The wall lights illuminated the silent dorm. Cardin stared outside the window at the broken moon. His hands pressed against his desk, squeaking it under his weight. He didn't know how long he'd been doing this. But the rage still boiled inside him. He banged the table again, flinching everything and everyone around him.

"Cardin, you okay?" Russel muttered.

"What do you think, genius?!"

His teammates looked at one another with their clueless faces. Idiots. All of them. They just didn't understand. The hardships he had to endure to be here. The humiliation he suffered when he stood in the auditorium. No one could walk free after wronging him like this; they must pay.

Cardin asked, "You got the wasps?"

"Yeah, I got it." Dove gestured at the buzzing box nearby.

"Good. Once we're in the forest, release them. That bitch is going to get it."

His teammates exchanged a glance again. After taking a deep breath, Sky slowly approached him.

"Listen, I think this is going a bit far."

Cardin froze. "What did you say?!" He clenched his fists.

"I know you're angry with her. But you're already on thin ice with the teachers. If you do this, they're going to expel you."

Russel nodded. "That's right. I don't think you should throw all this away just for that."

"Not to mention, those second-years gave us a good beating." Dove rubbed his bruised cheek.

Cardin stumbled backwards. He was their leader, and they were supposed to follow him. They saw what happened to him. Yet, they asked him just to forget all of this? This was a betrayal of the highest order.

"You're all cowards…" he muttered.

He slammed the door open and stormed out of the room. His breathing got more ragged. His eyes could barely focus on the floor before him. Everyone was against him. No one ever respected him. He earned his place in Beacon, and what did he get? More disrespect. More unfairness. People who didn't deserve to be here got all the attention and left him with nothing.

When he came to his senses, he found himself in the school garden. Crickets and the night wind accompanied the otherwise quiet night. He yelled and slammed his fist at the brick wall, cracking and fracturing it. If not even his teammates would help him, he'd just have to do it himself.

He slowed his breathing and turned around. Only to find Ruby and Jonathan staring at him.

"Well." Jonathan cleared his throat. "This is awkward."

Cardin gritted his teeth, stomping towards them with closed fists. Jonathan immediately pulled Ruby backwards with him.

"What are you two doing here?" Cardin growled.

Ruby began, "We were just talking."

"And we found you by accident," Jonathan finished.

Cardin scoffed. "Yeah, right. Like you two just happen to be here. You think I'm stupid?!"

He raised his fist, but Jonathan's soft voice broke his thoughts.

"We mean you no harm. I promise."

Like being covered under a weighted blanket, his whole body relaxed. His breathing got easier. His mind became clearer. He looked down at the hand holding his forearm. Jonathan kept smiling at him while Ruby shot Jonathan a curious look.

Cardin swiped Jonathan's hand away. "This never happened, got it?"

"Well..." Ruby said.

"We won't tell anyone." Jonathan looked at her sternly. "But Cardin, I can see this is getting too much for you. Do you want to talk about it?"

Cardin rolled his eyes. "Like you'd understand."

"We have time." Jonathan smiled.

Cardin thought for a moment. There was no way he could convince a naïve boy like Jonathan. But as much as he hated to admit, it wasn't like he could return to his teammates so soon. He might as well kill some time.

He said, "The Faunus shouldn't be here. Everyone, like the Academies, keeps picking them over us Humans. Not because they're better but because they're the minority. They just want to fill a quota for virtue signalling."

Jonathan scowled. "I'm pretty sure that's not true? I don't think it's fair to assume they're unqualified because they're Faunus."

"Really? What about that Lionheart? They picked him as the Haven headmaster? In Mistral?"

Jonathan rubbed his temple. "Despite what I've heard about him, I'm sure he knows what he's doing. Professor Ozpin and the others wouldn't have approved of him."

"But that's the problem. They're in on it too."

She asked, "Is that why you hate the Faunus?"

Jonathan and Cardin looked at Ruby. Her shaking hands curled into balls. Her eyes seemed wetter and bloodshot.

She continued, "You hate them because you think it's unfair? You think they don't work just as hard?! You're just being a big, massive, stupid jerk!"

Indignation was returning to Cardin. He stepped forward, but Jonathan placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Please don't start this again," Jonathan pleaded.

Cardin groaned. "If it weren't for them, the White Fang wouldn't exist."

"If it weren't for people like you, the Silver Movement wouldn't be here," she retorted.

"…That's different."

"I wouldn't say a supremacist group is much different from another one." Jonathan sighed. "Look, it's been a long night. Why don't we just get some rest?"

Even though Cardin still wanted to smash their faces, he could see his point. He didn't need to waste more time on these stubborn fools. He turned around and headed towards his dorm.

"They're not evil," Ruby mumbled. "Not with what is happening."

His face twitched. An argument ready to spew from his mouth. But when he saw her, that anger dispersed. She looked downwards with her arms held close to her body. A pained expression was evident on her face. She was tiny, to begin with. But now, she seemed even more vulnerable.

Jonathan patted her back. "Cardin, just try spending some time with them. They're really not that different from us."

"…Hmph."

He continued walking down the corridor. There was nothing more to say. The fact that he could be wrong just didn't make sense. But this sickening, twisted feeling in his chest was only temporary. It had to be.

Author's Notes:

Fun fact: I had to rewrite this chapter. Like many others, I first made Cardin an irredeemable bully who deserved no mercy. But then I realised it'd be more refreshing not to do that. Who knew?

That said, this isn't a novel idea. I suspect he not being a cartoonishly evil guy is probably more prevalent lately.

By the way, there's actually a list of scammers available on Reddit that you can preemptively block. Thanks for bringing this to my attention, scammers:D

See you next week.