"So..." Jaune said "you can't help me?"
"Well lets look at this situation," the boy said "one: I'm not supposed to touch anything unless I want to get in even more trouble, two: I could care less about what you need to find and three: I've got Grand Méchant Loup on the ropes so...if you'll excuse me" as he continued playing his game on his tablet.
An idea than flashed through Jaune's head "well you know..." he said "I'm actually looking into an assignment by Oobleck"
The boy looked up slowly at Jaune "go on..." he said.
"I'm actually researching the history of Dust you see," Jaune said "and in order for me to complete my essay, I have to explain Dust reversal so to do that...I'm gonna need a book"
"And, what's in it for me?" the boy said.
"Oh, did I forget to mention?" Jaune said "I'm mostly doing this for extra credit, but I'm doing pretty alright in the class so I guess I could spare an essay..."
The boy sighed and jumped from his seat "if anyone catches us, the blame is on you and you're the next assistant"
"Fine, deal" Jaune said, he was shocked that this was working, in reality he was failing Oobleck's class pretty hard.
The boy typed into the computer on the front desk "okay..." he said "leeeeet meeeee seeee..." his skimming appeared to be slow.
"You alright?" Jaune asked.
"Yeah man, hold on just give me a second" the boy replied. "Duuuuust...reversal" he said slowly.
"Oh boy..." Jaune thought as he sat down, this was not going to end fastly.
"Y-Yang, Blake! Hold on for a sec guys!" Ruby said. "No no no!" she thought, she looked down to see her combat skirt completely wet "w-what was I doing?" she thought, her last memory was feeling tired, the rest was blank.
She looked behind her to see Weiss still asleep in the bathtub, Ruby took a deep breath and nodded "as long as Weiss is asleep, I think this will be easy"
She quickly opened and shut the door behind her "hey guys!" Ruby smiled at Yang and Blake.
Yang put around ten bags of snacks on her bed as Blake looked at Ruby in confusion "what happened to you?" she asked.
Yang looked at Ruby as well in confusion "did you...dance in the rain or something sis?"
"Oh, well you see...the washing machine broke" Ruby said.
"You mean...the school's washing machine? Just broke?" Blake asked.
"Y-yeah!" Ruby said.
"Then...why didn't you just use the one next to it?" Blake asked.
"O-oh well you see...the whole washing room got shut down" Ruby said "see some bozo left his belt in one of the machines and now they had to close down the laundry room in fear that it would set the dormitory on fire"
"So...how exactly did you clean your clothes?" Yang asked "more importantly...why are you wearing wet clothes? Shouldn't you be wearing something else?"
"U-uh well...you see," Ruby said "I...used the bathtub, it was the closest thing I could think of for washing my skirt, plus I tried using a hair dryer to dry these clothes off but that hasn't given me much results so I've decided to wear these clothes until they fully dry out so I can be ready for next class"
Yang and Blake stared at each other in confusion "okay..." Blake said "so Ruby...where's Weiss?"
"O-oh!" Ruby stuttered "well you see umm...you just miss her, Weiss ate something pretty bad the other day and um...well she's not feeling very well"
"Oh, well maybe we should knock to see if she's okay" Blake said.
"N-n-no!" Ruby barked "you know how she is, if anyone hears that she's got diarrhea she'll freak! You wouldn't want to embarrass Weiss now would you?"
Blake stared at Ruby then stared at the door and looked back at Ruby "considering herself calling me filthy awhile back and telling everyone I'm a Faunus...yeah I think mercy for public embarrassment is out the window"
"H-hold on!" Ruby jumped at Blake.
"What Ruby?" Blake asked.
"Blake...I never thought I'd have to go this far but it seems I have no choice" Ruby said as she took a deep breath "we're having a new dorm rule, no one is allowed to go into the bathroom if someone else is in there! You must always knock before you enter, no matter what!"
"Dorm rule?" Blake said "but...isn't our team a democracy? Don't we have a vote?"
"I'm all for it!" Yang shouted.
"Great..." Blake sighed "fine, fine we'll leave Weiss to her...business"
"Thank you Blake!" Ruby smiled "and please...as a friend don't tell anyone about this"
"What? About Weiss?" Blake said "I guess..." as she rolled her eyes.
"Hey Ruby, did you move my shorts to another drawer?" Yang asked Ruby.
"Yeah, I did" Ruby said "I put them right on the first drawer" Ruby's memory flashed as she remembered the Dust Crystals in there "Yang WAIT!" she screamed.
"Whao sis," Yang said opening the first drawer "what's up with you?"
"I...I actually put your shorts in the laundry" Ruby said.
"Well, let see" Yang said as she dug her hand inside the drawer.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Ruby began to panic in her mind, if she messed with the Dust crystals in the drawer, there could be another mermaid accident!
"Aaaand...ah!" Yang smiled "here they are!"
"NOOOOO-" Ruby screamed.
"You must have been talking about my first pair of shorts," Yang said as she pulled out her shorts "which yeah, I'll admit were dirty so...thanks for washing them for me!"
"OOOooooo..." Ruby finished.
"What was that for Ruby?" Blake asked in confusion.
"Well...I just remembered that I may have mixed my underwear with Yang's shorts" Ruby said.
"Well...you best get that fixed," Blake said "also...Yang"
"Yeah?" she asked.
"You said your first pair of shorts were dirty right?" Blake said "so does that mean you were going to...wear them?"
Yang blushed "oh shoot...you got me"
"That is disgusting!" Blake said "so you've worn dirty clothes in the past?"
"What? In the past?" Yang said "I've been doing it my whole life! I thought none of you would notice"
"...that is kind of gross Yang," Ruby said.
"Aww, come on not you too sis!" Yang sighed "c'mon guys, I work out a lot, I study a lot and I train a lot, the last thing I'd worry about is my clothes!"
Blake grunted as she stomped to the drawer "all in favor of washing our clothes now?" as she raised her hand.
Ruby raised her's as well, this could be a perfect time to get the Dust crystals.
She and Blake both stared at Yang, who smiled shyly as she slowly raised her hand.
"Alright, good!" Ruby said "I'll go get my clothes out first put them in the laundry basket" she grabbed the nearest basket and opened the first drawer, she knew that she had to dig through Yang's possibly filthy clothes in order to feel around for the crystals but it was worth it.
She reached inside and moved Yang's clothes until she saw a faint glow "perfect," she thought as she wrapped the crystals in her pants in order to hide them from Blake and Yang.
She grabbed her clothes in a ball and dropped them carefully in the basket "there's mine," she said.
"Alright," Blake nodded as she looked at Yang "now Yang..."
"I know, I know" Yang sighed "I'm on it" as she grabbed her clothes from the drawer and stuffed them in the basket.
"And now mine," Blake said as she did the same "there we go, see I'm no clean freak like Weiss but I care about how we smell and how we represent ourselves"
"Yeah yeah," Yang rolled her eyes and smiled "has her ice royalty rubbed into my wittle kitty cat?"
Blake blushed "I-I'm only caring for us!"
"Well," Yang said "looks like we're going down to the laundry room, oh yeah that reminds me Ruby, should Weiss know about this?"
"She most likely heard through the door" Blake said.
An idea flashed through Ruby's head "hey, how about you guys go first, that way it'll be easier to wash our clothes, I'll go tell Weiss once she's out of the bathroom"
"Well, it'll be easier to separate them..." Blake said "alright, lets go Yang" as she lifted her laundry basket.
Yang lifted her basked over her shoulder with one arm and opened the door.
"Yang wait," Ruby said.
"Yeah?" Yang said turning over to Ruby.
"Don't leave your clothes wrinkled this time...please" Ruby said.
Yang rolled her eyes, "alright, alright...I swear Weiss's attitude is spreading" she said as she walked out of the room.
Ruby took a deep breath of relief and digged around her laundry basket to find the crystals "c'mon, c'mon" she said before seeing two faint glows.
"Yes!" she said picking them up "but...before I put you anywhere" she looked at the bathroom door and creaked it open.
Ruby looked inside to see Weiss still sleeping, she could swear that her breathing almost sounded like humming.
"Weiss..." Ruby hissed "Weiss!" she received no response,"Deep sleeper huh?" she said. "Hey Weiss, your seashell bra is ready!" Ruby said cheerfully.
Weiss woke up immediately "really?" she smiled "come on, give it here!"
Ruby closed the bathroom door behind her and sighed.
"What?" Weiss said with a disappointed look "Ruby...where's my seashell bra?"
"How else was I going to wake you up?" Ruby smiled.
"YOU!" Weiss yelled "and I was just enjoying my beauty sleep, I swear y-"
"We need to move you and Pyrrha somewhere else..." Ruby interrupted "this bathroom excuse is not going to last much longer"
"Move elsewhere?" Weiss said with excitement "Ruby...will it be the ocean?"
"No! Of course not!" Ruby said "we need to move you and Pyrrha somewhere that'll save us some time until we can solve this issue"
"And where would you put us?" Weiss asked
Ruby thought for a second before an idea flashed in her head "the bathhouse, it's closed when it's not a school day so that should work"
"Hm," Weiss smiled "well it's not the ocean...but its better than staying here, now the real question is how would you get us there?"
"I've...got something in mind" Ruby said "I just need to check with Jaune...also Weiss..."
"Yes?" she asked.
"Have you decided...on what you want...to truly be?" Ruby asked slowly.
"I..." Weiss said "Ruby...the truth is..." she looked at her tail and grunted "Ruby, I just have one request"
"What is it?" she asked.
"If you and Jaune ever find a way to cure this," Weiss said "can you...just let me be a mermaid for one day? that's all that I ask for"
"Weiss...I don't know" Ruby said doubtfully.
"I understand how you feel..." Weiss said "but you have to understand Ruby, this is my childhood dream, I just ask for one day in the ocean"
Ruby paused as she put herself in Weiss's shoe. She imagined if her dad never allowed her to become a Huntress, she imagined begging him for her to go to Signal but him refusing, she imagined begging for one day to hold a weapon and save somebody. She sighed "I'll...see what I can do" she said.
"Thank you Ruby..." Weiss smiled "this really means a lot"
"I'd better call Jaune and tell him about the plan" Ruby thought.
"Hold up for another sec," Ruby said as she stepped out of the bathroom and closed the door, bringing out her phone to dial for Jaune.
"Duuuuuuuuuuust..." the assistant said out loud, Jaune felt as if he was about to lose his patience.
"You've been scanning that computer for almost two hours!" Jaune said with a lost temper "now are you going to help me or no-"
"If you yell than I definitely won't dude" the assistant said.
Jaune sighed "fine...can you at least...speed up this process somehow?"
"Well...actually" the assistant said "we do have a library catalog open to students that you could have looked at yourself...sooooo you really didn't need me"
There was silence in the room, Jaune nodded his head and laughed "Oh...oh ho ho...ho ho ho hohoo oh wow," he said, he slammed his head on the desk, still laughing.
"Well...if we're done here dude...I'mma gonna head back..." the assistant said with a worried look.
"Hohhohehahahahahaha" Jaune laughed uncontrollably, his face still on the desk. He immediately shot strait up and banged on the table "HOW. FUNNY. IS. THAT?" he screamed.
"Yo..." the assistant said "calm down man, this is a library...you gotta be quiet"
Jaune head felt as if it had been set on fire, who knows how much time he's wasted talking to this idiot, more like he was the idiot for not doing the obvious in a state of panic. He looked around the room to see people staring at him oddly, "Fine..." he sighed "its...its fine...I'm good"
"You sure man?" the assistant asked "I mean, I'm sorry I'm not the best but like I said before dude, I didn't choose this job"
"Its...its good" Jaune said shaking his head "just...go please"
"Hey man what gives?" the assistant asked "our deal was I help you and you help me with Oobleck's assignment!"
"The deal was you help me successfully and I would help you with Oobleck's assignment," Jaune stated "and I don't know about you but I've been sitting down here for two hours watching and listening to you skim slowly through that computer with no result, so no I wouldn't call that helping, so no I will not help you with Oobleck's assignment"
The assistant clenched his fist "you..." he pointed at Jaune as he took a pause "I..."
"Yes?" Jaune asked "what is it?"
"N-nothing...I'll...I'll be back playing video games" the assistant said as he moped back.
Jaune sighed as he stood up and stretched "I just hope Ruby can hold out..." he said worryingly. He walked to the nearest computer he could find and searched up keywords such "Dust" and "reversal" eventually he came upon something.
"A beginners guide to Dust..." he read out loud "alright now lets se-" as he checked it's numbers to see if it was in. "zero out of one copies...perfect" he said, not only did he waste two hours listening to an idiot skim through books but he completely wasted his time being in the library in the first place.
"I have to call Ruby," Jaune said "we need to find a wa-" as soon as he said that, his phone began ringing in his pocket. He brought it out to see who was calling, to his surprise it was Ruby.
"What are the odds," he said as answered the phone "hey Ruby, what's up?"
"Jaune," Ruby said "we have a problem"
Jaune sighed and shook his head, "fantastic..." he said.
"What's with that tone?" Ruby asked "please tell me you have some progress on finding the book..."
"I..." Jaune was hesitated to lie but he just couldn't find himself to lie to Ruby again "I wasted around two hours listening to some guy skim through a computer when all this time I could have looked at the library catalog myself..."
"Well?" Ruby grunted "did you at least find the book or not?"
"No..." he said "there's only one copy in the library and it's already taken" he waited for Ruby to start yelling at him through the phone, to his surprise she didn't.
"Well than..." Ruby said "this day just keeps getting better and better...listen Jaune, I need you to come back to our dorm to regroup, I think I have a plan"
"Alright," Jaune nodded "and Ruby...about Pyrrha"
A chill ran down Ruby's spine, if it's really been two hours since she's seen Pyrrha "j-just come to our dorm!" she said in a panic "i-if I'm not there, wait for me!"
"Okay.." Jaune said confused, he than came to a realization to why Ruby seemed worried "Ruby wa-" she hung up before he could finish.
Ruby dashed across to JNPR's dorm door, her whole body shook as she opened the door.
"Try and turn the pick to the right!" Ruby heard a quick and fast voice as she opened the door to see the schools janitor and professor Oobleck by JNPR's bathroom door.
"Ah, Ms. Rose!" Oobleck said "we were just in the middle of fixing this bathroom that appears to be out of order! If you would be so kind to tell Mr. Arc for us, that his bathroom will soon be fixed, we would deeply appreciate it!"