Arc 2: Chapter 1: The Trouble With Family

"Beyond the beaten path lies the absolute end. It matters not who you are… Death awaits you." — Nyx Avatar, Persona 3

Ruby felt the breeze rolling into her room through the window, considered how hot it likely would be… and decided to wear the sweater anyway.

She managed to scrape up a bit of excitement now that the weekend was over. Now that she could return to school. Apparently, that was backwards thinking, in Yang's opinion. You were meant to like being at home and hated school—something about it being a universal absolute. Like folk needing air to breathe, or how everyone stubs their toe at least once, or how Dwayne "The Stone" Ronson plays himself in every movie. Hard to contest that logic. Ruby had it in mind, then, that she must not be the universe's favorite person, that she went against this apparently unquestionable natural order. 'Course, that wasn't to say she was a fan of school.

But it was better than being at home.

She slipped on her socks, careful not to agitate the bandage on her ankle. Really should have changed it, but she didn't feel like going through that extra effort now. She looked up at the mirror on her dresser to see a tired girl staring back at her. Hardly a new picture. She saw it often enough that at times she didn't notice it all. Maybe that didn't make any sense, but that was the best way she knew how to put it. Ruby forced up a smile, managed to hold it for a good few seconds, then felt it drag back down into an unstimulated frown.

"Cheer up, Ruby Rose," she said, with a sigh. Though the efforts of her own advice generally went unused.

She pulled up her backpack, double-checking for her supplies, key, and phone, as she usually did, being as forgetful as she was. Strange, how easy it is to forget the daily important things she needed to make it through the day. But how easy it was to remember events that only happened to you once. She supposed that those single events tend to hit harder, depending. Losing a phone was probably not as big a deal as losing a leg. Or family.

She stepped out of her room, saw Yang's across the hall, and saw the door half-open. She peeked inside, wondering with a bit of hope if she might be there, that maybe they could take her bike to school.

Unsurprisingly, Yang was not there. Her room was the same mess it had been yesterday. Ruby had no idea where her sister went and had asked on many occasions, only to be given very vague answers. Ruby should have been used to disappointment by now, but a trace of it still got to her as she headed downstairs, bare hand hissing down the rail, wood creaking beneath the carpet with her every step. Out in the living room, where she might have grabbed an apple for the road, someone was waiting for her at the dinner table.

Dad.

He looked tired, which was not surprising. Probably hadn't gotten a wink of sleep last night. He propped his arms on the table, hands clasped together, one leg bobbing under the table as he looked up at her with a weak smile. He couldn't have looked more anxious if a ghost was breathing down his neck. "Morning, honey." his voice came out hoarse, wounded.

"Hey, Dad, um…" said Ruby. She wasn't sure why she paused. Actually, yes she was. "Is Uncle Qrow up?"

Her dad nodded over to the couch, where, as classically as ever, Ruby's uncle was lying asleep. Then again, maybe asleep was generous. Passed out, more like. He snored away in only his boxers, head in the crook of one arm, while the other rested on his hairy belly, a belly that hung out a little more than it used to. Ruby did not miss the utterly empty six-pack of beers on the floor, the bottles in various places around the living room as though it was for an Easter egg hunt… but for alcoholics. It was very rare that Ruby looked at anything and felt a surge of disgust. She could touch bugs, pick up Zwei's poops without flinching, even blood and puke didn't bother her. But beer? Wine? Alcohol? That churned her guts like nothing else, spurred the acid in the stomach like she might retch if she stared any longer.

So she turned back to her dad, blinking back the wet in her eyes. "Guess I'll just head to school, then. See you later, Dad."

"Not gonna wait for your sister?"

"She doesn't take the bus anymore." She doesn't come home much anymore, either, but her dad probably knew that.

He looked surprised by that, then must have realized his mistake. "Oh, yeah right. Her bike." Or not. "You're wearing a sweater? It's gonna be over eighty degrees today."

Ruby had a response ready for this. "It's cold in class." She tried to laugh, but a weak titter came out. "I swear they're trying to, like, cryogenically freeze us all. "

He didn't laugh. In fact, his eyes managed to look sadder as he looked right at her, into her, as if he knew every truth and lie she told. "That's the only reason?"

Ruby swallowed. "Yeah, Dad. Why are you being weird?"

"Ruby, you can talk to me. If something's going on, I—"

"I'm gonna miss the bus!" Ruby rushed up and kissed his cheek. "See you later, Dad."

His head sank. "Right, have a good day, honey. I love you."

Did he? Sometimes, Ruby wasn't sure. It could be hard to tell, and at some point saying it started feeling hollow. Like it was something family was obligated to say. Some part of Ruby knew she was probably thinking unreasonably, but that side spoke entirely too quietly. She kissed his cheek one more time and said, "Love you too."

Fifty-two percent. A "D."

There were times when Ruby felt dumb, like when she missed those apparently obvious social cues, or said something that didn't make sense, or told a really bad joke. Harmless enough situations by themselves, embarrassing but little else. History wasn't even a subject she cared that much about. But a D grade? When she'd always gotten at least B's and higher? Now she felt stupid. A complete and total idiot.

She felt her eyes warm and had to flip over the paper to keep from crying, all the while trying to find some reason to excuse how she'd gotten such a poor grade. Obviously Mister Oobleck hated her and wanted her to fail—only that didn't make sense because he was one of Dad's old friends, and he'd always been kind to her. Another reason could be that she hadn't studied hard enough, which would make sense, but she was trying not to blame herself here. No matter what excuse she came up with, it excused nothing. She'd fallen off, plain and simple.

Things hadn't been this way before. She'd used to get good grades all around, nothing lower than a C in the worst of cases. And even that had only happened once. How could she have done this badly? How could she have let it come to this?

She knew why. Of course, she knew. Ruby wanted to be angry, but couldn't manage it over the crushing disappointment. Wanting nothing more than to curl up in a corner somewhere and be alone. All of sudden she couldn't wait for lunch, to be around her friends so she didn't have to think about today anymore.

She sat on the far side of the class, rather purposely in the first place, since the last thing she wanted was to be the center of attention. It hardly mattered with a teacher like Oobleck, who had a systematic way of getting everyone involved with the class to a regular degree, but it did work for her peace of mind. Seeing so many people ahead made her feel like she could fade into the background and be forgotten. Ignored. That was all she wanted now.

There was a faint clearing from up in the high intercom, a clear indication of a sudden announcement, and the voice of Principal Ozpin came through. "Would a Miss Ruby Rose-Xiao Long please report to Miss Peach in the Guidance Office? Again, Miss Rose-Xiao Long, report to the Guidance Office."

Ruby blinked up at the intercom like she was skeptical of its entire existence. She'd never gone to the Guidance Office, and maybe only talked to Miss Peach once. She remembered it being a weird talk, though she couldn't be sure why. People watched her as she got up, and with Mister Oobleck's nod, she went on her way.

What could Miss Peach of all people want with her?

There was no sound in Miss Peach's office for a while, nothing except the faint clicking of the woman's watch as she winded it on her wrist. Miss Peach hadn't greeted her when she walked in, merely gesturing to the seat in front of her with a warm smile that was admittedly comforting in some small way—reminded her a bit of mom. And for close to a minute, neither of them said anything, with Ruby looking around in an attempt to distract herself from the fact that the woman was staring rather intently at her. Like how a scientist might observe a rat in his twisted experiment.

Finally, Miss Peach did get to the matter. "I'm sorry for interrupting your class, Ruby. I'm sure you're wondering why I called you here?"

Ruby lowered her head a bit. "Um… maybe a little."

"Well, being frank, I'm worried about you."

"Me?"

"You. I may just be the guidance counselor, but it's my job to watch and look for changes in the behavior of my students. I try to watch first-years most closely. To make sure they're adjusting to the school, the curriculum, the day-to-day madness." She paused for a long moment. "How are you adjusting, Ruby?"

"I'm okay, I think."

"No troubles?"

"The cafeteria is always out of grilled cheese at lunch, if you could do something about that."

Peach chuckled. "I'm afraid that's beyond my powers. What about your classmates, Ruby? Friends. Do you struggle in that area?"

Where did she begin? For most of her life, making friends was almost completely by accident, and through little active effort of her own. She was the weird kid, the skinny little dweeb, but just innocuous enough that no one tried to bully her. But in high school, especially with Yang, she'd rather easily slipped into her group of friends, even if they were older. Then again, those weren't really her friends were they? Perhaps Weiss and Blake and Nora and everyone else was already predisposed to like her, or at least be kind to her, by virtue of being Yang's friend—and by not wanting to be her enemy. Heck, she remembered her first day Cardin had tried picking on her, and one of his friends told him who she was related to, and she'd never seen a boy so scared since. Perhaps that should have been comforting, to have a big sister that provided everything and made her school life so safe and easy.

But Yang did not know how big a shadow she cast over her, even now that they didn't spend much time together. Ruby could tell her that, but what kind of ungrateful person gets upset at their sister for making their life better?

"Not a whole lot. Anymore." Ruby said.

Surprisingly, Peach did not press further on that subject, despite Ruby's open-ended answer giving rise to a rabbit hole of follow-up questions. "How about your schoolwork? How do you feel about your grades?"

Ruby lowered her eyes. "They're fine."

"I see. I'm glad to hear that things are going well for you. In school." Another pause, and Miss Peach's smile slipped a little, right as she twisted her watch into one final click. "What about at home, Ruby? Are things alright there?"

Other than her sometimes nosy dad, or her oftentimes absent sister, or her most times drunken uncle? Fantastic. She spent most of her time in her room, reading mistrealean comics, playing video games, and writing her crappy fanfics. Those, and occasionally putting on headphones and blasting music in her ears to drown out the noise downstairs. Crying when it wasn't enough. Crying even when it was. "Yeah." she said simply.

Peach nodded as if she'd anticipated that question all along, though not in the way Ruby might have expected it. "Are you cold?"

That caught Ruby off guard. "What?"

"That sweater. It was quite hot this morning, I can only imagine the discomfort. But I imagine you wear it because it's cold here."

Oh, that's what she meant. Of course. "What about it?"

Peach leaned forward, hands clasped together, the pink fingernails of one hand tapping her knuckles. "Ruby, do you know what confidentiality is?"

Ruby shook her head.

"It means that you have a right to privacy. It means, I cannot and will not divulge any information that you do not want me to. It means, if there is anything you need to talk about, to get off your chest, I will listen, and promise not to break your trust. Understand?"

Ruby's heart had begun pounding, or perhaps had been this whole time, and despite her best efforts, her voice came out unsteady. "I-I'm fine."

"Are you sure, honey?"

Ruby nodded, perhaps too quickly, but she wanted to get out of that office. She had to get away. "I swear I'm fine. Can I please go back to class?"

Peach leaned back in her seat, expression unchanged, as if she hadn't been in Ruby's face, trying to dig into her personal life. Then again, she did this for a living, being nosy, just like Dad. Why did she even care? Why did Dad care? Uncle Qrow certainly didn't. And if Yang cared, she wasn't around enough that Ruby could be sure. Now Miss Peach was getting into her business? Why couldn't she just be left alone?

"Yes, you may go. Again, I'm sorry for dragging you up here. I Just like to check up on my students from time to time. I hope you understand."

Ruby didn't understand in the slightest, but she nodded anyway. She pushed up out of the seat, Peach's eyes following her, found some temporary reprieve from that stare as she headed to the door, then shared one final glance with Peach. She was wearing that same innocently kind smile as always.

"Ruby, I want you to know you can come to me about anything. It just takes a little courage. Remember that, alright?"

Courage. That was a word Ruby understood the meaning of, at least. Her mom loved that word and used it often. It had been easy to have courage when she constantly spouted about it, brimming with energy, bringing light to the world. To the family. Of course, her mother hadn't talked much about courage since she died. It seemed, even after all this time, after most of everyone had moved on, certain people had yet to accept the fact that her mother was dead, and that there was more to be worried about now. But who cared what a fifteen-year-old had to say?

"I'm fine." Ruby assured her one last time. But Peach very obviously did not believe her. Which was fair enough, Ruby didn't much believe herself either.

She headed out into the hall and shut the door behind her, turned to head off, only to run right into someone. A tall someone. She looked up, and it was a strange mixture of relief, confusion, and slight fear at the familiar face.

Jaune looked down at her with those blue eyes of his that she could never quite get a read on. He wasn't a particularly scary-looking person, but she always felt a little uneasy around him. There was something about him that was concerning. As if he was unknowingly standing at the edge of a cliff and one more shove could send him over. He was nice otherwise, though in his case, the word nice simply meant, not mean.

"What are you doing here?" Ruby asked.

"I go to school here?" he said.

"That's not… never mind. Did Miss Peach call you, too?"

"Yeah."

Strange. Ruby had not heard the intercom call for him. Then again, Miss Peach was his aunt, so she'd probably just messaged him or something. Why was she loitering around here anymore anyway? She stepped out of Jaune's way and let him pass. "Guess I'll see you at lunch."

Jaune passed her a brief glance, one where he glanced her up and down, sized her as though she were a target for his bowshot. Not too dissimilar to his aunt. Then he slipped into Miss Peach's office without another word.

It seemed that Ruby had finally gotten what she wanted. To be ignored. Salvation, right? Only it did not at all feel as relieving as she thought it'd be. Instead, she was just hurt, and lonely, and tired, and wanted so badly for someone to hold her and say things be alright. But nothing was alright. They hadn't been since mom died.

Perhaps nothing would ever be alright again.

"Yeah, see you at lunch too, Ruby," she responded for Jaune as she headed back to class in silence.

Ruby was probably an obvious choice, but no less perfect for that. We're just gonna jump into it and keep the pace going, though I expect this arc to be slightly longer than Neptune's now that I've planned it all out. Thanks for reading and see you in the next one.