Fate's Wild Card Ch.32 (Early Access) (Patreon)

Weiss sat at the head of the table in the library's private study room, keeping her posture perfect despite the late hour. Around her, the rest of Team RWPN remained focused on their books and notes.

She was primarily occupied with correcting the mock exam she'd designed specifically for Pryce and Ruby, her pen moving across the pages. Both of them sat hunched over their textbooks together at the far end of the table, occasionally whispering questions to each other.

The sight actually made something warm swell in Weiss's chest; pride. They were listening to her superior guidance, following her study plan, taking this seriously. That meant another step in the right direction toward becoming the best first-year team at Beacon. Even if she wasn’t the team leader.

For Pyrrha, there was hardly anything to do. The Mistral champion was simply reviewing her own notes, having already demonstrated near-perfect comprehension of the material. Which was expected from someone of her caliber.

Weiss finished marking the final question on Ruby's mock exam and set down her pen. Both had passed. Not with flying colors, Ruby's score was respectable at seventy-eight percent but showed room for improvement, while Pryce's sixty-five percent revealed significant gaps in his knowledge, but they had passed her test nonetheless.

That was enough for her to know that tomorrow was going to be a good day.

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The next day proved her assessment correct. Everyone on their team passed the history exam; some better than others, but passed nonetheless, which meant there was room for improvement going forward.

Especially Pryce, who had scored the lowest on their team with a seventy percent. That was expected, of course, given his educational background, or rather his complete lack of formal education. Still, he had passed, and not merely scraped by with the bare minimum either. It was an acceptable passing grade, one that suggested he'd actually retained the information she'd drilled into him.

Normally, exam results would be distributed during the next class, but Doctor Oobleck had administered this test on tablets with multiple-choice questions, so the scores appeared immediately upon completion. Efficient, if somewhat anxiety-inducing for those who preferred not to know their results right away.

That efficiency, however, wasn't the issue currently making Weiss's heart race uncomfortably in her chest.

No, the issue was that she... might have forgotten about the promise she'd made to Pryce. The incentive she'd offered to get him to study seriously. The sole reason he'd actually bothered to put in any effort instead of half-heartedly skimming the material.

"I-I will allow you to k-kiss me. P-Properly."

She'd said it in the heat of the moment, after that brute had stolen another kiss from her. The offer had made him sit back down.

And he had delivered on his end, which meant it was now her turn to deliver on hers.

Which was precisely why she found herself in a somewhat isolated area of the academy grounds, having made a hurried excuse to the rest of the team about needing to discuss something with the faunus privately. The lie had tasted bitter on her tongue, but she couldn't explain the real reason. For obvious reasons.

She couldn't lie to herself either, she was nervous. Really, genuinely nervous about this whole situation.

Weiss probably should have offered something else as motivation. Literally anything else. Money, help with another subject, a permanent discount on Dust purchases from the Schnee Company, even buying him lunch for a week would have been preferable.

But no, she'd promised him a kiss if he passed.

This was especially problematic considering that not long ago, all she knew about kissing was horrifyingly, dangerously wrong. She'd truly believed that kissing could cause pregnancy. And now here she was, about to willingly kiss the same brute who had stolen her first kiss, the very incident that had led to that mortifying revelation about her father's malicious wrong education.

So why had she offered this as a reward?!

‘Because you panicked’, her inner voice supplied unhelpfully. ‘Because you couldn't let your pet project fail before it had even truly begun.’

And she couldn't run away now. Not that she could even if she wanted to, since she was currently pressed against the rough stone wall with Pryce's arm positioned next to her head, effectively cutting off any escape route. His other hand rested casually in his pocket, and he was looking down at her with that infuriating smile, waiting for her.

She gulped, feeling her face burning with a heat that had nothing to do with the late afternoon sun. Her eyes traveled upward to meet Pryce's gaze, finding him looking down at her with an expression that was difficult to read. His rabbit ears were perked forward attentively, and he was close; very close. 

Her mind raced through her options. She could refuse, claim she'd been joking, that he should have known she wasn't serious.

No. Her words had value, especially as a Schnee. That was one thing her father had drilled into her that actually held merit: a Schnee's word was their bond, their sacrosanct promise. If she broke this commitment, her entire project to transform this man into a respectable and excellent student and teammate would crumble.

He would never trust her again. Never take her seriously. Never believe another word she said. And their team dynamic would suffer irreparably for it.

This was nothing but a small sacrifice for the greater good. A single step. One small step in her journey to become the number one student at Beacon Academy, to prove that she could lead, could inspire excellence, could make even the most unlikely candidate into someone exceptional. Because that was the Schnee legacy—producing the best of the best, transforming raw potential into refined achievement.

‘It's just a kiss,’ she told herself firmly. ‘A simple transaction. Reward for effort. Nothing more.’

After several more troubling thoughts, Weiss took a deep breath, steeling her resolve. She looked Pryce straight in the eyes.

"Alright. You can do it."

Pryce's lips curved into that annoying smirk before he leaned in slowly.

Weiss closed her eyes instinctively and held her breath, her entire body tensing in anticipation. Her hands clenched into fists at her sides, fingernails digging into her palms.

The moment his lips touched hers, she froze completely, a jolt of electricity coursing through her body that made her fingers tingle and her heart stutter in her chest.

This was... different.

The first kiss, the stolen one, had been rough, aggressive in its execution. He'd grabbed her, caged her against the wall, pressed his mouth to hers to shut her up. It had felt like a violation, a power play designed to humiliate her. That kiss had left her angry, confused, especially her mind overwhelmed with false fears about pregnancy.

This kiss?

It shockingly was gentle. Warm, even.

There was no aggression, no force; just a steady, deliberate pressure that made her knees feel strangely weak. Heat bloomed in her chest and spread outward like ripples, making her face burn even hotter than before.

Her body reacted in ways she didn't understand. Her hands, which had been clenched into fists at her sides, slowly relaxed. Her rapid heartbeat seemed to both calm and accelerate simultaneously, creating a confusing rhythm that pounded in her ears and made her dizzy.

The first kiss had made her mad.

This one left her confused and feeling oddly lost. Her usual sharp clarity seemed to have evaporated entirely, replaced by a strange, warm fog that made it difficult to remember why she'd been so nervous in the first place.

Then Pryce deepened the kiss, his free hand moving from his pocket to her waist and pulling her closer with gentle but firm insistence. The sudden contact made her gasp softly against his mouth, and she felt his arm wrap around her lower back, drawing her flush against him until there was no space left between them.

Oh.

Kissing was… far more complicated than she'd realized, even with her recently corrected education. This wasn't just pressing lips together like she'd assumed. 

Almost like he was devouring her.

Her mind struggled desperately to understand the new sensations flooding through her that had her all incapable of acting against him or saying no to his advances.

When Pryce finally pulled back, Weiss found herself unable to open her eyes immediately, her breath coming in quick gasps. When she finally managed to look at him, blinking rapidly, she was certain her face must be red to the ears.

How embarrassing.

Yet the lingering warmth on her lips felt strange, not unpleasant, just... unfamiliar. Tingly. It was a sensation that refused to fade, that kept drawing her attention back to her own mouth in a way that made her feel hyperaware of every small detail.

She couldn't look at him. Couldn't meet his eyes. Not when her face felt like it was on fire, not when her thoughts were still scrambled.

"I..." she started, then stopped, having absolutely no idea what she'd been about to say. Her usual eloquence had abandoned her completely.

"You okay, princess?" Pryce's voice was lower than usual and it did nothing to help her regain her composure.

"Don't-don't call me that," she managed to say, but there was no real heat behind it. 

She needed to leave. Immediately. Before she did something dumb.

"We're... we're even now," she said, finally managing to look somewhere in the vicinity of his chin rather than his eyes. "You passed. I kept my word. This transaction is complete."

Transaction. Yes, that was good. Professional. Clinical. Exactly how she should be thinking about this.

"Right," Pryce said, and was that amusement in his voice? "Transaction complete."

He stepped back, giving her space, and she immediately missed the warmth—no, she absolutely did not miss anything, that was ridiculous.

Weiss straightened her uniform, brushed imaginary dust from her skirt, and forced herself to adopt what she hoped was a dignified expression instead of whatever flustered mess currently occupied her face.

"Good. Then we should return to the others before they become suspicious."

She walked past him with her head held high, refusing to acknowledge this anymore.

But as she walked back toward the main academy building with her teammate following a respectful distance behind her, Weiss couldn't help but touch her lips briefly with her fingertips, feeling that lingering warmth that refused to fade.

She didn’t hate it.

This was... problematic.

Very problematic indeed.

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-Ozpin-

The soft chime of the elevator broke the quiet of the office.

Ozpin didn't look up immediately. His fingers continued moving across the keyboard, finishing the last line of the budget allocation report for the upcoming semester. Beacon's administrative side was, in many ways, just as demanding as its academic one, a fact that Glynda liked to remind him of whenever he appeared to be enjoying his coffee too much.

He saved the document and folded his hands atop the desk just as the elevator doors slid open.

Amber stepped through first, her expression carrying that particular blend of patience and mild exasperation he had come to recognize. Behind her came the girl James had mentioned in his last meeting.

Penny Polendina was... exactly as advertised.

Curly orange hair. A pink bow sat neatly at the back of her head. Her eyes were a vivid, almost luminous green, and a scatter of freckles crossed the bridge of her nose with the kind of cheerful symmetry. 

"SALUTATIONS!"

She crossed the office in approximately four rapid steps and planted both hands on the edge of his desk, leaning forward until her face was perhaps a foot from his, green eyes wide and gleaming with the sort of unguarded enthusiasm that made most adults instinctively lean back.

Ozpin reached for his mug, took a slow, unhurried sip, and regarded her over the rim with the same measured calm he brought to faculty meetings.

"Welcome, Miss Polendina."

She beamed as though he had just awarded her a medal. 

"It is a tremendous honour to meet you, Professor Ozpin! I have been told many wonderful things about Beacon Academy and have studied its curriculum in great detail and am very much looking forward to the experience of attending! I have already memorised the campus layout, the standard first-year combat rotation, and the names of all current faculty members — including their preferred titles and areas of academic specialisation!"

"I… I'm certain you will find it illuminating," he replied, setting his mug down.

She straightened up, still grinning, and spun on her heel to face Amber. "Was I hospitable? I practiced being hospitable."

His friend blinked. "You were... yes, Penny. Very hospitable."

"Excellent!" Penny clapped her hands together once and spun back around, apparently satisfied. Her eyes immediately found the framed portrait on the far wall and fixed on it.

Amber walked forward, coming to stand beside the desk with the quiet, slightly weary air of someone who had enough for today. She leaned in just slightly, lowering her voice.

"She asked every person we passed in the hallway for their name, their favourite colour, and whether they preferred mornings or evenings." A brief pause followed. "Twice. Because she wanted to be sure she had it right." She glanced sideways at Penny, who had now graduated from studying the portrait to studying the bookshelf beside it. "I almost feel bad for whoever her teammate turns out to be when they arrive."

"General Ironwood did mention that Miss Polendina has a rather... unique energy," Ozpin said.

Penny's head snapped around. "Oh, no." Her expression shifted to stricken, the brightness dimming all at once. "Am I causing trouble? Friend Ciel warned me about this. She said I should modulate my enthusiasm in professional settings and that not everyone processes social interaction at the same pace and that I should be mindful of how my energy affects others in spaces where productivity is the primary objective." She paused. "I wrote it down so I have it stored."

"No, no," Amber said quickly, raising a hand. "Not trouble. It's just..." She searched briefly for the right word. "Surprising. You are a bag full of surprises."

Penny considered this for a moment with visible seriousness. Then the stricken look evaporated entirely, replaced by a grin. "Thank you! I have been told this before." She clasped her hands behind her back and rocked forward onto her toes. "I am very excited to be here. Beacon has so many students! And I am hoping to make many friends." Her eyes lit up with renewed enthusiasm. "Especially girl friends. So that we can talk about girl things! Like feelings, and hair, and what it is like to have a crush on someone, and all the other things that girls talk about together!"

Amber opened her mouth, appeared to reconsider whatever she was about to say, and closed it again.

"Is that something you would enjoy?" Penny asked, turning to her with complete sincerity. "Talking about girl things? I have been doing research. I have a list."

"You have a…" Amber stopped. "A list?"

"Of topics!" Penny confirmed helpfully. "Organised by category and alphabetic order for accessibility."

Amber looked at Ozpin with a knowing look.

And he didn’t need his many lives to understand her silence. ‘You owe me for this.’

Ozpin exhaled slowly through his nose, not quite a sigh, though it occupied the same territory. A small smile settled at the corner of his mouth despite itself. He picked up his mug again for another sip.

"Miss Polendina," he said, and she turned to him immediately. "How are you finding Beacon thus far, first impressions aside?"

"It is veeeeery large," she said. "And the students move in interesting patterns between classes. I observed several distinct social groupings during my walk across campus. Also, the east staircase on the second floor has a loose third step." She paused, then added, with the gravity of someone delivering intelligence: "I reported it to a maintenance worker. His name is Gerald. He prefers evenings and his favourite colour is green."

"...Of course it is," Amber murmured.

Ozpin set his mug down. "I appreciate the diligence."

Penny beamed again. 

James had sent her here with a file and a carefully worded recommendation and the implicit understanding that she was exceptional and also, perhaps, a great deal to manage.

James had not been wrong on either count.

This year has already proven to be full of surprises. A thief who has been snooping in his business. A former White Fang operative. A silver-eyed warrior. The Schnee Heiress. The Mistralian champion.

And now this.

Something told him the surprises were far from finished.

In the grand accounting of things, that was probably for the best.