Chapter 4: Minutes After Midnight

The night sky glittered with stars high above the peaks of Beacon, and Shinai found himself reflexively counting them from his perch atop the roof.

"You can come out." He called quietly, not turning purple eyes from the sky.

There was an uncertain scuffling- and Daria crossed the peak of the roof, staring owlishly at the samurai.

"Daria Copper." He greeted, turning finally to her.

"Uh… hi."

The two huntsmen stared at each other for a long few moments, before Shinai finally cocked his head slightly to the side. "Can I help you."

"I, uh…" She replied lamely, finally shuffling down towards him. "Well… not really, but… kind of."

He simply raised an eyebrow in response.

The short warrior uncertainly sat down next to him, drawing her knees into her chest. "...How do you do it?"

"Do what?"

"The leader thing."

"What do you mean?"

"I... mean, the- the micro-management, and the team-building, and the training, and the assignments, and the… everything. I don't even know where to begin."

Shinai sighed and crossed his legs. "What works for me and my team won't work for you and yours. We are different people-"

"...I know. And that's the worst part... I... it's like every step forwards with my team, we take two steps back. I think I pull us together, then... we seem to just get further apart. You've got Ulysses, and Lance, and Oracle- and it shouldn't work... but it does. You make it work... even when everything seems to be at its worst, you still make it work."

He said nothing for a long few moments. "…Do they believe in you?"

"Who? My team?"

"Yes."

"I… I want to say that I don't know... but I think I do know... and I think the answer's no."

"That's your problem. I run my team tightly, but they know that I can do it. Do yours know you can do it?"

"I… how can I do that if I can't even look at... one of them."

Shinai closed his eyes again. "I don't know you, Copper. I don't know how you work. But this goes further than your personal feelings; you may hate Platina, but that does not remove him from your team. That does not nullify the uses he has for you. You know your team better than anyone; you simply need to ask more questions."

She cast her gaze to the tiles below. "...I don't know if I can do that. It's like... I want to move on from him, but... just the thought hurts."

"You care for him, your pain doesn't simply make you forget about that. This... is a situation beyond my skills. It's up to you and him to move on."

The two team leaders sat quietly for a while, saying nothing, the huntress' mood dowering, face twisting solemnly. He turned back to her thoughtfully, a small sigh escaping him. "You should get some sleep. It'll do you well."

"I... tried. I can't sleep. Why are you up here?"

"...No true reason."

Daria was quiet for a moment. "...You scare me, you know that?"

"...I am aware."

"Everyone scares me, but you... I don't know... you and Ulysses both are just-"

"Dark, yes. I am aware. Trauma can... have that affect. But it can also be healed. Trust me when I tell you that I have no ill will towards anyone. I would do nothing to harm you or others. That darkness can be harnessed to... move on. In our own ways."

Her gaze softened, turning down to the tiles below her. "...Yeah... I trust you... thank you for the talk."

"Of course."

The two leaders fell back into silence, gazes raised to the pitch black sky above head.

Rainier sighed as he slowly played a few keys on the piano, taking in the comfortingly familiar notes, other hand running over the black surface of its top.

"Oh. You."

The faunus looked up- to Weiss, the Atlesian staring, arms crossed, face disapproving, as she stood in the middle of the ballroom. "Yes. It is I. The villain of the hour." He ducked his head again to stare at the keys, continuing to play absentmindedly.

"Don't play victim."

"…You're right. I apologize."

Weiss sighed, and began picking up the stray streamers littering the ballroom- sky pitch black outside the windows, and the dance long over. After a moment, she stilled again. "How could you just leave her hanging like that?"

Rainier's fingers hovered above the keys, a frown crossing his face. "I hadn't intended to. When I asked her to the dance, I'd been fully intent on going."

"So? Why didn't you?"

"I… got caught up."

She scoffed. "Oh, boy. Let's hear this excuse, then"

"I was training."

The heiress burst out into laughter. "Training? Really? You just happened to get lost on the way to the dance and ended up at the gym?"

"Well… I'd been training, and… lost track of time."

"So, allow me to get this straight: you were working out, and just... happened to forget the dance, that our friend group had been making a big deal out of for weeks just happened to be tonight? The dance that three other schools from other Kingdoms flew in to attend?"

He sighed. "It's a poor excuse, I know."

The two huntsmen lapsed into silence as the Vacuoan played a few more keys idly, not seeming willing to leave the ballroom, while she continued to clean up the mess left behind after the party.

"…You play piano?" Weiss finally asked, breaking the silence.

"From time to time, yes."

She hummed, unimpressed in response, turning her gaze back to the floor.

"I prefer the guitar," He continued, latching onto the opportunity to make conversation. "But they're not so different. Inverted, perhaps, and one much more regal than the other. The piano's not a bad second-best, though it lacks the elegance that an acoustic can offer."

Weiss shook her head. "You're unbelievable."

"Yes, well… I imagine that's something everyone has said about me tonight."

"Maybe. You did miss JNPR doing a dance though. And Jaune in a dress."

Rainier spluttered, but didn't laugh, simply trailing off. "A mess up I truly am, huh? I break my dear friend's heart, and then proceed to miss the rest of my friends' moments."

"That's the general sentiment, yes."

He shook his head and brought his other hand up, the notes playing in his head as he softly plucked away at the piano's keys, humming along quietly.

All of a sudden, Weiss straightened up like a blur, hands filled with trashed streamers. "...I know that song." She gasped, pale blue eyes turning up to him.

He stopped. "Oh? I was just playing what came to me."

"No, that's Anders. I used to have a piece to that."

Rainier stared at her for a long few moments. "Miss Schnee, you continue to surprise me." He pressed a few more keys, watching as she thoughtfully swayed her head slightly side-to-side, humming along.

"What," She asked, raising a delicate eyebrow. "Is it so bizarre that I know Anders? He's one of the greatest of his period."

"I... suppose I had forgotten who I was talking to. It's easy to believe no one knows the same strange things that you do."

She still didn't seem to be buying it though, arms crossed and eyes narrowed. "Oh? Well. Isn't that nice."

He pulled his hands away, turning fully towards her as he pursed his lips. "While I... realize that I may not seem the most… approachable man right now, given the circumstances- as of this moment, I don't really have a place to go. And, perhaps, I can help you tidy up?"

Weiss glared at him for a long few moments- before sighing. "Fine. Just don't mention Daria. Or anything else from tonight, for that matter. I worked very hard on this dance, and you didn't have the decency to show."

He began making his way down the steps from the piano to the dance floor proper, grabbing some streamers left over the stair railings as he walked. "I do apologize, dearly. If... I may ask... it's far past midnight? Why are you here cleaning up on your own?"

"For your information- my partner was attacked, and one of my friends was left heartbroken. We're all going to get little sleep tonight. And what did I say about talking about the dance? Now, hurry up and get down here and help me. And while you're at it, you can explain how you know Anders' Fourth Symphony so well."

Daria's gaze was burning as she stared across the room stubbornly, dark eyes stony and cold, unreceptive to the world around her, arms crossed over her chest tightly, hands balled into fists.

"Daria." Rainier stared across at her helplessly, expression oozing with regret, leaning towards his leader, abashed.

The Mistrali didn't respond to him, barely flinching in her chilly dismissal.

"Daria, please. At least talk to me."

"Why."

The faunus looked around the room to his other teammates, face filled with exasperation and helplessness. "Be- because I messed up, I understand that. I'm trying to make amends, but I need you to help me, Dearest-"

"Don't you dare," She hissed, gaze falling to him, face twisted into an expression of pure vitriol. "Don't you 'Dearest Daria' me."

"I..." He went quiet for a moment, remorse replacing the regret in his eyes. "...Of course." His head dropped lowly, a disappointed breath escaping his lips.

Her expression softened slightly at his look of capitulation- before immediately hardening as another wave of spite flooded through her, upturning her nose again.

Gail swallowed hard as she pulled her legs into her chest, looking back and forth between her teammates helplessly. She and Nash locked gazes for a moment, the young boy shrugging, seemingly none too plussed with the situation at hand.

"...I'm sorry," Rainier said quietly, gaze not raising. "I know... I messed up. I hurt you-"

"Hurt's a nice word," His leader shot back. "See, the only reason I agreed to go with you to that stupid dance was because I- I thought that I could trust you to make it worth it. Why- hey! Rainier wouldn't flake out on me! Rainier wouldn't leave me hanging! Rainier's not like that, he's better! I- thought that I could trust you,"

His eyes shot back to her, surprise filling his face before hurt quickly replaced it. Daria, though, shot to her feet, storming over to the Vacuoan, bearing down on him. "I don't like to trust people, you know? It hurts, it sucks, and nine times out of ten, someone gets hurt- but I thought you were different. You seemed to care. And I bought it! I really did! But just like always, that came back to bite me in the ass, like always! And this isn't about some stupid dance, I don't care about that- it's about you. I should've listened to my first instincts about you. I knew who you were, but I pretended like you were something else because, dang, that sounded nice- you're a selfish boy who only cares about yourself, and everyone else is just- just side-pieces to use and get rid of as you please! So don't you sorry me. I'm not buying it anymore."

The room was dead silent, the fan whirring above seeming to be impossibly loud. Rainier- his gaze dropping again with each passing admonishment- sat silently for a moment. Slowly, he rose to his feet, attention glued to the floor. Wordlessly, he stepped around Daria, not once looking to her, even as hers and their other teammates' eyes watched his every move. Hands clenched into fists, he began to shuffle away from her, making a dejected, defeated march towards the door.

He left without a word, the door closing softly behind him.

"Daria..." Gail started quietly, slowly sliding to sit on the edge of her bed, face distraught.

Her leader's gaze snapped to her, dark eyes heavy and red with tears, cheeks stained. The trio sat and stood silently for a moment, the tension oppressively thick. Finally, Nash edged towards her- and took her hand in his own silently. Like a cornered animal, she flinched from the sudden contact, turning quickly towards him.

He simply stared up at her with empathetic, caring blue eyes, and she crumbled, falling to sit on the bed beside him, burying her face in her hands.

"I'm so stupid," She whispered, even as he leaned his shoulder against hers. "I'm so stupid."

"...I thought he was cool too." Nash said quietly.

"He didn't deserve that. He didn't."

"I dunno. Maybe he did."

They sat quietly for a moment, even as Gail looked back and forth between the partners and the door, anguished. Finally, she let out a shaky sigh, sidling back to perch in the corner of her room, placing headphones in her ears, knees pulled back to her chest, a book held with a white-knuckled grip.

Rainier sighed as he stepped along the lit stone sidewalk, hands buried in his pockets, good leg kicking at stray pebbles littering his path.

"Platina."

The faunus flinched at the sudden, clipped tone, recoiling as he turned on his heel towards the trees placed off of the path. In the boughs of the nearest tree, Shinai sat calmly, legs crossed beneath him, sword held lightly in his lap, eyes closed.

Rainier's expression flipped from misery to sudden fury, before melting back to resigned as he stared at the samurai, taking a deep steadying breath. "Samurai." He greeted, frozen in his tracks.

"You're upset." Shinai said evenly, not looking up to the Vacuoan.

"Yes, well... it seems to be a quid pro quo thing... and I'm more than deserving," He cleared his throat, stepping off of the stone. "Another late night?"

"So it seems."

"Is this a nightly thing if you, if it's not too intrusive?"

"No."

"...Very convincing."

The samurai dropped from the tree branch he was perched on, landing in the grass with hardly a sound. Hand balanced casually on the hilt of his katana, he walked forwards and joined the faunus on the path. "Do you mind?"

Rainier jolted at the sudden companionship, bristling for a moment... before the tension drained from him, gaze turning to the stars above. "...No. I wouldn't."

The two walked in silence for a while, neither speaking a word, the two huntsmen walking in synchronization. Finally, Shinai broke the pact of quiet between them. "I'll assume that this is about the dance?"

The Vacuoan let out a bitter laugh. "...That's what I had thought... I'm afraid, it... goes a bit deeper than that."

"Hm," They lapsed back into their silence for a moment. "Copper's upset with you."

"Upset... is a light word. Hardly fitting."

"Yet you're here, alone."

"I... I'm the last person she wants to see. My face may need to be... invisible for a time."

"Wise."

"Oh?" Rainier's face turned back towards him in surprise. "And how is that?"

Shinai looked at the faunus out of the corner of his eyes, head not turning. "You have your reasons for your behavior; those reasons aren't invalidated by how others react to you, or vice versa. Platina, it's possible to commit no mistakes and still lose; that is not weakness, that is life.

Rainier's eyes went hard, a strained smile crossing his face. "...Are we talking to talk or are we talking to bide time?"

"...You see him, then."

"Rooftop, across the street."

Shinai nodded casually in response. "Wait for my mark."

"Don't keep me waiting."

They walked a few more steps quietly-

"…Go."

With two quick movements, Shinai disappeared into a purple cloud of smoke, joined by a silver blur rushing through it.

Vegas Gold hummed to himself thoughtfully as he watched the two huntsmen strut along the path, popping chips casually into his mouth from his position. "Coward," He muttered sourly. "Just do something about it already."

He sighed in disappointment, shaking his head as he continued to dig through his snacks, eyes closing; when he opened him, the duo far below were gone, a rapidly dissipating cloud marking where they had been standing.

"Where did you…" He hissed, climbing to his feet, his bag dropping to the rooftop below.

Poof.

He leaned forwards, narrowly avoiding the blade cleaving through his head, the sharp 'shinks' of the ends of his hair being cut off filling the otherwise dead silent night. Like a top, he turned on his heel to the bottom of the samurai's boot soaring through the air- towards the backhalf of the building's roof was a thick cloud of smoke, not unlike the one down on the street below.

Gold jumped backwards, again narrowly missing the strike as he left the rooftop entirely- only for a hand to grip the back of the cuff of his jacket, swinging him backwards to slam into the brick wall of the building. He tumbled downwards, bashing against the building before landing in a roll onto the ground.

Without a second to spare, and enormous bullet came firing down towards him, getting him to leap backwards-right in the way of a metallic, clawed foot soaring towards him. Vegas stepped to the side at the last moment, pushing the limb away from himself.

Rainier landed on the ground, shaking his head. "Predictable, my friend!"

Poof.

Suddenly, another boot found itself buried in the small of his back, sending him careening forwards into the leaping, spinning, waiting paw of the faunus, smashing into his chin and sending him into the air, leaving his feet entirely.

Shinai slashed upwards with his katana, cleaving through the man's jacket and sending him further upwards into the air.

A blur of movement heralded Rainier leaping into the air and spinning, Wolf's Claws connecting solidly with Gold's stomach and sending him back down into the asphalt, cannon blast mixing with the blow, the wind rushing out of him.

The faunus landed and pointed towards his at-the-moment comrade. "I enjoy fighting alongside you far more than I enjoy fighting you, samurai!"

Shinai shook his head and dashed forwards- into a solid, bone rattling sucker punch to the stomach from Vegas as he rushed from his hole in the ground, spinning low to trip the samurai's legs out from under him, missing narrowly as the huntsmen jumped over the offending limb, immediately striking downwards to slash into the criminal.

Metal met metal as Gold brought his own blade up, dim, golden metal gleaming under the streetlights as he parried Shinai away. He wasn't given much time to capitalize as a cannon blast caught him in the back sending him tumbling towards the samurai.

"I'm getting real sick of you, wo-"

The two huntsmen rushed him in unison, Rainier dropping low to sweep at Vegas' legs, much like he had done a few moments ago, while Shinai leapt into the air, metallic boot shooting towards the back of the criminal's head.

Expertly, Gold leapt into the air, arcing his back backwards- leaping over the faunus' strike, but ducking just beneath the samurai's.

Shinai, however, twirled, grabbing the criminal's ankle and sending him back down into the asphalt, Rainier scrambling away to avoid getting squished. With another swift movement, the samurai stabbed downwards- only for Vegas to latch onto Shinai's forearm, grimacing as he held the huntsmen's blade back.

And then he grinned. "Rust away."

Kyani frowned- and then felt a burning begin spreading from the spot Gold was holding, teeth clenching at the pain and a growl escaping his lips.

The attack was interrupted succinctly as Rainier dashed forwards, kicking at the spot the criminal's hand met Shinai's arm, both men tumbling away from the blow. Vegas rolled to his feet quickly, grinning wickedly as his blade began to heat, glowing orange and steaming.

Rainer rolled his eyes at the display of bravado, and dashed forwards, spinning sideways and sending a cannon shot at the criminal's head.

Gold side stepped it- and slashed down the length of Rainier's leg, the metal plates of the front cleaving off with ease. The faunus let out a surprised yell as he twirled away, slamming into the ground as his leg sparked and seized up.

Shinai growled and turned with a slash towards the criminal- only for him to be gone, a disappearing golden spot swiftly climbing the side of the building next to them, before vanishing into the night. The samurai growled at the pain in his arm, but briskly walked towards Rainier nonetheless, the faunus glaring at his cleaved leg.

"Bloody criminals…" He muttered as he rose to a sitting position, hands working to remove the now defunct limb, sliding himself away from it.

"Are you alright?" Shinai asked as he helped the now one legged faunus to his foot, arm slung over his shoulder.

Rainier waved him off. "I'm fine. I have another one. That's disappointing. Did that bastard get away again?"

"Yes."

"Of course he did, slippery little..." The faunus shook his head with a frustrated growl. "Come. Let's head back before karma strikes me down again."

Vegas let out a growl of fury as he threw the table to the side, cooling down sword forgotten on the floor.

"Now, now," Cinder said quietly in his ear. "Let's relax."

Gold scowled and threw more things around in the room. "I just got my ass handed to me by two children- I'm not going to calm down!"

She shushed him quietly. "Now, now… it was two on one. You'll get your chances for one on one retribution. I'm sure of it."

"You were watching?!"

"Oh, Goldie, I would have stepped in if I needed to. Don't you trust me?"

Teeth grit together, he craned his neck around. "I'm going to-"

"Yes, yes you are. But not now. Right now, we just need to wait. Bide our time. You'll get your chance, Goldie Sweet dreams…" She whispered, almost… soothingly.

Vegas growled and clenched his fists- but closed his eyes, taking deep breaths as he slowly calmed. "Sweet dreams." He muttered back.

"Sweet dreams."