ooOOoo

"So, let me get this straight," Jaune tapped his foot anxiously against the ground and cupped his chin. "You let a stranger go after Ruby, instead of going after her yourselves?!"

"To be fair," Nora interrupted the blonde boy's thoughts. "Penny went looking for her first."

"And where is Penny?" For the fifth time since they'd gotten to the diner, Coco hung up her phone with a sigh. "Still not picking up?"

"It's not even ringing anymore." Coco's glasses slid down the bridge of her nose and she sighed heavily. While it seemed that Ruby's new friend had replied for her last night, they still hadn't heard anything from the freckled red-head.

"Well, when is Ruby getting here?" Early afternoons didn't usually sit well with the blonde. He liked to sleep in, preferably not being woken up for an emergency that no one would really fill him in on. Seriously, why did they have to make yesterday a Ladies Night?!

"She's on her way," Coco rested her head on her palm with a bored expression. This was unusually slow for Ruby. Normally, she'd have bolted out the door and been here within 30 seconds, not 30 minutes. She only lived about a 10 minute walk away. As if on cue, she spotted the familiar red tips of her dark-haired friend and grinned.

A waiter came up to Ruby as she was scanning over the tables and Coco assumed that he must have asked Ruby about a seat. Ruby spotted her friends and he gave her an apologetic look. Looking behind herself, she said something that resulted in the appearance of the Atlesian huntress. She stood beside Ruby, who took her arm, and they walked toward the table at a slow speed.

"Hey guys!"

"Holy crap!" Jaune shrieked as Ruby came up on him. "How the hell did you sneak up on us? I can normally smell you the minute you walk i- wow, that jacket is nice. Did you steal it?"

"Why do you always assume I steal everything, Jaune?!" Ruby whined. She wasn't a clepto! "I can actually afford to buy things!"

"Oh, I'm sorry," he deadpanned at her and air quoted himself. "Who did you borrow it from without the intent to return?" That jacket was way too nice to be in her price range.

"Does he always whine this much?" A voice he didn't recognize came from beside his friend and he was met with piercing blue eyes that sent a chill through his soul.

"Be nice," Ruby nudged the girl with the arm she had interlocked with the girl's. "You were a people person last night." Ruby clung to her playfully. "Where's that person at now?"

"Back at your house," she snapped. "Where you should be in bed, with your legs propped up!"

"Oh my," Coco snickered and the group of girls blushed at the implied innuendo. "I'm not even mad about the $10 anymore. This is priceless."

"Ten… dollars?" Snow looked back and forth between Coco and Ruby. "Ruby, do you owe her money?" Ruby dropped her head and tried to hide herself in Snow's arm.

"No," her voice was muffled by her contact with Snow's bare skin. "They're just being pervs."

"What was perverted about what I…." Mid-sentence, Snow stopped as the gears turned inside her head. "I will watch what I say in front of your friends from now on."

"Good girl," Ruby patted her head and Snow looked absolutely mortified.

"Did you just…" Ruby grinned slyly at her. "Sit down before I finish crippling you."

"You won't do that," Ruby stuck her tongue out and slid in the semi circle of seats. Air escaped the cheap covering as she scooted across and she patted next to it. "Sit next to meeeee!"

"I can stand," Snow crossed her arms. "It's a better vantage point."

"No," Ruby pulled her arm and forced her next to her. "All that's gonna' do is make you stand out!" Snow paled at the accusation and Ruby grinned, pulling her into the seat with her. "You'll make people uncomfortable and draw attention to us. Besides, no one's gonna' do anything in broad daylight."

"You would be surprised…"

"Uh, excuse me," Jaune interrupted with an irritated look. "But who the hell are you?"

"No one important."

"Snow," Ruby gave her the infamous puppy dog eyes she was famed for. "Please be nice. You can trust them."

"…I just don't see why you couldn't have them go to your house," Snow relented and looked away. "You can barely walk…" A couple of snickers came from the two girls across the table and Velvet blushed at their suggestive giggles. "Seriously? Are your friends two year olds?"

"… yes…" That clearly wasn't the answer Snow was expecting and she sighed.

"So at any point that you were texting them this morning, did you happen to mention what happened last night?" More giggles. "I take it that you left that out. Judging by how they were so quick to jump on me last night, I'm sure they wouldn't be like this if you did!"

"Snow, Snow," Ruby placed a hand on her shoulder in a calming manner. "Relax! I tell them everything!" The wild look in Snow's eyes died down as they exchanged looks and Ruby averted her eyes. "But I maaaay have left some details out."

"Please specify."

"Wow, that was really cut and dry," Ruby chimed.

"Ruby…"

"…Everything between the bar and my house…"

"…"

"Snow?" The Atlesian stared at her and blinked twice.

"I want mein jacket back," Snow said in a monotone voice.

"What!" Ruby gasped in mock shock. "But you said I could wear it!"

"Ja," Snow reached toward her jacket. "But that was when I assumed you weren't going to be a pain in the ass."

"Nooooo," Ruby whined and backed away, holding the jacket possessively. "I'll be good! I'll explain things right!"

"Alright… I don't understand why you want it so much," Snow sat back up, followed by Ruby. "Inside it on the right, there's a pocket in the lining. Would you pass me the small case in it, Liebe?"

"Uh, sure?" Opening the jacket, she looked for the pocket and rummaged around in it until she felt a small case. Fishing it out of the deep pocket, two long sticks came with it. Ruby stared at them for a moment before she passed the container to Snow, who sat it on the table. Ruby let the sticks fall back into her pocket and smirked to herself. "I've never met someone that just carries chop sticks with them. You must really like Chinese food."

"Chop… sticks?" Snow quirked a brow at her and thought for a moment. "Oh! No, I wear my hair differently out in the field, but I suppose one could use them as chopsticks if they chose. They'd be dirty though, so there would be no sense in putting them in your hair though."

Eventually, the waiter appeared with some food items for the members of the group that had arrived earlier. Upon seeing the two new additions to the group, he asked for their orders. Snow simply wanted water and Ruby was hesitant to get anything. At first, she passed, but Snow was insistent that she could pay for her if money was the problem. All the while, Ruby began to explain the previous night's events.

When Snow's water arrived, they watched curiously as she opened her container and popped a pill into her mouth. She closed the case and handed it back to Ruby, who looked at it curiously for a moment and put it back. Snow didn't seem to want to go into details about it, but she felt like she could probably ask her in private.

"Soooo, Weiss Schnee is a vampire and wants to eat you now?!" Jaune asked in disbelief. They'd all been there for her funeral. "But why?"

"Apparently, my blood is special to vampires." Ruby fidgeted nervously as she thought about it. "Which also explains why I have to go for check-ups so often. I just wonder why they never told me."

"I'm wondering why you know though," Coco eyed Snow suspiciously. "You seem to know an awful lot of things that you don't have clearance for."

"Mmmm," Snow thought it over for a moment. "Not really."

"So you expect us to believe that you coincidentally happened to show up at the bar that Ruby went to and you just happen to have a wealth of knowledge about her circumstances," Coco said skeptically. "But you also don't know her and this is your first time here in years?"

"Oh, I never said that."

"Which part?" Nora laughed. "Cuz there was a lot!"

"I'm glad you find this funny," Jaune barked. "Because the rest of us don't… and Ruby, how can you just trust her?!" Again, Ruby fidgeted, but this time she drew closer to Snow, almost as if by instinct.

"I also find myself wondering the same thing!" A half-irritated voice came into Snow's ear, making her hair stand and her body go still.

"H-headmaster?!" The group of students all said in unison as the tall man leaned over Snow's shoulder. With dark hair and tan, youthful skin, he looked much younger than he truly was.

"I see you managed to find your way back to Miss Rose's side!" She swallowed hard and trembled as she turned her head to confirm the new presence.

"H-how did you know I was here?"

"I didn't," he said with a passive-aggressive smile. "I came here for Miss Rose and happened upon you. Imagine my surprise at seeing you here right now."

"Right, right… I get it," Snow hung her head and sighed. "I wasn't planning on staying in Vale long, anyway…"

"Oh no," his eyes softened. "I trust that you wouldn't come back unless there was a good reason." He frowned at her. "I raised you better than this. The least you can do is say hello to your old man."

"O-old man?!" Jaune shrieked. "Y-you're the headmaster's kid?!"

"That actually explains a lot," Nora said under her breath.

"That's right," Oscar pulled Snow close and practically melded their faces together. Snow tried to pry away, but his grip was iron-tight and pointed at himself with his free hand. "Don't you see the similarities?"

"We're not similar at all," she tried to gnaw at his arm but he was unphased. "Oscar…."

"That's not very nice, my little Snowcakes!" He grinned with his eyes shut. "You're gonna' hurt daddy!"

"I'm adopted!"

"That doesn't change anything," he said in a more serious tone. "I still elected to take you in when no one else would. You're very important to me."

"Says the man who sent me away for 11 years and kept me in the dark on things I should have been among the first to know," she growled at him. "How does that make me important to you?! You just fund keeping me alive. You don't even know what I've been through the last few years."

"Your sensei keeps me informed."

"Heh, Sensei," Snow gave a dark laugh. "She's no longer my handler. Did she inform you of that?"

"No, she," Oscar's expression went blank. "…didn't…"

"Heh, figures," Snow rested her hand on her chin. "I see her every once in a while to exchange information. She never asks how I'm doing though. Still, she's there more than you are."

"Are you…" He hesitated for a moment. "Completely on your own?"

"I have Zwei…"

"That's not…" Oscar rubbed his sinuses. "It's not healthy for you to rely on him so much."

"Why not?" Snow asked coldly. "He's the only one who hasn't left my side. He's always there." She hissed the words at him and waited for a response, though he didn't have one. "Why are you here, anyway?"

"I was looking for Miss Rose." He said quietly. "Her sister is currently in the hospital. Her injuries are rather serious, but she's stable."

"Wait, what?!" Ruby hopped up, but immediately sat down as the pain hit her. "What happened to Yang?! I have to go see her! I-"

"Snow, let me ask you something," the headmaster put his arms behind himself and watched her carefully. She looked away under his gaze and shifted uncomfortably. "Were you present during last night's raid?"

"…"

"I need you to come with me," he said in a direct manner. "I need to have some sort of idea of what happened and if you witnessed anything then… There have been… some complications and I need as many statements as possible, preferably before Miss Xiao Long wakes up."

"I understand…"

"I'd be happy to answer any questions you may have afterward," he said reassuringly. "I'm sure you have a lot of them. After all, it's been 11 years."

"I..." Snow shifted again. "Would appreciate that… Oscar…"

"Heh, come on," he put his hand on her head affectionately. "While we're at it, you can also fill me in on the condition of Miss Rose's legs. I'm sure there's an equally interesting story there."

"… I had a busy night," Snow snapped and mumbled under her breath. "Here I was, thinking you were finally starting to be respectable." She pulled a wallet from her pants' pocket and started to take some cash out, though he stopped her.

"I'll tell them to charge everything to my account," he smiled insistently. "Their items, as well. So put your money away."

"I can-"

"Take advantage of my kindness while I'm here," he smiled once more. "I won't always be."

"Fine," Snow sighed and stood up. "I'll see you later, Ruby."

"Wait," Ruby pulled at her arm. "Can't you come with me?" Snow gave her an apologetic look and shook her head slowly.

"I'm sure they can take you," Snow looked to her friends and Coco nodded in response.

"But," panic started to well up in Ruby's eyes. She looked around herself and remembered the jacket. "You need your jacket, right?" Ruby started to shrug it off, slowly revealing some other marks on her arms, but Snow stopped her.

"You can hold onto it." Snow leaned into her ear and whispered. "I'll come back to you as soon as I can, okay?" Snow backed away to look her in the eyes. She flashed her a smile and Ruby nodded once, returning the gesture, as Snow walked away with the headmaster.

They stopped briefly for him to say something to the manager, who nodded in response. As they left, Ruby followed them with her eyes, hoping that Snow might look back. The dark haired girl followed behind the man and turned her head as they walked out, meeting Ruby's eyes and they both smiled at each other with a small wave. Feeling satisfied, Ruby turned around and sank back into the seat. It was strange how quickly she felt herself growing attached to her, but she felt wanted. It had been a while since she'd felt something on this level with another person and she desperately wanted to explore this newfound connection they shared, but at the moment, there was something far more important.

"Soooo," Nora's voice broke the silence. "We're gonna' go see Yang, right?"