Chapter 5

"One cone of Neapolitan ice-cream, please."

"That would be 247 yen, sir."

Roman handed the vendor a few coins as he watched them then skill-fully scoop up three different flavours of ice-cream, laying each scoop on top of one another carefully. Chocolate, strawberry, and vanilla; flavours of ice-cream he never particularly liked ironically, yet many other people did, just like a certain someone back home.

Roman never really liked ice-cream much in general. He just didn't see the appeal to it, unlike smoking a good cigar or drinking some fine alcohol. But he didn't care too much about it; people had their tastes and he knew his' was somewhat of an acquired one.

Well, was an acquired one.

His body couldn't stand alcohol or smoking anymore. He had to build up his resistance to it all back up again.

He eyed the cone as it was handed over to him, its three scoops of ice-cream precariously stacked up on one another, just waiting for a strong wind to tip it over; why someone would design a treat like that, he didn't know.

"Thank you," Roman thanked the vendor, lacking any of his usual snarky comments or snide remarks. The young vendor only smiled back at him.

Turning his head, he looked downwards beside him. To his right was a young girl with light-bluish hair, and a smile that was as almost as bright as the sun. Overall, the girl was a regular kid on all accounts if you didn't account for the small horn that grew on the right of her forehead.

"Here, kid." Roman held the cone to the girl beside him, her eyes almost having sparkles in them as she stared at the cone.

Kids. Roman mused in his head, thinking to how easy it was to make them happy, yet how hard it was taking care of them.

It was the same little girl that he had taken under his wing only weeks ago; the same little girl that was shivering in both fear and the cold rain when he approached her.

"Thank you, Mr. Torchwick!" the little brat gleefully accepted, taking him out of his thoughts. The brat's cheeks had a rosy tinge on them as she took the cone from him and started to lick it, making sounds that could only be attributed to joy and satisfaction.

Roman sighed as he watched her lick away at the ice-cream, a mini-conflict forming inside his head.

It wasn't that he didn't want the girl to be happy or have any treats like candy or the like, even if it would have made his life easier; it was the fact that the girl chose Neapolitan flavoured ice-cream of all things. The same flavours of ice-cream that reminded him and made him draw similarities between her and another person.

And that was the reason why he felt conflicted.

When he had first taken in the girl, he had only done it in a moment of weakness because she all too much reminded him of his beloved friend, Neo; not in appearances nor in personality, but rather the way they met and the feeling of deja vu. And even if their similarities ended there, it was enough that it gave him a small feeling he hasn't felt for someone else in a long time.

The feeling of wanting to help someone else out of pure kindness, neither out of greed nor so could he push his agenda forward; feelings of which the old Roman would only scoff at now.

So, in a time where he only had the clothes on his back and some spare cash, he took her in as somewhat of a replacement for Neo, no matter how fucked up his thinking was at the time.

And he didn't even noticed he did so not until much later.

Roman's fist clenched as he thought back to it. He hated himself for taking her in to replace Neo, to think he thought of replacing his friend only two weeks of being here alone in a completely new world.

He should have been stronger than that.

He and Neo only had each other that they could fully trust and rely upon. He trusted her to have his back, and he to her as well. And if there ever came a time when one of them died, both of them agreed not to mourn for the other, but to only keep moving forward and stay strong, albeit they would hunt anybody down that had a possible connection to their death.

They knew that if the other died, it was due to someone else.

Their life was filled with danger, and they never expected to live old.

And so, when he brought the kid with him in a way for himself to replace Neo, he felt disgusted with himself.

He should've have just left the little brat out on the street in the rain; it was what he should have done and what Neo would have done as well. She was just a no one, a little girl he had found in the streets.

She was nothing more than that.

Yet...

Roman's eyes wandered across her face as she gleefully licked away at her treat; seeing the joy and happiness that was plastered onto her face...

Roman's fist unclenched as he continued to watch her for a moment. No, it's different now than from before.

It had been a month since he had taken in the girl, and a type of odd relationship had somehow bloomed between them. Their relationship at first had been one made up of fear and reliance, and the wanting to replace something that was lost.

No, it was different now.

Over the last few weeks, he'd started to actually care for the little brat; not too much that he would endanger his life for her, but enough that he let her stay by his side and would protect her if danger came at them.

As for the brat herself... she apparently had also seen him as somewhat of a guardian for her, making him almost scowl when he first found out.

He, the infamous criminal thief of Vale, someone who wouldn't hesitate putting a bullet in someone's head if it helped him advance his goals, act as the guardian for a little girl? If someone were to tell his past self about this, he would've thought they were insane and maybe bash his cane in their skull.

No, scratch that; he would probably beat them to the ground and rob them first before going on a monologue about how and why it was a stupid idea.

And while their relationship was definitely better, and the girl actually started to like him, it would probably never become a relationship like he had with Neo, a bond like that would probably never come again in his lifetime.

As for how his relationship with the girl felt... he definitely felt odd about it.

It was more of a... dog and its owner type of situation.

Roman held back a grimace as he thought of that, just of how wrong it felt.

The little girl, Eri, had grown on him more than what he thought was possible, especially since he rarely trusted anyone, much less kids he found on the street, but maybe it was because he was in a new world with no one to talk to, and the fact the person was an ignorant brat, a relationship formed between them.

Like how a lonely person might would to a dog...

Roman groaned at the analogy.

And as for the girl,

Well... she was almost like a dog, and while she lacked the mannerisms of one, she relied on him a lot to survive and would even jump at the thought of going out for treats.

Roman shook his head to get rid of the thought, he wanted to get rid of it as soon as possible; he just didn't like the idea of him treating the girl almost like a dog he found on the street. He may have been a villain, but he still had standards, albeit very low standards.

But, would that change how he acted to the girl so far? Nope, not in the least; while he did feel odd and disgruntled about it, he felt he needed a sense of power still. Even if that power came from ruling over and commanding a kid. All he needed now though was a better analogy.

"C'mon, kid. Let's go," Roman called to the girl, nonchalantly walking past her as she lifted her head in confusion. By the time he was several feet away, it finally clicked to the girl that he was leaving without her and that he was not going to wait.

"Ah! C-coming!" The brat yelled out in surprise as she ran to catch up to him.

Roman internally sighed as he watched the kid catch up to him. He really was treating her like a dog, wasn't he?

Roman's head hung low at the thought, but got rid of it soon after. He really needed to away from that way of thinking...

Hmm... maybe more of a master and slave type of relationship? Roman mused, only to crush it and burn it in fire as the analogy somehow felt more fucked up than the previous one; it didn't even really match their situation either.

"U-umm...?"

Roman turned his head to the sound and found that the little girl was looking at him quizzically, having finally caught up to him.

"What is it now, brat?" He asked lazily, still using the term "brat" or "kid" for her. While he could call her by her name, he was already used to just calling her that way.

"Where are we going today? You didn't say anything this morning and... well... I'm wondering if we're, you know... going to...?" The little girl tried to gesture, trying to pass her message, but it was very lacklustre.

Luckily though, Roman already knew what she meant and why she was so hesitant on talking about it.

"No, we are not going to rob some thugs again today," Roman said nonchalantly, not caring at all if anybody else on the street heard him.

He had recently learned that his attacks on the surrounding villains and thugs had apparently gotten him the title of a 'vigilante,' something he scoffed and mockingly laughed at when he first heard it.

He was not a vigilante, he was a villain. And he wasn't going to change professions anytime soon either.

But if at least anything, the vigilante title he had now at least made people less likely to call the cops or heroes on him, it also allowed him to not worry about hiding as much anymore; something he very much appreciated.

Not to mention the fact that he no dust left in Melodic Cudgel. If he ever fought the same Yakuza before a month ago, he'd probably die...

It also didn't help that there was no dust in this world either; something that made him a just a little bit more than just astounded with.

Back then, he had been wondering why he hadn't seen any dust stores in the world for a while, and he felt humiliated when he asked a random passerby and they just looked at him like he was crazy.

Him! They looked at him like he was crazy-

"Um... Mr. Torchwick?"

Roman was taken out of his stupor by the girl, reminding him that she asked a question.

Looking back to her, he noticed that she was also looking at him... worriedly?

Roman's brow ever so slightly twitched, but he answered the question nevertheless.

"We're going to Municipal Beach, just outside by the abandoned warehouse. Do you remember the place? It was the one we slept in after I saved you," Roman informed her.

The girl blinked, probably not expecting that they were going to head back to the empty and worn out warehouse.

"Why?" She asked curiously.

"Because y'see, I've grown quite fond of that shithole, and I want to go back there and check the place around for a bit," Roman said, sarcasm laced all over his sentiment.

Eri tilted her head in confusion, not understanding the sarcasm at all, making Roman drop his smile.

Right, she was still a kid. She probably couldn't tell sarcasm if it her right in the face, even if she was oddly situationally aware sometimes.

"Ugh... we're going back to that shithole because I want to check that place out once more before we move and make base in Hosu," Roman reiterated for her.

Right, they were going to move out of their current base of operations and move to Hosu soon, mostly due to the rapidly declining villain population around their part of town, courtesy of a certain fashionably dressed orange-haired villain, and by who, he meant himself.

Definitely not because there was a Hero school nearby and a new year just started recently.

And who knows, he might be able to build another criminal empire again, though he doubted whether he would. He just didn't have the same drive he had back then in Vale nor did he feel the determination needed to do so.

Not to mention he wasn't even that strong compared to some of the fighters and heroes in this world, especially since he was running out of dust. In Remnant, most people you encountered generally didn't have aura, making them easy enough to take down.

Here, though?

He was in a world where most people literally had superpowers.

Before, he handled most of fights easily because he had more experience and was more than willing to pull dirty tricks, more so compared to full-fledged Huntsmen and Huntresses. Without his flares anymore, he was screwed.

Eri frowned at him and nibbled on her cone of ice-cream, muffling whatever she was said through the cold treat, though Roman's hearing was good enough that he could hear a bit of it.

"Oi, what was that, kid?" Roman asked lazily.

The little girl turned her small head at him, an almost cute pout drawn onto her face.

"You shouldn't swear... it's bad," she muttered, almost close to a whisper.

Roman's eye twitched as he heard this; where the hell did this come from? The little shit should have gotten used to him swearing by now.

"Oh... and why is it bad," Roman snarked.

"B-because it's...it's bad, it's just bad," she retorted, though her argument didn't really hold much weight.

"Really?" Roman dryly remarked, "And stealing from people and beating them up till they can't move isn't bad as well?"

The little brat opened her mouth to respond, but closed it soon after, making Roman give a slight evil chuckle. The brat needed years of more experience if she wanted to ever argue with him or anyone else above her in years.

"Anyways, the real reason why we're going back to that shithole, is because I want to check that place out once more. Do a bit of investigation, and well..." Roman shrugged. "Y'know... like seeing where we started from."

And seeing if there really is no way to head back home. Roman left unsaid.

"Hn," Eri nodded her head, though her facial expression told him she was still unhappy, making him laugh once again, though it only made her pout grow more.

"Hahaha... don't act like you have stick up your ass, kid. It will help you in the long run when you grow up to be an adult," Roman joked as he ruffled her hair.

"Stick up my what-" Eri pushed his hand away.

"Nothing," Roman frowned, cutting her off. "Let's just head to the beach."

"Okay..." Eri said, still a bit unhappy with him.

o – o – o – o – o

"Huh... the hell happened to the beach..."

They had finally arrived at Municipal Beach and were going to go back to the abandoned warehouse, but they stopped once they reached the seawall overlooking the beach.

It was just that the beach wasn't the same when they were here before.

Roman stared at the beach with an almost dumbfounded look, his mouth slightly agape as he eyes lingered on the trash filled beach, or what it used to be.

In its place was a beautiful and pristine beach, all of the trash he saw before gone, almost as if it just one day disappeared. Hell, even the trash at the top of the seawall was gone as well.

Roman twirled his cane as he clacked it down, leaning onto it as he admired the view with an uncertain grin.

The beach was populated by many civilians today it seemed, and he could definitely see why. Without the trash covering up most of the beach, the place was very beautiful with its white sands and view to the ocean. A stark difference to the dump he had witnessed only a month ago.

Still, he was honestly shocked that the trash he had seen here only a month ago was all gone now, and while he did notice one or two people clean up the beach every now and then when he lived here, this was just way too large of a difference.

Did the city finally give a shit and cleaned up the beach?

"Whoa..."

Roman blinked as he turned towards his companion, the girl also admiring the view beside him, her hands holding onto the railings as she stuck her head in between them, trying to get a better view.

"The view's pretty good, eh?" Roman smiled to the girl.

Eri turned towards him and returned his smile with her own, though hers' was a lot more joyful and happy than his own.

"Yep! It's so pretty..." she laughed giddily. Her previous unhappiness with him all gone now as she stared off to the beach.

As Eri laughed to herself, Roman went back to thinking on who could have possibly moved the trash. He wasn't sure the city did it, because if they did, they would have happily spread word of it, saying how they helped out with the ecosystem and nature and all that bullshit.

Was it that kid? Roman thought incredulously, his mind going back to the green-haired kid he would see nearly every day cleaning up the beach.

No, it couldn't be. Roman thought, even if the kid did come here nearly every day to clean up the beach, he doubted whether the kid could actually moved all the trash off the beach and seawall.

Roman shook his head as he let the thought go, he can go find out by asking one of the passerby later on.

Roman looked back down to the giggling girl before ruffling her hair, giving out a chuckle of his own as the kid tried to push his hand away.

"Y'know what, kid? How about this, we can go explore the beach after I finish my business at the warehouse," Roman grinned.

"You mean I can go play down there," she asked, hope clear in her eyes.

"Sure, why not. We still have a lot of time before the day ends," Roman waved it off.

"Yay!" The little girl cheered.

"Hah, why do I feel it's going to be a long day," Roman sighed. He didn't mind walking around the beach for a while, though it was going to be a pain in the ass getting rid of the sand after.

Well, he might as well get his business over with quickly and enjoy the rest of the time at the beach. After all, they weren't going to be able to see the beach often after they moved.

o – o – o – o – o

Her eyelashes fluttered in pain as her arms weakly floated in by her sides, feeling as if she couldn't breathe as her body slowly drifted down, feeling weightless, yet heavy at the same time. She was sinking deeper and deeper into the murky depths of the ocean.

Yet her eyes stubbornly lingered at the surface, focused onto the fleeing figure of her enemy. The stark white skin and eyes that resembled the Grimm, forever ingrained into her mind.

Is this how I die? Summer Rose thought bitterly.

Is this how she died? Alone and defeated by the worst enemy of mankind as she slowly sank deeper into the depths of the ocean.

She felt sad and afraid inside, though not for herself. She had long since accepted that she was going to die in the job as a Huntress, most did. After all, not many Hunters lived to see their old age, and she had even expected it more after joining Ozpin's group and learning of Salem.

The queen of Grimm, the enemy of mankind; that's who her opponent was, and even with her silver eyes, eyes that could turn hordes of Grimm into stone with just a look, she still stood no chance of beating her.

No...

She was afraid of leaving everyone she loved and cared for behind. Her friends... her family...

Taiyang...

Ruby...

Yang...

Qrow...

And even Raven...

I wonder how my girls are doing. She thought as her vision blurred. Her consciousness slowly fading away as she sadly smiled.

Will they grow up well without her?

Will they grow up to be healthy adults?

Will they live happy lives?

Will they get married?

Questions that could never be answered for her, as her body slowly drifted down.

Summer Rose closed her eyes, finally letting the ocean take her.

...

Only to open her eyes once more as it all disappeared.

She gasped for air as she felt the weight of the ocean leave her.

"Hah... ha- cough! Cough!"

Summer took in as much air as possible, only to hack it out as the water was still stuck in her lungs. Her eyes tried to focus on anything around her, her vision swimming as she felt sick and dizzy.

Summer rolled onto her hands and knees as she coughed up the water in her system, spitting it out onto the ground as she breathed ruggedly.

She looked up and finally saw where she was, the sun-rays dimly bathing her surroundings in light.

An abandoned building; a building that had looked it had been abandoned for years as grass and mould had grown into the building

"I... I'm... not... dead?" She dazedly muttered; her vision swimming again as her arms gave out, falling onto the cold and now wet floor.

She felt the exhaustion of her fight with Salem come to her now, her muscles failing her as she tried to move; her broken aura not being able to help her either.

She breathed tiredly as she lay sprawled on the floor, but even then, it was enough to make her happy.

She was still alive. She didn't know how, but she was alive.

She was so happy that she felt like crying.

Her friends and family didn't have to mourn for her because she was dead.

Her kids didn't have to live without their mother

She was going back home to see them all.

And with that thought, she lost consciousness.