Chapter 166: Fracture

Ferry paused, eyes blinking furiously as she met the cold light blue of the heiress of the Schnee Dust Company. Confusion evident within her eyes as her ears came to lay flat against her scalp and shrunk in on herself. "U-uh, are, are you talking to me?" Ferry meekly asked. The sudden influx of new people barring Parc and his constituents had left Ferry nervous in the midst of strangers. Especially when those strangers talked to her directly.

"Of course I am, who else would I be speaking to?" Weiss's cheek twitched Lili's way, Lili returning it in kind at being so neatly degraded like she didn't exist.

"Uhh," Ferry clenched her hands close to her chest, glanced to Lili then back to Weiss.

"Now, do you know this Parc Evans or not? I've been listening in on your conversation with… her… and it sounds like you have prior knowledge of this man." By then a vein bulged on Lili's throat, her cheek now rapidly convulsing as a new vein was threatening to raise on her forehead.

At Weiss's own table, her own team as well as that of JNPR ad also come to divert their attention to Weiss's conversation. Their own interest in this new teacher of theirs at the peak.

Ferry frantically looked to Lili, her eyes watery with pleading for the girl to take over, but Lili did no such thing but clench her spoon until her fists turned white.

"Well? Are you going to answer me or not?" Weiss urged, her arms crossing and foot tapping.

"Uh, he's um, Parc is- he is, uh," distraught, Ferry's head darted around, seeing the veritable horde of students that had gone silent and were sneakily diverting their eyes her way. Locking onto her and making her shrink in on herself, her ears flattening until they were practically buried beneath her blue hair. "he's-he's-he's-" Ferry trembled, her eyes misting with tears.

"Come on. Just talk about him. It can't be that difficult to just tell us who he is." Weiss stomped and leaned ahead, the noise of her shoes colliding with the solid flooring of the cafeteria making Ferry jump just a bit.

"He's our benefactor, Schnee," the pure derisive hiss coming out of Lili as she laid her spoon back in her bowl and tilted her scowling face up to meet the impassive one of Weiss's, displeased that her conversation with the 'adult' was being interrupted by the brat.

"Hush. I'm speaking with the adult," Weiss harrumphed and turned back to Ferry, about to continue her questioning when Lili broke her façade of anger into pure, unfettered rage.

"WHO ARE YOU CALLING A CHILD YOU TITLESS TWAT!" Lili screeched, the noise so loud each and every person in a ten meter radius recoiled apart from Ferry who noticing what was about to happen, covered her horse ears and as much of her human ones as possible. Lili shot up from her seat, spun around to face Weiss, having to look up a few heads worth of height to even meet the Schnee's gaze. Their height difference now on clear display. "I'm. Bite. Sized." Lili corrected while Weiss was furiously blinking as pain recoiled through her aching ears.

When the ringing lessened, Weiss's expression fell and she locked onto Lili, "do not scream at me young lady! That is no way to speak to someone older than you!" Hands on her hips, Weiss bowed slightly.

"Call me a young lady again, and I'll stuff you with a knife so far you'll have hardened steel in place of your washboard chest." Lili shot back, her tail coiling around herself and her gums on full display while her chestnut eye glimmered. "I. Am. Mini."

Ignoring the latter portion of her rage, Weiss locked in on the, "Washbo- how dare you! When your mother hears this she will wash your mouth with soap, apologize right now and I may not tell her when I inform a teacher of your rude behaviour." Humphing, Weiss nodded.

"Oh yeah, why don't I just run back to Vacuo to find the woman who sold me into slavery to pay off a debt," A false smile took to Lili's expression. Her words drew Weiss to a pause, her frown turning to parted lips and widened eyes as she processed what had just been said. The same for the other students surrounding them. "I'm sure she would be thrilled to hear I'm still alive after two years as an indentured servant working in the mines." Growling noises could be heard from Lili's throat.

The one with the largest reaction seemed to be Blake, who's bow rocketed Lili's way, worry immediately coursing through her as a glare was sent Weiss's way. For her family was all to well known for their criminal actions of forcing families into debt only to have them work it of until their more than likely death in one of the many Dust mines under their control.

"Wh-what?" Weiss stuttered, "but you're just a-"

Lili scoweled, "don't. you. Fucking. Dare. Call me a child again. I am older, than you. I am eighteen you titless jackoff of a woman."

Weiss's mind was thrown through a loop, 'she's older than me? Eighteen? No, that can't be right," she thought. "But your so… small…"

"Yeah! I'm fingerfood, so what? It's not like I can help it! That whore of a mother of mine isn't much bigger." Lili grumbled.

The Schnee heiress went silent, letting her mind come to terms with the fact such a small person was older than herself. It seemed so… wrong. When finally she did come to terms with it, she patted down her chest and coughed into her hand, "ahem. I, well, I apologize for the mistake. It won't happen again. Though I do ask you to refrain from calling me those expletives you used earlier."

"Fuck you. I'll call you what I want twat waffle." Lili spat and returned herself to her seat, glaring down at her porridge with a twitch. She'd lost her appetite.

A vein beat on Weiss's neck but she quickly pushed it away to let herself, while this angry munchkin was certainly quite a handful, she wasn't going to force change. At least, not right now when she had other things she wanted to ask.

"Alright, that is… acceptable. Now, this Parc Evans, how do you know him then?" She glanced between the meek Ferry who avoided her gaze and back to Lili.

"He rescued both of us. Her after ten years trapped on an abandoned Island and me after I was raped." Lili tilted a spiteful eye Weiss's way. "There, now you know about our relationship with Parc. Now let us eat in peace, you worthless waste of air."

Once again, Weiss froze. Her turn coming to shrink and shirk away, realization as to why this girl was so spiteful quickly turning her pale. "I-you-you were-" Weiss gulped. As the Heiress to the largest dust exporter of Remnant, she was more than aware of the dust mines less than safe workspaces. Rampant cave ins, accidental dust ignitions, and even abuse from the upper rungs of the mines. But to think they had gone so far… It was a terrifying thought.

"Don't get ahead of yourself," she huffed, "for once it wasn't you Schnee's fucking a faunus in the ass." Gripping her spoon, Lili attempted to eat a mouthful of porridge but found it tasted like ass. Her mood was too soured to even taste, taste. Smacking it down on the table, Lili pushed herself to her feet and called to her teammate, "Ferry, let's go. I can't stand being here anymore." Exiting the table, Lili stomped off towards the exit, Ferry quickly following behind leaving all of the cafeteria behind to stare in shock and horror at their backs.

Weiss, unsure of how to react was still and unmoving.

When slowly sanity returned to her, she mechanically turned to her table and froze again, various eyes of judgment lain upon her. Anger and spite from Blake and Yang. Avoidance from Ren. Disappointment from Pyrrha. From Jaune a glint that made her feel a lurching sensation in her gut. For the boy who was so ardent in courting her to look like he was staring at a monster was a horrible feeling. Then Ruby. Her own partner. Her team leader who was frantically looking around their table trying to figure out what to say to make them not hate her but unable to put anything to words but to shrink in on herself.

"I didn't- If I had known- I wouldn't have-"

Blake slammed her hands down onto the table with a reverberating 'thump!' that sent her to her feet, "that's the thing with you Weiss. You didn't know. You didn't bother to ask or even get to know them at all. All you wanted was to know about was our new teacher. You couldn't even show a bit of decency to Lili let alone Ferry!" Shaking her head, she continued, "I'm going to check up on them and make sure they're okay." Blake stepped out of the table, marching off after the two.

"Wai- Blake!" Ruby called out for her teammate but got no response from the marching girl.

Weiss lingered on Blakes back for a second before turning to the others, "that-that was-"

"Oh just shut up Weiss." Yang grumbled, "would you for once just shut up for ten minutes?" the girl in question's lips zipped shut, trembling as she could feel her own teams liking of her descend to new lows.

This wasn't right. She's Weiss Schnee. She's supposed to be liked. Not hated. She's supposed to be her own girl. Then why did she feel so much like her father right now? Her heart pattered in fear. Being like her father was her worst nightmare. She didn't want to be hated. Not by those closest to her.

"I'm-I'm sorry," Weiss shrunk like Ferry had done just moment prior.

"SHUT UP WEISS!" Yang beat her fists into the table, cracking the wood and sending food, plates and drinks flying.

Weiss recoiled, stumbling away from the table. When she steadied herself, Yang was already marching to her. Her finger jabbing into Weiss's chest as she ranted, "get over yourself Weiss. This isn't Atlas. Your daddy isn't here. You have no right being this prissy little princess you seem to think you are. Not here. Not. Ever. God. I can't believe I'm stuck with you for four years." Yang spun around to the table, marched to Ruby and said, "come on Rubes. We need to get cleaned up before the next lesson."

She didn't give Ruby the opportunity of retorting when she grabbed her little sisters cloak and began to drag her off.

"Eh? Wait, Yang! What about Weiss!?"

"Leave her alone Ruby. Just… leave her alone."

"No, but she's my partner, I can't just-"

"Ruby. Silence. As your older sister I am ordering you to leave her alone."

"But-"

"No buts."

They left, Ruby staring with worry at a shivering Weiss, crystal like streams of water trickling down her cheeks as she stared at the departing form of her last two teammates. When gone, she lingered on the doorway before falling to Ren, Pyrrha, Jaune and the form of Nora crawling her way in from the window she was sent flying out of.

"I… I really messed up… didn't I?" she asked.

"I mean, you-" Jaune seemed ready to try and calm her but was quickly cut off by ren and Pyrrha who in unison said.

"Yes. You did."

Pyrrha continuing to speak, "Weiss. I don't know whether you know this yourself. But you have a tendency to push and force your way into happening. You need to learn how to be less confrontational and more… kind."

"I don't mean to be…"

"It doesn't matter if you don't mean to be. Because you are. And if you don't change that I can see your team fracturing more than it already has." Pyrrha shook her head and said.

A knot tied itself at the back of Weiss's throat, stuck there unable to be swallowed, "I… can… will they forgive me?"

Pyrrha shrugged, "not right now, no. Well, Ruby yes, because, well, Ruby. Just… give them time to calm down for now. And, Lili. You need to apologize to her as well. But like Yang and Blake. Give her a bit of time to cool down. Maybe you can try talking with Ferry for a bit, see if she'd be willing to be an intermediary between you two. And…" Pyrhha gazed around the room of watchful eyes, "…do it in private."

Weiss also came to realize the scope of eavesdroppers. The sheer amount sending a chilling realization down her spine. Rumours. They were coming. And Rumours were things her father revelled in. This single few minutes may have just cost her freedom here in Beacon.

"I-I, I need to go to the bathroom," Weiss's stomach gurgled as she held it, the vile, acidic taste of bile threatening to lurch assailing her. She rushed out of the room, away from the voices of judgement she could hear mocking her, deriding her for all she did and said.

"…" Pyrrha went silent before sighing out, "haa… what a mess."

"S-so, uh, what are we going to do now?" Jaune took his teams attention and asked.

"I don't know Jaune. I don't know."