Weiss woke up next morning with a smile on her face, having rested peacefully last night. Her smile only got bigger once she remembered what had happened yesterday. Today would be her first day as the leader of team RWBY, allowing to finally show her skills properly. The heiress hummed happily as she skipped to the dorm's bathroom to take a quick shower, before she would get ready for the day's classes.
However, once she got out of the bathroom, Weiss noticed something was strange in their dorm. After thinking about it for a moment, she realized what it was. The room was unusually quiet. Normally, Ruby would be running around, waking up everybody with her whistle and going non-stop about the day that was ahead of them. But instead of the usual noise that was caused by the redhead, there was almost complete silence over the room that was only broken by the sound of Yang's snoring.
After noticing the lack of noise caused by her partner, the heiress decided to check the younger girl's bed to see if she was still asleep. Upon climbing up to the top bunk, Weiss found no redheaded girl sleeping there. The white-haired girl looked at the other pair of beds and saw that both Blake and Yang were still in the room, although still asleep.
"Honestly, where is that dolt?" Weiss mumbled in a frustrated tone. "Our classes are about to start and she decides to go and disappear! I swear, she has no idea on how to behave maturely!"
Despite her complaints, the absence of Ruby still bothered the heiress greatly, as this was unusual for the scythe-wielder. Since Weiss didn't have any ideas on how to find her partner, she decided to ask for advice from Yang. After all, who would know about Ruby's behavior better than her own sister?
Unfortunately, the fencer would have to face the challenge of waking up the snoring blonde, which was easier said than done. Not to mention, Weiss would also find out just how dangerous it could also be.
"Yang. Wake up, Yang!" the white-haired girl called out to her sleeping teammate, as she shook her a bit.
"Mmmm... Five more minutes," Yang mumbled sleepily and turned her back towards Weiss, not intending to get up anytime soon.
"Yang, I'm serious! I need you to-!" Weiss called out again to the blonde, but she did the terrible mistake of accidentally pulling Yang's hair a bit.
"HANDS OFF THE LOCKS!" the brawler yelled out upon feeling someone lay their hands on her precious hair, causing her to instinctively punch whoever dared to attempt harming it. Her fist hit Weiss right in the face, sending her falling to the floor. "...Weiss?"
"Ow... Who did you think I was!?" the fencer asked angrily while rubbing the spot that got hit. "Seriously, why did you have to hit me!?"
"Hey, you can only blame yourself for that," Yang said without even a hint of regret in her voice. "You should know by now that I don't like having my hair get damaged. Why would you harm it when I was asleep?"
"I wasn't going to harm your hair!" Weiss yelled. "I was only trying to wake you up!"
"Could somebody explain why there's so much noise?" Blake asked in a grumpy tone, having been woken up by her two teammates arguing. "I was trying to sleep, when you two decided to start making noise."
"You can blame Weiss for that. This is all her fault," Yang quickly said. "If she hadn't started threatening my hair, none of this would have happened."
"It wasn't my-!" Weiss began to angrily argue, but stopped herself. They wouldn't get anywhere by starting to bicker now. "Never mind. I wanted to ask you something, Yang. Do you have any idea where Ruby might be? I woke up not too long ago, but I can't find her anywhere."
This got the blonde's attention. If there was one thing she cared about more than her hair, it was her precious little sister.
"Rubes is not here?" Yang asked and looked around a bit, not seeing even a glimpse of the redhead anywhere. "This makes no sense. Even if she's the first one of us to get up, I would have never thought that she would just disappear like this."
"That's what I've been wondering about," Weiss said. "Normally, she would be running around the room at this hour. Where could she have possibly gone so early?"
While the blonde and the white-haired girl kept wondering about their missing teammate, Blake noticed something else. Her discovery made her eyes go wide and nervous sweat to start falling down her face.
"Ummm... I might have an idea where Ruby is," the cat faunus said nervously, getting the attention of her two teammates. "My guess is that she is currently in class."
"Why would she be in class?" Weiss asked. "We still have time before our lessons start."
"I don't think we do," Blake said and showed her discovery to her two teammates, who also went wide-eyed.
The raven-haired girl was showing them their alarm clock. However, the three girls had expected the time to be around 7 AM, when they would normally wake up. However, the clock showed that it was currently 9:45 AM, and their first lesson for the day started at 8 AM. They were almost two hours late from school.
"WHAT THE HELL!?" Weiss screamed in horror. "How could this happen!? How could we have overslept so much!?"
"I think that's the least of our worries right now!" Yang yelled as she got down from her bed and began to put on her school uniform in a panicked hurry. "We already completely missed our first class and are now late for the second one! We better hurry it up or the teachers will have our heads!"
The three girls began to run around the room, doing their best to get their school clothes on and ready for whatever classes they still had left. As soon as they had all managed to dress up, they rushed out of their dorm and towards the class they were supposed to be attending.
"God, I can't believe this! It's so humiliating!" Weiss cursed as she and her two teammates were running through the hallways. "If my family were to find out about this, I would never live this down! Why didn't Ruby wake us up!?"
"Yeah! Usually she would be blowing that damn whistle of hers to get us up!" Yang said while running behind the heiress. "Why didn't she do it this time!?"
"This is not the time to think about that, you two!" Blake yelled. "Does either one of you remember which class we are supposed to be heading to!?"
"Of course! Our first class for today was Professor Peach's!" Weiss answered. "If we hurry, we might make it in time!"
"Hold on a second!" Yang suddenly yelled, bringing the whole trio to a stop. "The clock showed it was 9:45 AM, right!? That means we missed Professor Peach's class completely! We need to head towards our second class, which is Professor Port's!"
Weiss' eyes went wide as she realized her error. In her panic she had been rushing towards their first class for the day, but had forgotten that it had already passed. And to make matters worse, she had just now been running in the opposite direction from Port's class.
"Dammit! DAMMIT!" the white-haired girl screamed as she started to run in the right direction this time, with her two teammates behind her. "Could this day get any worse!?"
It took the WBY some time, but they managed to get to Port's class before it ended. Once they reached the classroom's door, Weiss opened it so loudly that the portly teacher actually stopped his lecture and turned to look at the newcomers, along with every student in the class. This was very unfortunate for the three girls, as they didn't exactly have their best appearances on. Not only were all three of them panting heavily from all the running, but their overall looks were messy. Both Blake and Yang didn't have the time to fix up their hair before leaving their dorm, so they looked liked they had just gotten out of bed. Not only that, but each of the WBY girls had somehow messed up with their uniforms. Yang's shirt wasn't properly buttoned up and her skirt was hanging very loosely on her hips. Blake was not only missing the ribbon that was supposed to be tied around her neck, but she had also somehow managed to put her jacket the wrong way around. And when it came to Weiss, she looked otherwise fine, except she wasn't wearing any socks. There was also something else she was missing, but she would find out about it later.
The way the three girls looked was quite hilarious, as several students began to snicker among themselves. This didn't go unnoticed by the WBY, who were turning red from embarrassment. However, Weiss' embarrassment was soon replaced by anger, as she spotted Ruby sitting behind one of the tables, while looking at her with a mischievous smirk on her face.
'Why that little...!' the heiress thought to herself angrily while staring at her partner. 'How dare she just act like she did nothing wrong!? Once this humiliation is over, I swear I'll make her pay for this!'
"Ah! Good to see that the rest of team RWBY's ladies have decided to finally join us!" Port said in his usual jovial tone, but one could detect a hint of anger there. "After this class is over, I expect your team to stay here for a moment. I wish to hear your explanation for being so late."
"Y-... Yes, Professor," Weiss managed to say while struggling with her embarrassment. She gave one last dirty look at Ruby, before taking a seat at one of the tables with Blake and Yang. Before she sat down, she noticed something strange. 'Why do I feel a strange chill?'
It didn't take long for Port's class to be over, as the WBY had missed most of it. While the other students made their way out of the classroom, the members of team RWBY stayed behind and made their way to the teacher's desk. The remaining five people waited until everybody else had left, before Port began to speak to the four students.
"In all my years as a teacher here, I don't believe I have ever witnessed such shameful behavior!" Port began his lecture. "Not only did three of you miss over half of my class, but I heard that you missed Professor Peach's class entirely! Is this supposed to be the kind of behavior one should expect from respectable Huntresses!? I hope that at least one of you has some kind of an explanation for this and that it's a good one!"
"Professor Port, I can explain what happened!" Weiss quickly said. "This was all Ruby's fault! She woke up before us and left without waking up any of us as well! She deliberately let all three of us oversleep in order to put us in this situation!"
"Ms. Rose, is this true?" the teacher asked sternly, turning his attention to the youngest girl in the group. "If it is, I am afraid that it's a serious offense. Putting your own team in a bad situation is not something one would expect from a team leader."
"That is not true at all, Professor. In fact, I was just following MY duties, as I am no longer the leader of team RWBY," Ruby answered in complete calmness, like she had nothing to worry about. "Yesterday, a change was made in our team that put Weiss in the position of team leader, thus taking away all the duties and responsibilities away from me. She has always boasted about how perfect she would be as a leader, so I didn't see it necessary for me to simply wake her up, so that she could perform HER duties. I was certain that she would either be on time, like she should, or she would learn the importance of her duties the hard way."
"That is absolute-!" the heiress tried to argue, but was quickly cut off by Port.
"I would advise you from getting into anymore trouble, Ms. Schnee! I think you're in deep enough trouble as it is!" the portly professor said to his student, shutting her up. He then turned his attention back to Ruby. "I see what has truly happened here, Ms. Rose. I apologize for involving you in this matter, as you haven't done anything wrong. I had completely forgotten about the sudden change to your team's leadership."
"It is alright, Professor. I understand that the change was sudden, so it was inevitable that something like this would happen," the redhead said with a smile and even gave a respectful bow to her teacher. "Do you need me for anything else or may I take my leave?"
"You may leave. I only need to talk to your teammates," Port answered and gave a glare at Weiss, making her shiver a bit. "Especially your new team leader."
Having been given the permission to leave, Ruby excused herself and started to walk towards the classroom's door. Before she left, the former team leader gave one last look at her partner with a smug smile on her face, which Weiss saw, causing her anger to rise.
After Ruby had left, Port readied himself to give the three remaining girls the lecture of a lifetime. The WBY were sweating nervously, as they waited their teacher to unleash his anger at them.
"You have some nerve, Ms. Schnee!" the portly teacher said in an angry tone. "You finally get the position that you complained to ME about not getting on your first day in Beacon, yet this is how you start showing your skills as a leader!? And to make matters worse, you actually try to put the blame on your partner, who held no responsibility over you or your other teammates!"
"B-B-But it was her fault!" Weiss tried to desperately defend herself. "She got up before any of us and could have woken us up, so we wouldn't have gotten here late! How is it that she was allowed to just abandon her own teammates like that!?"
"Didn't Professor Ozpin tell you about what your duties as a leader are?" Port asked with a stern look on his face. "As the leader of your team, it is YOUR responsibility to look after the well-being of your teammates AND their overall performance! This includes making sure that they get to where they are needed on time!"
"But why!?" the heiress asked. "Why do I need to see to it that my teammates are on time for their classes!?"
"Good heavens, try thinking for yourself a bit!" the teacher said and shook his head from frustration. "If you are required to arrive on time for a mission, you simply cannot be late! As Huntsmen and Huntresses, the very lives of the people are depending on our actions! Do you really think that such a duty can allow for tardiness!? Every wasted second could endanger someone's life! And if you can't be on time for classes, how can anyone expect you to be on time for something far more important!?"
"I... I..." Weiss attempted to come up with an excuse, but couldn't. She knew that the teacher was right. Since their job was to protect humanity itself, it was unacceptable for them to be late for anything. "I understand, Professor. I am deeply sorry for my mistakes."
"Good! Perhaps you have learned something, despite missing most of my class!" Port said, somewhat satisfied that his lecture had gotten through to his student. "Now, even if you have learned your lesson, I am still going to have to give you all some detention for being late. However, since you are the leader of your team, Ms. Schnee, you are going to be having a bit of extra detention as well. This is for the sake of you understanding the weight of your duties and responsibilities."
Despite having recognized her mistakes, the white-haired girl was still blaming someone else for the whole mess. A certain redheaded partner of hers. She would be having a bit of a talk with that girl, once Port was done with his lecture.
After getting their detentions set for them, Port decided to let the older girls of team RWBY leave for their next class. As soon as the three girls got out of the classroom, they heard someone whistling and quickly found Ruby leaning on the wall near the class, while looking at her Scroll and whistling happy tunes.
"So, how did it go with Port?" the redhead girl asked without even looking up from her Scroll. "Did you guys get detention or something?"
Without any warning, Weiss ran up to her partner and grabbed her by the front of her shirt, getting the younger girl's full attention. The heiress had a look of pure fury on her face as she glared at Ruby.
"How do you think it went!?" Weiss asked with anger dripping from her voice. "We were all given detention, with me getting extra for being the team leader! Why did you throw us under the bus like that!?"
"I could ask you the same thing," Ruby replied in complete calmness, not bothered by her partner's angry outburst at all. "Why would you try to put the blame on me for something that YOU were supposed to look after? Now that you're the leader, I shouldn't have to worry about getting any of you to wake up on time."
"What are you-?"
"Did you really think I was blowing my whistle in the morning for fun?" the scythe-wielder asked, cutting off the older girl. "I am very well aware of how angry people get upon being waken up from their sleep. Do you think I'm really so stupid that I would do that every single morning to people I share a room with? I have to do it in order to make sure my team gets up in time for classes, so I don't get yelled at by the teachers. And it's NOT as easy as it sounds. Especially when there are people you have to take special precautions with."
"Just what are you implying!?" Weiss asked while still seething in anger. "Are you saying that all those times you woke us up with that damn whistle of yours was for our sake!?"
"That is EXACTLY what I'm saying," Ruby answered. "I've known Yang for my whole life, so I know just how hard it is to get her out of bed. I'm willing to bet that you found out about that yourself this morning, when she most likely attacked you upon having her hair touched. And since she has her inhuman strength, her strikes hurt. I had to start using the whistle when we were still in Signal, so we could get to school in time!"
The heiress and Blake both turned to look at Yang with wide eyes, having not expected to hear such a thing about their teammate. The blonde herself looked away with an ashamed look on her face, remembering how she had acted back in the past. Or to be more specific, still acted.
"So, Ruby, what you're saying is that every single time you were blowing that whistle of yours to get us up, it was for our sake?" Blake asked to which the redhead nodded. "Why didn't you ever tell us about that?"
"Would you have ever believed me?" Ruby asked in return. "Considering how every time I did it, all I heard from you three were things like, "Ruby, stop being immature!", "Ruby, I'm trying to sleep!" and "You're such a brat, Ruby!", I doubt any of you would have believed me."
The cat faunus looked down in shame at what her former team leader just told her, because it was true. Even if Ruby had told them that what she was doing was for their sake, none of them would have believed it. They would have just said that the redhead was making excuses for bratty behavior.
"Alright, so you were blowing your whistle for the sake of your team. I get that. That still doesn't excuse you for letting us be late to our classes!" Weiss said accusingly. "Couldn't you have at least tried to get us up!?"
"And have all three of you complaining about it? No thanks. I've had enough of that," Ruby replied. "Besides, you wanted to take up the duties and responsibilities of a team leader, didn't you? How about from now on, you fulfill them like you're supposed to?"
The heiress started to turn red from anger. No matter what she tried, she couldn't put any of the blame on her partner, even if she wanted to. In the end, Ruby had done nothing wrong.
"Just you wait. I might have a bad start, but I'll show you just how good of a leader I can be!" Weiss declared. "From now on, I won't make the same mistake again!"
Upon hearing the white-haired girl's declaration, Ruby laughed. The three older girls were staring at their youngest member with surprised looks on their faces, wondering what she found so funny.
"Oh, Weiss... You're so naive it's practically adorable," Ruby said with a smile. "This is just the tip of the iceberg."
Weiss was about to say something in return, but felt that strange chill she had felt earlier in the classroom again. The heiress patted herself around her skirt and her eyes went wide and her face turned red from embarrassment, as she realized something.
She had left her dorm in such a hurry that she had forgotten to put on her underpants.
"Something wrong, Weiss?" Yang asked, noticing the sudden change in her teammate. "You look a little red."
"Uhhh... I'm sorry, but I need to go back to the dorm urgently," the white-haired girl answered as she started to walk away. "If I'm late for the next class, please tell the teacher that I really needed to go."
While Yang and Blake watched Weiss leave with confused looks on their faces, Ruby was snickering. It seemed like she had realized what had happened to her partner.
Things were going even better than the redhead had imagined.