Hey everyone. First I want to say that I am sorry for the previous chapter. I re-read the previous chapters for fact-checking purposes and realized I made soooo many mistakes, especially in chapter 9, oh man that was just… *facepalm*. It is amazing how much you can miss. I probably shouldn't have published it like that, but hey I'm learning and will take measures to prevent this kind of thing in the future. So feel free to go back, enjoy, maybe see if I missed anything. Some good news, after a LOT of writing and planning, and a crap ton of revision, I now know how this is all going to end (This fanfic, I still don't know how the world is going to end, wish I did, but I don't). I would also like to announce that there will be a sequel to this story, probably with a different name… or not, I haven't decided yet. Anyway, I will try to get the remainder of the chapters for this volume done before RWBY Vol.4 comes out Oct. 22, or at least during it. If I can help it. After that, I will take a break before working on the sequel. Of course, this is still subject to change because LIFE. That and I will probably be too busy re-watching the new episodes to do much else. XD. Also fair warning, I do describe a little of Neo and William's first night 'together together', but I leave most of it to your imagination. I swear this will be the closest I get to anything NSFW. So without further ado, please enjoy.
Chapter 10: Every couple has its quirks
William was woken up by the snippets of sunlight beaming through the small gaps between the curtains.
As he sat up he glanced Neo sleeping next to him. seeing a strand of her, now completely messy, hair in her face he brushed it to the side almost losing himself in how cute Neo's sleeping face was.
William thought Neo was adorable, to begin with, but there was just something about her softened peaceful expression that really sold it. He also felt happy that this was a side, he imagined, not many people got to see her.
Looking at the clock on the wall it was eleven thirty. Feeling a little sore from the night before William decided he probably should take a shower. The drowsy wolf Faunus got up and walked towards the bathroom trying not to step on any of Neo's "toys", as she called them, that were scattered all over the floor.
William smirked a little at the new side of both him and Neo that was discovered. Although in retrospect that side of Neo wasn't exactly "new". Opening his backpack that somehow ended up moving across the room next to the bathroom door William got his spare outfit; a pair of blue jeans, a grey shirt with the Beacon crest on it, and a fresh pair of boxers. Given the events of the previous night, he felt it was probably best to get a fresh pair.
Placing his clothes in the sink William was about to jump into the shower when he noticed he was still wearing the black leather collar Neo placed on him last night. Stopping for a moment he gently chuckled at the tag designed like an ice cream cone with a scoop that displayed Neo's signature color pattern. I wonder does everything she own have to be Neapolitan themed? He pondered to himself.
Going to removed it he hesitated for a moment, remembering Neo's instructions to never remove it. It puzzled the young man how she could have this kind of effect on him but managed to circumvent these thoughts with the fact water and leather don't mix well. So he removed it, and since he was now fully naked hopped into the shower.
That was one crazy night. William thought to himself enjoying the steady flow of warm water from the shower. William had already known what sex was due to a discarded medical book he found as well as a few magazines he happened to find in an old mattress but had no inclining as to what it actually felt like. I mean…wow, that was…I'm not sure what that was. I don't remember seeing anything like that in those magazines and why did I enjoy it so much? The Were-Grimm mentally pondered rubbing his still sore jaw, among a few other sore spots. How does someone so small hit so hard? He thought reviewing the more passionate moments, strangely his body, or at least one part, in particular, seemed to enjoy the recap, immensely.
William, after calming down, exited the shower and dried himself off. Looking in the mirror he sighed that his hair was still pink.
"If I can say one thing about Ren, he knows how to spot a quality hair dye." William half-joked and lamented to himself.
As he was getting dressed he noticed something on the edge of the sink he didn't notice before. It was a rubber duck with bright, long, orange hair, with long bangs covering its right eye, a black bowler hat with a red band on top of its head, a red-lined white suit, and a cane under its right wing.
"Huh, what a strange looking rubber duck." He said picking it up and examining it more thoroughly. Reading the bottom aloud, "Duck's Custom Rubber Ducks, make your friends into rubber duckies", before setting the strange effigy down and clasping his collar back in place. Though William himself didn't quite understand why he felt he should but did all the same.
Standing in front of the doorway William paused taking in the sight of Neo's sleeping form, with the blanket almost picturesquely wrapping around her breast and hips like she had posed in that position she looked truly gorgeous. Her soft features, creamy skin, a sweet peaceful sleeping smile, and she almost seemed to radiantly glow. Although William thought that last part might be all in his head.
William stood there for an unknown about of time simply taking in as much of her form as possible. However, William's heart sank like a stone as Neo rolled over revealing her back to him. There were several sets of claw marks up and down her back and a clearly defined bite mark on the back of her left collarbone. It was then that William remembered the latter part of their embrace; he had accidentally let control of his emotions lapse and partially transformed his limbs. He was so overcome by his lust and desire, giving into his more aggressive side, he did not even realize he had hurt her.
"Neo I am so sorry". He softly apologized while mentally berating himself. William gathered his clothes from the pile on the floor and stuffed them into his backpack. This was a mistake, maybe I really am not meant to interact with people.
William felt as low as possible, he needed just one person, outside of Beacon, that believed that he wasn't a monster and the one person he found, he harmed. As William opened the door, contemplating if he should just disappear, he froze as he heard Neo stir.
"William?" Neo yawned rubbing her eyes.
"Um, Neo…um…you should um…" William pointed with his right hand while peeking through his fingers on his left hand.
Neo looked down seeing her chest was completely exposed.
"What? It's not like it's something you didn't see plenty of last night."
"Yeah, I guess you got me there," William admitted removing his hand from in front of his face and then using it to rub the back of his head. "And about last night…I'm sorry."
Neo's eyebrow shot up. "Sorry? Sorry for what?"
"I hurt you…I clawed up your back. I am so sorry." He said looking completely sincere.
"William…" she began getting up from the bed with the blanket wrapped around her like a toga, "believe it or not I actually enjoyed it."
"You what? You have claw marks down your back!" He tried stressing the point again.
Neo gave him a pan faced look. "You do remember I slapped you across the face a good number of times and then… there… was the… riding crop…" She said turning her head seeing the riding crop embedded perpendicular to the wall almost five feet off of the ground.
"When and how did that even happen?" William asked wondering how he didn't even notice that when he first got up.
"You know what, I actually don't remember. Everything after you went all…Grimm is just a…a… warm fuzzy blank."
"Warm fuzzy blank?" William asked with an eyebrow raised.
"Not the best description, I know." William nodded. "Normally I prefer to be the dominant one, but after your eyes changed colors and you transformed you were…WOW…I mean just WOW! You were a beast!" Neo exclaimed with a clearly lustful gleam in her eyes.
"I swear I didn't mean to hurt you." The wolf Faunus said with a remorseful tone looking away.
"William," Neo said cupping his head between her hands so he would look directly at her. "I'm saying I liked it, I like it when you stop holding yourself back when you are just your unrestrained self. You are an amazing person, and I don't mean just in bed."
"You mean…"
"I like you when you are you." She finished letting go of his head and placing her hand on his chest.
"Neo I don't know what to say."
"How about you join me for a shower and then we can go for breakfast?"
"But I already took a shower," William answered not realizing what she meant until Neo gave a hint with her bedroom eyes. "Ooohhhh, I mean yes, I will join you."
"good boy." Neo praised patting him on the head before going to the dresser to grab some clothes.
*One steamy shower scene and one actual shower later*
"Hey, William...?" Neo asked drying herself off. Neo's bathroom was fairly small, but the two still managed, probably due to Neo's compact size.
"Yes, Neo?"
"Does being a Were-Grimm give you some kind of healing ability or something?"
"yes it does, why?"
"I was certain I left at least a few marks on you last night."
"You did, but my body healed them." He explained putting down the toilet lid so he could sit down to put his socks on.
Neo slipped on her panties and had half fastened her bra. "I guess that makes sense, but then what about your scars?"
"My scars?"
"Yeah, the scar over your right eye and your left wolf ear."
"I got those before I became a Were-Grimm."
"So you can recover from having your arms chopped off and your organs being blown up, but you can't heal a scar over your eye or regrow half an ear because you got them before you got your powers?" she inquired putting on a pair of grey sweatpants.
"Yeah, never made much sense to me either, then again, I've never really been able to control my healing ability."
After slipping on a pink and brown t-shirt Neo turned her head giving William a raised eyebrow.
"it always just…happened. I've tried to control my healing ability, but it's always been determined by the situation."
"Situation?"
"Yeah, like with team JPIT I was able to completely regrow both arms almost instantly because I had three Ursai bearing down on me."
Neo giggled a little.
"What, what did I say?"
"You said bear-ing." She giggled some more.
"Please don't start that. I already have one person who abuses me with puns, I don't need another."
"So you consider it pun-ishment?"
William gave her a stern look. "Neo."
"Okay, okay." She reassured with her hands.
"Oh, after we go for breakfast do you mind helping me do laundry?"
"Sure, as long as you don't mind me throwing some of my clothes in with them."
"Okay, but just don't let me forget to keep my blood-soaked clothes separate."
"How could someone forget something like that?"
"You would be surprised, I once forgot to do it after a long day at the 'office' and just threw my bloodied jacket in with the rest of my clothes. I guess the blood was still wet and I ended up staining six of my favorite jackets."
William tried to muffle his laugh by covering his mouth with his hand.
"What? That's not funny, I'm not really a fan of red."
"I bet you wouldn't have cared so much had it been Neapolitan ice cream."
Neo's eyes lit up a little. "Well, I mean… that wouldn't really work the same…would it?" she murmured with a small droplet of drool coming off of the corner of her mouth.
"I don't think so, but I do know you would look cute in that or red."
"Aw, you." Neo blushed as she gently kissed him on the cheek before noticing William put the collar on himself again. This made Neo grin with a bizarre combination of sadistic pleasure and, somehow, affection.
Neo calmed herself a little. "You know you didn't have to put that back on, right?" she asked this time with just her default smirk.
"Well, I, uh, you said I couldn't. That it showed I'm yours and… that you care about me."
Neo just smirked. "I told you you would like it, didn't I?"
"That still counts as one thing, though." William huffed.
"You can't tell me you didn't like that."
"still counts, but if you ever want to do it again..." William visibly blushed. "…feel free to call me."
"Well if I ended up getting you hooked, I guess I can accept that..." She said exiting the bathroom fully dressed. "…my little pet." She cooed in a sultry and domineering voice that made William shiver with delight.
Why does that excite me? He mentally cried out, but still said nothing.
Seeing her "toys" scattered across the floor she was a little embarrassed. "Hey Will?"
"Yes, Neo?" He asked exiting the bathroom.
"Do you think you could help me clean up first?"
"Sure." He said bending down to pick up a pair of handcuffs.
The two quickly picked up Neo's scattered items, removed the riding crop from the wall, and placed them in her sink so she could clean them later.
"Shall we go?" William asked as he slid on his hat and sunglasses.
"We shall," Neo replied extending her bent elbow.
The two locked arms and exited Neo's hotel room and headed to the diner they went to the first time William slept over. They were even seated in the same booth. This time William made sure to order enough to fill him up, at least until dinner. While they were waiting for their food William and Neo chatted about various things, mainly about the questions Neo still had about his powers or backstory.
Much to William's surprise, Neo didn't give off any kind of fear or concern that he typically sensed when someone asked about his abilities. Granted he rarely went into this much detail with anyone outside of Ozpin, Ms. Goodwitch, Ruby, and the rest of that group. Even when he told Ruby and the others more than a few were either intimidated or just plain incredulous, with Ruby being the only exception, but not Neo.
"Will I've been meaning to ask you something."
"Just one thing?" He teased after having already answered a few of her questions.
"Okay, one more question. What type of wolf Faunus are you?"
"My type?"
"Yeah, a lot of Faunus are categorized based on their animal traits."
"Oh, that's what you meant, I'm a member of the Canis Lupis family."
"Wait, but aren't those grey wolves? Your hair is black. Is it because of your Grimm powers?"
"Did I ever tell you I love how you know so much about Faunus?" William softly laughed making Neo blush a little.
"Answer the question wolf boy." She insisted with a smirk.
"It isn't because of my Grimm power." William chuckled. "Grey wolves, and red wolves, can produce black wolves. melanistic color variants of wolf Faunus are due to a mutation that originates from a couple species of dog Faunus. This just means somewhere in my family tree is a dog Faunus or two." He chuckled.
"So wait, was your dad a red wolf or a gray wolf Faunus?"
"Grey wolf. Huh, I guess even if I wasn't a Were-Grimm I'd still be an oddball." He lightly chuckled to himself, though Neo could see there was a bit of remorse in his words.
"I don't think you're an oddball Will, it's just one more thing that makes you special." Neo conveyed with a genuine sincerity in her voice.
After a few moments, she noticed William staring at her. His expression wasn't distain or anything like that, he just seemed to be taking as much of Neo in with his eyes as he could.
"Will are you okay?" She asked somewhat sheepishly.
William didn't immediately reply. Whether it was his Grimm powers, his past, or his abnormal Faunus traits Neo didn't seem to be the least bit fearful or repulsed, he believed she truly saw him for who he was.
"I just think I might be falling for you." William finally answered not realizing what he was saying until it had already been said.
Neo and William blushed. "W…wh…what brought that on?" Neo stuttered out blushing furiously.
The disguised wolf Faunus lowered his sunglasses and gave her a loving kind look. "When most hear about what I am only a small number of people have ever treated me with anything other than fear and contempt," Neo smirked and William raised an eyebrow.
"It's funny." She lightly chuckled. "I was thinking the same about you."
"What do you mean?"
Neo's eyes lowered to her hands resting on the table. "Ever since I was a little girl I've always been like that and one-by-one the people I cared about just…left me. By the time I realized people saw me like that I was already standing in front of the orphanage. I've always just…been like this. No one ever actually called me on it."
Neo looked up seeing William a with a thin smile on his face. "What?"
"Oh I'm sorry I was just imagining you as a little girl, you are adorable."
"William I'm being serious." Neo half serious, half blushing.
"I know, but what exactly did you do to be sent to an orphanage anyway?"
"It was either the time I broke my neighbor's thumbs…and his legs…and his arms… and I think I gave him a minor concussion…"
"You did all that to another kid?!"
"Oh no, my neighbor was in his thirties, I think. It was either that or any of a dozen other things." She half smirked concealing her more morbid tone. "Huh, it's so funny my Mom would always give me this… weird smile and pat me on the head whenever I did anything. She never once told me not to do anything, all she would do is smile and pat me on the head." Neo choked a little trying to get it to come out of her throat.
"Neo…"
"I'm okay." She tried to reassure as she wiped her eyes. "It's just… you and Roman are the only two people to have ever see me like that, and like this, and not…." She trailed off looking at her clenched fist.
"…Treated you like a monster." William finished.
"Yeah…"
"Neo, you aren't a monster." William calmly told her reaching across the table gently placing his hand on hers. "I think your one of the most wonderful people I have ever met."
Neo seemed to pause for a moment enjoying the feel of William's warm hands on hers.
Neo cocked her head up giving him a cute puppy-like expression. "Really?"
"Really." He smiled.
Neo beamed that genuine smile William had quickly fallen in love with. The two quickly lost themselves in the other's eyes as they began to close in for the kiss there was a sudden "thunk" as the waitress placed the platter of food on the table, not realizing she had just killed the mood. Neo and William had only just begun slowly leaning towards each other so to anyone who hadn't been watching them wouldn't have known what was transpiring. The two quickly drew back their hands and were sitting up straight as the waitress placed the plates in front of them. The two slightly blushed and then nodded at each other signaling they probably should eat their food.
William had ordered three stacks of pancakes with bananas, hash browns, biscuits, scrambled eggs, and a half dozen of the diner's famous ham biscuit sliders. Neo ordered the pancakes with a side of hash browns and toast. The two continued their conversation as they ate.
Much to William's surprise Neo and he had a lot in common in terms of upbringing including both of them growing up without a father. While Neo's mother wasn't exactly ideal, the old woman who ran the orphanage was pretty nice, but because she was the only person to try and discipline she often rebelled against her for it. As Neo grew up she realized she did what she did because she cared.
After spending about three years in the orphanage Neo was eventually adopted by a seemingly nice couple who lived in a large house about ten hours away by car from the orphanage. However, soon afterward Neo found that they were anything but nice. At one point they taunted that they burned down the orphanage she had lived in. Neo yelled and screamed at them for it and then the man grabbed a bust from their mantel coming to strike her. It was that moment that she first wanted to kill someone, grabbing the nearest object she struck him. as luck would have it that object she grabbed was the parasol she would claim as her signature weapon.
Neo didn't know that the parasol had a sword in it and given their expression as the blade extended from the umbrella transforming it into an Estoc that pierced the man's arm, neither did they. Within moments Neo had killed them both, almost as easy as if they were ants under her thumb, feeling not much of anything in the way of regret.
She never did find out why they had a weaponized umbrella lying around, but didn't really care.
Realizing what she had done Neo gathered all the money, food, and whatever else she could think of that she would need and went to go back to the orphanage, after burying the bodies. She would spend the next two days walking to the orphanage only to find that what they had told her was true. Neo checked in the nearby town and found that the old woman had died in the fire with all of the children she had been caring for.
From that point, Neo wandered from town to town eventually earning a reputation for her natural skill, and sadistic nature, when it came to killing. Little by little people continued to hire her for different jobs. Ultimately she ended up working for Roman and by extension Cinder, although she didn't tell William about cinder. Neo still took pride in her craft…and she was fairly certain if she told him it would end with one of Cinder's fireballs that had her name on it.
The two finished eating, paid the checks, and left. For Neo it was the first time in she couldn't remember how long she had told someone about her past.
William could tell that she left a few things out, but knew that what she did tell him was the truth, he felt her shifting back and forth between anger, sadness, and relief through her entire story. He took this as good enough given the nature of Neo's work. William also knew what it was like to reveal everything to someone like that and that it could leave a person feeling a little fragile. William wasn't as good at the subtle stuff as Neo, but he tried his best. He wrapped his arm around her shoulder bringing her close to him.
"Neo for what it's worth, I think you are a really great person." He told her in a soft calm voice.
To most, this wouldn't mean much, but to Neo, it was something she didn't even realize she needed to hear.
The two continued to walk back to Neo's apartment not saying anything just enjoying the warmth of the other. Despite it being only two thirty it was still Fall in Vale and that meant it was getting cold. The two were fortunate that the sun was unobstructed and there was only a cool breeze, perfect weather to walk close together with someone.
The two made it to Neo's apartment and began gathering their clothes to do laundry. William noticed Neo opening her pink, white, and brown suitcase in the corner of the room and taking out a large ziplock baggy containing a bottle that read club soda, two of those little lemon-shaped juice containers, a small box of baking soda, what looked like a bottle of some kind of seasoning, toothpaste, and a stain stick.
"what's that?" William asked.
"It's my blood cleanup kit."
"Why is there toothpaste in it?"
"Toothpaste is great for pretreating dried blood especially with a meat tenderizer follow-up after a cold wash." She said confident in her knowledge of cleaning up blood stains.
"just out of curiosity, how many times have you had to clean blood out of your outfits?"
Neo gave a blank look before counting on her fingers. "about twenty times, I think." She answered after finishing her mental tally.
"Have you ever thought you may want to just invest in a liquid repellant fabric?"
"That's a thing?"
"Yeah, I learned about them when I was talking with one of my professors about my Huntsmen outfit."
"I'll look into that."
"When I get back to Beacon I'll text you the name of a company that does custom orders."
"Thanks Will. Oh…and, um, Will…I need you to not mention me to anyone at Beacon, okay? I know I should have probably said something earlier."
William knew about Neo's situation and that if it was ever found out that he concealed information about her he would be in a LOT of trouble. Given Ironwood's fondness for the Faunus, he would probably end up in front of a firing squad. However, he also cared deeply about Neo.
"I haven't actually told anyone about you yet. As long as you don't get caught I know nothing, but should we ever end up facing each other I won't hold back. I will apprehend you."
Neo turned and looked at him with her signature smirk "That's only if you think you can beat me." She lightly taunted before standing on her tippy toes to kiss him on the lips.
The two finished gathering their dirty clothes and made their way to the laundromat at the back of the hotel. It was an average size laundromat; double stacked washers on the outer walls and two rows of dryers back-to-back in the middle of the room, a row of chairs at the front of the room broken by the entrance, two vending machines to the front right, and a small bulletin board on front left of the room. As luck would have it there was no one there so they had the room to themselves.
William sorted the lights from the darks as Neo began rubbing toothpaste on the blood spots on her jacket making a visible effort to really rub the toothpaste into the stains as hard as she could. After emptying half of the tube, Neo put her jacket in a separate washing machine on cold. William put the whites and colored clothes in separate machines, added the detergent, and closed the lids.
"Neo do you have any change? I don't have any."
"Don't worry about it, this is on me," Neo replied handing William a stack of coins.
William inserted the coins and started the machines. "so what do we do while we wait?" He asked.
"Have you ever played Ninja Showdown?"
"What's that?"
"A game you can play with other people on your scroll."
"You can play games on scrolls?" William asked completely shocked only to then remember he saw one of Ironwood's soldiers playing a game on their scroll when he snuck into Vale the night before last.
"Yes, you can." She answered with a giggle. "Now let me help you get set up," Neo said moving next to William helping him download the app and then explaining the basic controls.
Once set up the two commenced. Not surprisingly though, William lost fairly easily. He could make a first time player look good by comparison. Most kids his age have at least played one video game, not in an arcade, before, but not William. Things like video games and electronic toys were not readily available outside of the four kingdoms, and even in a place like Feign they were still an expensive good. The kind a single working mother would have had to save up for months to buy. None the less the two continued; William getting a little better each time and Neo enjoying winning and the expression William made when he lost.
After about twenty minutes, and many, many one-sided victories by Neo, an unusually tall woman with long white hair down to her waist with light pink tips walked in. Neo and William looked up to see the new patron to the laundry mat. Before William could even take her in fully, his scroll buzzed signaling that he had lost.
"Neo!?"
"What? You didn't say time-out." She smiled making her cutest face.
"I'm sorry did I cost you a game?" The tall woman asked in a soft polite voice.
She was wearing a plain pink short-sleeve shirt that stopped just above her belly button that more than accentuated her ample womanly assets and a pair of jean shorts that showed off her long slender alabaster legs leading to her almost porcelain sandal covered feet. To say the least, she was very beautiful, even William was almost beguiled by her.
Seeing William start to stare she gave him a helpful nudge in the ribs. "Not really, he was about to lose anyway." Neo inputted earning a look from the Wolf Faunus next to her.
"Either way I am very sorry. My name is Heather by the way." The woman introduced extending her hand not holding her laundry basket.
"I'm William, nice to meet you." He shook.
"And I'm Neo."
"A pleasure to meet you both. By the way are you, perhaps, the ones staying in apartment number 105?" She asked moving over to a washer and dropping her load into it.
William and Neo gave each other a look and then blushed. "I'll take that as a yes then?" Heather smirked turning on the machine.
"Well… we um…. did we disturb you?" Neo finally managed to get out.
"I believe everyone on that side of the hotel heard your late night… rendezvous." She smirked.
The two lowered their heads trying to conceal the blush spreading across their faces like wildfire.
"It's okay you two, I know what it's like to be young and in love." She smiled.
"LLL-LLL-LLOOOOOVVVVEEE!" The two shouted with both of their faces as red as Ruby's cape.
"hehe heh. You two are such a cute couple."
"We haven't even had an official date yet." William blurted out not thinking.
"Oh my!" She said placing her palm over her mouth. "Kids these days are so forward."
Neo gave him a 'good going' look. "What my friend here means is that we have hung out before and we get along, pretty well I might note, but we haven't made it 'official' yet and actually have scheduled our first real date for Wednesday," Neo explained regaining some of her composure.
"We aren't like that." The short girl quickly defended.
"…And what would you call last night?" She asked with an eyebrow raised.
Neo's blush returned with vengeance. "That…that was….um…" Neo stammered trying to find the words.
"-Last night was a moment of love between two people who for the first time in a long time found someone who sees them for who they really are," William spoke up again not thinking. Thankfully he did manage to say something right.
"Awww Will that's so sweet." The triple colored girl crooned hugging him around the neck and planted a kiss on his cheek.
"I think it is sweet too." Heather softly spoke as she drew near them and in an instant before either William or Neo could respond she was hugging them with her head between the two of them. "I hope your love continues to grow…especially as you become the tools I need." She whispered as a flash of white light enveloped the three.
William snorted himself awake. He looked around and found himself sitting in one of the chairs in the laundromat with Neo leaning on his left shoulder.
"Neo wake up." The wolf Faunus lightly shook.
"Huh, what?" Neo blinked still half asleep.
"How long have we been asleep?" William asked standing up looking out the window to see the sun had since set."
"It's five-thirty." the triple colored girl alerted him looking at her scroll.
"We must have been more tired than we thought." William reasoned.
"That or me beating you over and over again got boring," Neo said holding up her scroll showing him the score of fifty-nine to zero.
"Well, either way, let's get the laundry done."
"Yeah." Neo shrugged. "It is still weird that we fell asleep for three hours out of the blue like that. We must have been more tired than we thought."
"I feel like we're forgetting something." William pondered aloud scratching his head.
"Really? I can't think of anything." Neo shrugged again.
"Hmmm, maybe I'm just imagining things."
"Possibly." Neo answered checking on her bloody jacket. "looks like I need to use the meat tenderizer." she said to herself.
"Well, I guess if I don't remember it must not be that important." William thought aloud.
The two finished their laundry, folded it, took it back to Neo's apartment, and then when about small activities while watching TV and chatting. Both William and Neo needed to clean their weapons so they swapped cleaning tips. This particularly helped William as he wasn't sure the proper way to clean his knives due to their unique design.
Somehow afterwards Neo persuaded William to give her a massage, though he wasn't sure how. Much to both their surprise William's strong hands coupled with his knowledge of human anatomy proved to be very effective. Between Neo mewling in pleasure with each stroke of William's hands and him lovingly tracing Neo's figure committing every curve to memory it was a very…applicable proposition for them both. Though nothing happened beyond that, not that either really complained.
After her massage Neo looked at the clock noticing it was seven-thirty. The two decided to head back to the diner for dinner. As a way of saying thanks for doing a good job for the massage Neo said it was her treat.
William didn't complain.
For the most part, it was an enjoyable evening with the two lightly chatting about various things; fine-tuning the details of their first "official" date, who was going to win the Vytal Festival, and a couple of other things. As they talked something caught William's attention, when he was talking about his team he felt a slight twinge of concern from Neo, especially when he was describing his team, particularly Yang. However, for some reason, it vanished in an instant. Not sure what had transpired William just chalked it up as his imagination, this did happen from time to time. What he did not know was that Neo saw it in his eyes that she had raised a flag with the Were-Grimm, but was able to conceal it. Her years as a professional killer and her own natural abilities had given her a means of controlling her emotions, at least enough not to immediately tip off William, she hoped. It wasn't until William was distracted by his meal that she could even allow her to feel relief and stop trying to forcefully control herself.
William had told Neo about Ruby and the other's last night in the park, but she never quite made the connection. There are more than a few Ruby's out there. Though, in retrospect she came to the realization that there probably aren't a lot of gun-scythe welding, red hood wearing Ruby's out there.
The two finished dinner in relative silence, though William realized something was troubling her when she decided to pass on dessert and went to pay the check by herself.
"Neo, are you okay?" William asked as they exited the diner.
"Why do you ask?"
"Because you passed up on dessert."
Neo began to feel a little nervous behind her signature smirk. "Oh, I just didn't like what they had."
"Really? You don't like Neapolitan ice cream sundaes?" He asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Well uh-"
"Neo, I can tell something is bugging you, even if you are trying to control your emotions around me." Neo looked up at William looking like a deer in headlights.
Neo looked up at William looking like a deer in headlights.
"…"
"Neo, you can tell me. I might be able to help."
"You can't." Neo murmured looking away.
"Yes I can, you just have to tell me."
"I can't!" She shouted, not turning her head.
"Why!?"
"Because your part of the team that locked up Roman!" She blurted out turning her head showing William a pair of very angry, teary heterochromatic eyes.
The two just stared at one another completely stunned before Neo just ran away. After a moment to process, William recovered from his vacancy and gave chase to her.
William chased Neo to the park they went to last night. As they crossed the bridge William saw the opportunity and tackled Neo knocking her to the ground, pinning her down.
"Your friend is Roman Torchwick?" He asked devoid of any readable emotion looking her in the eyes.
Neo didn't immediately respond. She was trying to restrain herself, she knew her mission could hinge on this, but she could barely contain herself. The man she just spent the last day with was part of the team that had her only other friend locked away. She knew all she had to do was either walk away, she could escape Will with only some minor difficulty, or she could just silence him.
Instead, the dam finally burst.
"Yeah, he is." She said tears rolling down her eyes. "One of the few people who ever gave a damn about me and your team locked him up!" She sobbed.
William got off of Neo and stood up. "Neo…." He tried to reach out his hand to her only for her to swat it away.
"Don't touch me!" She yelled getting to her knees. "I…I…I just want him back!" she wept as she remained kneeling.
"Neo he committed a crime, and not just a little crime like robbery, he let a flood of Grimm into the city. Dozens of people were killed and even more were injured." He pleaded trying to get her to see his reason.
"So he is just supposed to be locked away and that's all there is to it?!" She screamed. "Then why haven't they locked you up yet? Huh, you're a monster, you're a danger to the city, WHY haven't they locked you up?" The triple colored girl screamed looking up to see tears rolling down William's cheeks, instantly regretting what she had just said.
"Neo…of all the people I've met, you were the one person I thought would never say that…" He exhaled with a cold breath. "I'm just going to leave."
"Will," Neo stated standing up. "I can't let you leave; you know too much." She whimpered as she brandished her weapon.
William stopped. "Neo, you know you can't beat-" He turned seeing Neo looking up at him with her psychopathic smirk and her Estoc piercing his chest.
William looked down examining the blade embedded in his heart and then back to Neo with his right eye turning blood red. "So this is how it is going to be." He said in a cold voice.
Neo was initially confused about his eye until she remembered what William had told her. Albeit a second too late. Before she could even take a step back she felt a hard sharp blow to her ribs smashing her into a tree ten feet behind her leaving a small crater in the bark.
As Neo struggled to her feet before she stopped. She felt a chill run down her spine she hadn't felt since the first time she saw Cinder angry. Looking up she saw William taking on a half-transformed state.
His arms and everything below the waist had morphed to that of a Beowulf's. He now stood about six foot five-six foot six. His fur had a metallic gleam to it as though each strand of hair was a black-dyed steel fiber. His torso slightly stretched out, both the pupils of his eyes were a dark crimson but were still human in appearance.
His wolf ears became exaggerated stretched upward and he now possessed a bushy wolf's tail that lifted up the back of his shirt. It wasn't immediately noticeable at night, but Neo's eyes noticed that his fur and clothing concealed incredibly dense muscles, no doubt strong enough to put even the most powerful of Alphas to shame accompanied with bone protrusions resembled darkish grey wrought iron as opposed to the usual white bone.
All and all his appearance as a whole was intimidating enough to nearly cow even the infamous silent sadist Neopolitan. She saw his partial transformation before, but this…this was different.
Before she even had time to respond William disappeared from her vision. Out of instinct, Neo rolled to the side as William's strike hit the ground splitting the tree behind her in half down the middle. If not for her skills honed through a lifetime of fighting and killing Neo's life would have ended, right then and there.
Her experience also allowed her to regain her composure and begin her counterattack.
William charged at her only to be stopped as Neo's umbrella burst open stopping his claw in mid-strike. Swiping the umbrella away Neo appeared to vanish. In that instant William jumped back, just barely avoiding a graze from Neo's thrust from above with her concealed sword.
She used the opened umbrella to distract him while she jumped into the tree next to them to strike from above.
Her plan was almost perfect, except for two things; William dodging and her getting her blade stuck in one of the tree's roots.
As Neo tried to pry her sword free William swung at her with full force only for her to shatter like glass.
Suddenly the Were-Grimm saw a blade exiting his flesh where his liver would be. Grasping the blade with both hands William jumped back ramming Neo into another tree leaving another crater mark similar to the first.
Not letting Neo rest William began to twist and turn his body swinging Neo violently in the process before sending her flying through a nearby wooden park bench before delivering a volley of brutal punches.
If not for her finely-tuned aura skills each individual blow would have shattered her small frame into pieces.
Despite this, the small assassin felt each blow in full force. Each strike was heavy and forceful but also calculated. She had used her blade to similarly weaken a stronger opponent by injuring their shoulder, elbow, midsection to limit their attack capabilities. The only difference was William added the hips in for good measure.
If she didn't act she would be in trouble.
As William drew back his right hand for the finishing blow Neo acted. Hooking her leg on William's left arm Neo propelled herself to land a powerful kick to the Were-Grimm's throat forcing him to stumble backward.
Neo continued her assault, not letting William regain his equilibrium. In a rhythmic display, Neo unleashed a ballet of kicks, slashes, and stabs all seeming to either heal the second her blade ceased contact with his flesh or to do nothing at all. This just added on to the fact that William's thick musculature made it feel like her blade was colliding with concrete, she could still cut concrete, but it's still more difficult to cut than normal flesh. Even with aura.
If not for the fact his pressure points and nerve clusters were just as easy to harm as a normal human's, she probably wouldn't be able to do any damage at all. Neo realized this was serious, serious enough not to be smirking, but rather it meant going all out in an attempt to end this, as fast as she could.
She had always liked a challenge when it came to the people she killed, something to make their deaths more amusing, but this was something entirely different. Seeing the half-transformed Grimm continue to stand and move after every lethal strike as though it was nothing at all was something out of a monster movie.
Even though Neo had since hit her stride in a long chain of implacable attacks spanning several moments William continued to remain on his feet and was beginning to regain his balance and adapt his body to the precision strikes that they became less effective enough for him to attempt to swing at her. While on the other hand Neo was not suited for this kind of fight. In truth, most of her fights only took as long as they did because she took the time to toy with her victims, very rarely did she ever have to fight a long battle. Her efficiency made her often one-shot most of her victims if she had a schedule to keep. This gave her great efficiency for covert ops, but not a lot of stamina for a long drawn-out battle. At least not without backup like Roman.
She also knew one good blow from him would probably be the end of her and she had to make sure it didn't come to that. She had struck, sliced, and stabbed every vital spot on William's body a dozen times each, at least, but there wasn't a drop of blood or a scratch to show for her effort.
Realizing her only option was to continue her strikes until she was able to find an escape route, abandoning all hopes of killing him, in a fluid acrobatic backflip Neo jumped back connecting another kick to William's chin before going into a full thrust to the heart on the landing. She had noticed stabs through the heart caused him to stall longer than any other vital strike, this would give her enough of an opening to escape.
However, as the blade was about to pierce his chest for the umpteenth time that night it was deflected and bounced off. Before she could respond William grabbed her by the throat and with all his strength slammed her head into a tree splintering it on impact.
That wasn't just some tough skin, that … that was aura. Neo thought to herself still concussed from the strike.
I thought he couldn't use his Grimm powers and aura at the same time.
Before Neo could contemplate things any further William hurled her through yet another couple trees only to stop after shattering a large rock. For Neo this was something she never saw coming, yeah Will's a Were-Grimm, so what he can still be killed like everyone else, she once told herself. Now she realized just how much a difference his biology made in both vitality as well as brute strength as she lay there with her body in too much pain to even move.
When she hit the rock, she had felt her aura become completely depleted, William could confirm as he saw a sheen of light pink energy pass over her signaling her now completely vulnerability to physical attacks.
William slowly approached her cautiously, waiting for any sign of a potential counter from the short killer.
As much as Neo wished to give him the counter-attack he was expecting she couldn't move a muscle. Neo had always accepted that she might die, but nothing like this. Nonetheless, as William began to close in on her, assessing that she was unlikely to attack him, Neo closed her eyes.
For all her resolve, the countless people she'd killed in her life, she had finally met her match. As her consciousness began to fade she thought the last thing to cross her mind would be apologizing to Roman for not being able to free him, yet all she could see were the moments she spent with William flashing before her eyes.
For what it's worth Will, I love you. She thought with the last of her strength before her consciousness faded.
Neo slowly woke up, trying to move only to stop when her body began to ache in agonizing pain. Recoiling from the pain she settled on just moving her head instead of her body. Looking around she realized she was back in her apartment, in her bed. It was then she noticed the sound of someone crying.
Who would be cry-…Will. Neo mentally realized.
Just moving her eyes Neo saw at the bottom left corner of her bed was William sitting on the edge with his head lowered crying his eyes out into his hands. Neo honestly had no idea of what was going on. As she remembered it, the two of them just tried to kill each other. So why was she still alive and why was he crying?
In her life, Neo had witnessed many strange things, but this left her dumbfounded.
Neo lay there for what felt like several minutes until her body stopped ringing in pain. Moving ever so slightly she tested her limbs making sure she could safely move them. First one finger, then another and another, then moving onto her hand and then to an arm and so on. After that she slightly sat up, making sure to check on William, who seemed to not even notice her.
When she fully sat up she saw her parasol resting on the bottom corner of the bed opposite William. Seeing this Neo managed to user her semblance to create a false image between her and William of her still unconscious on the bed.
With some discomfort from her still tender body, she managed to get on all fours and began to slowly crawl towards her weapon. Neo had to make sure not to make a sound or disturb the bed less she alert William. She didn't know why he didn't kill her, but she wasn't going to give him a chance to finish the job. She knew, even if it was a surprise attack, she had no way of beating William. Her bruised ribs were a clear testament to that fact, but she still needed her weapon. It could serve to help her escape or at the very least help her walk.
It wasn't the best plan she had ever had, but it was still better than nothing.
Even though she had only been awake for a few minutes, for Neo it felt like a lifetime was passing her by. Neo wasn't the type to scare easily, but when someone showed they were stronger than her she knew her only way to survive was to escape after doing everything she could to not make a sound as she crawled across the bed. She had adjusted to the limitations of her body in her current state. She could grab her parasol and dash out the door in one fell swoop.
With a look, she confirmed that the door wasn't locked. In her current condition, she could grab her parasol and be out the door in under fifteen seconds, with William crying he probably wouldn't notice until the door was open. The hardest part was controlling her breathing. She knew how to control her breathing, under normal condition, but her bruised ribs and the fact there was the same Grimm hybrid within swinging distance from her made things a little more difficult.
Just as she was only a stretched arm's length away she noticed the room going quiet. Turning her head, she saw William still slumped over, but he had stopped weeping. Her semblance allowed her to create false images that functioned similarly to a two-way mirror, she could see him, but all he should be able to see is the image she created. As he lifted his head he looked at the false image of the unconscious Neo. It was then that Neo saw William's eyes were red and puffy, as if he had been crying for hours.
How long was I out…how long was… was he crying? Neo wondered to herself, not able to clearly see the clock from her angle.
Neo's eyes went wide as William slide along the bed towards her illusion self. As he extended his hand to touch her false-self Neo's heart was about to jump out of her chest.
Though for some reason, William suddenly stopped himself, like he couldn't bring himself to let himself touch 'her'. Though confused by this, Neo wasn't going to complain. She watched William return to his previous position. The whole situation did nothing but vex the triple colored girl.
Just as she was about to finally grab her weapon and then to run for her life, Neo's focused had shifted and didn't notice William laying down backwards. Before she could even respond the back of William's head shattered her illusion and landing right under her, he was now looking up at her directly in the eye.
The two didn't immediately move as neither knew how to respond to the situation or each other.
"Soooo, feeling better?" William asked not knowing what to say still lying down with Neo over him.
"…um…yeah…" Neo replied awkwardly.
William smiled slightly. "That's good. How are the bandages? They're not too tight are they?"
Neo looked confused before she looked down to examine her arms and then the rest of her body. She was wearing just her underwear, but what she noticed was that her arms, legs, and most of her torso were bandaged and treated.
"Did…did you treat my wounds?" The triple colored assassin asked completely confused.
"Yeah, I picked up how to do first aid when I was trapped in the valley. Oh, I hope you don't mind, but I had to use up all of the bandages in your first aid kit." He explained in a casual manner.
"That's okay." She replied still unsure of what THIS was. Though, Neo was genuinely impressed with his work. It wasn't anything like a professional paramedic or anything of that level, but she had seen far worse done given the situation. She had been so focused on getting a way she hadn't even noticed that she was bandaged…or half naked.
"Neo?" William asked snapping Neo out of her thoughts.
"Oh...um...yes?"
"I'm…I'm sorry." He said leaning up and sitting on the edge like he was before.
Neo had no idea as to how to reply. Her mind was completely blank, not once in her life had she ever had someone she'd tried to kill apologize to her. Granted, a lot did apologize before she killed them, but nothing like this.
"I think I get where you were coming from Neo…" He continued. "The reason I was upset is because Ruby and the others are to me what Roman is to you. They freed me from the Valley of Grimm and were the first people in I can't remember how long to treat me like an actual person. I already knew what you are doing isn't legal, but I never imagined it would be something like… this. I…I don't even know what to think. I could have killed you; it's something I've done more times than I can count, but when I saw you lying on the ground unconscious I…I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't do it."
The two grew quiet, neither of them even moved from their spot. Though only a few minutes had actually passed, for the two it was as if they'd been sitting there quietly for a week.
Suddenly Neo crawled over and sat next to William placing her hand on his shoulder. For whatever reason, she did not feel the same fear towards the Were-Grimm she had had only moments ago. No, what she felt now was kind of new to her…it was something else, though it still felt incredibly awkward. It was like her body moved on its own despite her mind screaming to run.
"Will… I understand how you feel and I guess I let my emotions get the better of me this time." She said rubbing his shoulder. "I don't even know what to say to you…" She said lowering her head.
"you love me?"
Neo's head quickly shot up. "What?"
"After I tossed you through that rock, the last thing you said was that you loved me."
With her eyes so wide they looked like they would pop out and her face turning a darker shade of red by the second Neo was completely embarrassed by the fact that, what she believed was her last thought in this world, was said out loud to the man she believed would be the end of her.
"I…I…"
"is it true?"
Neo went quiet again.
"Because I think I love you too," William spoke softly. "I don't think I've ever felt this way about…anyone. I know I shouldn't, but…I just...I just do." His voice seemed to shake, but at the same time felt sincere to Neo.
"Will, I don't know why I said that, but when I thought you were about to kill me…the only thing I could think about was the time we spent together, I don't know why." she said with a small smile, though she wasn't sure why. What she felt was the wedlock of awkwardness and sadness raised by confusion and… joy?
"So we both have a reason to fight each other and we both have a reason to love each other, but no idea why. Huh." He chuckled. "I don't kno-"
Neo suddenly turned William's head and kissed him. neither knew why, nor did either really care. They allowed themselves to become lost in the moment. It wasn't a kiss engulfed in passion or anything like that, nor was it meant to be, it was simple and sweet like that of two lovers to just tell the other 'I love you' and neither one wanting to let it end.
The two eventually, and reluctantly, disengaged to catch their breath.
"Well… that was a thing…" William said bluntly.
Neo began to giggle. "Yeah."
"Hey Neo, I think I'd like to use one of the favors you owe me."
"Yeah, and what exactly do you want?" she asked still not sure why either of them was grinning.
"I'd like you to accept another bet; if your group succeeds I'll join you, but if we capture you and/or your boss, you join us. And we can't let it interfere with our relationship either way or until then."
"What?" Neo laughed in disbelief. "You do know it doesn't just work like that, right?"
"Neo, between the two of use, what actually do we do or have done is how things typically work?"
"true."
"So what do you say? Want to give this whole relationship thing another go?"
Neo hesitated for a moment, but when she saw that look in William's eyes, "yes", was all she could see.
William looked at Neo, both of them mirror the other's smirk before another gentle kiss.
"Well if we are really doing this, you still can't tell anyone from Beacon about me and I won't tell my boss or coworkers about you, deal?" She explained as she extended her hand.
The wolf Faunus shook her hand. "Deal."
"By the way Will since it's already so late, why don't you stay the night," Neo asked somehow accepting of the situation and feeling completely relieved.
"Sounds pretty good to me, I really don't feel like walking back to Beacon, but are you going to be okay, I mean you're covered with wounds? Won't your coworkers be suspicious."
"I'll be okay. A little application of my semblance", a glass-like substance appeared coating her body, bending and fitting to every curve of her body, "…And I'm good as new", she said as the bandages disappeared into the image of normal skin.
"You have an awesome semblance; you know that right?" William teased.
"Yeah, I know, it comes with being so grrreeeaaatttttt." Neo yawned. "Oh, sorry, I guess it's time for bed."
"Seems like that. Mind if I… well if I can…"
"Will, do you want to share a bed with me? Possibly to feel up your cherished maiden?" The short girl teased.
"It's more like sleeping with the perfect cuddly, cute teddy bear." He teased back.
"Alright, but just because you called me cute, but just so we're clear, I am not cuddly." She huffed.
"You can be when you want to."
"Just get into the bed wolf boy." Neo smiled.
"Now who's trying to whom into bed."
"I can still change my mind; you know that right?"
"yeah I know, I know. I just wanted to see that cute face before I went to bed."
"whatever Casanova," Neo smirked as she and William climbed under the covers and Neo crawled into his arms. William being careful to mind her injuries.
"good night Neo." William softly whispered.
"Goodnight Will." She tenderly answered closing her eyes.
The two had been through so much, and they hadn't even had their first date. Two lovers on opposite sides bound to collide in a confrontation fated to change the world forever, but for now, it did not matter. For now, there was only the comfort of the others body and the warmth of their hearts. All else can wait for tomorrow.
Well… that was an ending… I had to say that. This one gave me some trouble, truth be told I have rewritten it three times already, each time being completely different from the other. I wanted to have a big confrontation in this chapter but wasn't sure if I should, given all that has happened recently, but with some help from Novandalis, my go-to for writing advice, I think it turned out pretty good. Like I said before I will try to get this volume done before Volume 4 comes out. The keywords being "try to." Regardless, don't forget to comment. Every comment helps me get just a little better.