SXD+S: Meeting the Sister

The sun hadn’t even fully risen yet, and Weiss Schnee was already awake, meticulously brushing her hair in long, practiced strokes before the mirror above her desk. The normally composed Ice Queen of Beacon looked visibly tense this morning, and her teammates couldn’t help but notice.

Across the room, Yang was mid-stretch, cracking her knuckles. “Geez, Weiss. What’s the occasion? Trying to impress Issei?”

Blake, curled up on her bed with a book in hand, glanced up briefly. “You’ve ironed that outfit three times already. And you polished your shoes twice.”

“Four times, actually,” Ruby chirped as she leaned out of the bathroom with a toothbrush sticking out of her mouth.

Weiss let out a sigh, placing her brush down with a soft clack.

“If you must know, today is a very important day,” Weiss said, turning toward them with her usual poise though her hands fidgeted slightly at her sides. “My sister is visiting Beacon.”

“Winter Schnee?” Blake asked, eyebrow raised in interest.

“Wait—the Winter Schnee? The military Ice Queen of Atlas?” Yang whistled, clearly entertained. “Wow. No pressure.”

Ruby’s eyes sparkled. “Ohhh, are we gonna meet her? That’d be so cool!”

“No,” Weiss snapped a bit too quickly. “I mean, no. I’d prefer if you all… refrained from any interactions. Please don’t distract me or try to meet her. She’s very punctual and expects everything to be in perfect order.”

There was a beat of silence.

“…You mean she's more of a perfectionist than you?” Yang smirked.

Weiss shot her a glare sharp enough to cut steel.

“I mean it,” Weiss said, adjusting her gloves for the third time. “Today, I need everything to be just right.”

Ruby tilted her head. “Are you nervous?”

“No!” Weiss snapped, then hesitated. “Maybe. A little. Winter has always… had high standards.”

She didn’t say it, but the unspoken words hung in the air: Especially for me.

—--------------------------

Elsewhere in Beacon – Late Morning

Issei Hyoudou wandered through the halls of Beacon with a lazy grin and his hands tucked behind his head. After a couple weeks of adjusting to this strange world, he’d fallen into something resembling a routine. Kind of. He still had no idea how Aura worked, and the whole concept of Semblances made his head spin, but Beacon had food, beds, friendly faces—and most importantly, Weiss Schnee.

He chuckled to himself.

She was a bit… well, “scary ice queen” didn’t even begin to cover it. But he liked her. A lot. Even if she yelled at him every time he made a “boob-related observation”. And somehow, some way, they’d ended up as a couple.

Today, he figured, would be a great day to hang out with her. Maybe they could sneak away to the courtyard and just talk. Maybe spar. Maybe even—

He stopped outside the team RWBY dorm room and knocked on the door.

“Hey, Weiss? You in there?” he called out.

There was a sudden rustling inside—chairs scooting, something falling over, and a yelp from Ruby followed by Weiss’s furious voice.

“Ruby, I swear if you say anything—!”

Yang opened the door a crack and peeked out with a wide grin. “Oh boy. You might wanna come back later, lover boy.”

Issei blinked. “Huh?”

Then Weiss appeared, practically shoving Yang aside with surprising strength. Her cheeks were already tinged pink, though her face was doing everything it could to maintain regal composure.

“Issei! What are you doing here?” she asked, voice slightly too high-pitched to be casual.

“I figured we could hang out today. You know, maybe go to the gardens or something?” he said with a soft smile. “Unless you're busy?”

Weiss froze.

Oh no.

No no no—of all the days!

Her mind raced. If Winter saw him, the way he dressed, the casual tone, the constant innuendos she knew he couldn’t suppress. It would be a disaster. Her sister would kill him. Or worse, lecture her for hours. This wasn’t part of her plan.

“I—I can’t!” she blurted out. “Today I’m… very busy.”

“Busy?” Issei repeated, tilting his head.

“Yes! Extremely. I have important duties to attend to. Things to prepare. My… sister is visiting. Winter Schnee.”

Issei blinked. “Oh. That’s cool. Want me to meet her?”

“No!” Weiss said quickly, panic creeping into her voice. “I mean—not that you’re not…presentable. But she’s very strict. And formal. She wouldn’t understand our—friendship.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Friendship?”

“I mean—relationship,” Weiss corrected, flustered. “Look, it’s just not the time. Today’s complicated, okay?”

There was a pause.

Then Issei smiled, scratching the back of his head. “Got it. You don’t want her seeing me and freaking out. That makes sense. I’ll give you space.”

Weiss blinked. “…You’re not upset?”

“Why would I be? Everyone’s got family stuff. I’ll just bug you tomorrow instead,” He said with a playful wink.

She looked at him, caught between relief and guilt. “You’re… remarkably understanding today.”

“I can be serious sometimes,” Issei grinned. “Besides, I don’t need to meet your sister to know I like you.”

Weiss’s heart skipped a beat. She covered it with a scoff. “Y-You’re so shameless…”

“Yup,” He said, turning on his heel. “That’s why you like me.”

Weiss watched him walk off down the hallway with his hands still behind his head, humming some off-tune melody.

“…Idiot,” she murmured under her breath, a small smile tugging at her lips despite herself.

Behind her, Ruby whispered to Blake, “Did Weiss just smile after he left?”

“Shut up, Ruby,” Weiss hissed.

—------------------

Issei Hyoudou strolled through the stone-paved courtyard of Beacon Academy, his hands stuffed in his jacket pockets, bored.

‘Man, I’ve got nothing to do today.’

He had wandered through the training arena earlier, considered grabbing lunch, and even contemplated a solo workout. But nothing sounded fun without Weiss. He’d gotten used to being around her, teasing her, listening to her rants about “basic etiquette” and “discipline.” Heck, even just seeing her roll her eyes at his jokes made his day feel complete.

Now, with her off-limits for the day, he was aimlessly walking circles around the campus.

‘Ugh, why does her sister have to be so strict?’ 

He stopped by a low stone wall, leaning against it and gazing toward the garden in the center of the courtyard. Flowers were in bloom, sunlight scattered through the leaves of a tall tree, and a breeze rustled through the petals lazily.

And then he saw her.

A woman stood beneath the tree, still as a painting. Her snow-white hair was tied back into a sleek, no-nonsense bun, and her figure was tall and commanding, wrapped in a white military uniform tailored to her sharp edges. Her posture? Perfect. The air around her practically crackled with authority.

She was stunning.

And she looked way too much like Weiss.

“Whoa…” Issei murmured, eyes widening slightly. “That’s gotta be her sister.”

It had to be. Same color hair. Same icy poise. Same perfect posture that said I’ve never tripped in my life. But where Weiss was fierce and elegant, this woman was like a walking goddess of war. She looked like she could kill a man with a glance.

Issei instinctively took a step back. ‘Okay. Back away slowly. Don’t blow it. You promised Weiss you wouldn’t get involved. Just go the other way and pretend you didn’t see her—’

But his feet didn’t move.

He kept staring.

It wasn’t just her beauty—it was the sheer presence she had. It was like watching a snowstorm wrapped in silk and steel. His instincts screamed to run. His eyes said otherwise.

‘Seriously, what’s with Weiss’s family? Are they all crafted in some Atlas lab for flawless beauty and death glares?’

He turned his head slightly, as if looking away, but his gaze wandered right back.

And that’s when it happened.

Her eyes shifted.

Sharp, cool, and piercing—a shade of blue just like Weiss’s—locked onto him.

‘Oh, crap.’

Issei straightened, realizing with a sinking heart that he had been very obviously staring. He should’ve run earlier. He definitely should’ve turned away. But it was too late now.

The woman began walking toward him with the grace and precision.

‘Okay, Issei. Think. Think fast. Don’t lie. Weiss will kill you. But you can’t just say, “Hi, I was ogling you because you look like Weiss but older and hotter.” That’s… probably not smart.’

As she approached, her boots clicking against the stone with unnerving rhythm, Issei raised his hands slightly in surrender.

“Sorry,” he said, offering a sheepish grin, trying to seem more harmless than clueless. “I didn’t mean to stare. I was just… lost.”

Her eyes narrowed just slightly.

“…Lost?” she repeated, voice smooth and precise, laced with faint suspicion.

Issei winced. “I mean, I got caught off guard. By how beautiful you are.”

There was a pause—one of those heavy, cold silences that made Issei feel like he’d just stepped into a blizzard barefoot.

The woman raised a single pale eyebrow. “…Is that so?”

“I swear I wasn’t trying to be disrespectful!” He added quickly, hands still half-raised. “I just… I’ve never seen someone like you before. The way you carry yourself. I wasn’t trying to flirt, I swear. I’m actually dating your sister.” The moment the words escaped his lips, all that could be heard in his mind was. ‘SHIT!!!’

—------------------------------------------

The young man before her looked… utterly disarmed. Hands up in an awkward gesture of peace, face somewhere between bashful and stunned, and not the least bit threatening in posture. Yet Winter remained still, composed, analyzing every detail—just as she had been trained.

‘So this is him…’

The boy General Ironwood had spoken of in his transmission. The "enigma" that had appeared in Vale with no records, no origin, and no explanation. Allegedly amnesiac. Incredibly powerful, but unrefined with no Aura or Semblance. 

Winter's eyes narrowed as she folded her gloved hands behind her back, posture straightening to her full height.

‘He doesn’t even try to hide how unrefined he is. How could someone like this defeat such powerful Grimm?

And yet… she had to admit, the reports hadn’t mentioned he would be this disarmingly honest.

“I see,” Winter finally said, keeping her tone controlled, almost clinical. “You are romantically involved with Weiss.”

He paled slightly at her phrasing. “U-Uh. Yeah. I mean, she’s… great. Elegant. Totally terrifying when she wants to be, but—uh—yeah. Together.”

His nervous rambling wasn’t helpful to his cause, but it was oddly genuine. He didn’t try to spin words. Didn’t try to cover up. There was no manipulation in his tone—only raw, unfiltered nerves.

‘He really is this… open. Is that carelessness? Or sincerity?’

Winter’s mind drifted briefly to the classified file tucked into her scroll. Issei Hyoudou. No known affiliation with Remnant’s Kingdoms. Emerged out of nowhere. Aura output: unknown. His only known connection? Her little sister, Weiss Schnee, who apparently had been living in close proximity to this anomaly for weeks.

‘This is a strategic breach. An unknown, unvetted individual attached to the Schnee heiress…’

And yet, the boy had just called her “beautiful” with such unfiltered, clumsy awe that she—

Winter shook her head imperceptibly. ‘Focus.’

She could feel a faint heat creeping up her cheeks. She subtly cleared her throat and shifted her posture to distract from it.

“I was… informed about you,” she said, tone measured again, returning to her calm default. “Your presence here raises several questions.”

Issei blinked. “Uh-oh. That’s never a good thing.”

Winter raised an eyebrow. “You do not deny that your origin is unknown. That you appeared in Vale with no identification.”

“Nope,” Issei replied, shrugging lightly. “Wish I could explain it. I’m just as confused as everyone else. I kind of… woke up here after a fight with something, I think. No memories before that. Just woke up confused and got yelled at by Weiss.”

The mental image hit her like a bolt of static.

‘Yelled at by—’ Winter’s brow twitched slightly.

“And despite this,” she said, voice tightening, “you formed an intimate bond with my sister?”

“She sort of… helped me when I had nowhere else to go,” Issei replied, rubbing the back of his head. “It wasn’t easy at first. Honestly, I thought she hated me. Still kinda does when I leave my socks around.”

Winter resisted the urge to sigh.

‘Why does he speak like that?’

There was no calculation in his words. Only honesty. The kind of honesty that was deeply unrefined and impossibly hard to fake. And somehow, that made her more suspicious. And... faintly flustered.

‘Could this be a long con? Some deep psychological manipulation technique?’

But no… the slight blush on his cheeks, the occasional glance at her boobs before flicking back up to her eyes, the subtle twitch of his fingers—none of it felt rehearsed.

And worse, she felt her own cheeks warming again.

‘Control yourself, Winter.’

She inhaled quietly through her nose, resetting her posture once more. ‘If this is a ploy, it's an extremely unconventional one. But if this isn’t truly who he is… then I must proceed with calculated caution.’

“Walk with me,” she said at last, turning on her heel and gesturing toward the long path leading toward the eastern balcony of Beacon.

Issei blinked. “Huh? Wait, are we—?”

“I am not finished with my assessment,” she said curtly. “And I prefer private locations to conduct evaluations. Follow.”

Issei scratched his head, then shrugged and trailed after her. “Well… okay then. Lead the way, Schnee-san.”

Winter didn’t look back as he followed, but she allowed herself a single, brief thought as her heels clicked along the marble.

‘Perhaps this assignment won’t be as tedious as I expected…’