Coco and Velvet had decided to join Neo and Ruby on their trip to the food court, which Neo had found odd. Coco was Ruby's boss, but they seemed so casual when hanging out together. Well, except for when Coco took Ruby aside and the two started whispering to each other. Whatever they were talking about, it made Ruby blush, and Neo became slightly concerned. When they had claimed a table Neo scribbled out a message between bites of her burger.
"Are you alright? When you and Coco were talking I saw you blushing and giving quick glances back at where Velvet and I were standing. You looked uncomfortable." Neo handed Ruby the message, only to get the notebook shaved back into her hands and a dismissive answer, paired with a large bite of food and another blush from Ruby. Neo, putting her growing curiosity aside, knew better than to pry. Not yet, anyway. As they ate in silence, Neo thought back to her first meeting with Ruby.
She had been standing behind the girl for a good thirty seconds before she had decided to risk it and grab the drink. When Ruby turned to face her, Neo's breath had almost been taken away. Ruby had beautiful silver eyes, unlike Neo's left pink eye and right brown eye, which she absolutely hated. Her short red hair instantly drew Neo's gaze, which Neo now thought maybe was the point of it. Ruby had started at Neo for a moment and greeted her before grabbing her own and the two walking opposite ways before rejoining at the checkout counter. That was when Neo had realized she had forgotten her wallet. Walking out of the gas station store she felt embarrassed as she waited for Roman to return to the car, but when she saw Ruby walk out with the strawberry Monster, she felt a mix of emotions. It was anger, because Neo thought Ruby had bought the drink for herself, mixed with hopefulness as Ruby walked her way. Neo was stunned at Ruby's kindness more than anything. And that made Neo happy inside. Ruby was willing to buy her, a complete stranger, a drink she couldn't afford.
The problem was, in the day they had spent together at the convention, Ruby could barely handle a conversation with anyone. She had allowed pictures to be taken of her, sure, but anyone else almost seemed to cause Ruby to go into shutdown mode. A majority of the time Neo dragged Ruby away because the girl would just stand there when asked a simple question. So for Ruby to be so bold on her first impression but be awkward and introverted on the second was intriguing to Neo. And now, here Ruby was, having not said one word to Neo after they had stepped into the mall. Neo was very, very confused at this point.
Despite that, Ruby's kindness and her striking silver eyes attracted Neo to her. Neo thought it was stupid, having feelings for someone she barely knew. Though, that was how a lot of relationships started, right?
"So, what do you two plan to do after this? Surely a day like this can't be wasted by simply going home." Coco asked Neo and Ruby, returning to the table after she had offered to rid everyone of their trash. Neo was a bit surprised at the question, as she hadn't really thought about it. They had originally left the convention due to crowded panels and for food, but they didn't plan to return. "Velvet and I won't be around all day. You interrupted our date, and we wish to get back to it and soon as possible." Neo thought for a moment, pondering and allowing Ruby a moment to speak if she had any ideas. A light bulb lit up in Neo's head, coming up with the perfect place to go. She began to furiously write, almost ripping the paper.
"Ruby, I know the perfect place we can go. If you still have your Pokemon stuff on you, I know a game shop called Mad Doctor here that has a group of Pokemon players that meet up on Saturdays. I can teach you more there!" Neo smiled triumphantly, however Ruby looked more confused at the final sentence. Neo wrote down an explanation. "Ruby, I have decided that, as of today, I will be your official Pokemon Mentor! I shall educate you in the ways of the video game and card game, until one day you can perhaps rival even me!" Before Ruby could reply, Neo grabbed her hand and waved goodbye to Velvet and Coco, dragging Ruby off to her car to begin the trip.
"Neo, geez, you can't keep doing that, you're gonna break my arm or something." Ruby pried her hand free from Neo's grasp, the two stopping in the middle of the parking lot. Neo smiled apologetically, rocking on the heels of her feet. Ruby looked down at the shorter girl, the frustration that almost became anger washing away. Whether or not she was attracted to Neo, there was no way you could stay mad at that face. Ruby felt her cheeks flush a bit when she caught herself just staring at Neo's face for a few moments. "So, uh, anyway, Mad Doctor? Being my coach? What's that about?" Ruby steered the conversation a different direction, attempting to get her mind off of the thoughts Coco had now planted in her head.
"You'll see."
Ruby didn't appreciate Neo's vagueness as they drove away from the mall and into the main city, the smaller town morphing into a bustling city. There were many more alleyways, and the sidewalks filled with civilians and the occasional stray animal. This was the city alright. Neo drove for a while until, finally, she pulled in front of an apartment building turned business. Over the door hung a sign that read "Mad Doctor" with the logo being a beaker filled with a bubbling green substance. Neo bounded up to the entrance, holding the door open for Ruby, who wasn't far behind. Ruby laughed at the silly bow Neo did as Ruby passed, as if she were a butler doing a simple chore for her master.
"Well, what do you know." Came a deep but feminine voice from inside, a figure approaching them. A woman wearing a crimson long-sleeve t-shirt, with one sleeve ripped off, stood there, some of her hair covering her left eye. "Who thought I'd ever see the day that the familiar brown and pink hair came walking back into my little establishment." Neo embraced the woman in a hug, which the black-haired woman happily returned. "And I see you've brought a friend as well. What's your name, girl?" The woman looked at Ruby, who had tried her best not to be seen.
"Er, Ruby." Ruby shyly replied, her cover blown.
"Nice to meet you, Ruby. I'm Cinder, I run this little game shop here." Cinder offered a hand to shake, which Ruby hesitantly took. Cinder arched an eyebrow at Ruby's shyness. "Why so reserved? You have no need to be nervous here, any friend of Neo's is a friend of mine. And speaking of the topic of Neo…" Cinder grabbed Neo's shoulder, pushing her into the main room of the store, where customers were playing games against one another. "Hey, everyone, guess who's here!" Neo sent Cinder a scolding glare, one which Cinder just ignored. The room of players all sent out a greeting and brief applause before going back to their respective tasks. Cinder chuckled. "That's the longest I've managed to hold their attention. Good to see you're still well liked around here."
"I'm confused. What's happening?" Ruby asked tentatively, coming up behind Cinder and Neo. Cinder gave Neo a questioning glance, which was returned by a shrug from Neo. Cinder went into a small closet like room, coming back out a few moments later holding a picture frame, blowing the dust off of it.
"Ten years ago, Mad Doctor held its first ever Pokemon Tournament. I was eleven years old at the time, only there because my father dragged me there. Little did I know what I was going to witness. On that day, a little seven year old girl with mismatched eyes walked through the door, DS in hand and an unwavering smile on her face." Cinder handed her the picture frame, which Ruby had to wipe a bit to see the picture inside. It was a picture of a younger Neo, recognizable because of her eyes. She was beaming wide, holding a Gengar plushie that must have been the prize for the tournament. On the picture, written in permanent marker, was "#1 Champion!" Ruby chuckled at the younger Neo, who was just as cute back then as she was now. "Ever since then she's been the youngest player to win any tournament we've ever held. She comes up to this part of the state once a month to play Pokemon with us again, so she's well known and always welcome." Neo took out her notebook, and began to write.
"It's nice to see you again, Cinder. I'd love to keep chatting, but I have a student to teach. Follow me Ruby!" Neo marched into the room with their fellow players, claiming an empty table. Ruby waved to Cinder before making her way around the tables, narrowly avoiding bags on the floor and resisting to pet the dog that someone had brought with them. Taking her seat next to Neo, Ruby reached into her bag to get out her cards, but then she noticed that Neo had brought out a 3DS. Ruby cursed herself for not even thinking to bring her own. Of course she'd want to do more than the card game.
"I forgot to bring mine, I'm sorry." Ruby slumped a bit in her chair. Neo scooted closer, scribbling in her notebook as she did.
"It's alright. You can take some notes from me. I'm working on my team for next year's World Championship, I'll show you my process. Sound good?" Ruby nodded in response to Neo's question, and Ruby watched as she worked on her team. As they sat there for the next hour or so, Ruby began to determine what Neo's process likely was. Her first three Pokemon were her trademark Vanilluxe, and one Pokemon from the two teams she used during both of the World Championships. The other three were the Pokemon she was currently working on. From what Ruby could tell, Neo's way of creating a Pokemon team was simply choosing Pokemon the complemented the others well and EV trained them. Ruby was surprisingly shocked there wasn't too much to it. She would have thought that there was more to it. Granted, Neo worked on their movesets, but that was really it. By the time they came back into reality, a majority of the previous customers and players had left, leaving only a small handful of people, including the two of them.
"I had a good time, Neo. Thanks for… the lesson, I guess? I'm not really sure what you're trying to teach me…" Ruby got up and pushed the chair back under the table. Neo closed the DS and joined Ruby, getting her bag. They left the store, waving a goodbye to Cinder, with an extra hug from Cinder for both of them. Riding in the car back to Ruby's apartment building, Ruby thought back to what happened with Coco.
Did Ruby find Neo attractive? Was Ruby gay? No, she couldn't. Of course, now that Ruby thought about it, she realized that she never had crushes on guys in the past. But she grew up her entire life being told that it was wrong! When she found out that Coco was gay, she looked past it as to keep her job. When she joined Coco and Velvet during lunch, she was just being kind. Her silence during the lunch was her keeping herself from having an outburst at the couple. All her life, she had been told by everyone around her that being gay was wrong. That it was a sin that guaranteed you a spot in hell, not that Ruby was religious. That it was even illegal in other countries. If Ruby was gay, could she even go on-
A tap on her shoulder brought her back. It was Neo, holding out a slip of paper torn from her notebook. They were in front of Ruby's apartment building, the sun just beginning to set. Ruby opened the door of the car and stepped out before taking the paper.
"I had fun today. It was nice to hang out!" A series of numbers was written under that sentence, obviously a phone number. "Here's my number, so we can stay in touch. I have to go back to Montgomery, but like Cinder told you, I'll be back every month!" Ruby took the paper, slipping it into her pocket. With a slightly shaking hand, Ruby wrote her number down in Neo's notebook. Ruby made her way to hand Neo the notebook, but dropped it onto the floor of the car. Ruby bent down to pick it up, and when her face came back up, she was met with one pink and one brown eye. Neo's face was no less than a few inches away from Ruby's. Ruby blushed, not sure what to do, frozen in the moment. Ruby screamed at herself to back away, but her motor functions didn't seem to be working. Before Ruby's head could process that Neo was moving closer, she felt a pair of lips brush against hers. For a split second, Ruby thought about letting it continue.
But her mind got the better of her. Ruby jumped back, dropping the notebook into the car and falling onto the asphalt road. Her body was shaking, tears were flowing down her face, her heart was pounding. She was feeling so many things at one moment. Sadness, fear, anger, confusion. She clumsily got up, almost falling back down.
"No. No, no, no, no, NO, NO NO!" Ruby screamed in her mind, standing there and staring at Neo. This can't be happening. Why did it happen? Neo had only met Ruby three weeks ago, and didn't get to know her until the previous day. There was no reason for Neo to want this! Ruby fell to her hands and knees, the asphalt scraping her knees. Looking down wide-eyed, Ruby felt a hand touch her shoulder. She looked up, seeing a worried Neo over her. Ruby pushed her away, getting off of the ground and backing away.
"St-stay away! STAY AWAY!" Ruby screamed. Despite the confusing feeling she felt, her heart broke when she noticed Neo crying, unable to make any noise, only tears streaming down her face. But instead of comforting her, Ruby ran, ran up the stairs and to her room, where she didn't even acknowledge Yang, slammed the door behind her and locked the door. Ruby slid to the floor, her hand clutching her chest. Tears wet her clothes. Her heavy breathing and pounding heart drowned out the knocking of Yang, demanding that Ruby open door. As Ruby sat there, attempting to make sense of the world around her, she came to a horrible realization. When Neo had kissed her...
She liked it.
-Heyo Break Time-Skip Thing Here-
Ruby hadn't gone in for work the next day. She kept herself locked in her room. She had only slept for four hours, from what she could tell. She hadn't eaten. She hadn't done anything but sit at the foot of her door, regretting everything she had done.
She had hurt Neo, someone Ruby had managed to become close to having only known the girl for a total of three days. Someone that Ruby had felt confident to tell some of her deepest secrets to. Whether or not that was because Neo couldn't blurt them out was irrelevant now. Someone Ruby had come to deeply care for, despite the communication boundaries.
Why did she react that way? Ruby blamed the shock of the kiss at first. But all the thinking she had done for about eleven hours now made her think otherwise. She had no one to blame but herself. She could have easily just reacted calmly. She could have just turned Neo down. But it couldn't be that simple, could it? Sixteen years of beliefs clashed with inner feelings, and Ruby decided to hurt Neo.
All the thinking she had done revealed something else as well. Her entire life had gone by without a second thought of what she had been told. However, that entire time she had never had any feelings for any guys she had met. When Jaune had hit on her on occasions before, Ruby brushed it off as regular Jaune, hitting on any girl he came across. She didn't have feelings for him. In fact, she hadn't had feelings for any guy, ever. Why hadn't she noticed it sooner? Was she just not around enough girls? Did her beliefs keep her blind? That didn't matter. What did matter was that Ruby was gay. And it was destroying her. She felt scared. She felt like a monster. What would her Dad think? What would Yang's mom, Raven, think? That didn't really matter, since they didn't live them them anymore. But what would Yang think? Yang was the only person who hadn't told Ruby being gay was wrong.
Ruby felt a sharp pang in her hand. She hadn't even realized that her nails were digging into her palm. Her palm was bleeding profusely. Ruby sighed, standing up and facing the door. She felt her face stained with tears, but she ignored it. She stepped out of her bedroom, making her way to the bathroom. She didn't bat an eye at the fact that her palm was staining the carpet with red. She just needed a bandage. Then it was back to her room. The kitchen. The kitchen had the first aid-kit. She opened the kitchen cabinet, searching for it. When a voice from behind her spoke, Ruby felt her blood go cold.
"Well, well, we meet again, Red." Roman spat. Ruby could hear the venom in his voice. She slowly turned. Roman's outfit was the same as last time, only he had no hat on. His orange hair was messy. "Out of all the places for us to meet, I didn't think it would be in the blondie's apartment. She was much nicer to Neo after she found my sister outside, crying hysterically. I was called here and I was informed of last night's events." Roman looked down at Ruby, the look of murder on his face. "I would love to hurt you so badly right now. But I promised Yang I wouldn't do anything, so you're safe."
"Roman, I-" Ruby was interrupted by the taller man.
"I'm not the person you need to apologize to. If you are truly sorry, you should apologize to Neo and tell her how you really feel." Ruby was shocked. How did he know? "You talk really loudly in your sleep. Must have really been eating you up if you confessed to the night. You're lucky Neo was asleep by then." Ruby got chills knowing that Roman had been there, apparently watching her while she slept. "I don't know why Neo likes you so much. She's only known you for three days. But whatever she sees in you is something she really likes. Enough for her to still have feelings for you even after what you did last night. So fix this, or I'll have to break a promise." And with that, Roman walked off, leaving a still bleeding Ruby standing there.
A/N I don't know why people are liking this story, but they do, so I keep on writing. So, I know that there were some things that seem pretty sudden in this chapter, but don't worry. I plan on rewriting past chapters at some point to help this feel a bit more natural. Like alluding to Ruby being a homophobe, and maybe some more small moments to justify Ruby's actual romantic feelings for Neo. I want this story to feel like the pairing was natural and not forced for the sake of getting to the fluff. So yeah.
In response to RootBeverage: Thanks you! Obviously I do plan to continue this story, and I'm glad you like the idea, but my writing could definitely be much better, as seen by my sudden decision to make Ruby homophobic, even if it only lasted for a few paragraphs. In response to bwburke94: No, I don't consider it a crossover. It's definitely a RWBY story, I just thought the idea of the two being fans of Pokemon and playing it competitively was a cool idea. It would be a crossover if I set RWBY in a world where Pokemon actually existed.