Lady Misfortune: Daddy, I'll Be A Righteous Villainess!

'Just why can't I be a good father to my son for once?' Lloyd grimaced.

He's trying, though. He really is.

His grip tightens a little on his cardigan. He then passes it to Weiss and says, "I'm hoping you'll wear it. I apologize it's all I have at the moment."

"Why didn't you give this to me when we're still at home?" he asked with a lifted brow as he put the cardigan on, reveling in the extra warmth it offered.

"It's old. Your mother gave it to me when we're still dating. She doesn't know I still have it. I keep it around here in my car." 

Weiss briefly grinned at that. Lloyd shrugged before doing the same. 

"It might be too big, but it'll keep you warm. Take care of yourself, son."

He returns his father's smile, reading the unsaid in between his words. 

Lloyd may not know it, but he genuinely appreciates that he's trying to change. Even though it had to reach the point where Weiss almost died at the early age of eleven after overworking himself for a long time, he's still glad to see this once impassive and apathetic father of his turn into a new leaf. 

Back then, he wouldn't have paid attention. He wouldn't even bat an eye no matter how many medals and trophies he brought home. But as soon as he saw him in the hospital bed that day, he eventually realized his mistakes and vowed to do better – to be better. 

"Thanks, Father."

And with that, Weiss steps out of the car. 

---

Before the first class begins, Lady notices Weiss sniffling.

She sees the cardigan wrapped around him next. Her brows furrow. There can only be one explanation for that.

"So, I was right. You'd been sick all along."

"Huh? What?"

Weiss falters in his stride. He doesn't know how to react to Lady's question.

Heck, he doesn't even know how he's supposed to face her now. He'd done a lot of thinking about for the past week – he would've done more had not gotten sick from the rain yesterday. But when it's finally time, he finds himself at a loss. 

'Am I grateful for the overwhelming sense of concern in her voice? Am I embarrassed that she has to see me sick so soon? Am I sorry that-'

He sneezes.

To be fair, he would've already had something prepared if only he hadn't overheard what Lady and Fallon were talking about yesterday at the parking lot. Weiss felt like he's back to square one because of that. 

And by that, it means he needs to think of a new game plan. He needs to think of a way to approach that topic – a very strange topic, he must say.

'They said something about this story and this heroine. Just what was that all about? Those two were acting really weird.'

Weiss took a moment to go over what happened. 

--- 

"I swear I looked like a big moron back there! I'm sure Sarah thinks so too! I had to redo our meeting! I must save my dignity at all costs!"

Weiss was planning to return the umbrella that Fallon lent him back in the playground moments earlier when he suddenly heard Lady's voice at the parking lot. 

At first, her words were muffled. He couldn't understand what she's saying. But as he got closer and closer to where they were, he realized that it's only getting harder and harder for him to understand – not because he still couldn't hear her clearly, but because he had no idea what she's gushing on about. 

"So, it went down like this. It all happened in the hallway this morning. I was talking with Ms. Mirabella about this writing assignment she gave us the other day, and I was so bamboozled when she gave me some extra work that I didn't see Sarah coming from the opposite direction. By that time, my class adviser was already gone, so I was left behind with her. I immediately recognized her as the heroine of the story, and yes, she introduced herself to me, so don't you dare say I'm only jumping to conclusions because I'm not…" was what Lady had rambled on and on while Fallon stayed oddly composed. 

"She's really the heroine! As soon as that fact registered in my head, I quickly tried to introduce myself the same way the original villainess did. But then, those kids from my class came and ruined everything! They accused me of cutting classes! I got mad and ended up picking a fight with them as usual. But what I didn't realize was that doing so would make me appear like a delinquent even more! I was actually helping them prove their point all along!" 

To cut the long story short, she wasn't able to leave the kind of impression she wanted to leave on this girl named Sarah, and she was so frustrated that she decided to stay in the library and skip her morning classes just to create a new 'evil' scheme - at least, that's how Weiss interpreted the whole thing.

'So, she wasn't absent all along? Why would she go that far for something like that, though? That's just not like her. What's so important about that meeting, anyway? Who's exactly that girl to her?'

He's got loads of questions in his head – and all of them were left unanswered at the end of the day.  

Weiss couldn't just simply announce that he's there the whole time. It's already bad enough that he's eavesdropping on what's clearly a private conversation. Also, he's not certain if Lady and Fallon would even be willing to explain it all to him.

"Calm down for now, okay? You're such a mess. That was only your first interaction, anyway. I doubt it has a significant effect in the flow of the story. What's the worst that can happen?" he had heard Fallon tell Lady who finally stopped rambling.

By then, he already got the message – this entire exchange was real. They're serious with whatever they're on about here. 

And he'd be lying if he said he's not curious, Of course, he is. 

But then, before Weiss could hear more, Fallon noticed his presence. 

---

"You're burning up, Weiss!" Lady exclaimed out of nowhere, pulling Weiss back to reality.

That ended his flashback of yesterday's events. Only when he snapped out of his thoughts did he realize she was checking his temperature - her hand on his forehead. She then went on to usher him to his seat and fussed over him. 

"I'm well aware I'm burning up," Weiss responded sourly and sniffled again.

"Why're you at school, then? Couldn't you have gotten another day off?" Lady asked worriedly. 

She's firing questions at him rapidly. He's beginning to get dizzy.

"Hey, stay with me…" she told him as she snapped her fingers in front of his face, and with that, everything slowly came back into focus. 

"I'm bringing you to the clinic, alright? I can't believe your parents let you come here!"

"Oh, uhhh…" he blurted out, cringing.

"Actually, it was me. I forced my parents to let me come here, and no, you're not taking me to the clinic or anywhere else for that matter." 

Weiss sniffs again then looks away, closing the discussion. Lady lets out a sigh before trying once more. 

"Weiss-"

"Lady." 

Shoot, he's already using that godforsaken tone. It's been a while since the last time he asserted dominance on someone like this. Too far to come back now, though. 

"Go back to your seat, Lady. I'm fine."

Unsurprisingly, that voice didn't work on Lady. Of course, it didn't. Weiss sighed.

"You are not fine, Weiss! How can you say you are?!"

Gosh, she's like a mother hen.

That's alright, Weiss supposes. Forcing his back to straighten up when all it really wants to do right now is to slump, he faces Lady head-on.

He can play this game. It's all he's ever played, after all.

With that in mind, Weiss levels a cool smile at Lady. 

"I will be if you return to your seat."

She glares at him in return, but he doesn't dignify it with a wince. Grumbling under her breath, she takes a step back and plops down heavily into her seat next to him. He still catches her looking at him in worry, and briefly, he thinks that his parents may have been right – he shouldn't have gone to school.

'No…' he thought firmly, clenching his hands into fists. 

'I can do this. I'm not a child anymore. I'll push through this sickness. I have to. I can't just run away every single time. I can't… I can't… I just can't-'

"You're really not okay, Weiss. Why won't you let me take you to the clinic? I don't mind skipping the first class," Lady muttered, stealing Weiss's attention once again.

Her voice is softer now, warmer. It makes him feel like melting into a puddle of goo. But he had used that voice on her. He can no longer come back from that. She should be wary of him at this point. 

He wants to bury his face in the ground. But all he can do is sniffle. 

Weiss really feels miserable.