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Professor Port's class was a paradox to any of its students going through the experience. They knew that the professor was (in)famous for always reminiscing about the past and never actually teaching them anything valuable. And yet they were still hopeful that one day he would realize that he was in a classroom and was supposed to teach them to kill Grimm, not tell them how he wooed a town full of Huntresses during his youth.
At least, that was Weiss's wish. She knew that her loud blonde teammate was more than happy with how the professor's lessons allowed her to take unperturbed naps, her anti-social dark-haired teammate could read her "literature" in peace, and her partner could draw weapon schematics at best and unflattering drawings of the professor at worst. But this was expected, not everyone was as dedicated in their studies as Weiss Schnee.
No one was more dedicated than her in reality, and she thrived at the knowledge that her knowledge exceeded more than the regular scholar. The bell after an agonizing two hour long class finally rang and the professor barely had enough time that his students already all left the classroom. Even Yang who was fast asleep just five seconds ago.
Lunchtime was a blessing from the Brothers themselves.
"And here I was, battered and lying on my back, facing the biggest Ursa I'd ever seen while on my last leg." Nora narrated her latest story, turning the heads of most of the two teams members. Ruby and Jaune were both listening attentively, Pyrrha listened passively, more captivated by her oblivious leader, Yang appeared attentive as well but was in fact stealing Pyrrha's grapes as she wasn't looking, Blake with the latest edition of Ninja's of Love in hands was unresponsive to the world around her and Weiss simply ignored everything coming out of the ginger girl.
"Nora, you can't be lying on your back whilst being on your last leg. Also it was a Boarbatusk... And you only got hit once." This only left Nora's best friend (and definitely only that, no matter the fact that the girl constantly needed to clarify how together-together they were) Ren to correct her.
Nora ignored him and brought her hands up. "It was like, this tall, but times 20! And as wide as a two professors Ports standing next to each other's."
"It was still pretty young and managed to hit her because it was too small for even her to notice."
"Reeeen! You meanie let me finish." Ren sighed but could not hold back a small smile from gracing his lips.
"Alright, sorry."
Nora pouted before shaking her head. "Right, where was I again? Oh yeah, times 30 and as wide as two Goodwitches with one standing one top of the other one." Jaune tilted his head in confusion.
"That doesn't sound very wide to be ho-"
"Both with their heels on."
Jaune's eyes widened and he closed his mouth in shock. The combat instructor was already tall to begin with but her heels made her tower over almost anyone except for Coco's teammate, Yatsuhachi Daichi. The calm giant was known for being, calm and giant. And being Coco's teammate. The blonde leader shook his head, he shouldn't get distracted, Nora wasn't even at the good part yet.
Weiss rolled her eyes at her friends' antics. Yes, friends. Sure she had not made the best, introduction with most of them, some she had barely even talked with, but she did consider the members of this little group her friends. At the very least some more than others, she was still unsure about the Arc's motives for flirting with her. The boy didn't seem like a bad person with an underlying reason, far from it actually, he seemed unable to lie to save his life, but she simply was not interested in him like that.
Her gaze settled on her partner next. If anyone was able to make a worst entrance in her life, she did not wish for it to continue. The girl had exploded, right in front of her no less! And she acted like a child who desperately wanted to prove how much of an adult she was, and she did. Her partner was an amazing Huntress. In training of course, but she was younger than them and still was on the same level as the rest of the group (she still had her doubts about Arc though). If only she focused on her academics a little more.
Next was the blonde. Dear Brothers, what did Weiss do to deserve this fate? Yang was a great friend, there was no doubt about it. If she cared about you, she'd probably go to any length to protect you, an admirable trait that was rare these days. It was such a pity that the girl was so, Yang-like! Bad puns, no, horrible puns. Anger issues, the girl did not seek danger, she was danger incarnate! She told them once that she had destroyed an entire club by herself and Weiss almost called her out for lying only for Ruby to ask if that was why she was banned from going to The Club.
Finally, the B of their team... Not that kind of B, although the girl was a huge pervert. And shameless as well, reading her smut in public without a care in the world. At least she was calm most of the time, preferring a quiet environment like the library over their dorm's ever loud state. No thanks to the two sisters. Blake would have probably been her best friend by now instead of Ruby if it hadn't been for their feud at the beginning of the year. Thankfully, the issue was resolved and she could safely say that she trusted Blake just as much as the rest of her team.
Her fork scrapped against her plate as she noticed that it was now empty without her even realizing it. She shrugged and prepared herself to stand up to bring her tray to the kitchens only to notice something unusual.
"Blake? Are you okay?" The girl did not react and Weiss's eyes narrowed. Something was wrong. "Blake?" Still no response. Weiss's confusing tone caught Yang's attention who stopped stealing from Pyrrha's plate and turned to her partner who had her head resting against the table with her book still in her hands on her laps.
"Blakey? It's almost time for doctor Oobleck's class, come on you don't wanna be la-" Yang shook her partner's shoulder and gasped when the movement pushed the Faunus out of her chair and on the floor. She was about to apologize when she noticed that the girl's eyes were rolling on top of her head while shaking. Her skin was turning a concerning shade of purple as well.
"Blake!" Weiss reacted and walked around the table to get to her teammate on the floor. She pushed the hair out of her face and saw foam forming in the corner of her mouth.
"Ruby! Get the nurse! Quick!" The group who had stopped listening to Nora when they heard Blake falling turned to Ruby who was already gone, only a trail of rose petals laying where she was. Weiss put her teammate's head on her lap and tried to remember the sequences of events in case the nurse asked them questions later.
What had just happened? One second Blake appeared fine and the next she suddenly collapsed from a simple shake. No, something must have happened. She checked for a pulse and luckily enough, it was still beating, if only faintly. A Semblance attack? Unprobable. She never heard of a Semblance which did that. What then? Not a weapon but maybe... She glanced at the table and saw that Blake's plate had already started being eaten by the girl. She noticed an unfinished tuna still here, Blake always ate her tuna first, if she hadn't been able to finish it, then it could only mean one thing. Something was wrong with this tuna.
Ruby reappeared a few seconds later with the school's nurse on her back. The nurse quickly examined the unconscious girl before asking for a student to grab her and bring her to the infirmary. Jaune opened his mouth to volunteer but Yang beat him to the punch and placed her hands under her partner before jogging after the nurse, leaving the rest of the group still in shock behind.
"Weiss, what happened to Blake!?" Ruby asked with worry evident in her voice and Weiss couldn't fault her. She would sound just like her if she hadn't been trained to keep a clear head by her father. She mentally berated herself for complimenting him.
The heiress shook her head slowly. "I don't know, she was fine just a second ago. She was eating and the next second, well, you saw it."
Ruby looked where Yang and the nurse left and used her Semblance to run after them. Team JNPR took both their and their sister's team trays to catch up with them and see what was wrong with the quiet girl. Weiss told them to leave her and Blake's trays here and they didn't question her before they left. The rest of the students in the cafeteria were all looking at her but Weiss paid them no mind, she was used to being the center of attention, and not always in a good light. She grabbed a plastic bag from her handbag (and Ruby told her that she'd never need them) and put the rest of the fish inside of it before closing it.
She noticed the girl's smutty book laying on the floor and picked it up as well. When she'll wake up, and if she's forced to stay in the infirmary for a day or two, she'll at least have something to distract her. She quickly brought the two trays to the kitchens before dashing toward the infirmary. She truly hoped that nothing had happened to her friend, she had grown to truly care about her like family. Just not the Schnee kind thankfully.
After less than a minute she was standing in front of the infirmary room, the door already open and team JNPR standing next to the entrance.
"Why aren't you inside?" Pyrrha answered first.
"The nurse kicked us out, only teammates are accepted." Weiss nodded. "Tell us if Blake's condition is improving, we have to go to classes for now." They left soon after and Weiss turned to the opened door.
She entered the infirmary and passed through the other beds hidden behind curtains to give the patients their privacy. She easily followed her teammates voices and opened the curtain hiding both girls, the nurse and their last teammate who seemed to be doing better. Well, subjectively better. She was a little less blue but still visibly shaking. At least, she wasn't foaming at the mouth anymore, her mouth instead being covered by a repiratory mask.
The nurse turned as Weiss closed the curtain behind her. "Mrs Schnee, right?" Weiss quickly nodded, not even looking at the nurse. "You were the one holding her when I arrived, do you know what happened to her?" At that she did turn however.
"No, all I remember was glancing in her direction and she was reading when suddenly she let her head fall on the table. I asked her if she was okay but she did not answer back. Then she started shaking and she turned blue and I asked for Ruby to go get you." The nurse's eyes narrowed and she shook her head.
"I'll need to look after her for a little while, I had an idea of what she was going through but, if it really is what I'm thinking about..." Yang who had been holding her partner's hand turned to look at the nurse worryingly.
"What's your analysis?"
The nurse clicked her tongue as if unsure. "I'm afraid I can't tell you without being sure of what happened first."
"You think she was poisoned." Both Ruby and Yang turned to her with flabbergasted expressions.
"SHE WAS WHAT!?" Ruby asked with a green expression while Yang's eyes had turned red.
"Are you sure? Who did it?"
The nurse raised her hand to stop them.
"Look, I don't know how you came to this conclusion but, you might be right. I've taken a blood sample from Mrs Belladonna just in case but the symptoms were those of someone who got poisoned. However, we're not sure yet. I haven't made any test yet, I only made her throw up to clear her body of most of what was hurting her but this is only a temporary solution. I'll need to find what's wrong with her first."
Ruby looked back at Blake with tears in her eyes but she was doing her best to hold back from crying. "But, who would even poison her? And how? We would have noticed, wouldn't we?" Yang's eyes turned back to their lilac colors and she brought her sister close to her in a comforting embrace.
"Hey, we don't know for sure. Maybe it was just food poisoning." Weiss would have joined the hug as well but something Ruby had said annoyed her.
"I do think that it was food poisoning, but Ruby is right. We would have noticed her being poisoned. And if not us, Blake would have." Sure, Weiss admitted that Blake seemed to always be lost in her books but even she would have heard or sensed someone messing with her food. "And think about it, if the problem was food poisoning, why was Blake the only one showing signs of it?" The nurse sighed.
"Listen, this whole, searching for clues is interesting and all but it's distracting me. Right now, Mrs Belladonna needs to rest in a calm environement. I'll call your team leader's Scroll if something shows up. But for now, I'll need you three to leave your teammate here, sorry." The three girls were reluctant but eventually accepted the nurse's words and left the infirmary with defeated faces.
Now outside of the infirmary, the sisters were holding each other, unsure of what to do. Weiss looked at them, wanting to be reassured as well that everything would be fine but she couldn't, not before she was sure that Blake would be fine. She turned on her heels and walked in direction of the classes which did not go unnoticed by Yang.
"Where are you going?" Weiss turned to look at her with resolved eyes.
"We need proof of Blake having been poisoned. And I have an idea of where we can look for clues." Yang looked at her in confusion, she looked unsure before she put her hands on Ruby's shoulder.
"Rubes, I'll go with Weiss. You go back with team JNPR and ask them if they noticed anything weird okay? And stay with them, if someone really poisoned Blake I don't want you to be alone." Ruby took Yang's hands and removed them from her shoulders. She looked adorably angry, at least in Weiss's objective opinion. Almost like a small barking puppy.
"Hey you don't get to play the big sister. That's no fair! I'm as worried as you, and Blake's my teammate as well. As your leader, I'm ordering you to do what you told me to do."
Yang took a deep breath and her tone went from caring to a little bit more mature.
"Maybe you're right, but Blake is my partner. I hate not knowing what she has and not being able to help in some way. I'm not asking you to let me help Weiss because I want to but because I need to. Please." Ruby looked between her two teammates and groaned. Again, a small barking puppy.
"You better tell me everything you'll find once classes are over. And you promise me to watch after her."
"I'll keep an eye on Weiss."
"I have your sister's back." Ruby nodded and used her Semblance to join back with team JNPR. "It's the other w-oh well." Meanwhile Yang had her mouth opened in disbelief.
"Did I, was I just out-sistered?... Whatever." Weiss walked and Yang followed next to her. "So those clues you were talking about?"
"I put Blake's leftover fish in my bag and I know that the physics lab has equipments that will help us-" Yang raised an eyebrow. "Help me find out what's in the fish."
"Any other day I would call you weird for putting fish in your bag but, today isn't any other day. I'll act as a bodyguard since sciencey stuff isn't really my forte." Weiss nodded and the two headed for the physics lab.
Yang closed the door behind them and Weiss went to work. The process almost took the rest of the day and Yang was crossing her arms the whole time. "Do you really think she was poisoned?"
Weiss froze before continuing her work. "I don't know, but I'm mostly sure."
"What if it's an allergy? Or something Faunus related? Or genetics?" Weiss bit her tongue.
"The allergy is a possibility, although the nurse would have known in she had an allergy thanks to Blake's medical records. Genetics doesn't turn your skin blue, not that I heard at least. As for something Faunus related, that doesn't exclude poisoning." Yang looked confused.
"What do you mean?"
"Faunus do not only share animalistic traits with animals, they also share some of their caracteristics. This is why Blake being a cat Faunus makes her like tuna more than steak for example. Of course, it depends on the person, not everyone is the same, you do not automatically like honey just because you have bear ears."
Yang put her fist under her chin in thought. "So, you think that someone messed up with Blake's fish and that's what caused her to react like she did?"
"That is the most logical answer."
The blonde did not like the sound of that.
"I can sense a but there."
"While I do think that she was poisoned, there are a few counterarguments. If the fish really was poisoned, why didn't Blake notice someone putting something in it?"
"Maybe the person who did it, did it before Blake put the plate on her tray?"
"Ignoring the fact that they would have to know that Blake was going to take this plate or that another student was not going to, nobody except for Beacon's cooks have access to the kitchen. And I doubt that it would be one of them."
"Why not? If they're the only ones who have access to the kitchen." Yang was trying to catch up with the heiress's train of thoughts but even she had trouble.
"No motives, Blake's never even talked to them I'm sure. And if our theory about Faunus-related poisoning is correct, then it would make even less sense since Blake has only revealed to us and Sun that she is a Faunus. Apart from us, only the headmaster and team JNPR are in the know. And I doubt that any of them would try to poison Blake. And..."
"And?" Weiss turned the screen in Yang's direction and the words "no match" were written on it.
"It's not the fish."
Weiss closed the door when she heard her teammate behind her.
"What now?" Weiss looked at Yang who had her arms crossed once more, the usually cheerful girl seemed angry to Weiss, possibly due to her inability to help her partner, at least not as much as she would have wanted.
"I'm not so sure to be honest, even the thought of going back to classes doesn't sound that appealing right now."
Yang huffed. "We wasted out time in there. We're looking for something that we aren't even sure is there to begin with. I don't think that she was poisoned Weiss." Weiss wanted to think the same way and yet, something told her that she would be lying to herself.
The white-haired girl shook her head and stretched. "I'm going to see the headmaster and ask him if he can give us a few days off classes to look after Blake."
"Why us? Wouldn't one of us be en... you still believe that it wasn't an accident." It wasn't a question.
"I count on you and Ruby to look after her while I will be looking for clues. Watch out for people entering the infirmary and call me or the headmaster if you see something or someone suspicious. I know that you probably think you are strong enough to take on anyone and you are probably right but we are here to save Blake, not to fight her possible attackers." Yang sighed.
"Why does everyone think that I always let my muscles do the talking? Just because I'm fluent in this language doesn't mean I can't talk with my mouth like anyone else. And the same goes for you, call us if you find anything. I still believe and hope that it was an accident but I'm willing to give you the benefit of the doubt."
Weiss nodded and the two separated, Yang went back to the infirmary while Weiss took the direction of the headmaster's office. Hopefully he would agree with her proposition.
The office was empty, save for the headmaster sitting on his chair and drinking from his never empty mug. Said man raised his eyes and met her icy blue ones.
"Mrs Schnee, I did not expect to see you here. Does it have any connection with Mrs Belladonna's unfortunate trip to the infirmary?" Straight to the point, she was glad that he and the General were the two most straight to the point members of the council, she was tired of people beating around the bushes to dodge sensitive topics.
"Hello professor, you would be correct in your assumption."
The older man gestured toward a seat in front of him and Weiss took the offer.
"Then please, do tell me what troubles you."
"I wanted to ask of you if it would be acceptable to myself and the rest of team RWBY a few days to look into Blake's possible attempt at murder."
To give credit to the headmaster, he did not flinch. He did however, took a sip from his mug.
"Your request does not seem that high considering your reason for it. It is even more impressing considering that it was someone as dedicated in her studies as you."
Weiss wasn't able to stop a blush from showing itself on her face. "Thank you."
"You mentioned an attempted murder, do you have any evidence of it?" Weiss explained everything that she and Yang theorized and found out so far, there was no point in lying to the headmaster. She did not suspect him or the other members of the staff, not only were they all against anti-Faunus movements, but the headmaster himself took Blake's side after what happened at the docks. She was left off with a simple warning and that was it.
Weiss finished retelling everything and Ozpin took a few seconds to think about it. He hummed in contemplation before taking another sip and clearing his throat.
"After what you just told me, it would be easy to deduct that what happened to Mrs Belladonna was an accident. After all, your biggest piece of evidence turned against your theory. However, I do agree that something seems amiss. The fact that no other student showed up in the infirmary is proof of it... The best offer I can give you is two days, your grades are too important to simply forget about them. And while you could possibly go through a whole week without going to classes, your other teammates cannot afford the same luxury, especially not Mrs Rose who skipped two years of her education."
Weiss nodded her head in acceptance. Two days weren't much but she knew that he was right. "Very well, thank you for giving us a chance, we will not disappoint you." The headmaster smiled warmly.
"The fact that you are this concerned over your teammate is already a victory for me Mrs Schnee." He looked toward the windows and frowned. "It is almost night time, and while I did give you two days, please take some time to rest. Hopefully Mrs Belladonna's state will improve a bit and you'll be able to ask her yourselves."
Weiss thanked the headmaster once more before she went back to her dorm where Ruby was already sleeping. She called Yang on her Scroll and told her that Ozpin agreed for two days and that she should come back to the dorm for the night, stating that the nurse would be enough to watch over Blake. Yang entered the room and soon, the three were in their beds, either asleep or just about to however the night was filled with worries for the three girls.
"Weiss! Wake up!" Weiss opened her eyes only to find silver ones staring at her only a few inches from her face. She raised a finger and tried to poke one of them but missed and touched her leader's forehead instead. "Blake's awake and we can see her! Get dressed and join us!" Weiss barely sat up on her bed that Ruby was already gone with only her rose petals proving that she was not an hallucination from Weiss's semi-awake brain.
After getting dressed and taking the quickest shower she ever took, Weiss entered the infirmary with her bag in hand. She followed the familiar path and opened the curtain to see Blake turning red, not from an unknown symptom but due to a more familiar one known as Yang's bear hugs.
"You scared us all! What was the big idea!? I'm never letting you out of our sights again!" Weiss rolled her eyes with a smile before she flicked the blonde's forehead which made her release her partner who was finally able to take an intake of the infirmary's air which, in her opinion, smelled like antiseptic.
Blake coughed before she turned to the heiress. "Thanks for the save Weiss. I don't think I could've survived another second." Weiss nodded before she took a seat near her friend while ignoring Yang being scolded by Ruby in the background.
"I am glad you're well Blake... You are well, right?" Blake gave her a small smile in answer.
"I'm fine, thanks, the nurse said that I only needed to stay here another day to get to a point where the toxins in my body will be in a small enough amount that my immune system can take care of it by itself."
Weiss opened her bag and brought the plastic bag still filled with yesterday's fish in it on Blake's laps. "Speaking about toxins, this is the tuna that you were eating before you fell unconscious. I checked it three times just to be sure but the results were all negative. Do you know how those toxins entered your body Blake?"
Blake shook her head and examined the fish in her laps. "I have no idea. I thought that it was in the fish as well, maybe it was only present in the first bite I took but, I really don't know." She was holding the plasting bag a little tighter now and Weiss hesitated before she put a hand on her friend's shoulder.
"Hey, it's okay. We will find who did it and you will be cleared from the infirmary. I will even try to bring whoever did it to you so you can show them not to mess with our team. But in the meantime..." She opened her bag once more and Blake's eyes widened at the book in the heiress's hand. "I believe this is yours. Try not to leave your filth on the cafeteria's floor next time, less Nora finds it and tries some of the book's, technics, on Ren."
Blake blushed before accepting the book with a quiet thank you.
The three girls let their friend rest as they exited the infirmary once more (they definitely were not kicked out by the nurse when Yang and Ruby threw IV fluid bags at each other) when Yang stretched her back with a smile on her face.
"Blake's almost healthy and we have two days without classes ahead of us. What now?" Ruby raised a finger at Yang's question.
"I know! We can search for Blake's would-be-poisoner!"
Yang raised an eyebrow at her sister. "First, I doubt that poisoner is a word, and second, you also believe that someone poisoned Blake?"
Ruby narrowed her eyes as if the answer was obvious. "Duh, if Weiss believes it then I trust her judgment, right partner?" Weiss fought back a smile but was not that much bothered when she failed.
"Quite. In that case, I will begin by examining the cafeteria. One of you can stay with me while the other one stays with Blake."
Yang raised her hand. "I'm on Blake duty. I don't think I'll find any clue and I'd rather watch over my partner in case she needs something." Yang entered the infirmary once more, the two could only hear the begining of her apologizing to the nurse before the door closed itself behind her.
"Let's not waste any more time, I trust you will be on your best behavior while I-" The heiress was interrupted by her own stomach manifesting its state of hunger. Weiss blushed in embarrassment while Ruby tried to hold her giggles behind her hand.
"It's a good thing that we're going to the cafeteria then, we'll kill two Nevermore with just one rifle shot."
After eating a quick breakfast the two partners were now roaming around the cafeteria looking for clues and brainstorming ideas without much success.
"What if it really is the fish?" Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose for what felt like the upteenth time.
"Ruby, I've grown to care about you, so I'm warning you now for the one and only time, please stop asking this question unless you want all of this progression to have been for naught." Ruby whined aloud, not realizing that other students were still eating and thought she was weird.
"But we're ruled out everything else that we brainstormed! The food, the cutlery, the water, what could we have missed!?" Weiss who had been examining the floor for the third time was about to eviscerate when Ruby's Scroll started ringing. The redhead took it out and put it between the two of them. The caller was Yang. "Yang? Why do you c-"
"It's Blake, she was poisoned!" Ruby looked at Weiss in confusion.
"Uhm, did you hit your head after we left? We know that she was poisoned."
Yang shook her head on the screen. "No, she was poisoned again! She just convulsed before the nurse told me to leave!" Weiss and Ruby both paled before Ruby hung up and took her friend's wrist in her hand and ran in direction of the infirmary once more. How did Blake get poisoned again?
The two arrived next to a dreading Yang who was pacing in front of the infirmary while biting her nails. The girl was the embodiment of stress right now. She perked up when she noticed them and quickly hugged her sister. Ruby noticed that she was shaking as well.
"What happened?" Weiss quickly asked while trying to peek inside the infirmary from outside the room.
Yang did not let go of her sister but turned to face Weiss. "I've no idea, one minute we were talking about classes and the next she starts shaking and froathing."
"Did she eat anything?" Yang thought about the question before nodding.
"She ate but it was the nurse who brought the food to her. It was plastified and everything, even the cutlery. I'm sure that it wasn't something that she ate, it was something else, I just don't know what since no one entered or left the infirmary except for the nurse. And we both know that she's innocent." Weiss looked at the floor and tried to recall everything from yesterday until seeing Blake this morning.
'What could she have done that might have poisoned her?'
"Will she be okay at least?" Ruby asked hopefully and Yang appeared unsure.
"I don't know, she seemed to get better for a bit like everything was back to normal and the next second she pulled the same stunt as yesterday in the cafeteria."
'Normal?' Weiss thought before she looked at the floor pensively. 'We ruled out the idea of the food being poisoned because it would have taken knowing Blake's eating habits and a lot of luck for her to pick the only poisoned plate with her, but what if it was another of Blake's usual habit that was picked to poison her? What's something that Blake is often seen doing and that someone could use to poison her?'
Yang barely got out of the way before Weiss stormed inside of the infirmary with a scowl on her face. She and Ruby turned to each other and followed after her. The nurse noticed them approaching and frowned.
"You can't enter while I'm taking care of a patient just because you're her friends." Weiss did not even look at the nurse and instead looked around the room before she settled her eyes on it and picked it up.
"Do not worry, we will not bother more than we already did. I just have a favor to ask of you."
The nurse rolled her eyes and hummed in agreement.
"When Blake wakes up, tell her to stop licking her index to turn the pages of her pornographic literature."
"Her book?" Ruby asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Her book." Replied Weiss as she was once more in the academy's physics labs, this time analyzing the book Ninja's of Love for what she was sure it contained traces of.
"Her book!?"
She turned to an incredule blonde with a deep sigh.
"Yes, her book. Her filth. Her smutty, erotic, pornographic literature. Do you need another synonym or can I finish doing this to go after her..." She turned to Ruby looking unsure. "Poisoner?"
The girl in red grinned at her sister. "See, I knew it was a word." She either ignored or did not notice the hesitation coming from the girl in white. Yang for her part had no idea what to say to that. Someone had poisoned Blake's book... why? Why Blake and why her book? There had to have been simpler ways to poison someone, at least she theorized, she wasn't much of an expert in the department and would rather take the simpler route to hurt the person responsible for poisoning her teammate.
A ding resonated in the room and Weiss exhaled in a similar way that she did after finishing a test.
"It matches, the book is the would-be murder weapon. Only question now is who and I already have a suspect in mind." Ruby turned to her.
"Who?" Weiss simply pointed at the book and Ruby blinked. "I don't get it. The book is the suspect? I thought it was the would-be murder weapon?" Weiss made a face at her partner.
"I'm not pointing at the book Ruby. Look closely." Ruby did and made an oh sound of realization.
The door opened with a bell that rang inside of the store. The heiress paid it no mind and instead ventured further inside as she heard the sound of someone walking in the next room.
"Welcome to Tukson's book trade, home to every book under the sun, what..." Tukson finally noticed his client and he did his best not to react when Weiss Schnee looked him up and down. "... can I do for you?"
"Hello, I would like to return a book for a friend. She's not here unfortunately since, well, she recently passed away..." She announced while looking at the floor saddely, unable to notice the shocked expression on Tukson's face, nor the smile that threatened to erupt but quickly disappeared when she raised her head once more before she cleared her throat. Two sisters who had entered at the same time as Weiss and were hiding behind an aisle did notice it however and the younger one had to hold the older one from showing herself and punching Tukson in the face. "Sorry for appearing emmotional, I shouldn't even be this way to begin with. She was nothing but a filthy animal after all."
Tukson's features hardened and his hands subconsciously formed into a first. "A what?"
"A filthy animal, you know the kind. I even heard that she was a member of the White Fang, those disgusting walking mammals with their stupid idiology, equality with us? What a joke." Tukson was now breathing heavily but Weiss simply shook her head and turned back to him. "But anyway, I wanted to return her book since she won't need it anymore. So, here." She brought the book in front of her and Tukson gulped.
"Oh hum, you can just put it here on the glass table, I'll put it away later, I'm kind of in a rush right now."
Her eyes widened innocently. "Really? Is there a particular reason for that?" Tukson brought a hand to his neck and Weiss noticed his nails being longer now, almost like they were claws.
"Oh you know, just visiting my family in Mistral. It's been a long time since I've last seen them and we're hoping to watch the Vytal festival together."
Weiss eyed him before humming. "Very well, but I do insist that you would take a lot at the book. I noticed something, unusual, inside of it and I would like the opinion of an expert on it before you leave for Vacuo." The sweating hidden-Faunus glared at the book before he picked it up and opened it only to see the picture of a woman and a man touching themselves and-
He quickly closed the book and looked at the Schnee in front of him. "What seems to be the problem with the book?" He quickly put the book down, he could still wash his hands once she left, so long as he did not put his hands anywhere near his mouth.
"Well, there's no other way to describe it but, no matter which way I look at it, you just lent a porn book to a teenager." Tukson nodded before he realized what she said.
"What?" Weiss rolled her eyes.
"Alright, that's it. Ruby, Yang, you can come out now. I'm tired of pretending." The two sisters came out from their hiding spot and the blonde was punching her own hand.
"Tukson heh? Never heard of you before, you must be close to Blake if she took a book from you. Now, I'll be fair, I'll only punch you if I don't like what you say." The man's eyes showed fear and confusion.
"What's going on? Who are you?"
Yang shook her head. "Nuhuh, we're the ones asking questions here. Now first question, why did you poison Blake?"
"Blake!? What!? I didn't poison her!" Yang only stared at him.
"You didn't?"
"Of course not!"
"Then why do you know her name then?"
She crossed her arms and Ruby tugged on her outfit.
"You just said her name Yang, you idiot." Yang blinked and turned to Ruby before she turned back to Tukson.
"Nevermind that, you still agreed when Weiss said Vacuo instead of Mistral, you're lying."
Weiss rubbed her eyes in despair.
"Look, we know you're a Faunus, probably, no, definitely White Fang, just tell us why and how you poisoned her." Tukson went from afraid to angry at the Schnee's interrogation.
"And why should I answer to a Schnee?"
Knuckles being popped turned Tukson's head to Yang once more. "Because she's being polite and giving you a chance not to let me interrogate you." Tukson growled before he turned and tried to escape the three girls by running away. He turned and started running only to stop when a massive blade almost beheaded him right in front of the room's back exit. A huge red and black scythe held by the smaller girl of the three who was reading an old book about weapon maintenance before she raised her head to look at him and put Lien on the counter as she put away the book in her skirt's pocket.
Tukson turned to the other two, the message clear. "She was a traitor, she left her brothers and the cause, she's nothing but scum and scum gets taken out like trash."
"She knew that you were a Faunus, right?" Weiss continued asking him as she looked around the store for the first time since she entered.
"Yes."
"White Fang?"
"Yes!"
"And why did she trust you?"
Tukson sighed in defeat. "She thought that I was just like her, a traitor who had ran away. But I never left. I was sent here to befriend her and betray her, just like she did to us.
After that it was pretty easy, the girl kept reading those perverted books so I just sprayed a transparent and odorless poison for Faunus on the book's pages." Weiss closed her eyes and took a deep breath before she breathed out.
"I am done here, I am going outside to call the police and tell them that you tried and failed to poison my friend." The Faunus's eyes widened.
"Failed? She's alive!?"
"Did I say that she passed away? Oops, I meant that she was hospitalized and will be recovering while you will rot inside of your prison cell. No hard feelings of course. Yang will keep you company until the authorities arrive."
The blonde grinned, her eyes turning red. "And I know just how we'll spend our time together." Tukson paled and drool could be seen falling from his face as he started shaking.
"Wa-wait! You said that you wouldn't punch me!"
"No, I said that I would punch you if I didn't like what you said. And frankly..." Her grin disappeared and she grabbed his sensitive parts. "I didn't like it. Not. One. Bit." She tightened her hold with each word.
Ruby blushed in discomfort and followed Weiss out of the store as they heard Tukson's shouts of pain until the door closed and only the kingdom's busy streets were hearable.
Weiss took out her Scroll and dialed the VPD's number and Ruby sighed before taking her own Scroll and sending a message to Blake.
Hey Blake,
We found who poisoned you and Yang is currently taking care of him. I don't think we'll be able to bring him to you like Weiss promised but, Yang is taking care of him like I said and I'm sure she saved one punch for you.
Hope you recover quickly!
She sent the message just as Weiss hung up and stretched her limbs.
"So, what now partner?" Weiss looked ahead of her and then at her partner.
"I do not know about you, but investigating has worn me out. It is a good thing that we still have one and a half day without classes to rest. I am buying us ice creams and then we can go and see Blake, my treat of course." Ruby let a single tear fall from her face before she hugged the heiress who rolled her eyes even as she hugged her back.
"I want strawberry and cookie dough in mine."
"Of course you'd choose that."