En Garde! A RWBY White Rose Fanfiction

Chapter 4: Déjà Vu

Ruby sauntered along the sidewalk with both hands in her jacket pocket and her black headphones bringing on the bass. Although she seemed sweet and innocent, she preferred listening to heavier music and surprised a lot of people when they asked what she was listening to...if she actually heard them. At the moment, she was all alone, looking down at her phone. 

"Had to work an extra shift gonna be late. Just meet me @ Crescent Café"
"Ok wat time will u get here?"
"Round 5"
"I'll be waiting sis :)"
"Ruby, emojis r for moms"

Ruby giggled to herself as Yang's last response popped up. She slipped her phone back into her pocket and lifted her head to face real life. Ruby let her music fill her with life as her favorite song came on. The world became a bit brighter, and the weight of her problems were eased off her shoulders. At least, that's what it felt like. She was still stuck on what had happened that morning. She might have had the opportunity of a lifetime, but she completely let it slip through her fingers. Ruby didn't even know that Weiss Schnee was attending Beacon! Sure, she should've guessed as much, but it never really hit her. Ok, it actually did. Literally. 

Ruby approached the crosswalks, completely immersed in shame and regret, so much as to almost walk onto the street without waiting for the pedestrian light to show the little white stick figure. She stepped the white lines and jumped back with a small gasp. "Look both ways" is starting to seem way more important than I thought.
She turned around and pushed the button, hoping that no one had looked in her direction.

Her hope was in vain.

Weiss Schnee leaned on a street lamp pole, staring blankly at the cars passing by. Today definitely hadn't gone as she'd hoped. She'd have to put today down in her memory as one of the unluckiest days of her life, but only she knew that. She grimaced and lightly rubbed the bruise on her right elbow.

 She turned her gaze to the left and saw two figures stepping onto the crosswalk.It was her close childhood friend, Pyrrha, and an unfamiliar boy with scraggly blond hair walked beside her. Weiss forced her expression to lighten up a little as Pyrrha and her new friend made it safely across the street. "Hey, Pyrrha," Weiss said with a hint of sarcasm that tainted her voice when she was in a bad mood. Pyrrha looked uneasy, but she had a smile on her face just the same. "Hello, Weiss. This is my classmate, Jaune. He recently moved here from out of the country, so he's having a bit of trouble finding people to talk to." Although Pyrrha seemed to imply that Jaune was shy, the blond bowed at the waist. "Weiss Schnee, it's a pleasure to meet you." He straightened up, chuckled, and gave Weiss a confident grin. "I've heard some pretty neat stuff about you from Pyrrha, but she didn't tell me you were gorgeous." He emphasized the last word with such gusto that Weiss gave him a disgusted look. Knowing all too well what happened to boys who flirted with her white-haired friend, Pyrrha butted in. "So Weiss, how's your schedule? I'm a bit surprised and upset that we didn't get any classes together." She glanced at Jaune with a look that said, "not now, and not ever if you know what's good for you." He just pouted at her.

Weiss sighed. "Things probably couldn't get any worse. I mean, my geometry teacher put me to sleep, my gym teacher is off his rocker, and I ran into...someone I really didn't wanna see."
Pyrrha frowned. "That's horrible!" Jaune nodded enthusiastically, and Weiss glared at him. He got the message and responded, "Well, if you need me, Pyrrha, I'll be at the cafe across the street." With that, he left the two girls and crossed the street when traffic slowed down. 

Pyrrha gazed absentmindedly in his direction for a few seconds before facing Weiss again. "Sorry about Jaune, he can be a little..." "Stupid?" Weiss asked sarcastically. Pyrrha furrowed her eyebrows. "Weiss, you can't be mean to every boy you meet. Give them a chance! W-well I mean, you don't have to with Jaune, I-" Weiss smirked. "Think he's kinda cute? He does seem to make up for everything you lack." Pyrrha blushed. "I can't have a strong opinion on someone I just met. But maybe a little," she admitted as she looked at the ground. Weiss chuckled. "You honestly deserve better, Pyrrha. Don't bother."

She searched her memory for a way to change topics she aimlessly glanced behind Pyrrha. A silver car zoomed over the white striped lines on the street, and when it passed, she saw a familiar-looking girl in a red hoodie looking down at her phone, just as she tripped on the curb. Weiss' eyes went wide, and her eyes darted back to Pyrrha. "Sorry, I forgot I...have to go meet my dad somewhere right away bye!" She turned and ran around the corner, leaving a very confused Pyrrha behind.

Naturally, Ruby still hadn't learned her lesson and stayed on her phone the whole way across the street. She managed to look up before stumbling again and saw the back of the redhead from her history class. "Hey there," Ruby said with a timid smile. The girl turned to her. "Oh, hello. You're in my history class, am I right?" Ruby nodded. "Yeah. I'm Ruby. Ruby Rose. Not that you needed to know my last name." She ran a hand through her short strands of hair, as had become a habit when she felt anxious or nervous. 

The redhead laughed lightly, her long ponytail swaying side to side. "I'm Pyrrha Nikos, but I'm sure you already knew my last name." Ruby giggled as she remembered Professor Oobleck practically fly across the room and stop in front of Pyrrha's desk. "Yeah, I know...I'm glad I wasn't picked on." Pyrrha gave Ruby a reassuring smile. "Don't worry, Professor Oobleck take just about any answer if it's related to the topic. In fact, he likes to expand on vague answers in case if the rest of the class is on the same page." Ruby looked thoughtful. "Smart..." "It's the least to expect in a teacher," Pyrrha chuckled.

"Anyways, do you live here?" Ruby asked. "I ain't seen you 'round these parts," she added with a goofy Western accent. Pyrrha laughed again and replied, "You could say I'm new to the neighborhood, but I lived in Vale for the first few years of my life and occasionally came back during vacation. However, I think I'm here to stay now." "Really?" Ruby, as naturally curious as she was, took a new interest to this stranger. "Where else are you from, then?" Pyrrha thought for a moment. "Well, I've actually been all over the world. My father's job kept us jumping from place to place, so we never stayed in one area for too long." "What's he do?" "He works for the Schnee Rust Company, but he's so renowned as a mechanic that he gets big, important service requests from people everywhere. He finally got tired of moving around so much, and so we're back here." 

Ruby's jaw hit the floor. "Whoa, that's so neat! I can't even start to wonder how to make or fix cars, or figure out what they're worth, and stuff like that." Pyrrha nodded, beaming. "He's the best at what he does."

"Wait, did you say the Schnee Rust Company?"