A/N: Shed no Grace on Me is next~!
Ideally, I wanted to update it AND this today, but that would affect the quality of both.
So here we go.
FFS these requests just don't stop...I try to shut them out, but one or two always manage to slip through. This one was too good to ignore. If by some miracle this makes it past 150 reviews-feasible given its already soared past 100!-, I'll be happy to update it earlier than the rest. Suppose that depends on the fan feedback. Chapter two is already written in my head, ergo, I know what I want to write...
Maybe I should look into a bloody Pat-reon after all; work is cutting hours and doing all this for free is bloody rough.
But then this would feel like a job...would that be a good thing?
I just don't know sometimes.
With my fifteen year anniversary on this site finally here, I find myself reflecting on the little things in life. What was once a lazy pastime meant for me and a few friends really grew and evolved over time. There are days when I look back on the last fifteen years here and I wonder if anyone will remember me; if I made an impact, despite never making a single cent on any of these stories. Some days were happier than others, and some stories I enjoyed writing WAY too much; to the point where I'd stay up all night working on them.
And of course, there are times when I look to the future and wonder what will become of things when I'm gone.
Of course, I try not to dwell on the latter overmuch; I'm still alive and still writing. In an ideal world, I'd like to keep doing so for as long as I can. But old age is catching up to me and these days, the world is filled with so much madness and death. Feels like everyone's lost their minds sometimes. Even before that, so many friends and fellow writers I once knew are gone, now. Will I still be here in twenty years? Ten? Five? Its a chilling thought. But for now, I'm still here, still writing.
So here we go. The fate of this story depends on you, the reader. Your feedback determines the fate of this tale, and many others.
I'm just a humble author trying to make his way in this wild world, one word at a time.
Time and feedback will determine if this remains a story. Simple as that.
In other words...its up to YOU, the reader. Do let me know~!
This time, the titled is inspired by Shinedown's "Diamond Eyes"
Fit for perfectly for bot a chapter title and this story!
"In order to obtain something, you give up something of equal value.
That's the law of equivalent exchange, or so I've been told. A life for a life. Passion for love. Humanity for power.
Tell me, why do we have to choose? It isn't right. No! Its wrong! Mankind shouldn't be forced to choose between one thing or another!
I'll tell you right now, if I'm reborn, I want it all. Wealth, fame, power. Friends, family, love. And a'course, children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren~!
~?
Want it All
Marcus Black hated his son.
Perhaps hate was too tame a word.
He loathed him. He absolutely despised him.
Even the boy's name reflected that disgust. Mercury. He was poison. Tainted. Wrong. He'd killed his own mother to come into this world; taken the only woman Marcus ever cared about. He'd loved Melissa like no one else and she was gone now, gone because of...it. He made sure that little bastard knew it, too. Every damn day of his life. From the moment he could understand words, walk, even talk. He tried to kill him more times than he could count.
And yet despite that, the little shit...
Just.
Would not.
DIE.
Smother him with a pillow? He laughed. Drown him? Bastard held his breath. Blades didn't pierce him. Poison tasted "sweet" to him. It took a dozen hits just to make him bruise, and dust rounds plain bounced off his body before he even unlocked his aura. Afterward? Not happening. Little shit healed faster than he could break him.
Worse, he never stopped smiling. Never stopped cracking those damn jokes.
And so Marcus sought another method. If he couldn't break the boy's body, then he'd settle for shattering Mercury's mind. He beat him, disguised it as training, wielding the excuse like a blade. Never letting him rise above who he was. He'd make sure his so called son would be broken. One way or another.
"This is a crutch."
Every day of training was a beating.
"This makes you weak."
He never went easy on him.
"You can leave when you get strong."
Mercury took it without complaint. Where could he run? They lived in the mountains. Alone. There was nowhere for him to go.
But the boy got strong. Too strong. Clever, too. He started tinkering with things. Made some weird leg tech for himself. Rocket boots he called them, the better to help with his kicks. He threatened to take them, once. Not the boots, but the boy's legs. Swore he'd cut them off at the knee with a rusty saw.
"You can try." His son hadn't looked up from his workbench. "Might not like what happens."
.
..
...there was something in his eyes when he said. Whatever it was, it spooked Marcus. He hadn't hadn't been able to follow through on that threat. Mercury kept his legs, but hated his bastard boy all the more.
Days bled into weeks, then months, followed by years.
His boy was getting strong alright, too big for his britches.
So he did what any proper father would do. He put him in his place.
Mercury's semblance was a simple thing. Downright useless, really. It let him control the wind. What use had an assassin of the wind?
And so Marcus used HIS semblance to steal Mercury's while he slept.
It was an easy thing to take someone's semblance; catch them off guard, or barring that, beat down their aura till it broke, and get a hand on them. He had done it countless times before, amused himself by taking the semblances of powerful people and giving them to the highest bidder. Anyone was fair game, so long as they paid for his services. Discreetly of course. A gift like his had to be kept secret, otherwise he'd have the four kingdoms howling for his head. He didn't do that anymore. Things had gotten too hot. There was a reason he hid away in the mountains of Vale these days.
But none of that mattered now.
Now he reached in, grabbed his son's semblance, and yanked...
.
..
...nothing happened.
"The hell?"
Baffled, he closed his eyes and tried again. Nothing. Mercury didn't budge in his bed; he continued to sleep like the dead. Arrogant little shit. Even in sleep he pissed him off. A third attempt was met with a third failure and here at last Marcus felt the barest beginnings of dread. What was going on here? Nothing like this had ever happened to him before. It was almost like he didn't have a semblance at all-
His world went black.
An unfamiliar voice hummed in his ear. "So you finally figured it out."
It sounded like Mercury, but not him, as though someone were speaking over him, with him, through him.
He spun, flailing in the dark and found himself face to face with a stranger; a blonde boy bearing whiskered cheeks, blue eyes, and a smile so bright and wide that it left him looking more than a little unhinged. He had no way of knowing what he'd done; in reaching inside Mercury to take his semblance, he'd reached too deep. Seen something he shouldn't have.
"What is this?" Marcus cursed himself for the crack in his voice. "Who are you?"
"I am your son." the stranger replied.
"Lies! I've never met you!"
"I am." the baffling blond tittered softly. "Or at least my body is. My spirit, however...well." he shrugged one shoulder, still wearing that selfsame smile. "I won't bore you with the specifics of reincarnation. You can call me Mercury if you like, or Naruto. Doesn't matter. I really got the short end of the stick this time around, having a parent like you. All my life you've wanted me dead."
"Dead?!" Anger sparked in the old assassin's chest, burning away his fear. "Of course I wanted you dead, you rotten little shit. You took the one thing I loved and you refused to die. You are no son of mine."
"I am your son." the boy seemed almost sad to say it. "I have always been your son. I gave you so many chances to change, but you wasted each one. I humored you, I pitied you, I even tolerated you, because you had things to teach me, skills to impart, lessons I needed to learn. You see," he paced away, thumbing his chin, "I never was one for stealth, blending into a crowd, or trailing a mark." A laugh burst out of him. "You'd think I would know these things! After all, I was a shinobi. But I didn't. So I took the chance to learn...
Marcus grit his teeth and tried to speak. A scathing look silence him.
"But you didn't learn. Not once." His "son" was speaking again, his smile shrinking with each passing instant, until only a scowl remained. "I was willing to put up with a lot. But you made one fatal mistake. You tried to take away what was MINE just now. So I'm going to take what's yours.
A hand found his throat, forcing the connection between them wide open.
"That's an awful Semblance you've got there." the boy hummed. "Just like you; you all you do is take. You call me a poison, but you're just plain rotten, a leech who steals from the weak. Ya know," his grin returned in full force, "You've given me an idea. I don't have a semblance. So lets put that gift of yours to good use."
Something tore in his chest. Cold. He felt cold and empty. Like someone had reached inside him to tear out his heart.
Marcus looked down, half-expecting to find a hole in his chest.
But there was no wound.
His aura crackled dully as "Mercury" withdrew his hand. His eyes were glowing, pulsing a deep white.
"So that's what it feels like to have a Semblance." Mercury muttered to himself. "Not bad. Not bad at all. I could get used to this.
And in a single, horrifying instant, Marcus Black knew what he'd lost. "Why you little...! Give it back!"
"Gee, lemme think about-no."
The boy dropped him and delivered a crushing kick to his chest. Marcus felt a wall shatter against his back. Another. Yet another. Another still, now. He didn't even realized he'd been thrown outside until his back struck the grass. Momentum was cruel; it dragged him arse over elbow, sending him tumbling. His aura crackled dully, shielding him from the worst of it until his skull finally struck something solid.
The world went black yet again.
Marcus awoke in what felt like an instant, but it must've been far longer; because now he smelled smoke.
No.
Against his better judgement the old assassin struggled to his feet and found his home in flames. Great fingers of fire reached toward the night sky to scrape at the moon, bathing the world in almighty orange glow. The roof caved in with a ponderous groan as he looked onl he watched Mercury walk among the wreckage, breathing fire -how?!- completing the destruction of the last thing he held dear.
"Would ya look at that?" his bastard boy belted out a laugh and spread his arms wide. "Some of Sasuke's jutsu came in handy after all. I'll have to thank him someday~!"
What in the Gods name was a jutsu? No, nevermind that! He'd kill him for this...!
Marcus snarled and lurched forward.
"Oh, you're still alive?" Mercury turned to face him, silhouetted in the inferno. "Sorry about that." his grin returned and Marcus quailed. "Gimme a second."
Marcus tried to fight back, for what little good it did him. His son was stronger. Better. Faster. He swept through his guard like it didn't even exist, as though it wasn't even there. A slap on his wrist distracted him, a kick to the chin stunned him, a vicious punch drilled through his gut and finished him.
He stood there, quavering, balking at the bloody arm thrust into his stomach. "Why you little...murderer...!"
"I am what you made me, dad."
Mercury ripped his limb free and then there was pain. Blood fountained forth from the wound. Bereft of balance the older assassin pitched forward onto his hands and knees. A sweeping kick cut those out from under him and he fell to the ground. Blood began to pool beneath him. Panic mounted his mind. Death. This was death! No one would find him here in the mountain. He would bleed to death, alone and forgotten. No! Not like this! He deserved more! He was Marcus Black, bane of kingdom, snatcher of semblances, slayer of hunters...!
"Thanks for the experience, old man." Mercury raised a boot over his head. "For what its worth, you were a good teacher.
He stomped down on his skull.
"Have a nice death~!"
(.0.0.0.)
Cinder saw the fight from the treeline.
No, that wasn't it; a fight implied balance. This was a slaughter.
She saw the older man fall to the younger. To his better. He was beaten, butchered, practically beheaded.
Something in her stirred at the sight. Violence had always been a means to an end for her, but watching someone be dispatched so...casually? It roused her inner fire like nothing else. This was strength. This was power. This was an individual who wasn't afraid to kill. As she drew near she noticed this young man didn't have so much as a scratch on him. His dark hair was unkempt from captivity, his pale face and clothes dirty, but beyond that he was the very picture of health.
Promising.
She'd circumvented the city in favor of coming straight here. Alone.
It had been a risk, but now she felt it was one worth taking. If she had delayed, she might've missed such a sordid slaughter.
The young man noticed her at last. His stance shifted ever so slightly, regarding her not as a prey might a predator, but from one hunter to another. Good. She had no need of fearful whelps. He considered her for a long moment, arms loose at his sides. At length he crossed them before his chest and planted his feet.
"Can I help you...?
"Perhaps you can." Cinder adopted her most pleasant smile. "I'm looking for Marcus Black."
The young man gestured to the corpse at his feet. "There ya go. M'afraid he isn't much of a talker."
Her smile became a touch more genuine. A sense of humor. Curious, but not objectionable. It was a pity to lose someone who could steal semblances, but his skill had clearly been lacking. Salem might say otherwise, but she didn't have to know about this now, did she?
"...you're his son."
The silver-haired lad didn't answer.
"I saw your fight from the treeline." she spoke into the silence that stretched between them. "He's taught you well."
"Guess so." he shrugged one shoulder. "Can't complain too much. He had skills I needed to learn, and I learned 'em well enough."
He wasn't affected by her beauty. Not in the least. Most were. This one watched her like a hawk, eyes never once leaving hers, his stance loose and ready to move at the slightest provocation. Capable. Ruthless. Not easily swayed, yet not afraid to speak his mind. It made her want him all the more. He'd make a useful pawn.
"What's your name?" she asked.
"Mercury."
"Hmm. Mercury." it was all she could do to keep herself from licking her lips. "Tell me, are you anything like your father?
He considered her for a long moment. A very long moment indeed. Cinder forced herself to be patient.
And then his smile grew. "Not at all. But you...don't strike me as a good person.
Strange for the son of an assassin to say, but she chose to humor him. "No," she smiled. "I am not."
"I know. I can tell, sense it." Mercury tilted his head, considering her in a different light, one that had her smile faltering. "You reek." She wasn't sure she liked what he implied by that. "Well, I guess this works out. There's something I wanted to test in any case and I would've felt bad picking on an innocent. You'll do."
Cinder blinked. "For what...?"
In the same instant, her sixth sense shrieked a warning.
She flung herself forward.
That saved her life.
It did not, however, save her from the boot that barreled into the back of her head. She slammed forward into the dirt, ate a face full of mud, and skidded across the ground for several feet until momentum finally took pity on her and let her go. She was left there, fuming. That little churl! He dared strike her?! No matter. She'd put him in his place. He would serve. Willingly or otherwise!
"Aw, man." The son of Marcus Black lowered his leg. "Why'd you have to go and do that? It would've been painless if you let me break your aura...
Her temper sparked and her semblance with it; she grabbed a fistful of dirt, superheated it, and flung it his way in a storm of scorching glass.
Mercury shielded his face with a grunt, retreating half a step.
Had she underestimated him after all...?
"Is that your best?" Cinder pushed herself upright to sneer at him. "You're not half the killer your father was. You're weak."
...heh."
In truth, she'd said the words to irk the boy, throw him off his game, make him angry and sloppy.
She wasn't prepared for the laughter.
It started with a a slow snicker, a low sardonic sound as "Mercury" shook his head side to side, setting his hair swaying, as though she'd just told an awful joke.
...why did it feel like she was about to be the butt of one?
"Stop that! Stop laughing!"
"Pathetic." A wide, shit-eating grin stretched across the boy's face. It made him look unnatural. Inhuman. His eyes glowed like diamonds lit from within. Cinder shivered despite herself as he spoke again. "If you actually believe I'm weak, you're so pitiful. In fact, you deserve a hug." the son of Marcus cracked his neck. "Its true, I'm not quite the powerhouse I once was." he rolled his shoulders once and began to bounce in place, loosening up his limbs for some reason she didn't understand. "Kurama didn't follow me into this strange second life of mine, much as I wanted him to."
What in blazes was a Kurama?
"However!" and here those black eyes gleamed gold, "Just because I'm weaker doesn't make you stronger, does it?!"
He was still speaking when he brought his right foot down and STOMPED.
The earth shattered for miles around in every direction.
Cinder leaped back. Mistakes were made. Because the bastard met her in the air-no above her! A fist swung back, crackling with power. His grin was a manic thing now, almost cheerful. Those golden eyes held her, serene yet furious, warm, yet so terribly cold. Even as she reached back for her blades she knew she wouldn't make it in time.
"Sorry," Mercury rasped down at her. "But there's only one way you're getting out of this. Quietly cuddle up, tremble in fear...AND TAKE A DIRT NAP!"
One punch.
That was all it took.
One punch and she crashed into the earth like a meteor.
Her aura didn't break. Her aura shattered. Splintered, like so much glass.
And then Mercury was upon her.
An open palm slammed down on her chest, spearing her into the dirt. She flushed despite the danger. "Pervert!"
"Oh, please." Golden eyes rolled at her." I'm not even touching them. Now then...
Quite suddenly those gleaming orbs glowed like incandescent diamonds. Cinder felt something clench deep inside her; an unseen fist closing around her very soul...and then it yanked. She tried to resist whatever it was, but that only made it all the worse. Cold. Why did she feel so cold. No, not just cold, now. It hurt! It hurt, it hurt, it HURT! She couldn't think! Couldn't move! Couldn't breathe!
Just as quickly, the agony ended, leaving Cinder to cry out and slump forward on her hands and knees.
Wasted and gasping for air, she was powerless to resist when Mercury kicked her legs out.
Her limbs buckled as a boot hit her ribs, nudging her onto her back.
She batted at his leg to no avail; the bastard didn't budge
"Huh." Mercury rose to his feet and tutted above her. "So that's what it feels like. Lets see here..." As she looked on aghast, he grabbed a bit of dirt from the road, squeezed his hand around it, and frowned. Heat flared from his fist. His hand opened to reveal a crude chess piece carved from black glass, shaped in the likeness of a queen. "Whaddya know? Checkmate."
That...that shouldn't be possible.
Cinder reached for her semblance. Nothing came. She felt only that old and awful cold. Her eyes drifted back to Mercury, watching him fiddle with the glass in his hand. Realization broke like the dawn and horror with it, a dread she hadn't experienced since she was a small child in Atlas.
Her semblance wasn't gone.
It was right there. In his hand.
Her at least her calm countenance cracked. She reached up for him. "That's mine! Give it back!"
"Nope." he wagged a finger at her as though she were some naughty little girl. "I'll be keeping this. You won't be needing it where you're going." He grimaced for a moment, then crushed the glass in his hand and reforged into the shape of a blade. "You know, I never did get your name...
No.
No, no.
No, no, no!
Not like this! She was meant for more than this! She...she couldn't die here...she had a destiny! She was meant to be a Maiden!
"Meh. You look like one of those Valean strippers. Probably doesn't matter." Mercury shrugged his shoulder and braved the blade in his off hand. "Dead women tell no tales and all that. Hold still and I promise to make this painless~!"
Cinder crawled backwards like a drunken crab. "Wait! I can help you! We can make a deal! I can give you riches! Power! Tell me what you want!"
...what I want, huh?" Mercury paused, considering. And then he smiled. "I want you dead."
The blade of hardened glass stabbed down through Cinder's eye, into her skull.
She felt a blinding instant of pain. Saw a searing second of light.
Then...nothing at all.
(.0.0.0.)
"Huh, neat."
He didn't feel anything.
Naruto drew back, considering the corpse beneath him.
Killing her hadn't brought him any satisfaction. None, whatsoever. Was that a good thing...?
He could feel her Semblance thrumming in his veins even now, so he supposed she'd been a successful test, but still, he felt no remorse, only curious. Just how many semblances could he use at once? No, nevermind that, how many could he take. A lot? It felt like a lot. He was sure this world had plenty of people like Marcus and...whoever that stripper girl was.
"My NAME is Cinder!"
For a moment, just a moment, he could've sworn he heard a lost soul screaming in incoherent rage.
Or maybe it was the wind...? Meh. Probably not important. Leaving the mystery woman's body at his feet -he never did get her name- he turned to face the treeline. It was getting awfully dark, and he knew that spectacle had attracted attention. Sure enough a pack of angry red eyes stared out at him from the treeline, drawn by the negativity. Grimm? Bah. Those were no fun. They died too easily.
A gray brow rose and with it, just a touch of killing intent. "Well? Come on then. Test your might."
Heh. Gotta love the old references.
To their credit, the Grimm weren't stupid. He wasn't wounded, and they'd seen him just dismantle someone in record time. He'd killed two people. Walked away unscathed. That implied strength. Even animals knew better than to stick their noses where it hurt.
Most retreated. Most, but not all. There was an outlier.
A massive beast rose from the brush with a rumbling growl. Standing on its hind legs. It loped forward in a crude walk to loom over him. It shadow alone dwarfed hi.
"Weeell," Naruto whistled up at it, almost impressed despite himself. "You're an Alpha, aint'cha? Don't see your kind around these parts." i
It snarled at him, but didn't attack. Hmm, not mindless. This one had a spark of intelligence.
Time to give it a push. He beckoned with one hand. "You feeling lucky, punk?"
It lunged, devouring the distance between them in an instant.
"Up high!"
He jumped over a clawed paw.
"Down low!"
Ducked under snapping jaws.
"Too slow!"
Laughed now as it tried to tackle him.
On a whim, he caught its fourth swipe on a metal bracer, forcing its arm high. He heard the ground buckle beneath his boots. His legs didn't. The armor on his legs held, reinforced. It pushed down on him with both claws, trying to overpower him. What else could you expect from a monster? It might have intelligence, but it clearly had no idea how to use it. He stomped a foot, creating a wave of jagged glass in its wake to slap it in the face, breaking its concentration.. The Alpha Grimm staggered, lowering its head. Perfect. He pivoted; a single high kick brought his boot level with its face.
"Gotcha~!"
A twist of his heel ignited the dust rounds within the chambers and an almighty CRACK filled the air.
The beast's head-and a good chunk of its upper torso besides!-burst beneath the buckshot. What remained crashed to the ground with a wet thud. Almost immediately it began to dissolve.
Right, he'd forgotten all about that. Pity. He would have liked to take a trophy.
He stepped over its crumbing corpse and eyed its fellows.
"Anyone else wanna try their luck?I still need to get used to this semblance."
The Grimm fled into the trees.
Well, alright then. If they were't going to hound him, he wasn't about to waste energy hunting them. Which left him with one last choice.
He spun on his heel, considering the rapidly darkening horizon. "We've got wilderness to the left, wilderness to the right, aaaaaand more wilderness everywhere in sight." a frown creased his pale, dirty face. "Lovely. The possibilities are endless." Sarcasm dripped from his every word. "Wherever will I go?"
"..."
Remnant held no answers for him. No divine providence, no bolt of light from the blue, no declarations from the divine, nothing. No surprise there. The gods of this world were assholes. They didn't care about their people, their creations, any of it. If they did, maybe the world wouldn't be such a shitty place to live.
Kurama would've picked a direction for him by now. He missed him more than words.
On a whim he picked a direction at random -lets go North!- and started walking.
Some might have called that a poor choice. But it was his. Nothing else mattered.
It was the beginning of a mad journey that would see the four Kingdoms of Remnant turned on theirs heads.
The world had feared the name Marcus Black. Naruto decide "Mercury" would inspire an altogether different legacy. He was going to be...infamous.
He put a spring in his step. "Maybe I'll catch a train somewhere...if I can find one."
In hindsight, he really should've skipped the train.
A/N: And there we have it.
Naruto reborn as Mercury....now with his father's semblance in tow. Madness and mayhem await~! To clarify, he might just go around using his normal name, seeing as no one knows who he is as of yet. Then again, he might not. Depends on feedbac, I suppose.
Better yet, Cinder's dead. And nothing of value was lost~!
That's what she gets for trying to recruit "Mercury" first without Emerald. Tsk, tsk, tsk.
To be perfectly clear, poor Em's still out there somewhere, living on the streets. We'll see her soon.
Hope you enjoyed this little ficlet.
As ever, the Embers rule still persists. If folks don't like this story? Well...I'll not continue it. I can't bear to write something no one likes. That's no joke. So by all means, speak up! Raise your voice! Make yourself heard! Your reviews matter! Really, they do! I'm literally working every day now, so I have less and less time to write. Daily updates might...slow down in the interim, but I know that would upset a lot of people.
So, in the Immortal words of Atlas...
...review, would you kindly?
And of course, enjoy the previews! Rough, though they are...
(Previews)
Huh. So my eyes shine like diamonds when I use my old man's semblance. Good to know.
...what the hell is that?"
"Its just a bit of bread. Eat it or starve. Your choice."
Tan fingers curled around the loaf. It was still warm, fresh from the bakery. "Thank you."
"Stick with me, and you'll never go hungry again.
"I said don't move!" Amber brandished her staff. "Who are you?!"
"Just a stranger passing through, same as you." the young man didn't look up from the deer he was cooking; his eyes remained fixated on his meal roasting in the fire. Nevertheless, he held out both hands, revealing open palms. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare ya with any sudden movements." Firelight played over a pale, whiskered face in the gloom. "Its dangerous in these parts...
Her stomach growled.
...there's room for you by the fire, if you like. Plenty to go around. You can let your horse graze over there."
She dithered.
"For the love of..." The young man sighed. "Skittish little thing...fine. How about this? This is my fire, which makes you my guest and me the host. And as a good host, I promise no harm will befall you under my protection."
She snorted despite herself. "That's so cheesy...
"It sounded better in my head."
A shiver shot down Ozpin's spine. "I feel...a disturbance.
Bah, it was probably nothing. Maybe he was coming down with a cold...?
"Huh. Not a bad Semblance. This one's a keeper."
He leaped after her.
A shadow surged up and kicked him away.
"For crying out loud! THE ONE TIME I RIDE A TRAIN! AND SOMEONE TRIES TO BLOW IT UP!"
A red sword whistled in at his head. It met a metal-shod shoe.
"You're a good singer. Might wanna work on that temper a bit, though."
Excuse me? Who are you?"
No one important. Have a nice night~!"
Ruby squeaked. "Meep!"
The boy tilted his head. ...that's your name? Meep?"
Shame. Embarrassment. Ruby's face burned redder than her namesake.
Oh gods, she wanted to curl up and die. "N-No! That's not it at all! I'm Ruby! Ruby Rose!"
"Huh." That actually got a grin out of the silver-haired warrior. "Neat. Like the color, I'm guessing?"
"Yeah! So how did you do that?" her confidence surge gack waved her hands excitedly, mimicking the motions and high kicks alongsdie the punches she'd seen him use. "You were all "hyah!" and "boom" and "kapow" back there!"
...you saw that, huh?" For some reason that seemed to embarrass him and set him to scratching a whiskered cheek. "Practice, and not the good kind. These idiots didn't even have aura or semblances...they weren't worth my time."
"You mean someone taught you to fight like that?!"
"Well, yeah, like I said before, it took practice-
Ruby latched onto his leg. "Teach meeee~!"
"Hmm...going to a school full of beautiful women like you? Sounds fun buuuut I'll have to decline." he crossed both hands behind his head and walked away. "I'm not a fan of being stuck in one place for one year, let alone four. Hard pass. Later, firecracker."
"Ha?"
"Sorry, school just ain't for me."
Roman took one look at the ruined city block and shook his head.
"Nope. Not getting involved with that. Neo! Time to go-
A hand settled on his shoulder. "Hello...friend."
Ahhh, crapbaskets.
EDIT: Hope you enjoyed~! Have a great day/night~!
R&R~!
