Hey, everyone. Black Fuego here with a new story for Life at Beacon, the first one in a few months and coming in just in time for the one year anniversary for this short story collection. Hard to believe it's been so long since I've started this. I'm glad I started this collection, and I don't plan on abandoning it anytime soon. Enjoy the story, you guys, and have a great day.

Disclaimer: I don't own the RWBY series or any other series that may be mentioned in this story. I did, however, pre-order Pokémon Alpha Sapphire and I can't wait to get it! Shiny Mega Metagross, here I come!

Stressed Perfection

Weiss Schnee, a young woman of seventeen, was considered many things to the people around her: An heiress, a huntress-in-training, a sister, a friend, and even a girlfriend. In Beacon Academy, she is also known as one of the best first year students out there. The perfect student, some may argue. Main reason for that is due to all the training and studying she has done since her youth. Even after getting accepted, she continued to study what she had learned earlier to keep her mind sharp and ensure what she had learned remained fresh. She was even going so far as to tutor others with her knowledge as a way to both help her classmates and review some material herself.

Currently, the young heiress was in a small study session with some of her friends, something she believed that everyone desperately needed. In fact, many people on campus were studying like mad and training fiercely, Weiss especially. The reason for that…?

"For the last time, Ruby, the answer's 'The Battle of Fort Castle'! We've gone through this constantly!"

"Sorry, Weiss! I'll try and remember it in time for Finals!"

"See that you do…"

Finals were approaching, and many were doing their best to try and pass what many believe to be the hardest week of exams in history. No one was taking any chances, so everyone was working hard with either researching or training in order to do well. Some went so far as to ask others to help, and the one many first years went to was Weiss, especially her friends.

"Hey Weissy! What did the Faunus have over that General Loogie guy that made him lose in the Faunus War, again?" Nora questioned.

"It's Lagune, not Loogie! And the answer's night vision, we went over this! For crying out loud, Nora, it's not that hard to figure out! Even Jaune knew the answer to that question, and he's the least academically knowledgeable person we know!" Weiss cried out in frustration.

"Hey! Hurtful!" Jaune shouted, looking away from his Scroll, upset by the accusation.

"I never said it was your fault for that. You told us why you're in this school so unprepared, but can you honestly refute what I just said?" The heiress asked in a knowing tone.

"…No. Still hurts though…" The swordsman grumbled before turning back to his studying with a pout.

"Oh don't be like that, Jaune! I know you have loads of other skills that make up for your lack of common knowledge," Dia grinned while patting her fellow blonde on the back.

"Says the girl who grew up in a forest and went to school on an island," Jaune huffed.

"What does that have to do with anything?" The archer pondered.

"Focus, people, we're getting off track!" Weiss ordered. "Listen, you guys came to me for help, so I suggest you guys either shape up or get out! I got other things I need to do today and I can't waste time babysitting you all!"

"And what exactly are those things, Ice Queen?" Ash asked, looking away from his Scroll with a quirked eyebrow.

"Things such as my own studying, combat training, and tutoring others dolts like you who didn't bother to read the material for Professor Port's class!" Weiss exclaimed.

"Wow…talk about a full plate," Ash muttered, "Well…you can't really blame people for that last part, though. Port may have one of the best mustaches I've ever seen, but his lectures are so long and boring, not to mention they focus on himself. I swear it's like listening to one of Uncle Pompeii's speeches without the overly arrogant tone…"

"Ugh! Again with the mustache?!" The fencer groaned loudly. "First Baltazar, then Aiuto and Cody, now you?! What is it with men and ridiculous mustaches?!"

"Mustaches and beards are one of many goals that Man wishes to achieve, dude. Every man out there wishes to grow the most epic facial hair, and will stop at nothing to obtain it," Ash stated seriously, causing Ruby and Nora to stare at him in awe while Dia chuckled and Weiss simply looked incredulous at the redhead.

"Seriously…?"

"Well he's not wrong. I wouldn't mind having a mustache." Jaune admitted weakly.

"No one asked you!" Weiss shouted, causing Jaune to squeak in fright, before letting off a frustrated sigh and shook her head while placing her hand on it. "Oh forget it. Tutoring's done for this. I have to get going. I have to watch Blake and Levy spar right now and critique them on their styles before going onto my own training. I'll see you all later."

"But Weiss! What if we need more help?" Ruby cried out to her departing partner.

"Look for me after combat practice if I'm available. Until them, you're on your own…" The heiress said before closing the door, causing the others to look at each other oddly.

"Man, that girl is stressed." Nora stated

"She has been helping more people out lately since finals are almost here. Put that on top of her own studying and training, it's no wonder she's like this," Jaune pointed out.

"Heh, I wouldn't surprise if her hair turned even whiter after all this. Stress does speed up that process, after all," Dia joked.

"That's a thing?!" Ruby cried out while grabbing her reddish black hair protectively.

"Huh… Didn't peg you for a hair fanatic like Sunny, Rosie," Ash said in a mildly surprised tone.

"Must be genetic…" Jaune shrugged.

-outside, sparing field, half our later-

"Levy, you need to be fiercer with your attacks! I know you dislike such assaults, but if it's the only way to win, then you have to not hold back so much!" Weiss shouted to her friend, who was sparing with Blake and not doing very well due to the cat kunoichi's evasive prowess.

"I-I'm trying!" Levy cried out while blocking a sword swipe with her knife.

"Then try harder! You're better than this, I know you are, so stop holding back!"

"Weiss, I believe you need to relax a little. Levy's doing her best, so don't put her down, ok?" Pyrrha requested softly while placing a gentle hand on her friend's shoulder.

"I'm not trying to put her down and she is not at her best. Levy's very skilled with her knives and is the best martial artist in our class hands down, especially since she is capable of causing internal damage, but she never goes all out because of how gentle she is! Her opponent will take advantage of her kind nature and exploit it unless she goes all out!" Weiss argued.

"It is her choice whether or not she uses her abilities, Weiss. We can't force her to fight like her life is in danger all the time. It's not right…" Pyrrha said sternly.

"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean we can't refine her skills." Weiss countered before turning to the other side of the field, where Ren and Yang were sparing in hand to hand combat. "Ren, Yang, get over here!"

"What is it?" Yang asked as she and Ren stopped their bout to focus on the stressed out heiress.

"I need you two to fight against Levy! Two on one! Hand to hand only!"

"WHAT?!" Levy squeaked in fright, causing her and Blake to stop their session as well to look at Weiss in surprise.

"Weiss, are you sure that is a good idea? I mean, Levy was just in a middle of sparing against Blake and is surely exhausted." Ren stated.

"Yeah, and I don't feel like losing the feeling in my arms and legs after only a few light jabs and pokes at the moment. And neither does Ren, I'm sure," Yang spoke up while pointing at her sparring partner with her thumb.

"Well tough. She needs to learn to be more aggressive and you two could learn to be more evasive, so it's a win-win in this case." Weiss said evenly while crossing her arms.

"Oh, and I bet you're just gonna stand there and watch while the three of us wail on each other, eh?" Yang grumbled.

"Not at all. I'm going to be doing my own version of this type of fighting." Weiss announced, causing everyone to focus on her in surprise.

"Huh? What do you mean?" Pyrrha asked.

"I mean that I'm not about to subjugate Levy to do something that I myself will not do. Blake, Pyrrha and I will spar as well with our swords, with those two against me. I need the training and battling against a swordswoman with a shield and a dual-wielder is the best training I'll get." Weiss explained.

"I'd like to say that you are completely crazy for putting yourself in this position. Admirable, but crazy," Blake stated.

"It may be crazy, but I'm doing it! Now come on! We're burning daylight!" Weiss ordered.

"This is not going to end well…" Levy whimpered.

"You can say that again…" Ren sighed.

-A few minutes later-

"I hate it when I'm right…" Levy cried, covered in bruises and now sporting a black eye.

"And what's worse is that we can't have you heal us unless you're healed and you can't heal yourself that well…" Ren muttered with both his arms disabled.

"Geh, what was Weiss thinking when she came up with this idea?" A bruised Yang groaned as she tried and failed to move her right leg and arm.

"I don't know, but I bet she's regretting it…" Ren pointed out while turning his head to the other bench, where Blake, Pyrrha and Weiss were sitting at with various scratches and tears on their respective clothes and bodies.

"Ok…maybe this wasn't one of my better ideas," Weiss admitted while cradling her damaged left arm.

"You think…?" Blake questioned in a tired and dry tone, holding a torn ribbon in her hand and her head now sporting a new bow.

"How many of those things do you have?" Pyrrha, the only one looking relatively ok, questioned in wonder.

"A closet full," Blake shrugged before wincing a bit.

"Ok, now that that's done, I'm off to do some studying…" Weiss sighed as she got up, causing everyone to stare at her in shock.

"Studying? In your condition? Weiss, you need rest and healing before anything!" Levy cried out.

"Not to mention you need to eat. All this fighting must've definitely drained your energy and you need food to keep going unless you want to pass out from hunger." Ren spoke up.

"Relax. I'll get some rest after I finish with everything. And I'll get some food when I'm studying, so no need to worry there. Right now all I need is a nice, quiet place to work." Weiss stated.

"But where are you going to find a quiet place? The exchange students are practically coming out of the woodwork now and I'm pretty sure that the library and cafeteria won't be quiet." Pyrrha said in worry.

"Yeah, and the dorms will be pretty loud as well at this time of day, so heading to our room's not an option for you either, I bet," Yang said with her still working arm on her hip.

"Not to worry. I got a perfect place in mind to study, even though I have to go to town to do so," Weiss smiled, causing the others to stare at each other in confusion, before continuing on while holding her rapier up. "Besides, I need to get Myrtenaster fixed up, and there's only one place in this town that I am willing to go for repairs.

-Downtown Vale, Relámpagos Repairs, two hours later-

"Alright now. Finished with that. Now next on the agenda is-"

"Next on the agenda is for you to stop studying for a minute and either eat or take a nap, Querida." Baltazar spoke up, interrupting the woman who was using his personal workshop bench in his father's repair garage in the back of his shop as a study corner. The young ninja was asked by his father to help run the store for the day, which gave him the chance to work on some projects and do a little studying himself, but those plans changed when his girlfriend showed up, battered and bruised, requesting to use his workplace as a place to study quietly. He complied after hearing what happened to her, but insisted that she'd take a break every once in a while to not overwork herself, something that she had yet to do.

"I can't yet, Baltazar. I need to learn about the specifics on-"

"Stop right there." Baltazar interrupted once more, his normally calm and lax tone firm and serious at the moment. "You're pushing yourself too hard with this, Weiss. I know you want to be the best, but that doesn't mean you need to go on to the point of exhaustion. You need to pace yourself, otherwise you'll burn out."

"Ha! Like you're one to talk!" Weiss shouted, the stress and frustration getting to her. "How many times have I said those exact same words to you when you're in one of your forging sprees? You have no right to tell me to take it easy and not push myself when you do the exact same thing!"

"Weiss this isn't the time-"

"I don't care if this is the time or not! You can't say one thing and do another, you freaking hypocrite! If you want your argument to be more valid, you need to practice what you preach!" Weiss interrupted this time, stunning Baltazar for a bit before he sighed in exasperation.

"Our situations are not the same, Weiss. Now, I'm asking you to please take it easy for at least a few minutes to grab a bite or something. Can you please do it for me?" Baltazar pleaded.

"I'll stop with the studying for the day if you stop with the metalwork for the day," Weiss countered with a smirk.

"Stop with the metal…-You know I can't do that! I'm on the clock!" The ninja cried out.

"Then why the heck are you in here?!" The fencer shouted back.

"Because this is my dad's workshop and you're currently using my workstation to study quietly. I was here to check up on you and grab a few things to fix up some things that were brought in, including Myrtenaster. You're the one who came here looking for a quiet place to study, knowing full well that I'll be busy with work, remember?" Baltazar stressed, causing the girl in front of her to fume.

"Fine! If that's how it's going to be, then I'll just get out of your way then! I guess working with some broken junk is more important to you than spending time with your girlfriend!" Weiss yelled as she grabbed her study gear and placed it into a backpack that she brought earlier and proceeded to stomp out towards the back door.

"Weiss, you know that's not true!" Baltazar shouted back.

"Like heck it isn't true! You spend more time here or at one of the forging stations than you do with me!" Weiss argued, glaring fiercely at the man in front of her, who actually looked kind of hurt by the accusation.

"Weiss, I-"

Before he could finish his response, the couple heard a bell ringing and multiple calls from the store's counter, requesting some assistance. Baltazar eyed the door to the front of the store for a moment, paling a bit, before turning to Weiss, his eyes filled with conflict. Noticing this, and knowing the ninja before her will be struggling for a while to come to a decision, the heiress let off a frustrated sigh before turning away from him, not looking at the shocked expression on his face.

"Get out there. You got a customer to help out, don't you? You are on the clock…" Weiss muttered bitterly.

"Weiss, just-"

"Just go and do your job already. They're more important than me, anyways…" The heiress said, cutting off the ninja once more.

"But…but what about Myrtenaster?" Baltazar asked, still a little hurt by the fencer's words.

"Take it to my dorm when you're done here. You may be a metal obsessed hypocrite, but I trust you, so you holding on to it will not be an issue," Weiss said calmly.

"But you'll be out on the streets weaponless. I can't allow that," Baltazar stated with a fierce glare before walking up to Weiss, who scoffed at the ninja's overprotectiveness.

"Seriously, Baltazar? I'm not some weak willed little girl you know. I can handle myself."

"I know you can, but I'd rather you have a weapon on hand, just in case." Baltazar said before taking the katana off his back, getting a look of surprise from Weiss, before continuing, "Take my sword with you. No one will think twice of messing with you if you have it by your side," With that, the ninja latched his blade onto the girl's waist, causing her to stare at him oddly with a light blush before turning away.

"Uh… Thanks. I'll take good care of it." Weiss muttered.

"No worries, Weiss." Baltazar mumbled back before heading towards the entrance to the store, where he heard multiple people talking in the lobby now, causing him to wince uncomfortably at the thought of dealing with a lot of people.

"We'll talk later. You got a lot of things to do today, as do I." Weiss sighed.

"Ok then. See you at dinner then. Be safe," Baltazar said with a small wave.

"Yeah, you too," Weiss said back with a wave of her own before fully departing, causing the ninja to sigh.

"I guess the Schnee blood is strong in her after all. I know she wants to do well, but she is doing too much to try and get a perfect score. She as to take it easy, or else she'll burn out," Baltazar mumbled to himself before scoffing and smiled bitterly, "Tch, like I'm one to talk, though. She was right about me being a hypocrite. Heh, looks like she wins another argument, like always."

Sighing to himself once more, the ninja opened the door to see quite a few people in front of the counter, all looking at him patiently with either broken object in hand or tickets stating that it was time for them to pick up their repaired goods. Sighing internally and mentally cursing himself and his father for getting him into this situation, the ninja walked over to the counter and spoke calmly.

"Sorry for the wait. Welcome to Relámpagos Repairs, where we'll fix up your broken wears as fast as lightning. How may I help you?"

-Evening, Beacon Cafeteria-

"Ok then. If that is why the naming tradition started, who was the one who instigated it? I have to find out. I also got to learn the different sub variants of Ursa that are currently known and-"

"Weiss, please, just stop with the studying and eat, ok? I know you want to be prepared but this is overdoing it!" Ruby exclaimed in worry while staring at her partner, who had not even touched the salad she obtained for her dinner.

"I'm not studying for myself at the moment. One of our classmates needed some help with researching and I offered to find something for him." Weiss muttered as she turned the page from another book.

"What's with the suddenly helpful attitude, Weiss? Normally you'd rather let people handle their own problems if they're not your friends…" Jaune spoke up.

"Normally I would, but with finals fast approaching, people are getting more frantic, and I can't stand seeing others like that if I'm able to help them. Besides, it helps me review subjects I've already learned so they stay in my head. That's a win-win situation right there." Weiss explained.

"But still, you need to pace yourself, Weiss. You don't want to end up passed out on the floor with a fever due to overexertion. I mean, do you really want to end up like Sparky when he swamps himself with his projects?" Yang asked while pointing her thumb at the lightning ninja, who stared at her in annoyance at the accusation before turning to the heiress.

"She's not wrong. If you keep this up, Weiss, it will not end well for you. Trust me on this." Baltazar agreed before placing a hand on the heiress's shoulder, "Promise me that you'll take it easy, ok? You're stressing yourself out too much and it's not healthy."

"Whatever you say, you hypocrite…" Weiss muttered bitterly, causing Baltazar to sigh in exasperation, before getting up. "Well, I have to go show my findings to Chives. Hope he appreciates my work, unlike some people I can mention…"

Before anyone could say anything, the heiress left, not bothering to look back at the others. Her attitude wasn't what they were expecting, so they turned to each other to figure out what was happening.

"I think the stress and frustration is getting to her. Otherwise she'd never talk to us like that," Pyrrha spokes up.

"I didn't like the tone she used when talking to you, Baltazar. Did you two have a fight or something?" Blake questioned her fellow cat ninja.

"Yeah, a fairly big one in comparison to our little squabbles. I don't blame her, honestly. I asked her to take it easy otherwise she'll burn herself out and she turns around and calls me a hypocrite because of that. Things cooled down a bit before she left, but I'm not surprised she's still bitter about it." Baltazar explained with a sigh.

"Hmm… I think we should give her some space. I'm sure if we leave her alone for a bit, she'll calm down and relax." Levy suggested.

"Yeah. We can leave her alone, but what about the others?" Yang questioned while pointing at the door, where everyone saw that Weiss was being surrounded by other students wanting her help.

"That's her decision… If she wants to help others, that's fine, but if we force her to stop, then she'll resent us for quite some time." Ren stated.

"But we have to step in if things go wrong. You guys can't argue with that, right?" Ruby pleaded.

"Of course not, Ru. If things do go wrong, we'll help out. Until then, though, Madame Stubborn-Britches is on her own unless she asks for help." Dia said.

"Knowing her, though, I wouldn't be surprised that she'll pass out before admitting she's in over her head with everything she's doing." Nora spoke up, causing everyone to look at her in worry before nodding solemnly.

"You're right, Nora. I just hope it doesn't come to that," Baltazar sighed.

-RWBY-JNPR-BLAD-

It has been a few days after the three teams decided to leave Weiss alone to do her own things and hopefully allow herself to relax. Unfortunately, it seemed that leaving her alone caused her to actually increase her workload. With few to turn to, the young heiress took it upon herself to study and train even more, along with helping others with their classwork. The tutoring was also rising steadily, which the heiress didn't truly mind, but causing the others to worry more. Seeing all this was proving too much for a certain someone, and she ended up intervening.

"Weiss, you need to stop this," Ruby stated as soon as she saw her partner in the hall.

"Stop what?" Weiss questioned, her arms full of books, looking a bit paler than usual and even sporting some light bags under her eyes.

"This! The studying! The training! The tutoring! Everything!" The young leader cried out. "You're practically overworking yourself to death! You're so tired you're getting bags in your eyes! And to top it off, you're already looking like you're getting sick! If you keep this up, you're gonna get worse!"

"Ruby, relax. I'm perfectly fine, ok? No need to wo-*cough!*"

"See! You coughed! That's a sign that you're getting worse!" Ruby shouted while pointing at the now identified sickly heiress.

"I'm not sick, I just had something in my throat and it passed. Now if you excuse me, I have work to do and people to tutor," Weiss sighed and was about to leave if Ruby didn't grabbed her hand.

"Ruby! What are you doing!?"

"Stopping you from hurting yourself," Ruby answered firmly, "I'm sorry I have to do this, but you leave me no choice. As your team leader, I am ordering you to stop with the studying and get some rest ASAP."

"You can't do that! That's abusing you position!" Weiss cried out.

"If you weren't so stubborn, I wouldn't have to do this! I'm the leader, meaning I have to put you guys first, and if that means ordering you to take a freaking break, then I'll do it!" Ruby argued back.

"Why you insufferable little red hooded brat! Why are you doing this?!" Weiss screamed heatedly.

"To make sure you don't burn out and make yourself worse than you already are! Why the heck are you working so hard?!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Because I have to do well! I have to be the best! What else is there?!" The heiress answered, confusion the sniper with the response.

"Huh? Are you serious?" Ruby questioned in disbelief. "Weiss, you're already the best student here. No one can ace tests better than you. I'm sure you'll do great in the finals, so just relax, ok?"

"Great isn't good enough. I have to get a perfect score, no matter what…" Weiss muttered, now feeling a little tired now, but still tried to glare at her partner for not allowing her to study.

"A perfect score…?" Ruby repeated.

"I won't settle for anything less than perfect, Ruby. That's what I've always strived for, and that is what I'll accomplish. *cough, cough*" Weiss stated, covering her mouth with a small handkerchief.

"Perfect…" Ruby muttered, recalling that the heiress considered herself far from it back at initiation, before focusing on her, "Weiss, are you telling me that-"

"There she is!"

Hearing the shout, the two partners turned to see many other students, some of them not even from their year, rushing over to them and circling the heiress, all asking questions and requesting permission to spar with her, much to Ruby's shock and annoyance.

"Hey! Get away from her! She needs a break from you all and this isn't helping!" The young leader shouted.

"Screw that, Rose! Finals are in a few days and we need help to pass! And if that means going over to your partner for help, we'll do it!" Cardin shouted back.

"Can't you see she's not feeling well!?" Ruby cried out.

Throughout the yelling, Weiss was looking around her with an expression of shock and uncertainty while trying to focus on who need her the most. It was then, though, that she was realizing that maybe she was in over her head with everything so far, but before she was able to voice it out, more students appeared looking for her help, making the heiress feel very overwhelmed and even a little woozy, a light flush of red forming on her face and steadily growing, yet no one was noticing.

"Hey! Stop! Leave her alone!" Ruby shouted as she saw more students circling her friend.

"Ruby! What's happening?!" Yang asked as she and the rest of their friends showed up.

"I dunno! One minute I was trying to get Weiss to stop with the studying for a bit and the next, BOOM! All these people showed up from nowhere!" Ruby exclaimed.

"Uh… I think this might be the reason why these people showed up." Pyrrha spoke up while handing Ruby a flyer. The image on the paper showed Weiss tutoring someone and the description below was saying to go to her to have the best tutoring in school, causing the young leader to gape in shock.

"This is why people were coming to her more and more lately!" Ruby shouted.

"We've found out that that Chives guy who Weiss helped out earlier this week made these things and posted them all over school so people can get 'the amazing and exquisite assistance the lovely Ice Queen of Beacon provides' as he put it," Dia muttered in disgust.

"Really? He's the reason for all this?!" Ruby questioned while gesturing to the crowd.

Jaune nodded before speaking, "Yup. We managed to find the guy and ordered him to take down the flyers, but he was stubborn, saying we wanted to keep Weiss to ourselves. In the end, we convinced him to not put up anymore flyers and destroy the rest he had while we took it upon ourselves to take ones already on campus down. We were almost done when we saw this and rushed here to help."

"How did you get him to stop making more of these things?" Ruby asked while pointing at the paper in her hand.

"Easy. We sicked Balty on him. Nothing makes a guy crumble faster than a ninja tiger when he's in a bad mood," Nora grinned while pointing at the bored looking ninja behind her.

"It's a shame he caved so quickly though. I would've loved to make him scream and draw blood from him a little longer." Baltazar muttered with his arms crossed, causing some of his friends to stare at him oddly for a moment before shuffling away from the apparently deranged ninja.

"Eh, I would've broken his legs. Nothing like the feeling of making somebody's bones snap to make you feel good all day," Nora shrugged, causing the stares to focus on her now.

"…There is something wrong with you two," Blake stated dryly.

*Thud!*

"What was that?" Levy cried out in concern, and her fears were realized when she heard the crowd talking.

"Oh come on, she's out!"

"How can anyone sleep at a time like this?!"

"Someone wake her up! I need her to help me with Grimm Studies!"

"Oh crap! Comrade Down!" Dia cried out hysterically, prompting the others to spring into action.

"Alright, punks, move it! That's my teammate there and you guys are in the way!" Yang ordered, her eyes glowing red as she spoke.

"Yeah, right! I bet you just want her and her amazing study skills for herself!" One student shouted.

"Are you idiots blind?! She is passed out on the floor! She needs medical attention now!" Nora cried out.

"Eh, I'm gonna have to go with them on this one," Russel spoke up from amongst the crowd. "Schnee's not looking so hot right now. Let's take her to the nurse and look for someone else to tutor us."

"Why don't you and your pathetic team look for someone?" Another student questioned rudely. "If you guys want to study under some two-bit tutor, be our guest. Us, however, will study with one of the best and ace the finals, you got that!?"

"So…" Ash spoke up, glaring at the mob and his arms crossed. "What you mean to tell us, dudes, is that you will not move an inch until our friend wakes up and tutors you, knowing full well that she is sick and needs to see a doctor or else she'll get worse. You are so desperate to pass, that you're willing to risk her health to do it. Am I right?"

"What's it to ya!?" One more student yelled, with others voicing their agreement.

"Oh boy, you guys are in for it…" Cardin muttered as he and his team walked away from the mob.

"Oh? And what makes you say that, loser?" The 'leader' of the mob questioned.

"I think the katana pressed to your neck might be a bit of a clue…" Ren droned, causing the mob to blink to each other curiously before the 'leader' spoke up.

"What are you talking about, Lie? There's no kata-"

"I suggest you shut up unless you want your head rolling on the floor," A cold, dark voice spoke softly, causing the mob head to flinch and actually feel a bit of sharp metal on his throat.

Looking down, the student's eyes went wide when he saw that he indeed had a katana dangerously close to his neck, but what scared him was the one holding the blade. There, below him, was Baltazar, his eyes a frigid blue and pupils so narrow they were nearly gone. The sight of the truly angry shinobi not only caused him, but the rest of the mob to sweat in fear.

"I'm only going to ask you good for nothing idiots once…" Baltazar spoke once more, the sub-zero tone not leaving his voice at all and a few sparks flying out of his sword, "Move away from Weiss and leave, or else you'll be nothing but a pile of body parts very soon."

"Or ended up turning into smoldering piles of ash," Yang growled as she cracked her knuckles, small embers flying out of her body as she did so.

"Or have your legs pounded into a nice, fine powder," Nora grinned manically with her hammer over her shoulder.

"Enough, you three. I got this…"

"Huh?"

Before anyone could figure out who spoke, the mob suddenly began to drop one by one. Even the one Baltazar had by the neck ended up falling backwards onto the grown, passed out and paralyzed like the others. Blinking to one another for a moment, the remaining students turned back to the downed mob circle to see Levy cradling the unconscious heiress in her arms and a glowing hand on her head.

"Overexertion and exhaustion, both physical and mental. Stressed induced fever and sickness. We need to take her to the nurse's office now, otherwise she'll get worse." Levy diagnosed in a professional tone.

"I'll take her. It's my job to take care of my partner, anyways," Ruby spoke up, rushing over to Weiss and picked her up bridal style.

"I'll come too. There's no way I'm leaving her if she's like this." Baltazar stated firmly, his sword sheathed and eyes back to normal, but no one missed the fear and concern in his voice.

"Uh…I better come too. Just in case either one of you goes nuts. Someone's gotta make sure you two don't lose it while she's recovering," Jaune suggested.

"Ok, Jaune. And thanks…" Baltazar smiled softly, grabbing his shoulder gently. With a nod from the young leader, the four disappeared in a flash of rose petals and sparks, causing the others to sigh in relief.

"Well, glad that's over." Blake muttered.

"I'm just glad that things settled themselves without any unnecessary bloodshed," Pyrrha admitted.

"We should be thanking Levy, though. If she didn't knock these guys out when she did, who knows what might've happened." Dia smiled while patting her teammate on the back.

"I did what I had to. Nothing more…" Levy muttered, still in her 'professional doctor' state as some called it. The others were still congratulating the young medic for a job well done when Cardin spoke up once more.

"Alright now. Let's get these guys out of here and-"

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF ALL THAT IS GOOD IS GOING ON HERE?!"

Flinching at the loud shout, the four teams turned their heads slowly and fearfully, and nearly cried in despair when they saw the angry form of Glynda looming over them with Ozpin behind her, simply looking at everything in amusement.

"Someone please give me an explanation for all of this in five seconds or else I will send all of you to detention and keep you there until break is over!" Glynda barked.

While CRDL began to quiver in fear, the remaining members of RWBY, JNPR and BLAD looked at each other briefly before nodding at one another. A moment later, Yang walked towards the angry professor and began to speak calmly.

"It's a long story, professor. Do you want it from the beginning or just from today?"

-Nurse's office, a couple hours later-

"Ugh…my head." Weiss muttered groggily as she woke up, rubbing her head gently in an attempt to alleviate the pain.

"Well, well. Looks like you've finally awaken," A calm voice stated in a mildly amused tone, catching the heiress off guard. "About time too. You caused quite a scare, you know…"

"Huh…? Professor Ozpin? What are you doing here?" Weiss asked in confusion, before blinking a couple times and looked around, noticing that she was sitting in a bed in the nurse's office, "And what am I doing here, for that matter?"

"You passed out due to overexerting yourself, child," Ozpin chided, catching the heiress's attention. "Your friends told me what you have been doing these past few days, and while I commend you for doing so much in such a short amount of time, it was very foolish of you to do so. You were lucky to only come out of all this with a simple fever."

"I wouldn't call that lucky, professor." Weiss grumbled, thinking about all the time she lost and how she could've used it to study.

"I would, considering the alternatives could've been much, much worse," Ozpin stated bluntly, causing Weiss to flinch. "You made your friends very worried with your recent obsession with the finals. Granted they are difficult, but not so much as to warrant both your actions and the actions of the other students that were seeking your aid."

"Huh? That part was real?" Weiss questioned, surprised that being surrounded by a bunch of students wanting her help actually happened and not some sort of sleep deprived daydream.

"Indeed. I shudder what would've happened if your friend Lavanda didn't intervene and rendered those students unconscious before your leader and two fellow swordsmen brought you here. Did you know that your boyfriend actually tortured the one that caused the influx of aid seekers in the first place before threatening to kill the mob alongside your fiery teammate and leg-crushing obsessed friend if they didn't step away from you?" Ozpin asked playfully, his smile growing when he saw the heiress pale at the revelation.

"Oh God. Please tell me they didn't get in serious trouble," Weiss pleaded.

"Not at all. I am actually quite proud of them, honestly," The headmaster admitted, surprising the heiress, "After all, they were willing to do whatever it takes to save you and get you healed, no matter the consequences. If that doesn't prove to me how much they care and respect you, I don't know what does."

"Oh… That's a relief," Weiss sighed, feeling at ease knowing that fact.

"Indeed." Ozpin nodded before leaning towards Weiss's face, "Now tell me…why in the world were you studying and training to the point where you were brought here unconscious to recuperate? Seems a little over the top to do it for a few simple exams, especially for someone as bright as you, isn't it?"

"Uh…" Weiss muttered, truly unsure as to how to answer that. Why did she study so hard for the exams? They were hard, yes, but nothing she couldn't handle. She trained and studied for years to enter Beacon, so whatever was on the test, she would've known by heart even before coming here, so why the intense studying? Was she really that desperate to obtain a perfect score that she got sick over it?

"Hm… It seems your family's lifestyle still has a bit of a negative influence on you." Ozpin spoke up, catching Weiss's attention. "Your family has always strived to be perfect in everything they do. From Dust mining and product selling, to even the way they live, the Schnees have always believed that they were destined to be perfect. Even your father is like that to an extent. And it seems that mentality has reached its way into you as well…"

"Perfection…" Weiss muttered. As she thought it over, she realized that her headmaster was right. For the longest time, the heiress had done her best to be the perfect child for her family, being the best student, best sister, best daughter, everything. Even when she was staying with her godparents, she strived to be prefect in their eyes. As she got older, that mentality started to fade as she realized that there were some things she could never master, but it seems that the urge to achieve perfection was still flowing strong within her.

"You are a good student, Weiss, one of the best, but you are far from perfect. And personally, I'd prefer a good, or even a mediocre student over a perfect one any day," Ozpin admitted, surprising the heiress.

"…Why is that, professor?" Weiss whispered.

"Simple. Nobody's perfect," Ozpin stated as if stating the obvious. "Imperfection is one of the many keys of being human. Both Man and Faunus alike share this key of imperfection, and it's through this key that we can call ourselves human. Meaning that if one were to obtain perfection…"

"They would have to get rid of their humanity to get it…" Weiss finished, her eyes widen in shock at the realization.

Ozpin nodded in confirmation before continuing, "That's right. Many people, your family included, try so hard to achieve what many would believe to be unobtainable, that they're willing to forsake what makes them human to obtain it. After all, it is through this lack of humanity that many of your relatives lack many common morals that we take for granted, such as compassion for others despite their differences."

"Faunus labor…" Weiss muttered, her eyes hardening at the reminder of her family's dark ways to become the best.

"Exactly," Ozpin nodded before placing a comforting hand on his student's shoulder. "Thankfully, though, you have managed to realize that perfection is an illusion early on, and your need to obtain it is nowhere near as strong as others. I like to think it's because your blood has more Light in it than Snow."

"Light… Licht… Mom…" Weiss mumbled, a small, fond smile on her face as she recalled her mother.

"Indeed. You are more like Kalt than anything, and I believe that it is because of that that you do not seek perfection as fiercely as others in your father's family, allowing you to be your own person, instead of being another random member of the Schnee family." Ozpin nodded before turning to the door with a smirk. "And I believe your plethora of friends has also ensured your growth as well."

*Slam!*

"WHOA!"

"Eh? Everyone?" Weiss questioned in confusion as soon as she saw her friends fall out of the door and became a pile of bodies.

"I knew this wasn't a good idea," Ruby muttered from on top of the pile.

"Wasn't this your idea?" Dia questioned as she struggled to get out of the center.

"My back…" Jaune muttered from the bottom of the pile.

"Hey! Who's touching my gauntlets without asking?" Yang cried out as soon as she realized something was pressed up to her chest.

"I could die happy now," Ash muffled voice spoke up, his face being held by the busty blonde's assets.

"You're about to die pretty soon if we don't get ourselves out of here…" Ren muttered, his own head being used as a seat for his confused girlfriend at the moment.

"And here is my cue to leave. Think about what I said, and please, get some rest," Ozpin smiled before heading towards the door, tapping the body pile with his cane to topple it over, before exiting.

"Aww, did he have to do that? I had the best seat in the world," Nora pouted as she and everyone began to get up.

"You would say that…" Blake muttered while bending her back.

"Guys…" Weiss muttered, catching her friends' attention. "I…I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"Save it." Yang spoke up while raising her hand in a stop position, silencing the heiress, "We overheard you talking to Professor and Sparky already informed us about your family's perfectionist ways when we met up with him. We understand what you did, but it didn't stop us from freaking out and nearly killed some shmucks if it wasn't for Levy."

"Weiss, I truly hope you don't do something like this again," Levy muttered sadly as she walked towards her bedridden friend, "I was so scared when I heard you faint onto the floor. I did what I had to in order to get to you, but you were already getting worse. If it wasn't for Ruby and her semblance…I don't even want to think about what would've happened…"

"Levy… Levy, I'm sorry. I… I didn't mean to make you suffer like this," Weiss apologized, feeling very guilty for making her childhood friend worry so much.

"Heh, at least your training methods worked with her. She showed no mercy when she took down those knowledge-hungry dopes," Yang grinned, trying to lighten the mood.

"Glad to know my horrible training tactics we're good for something," Weiss grumbled in self-deprecation, still felling upset for what she had done.

*smack!*

"OW!" Weiss cried out, feeling something hit her forehead pretty hard and not noticing the bemused expressions on her friends' faces, before focusing on them with a glare. "Ok, who was the dolt who-"

"There's the feisty frost maiden that I know and love…" A relaxed voice joked from beside the heiress's bed, causing her to jump a little and turned her head to the source, which made her eyes go wide in surprise before looking down in guilt.

"Oh… It's you," Weiss mumbled sadly.

"Yes. It's me. Glad you're looking better, Querida…" Baltazar said softly, his hand in a flicking motion to indicate he was the one who flicked her forehead, before sitting on a nearby chair.

"You should've seen him when we brought you here, Weiss. He was really frantic and worried if you were going to be ok. He nearly took Jaune out when he was trying to help him before he came to his senses," Ruby giggled, causing Weiss to go wide eyed once more in surprise.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up. You try getting punched in a face by a freaked out ninja next time," Jaune grumbled, and Weiss could now see what looked like a black eye on the swordsman's face.

"Hehe… Sorry, mate. Got a little carried away there," Baltazar apologized sheepishly.

"So long as you don't threaten to gut me and feed my innards to your cat like you did with Chives earlier, then we're good," Jaune suggested.

"Works for me," Baltazar nodded.

"What?! You actually used that threat on someone?!" Weiss cried out, knowing how dark and convincing the ninja beside her can be.

"Among other things, Weiss. Your man is not right in the head, you know that?" Dia joked while walking towards her leader and began poking his head.

"Eh, it comes with the job. You don't honestly expect huntsmen and huntresses to be completely sane, do you? I mean, look at our teachers," Baltazar argued with a small smirk as he gently swatted his amused archer's hand away.

"If you want insane, listen to Nora's torture ideas sometime. Now those are disturbing, and most of them involve breaking legs," Ren spoke up while gesturing to Nora, who simply beamed at everyone brightly.

"Makes us wonder how you survived with her all these years," Pyrrha questioned in an amused tone.

Ren quirked an eyebrow when he saw everyone focusing on him, and smirked in response before speaking. "I am a master of what I like to call 'The Three Ps': Patience, perseverance and the most importing one of all…"

"Pancakes!" Nora cheered, causing everyone to laugh, even Weiss.

After the small laugh fest, the three teams sat down around the heiress and simply talked for most of their time, something that she was grateful for. When she first saw them tumble out of the door, she was afraid of what they might say, worried that she pushed them too hard during their recent get-togethers, but thankfully they forgave her. Even Baltazar, who she said some pretty harsh things to, still treated her the same as before and even apologized for flicking her forehead, something she wasn't expecting. She wasn't complaining, though, and simply decided to relax and enjoy herself with her friends for a moment, something she now knew she should've done ages ago. Sadly, all good things much come to an end.

*cough, cough!*

"Oop! Looks like someone still needs to recover," Yang grinned as soon as she heard her teammate cough.

"I guess this is our cue to leave then," Pyrrha spoke up in an apologetic tone, causing Weiss to stare at everyone in sadly.

"Wait, you're all going?" Weiss questioned sadly.

"Sorry, Weiss. We'd like to stay, but we have things to do ourselves and you still need to rest." Levy explained in an upset tone, not wanting to leave her friend.

"Oh… I understand that. If you had other plans, I won't stop you…" Weiss muttered.

"Ugh, this sucks…" Ruby groaned. "Why did I pick today to do that team training session with CFVY!?"

"It was the only time they had available for us, Ruby, and we didn't know that Weiss was going to end up here." Blake stated in a reassuring tone, but still frowned at the thought of not being able to be with Weiss for a while.

"And our team is getting some work done for Professor Port at the Emerald Forest, so we can't stay here for much longer," Ren explained.

"We got individual training and studying ourselves with some of the teachers, so we can't stay either," Dia muttered sadly.

"Actually, that's where you're wrong, partner," Ash grinned, causing everyone to focus on him. "I happen to some dude who actually has a free schedule from now until finals to do whatever the hell he wants, and I'd bet that he'll gladly stay here with the Ice Queen."

With that said, the shotgunner pointed at the area beside the heiress's bed, and everyone turned to see that the chair beside it was still occupied by Baltazar, who simply had his head down and eyes closed, but they knew that he wasn't asleep. Sensing the stares at his direction, the ninja opened his eyes, staring at everyone back with bored eyes.

"Yo. What's up?" He asked politely.

"Oh nothing. Just wondering if you're willing to stay here with your girl, dude. You're the only one with free time after all," Ash shrugged.

"Hmm. Did you even had to ask that?" Baltazar smirked, causing Weiss to stare at him in surprise.

"What? Baltazar, you don't have to-"

"I know, but I want to. I'm not leaving you here, Querida, so just relax, ok?" Baltazar said softly, causing Weiss to blush and smile back.

"And now, I think we should go, let you two have your moment," Yang grinned, causing the pair to glare at her with their blushes intensifying.

"I agree. Let's head out and let these two enjoy themselves," Jaune joked, causing Pyrrha to giggle beside him.

"Bow chika bow wow," Ash snickered, causing the others to snicker as well.

"Guys!" The couple shouted in embarrassment while their friends began to leave.

"Have fun, you guys, hehehe…." Dia and Nora, the last two in the nurse's office beside the heiress and forger, cackled, ignoring the glares they were getting from pair, before leaving themselves, allowing the couple to be alone.

"Hey," Weiss spoke up, catching the ninja's attention. "A…About what I said…back at Uncle Bo's store…I…"

"Don't worry about it," Baltazar said softly, patting her head as he spoke, "I won't deny it, I was being a hypocrite then, but I'll try to be better. I make no promises, but I'll do my best."

"I'm still sorry, though," Weiss muttered, grabbing the hand that was on her head and held it gently, "I shouldn't have called you a hypocrite. You were only trying to help and I let my frustration and stress get the best of me. If there's anything I can do to make it up to you, let me know. Please…"

"All I want for you to do at the moment is for you to get some rest. I'm not going anywhere, and I cleared my schedule so that I'll help you out for the next few days before finals start," Baltazar said kindly, causing Weiss to smile back at him, before continuing. "Our friends are planning a group study session a couple days before finals, and on the last day we're planning to do a little relaxing before doing a little last minute studying. Everything's planned out, so just take it easy, ok?"

"…Ok. I'll relax. But what are you going to do in the meantime? Won't you get bored just sitting around?" Weiss asked curiously.

"No worries, Querida, I got something to occupy my mind," Baltazar said in amusement while holding his Scroll. "Nothing like a little review on Battle Tactics to keep myself busy. Just lay down and rest. I'll be here."

"Ok, I will," Weiss nodded before lying down. She then turned to Baltazar with a light blush before speaking softly, "Thank you…Dear…"

"Heh, now you give me a title," Baltazar joked while poking her head, causing her to swat his hand away with a pout before smiling back.

Without saying anything else, Weiss closed her eyes and tried to get the rest, silently listening to Baltazar pressing buttons and quietly humming to himself. The young heiress let off a deep sigh in content, finally relaxing after so long. As she was about to go to sleep, she heard something she wasn't expecting to hear.

~When daytime turns to night,
When the moon shines bright,
When you're tucked in tight,
When everything's alright.~

"It's 'Make a Wish'… Mom's lullaby…the one she used to sing to us when we were kids whenever she was with us. He actually remembered it…" Weiss thought happily before snuggling up to the sheets, enjoying the lullaby her boyfriend was singing. With another sigh of content, the began to relax once again, one final thought going through her head as she allowed sleep to consume her.

"I am so lucky to have everyone. I truly wish that all of us will be together for a long, long time."

Author's Note:

Well, here you go, mates. The last Life at Beacon story for the first semester. Whatever gets uploaded in this collection from here on out will be focused on the second semester, meaning Volumes 2 and 3 of RWBY. It'll be a while before that will happen, but I do have another RWBY story idea that I plan to use for Life at Beacon. For now, though, my next focus will be the first flashback chapter of Hymn of Reminiscence. Think of that story as something similar to Life at Beacon, focusing about the teams' adventures during break. As always, mates, I thank you all so much for reading my stories and I wish you all a great day.