Chapter 16: -When someone listen.

It was quite early in the morning when she decided to take a stroll around the city.

Vale was still fast-asleep, and just a handful of people was wandering around at that hour, giving her plenty of time to ponder about today’s plans.

She was quiet, her silence putting her in her bubble of indifference with those that walked around her, ignoring her peculiar appearance.

Today was truly going to be a fun day, the young woman could already feel it in her blood.

Neo was never much of a big-planner, especially when she wanted to spend time doing practical things instead of boring herself out with some doodling.

It wasn’t like she wasn’t capable of taking some moments to do such a dull activity, it was more a lack of willingness to spend her time delving in paper and ink as the task was usually left to the pragmatic hands of her boss.

Roman wasn’t good by all mean.

He was respectful and somewhat accepting of her childish thinking of things, but he was someone that rightfully preferred to not dig too deep in her mind out of ‘fear of going mad’.

Technically-speaking, the Criminal mastermind was correct that her mind would haul the sanest individual to the closest asylum as her memories were nothing but feverish nightmares compared to the usual hardships of the normal people here in Vale.

It didn’t actually bother her. Quite the contrary.

The lack of people as scarred as she was left the short criminal to a pleasant state of calm that just drowned her in complete amusement.

The world was her oyster, her semblance granting her the chance of enjoying Remnant to the fullest while also giving her a sense of fiction and reality that strayed away from the common perspective.

Illusions were easy to imagine, but difficult to properly understand.

Some people can make them seem like they are easy to apply to reality, others required years of training and then there was Neo.

A mere thought, a little glimpse from her mind represented in reality. She was sure that she could actually create any images she wanted to, but instead of being limited just in imagery and sound, it was the complete perception of people that was tricked by her ‘pranks’.

A terribly-powerful semblance… left to be used by a giddy girl with no major ambitions and lots of ideas for her current present.

Heck, even her past had disappeared after mere months of being set free, and the memories had been suppressed by unwillingness to let those anchor her down.

Silence welcomed her inner request, and she was glad to accept the delightful calm and peace of the world around her while she twirled around at her unknown tune.

But that was until she felt the need to shake the world for some entertainment.

A mere spin, maybe a kick or two. That’s when things turned so amusing that even a noiseless giggle would leave her lips at the scenes she would get from minimal involvement over the order of things.

It was so simple, yet so complicated and quite the gamble to pull through.

It had been Roman that had given her a proper explanation.

‘Everything is a gamble. Going for a walk, hoping to not be mugged or to not step on some crap, and even your semblance can protect you from when life decides to be a mean bitch.’

A fair thought over the ironically twisted world that housed them all.

Roman tried to appear sane, but even the image he built over his ‘pragmatic criminal’ person was but a façade of his real self.

She could remember meeting him the first time. He had been but just a lone thief trying to make successful heists without getting caught.

The initial operations were all easy activities that were meant to draw rewards with little to no risk.

He was tired even back then when he first began his career, but Neo could remember some oddly-endearing spark in his eyes.

It had given her plenty of reasons to see where he wanted to go, where he was trying to walk into and…

He hadn’t disappointed her despite the lack of sunshine and explosions.

There was still ice cream for her to buy, her favorite delicacy keeping her satisfied in numerous situations.

It was sweet and cold enough to keep her from burning names or claiming buildings- wait, she was switching things.

She hummed silently, her mind budging away from her little deviation into this pleasant, but distracting topic and right into the real issue of her current lifestyle.

Roman was acceptable in her book, Junior fell a little lower in her grading system of people that she knew she could poke around without seeing any retaliation…

But then there is Cinder.

Powerful, incredibly-clever, mysterious-

What an infuriating bitch!

Not only her semblance was strong enough to put some fear in Neo’s mind, despite the fact that the ice-cream addict was conscious of being capable of avoiding direct attacks thanks to her own abilities, but the fact she had managed to get a tight grasp over Roman made things…

Annoying.

She wasn’t mad at her boss for bending at Cinder’s demands, knowing well enough that Roman was someone that knew how to play his cards in this kind of instances.

It wasn’t the first time someone had managed to get him in this kind of predicament, but this time what truly got Neo worried was the fact that Cinder wasn’t planning a mere takeover of some gangs.

Vale was her target, but even now the general lines behind her ‘planned attacks’ were still unknown to her.

One can wonder what the dark-haired woman was planning to do with so much Dust, and one can wonder why she had to be blessed with such a good guy for a brother.

It didn’t take Neo too much effort to discover the connection between the two, especially with how detailed Sid Tremaine’s profile was in the CCTV system.

Born in Mistral in a family of warriors of different branches, he was the ‘youngest’ if she took under consideration the correlation between him and Cinder.

He had some combat preparation, but never went to continue his studies in Haven as he preferred to keep a civilian route for his last school years.

This bit was confusing for multiple reasons since the young man had an enviable certification that could have seen him become quite the influential hunter in Mistral.

There was no comments about this information, driving Neo to fish for some more details to keep herself attentive to what was going to be a long mission.

Not that the young woman minded the extended period of time spent away from the hideout, especially since she was supposed stay at a bar that offered well-made ice creams!

Indeed, this assignment might lack the excitement of fighting her way through some pesky cops or backstabbing grunts, but it did offer her the chance of some relaxing time alone and without worries of getting attacked any time soon.

The city was by now well-defended by the Council’s militiamen and Huntsmen, and no criminal in Vale would dare to try anything funny in broad daylight.

She took the last corner that led right to where the modest-sized establishment was sited, a small smile perched on her face as she decided to skip the usual timing and get in earlier than normal.

There was no client at the moment and both the owner and the lone waiter of the activity were standing near the counter.

The young man’s eyes widened in surprise at her appearance, the state of shock making her almost preen at the detailed expression that she could now enjoy together with some sweet treat.

Taking a seat by her usual chair, she waited for the worker to approach and offer her the menu.

Neo already knew what was on it, but she would enjoy the moment she had to see him so closely and so expressively.

This very scene was enough to dignify the curt depiction she had given back to Cinder.

Sid Tremaine was nice, just not in the ‘kind’ denotation of the word.

Many waiters had come to avoid approaching her in the places she used to visit in the past for some breakfast or after-lunch meal, fearful of how sickly sweet her posture would take and… how her eyes would glint mirthful deadliness once in a while.

She was creepy, she knew this very well, but this wasn’t a flaw of her personality.

It was a fun trait from her unique charisma!

The young man finally offered her the plasticized paper with the list of the various possibilities that she could pick up for to day-

“Again with the Neopolitan,” He muttered with a huff. “You sure have an obsession with that...”

Was that so easy to spot on? Perhaps ordering just that flavor might get that kind of idea out, but there was no way in Hell that she would just surrender her little addiction without a brave and stubborn fight.

She merely nodded with a bright smile, waiting for Sid to go through the small steps required for the preparation of a Neopolitan-filled cup.

The order was served mere seconds later, the girl almost ready to dive in at the enticing treat, but she stopped momentarily to take hold of the waiter’s closest hand.

Sid stopped, with his eyes going wide open as he tensed up under her grasp.

It was as if a big sheep has been caught off-guard by the bite from a tiny wolf.

Now, wasn’t that an image nicer that what was actually going on?

In fact, Neo was almost tempted to squeeze a little more to see how resilient his wrist was… but then again she wasn’t meant to maim her little target.

Also, the pleasure would be abysmal at best if she went through with this since he hadn’t shown anything that had warranted that little play.

“Ms. Neo?”

Oh? Now she was a ‘Miss’? What a novelty! Miss Neopolitan, professional illusionist and hearts-thief!

Maybe she should put this in her business card instead of merely Neopolitan.

But while her mind was eager to lose itself in the spiral of thoughts storming in her mind, the girl merely patted at the table while glancing at Sid, drawing a confused look from him.

“You want me to-” He trailed a little bit as he followed her gesture. “Sit with you?”

She blinked and then gave a quick nod.

His frown deepened, but his hesitation seemed to be attached to the owner as the burly man was staring at the sight from the safety of the counter.

‘Yeah, as if that is safe enough from an attack from me~.’

Giddy thoughts were concluded the moment the young man actually took a seat by the chair in front of her and… blinked.

“So… is there something you wish to tell me?”

...

That was rude. Very, very rude!

He knew well enough that she wasn’t capable of speaking and yet-

“Really, what do you want?” He pressed on with some insistence, getting a silent huff out of Neo’s pouty lips.

Pity swelled deeply as she failed to capitalize the teasing opportunity, merely drawing it within the walls of her head, but then she nodded and took out… one of her business card.

Presenting it to the waiter, his frown seemed to increase even more at how ‘insignificant’ the gesture seemed to be.

“Yes, I know that your name is Neopolitan, but why did you want to show me-”

She flipped it, revealing some words she had written into it with her semblance.

I will talk with you like this.

“-This,” He concluded the pseudo-question with surprise at the development, his eyes widening again as he studied the card.

“That was… your semblance, right?” He inquired calmly, which Neo replied with a nod. “That’s cool.”

Truly a flatterer. Another reason to be surprised about his connection with that fire-bitch, but one that she didn’t mind to be subjected to.

Not many had ‘rightfully’ complimented her incredible powers and she smiled.

So, how are you doing?

He blinked at the query and he hummed.

“Pretty fine considering last few days,” Sid replied quietly. He tapped the table with his fingers for a while before speaking once again “What about you?”

I’m doing more than fine. I mean, I’m getting some ice cream right now!

The waiter snorted. “Seriously, you know that it’s not healthy?”

She pouted again, this time taking her time to contemplate a proper response.

Aren’t you technically the one selling me this? Shouldn’t you just… allow me to have my fun?

“You can eat anything else. Heck, I think even another flavor would be a nice change of pace,” He shot back with a sigh. “i mean, it’s not like this is the only thing we offer here.”

But it’s the best-made in my opinion. In fact, I think this my favorite!

“Oh, thank you-” He paused a moment in his response, his soft features hardening in another frown. “Wait, you haven’t tried anything else other than that.”

She let out another giggle, this one stretching a little longer than the last one.

True, but I want that.

To emphasize her demand, the girl took her mini-spoon and took a quick bite out of the cup.

He sighed. “I guess you are hell-bent about it.”

Damn right, I am!

“But is there… something else you want to tell me?” Sid sobered up a little bit. “I understand you are just enjoying your time here, but I think you aren’t just here for ice cream.”

…

Should she drop some hint?

Maybe she could make a game out of it, something to keep herself amused even beyond this usual things.

But what kind of game would it be and how should it be played?

So many questions and so little ice-cream.

Taking another bite out of her cup, she blinked and nodded.

Maybe?

He groaned, close to facepalm at her purposely-infuriating comeback.

“I feel like you are hiding something big but… I’m not sure what.”

Her lips twitched in amusement at that comment and the card spun around again.

I’m actually taller than I look like.

“I fail to see it being true,” He retorted quickly, catching her off-guard for a brief moment. How could he just shot down her flimsy effort so easily and- “I mean, you look pretty cool right now and I think you being taller would… screw your style a little.”

She blinked once, then twice… then thrice.

It was a first for someone like Neo to be complimented in such a subtle but dastardly amusing way.

Her hands reached for her belly as she let out a silent laugh.

The reaction made the young man jumpy, at first seeming concerned as she did seem like she was in pain, but then he noticed the giddy grin on her face and the tears forming by her eyes.

He crossed his arms close to his chest and huffed. “Now, what’s that reaction?”

I’ve to be honest. This is the first time that someone pulled such a flawless flirt like that.

Sid blinked, slightly confused by the comment he received back.

“What are you talking about?”

Aw, you didn’t even notice? Tell you what- Tomorrow morning, I will be there again to continue this pleasant conversation.

“Wait, what?”

How adorable, trying to stop her by taking hold of her hand… pity that this isn’t how life truly works.

A longing sigh slipped in her mind as she moved through her semblance, out of the two men’s sights and right out of the building with a pretty smile plastered on her cute face.

But not before leaving some money to pay for the ice cream and a little reward for Sid to discover~.

-----------d-d-d-d------------------d-d-d-d---------------d-d-d-d-------------

~Sid’s POV~

Today was truly an interesting day, with Neo providing some information about herself, giving out details about what her personality was and… I was quite tired.

The first thing I did as I returned back home from work was to literally stumble into the welcoming couch in the living room and shut my eyes for a couple of seconds.

I tried to take a brief rest, just enough to lift my spirits long enough to go through making some dinner and get some real sleep by the bed.

Yet the more I tried to ignore the lingering annoyance coming from some recent embarrassing instances, the more those appeared to stick around in my mind.

When Neo had left without notice, she did so by putting some money on the table to pay for her order while also dropping a quick peck at my right cheek.

The little lipstick mark had then been reason for mortification, irritating questions from other clients and much more.

It all started when Marcus had exploded in chuckles at the sight of the pink a shade darker than my skin impressed on my face, enough to get some customer that had just arrived to notice what was wrong.

This little spark was enough to bring up some neverending lines of comments about how ‘lucky’ I was and inquiries from those that had been curious about the identity of the cheek-kisser.

Thankfully, the work-day didn’t stretch beyond the usual and I proceeded to reach the flat as quickly as I could.

Yawning a little, I turned to the side and looked around the illuminated room.

Everything was quiet… like yesterday and the day before.

It was devoid of any strange noises, any signs of people being there and giving more company to the empty apartment.

…

Goddammit, I’m missing Blake.

I can’t believe this is a thing. This shouldn’t be a thing!

While I can show some caring side towards the Cat Faunus, I had no reason to be missing her presence here now that she was gone back to Beacon.

Sure, I had some fun when she was around but-

The young woman was safe if she stayed there and the most important thing was her safety.

After foiling her recent kidnapping, I was so sure of this that I had no reason to doubt the fact she had to stay there.

Yet I was still dealing with the fact I was alone in that flat.

This is supposed to be my home. The place where I’m supposed to be feeling the happiest and the calmest at.

But it wasn’t the case, quite the contrary if I had to mention.

I felt deprived of someone to talk to and could actually reply back. Blake was smart enough to make proper comments and snippets, to be antithesis and my supporter when certain circumstances were brought up.

And now she was away from the city itself and up in Beacon Academy, possibly trying to fit back with the school’s life and messing around with the people there.

I had left people back in Mistral. Heck, I had left my parents back there to start my own life away from that correlation and from Mistral’s general lifestyle.

It had hurt for a while, and settling down had been quite difficult to achieve without dealing with some strong doubts of calling back home.

I knew when both my parents were at home, when they would answer and how they would reply to my words.

Support, love, and affection.

Which didn’t exactly help with the way I was supposed to deal with Blake.

The girl was sure something of a friend of mine, the reason leading her to crash into my place still hanging threateningly over the chances of confirming a true friendship as I was still unsure what to think of it all.

Pure luck, or bad luck considering the damage she had caused on the flat, had made her stumble onto my life but she wasn’t left unscathed herself.

Changes had happened from both sides, with me growing to accept the oddity that was Blake Belladonna, and the girl accepting that some orderly effort was necessary for her own sake.

Time had passed, but it hadn’t been enough to concretely clarify the real nature of our wacky relationship.

Love didn’t exceed into the romantic. I was missing her presence, but I wasn’t certainly fawning over her personality and physique.

She was pretty decent for someone with her background for sure, but she just wasn’t my type.

Friend? Possible. There was no reason to hide the fact that the various challenges we had to go through, the most significant one being her botched kidnapping, cemented the fact that there was something.

A bond that was unique in its own rights, defying anything that I had experienced until now.

It was less than brotherly, but so more intense than any friendship I had back in Mistral.

The more I spent time pondering over this maddening topic, the more questions would come out of my thoughts.

I groaned on the soft pillow of the couch, drowning my face more into its delicate texture, my mind fully delving deep into this immense dilemma.

What was Blake to me? And why was I feeling this much upset over her being not here?

But just as I headbutted the metaphysical problem until something could truly come out to answer this insanity, my brain had to reboot at the familiar sound of… my ringtone.

I blinked, thinking back at the fact that I had gone to fix my Scroll just two days ago.

I took the opportunity of free time to see it finally looked up and properly fixed, giving up some hundreds of Liens to see the device’s problems solved and restored back to a prime degree.

Now it worked properly and it had been upgraded to have the latest update of the system.

Taking it out from one of my pants’ pockets, I glanced at the display to see who was calling and… the number ID was an unknown one.

The initial digits seemed to be from Vale, crushing instantly the chances of dealing with some Vacuo-based ‘harassers’.

Feeling just a hint of curiosity at this unexpected call, I decided to check who it was, especially since Cinder had promised me that she would have called once she was free from her currently-tight schedule.

I waited for a moment, but then the caller spoke.

“Hello?”

...

My entire body tensed and my brain fully woke up from the state of sleepiness it had been drowning into until now.

With my eyes widening in surprise at realizing who it was, I decided to slowly reply.

“Hello Blake,” I muttered quietly.

There was a brief pause but then the Faunus resumed the call.

“Did I call you in a busy moment?” She inquired uneasily. “If you are at work, I can call-”

“Just got home a few moments ago,” I interrupted her before she could have continued down that line. “We can talk right now.”

I could hear her sighing from the other side. “I know that it’s also late. But… we need to talk about a few things.”

I blinked at her sudden serious voice, quite perplexed at the swing up to something that sounded ominous.

“Is everything alright at Beacon?”

“Yes, I- this is not only me, it’s about the me and you,” Blake replied with a sigh. “I’ve been waiting for some time but, I have to tell you that Ozpin knows what truly happened in the last two weeks.”

…

“Care to elaborate, please?”

My brain burned fiercely at the little but powerful sentence she had delivered.

The Headmaster of Beacon Academy was quite the important guy in Vale, not only as the principal of one of the most famous Huntsmen schools in Remnant but also for having an influential position in the Council.

Ozpin was someone that wasn’t meant to be trifled with, even my father commenting that approaching him wasn’t something as easy as it was with normal people.

There was just that weary tone in his posture, that saddening glimpse that made him stand out like a tragic character in a dreadful theatrical play.

The worst thing was… he had the means to achieve the absurd task of knowing what is going on in the city while he is in his office.

“When I returned back here, I was taken to his office and… he told me that he knew about what had really happened in these two weeks,” The young woman continued to explain. “He said that despite that he will still support the little explanation we had planned out for this.”

...But why?

Why would he do something like this?

“Did Ozpin tell you why didn’t he just order for you to return back at Beacon?” I finally asked and I waited for an answer about this heavy query.

Blake stood quiet for some time, but then she spoke up with certain nervousness.

“H-He mentioned that he was interested by… what was happening,” The Faunus replied carefully. “I’m not sure myself what he found to be a good reason to wait and see but… he said that he was actually fine with-”

“Blake, did he do something to you? Anything you found suspicious?” I asked quickly, as I stood up from the couch and started to give a thorough look around the flat for any hidden microphones or cameras.

Gods only know how screwed I truly was in that very moment and my brain wasn’t giving me the happiest of the prospects in the scenarios I might be dealing with.

“He didn’t do anything odd- You mean like trying to get more information or-”

“Anything that might have gotten you in the false presumption that he isn’t doing actually anything,” I pressed on with this interruption. “Did he ask anything odd? Worth of any concerns and-”

“H-He wants me to have therapy sessions,” The girl admitted suddenly. “I know that he isn’t doing anything strange here except asking me questions about what has been going in the last few weeks.”

“Therapy sessions?” I paused for a moment in my search, frowning a little at her world. “Why would you need that?”

“I don’t know,” She groaned a little at the questions. “But he wants me to talk about… nevermind.”

I sighed and glanced briefly at the Scroll. “Blake, if it’s important, I need to know since it’s also about me-”

“He wants me to talk about us,” The young woman admitted with a tired voice. “About what has happened in the last few weeks, how our relationship truly works and...”

She paused again, but this time she didn’t wait for me to press her on.

“I miss you.”

I tensed up a little at that comment, my eyes widened at the three words and I felt my breathing itching to repeat those words back.

“B-But- why?”

There was a sad sigh from the other side.

“He said that the instance was created by a ‘dual paradox’. Something that has to do with our backgrounds making strange stuff happens,” Blake explained once more. “I just concluded the first session and things seemed to be fine, so I don’t think there is some secret operations going on while we were discussing.”

I blinked, ready continue the conversation when I was interrupted by the girl’s tired tone.

“I will be going soon to the cafeteria for dinner,” The Cat Faunus commented quietly. “And since I will be in the dormroom with my teammates once I’m done there, I will not be able to call you again.”

She took a long sigh and then continued.

“I want to tell you goodnight.”

My eyelids dropped a little and I smiled at her words.

“Blake,” I finally piped in with a somewhat uneasy voice, still unsure how I’m going to word out what I had to say now.

While I had been so reluctant to tell her back that I missed her, I wasn’t certainly going to skip returning the favor now.

“Yes, Sid?”

“I want to tell you goodnight too and...” I blinked, doubtful if this was alright or not, if it was proper or not.

Goddammit, since when I’m this indecisive!

“I did find your absence to be… upsetting,” I shakily continued. “I will buy some movies by Saturday, so that we can have a marathon if you want-”

“Yes.”

I froze for a moment, eyes widening in surprise at that sudden reply.

“I-I mean, I’m glad that you… missed me,” She teased a little about that, my cheeks flaring in embarrassment in getting caught so early on. “And I suppose we can spend some time watching movies. Can you spare any of the titles you want to buy?”

I felt a twitchy smile creeping in at that, and then I started to list her the movie titles I had in mind to go and buy for that day.

The conversation lasted for a couple more of minutes as Blake still had to conclude before entering the cafeteria and I… felt a little better about staying at the flat.

Feeling energized by the call, I began preparing dinner, wondering within the safety of my mind what kind of stories the girl would have to tell me once she would visit by Saturday.

And the worst part of this all? I was still smiling like a moron.

I snorted in amusement.

Goddammit… Blake.