"Miss Nikos, so nice to finally meet you. Hotaru Taakoizu; CEO of Seido Industries and your host this evening" He reached out to hold Pyrrha's left hand and then put his right hand over it. His face, however, turned from a smile to a frown when he saw their companions. "I'm sorry, but we were not expecting so ma-" he paused mid-sentence and then looked back towards who they presumed to be his chauffer. "Never mind, your table has just been upgraded". He then told them, once again smiling.
He took them through the vestibule of the hotel. Many faunus bellhops wearing black pants and a turquoise double buttoned coat could be seen running in all directions while they made their way to the elevator; an old-fashioned lever operated one at that.
"Restaurant, Marin" Ordered Hotaru. The elevator's gate closed and started moving while also allowing them to see the hotel in all its grandeur. "Might not be modern and fast, but my lord believes in the power of the sight".
The elevator moved at an acceptable pace, but it would take some time before they got to the restaurant on the 20th floor.
"And do not worry Miss Schnee, I've ordered that all cameras and recording devices be left outside of the premises". They all were shocked. How did he know Weiss was here? "To clear your worries, the hotel is a space where guests don't have to worry about the outside world. I know these few weeks have been hard on you, but tonight my only interest is business and that our guests are happy" This calmed all a little, and Hotaru seemed to be a good enough guy.
Blake, however, decided to push a little further at something that bothered her "Noticed that there are only faunus working down there".
"Around 90% of the workers here are of faunus origin, yes. Some are part-timers from the slums or poor parts of the kingdom. And let me assure you, they are more than handsomely paid, with many benefits, may I add. Healthcare provider help with college education, daycare and study center for single parents and more. When, and if, they leave, they do it as members of society".
That did calm her. Nice place to say the least. The elevator was half-way through, and silence was starting to bother Yang. She was sandwiched between Ren and the chauffer, so she decided to break some ice. "So… you work here ponytail?" He just looked at her with glowing yellow eyes and crossed his arms before looking at the front once again. Yang almost gave up on him before noticing the broch on his hair. It was shaped like a circle with the head of a serpent dragon that had its mouth slightly shut and its forked tongue out. "Hey, cool broch, don't you think, Ren?".
Ren did not want to be dragged on to their conversation. For one, he could tell that the other guy was starting to get annoyed by Yang. None the less, he knew things would only get worse if he ignored her. "Yes… I guess".
"Oh, come on, be sincere; or I'm just gonna 'drag-on' this conversation with you".
A groan could be heard from most on the elevator before Hotaru finally talked. "My apologies, this is my assistant, Ryu Jin. He doesn't talk even before my master found him and took him under his tutelage. He now serves as my assistant".
"Pardon me, but why do you keep referring to your boss as 'Master'?" asked Blake. The more he said it, the more it sounded like he believed to be property of this Master of his.
"Ah, yes. Onaga is, in many aspects, a… person to whom we all in this company owe a lot. He inspires us in many ways and as such, we devote ourselves to his cause".
"So… a cult?" bluntly asked Nora.
"Oh, far from it miss. We are loyal to him, but not in a religious kind of way. The ideals behind of all what you see is shared by every worker. We don't work to please him, we do it because we want to build that world with him".
The elevator arrived at their destination and all ten people got out. The door was in the middle of a wall. A set of stairs led down to a common room filed with tables and the kitchen located in the distance. Stairs at either side of the elevator lead to more personal dining rooms; 12 in total. Each had walls made of different colored stones and decorated with golden figures representing animals.
"Mr. Onyx! Are the bull or snake rooms available?" Hotaru asked a what they all thought was the head waiter.
"Yes, Mr. Taakoizu, sir; but I thought you would use the dragon room lounge?"
"There has been a change of plans" He said with a less than delighted tone. "More guests than first thought". He stepped out of the way to show all eight teens to the man.
"Ok… the snake room will do then!". Mr. Onix then lead the way to the green room decorated with cobras. On the way there they passed the boar room and saw a lot of strange looking people just eating as if they were starving, making noises but never letting a piece of food touch the floor; literally, as soon as a chunk began to fall, they would act with unhuman reflexes and grab it before putting it on their mouths.
They all had thoughts on these peculiar people, but only Weiss had an opinion other than their eating habits and she wanted to express her concern. "Wait, that man on the end of the table… with the glasses and the blue suit… isn't he…?"
"Our head lawyer; yes. Good memory, Mrs. Schnee" Hotaru complemented. He then stood between them and the eating group and continued "They are all the highest-ranking Vice-chairs of our company. The head of law, accounting, marketing, communications, IT, etcetera".
He spoke highly of them; but something just looked off. They ´looked´ human; but on closer inspection their eyes seemed to turn orange once every now and then. Their clothes looked normal, but the combination of colors and styles were too tacky and out of date; almost as if they knew what clothes were but only used them for the essentials and not for looks. Their faces were also too sharp around the edges; pointy chins, noses and ears.
"If you must know, they are Naknada". Everyone looked at Hotaru with an even more questioning look "Naknada? The Naknada clan of Vacuo?" They still had the same puzzled look. Ryu exhaled loudly and massaged his eyelids while Hotaru continued. "An old clan of Vacuo. They were known because of their dedication. They believe in doing one thing in life and then perfecting that talent of theirs. Unfortunately, a warlord who cared for them died, and his successor was not fond of them. He would have killed them all, but lord Onaga gave them sanctuary. In exchange, they only need to work for him in his enterprise. They are hard workers and build quite the appetite".
"It's hard work…" a voice behind them with a thick strange accent said. They turned to find a tall, pale bald man wearing thick spectacles, a golden scarf, yellow pants and a green blazer. He had a weird smile that looked horrifying with his pointy nose and chin. "But the profit? More than worth it, children".
"This is my head accountant, Mr. Ko Naknada". They gave a friendly wave and he continued his way to the room, closing the door behind him.
"We are ready for you, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the snake room".
The snake room beautiful, to say the least. It had a fireplace shaped like a snake's head and special dust which gave it a green color. The lights were entirely round bulbs held by a thin cord. The table was of a normal rectangular shape, but the chairs were decorated as if to have the animals crawling on them.
Hotaru sat on the head of the table, next to him on either side were Pyrrha and Weiss, Jaune (less than subtly) sat next to Weiss while Ruby sat next to Pyrrha. Ren and Yang sat on Pyrrha's side while Nora and Blake did the same on the other side. Ryu just sat on a chair next to the door, looking at everyone.
The waiters entered the room and handed them their menus, but before they began to order Hotaru called for their attention. "as a gesture of gratitude to Miss Nikos and you, her guests, everything is on the house". Yang, Jaune and Nora cheered and immediately opened their menus.
"Hey! There are no pancakes here! What's the deal!?" Nora demanded angrily; much to Ren's embarrassment.
Puzzled, Hotaru answered her. "It's almost 8:00 pm… and that is a breakfast… we… don't serve breakfast… at night".
"… Ok, you get this round mister" She then returned to her menu.
"Alright! Cocktails all night long!" Cheered Yang.
"Sure. I'll just need your IDs to prove that you are of drinking age".
"Oh… well... you see…".
Unimpressed, Hotaru snapped his fingers and the waiters took the alcohol menus away from all.
"I'm sorry, but Vale's law on alcohol selling establishments clearly states that selling alcoholic beverages of any kind to people under the age of 18, no matter their place of origin, is illegal and punishable by the kingdom in all of its territory. You are free to ask for non-alcoholic beverages".
Defeated, Yang just pouted, placed her chin on the table and covered her face with the menu. A small "Party pooper" could be heard by Ren and her waiter.
"Oh, a double cheeseburger would be heavenly right now" Jaune said excitedly before being poked in the head by Weiss.
"You dolt! Do you really think they serve that in here?".
"Yu-hu! Page 5!" He raised his menu and… indeed, there it was. Cheeseburger with a side of onion rings.
Weiss was dumbfounded and just gave a deadpan look to Hotaru. He knew exactly what she was thinking and immediately gave her an answer "With all due respect Miss Schnee, my master is of humble beginnings. Sure, he now has money and class, but he began as common man. It is our belief that those who follow the rules should be rewarded. If you look at the tables downstairs, you'll find everyday people who will not be neglected just because they don't make the same money as you and I. The law applies to all, and those who follow it should be rewarded".
"It sounds like you respect your boss a lot. How did you meet?" Asked Ren.
"My story is sadly not that interesting. I was once a part of the government machine, served law enforcement and later part of the bureaucracy. I had relative power, influence and all the good things a normal person could have. But there was something lacking, a purpose. Long ago I returned a favor to a friend of mine and helped a town that that required his assistance. I liked putting that place in order, but some of my former… superiors felt it was wrong. Then I met lord Onaga, he was surprised by my hard work and made me his right-hand man. The rest is history".
Everyone made their orders, and as soon as the drinks arrived, they began to chatter on separate groups. "So, miss Nikos-".
"Pyrrha, please".
"Yes, of course. Pyrrha. As you know, we are interested in being your sponsors, however-" he was interrupted by a loud bang coming from the chimney.
After a few seconds of silence, most looks turned towards Yang. "Sorry! Made a bet that the fire would turn red with fire dust!" Hotaru grunted loudly and Ryu just moved towards her and took whatever was left of the red dust to then return to his post.
"Sorry about Yang, but trust me, she will behave". Pyrrha apologized.
After another grunt, Hotaru continued their conversation "I wouldn't know, really". He looked at all on the table and spoke again "Correct me if I'm wrong, but it was my understanding you only had one guest in mind when I made my offer".
"Yes… I… had… I told him exactly what you said, that I could bring a guest or more if that made me comfortable… and he said he understood… but I guess I did not explain what is it that I really meant…".
Her expression turned sad and he followed her gaze towards Jaune; more than distracted by Nora's story. "Ah, I see. Word of advice Pyrrha: whatever distracts you from your path, is a weakness".
That came out of the blue. "Uh… what is that supposed to mean?".
"You are a great warrior, a champion to many, you inspire people; yet I would bet that you would drop everything on a heartbeat if it meant you could be with him" he put on a smug face and drank from his cup of wine.
"And what is that! Supposed to mean?".
"Not trying to offend you; but trying to please him could end hurting you more. It's all I'm saying". He put the glass down, moved around a little on his chair and continued. "But you are right. I am no one to tell you how to live your life; so, let's get back to business: What Seido wants from you is-".
He was cut mid-sentence as the head waiter whispered on his ear "Your 6:30 has arrived".
Hotaru was visibly angry; hitting the table with his open hands and whispering "Miserable buffoon! An hour and a half late…!" He stood up and called for everyone's attention "My deepest apologies, but an important matter requires my attention. Food will arrive soon, feel free to start without me".
As soon as Hotaru and Ryu left the room, Ruby went stiff. She tried to leave without others noticing but with no success. Yang being the first to raise her concern "Yo, Rubes! What's the matter?".
"Have to go the bathroom! That strawberry milkshake went down fast".
"Do you even know where to look for? The last thing we need is for more embarrassments" stated Weiss while giving a nasty look to Yang.
"Don't worry, I'll be fine". She slammed the door shut and ran through all the upper ring looking for the ladies' room.
Finding the bathroom was sort of a pain. Not only were the men and women bathrooms on either side of the exclusive dining rooms, but they needed authorization keys, which she had to ask a waiter where to find it only for him to tell her that they were on the side table of her dining room which had to first be activated by the head waiter.
Once empty though, she was going back to her respective dining room but noticed Hotaru greeting Roman Torchwick; the same man who tried to steal the dust shop the night she was invited to join Beacon. Not only that, but he was being a little too friendly with Hotaru and Ryu. She entered the bathroom again and peaked out to see what would happen. They went inside the Rat room, and after Ryu checked if the coast was clear, he closed the door and Ruby came out.
She wouldn't even dare to open the door, but she did press her ear on it to try and hear what they were talking about. "… yes, the Paladins came from me. But only as a cordiality with her, you go ape shit when a deal is broken, don't be a hypocrite".
"That THING! Attacked. It was seen by others. In case you don't know that means that the military now knows that their technology is being stolen, and that means routes with Atlas will be under surveillance! And even more, they'll trace them back to you!"
"They! Won't! Clean your ears! I did not give the Paladins to the White Fang; I gave it to her and then she thought it would be a good idea to give it to those animals. I'll give you this though, you were right on not trusting those savages. Word on the street is that they are not even at a third of what I would have got her in a month".
Flashbacks of that day came to Ruby. She heard from Blake about the White Fang rally; that one of the foot soldiers managed to command the Paladin but was too reactionary to use it the right way and just ended destroying the warehouse. But everything ended up working for the better: security was upgraded on every dust store, shipment and storage. White Fang thugs were falling left and right and Blake was happy for once.
"You can send your goblins to check the books. No more dust has been given to her and the White Fang, only cash was used to pay for them, so the Atlas military smugglers were payed, with interest! I'd like to add".
Silence fell on that room for a while. But then Ruby could hear a deep booming voice that seemed to come from a TV "You are certain that it won't be traced, Torchwick?".
"As. I. Said. No one knows she got them from me. We are clean. OK!?"
"Why DID you give her those Paladins. There was never a conversation about them".
"Ok, that one is on me. But as I already said: They were part of a previous arrangement. And if you must know she insists on working with me; I will not, by the way. I have not and will not tell her of you and this, but she is turning desperate to get some good dust. Maybe you should consider-".
"OUT OF THE QUESTION! My vision for this world will not be put in jeopardy by an arrogant, insufferable little woman playing warlord with terrorists! The sooner you understand that, the-"
"Lord Onaga, please. As I already told you Torchwick: We are not interested in her kind so don't… Lord Onaga, is everything ok?".
"…Ryu… Ryu smells something. Go look what it is!".
Ruby panicked. She got off the door and used her semblance to get a few feet away from the door. But she also needed an alibi, 'quick, think, think… bingo!'.
Ryu opened the doors just enough for his head to fit and saw Ruby ten feet away looking at the bottom floor. She was just resting with her shoulders on the railing. "Oh! Hi Ryu, got bored while waiting for the food. Hope you don't mind. I was just listening to that sax player, great music".
Ryu raised an eyebrow, almost as if he didn't know what she was talking about. He got out, closed the door and walked next to her. But once he saw who the player was, Ruby was able to see a certain degree of surprise and fear on his eyes. He then just walked back to the rat room and closed the doors.
Not wanting to expose herself anymore, Ruby decided to go back to the snake room. She had to question Blake about that rally.