Author's Notes
BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP
Hey, is it just me or is the new story alarm going off? That's a-right, it is!
Ozpin pays a bit more attention, and 2 lives are changed forever. Blake Belladonna and Jaune Arc, Beacon's pair of frauds, have nothing but each other and their weapons when they are kicked from the academy before school even begins. Now penniless and hopeless, their only option is to unite and form a team of freelance hunters. Together, they will do missions and shit.
Be sure to give it the old check-out-arino. It's my longest story yet, and it's a fun one more focused on adventuring and friendship than on saving the world or going through trauma (so basically, it's a good cooldown from Origin Story).
Happy rats, and don't do crime!
Chapter 20 – Gilderoman Lockhart
In which Weiss Schnee doesn't have to charm a room full of Cornish Pixies.
Professor Torchwick's right hand balled up into a fist, and his left hand remained open with the flat of his palm facing towards the students. Then, he turned these hands towards one another, pressed them together, and took a bow.
"Students. It is an honor to be among you. My name is Sensei Torchwick, but you may call me Roman if you so choose. Humility is the mark of our kind, and it must remain so if we are to fulfill our destinies of guardianship."
Some of the students attempted to recreate the hand motion, thinking it was some sort of greeting to be returned, but most of them just watched in awe. Weiss noted that Ruby was definitively among the latter crowd.
"Now, then – on to the class. So, what are Special Tactics?" He clapped his hands together and rubbed them, smiling a brilliant, slightly toothy but not so much to be discomfiting smile. "Extra credit to anyone who can properly tell me."
Several hands rose in the air, but none higher than the one in the red hooded cloak.
"I'm sorry to admit that I cannot call upon you by name, but I vow to rectify this error soon. A Sensei should always be familiar with his, her, or their charges. Let's have…the young huntress in the red hood with the…hmmm…" He scratched at his chin. "…the sniper scythe over her shoulder?"
Crescent Rose was folded up into a plain looking rounded rectangle of nothing, and Weiss herself was stumped as to how he deduced that. Perhaps he truly was a cut above the rest and and could somehow determine a weapon at just a glance.
Or perhaps that bit about not knowing our names is bullshit, and he looked up the entire class in advance.
It seemed unlikely that he had memorized the full roster and their armaments, but was it more unreasonable to believe that he could identify a closed sniper scythe at a glance? This man truly did carry mystery with himself wherever he went.
"I think that secret tactics means –"
"Ho ho ho, hoooold those bright red horses there, lass. You have the energy of a hero in the making, but we're still at the 'in the making' stage. Let's start with your name."
"Okay," Ruby said with a smile. "I'm Ruby Rose, and I'm single."
Professor Torchwick…oh, excuse Weiss, Sensei Torchwick's smile didn't fade. If anything, it was only brighter, but in a way that made it seem slightly forced, as though he was manually holding the muscles in that pose.
"Now then, Miss Rose, let's take a shot at those bonus points, shall we? Tell me, in your own words, what you think Special Tactics are."
Ruby didn't hesitate to answer. "Tactics that are special."
The professor pursed his lips, and his pupils raised upwards in thought. Then, he winked at her. "Can't find myself disagreeing. Anyone else?"
Another student, the mohawked one from Team Cardinal, raised his hand and was picked next. "Russel Thrush, sir."
"Roman, young huntsman. Or Sensei if you must – I put the choice in your hands. And I must compliment you on your self-expression. Few have the courage to proudly wear their own truths, and fewer still do so with such style. Your answer, my friend?"
Russel beamed. "Special Tactics are strategies and modes of combat to be deployed in circumstances that huntsmen don't encounter regularly."
"You have the energy of someone who's exceedingly close, but just inches off the mark. Unfortunately, I can only give the extra credit to someone who's 100% correct. Your response, while well-reasoned, contains two faults. First, Special Tactics can be applied to both huntsmen and our proud huntress sisters. True inclusion doesn't begin until we all make a conscious effort to improve the world we live in. Second, does there truly exist a 'regular?' We hunters live the unique lifestyle that many on Remnant can only dream of, but with it comes inherent forces of life itself, like change. Change, my friend Russel, is the flow of the river that shapes us, and we are the rocks polished by its current. When one day you graduate and face the world at large, you'll learn that ever day is unique, and there can be no regular."
Weiss couldn't say she liked the little noise Ruby made in response to that speech. It was somewhere between a longing sigh and an amorphous mating call of an animal.
I've had enough of this.
She raised her own hand.
"Ah, a new contender. Tell me, young huntress – who are you, and what do you believe Special Tactics are?"
"My name is Weiss Schnee, Sensei."
Weiss called her teacher by his preferred designation, and she ignored the snarky comment on the tip of her tongue about how he would obviously know who she was if he didn't live under a rock. Two could play at this game of faux politeness.
"I believe that Special Tactics can, in this context, be used as a blanket term to describe any method of combat used to ensure a huntsman or huntress is triumphant in a circumstance when victory would be otherwise impossible by standard methods, herein defining standard methods as fighting styles taught in other classes or by other instructors. Or Senseis."
The professor nodded. "Without a doubt, young huntress, you cover all your bases. Spoken like someone with the energy of a businesswoman." He turned away from the class and raised a hand in the air, tapping a finger at nothing in particular. "My friend Weiss is correct. Special Tactics, according to my definition, is whatever you will use to save your own lives. It is the duty of your other professors to teach you how to protect others, but my job as your Sensei to instruct you in the ways of protecting yourself.
"Now then. How shall this class be conducted? It will not be conducted in the same manner as the esteemed huntress Glynda Goodwitch critiques spars among the entire class for group learning, nor will it follow the esteemed huntsmen Peter Port or Bartholomew Oobleck's lecture series format. No, in here, we shall be catering to your individuality. Each student is unique in their energies, and so there is no generic lesson to be taught here – I will work with each of you to create an individual strategy tailored to the student, or occasionally to the partnership of two or team of four when applicable.
"To that end, I must come to know you all individually, first. While I know my dear friends Ruby, Russel, and Weiss already, there is no way I can succeed in perfecting each and every students' Special Tactics without a personal interview. We'll be discussing topics such as weaponry, Dust usage, semblance, aura reserves, and any other factors that define you as a huntsman, huntress, or hunter. Furthermore, personality must also be taken into account, for your unique energies define both you as a person and you as a combatant. These interviews will take at least a half-hour each, and until I conduct them with each student, I cannot proceed. This means that for the next month of class, there shall be no homework or in-person attendance to class necessary, save for your own interview dates, which I will provide to your scrolls."
Most of the class was ecstatic to hear that. Not only would they be getting a free period back, but they would also not be adding any coursework to their already busy schedules. And since the other professors of Beacon had already toned down their own number of assignments to allow the students more time to work on the work they assumed Professor Torchwick would be assigning, that meant the total time spent on homework was actually going down as a result of the new professor.
Weiss herself was thinking of different things. Torchwick was basically admitting that he wasn't going to be teaching for the first month of classes, lending credence to the theory that he had no true academic qualifications. Furthermore, if he intended to gather intelligence on all of Beacon's first years' capabilities, this was the ideal way to do so.
As for Ruby, she was focused on an entirely different thing.
"I'm his friend," she said, nudging Weiss with her elbow. "He called me his friend, Weiss! I…oh, sorry." She stopped poking Weiss' ribcage, a welcome choice, but her misplaced enthusiasm remained. "We're best friends, Weiss! A-And that could be the prelude to more than friends!"
"I'm sure it's only a matter of time before you're having his children," Weiss quipped sarcastically.
"Yo, teach." Yang didn't raise her hand when she spoke, nor did she refer to the professor by his preferred designation. "Got a question."
Weiss recalled that they supposedly knew one another from before. Was Yang going to ask about it so directly?
"All knowledge is freely given from Sensei to student, my friend. Ask your truth."
"Is're a sign-up for interviews, or are they determined in advance?"
Professor Torchwick smiled, the same perfectly charming grin from before. It wasn't like Father's fake smile, Winter's agonized look of forced pleasantry, or Whitley's thinly veiled sneer-smirk. This smile was much more well-practiced; there was nothing visually off about it…which was exactly why Weiss knew there was something wrong here.
No teacher is truly that 'cool.' He reminds me of every student-favorite substitute teacher I've ever met rolled up into one.
"Interview order was determined in advance using a randomized system provided by Beacon's Information and Technology staff," said Professor Torchwick, hands behind his back. "Favoritism, or even the appearance of favoritism, jeopardizes everything Beacon and the hunters behind it stand for. However, I can disclose who will be going today, if only to satisfy the curiosity I know burns within you."
Everyone in the class seemed to lean forward in their seats, either looking forward to a chance at impressing the cool teacher or dreading an opportunity to make a fool of oneself in front of him.
"The first interview will be…
Then, as his lips closed, the anticipated words on the tip of his tongue, 'Sensei' Torchwick seemed to look directly at Weiss. He paused, the pleasant smile turning briefly into something far more sinister.
Weiss heard Ruby's breathing intensify, and she realized that while it might've looked like he was looking to the leader, all of Team RWBY was clustered together enough that he could have been glancing at any one of them.
Me or Ruby or Yang – Yang, who he apparently has some history with, who he met before the class but refuses to acknowledge…this stinks to the high heavens of foul play.
"…Kevin Rhodopis of Team KRLL, followed by Fanny Bluebeard of Team CNBR.
And just like that, his gaze evened out to address the class in general, and the singling out of Team RWBY was no more.
"He's perfect," said Ruby Rose, as their team walked away from the classroom.
According to their schedule, her interview was set one week from now, and it was to be individual. Apparently, Sensei Torchwick thought that Team RWBY's uniquely special tactic was to be a single-woman thing, not a team effort as some others were scheduled. It could easily be construed as an attempt to separate and isolate them.
Currently, they had no class scheduled, so it was back to their dorm room for the time being.
"Perfect," Weiss repeated. "A paragon of virtue…unnervingly so. And did you see the way he looked at us at the end? I suspect something."
"You mean, the way he looked at me," Ruby said, beaming as her fingers fidgeted. "I'm getting vibes from that guy."
"As long as you're not using vibes to that guy," Blake said, only to be elbowed in the side by Yang.
"Dude, she's fifteen," grumbled Yang. Her scowl shifted. "But…I do think you aren't wrong, Schnee. That guy was just behaving a little too generously. Like, no classes for the first month? In a job he's only just picked up? That's not how teachers do things. Trust me, I have a dad and an uncle who both teach for a living, and I know how these things work."
"Yeah, but Dad and Uncle Qrow teach at a primary combat school," Ruby said ever so defensively. "It might be different for a hunter academy. And, I mean, the class does have Special in the title."
Ruby clearly wasn't sold on the idea, but Yang was. Weiss never thought she'd see the day.
But there's one last member of Team RWBY who we still don't know the opinion of.
"Blake?" Weiss offered the name more than she asked it.
The Faunus was silent for a moment, and Weiss wondered if that meant she was still on the fence about it. She'd been adamantly agreeing with Weiss earlier, but perhaps the lesson had changed her opinion of the new professor.
Then, Blake broke the silence.
"I agree with Ruby," she admitted.
Weiss hadn't been expecting that.
"He's the dreamiest hunk of man in the world," Blake said, smacking her lips and drawing out the word world for longer than needed.
Okay, that makes more sense.
"Oi! Eyes off my man!" spat Ruby.
"Sis, I think she's screwing with you," Yang pointed out.
"No, I'm completely serious. I'd like to drag him into the teacher's lounge and do unspeakable things to him."
Weiss rolled her eyes. "And would these unspeakable things involve your womanly parts or Gambol Shroud?"
Blake let the joke go. "The latter. Yeah, Weiss is right about him. Individual interviews with each student, nothing assigned that he can grade for the first month of school, the whole new age neo-Sensei bullshit going on with energies and truths being every other word…he can't be a real teacher."
"B-But he's not supposed to," Ruby said. "He's –"
"He's not going to date you is what he's not," said Yang. Weiss couldn't tell if it was meant to be a casual joke or a mandate as a protective older sister.
Blake laughed. "Ruby, I know you're crushing on the guy so hard that his ribcage is in danger of piercing his lungs, but try to look at this objectively."
"I'm serious!" Ruby stamped her foot down and stopped walking. "You guys are the ones being antiobjective. You're being dejective! If you just think about it, you'd see that –"
"The term would be subjective," Weiss corrected, shaking her head. "And I'm almost certain we aren't, Ruby. Your affection is clearly clouding your judgment."
"NO!" Ruby screamed. "NO! STOP IT! STOP IT, WEISS! STOP IT!"
Ordinarily, Weiss would've responded to the insubordinate raising of Ruby's voice against her leader with a rebuke of some sort, but right now she was too stunned by the sheer loathing in her young partner's tone to even react. Blake and Yang were equally speechless, as none of the three girls had expected Ruby's little Romance to draw such rageful enthusiasm out of her. The quartet were at the base of the stairs to their dormitory on the second level, and now all of them decided to stop walking and pause of a moment.
"You listen to me! I mean, you have to….argggh! Stop ignoring me like I'm some idiot!"
Yang cleared her throat. "Rubes, you –"
"No! Don't Rubes me! Whatever you're going to say, you're wrong! It's not just some stupid kiddie crush – I'm trying to speak, and you keep shutting me down!"
Weiss sucked in her lips. "T-The floor is yours, then."
Ruby didn't even acknowledge her. "You all keep looking for something odd, and that means that you're sure to find it. But this isn't a regular class, and he isn't a regular teacher. It's called Special Tactics, and he explicitly said he isn't trying to just match Goodwitch or Oobleck or Port's style of teaching. Besides, he's not a trained credentialed teacher or something – he's just a guy who saw a school and wanted to help out. Of course he won't teach things with a curriculum and syllabus and textbooks; his class didn't exist before this week.
"Nothing he did is actually suspicious, is it? You've all just seen nothing suspicious and now are thinking, oh, the lack of suspicion is suspicious. He was a perfect gentleman, and apparently that's odd to you three, but if he'd been imperfect, you'd have used that as proof, because you want to find something wrong. I mean, do you think Ozpin hired him without an interview? Do you think that there aren't a ton of other people watching him because he's the new guy, breaking the mold? Yeah, maybe he got in through a show of talent and not because of his resume, and maybe he's a bit younger than the other professors, and maybe he isn't as professional as people seem to expect him to be, and maybe there's a lot of stress because he…because he knows that he's weird and his circumstances are weird and everyone's watching him, just waiting for a mistake, and he's doing his best to be perfect and not make that mistake…b-but that doesn't mean you don't get to give him a chance!"
Weiss was ashamed of how long it took her to stop hearing what Ruby was saying and actually listen.
Roman was young…younger than any other professor in Beacon history, perhaps. He lacked the proper training to be here, but it was through an act of heroism that had impressed the headmaster that he secured his place in Beacon. He was different from the others – an outlier in every sense of the world.
And here they were, the rest of Team RWBY, tearing him apart over empty speculation.
…tearing Ruby apart.
"It's not just puppy love, isn't it?" Weiss asked.
Ruby sighed angrily. "I keep telling you, it's not about that!"
"Exactly. You don't like Roman so much because of his looks or his charm. And it's not out of a desire to protect your crush that you're so bothered by our rejection of him."
The fifteen-year-old human said nothing, instead choosing to fold her arms in a way that belied frustration.
"I'm sorry, Ruby. It seems obvious in hindsight." Weiss reached out a hand. "May I?"
Ruby shook her head. "No, you mayn't."
That was a first, but Weiss respected Ruby's bodily autonomy and retracted the hand.
"Ruby, I apologize for my coarse actions. Just because he does not conform to my standards does not mean I should immediately rush to accuse him. Perhaps…Perhaps I'm being too harsh. I shall endeavor to give Profe…to give Sensei Torchwick more of a chance."
She vowed to truly do so, and not merely entertain Ruby for the sake of pacifying her. If she were to truly be a leader among these girls, she would have to respect their input. Weiss wasn't sure if she could shake her suspicions regarding Beacon's newest member of faculty, but she hadn't truly ever stopped to wonder if she herself was being biased against him.
His circumstances of arriving at this school are odd – there's no denying that. But so were Ruby's, and I didn't hesitate to accuse her and Yang of being the recipients of nepotism. There's no doubt that my actions here are bringing up the memory of that.
"S-Sis." Yang bit her lips. "I don't mean to burst your bubble, but I still have the card."
Yang reached into her pocket and took a moment to procure the business card that was supposedly from Roman.
"Maybe there's a rational explanation for it, if you just asked him?" Ruby said accusatorially.
Her sister merely put the card away without saying anything more.
Ruby turned to look at the last member of their team. "Blake?"
Blake shrugged. "I still think he's suspicious, but if it bothers you, I won't bring it up in front of you."
"Blake…" Weiss began, but the cat Faunus held up a hand.
"Just because he ticks Ruby's boxes doesn't mean that I'm just going to ignore all of the signs I'm seeing. It's my choice how I feel about him, not Ruby's."
That wasn't a great way for the team to interact, but Blake had requested that Weiss not force her to play nice. It had been Yang in question, but Weiss assumed the same standard applied to Ruby as well. As the team's leader, it was her job to ensure cohesion, not to force people to be friends or to be on the same page regarding their new professor.
Team cohesion.
Weiss had finished all her homework for the day, and she had a minute or two to ponder just what that meant.
Team cohesion. Working together as a team.
The four-person team had formed at around the same time the academies did, with the last king of Vale, a man named Oswald, insisting that it was the ideal model by which a fighting force could operate. Weiss suspected that he, an anti-militarist following the catastrophic devastation wrought by the great war, wanted to balance ensuring the efficacy of a hunter defense force with the potential threat that a large, unified body of troops made. Four was the right number to provide enough weapons to bring down just about any Grimm, from Sea Feilongs to Deathstalkers to King Taijitu to Giant Nevermore, but it wasn't enough to use as a strike force against, say, an outlying village that a kingdom wished to invade.
So, what was Team RWBY? Was it to be a perfunctory example of teamwork, with the four of them coasting through their educations? Would that be enough?
But perhaps the alternative was even more dangerous. If Weiss took this dysfunctional team and tried to shape it into something more, if she strove to achieve more than was reasonably expected from her peers, she risked disrupting the existing peace.
Except it's barely peaceful. Yang and I are probably just waiting for our next fight when I do something she disapproves of, the sisters themselves are brushing aside deeper issues of overdependence, and Blake seems to have no interest in…you know, come to think of it, I'm pretty sure this all ties back to Yang. Blake, Ruby, and I are fine.
No one wanted the boat to rock, but their heading was about to take them into rough waters. Was it better to act or not act?
There was no denying that a large part of the impetus behind her wanting more from her team was from her own desire for an above-average time at Beacon. Weiss Schnee, heiress of the SDC, was destined for more than just the bare minimum, or so she felt.
But it wasn't as though wanting to be the best team possible and taking carefully metered steps to realize that dream was inherently wrong. If she was too timid and let the team's problems fester in fear of doing the right thing for the wrong reason…
How far was she supposed to go? What was a leader supposed to do?
"…and that's basically the situation," Weiss said into the scroll.
She'd decided to do an audio-only call in the privacy of the rooftop above their dormitory at night. It wasn't that she was saying anything she feared her team hearing (they were all astutely aware of the problems, as they were parts of them), but she simply felt like she could give the best explanation and get the best advice from Kali if she didn't have Ruby, Yang, or Blake hanging over her shoulder.
"I want to clarify that Blake isn't being a problem. If anything, she's been the best member of the team to work with," Weiss said. Not a word of it was untrue, though she was probably explaining it in greater detail than necessary. "She's just…I'm not sure that she…I think that I want more from the team than she does."
"You want it to be the best, but she's just happy with it functioning."
Weiss nodded, then answered affirmatively when she recalled that the video was off. She normally left it on, but there was a fear that a teammate or schoolmate might see Kali, make the connection that it was Blake's mother, and think Weiss was tattling to her. Their team was already known to be dysfunction with Yang being sent back to her parents for nigh a week, and it would be all to easy for some wandering eye to assume the same of Weiss' other non-partner teammate.
"Blake will probably go along with anything I ask, but I just want your advice on whether I should even ask the team to do anything. Yang…Yang is a problem. Ruby has been a gem so far now that she and I aren't fighting anymore, but we still have problems every now and again, and even though she says she'll side with me over her sister if Yang is in the wrong, I don't want to test that."
Weiss looked out at the view of the school at night. Hundreds of students, tens of leaders, less than a score of teachers, and it was the only pipeline in the entire kingdom for an essential service.
And yet they offer no advice on leadership. I haven't even been told how far my authority goes or what my responsibilities are.
Perhaps that's the lesson – to figure it out on my own. But the responsibility…the consequences, if I fail…it seems so high risk to just throw me out into the deep end and hope I succeed.
"All I wanted to ask is if you think I would be better off accepting that things are working right now, or if it's in my and the team's best interests to try for more, even if there's a risk."
"And what do you think is the risk, Weiss?" Kali asked calmly. It sounded less like an interrogatory question and more like a rhetorical one, something to prompt Weiss into thinking over the risks herself.
"Specifically? I'd say there's a good risk that if I try to spend time with Yang and bridge our gap, she could be offended and see even less of me. Furthermore, if I continually appease Yang, it will only hurt Blake's impression of me – she'll see me as a pushover."
"Oh, I doubt that."
"I don't think it sits right with Blake the way Yang and I quarreled," Weiss admitted. She'd intentionally left out the details on that, having phrased it not untruthfully but in a manner that one would use to describe a verbal argument.
"Weiss, what aren't you telling me?" Weiss could practically hear the single raised eyebrow in Kali's tone.
"Blake seems to think that there was a racial element to this," Weiss said. She would never lie to Kali, but if she didn't have to tell her the full details, that wasn't lying, specifically.
"Weiss…"
"I don't suspect that Yang is a racist, but she did refer to my wings quite dismissively. However, both Ruby and I contend that she only did this because she knew what they mean to me, as a proud Faunus, and that they would be the most effective way to hurt me."
"Hurt you?" Kali made an angry noise on the other side. "Weiss, you take after your father in all the good ways, but I can't help you if you don't drop his sense of plausible deniability. Tell me what actually happened."
I can trust Kali. I can.
Weiss double checked that the door was closed. If this did turn into a more…emotional conflict with the woman who Weiss spent more of her childhood with than her own mother, she didn't want any interruptions.
"We…We were sparring. In Professor Goodwitch's combat class – she's the deputy headmistress of Beacon, you see, and her semblance is telekinesis, meaning that she can instantly separate any combatants, so there was no true danger to my life. E-Eh, er, that isn't to suggest that I felt endangered by Yang, merely that I was reassuring you of my safety in the most overly descriptive way possible, Kali. Nothing life-threatening."
"Weiss. What did she do to you? Did she hurt you?"
"I suffered a few broken bones."
"In your wings?"
"Y-Yes."
This was most unpleasant. Even though Weiss was the victim, admitting so to Kali somehow felt like she was confessing to a sin she'd committed. Weiss wanted to be proud of actions that day, but the truth was that she would rather just forget about that whole incident and never have to live through it in her mind again.
"And," Weiss breathed. "She…removed a feather."
"A feather?" Kali asked, doubt speckling her words.
"Multiple feathers. About a handful. Removed in a violent way."
"Oh, Weiss."
"And then shoved into my mouth for me to choke on."
She felt like crying. Weiss knew what was coming – she just knew that Kali was going to be supportive of Weiss, that Kali would be the kindest person in the world and side with Weiss and give her the best advice, and Weiss felt herself less than an utter garbage pail for going out and fishing for sympathy like she had.
"I think I see what the problem is," Kali said. "You're doing an excellent job of leading this team of young women, but Weiss…what about you?"
"W-What about me?"
"It sounds like you're putting the team first every step of the way. You give Blake a wide berth to decide her own opinions without forcing her to abide by yours, you go out of your way to bring this Ruby partner of yours up to speed with what she'd missed, and you kept Blake's partner on the team, overlooking what she did and what it means for you. You care enough to ask after them all and see that they're all faring well and fitting in, but who's doing that for you?"
"I…" Weiss hadn't been expecting this. Everything she knew about Kali and the fire in her belly when it came to injustice told her to expect rage. "…I thought you'd be angrier."
"At you? Never. At Blake's partner? I am. There's a reason I'm not saying her name; it's because I might snap if I…but you don't need that. Perhaps it would be gratifying for me, but you called me to help you, not chew out the girl on the other side. Weiss, my advice for you is recall that you yourself are one quarter of the team. What's best for the others is great, but you also need to think about what's best for yourself."
It was odd to hear that, since it sounded an awful lot like Weiss was being told to consider her own needs above Blake's own, and from Blake's own mother. She expressed this concern, hoping to clear up the misunderstanding.
"Not above Blake's, but in addition to. No one benefits if you suffer in silence, and my daughter is a big girl. I'm sure she's going to understand you taking your own personal feelings into account every now and again. Dust, she probably would rather you look after yourself than just her if you asked her. I care about you both, Weiss, more than anything. I may have given birth to Blake, but you're as much my daughter as you are Jacques'."
That was…
This…
It had always been known and occasionally implied that Weiss was as close as family, but never explicitly stated. This was probably the first time anyone other than her father had called her 'daughter.'
Weiss wanted to say something – acknowledgement, reciprocation, a desperate word of thanks for the sentiment that meant more to her than her entire family fortune – but she couldn't, because her throat was too tight from choking up to speak.
"That's my advice to you, then. For this problem with Yang, don't think of what would be good for the rest of your team. Do what is best for you. You've earned the right to make your own choices, Weiss."
"But I was given the responsi–"
"If all a leader focused on was responsibility, then Ghira and I never would have gotten married, or had Blake. Our relationship took time, Weiss, time we in theory could have spent planning marches or researching which brands to boycott or organizing resources within our burgeoning White Fang. But we didn't – we went on dates, we enjoyed our youth, we balanced work and play, and it's because of that that he and I are so happy right now. No one wants their team leader or high leader or chieftain or boss or CEO or anything to give up on life. No one expects them to." Kali cleared her throat. "Well, there might be one person who does, and I think I know how much his opinion matters to you."
Weiss blinked a few times and imagined her father's take in this situation.
'Daughter, you must set aside fleeting personal desires and focus on the needs of the company/team. Furthermore, I advise you break things off with Blake so you have more time to focus on your studies, and also please never eat ice cream again because my standards are too high for mortal beings.'
That sealed the deal in her mind. If Kali's heartfelt belief was Option A and her father's was Option B, then both were points in the favor of A.
"T-Thanks, Kali." Weiss dared not call her 'mother.' "I think you said exactly what I needed to hear. I know what I should do."
"Glad to help, chicken wings. Anything else you wanted to talk about while we're on the line together?"
Well, Weiss could admit that she was courting Kali's daughter (and apparently her foster sister, by that logic), but she felt that doing so would be violating Blake's own privacy. Thus, she held her tongue on that matter.
"No. It's been great talking to you."
"Anytime, Weiss, anytime."
Next Chapter: Paragon
In which Weiss Schnee and Ruby Rose have polar opposite experiences with the same Special Tactics teacher.
Author's Notes
Is Roman a scoundrel? Or is Weiss reading his genuine kindness as smirking villainy? Remember, there is no Salem in this one, so we know next to nothing of his true intentions.
We were overdue for a little drama, so this time it's Ruby vs. the rest of 'em. She won't be holding a permanent grudge, but her stance on the matter has been made clear. A little Ruby x Roman never hurt anyone (except the age difference that hurts everyone and ruins the ship), but it's more than just a crush. By defending her husbando, Ruby is defending her right to exist in Beacon.
At long last, we have Kali's overdue appearance. It won't be her last one, but this will be the extent of her role in the story (Weiss will call her for support, advice, and such). Ghira will appear in person a little bit, but it's basically the same effect, just in person as opposed to over a scroll call.
Blake is gonna be jealous that her mom copyrighted Weiss Belladonna before she could lock in and put a ring on that finger.
Happy rats, and don't do crime!