Akashic

"You okay there Weiss, you're trembling" Ruby raised her hand placing it against Weiss's forehead once again, "You're still burning up, you should really lie down" she advised, worried that Weiss was overdoing it.

Weiss was silent, her lip trembling as she read the message she had just received on her scroll, it having been sent by her father, Weiss felt as if the room had dropped several degrees as she read through the letter.

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Weiss, I haven't heard from you since you made that quite frankly idiotic decision to attend Beacon instead of Atlas, I have already gotten no amounts of disp.l.e.a.s.u.r.e from the board due to your foolish decision, the current Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company attending an academy that is not that of our largest benefactor does not look good for me and is an embarrassment to the company.

I have been gracious letting you have your way with this, but, as the Heiress you shall be required to attend the Honour ball next month as well as performing during it. You do not need to worry about transport; I have already arranged for it, they will arrive at the end of the term and be bringing you back the week before the ball.

I expect you to bring along a date as well, I have tried numerous times to get you into relationsh.i.p.s with the fine men here in Atlas, yet every time you push them away. It is about time you actually put effort into acting as the Heiress of the Schnee Dust Company and find a suitor.

But, I will not allow just any pauper you can bribe into 'dating' you, I expect someone of class, someone with at least a bit of fame such as that boy you seemed particularly 'close' to, the 'Angel of Vale' I believe they call him.

I have also had another message attached to this letter, that, is an invitation specifically to that boy 'Arthur Fielder' the 'Angel of Vale', it is an invitation to said Honour ball as a guest of honour, many of my competitors are wishing to meet this boy, and he has become quite the talk in the marketing department and may very well become an invaluable asset to the Schnee Dust Company.

If you can bring him as your date, show my competitors he is already an asset of the Schnee Dust Company, then I shall be more than willing to allow this 'charade' of yours to continue, you needn't reply to this, everything is already planned.

Jacques Schnee,

President of the Schnee Dust Company

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Weiss's hands couldn't stop shaking, her breathing began to quicken as her headache became even worse.

"Weiss!" Ruby quickly grabbed her shoulders and pushed her down onto her bed, forcing her to lie down, also taking Weiss's scroll out of her hands as she realized that whatever the message was had caused her to begin to have a panic attack.

"Calm down, breath, slowly" Ruby began to breath at a regular pace to act as an example for Weiss to follow.

Weiss slowly began to calm down, her breathing becoming more steady as she followed Ruby's example, "Good, there we go" Ruby smiled, happy that her best friend had calmed down enough. "What was that?" she asked.

Weiss gulped, her lip trembling once again, "My, my…" Weiss was unable to force the words out, "Arthur… I need to talk to Arthur, please…" Weiss pleaded.

Confused at Weiss's want to speak with Arthur, Ruby tilted her head, but soon gave her a nod, "Sure, I'll-I'll go get him, I'll be back in a few minutes, that okay?" her voice sounding still as concerned as ever, her mind also having cleared up after her night with Arthur, becoming even just little less protective of him now that she knew he was still hers.

"Please…" Weiss's hands trailed over her face, coming to rest on her forehead in an effort to mimic the calming sensation she felt when Arthur placed his atop her head.

Ruby remained silent as she quickly sped out the room to search for Arthur, first going to his room to see if he had returned, luckily that walk wasn't that far as she and Yang had brought Weiss back to their room during lunch, Ruby having opted out of going to Port's class in favour of caring for her friend, and slacking off, but she'd never tell anyone that.

"Arthur? You in here?" Ruby said, having opened the door to his room using her scroll which her mother had copied Arthur's key onto. Peeking into the room Ruby only found her mother, sitting on the couch with a wide smile on her face whilst Fairy was sitting at Arthur's desk trying her best to peal an orange.

"Have a fun night dear? You made quite a mess" Summer giggled into her hand as she nodded her head towards the corner of the room where multiple couch cushions were stacked up.

Ruby quickly slammed the door shut, her face going crimson in embarrassment due to her mother's happy and envious stare, "Not here, no one was here, I heard nothing" Ruby chanted to herself as she speed down the hallway to the dining hall, feeling that if she'd went there she'd be able to find him.

As she sped through the halls she soon stopped her charge, skidding along the floor in front of the dining hall, her eyes having wandered to the courtyard outside, where she could see a black haired Arthur walking, his uniform missing a sleeve evidently having invoked Cross previously.

"How did I…?" Ruby muttered in surprise, finally realizing that her intuition had somehow brought her to the exact place she needed to be to find Arthur, which, in Ruby terms was a success.

"Arthur!" Ruby shouted running out of the hall to Arthur, who lifted his head to look to her, his eyes and hair almost instantaneously returning to the regular white pallor, "Weiss really want to talk to you, she got a message and looked like she was having a panic attack" Ruby quickly recited as she grabbed his arm and dragged him away, not wanting to be away from her sick teammate for longer than she had to be.

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'Like mother like daughter' Arthur chuckled to himself as he was dragged through the academy in a very familiar manner.

"I'm back! And I brought Arthur" Ruby pulled Arthur into her dorm room, her sight quickly moving to Weiss who was lying on her side her hands on the top of her head, her eyes shut as her lip trembled.

Seeing this Arthur quickly moved to her side along with Ruby, kneeling next to her bed Arthur placed his hand atop Weiss's gently moving them off before placing his own in their place, Weiss's hand quickly grabbed Arthur's hand, not wanting to lose the calming sensation his touch brought her.

Slowly she began to relax her lip stop trembling and her breathing became more regular, even the slight red tinge from her fever seemed to be disappearing as the stress just seemed to drain out of her.

"You okay there?" Arthur softly asked when he saw Weiss's eyes open, immediately locking on him, a small almost unnoticeable smile forming on Weiss's face which quickly turned into a frown as her cheeks turned pink, which would have been more noticeable had she not been red from the start.

"Good, you wanted to talk with me?" He gently pulled his hand from Weiss's head after she had removed them, her hands having hesitated for a moment when she did.

Weiss looked around, soon seeing her scroll on the small bookshelf next to her bed, reaching over for it her hand slipped from her bed causing her to lose her balance and almost fall of the bed, only to be caught by Arthur as he moved in front of her and pushed her back onto her bed, "Here" he handed her, her scroll.

"Thank you" Her voice was weak as she pulled the scroll from Arthur's hand, quickly scrolling through it and opening it up on the message she'd gotten from her father and handed it to Arthur.

As he read through it his expression turned to understanding and worry in sequence before he let out a heavy sigh, "I see… Jacques really does have an interest in me…" he murmered, "Weiss, I'm perfectly fine to going with you" he said, gently smiling at Weiss, whilst Ruby looked completely confused and left out.

"It's not just that, he's got something planned, I-I can just feel it, I have been much, much further away than Vale and I was picked up the day before the ball, now he wants me there the week before, and he has never once wanted me near him because he 'missed me', he's planning something and I'm-I'm worried" she muttered, groaning into her hands.

Arthur kept silent, as he began to ponder through the variables as to what could happen, "Weiss, don't worry too much, you're father isn't so brazen as to do anything publicly, treat him like you always do, I will act my part" he placed his hand back atop Weiss's head to calm her down.

"Plus, I get to cross 'Date important companies CEO off my bucketlist even if it is just a ruse' off my bucket list" he chuckled, getting one out of Weiss, whilst Ruby perked up at the word 'date'.

"You are insufferable" Weiss chuckled.

"No, I'm Arthur" he smirked, soon getting multiple pillows to the face from both Ruby and Weiss as they g.r.o.a.n.e.d loudly due to his pun.

"I deserved that" he laughed as the corgi shaped pillow slid off his face, "Well, I'll let you get some more rest, I've got something I want to do today, so I'll see you two later" Arthur pushed himself up, surprisingly getting a small pop from his knee, "That was a lot less satisfying then I remember" he mumbled as he began to walk to the door, only to be stopped by Ruby who quickly stood on her tip toes, eyes shut and lips puckered as she tried to make herself as tall as possible to get up to Arthur from her 5'2 height.

Rolling his eyes Arthur bent forward slightly, and pressed his lips against Ruby's, before she could even do anything else he'd already separated and escaped out the door, "I said! I'm busy!" Arthur shouted from outside the now closed door, leaving Ruby still standing on her toes staring blankly at the ceiling for a moment before letting out a chuckle.

Weiss on the other hand, felt her heart flutter when she saw the scene, her fever ridden mind somehow having seen herself in Ruby's place. Realiing this Weiss quickly slapped her cheek, "Damn you father, how dare you implant such an idea in my head" she muttered to herself, pulling her sheets over herself trying to shut herself from the world and her mind.

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"So, whatya doin?" Ashe sang as she hovered next to him in her tome form.

"Planning" he muttered, his eyes and hair having turned black as he stared over the emerald forest once again, the siren still not having disappeared and was floating next to him, it's eyes droopy, looking tired.

"Smart, whatya wanna do first?" she asked, somehow instantaneously getting changed into a familiar orange gi with a blue belt.

"First? Stress relief" He muttered and stepped off the edge of the cliff, plummeting feet first towards the forest floor.

"Woohoo! Time for some slaughter!" Ashe threw her hands into the air, the tome being dragged behind Arthur, unable to get further than a few meters away from him.

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Alternate Chapter names: [Fever fuelled hallucinations] [Pat the Schnee] [A pat a day keeps the fever away]

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