While team RWBY meandered through Vale, Weiss felt… jealous.

Jealousy was not a feeling that someone such as Weiss should feel, she knew that, it was… beneath her to feel that petty. That she shouldn't feel that way just because her partner spent less and less time with her. That she had been replaced.

I don't get it, Weiss watched Ruby lead Blake into an arcade, I thought we were partners, ergo close friends? It made sense to her. Your partner is the person you are closest to, but I don't feel close to Ruby at all anymore.

When their first semester had started, Ruby and her were more or less, well, inseparable. Not that Weiss hadn't tried to separate herself from Ruby; it got more than a bit too much for her sometimes having the younger teen constantly trying to interact with her. Looking back at it, as much as Weiss had found Ruby to be annoying it was still nice. It was nice to have someone who genuinely wanted to be your friend and not because of your name.

Towards the end of the last semester, it felt like that closeness was slowly receding as Ruby spent less and less time with Weiss and more with another one of their teammates; Blake.

It was little surprise to Weiss that Ruby knew about Blake's… heritage, given the amount of time the two had spent together. What did surprise Weiss was the fact that Blake had stayed with Ruby and Yang over the semester break. No, that's not quite right, it didn't surprise me, it also hurts. Her teammates, no, her friends, spent the break together. Without her.

Weiss felt alone.

At first Weiss had assumed she was feeling needy, that she was perhaps being a bit too harsh on Ruby when they studied and that was what was pushing her partner away. During the break, Weiss had made a promise to fix whatever… issue had come up, to reconnect with her partner.

Yet Weiss felt more alone than ever, her partner was off with Blake, almost entirely ignoring her. I suppose I have been replaced. Weiss let out a sigh. Did I screw up? Was it something I did?

Or perhaps Blake is just better than me?

No, that wasn't the case. Weiss knew the answer all too easily; Ruby had a crush on Blake. Ruby could never be considered subtle, so it was obvious why her partner was spending more time with Blake. It didn't change the fact that the declining absence of Ruby was affecting Weiss. Even with Ruby spending more and more time with Blake, Weiss had hoped that the younger teen would still make time for her. You'd at least think she'd want to spend some time with me, but no, n- "Ow!" Something or rather someone, flicked Weiss in the forehead. Considering that the she only knew one such person who would do such a thing, and she was in the company of said person, it narrowed the choices down. "What was that for Yang?!"

"You were staring at the arcade door for like, five minutes." Yang's usual cocky grin morphed into a more concerned look. "And you were sighing like the world was gonna end."

"No I wasn't!" A certain lack of black and red alerted Weiss to another issue. "Wait… Where did Ruby and Blake go?"

"They're inside, playing DDR last I checked, or at least, they were when I came out." Even as the question rose in Weiss' mind, Yang already had an answer for it; "You were lagging behind and I was curious, what's on your mind?"

"I… nothing. Now if you will excuse me-" Weiss made her way towards the door. Or would have, had Yang not have grabbed onto her arm.

"Weiss, I'm being serious." There wasn't a hint of the cockiness in Yang's voice, it was closer to the tone that she used when she spoke to Ruby. "What's on your mind?"

Weiss sighed, shoulders slumped in defeat. "A lot." Yang's grip loosened on her arm as Weiss turned around, her arms clutching her sides. "Just… a lot."

Yang nodded her head, much to Weiss' confusion. "Yup. Looks like we need to talk."

"Why are we at McVale's?"

"The better question is why you got a salad." Yang gestured towards a pre-made salad in front of Weiss.

"Because I don't want to die before I'm thirty?" Weiss raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Which you are probably going to if you eat that… that monstrosity."

"Aww, you gotta live a little, princess." Yang pouted before taking a bite out of said monstrosity. Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose, trying to not watch her partner's sister eat herself into an early grave, as Yang scarfed down more calories than Weiss probably had in two days in a matter of minutes. "So what's on your mind?"

"…" Weiss didn't exactly know how to answer that, I mean how do you? There was a lot on her mind, but the particular issue that Yang was asking about was… sensitive. If I say it out loud, I'm going to sound like a needy little girl. That was definitely an image that Weiss didn't want to give to anyone. So instead, she just sat there, picking at her salad, eating small bites of it.

"Come-on, what's bugging you?" Yang pestered her, breaking the silence. "There has got to be something."

The white haired girl sighed, I suppose I might as well be honest. "Ruby."

"In what way?" Weiss could feel the mood shift as Yang calmly set down her food and leaned forwards, elbows resting on the table, her fingers interlaced. She looked… menacing. No, that's not right. Yang was being serious.

"I don't think she wants to be friends with me anymore."

Yang's lilac eyes widened in what Weiss could only describe as surprise as she leaned back, the menacing atmosphere evaporating as soon as it came. "Don't be silly, Ruby is your friend. Why wouldn't she be?"

"I would not be so sure." Weiss set down the cheap plastic fork, her eyes drawn to it. "We haven't hung out like we used to –mind you, the dolt didn't give me much of a choice- in fact, I barely see her outside of meals and class. We, don't even study together anymore."

"That's not necessarily true. You two were hanging out until a while ago." Yang pointed out before sipping on a Dr. Piper. "Just because you don't study together doesn't me-"

"No, you don't understand." Weiss glanced up from the fork to find curious lilac eyes staring at her. "Ruby replaced me." It hurt, it physically pained Weiss to say it, to admit it.

Yang's head tilted, her long mass of blonde hair moving in sync with it. "Why'd you think that?"

"Perhaps because the dolt decided that I was too harsh on her? I don't know, why else would Ruby abandon me?" Weiss had resumed focusing on the cheap fork. "I thought we were close friends, then she stops hanging out with me and then she and Blake become inseparable, how else would you expl- explain…"

Yang started to laugh.

Not some kind of small chuckle or giggle, but a deep laugh, one that came from the gut. It wasn't some forced expression, or awkward thing, no, there was real mirth behind it.

It made Weiss furious.

"Well since my situation is so amusing to you, I believe I'll take my leave." Weiss stated coldly as she got up from her seat and headed for the exit. Leaving her salad and teammate behind, Weiss all but broke into a run as she left McVale's behind.

The one person that Weiss had hoped, had HOPED would help her reconnect with Ruby, mend their friendship had just laughed in her face at the problem. It hurt even more than being excluded over the semester break. Even with people who don't care about my name, I still can't make friends. Weiss could feel her eyes water as her thoughts progressed. I guess I am completely hopeless. The run slowed down to a walk before a standstill as Weiss found herself in the middle of a sidewalk. I am the loneliest of all, after all.

"Weiss?!" A blonde mass of hair weaved throughout the streets. "Hey Weiss, where'd you go?!" Weiss ignored the voice, her standstill slowly turning into a very, very slow walk as she started to make her way towards where Blake and Ruby presumably were, the arcade.

"Hey wait up!" Weiss paid the voice no heed as it got closer. Close enough that she could practically hear the footsteps of its owner. "Sorry 'bout that, I was goi-"

"I don't care Xiao Long." Weiss stated flatly as the footsteps followed her. "You made your thoughts on the matter abundantly clear. Please leave me alone."

The footsteps quickened, the blonde hair entering Weiss' vision as Yang jogged in front of her. "Weiss, just listen to me for a moment, oka-" The footsteps stopped as Yang stared at her. "Are… are you cryi-"

"Why wouldn't I be?" Yang winced at Weiss' tone, it was cold. Colder than you'd expect from someone who was crying, almost emotionless. "My closest friend, or at least the person who I am partnered with has all but replaced me! Her oaf of a sister literally laughed at my face when I thought I we were having a serious conversation!" Weiss started to tick them off on her hands. "And the person who replaced me will probably never see me as anything BUT a Schnee, so you tell me Xiao Long, why shouldn't I be crying when none of my teammates will be someone I could consider a friend?"

The response was immediate and unexpected; Yang didn't shy away, or yell back at her, no, instead Weiss felt herself suddenly being pulled in a hug from the taller girl. Not some kind of quick friendly hug, but a comforting one. A type of hug that Weiss had never had before. "I'm your friend."

"I…but, you were laughing at me!" Weiss tried struggling out of the wall of muscle that was holding her in place to no avail. "Let go of me!"

"No." The answer was calm and immediate. No indecision. "I laughed because… well, 'cause you are missing a key thing 'bout Rubes." Weiss could feel Yang take a deep breath before letting it out. "I'm not supposed to say this either, mind you, but Ruby has a huge crush on Blake."

Weiss had to stop herself from rolling her eyes. It was something that everyone, even the dunce of a human being, Jaune, could pick up on. "Everyone and their weapon knows that, your point?"

"So it doesn't mean you are being replaced!" Weiss wasn't convinced, as evident of her continued struggle to break free. "Ruby still thinks the world of you… she still considers you to be her friend, one of her best friends." The struggling lessened as Yang went on. "If you really are worried, you should talk to her, I promise she'll hang out more with you if you just ask. She just… happens to be spending more time with Blake now is all?"

Weiss mulled over the new information after Yang finally let go of her. Perhaps I am just being illogical about this; why not just talk to Ruby directly? It made sense. Weiss groaned, the oaf actually made sense for once. "Well. I feel silly for worrying about it now." Taking a step back from the blonde girl, she started to turn back to the direction of the arcade. "I suppose we should be heading back there no- eep!"

The white haired girl felt a familiar sensation as Yang pulled her back into a hug. "Don't forget, I'm your friend too. I always will be."

Suppressing her immediate inclination to push Yang away, Weiss instead hugged her back, her thin arms barely wrapping around the tall girl, a small smile stretching her lips.

"Thanks Yang."

AU: I'm guessing this wasn't what you were expecting at all.

Before you ask, I know the question will pop up; No, I am not planning on making this a freezerburn story as well. If it becomes one, that is not my intention to be completely honest.

This chapter stems from three things; 1. I wanted to address Weiss since… she would be feeling very left out, especially after their semester break. 2. I really haven't written any Weiss or Yang stuff –at least of any depth- so I wanted to get some practice in. 3. Gotta do some freezerburn stuff for ASouthernRussian (my editor for a lot of my stories).

This is the only chapter that I actually seriously edited because, like I said above, this was a exercise in writing characters I normally don't write. Even Yang I only ever write in the context of her relationship with Ruby instead of her acting outside of the big sister role.

In the end, this chapter didn't have the feeling I wanted it to have in the end, so I may come back and retroactively edit it… if I do, I'll mention it in later chapter's author's note.

Second-to-lastly, I don't plan on having these little interludes very often, maybe every ten or so chapters? Give or take?

Finally, how did I do? Like I said, this was an experiment in writing characters I usually never do, so I'm curious to how well/poorly I did with the characterization.

Thanks for reading everyone, and expect a actual Blake and Ruby chapter on Sunday! :D