Me? Obsessing over Ruby's breakdown in v8 again? Groundbreaking. Anyway this is set during the V8 episode Risk. Enjoy!
Growing up, Ruby had always been a terrible liar. She was the type of kid who always wore her heart on her sleeve, her every emotion obvious everyone around her. She'd flush bright red when embarrassed, cried easily when frustrated or sad, and had a bright, beaming, smile when she was happy. Even when telling the smallest white lie she'd usually get flustered and end up giving away the truth in the end.
But somewhere along the way, Ruby has gotten way too good at hiding things, both from Yang and from their friends. And Yang just wants to know when Ruby became so good at lying to her.
Because as she watches Ruby falling apart in front of her, Yang knows that this didn't happen overnight. But somehow, she didn't see the signs sooner, that her sister was this close to slipping over the edge. Sure, things have been—well, difficult would be an understatement—lately, but Ruby had always been good at bouncing back from their defeats. If she'd known how close her sister had been to a breakdown, she never would have suggested that they split up. She would have found another way.
So, when did Yang get so bad at reading her own sister? Was it after the Fall of Beacon, when they'd been separated for over a year before finally reuniting in Haven? It would make sense; they'd both been traumatized, filled with grief and guilt, trying to make sense of a world that had been changed forever.
But no, Ruby hadn't seemed that different when they'd met again in Haven. She'd still seemed like the same little sister Yang had known all her life. Although, maybe that doesn't mean much, since somewhere along the way she'd lost the ability to tell that her sister is lying to her face. Maybe it's been happening slowly since their second day at Beacon, when Ruby was made their team leader and decided that being strong for her team meant shouldering the burdens of everyone around her while pretending that she didn't have any problems of her own.
Yang doesn't know. And she'll probably never know. But none of that really matters right now as she watches Ruby's composure fall apart completely as her sister flees the room. What matters now is being there for Ruby and putting the pieces back together. And making sure that she's paying better attention in the future so that this never happens again.
Thank you for reading! Please leave a review if you liked it!