She's struggling to pay for the expenses of being a huntress!

Ruby looked at her scroll and sighed. The reason for her sadness sat front and center on the display.

"Multi-action dust compatible lower receiver - $1299" read the HuntsmanDepot's website. Ruby had done all the research she could, and it had all led her here. If she wanted to improve Crescent Rose any further, this was the only option.

'Why does it have to be so expensive!?' Ruby lamented mentally.

It was quite the upgrade and would nearly double the fire rate of her current build, while being more reliable. There were no downsides, but that price was killing her mood.

'Do I really need this?' Ruby thought. She knew she couldn't afford it. She was hardly poor, but her bank account had only $200 in it. She had no expenses, but also very limited income. As a second year, the missions they took were not glamorous and they were very scarce.

Her family had enough to be comfortable, Ozpin had made sure of that after her mother's passing, but she couldn't ask her father for something like this; even for work.

Weiss was also out. While the SDC could, and might do it as a tax write-off, Ruby didn't want to **** her partner to talk to her father over this.

Beacon allowed the students to submit Requisition forms for materials, but to be frank, they wouldn't go for this while Ruby's weapon worked fine.

'How am I possibly supposed to afford any of this stuff? Huntress school doesn't allow me any time to work, and I wasn't born rich!' Ruby had to take a deep breath to avoid her internal frustration becoming visible.

Not that there was anyone to see her face contort in anger: Weiss and Yang were in class and Blake had her face buried in a book. Ruby blinked as she looked at the other member occupying their dorm room. She must've heard Ruby sighing, because they were now staring at each other.

"Is something wrong, Ruby?" Blake asked carefully.

"No." Blake began to return to her book when Ruby started again, "Well... It's not a huge deal, but I'm short on spending money."

Blake gave her a knowing smile and bookmarked her page. She sat up a bit straighter in her bed and looked at Ruby.

"A lot of Huntresses struggle with money at huntsmen school. It's not exactly easy to make money while you're fighting off evil incarnate." Blake said in a monotone voice, drawing a laugh from Ruby.

"I just don't understand how some people do it. I'm so lucky that Beacon gives us as much money as they do, how do some people survive without that help?" Ruby asked, somewhat rhetorically.

"Some people are sponsored, like Pyrrha and Weiss. Some people have wealthy parents, like Coco and Neptune. The rest of us have to make our own way, I guess. You're resourceful Ruby, I know you'll figure it out." Blake encouraged her.

"Thanks Blake..." Ruby said, genuinely thankful for her words. Still, words didn't pay the bills. They returned to silence for a few moments, then Ruby heard a slight buzz on her scroll.

She looked down at her scroll and saw that the price of the component had gone down under a special offer.

"50% off all components for high achieving members 'onlyHuntresses'." The fine text read.

'onlyHuntresses? Is that some kind of subscription deal?' Ruby wondered. She clicked on the name of the service and it began loading a website.

"Welcome to onlyHuntresses! Where you can support the defenders of tomorrow, and reap the benefits."

Seeing the message greeting her, Ruby realized that she had heard about this before.

'I think I heard Yang tease someone about this once. Still, it doesn't say what it is.'

Ruby clicked through the intro and was brought to a page featuring top contributors, sorted by country.

She clicked on the Vale tab. The table reduced itself to only showing women of Vale, and it was obvious they all shared a common trait:

'Wow! They're all gorgeous!' Ruby acknowledged. Ruby couldn't exactly be called straight, and knew a beautiful girl when she saw one.

She clicked on the number 1 contributor and was brought to their page. It was sorted by Albums for the most part, with a small selection of highlights. That was all Ruby could see, as the rest was seemingly behind a paywall. Still, it was more than enough to make Ruby gasp.

The girl she had clicked on seemed to be a bit older in age, but no more than her early 30s. It was immediately obvious why 'MissDiscipline' was popular. Her highlights featured the beautiful brunette in a variety of risque poses that were carefully selected to not show the goods.

Everything the woman did was in a teasing fashion. From the way she leaned forward in a perfectly fitting bikini, to the clear desire in her eyes. Every action the woman took dripped purpose: to entice the viewer.

'Are these... Previews?' Ruby thought. She clicked on one of the images and was brought to an image of the beauty curled by an hearth, wearing an old fashioned fur cloak. Behind her, Ruby could see a huntress outfit drying on a rack.

The caption read: "After a long winter hunt, it's important to dry your clothes and relax~" After that, it was clearly an advertisement to get her to fully subscribe to the woman's account, under the promise of her dropping her sole fur covering.

'I-Its so lewd!' she reeled back in shock internally. 'Why would the huntress depot sponsor this? Why would they give her such a good deal—'

Oh. Ruby got her answer. Under the woman's name, the app displayed the total number of people subscribed to her. Ruby whistled. Nearly 10,000 people were paying to see this woman naked. At 5$ a month, even only 20% of that would get her all the upgrades she'd ever need.

'Get your mind out of the gutter Ruby!' this clearly isn't for you! You've got nothing on them. You're also way too shy for this!' She hopped off her bed and went into the bathroom to cool off.

She was wearing her huntress outfit. The vibrant crimson clearly caught her attention in the mirror. Something was different about her reflection today... Ruby couldn't figure out what.

Her figure looked normal, but she was exuding a far different aura tonight.

'Since when did I look so confident? Has my skirt always been this short?' Ruby realized that she looked good. Her skirt rode high on her legs and teased painfully what lay underneath. Her outfit didn't show off her chest much though. Ruby decided she needed to continue her investigation. She unclipped her cloaked and carefully folded it onto the counter.

Her shirt had to be next. Ruby shrugged it off without incident. Seemingly she had grown sine last year. She would never be as endowed as her sister, but standing there wearing only a bra above her waist Ruby only had one thought...

'I... Look good. When did this happens? My stomach is toned. My breasts are a handful now...'

She had to keep going. She unclasped her bra, and soon was topless in the bathroom. Her bra didn't lie. She did look good. Great even.

Removing her skirt didn't change that feeling. Seeing her well rounded rear in the mirror only furthered her confidence.

'Am I really thinking about doing this?' Ruby asked herself. She could feel her heart racing in excitement, even as her fingers shook in disbelief.

Ruby slowly pulled up her scroll camera, and held it out like she was taking a selfie. She still wore her panties, but they weren't in frame anyway. Ruby just needed to see. She needed proof that she was desirable. Putting herself out there was one thing, but getting rejected would be heartbreaking. Still, she had an obvious method of proof.

Ruby steeled herself. She set her clothes on the bathroom counter and turned on the shower. Then, she walked slowly towards the bathroom door. She listened for a second. She heard nothing. Good. That meant it was only Blake still. Her shaky hand moved to the handle and slowly drew it open.

She walked out carefully and confidently. In an instant, she felt Blake's eyes burning into her skin. She got goosebumps when she heard Blake gasp.

"R-Ruby! What are you doing?" Blake questioned her leaders very unusual behavior.

"I forgot a towel. Like Yang always says, if you've got it, flaunt it! Do you think I've 'Got it' Blake?" Ruby teased, vastly enjoying the thrill running through her.

Blake couldn't say a word as Ruby purposefully strode and found her towel.

"Ah! I almost forgot!" She said innocently, then she drew her panties down her legs, shaking her butt as she did so. She felt Blake gasp again. She tossed the garment into her hamper.

Before she could reenter the bathroom, Ruby figured she deserved one more tease against Blake.

"Blake, my eyes are up here." She said with a wink, then slithered into the bathroom. Once the door closed, Ruby threw herself against the door to catch her breath.

"I've made up my mind!"