"We'd love to help, but we have projects we haven't finished yet." Pyrrha apologized as they left class that Wednesday. "I don't think any of us knew we'd have so much work to do once the new term started… I'm sorry."
"It's fine. I understand." Weiss nodded, her mind already going back to the pages of notes they'd compiled so far. "You've all been a great help, though."
"I'm sorry about this." Ren apologized again.
"And I forgot about the mission we signed up for." Jaune sighed
"Forget about it. It's our problem anyway." Ruby waved him off. "See you later then!"
"Bye." Jaune waved as he led his team off down a different corridor.
The group of four walked quickly down the halls until they entered the dormitory.
"Whelp, I'll leave you guys to do your thing, and I'll go do mine." Yang yawned. "Ruby, you don't mind if I borrow your headphones to stay awake, right?"
"What?" Ruby asked. Her head, like her girlfriend's, was already thinking about the progress they'd made and what was left to do. "No, go ahead. Just don't break them."
"Sure thing." Yang saluted and jogged off to their room as the remaining three continued to the stairwell.
It took only a minute to reach the top floor and knock on Winter's door. A brief shout indicated the door was open and the trio entered before bolting the door behind them.
The room had changed significantly in the two days since they'd started their work, and that meant where a bed had once stood, several desks were arranged, each equipped with a holographic projection screen and stacks of paper that had already been looked through or written on. On the bookshelf that sat below the window, a large coffee maker was churning out its most recent pot of sludge as Winter sat on the single remaining bed with a pen behind her ear and an assortment of papers and projected screens around her.
"So if we…" Winter mumbled, deep in concentration as she sifted through a pile of papers and glanced back up at one of the hollow screens. "Then… damn it, covered in that one… so then…"
Weiss led the way to the desks and took the seat at the one she'd used the previous day. Ruby on her left and Blake behind her on the right. They wordlessly went to work, plugging their scrolls into the projection systems and finding the places they'd left off. They'd only gone through three quarters of the contract up till they called it quits the previous day, but Weiss was hopeful they'd at least finish it that day.
She looked up to find the progress Winter had made was somewhat disappointing, mainly finding problems with the proposed solutions that they'd come up with for various parts of the contract they'd read. It was useful to have Winter helping since she'd done this before, but at the same time it meant that she'd revealed her location when she powered her scroll back up. Whatever her father thought of it, Weiss couldn't care less, but still, she worried her sister was needlessly putting herself into his sights.
"Hey, how's it going, guys?" Winter asked after a while. She got up and walked over to the coffee maker as it hissed with the now full pot of coffee. "Had a good day?"
"No." Ruby answered first. "It was long, and boring, and there's so much work to do."
"I already told her to go do her homework, she wouldn't listen." Weiss huffed in response as she continued to take notes at a furious pace. The projection screen traced her hand and created virtual documents that it shared with the others to make the collaboration easier.
"Aw… that means she cares more about you than her grades!" Winter squealed teasingly. "But where'd everyone else go?"
"They had projects and a mission to prepare for." Blake spoke up as she stretched her neck out before she started concentrating on her work.
"Oh… I guess that happens, it is a combat school after all." Winter nodded quietly as she turned away. "Is your sister still working the library?"
"Huh?" Ruby looked up to find Winter looking down at her from the doorway. "Yeah, she should be."
"Alright, I'm just going to go see how she's doing. I'll be back in a few." Winter waved as she left.
Winter walked quickly towards the dorm's library. It didn't take her long to find the blond girl nodding her head as she collected research materials from a shelf in the international reference section. She followed her back to her seat without being noticed as there was rather loud music blaring from her headphones.
She sat down beside the sister of her sister's girlfriend and tapped on her shoulder. Yang jumped and spun, her fist already up in preparation for an attack when she realized who it was and ripped the headphones down to rest around her neck.
"Shit, you shouldn't just sneak up on me like that!" Yang breathed as she turned back to the book. "I almost hit you."
"You can't really call it sneaking if you weren't paying attention, can you?" Winter asked in reply. There was a short pause in which Yang glared at her from the corner of her eye.
"Now I know where your sister got her attitude from." Yang stated challengingly.
"And I can see where Ruby got her stubbornness from." Winter replied in kind, waiting for Yang's next move. After a minute of nothing but constant eye contact, Yang sighed.
"I doubt you came to trade shots with me, and you probably know exactly how much of a wild goose chase you sent me on." Yang stated seriously. "What do you want?"
"Oh, I don't want anything." Winter waved dismissively. Yang noted the slight shift in her eyes as she spoke, as if she was just barely breaking eye contact for the moment in which she lied. Then her eyes returned to normal.
"Bull shit." Yang replied gruffly, making a passing teacher pause before she recognized Winter as a Schnee. Even in Beacon, it was obvious that nobody wanted to get in the family's way. Especially when it came to those who weren't enrolled.
But Yang stood her ground, her eyes flickering on the edge of their pale lavender and the blood red that signaled the overflow of her aura. She'd been chosen for sparring practice that day, so her aura was already about three quarters drained, which meant she still had more than enough to take out a small army of grimm if she needed to. One ex-heiress wasn't going to be a problem.
Winter backed down after a moment and sighed. "Alright then, if we must do things this way, then so be it. What are your sister's motives?"
"What makes you think she has any?" Yang responded cryptically. She knew these people were the types to twist your words to suit them and decided to keep her silence if she could. Blake was really good at this sort of thing, but she was probably still helping out Weiss and Ruby. So she was alone.
"Come on Yang, I'm not stupid." Winter laughed darkly. "Your sister just 'happens' to bump into my sister who is slated to become the single most wealthy person on Remnant, and then just 'happens' to become her partner for the duration of her education, and then as if by fate she just 'happens' to fall in love with Weiss. Great story for a romance novel, I admit. But I'm sure you can agree that the real world isn't so convenient."
Yang felt her blood boil at the insinuations Winter was making. She had come across much differently the day before, but Yang guessed this was the business side of Winter when it came to her sister and her family. And even though she was only a couple years older than Ruby and Winter was obviously much older than Weiss, she knew that this fight was between the sisters alone.
"I want to know why she's been dating my sister, and then I want her removed from the situation. Whether that removal comes from my hand or yours remains up to you." Winter spoke calmly, mechanically.
"You lay a finger on my sister, and I'll make sure your feet aren't sticking out of the grave." Yang replied, cracking her right fist. Her hair was already starting to give off the ripples of heat that came with her aura.
"Then let me rephrase since you seem to have taken a liking to Weiss as well… you want her out of this marriage?" Winter asked. Yang nodded suspiciously. "There is only a single way out, and that is for everything to return to normal. Weiss moves back home, she attends her private lessons, and then she'll get married as was originally planned when she turns twenty one."
"See, there's one tiny little problem with that." Yang whispered as a group of students passed them. "She doesn't want to get married, period."
"Whether she wants to or not, it's none of your business." Winter stated with an air of finality. "But for the time being, I'll overlook your poor manners in exchange for the real reason your sister is dating mine."
Yang felt her aura flare white hot for a moment, and knew she'd used up a small amount of it as the pencil in her hand caught fire. She quickly dropped it and stamped it out as she rose from her chair. She took a deep calming breath before replying.
"I'm not sure how your world works, but most people date because they enjoy each others company." Yang said.
"And why does Ruby date?" Winter asked in response. Yang ground her teeth together and clenched her fist.
"Because she likes sucking your sister's face, good enough for you?" Yang spat, her aura turning the saliva to steam as it left her lips.
"How rude. If you won't answer my question, you leave me no choice. I, Winter Schnee, challenge you, Yang Xiao Long to a duel." Winter spoke as she too rose from her chair. She pulled her hand out of her pocket and expertly flung a white glove at Yang as was the tradition for Atlesian duels. The glove entered Yang's field of aura and disintegrated to ash and then to nothing before it even landed on her cheek.
"Let's do this outside." Yang said with a glance at the crowd that had started to gather at the two raised voices. "I'm not a fan of the library, but it's got its uses."
"Fair enough." Winter replied and led the way out of the dorm to the courtyard that lay between three of the main buildings.
As they walked, Yang felt a vibration in her pocket. Blake had messaged her.
I saw the drop in your aura. We're on our way.
Yang smiled to herself. This was just coming up roses for her. Maybe Winter would have second thoughts about this duel once she found out her sister was watching.
"Schnee!" Yang shouted loudly as they walked outside. They now had a decently sized group of people following to watch a duel between one of the best fighters in the first years and someone who looked like an older version of their heiress classmate.
"What? Getting cold feet?" Winter taunted before turning around. Yang's feet were planted on green grass as her aura had already melted the snow and ice on the ground.
"Just wanted to let you know our sister's will be watching this." Yang replied. "Thought I'd give you one last chance to avoid getting your ass handed to you in front of them!"
"I will not lose." Winter replied as she drew her blade.
"You want some?" Yang grinned as she transformed her gauntlets. "Then come and get it!"