In the morning, Jacob jolted awake, springing out of bed. His gaze darted around, landing on Neopolitan beside him, her eyelids fluttering as she slowly began to wake up.
'Shit, I gotta pull this performance together', he thought.
Neo rubbed her eyes, and watched as Jacob hurried off into the bathroom. With a soft sigh, she lazily slipped out of bed and walked toward the bathroom.
Once inside, she saw Jacob hurriedly stripping off his clothes. Her face flushed instantly, and she spun around, quickly averting her gaze.
Using her semblance, she projected a few shaky and cracked words into the air. "What's the rush?"
Jacob, already stepping into the hot shower, turned the water on and yelped at the heat, prompting a chuckle from Neo.
"We've got a performance, remember?" he called out.
"We?" The text now appeared in the shower with him.
"Yeah, we. You're helping me with this for the school," he replied, scrubbing himself down.
"I get that, but do we really need to rush? Do we even have a date?" She twirled a lock of her hair around her fingers.
Jacob froze, his eyes widening as his hair covered his face. "Uh... no, we don't have a date. Not even a set time."
Neo crossed her arms, her expression shifting to mild frustration. "So, why rush? Why not take it slow?"
The room fell into silence, except for the stream of water. Jacob stared up at the ceiling, water cascading over his face. He raised a hand like he was about to make a point, only to let it fall back down, his shoulders slumping in defeat. "I don't know..."
"Then don't push yourself," her next words appeared more steadily now.
"We can take things slow. It's fine to work hard, but don't overwork yourself. Run the race when there's a finish line in sight, not before."
He stood there, the water running down his body, staring blankly at her message. Finally, he let out a long, weary sigh.
After his shower, Jacob slipped into the standard school uniform and wandered over to the mirror. He stared at his reflection, his expression distant. Neopolitan approached from behind, reaching up to twirl a lock of his black hair around her finger.
She tapped the top of his head lightly and opened her palm, gazing up.
"I don't know what I'll wear," he muttered with a shrug, his eyes darting restlessly.
Neo snapped her fingers, her eyes lighting up as a grin spread across her face. Without a word, she grabbed his hand and pulled him out of the bathroom.
Jacob barely had time to process before she pushed him onto the bed, forcing him to sit. Confusion clouded his face as Neo darted around the room, gathering hairbrushes, combs, and an assortment of girls' hairpins.
Once she collected everything, Neo skipped back toward him, pausing to scrutinize his face from different angles. Her eyes sparkled as she formulated a plan. She leaned in, face-to-face with him for a moment, her expression beaming before pulling away. His cheeks were flushed a deep red for a moment.
Neo then reached for the hairbrush and began working through his tangled locks. After about forty-five minutes of detangling, Neo stepped back, rubbing her sore wrist with a smirk.
Jacob muttered under his breath, "So, when I wanna work, it's 'bad for me,' but when you do it, it's fine, huh?"
Neo shot him a hard glance with a sly grin. She raised her hand and materialized a large sign, smacking it over his head. His body comically squished under the impact, eliciting a soft chuckle from her at the sight.
As she returned him to normal, Jacob rubbed the top of his head and read the sign in her hand. "There's a big difference between what I did and what you were doing. I'm having fun and have a goal. You have a goal, but you're stressing yourself by rushing."
He frowned, ready to argue, "But I like what I do—"
Neo's index finger pressed firmly against his lips. She gazed down at him with a knowing look, causing his blush to deepen. With a huff, he looked away, rolling his eyes coyly, but ultimately fell into silence, allowing her to style him however she pleased.
After two hours of detangling, brushing, and straightening, Jacob's hair was finally complete. Neo stepped back, inspecting him from various angles, with a proud smile tugging at her lips. She grabbed a small mirror from a bed that wasn't hers and placed it in front of him.
As Jacob examined his reflection, he groaned, shaking his head. "I look too girly…"
Neo stomped her foot on the ground.
"Oh... right," he sighed, before adding another complaint,
"But I still don't like how it looks. It's too... proper. I look like my mom. Can I get some bangs or something a little different or messy?"
Neo huffed in exasperation, crossing her arms before pausing to think. After a moment, she sighed, walking back over to him.
This time it only took twenty minutes, and she presented him with the mirror once again. Jacob blinked at the sight of himself, now sporting a ponytail on each side of his head, and bands that slightly swept over his right eye, with a flower pinned on the left.
Neo stepped back with her hands on her hips, waiting for his response.
"It's... good," he admitted begrudgingly, though the compliment lacked his usual enthusiasm. Still, Neo smiled, happy to see her efforts acknowledged.
"So, is this what I'm wearing for the performance?" he asked, shrugging. Neo nodded and walked playfully toward the door.
"Where are you going?" Jacob asked.
She glanced over her shoulder, pinching her clothes and raising two fingers before pointing down the hallway.
"Ohhhh," Jacob nodded.
He watched her walk away, then turned back to the room, his eyes falling to the ground. A heavy sigh escaped him as silence settled in.
His gaze drifted across the room, landing on the scattered clothes and paraphernalia of the other students. His eyes traced the wall where his katana hung next to his backpack.
"You must be out of shape. Don't make me come out there and school you," he recalled.
"Why do you train so much anyway?"
"You don't even have a semblance! What will you do?"
His fists clenched, "You tell me not to work so hard, but how the hell am I supposed to do that…" he muttered, standing up and ruffling his bangs in agitation.
He let out another deep sigh
"The snake which cannot cast its skin has to die," Jacob quoted, opening his scroll and loading a document.
"As well as the minds which are prevented from changing their opinions; they cease to be minds."
He looked up, "I don't think I can change my nature. But I think... I can change my perspective."
"I can keep working as hard as I can, pushing myself to my limits. But I've gotta have fun while doing it. I love what I do, but right now, it doesn't feel like that. I think that's the difference. She wants me to enjoy the moment, not just the result of it," he muttered, staring at the blank document on his scroll.
"We totally got our asses kicked," Miltia muttered in a low voice, wincing as the nurse finished bandaging her up in the infirmary next to her sister.
"We? Who's this 'we' you're talking about? That was all you," Melanie shot back, arms crossed, but her smug expression didn't last.
"You're telling me he didn't make you look bad too?" Miltia asked sarcastically.
Melanie grit her teeth, looking away while lying in bed.
"Not even a little bit," she mumbled, staring at the wall in silence for a moment before glancing back at her sister.
"How do you think they got so strong?" Miltia questioned. "We're assassins, trained by the best in our gang. How did they outclass us like that?"
Melanie stayed silent. After a long pause, she finally answered.
"Maybe they got lucky. Maybe they just countered us," she replied.
"But if I'm being real... he's probably trained with huntsmen. And from what we've overheard, probably even his family. We've been fighting street thugs 'cause Mom's afraid of us getting hurt." Her tone hardened,
"But that's why we're here, to train and kill that one guy. That's the point."
The room fell silent as both twins rubbed their bruises, the occasional creak of the infirmary beds the only sound. In sync, they checked their scrolls.
Suddenly, a notification popped up on both of their screens. Melanie clicked the message first, while Miltia struggled to do the same, flinching from her injuries. It was a text from their classmate, Kurri
"I just got my semblance!" The message was paired with a selfie of Kurri, grinning and giving a thumbs up.
Melanie rolled her eyes and typed back, "What is it? What's it do?"
Kurri's response came fast: "I can change my voice. I can replicate anyone's perfectly."
Melanie squinted at her scroll, looking unimpressed by the seemingly useless information. She tossed it aside, only to pause as her eyes suddenly lit up, her mouth dropping open in realization.
Miltia glanced over.
"Azure just discovered her semblance too," Melanie murmured, her voice growing darker, a smile creeping across her face.
She leaned in close to her twin, "Hey, Mil... I got an idea."
Jacob typed the last line of his lyrics and leaned back with a small smile. "Guess that's done," he muttered to himself.
Footsteps echoed from the hallway, and Neo walked into the room, a grin on her face, and her hands hidden behind her back.
He raised an eyebrow, leaning to the side to try and peek, but she shifted, blocking his view.
"What's in your hand, Neo? Don't tell me it's another one of your weird fancy snacks. That last one tasted like ass,"
She puffed out her cheeks before revealing what she was holding: a white-and-gold Chinese dress. Jacob's eyes widened in awe.
"Wait, where did you—hold on, you didn't..." His voice trailed off as realization hit him, and Neo shook her head proudly.
She'd taken a spare school uniform and made some serious edits, transforming it into a completely different outfit.
He stood up, stepping closer to get a better look as she held it up for him to admire. "I knew you were good, but this? This is insane. You made this?"
Her smile grew wider with every word of praise, and she extended the outfit toward him. He blinked in confusion, looking between her face and the clothes.
"Kill yourself," he groaned, immediately flopping onto the bed.
Neo followed him, crawling onto the bed behind him with a grin. "No way, not wearing it. Suck my—" his words were cut off as she leaned in close, her breath hot against his ear. Her fingers touched her throat, and the next thing he heard was his own voice whispering back to him.
"You'd like that, wouldn't you?"
Jacob shot up from the bed, eyes wide in shock. "W-What the hell!" he squeaked. Neo laughed, covering her mouth.
"The training we did sped up my semblance development," she said lazily, still using his voice.
"Thought I'd try speaking like you, since I don't have my own voice... and well, here we are."
"That's... impressive," he admitted, scratching his head in disbelief. "But it's seriously creepy hearing myself like that."
She deactivated her semblance, touching her throat and smiling at him softly.
As the room grew quiet, Jacob tilted his head up. "So, how does it feel to actually talk?"
Neo shook her head, pointing to her throat, then to him. It was clear she didn't see this as her voice, it wasn't really her speaking, just borrowing his.
"Oh, right," he mumbled, "before I forget, Lady Beat had an offer for us when I asked about performing."
Neo tilted her head, and he continued. "She said if we agree to take down some criminal named Roman Torchwick, we'll get better classes and a room to ourselves. Sounds like a good deal, but..."
He paused, his tone growing serious. "Something felt off. It was almost too good to be true, and she called the Malachite twins 'valuable assets.' That's not how a principal talks. People like her choose their words carefully or get careless." He frowned, thinking it over.
Neo nodded, her expression turning just as serious.
"Even her whole vibe's off," he continued. "I brushed it aside at first, but the more I think about it, the bullying, the way some students get away with stuff, and the school's motto... it's all fishy."
Neo reached out, brushing against his arm.
She grabbed her whiteboard from the bed and quickly scribbled a message: "You're more observant than you let on. But my advice? Accept the offer. It's good for now. We're on borrowed time with your whole identity thing. We can't keep this up forever, not 'til graduation, at least."
She looked up at him, her eyes soft with adoration. "If she's scheming, it doesn't matter as long as we get what we need from it" she finished writing.
He smiled, nodding in agreement as silence settled over them again.
Then, with a nudge to his shoulder, Neo shoved the dress toward his face.
Jacob groaned, tilting his head back. "UGHHHHHH Fine..." he whined, snatching the outfit from her hands.
As he got up to head for the bathroom, Neo watched with a growing grin. Moments later, her eyes widened, and she quickly materialized a pair of black leggings. Dashing toward the bathroom, she flung the door open just as Jacob was standing there, shirtless, his expression dumbfounded.
"What do you want?" he asked, dropping his shirt to the floor.
She held up the leggings with a smug look.
His eyebrow twitched. "You're really pushing your luck," he muttered before snatching them out of her hand.
After Jacob was dressed, he stepped out of the bathroom, his face flushed a deep red as Neo clapped her hands in delight at his new look. He shuffled awkwardly, clearly embarrassed.
"About the stockings? You couldn't make these too?" he asked, glancing down at the leggings.
Neo shook her head, flashing an L with her fingers and then pointing at the stockings, signaling he'd have to buy them with his own lien.
He groaned before spinning around in his new outfit, giving her a full view. Neo's eyes lit up in admiration as she crossed her arms with a proud grin.
Behind her, words materialized in the air: "This will be your outfit for the performance."
She tilted her head, the message behind her shifting as she raised an eyebrow: "Speaking of, what will be my role in all this?"
Jacob smirked. "You'll be the background dancer, hype woman combo. Plus, you can use your semblance to make some crazy decorations, fireworks, sparkles, smoke, whatever you want, if they allow it."
Neo considered it for a moment, then nodded. But before he could relax, more words appeared: "Will anyone from your family be watching?"
He looked down, letting the silence fill the air before shaking his head. "Nah," he said softly.
"First off, I can't let them see me like this. Second, if they find out I'm performing here, they'll wonder why I'm not at Beacon Academy like I promised."
"You lied to them? I thought you hated lying." Neo looked shooked
Jacob sighed. "I do hate it, but I had to. I can't just tell them what's really going on. My mom? She'd feel justified, thinking she was right to never let me go. My brothers and the rest of the family are more understanding, but they'd be pissed, and I'd probably get dragged back to Mistral. Which, I mean…"
His voice trailed off as he glanced away. "I've had some rough times here, but I've also gained a lot. And I'd miss you... I don't wanna leave you behind. I like my choices, and I wouldn't change 'em."
His words softened, and Neo's cheeks flushed slightly.
"Speaking of," Jacob said, turning the question back to her, "what about your parents? Are they coming?"
Neo blinked, and the words behind her dissolved as her expression grew more thoughtful. She quietly walked over to the bed, grabbing her whiteboard and writing carefully.
"I had a good talk with my mother yesterday. For the first time, I felt like she understood me. It doesn't mean I fully trust her, but I want to. I think… I want to trust her." Her handwriting was shakier than usual.
Jacob gave her a gentle smile. "I can't force you, but maybe invite them. They might enjoy it, and it could help you feel better."
Neo looked up at him, her face softening into a smile as well. She nodded, her mood lifting again.
She pointed at him, then beckoned him to come closer.
He approached slowly, and as he did, Neo reached out, taking his hand in hers. Without a word, she gestured toward the space where they'd be practicing. With that, they began, diving into their routine together.