Chapter Text
She always found it kind of odd how they appeared seemingly out of nowhere. On a random Tuesday almost in the middle of the school year.
“Please, do introduce yourselves,” the professor had said. Weiss remembered it clear as day.
“Hi, My name’s Yang, Yang Xiao Long Rose,” the taller one with long blonde locks grinned confidently at the group of students in the class, “and this is—”
“Hi, My name’s Ruby, Ruby Xiao Long Rose, pleasure to meet all of you,” A girl with short brunette hair, dyed red at the tips, “and I hope we all get along in the next coming school days,”
That was when her curiosity had started. The very first instance that fueled her desire to figure out the mystery that surrounded the pair.
When she met silver eyes glinting against the sunlight… seemingly as deadly as a blade.
—
If there was one word she could use to describe the two sisters, it was that they were enigmas. Not to say that they didn’t get along well with people, it is quite the opposite in fact. They pretty much got along with almost everybody.
It didn’t matter who they talked to, they always seemed to manage to make friends with everybody. That was another oddity to her as no matter how many groups of people they mingled with and talked to, the sisters would always end up by their lonesome, talking amongst themselves as if they were in their own little world. Like no one else mattered other than whatever it was they were talking about in their bubble.
It was something Weiss couldn’t help but take notice of.
As if they held everyone just at arm’s length. Only pulling them closer when they need something from them. Somewhat devious yet… there was a certain charm that pulled you in. A trance that made you vulnerable and want to be used by them.
“Is it alright if I borrow this?” Ruby had asked her once, by some sheer luck (a curse), the brunette was placed next to her in their seat arrangement. Did she think it to be a blessing for the target of her scrutiny to be this close to her everyday?
No. Definitely not.
“Sure, here you go,” she hands the eraser and once again pulls her attention back to the lecture up front, whilst simultaneously trying to ingrain the interaction in her mind.
It was only later in the day when she had realized that Ruby Rose hadn’t given her eraser back.
—
As the weeks went by, she found more and more things about the pair of sisters. Most of which she would classify as superficial in nature. Shallow details about what kind of people they seemed to be.
How Yang was five foot ten and Ruby was only an inch shorter. How Yang hated bell peppers in her food and how Ruby would eat three cookies as a breakfast item daily.How no matter how hot it was, they always seemed to be wearing jackets or something that covered most of their body. How the pair seemed to be able to wrap the entire student body in their fingers but not a single person could ever tell her anything concrete about who they really were as people.
That the only thing that Weiss knew about them was how perfectly practiced their smiles seemed to be at all times.
There was something off about them… she couldn’t help but think one evening as she lay in bed, staring at the ceiling of her room.
Indeed, something was different about them and despite her wanting to drop this whole thing, she was already in way too deep to back out. A desperate desire to know rose above higher than everything else.
She was going to find out one way or another.
—
An opportunity arose one day as she was out shopping for some clothes and some other items she could use for her studies. She was browsing through the bookstore for some review materials when, through the other side of the glass, she saw Yang Xiao Long Rose leaning against a wall, a serious expression etched on her face when she was approached by a girl… no, a lady, who was either a college student or someone a bit older than that, with long black hair and golden eyes.
Almost instantaneously, the blonde’s bleak expression brightened as they shared a quick kiss.
…
Oh… well she certainly didn’t expect that.
You know what else she didn’t expect. A voice piping out from behind her, startling her and making her turn around so quickly only to come face to face with the younger sister herself, Ruby Rose.
“Well, didn’t expect to find you here today, Weiss,” she says with a small smile, “Sorry, did I surprise you?” her expression seemed a bit more playful than normal, “Don’t worry, I just wanted to know where Yang was going to in a hurry but I guess she was just meeting Blake,”
“Blake?” She couldn’t help but question.
“Yep, she’s a family friend, we’ve known her since we were kids, she’s a couple of years older but she’s cool, almost like another big sister to me, Yang and her started dating at some point,”
All of a sudden, there was a barrage of information coming at her. From knowing only the most shallow of information about them to finding out some familial connections. A part of her wanted to stay there and dissect the information piece by piece but her mouth had already begun running.
“So… you just came here to spy on them?” she raised a brow at the younger sister who merely smiled at her.
“Less spy, more like keep watch… Yang tends to get a bit more… distracted when she’s with Blake… I guess I just wanted to keep them safe…” Before she could continue that line of questioning, Ruby had already started to turn around, “you should get home soon too, it’s not safe for pretty girls to be out especially if night time’s just around the corner, Vale gets… darker than most when night falls after all,”
She couldn’t ask more after that.
Not about the mysterious way Ruby had said that, not when the girl had all but left her to thoughts.
There was something eerie about the way she said it too.
Needless to say, her shopping ended pretty abruptly after that. She went home and spent a good chunk of the evening trying to figure out the riddle that was the Xiao Long Rose sisters.
It was only much later that she realized Ruby might have just saved her life then. Only a couple of hours later, a big fight had broken that resulted in more than a dozen dead bodies littering the streets. A territory fight between the infamous underground families of Vale.
and despite her shaking her head at the unlikely probability. Deep inside, she already knew that the pair of sisters, her classmates, were most definitely related to whatever had just happened in the city that night.
—
The sisters didn’t show up to school for the next two weeks after that and when they did, they claimed that someone in their family, an Uncle or so, got sick with the flu and soon enough, everyone got infected by the flu so their family doctor had advised them to stay in and get better first.
A story that everyone seemed to buy. Everyone but Weiss that is. Maybe she was lucky that she sat next to the object of her curiosity after all. It only took a quick glance for her to notice a bruise that was hastily hidden by a patch of makeup. It was the same for hands as she clenched and unclenched it multiple times in every few minutes, everytime she did, it would be followed by a brief wince yet her expression remained the same throughout the lectures,
That was when she solidified the conclusion that the pair weren’t probably just mere enigmas. That they might just be involved in some really shady and highly dangerous things.
and that maybe, the more she’d be venturing out to find the truth, the more she was putting herself in unnecessary risk.
—
At some point, she really wanted to hit her past self. She should’ve stopped pursuing the truth when she had the chance. Stopped before she reached the point where she saw bloodied fists of those she considered once a harmless classmate. A harmless classmate that beat a guy to death just a few moments ago.
“Guess you found out the truth, huh, Miss Schnee… sadly, I don’t think we can let you go that easily,” Ruby said, impassively at her, staring at her very soul with those sharp silver orbs that could gut a man in half with a gaze, “But it doesn’t really have to end badly, we could keep you safe… provided nothing comes out and this all stays a secret,” Then she stood up, took the jacket she wore off leaving her with jacket revealing something that made her eyes widen and her legs shake with fear.
Arms, torso, back, covered in intricate tattoos. Of dragons and roses, guns and bullets.
The mark of one of the most dangerous crime families within Vale itself.
“So… what’ll it be, Miss Schnee, would you join us or forfeit your life at this very moment?”