Chương 86: Chapter 79: The Silent Grief

The night air of Upper Mistral was cool, sweeping through the massive, jagged holes blown into the defensive walls of Haven Academy. The fires had been extinguished, but the heavy scent of scorched stone and evaporating Grimm ash still clung stubbornly to the courtyards. Sitting on a cracked, overturned stone pillar at the edge of the academy grounds was Neopolitan. She had her knees pulled up slightly, her pink-and-white parasol resting across her lap.

Her pristine bowler hat sat perfectly atop her dual-colored hair, casting a dark shadow over her eyes. She stared out into the ruined city, her fingers tapping a rapid, highly agitated rhythm against the handle of her weapon. She was absolutely, infuriatingly angry. She had crossed an ocean and navigated a continent of monsters for one singular purpose: revenge. She had infiltrated the Mistralian underworld and used the invincible anomaly as a meat-shield to track down Cinder Fall.

But the moment she finally arrived at the battlefield, she discovered that Cinder had already fled the scene with her underlings and vanishing into the night. Her primary target was gone. And her second target was currently sitting right inside the academy. Ruby Rose. The girl who had been standing on that Atlesian airship when the Griffon swallowed Roman Torchwick whole. Neo's grip on her parasol tightened until her knuckles turned white under her gloves.

She wanted nothing more than to draw her hidden blade and finish the job. But she couldn't. Saitama had explicitly forbidden her from attacking Ruby, and the bald idiot was currently holding her promised ice cream and snacks hostage to enforce his rule. The soft crunch of boots against gravel broke Neo from her dark thoughts. She didn't turn her head, but her heterochromic eyes shifted sideways. Approaching her, looking incredibly nervous and fidgeting with the hem of her red cloak, was Ruby herself.

Ruby stopped a few feet away, awkwardly shifting her weight from one boot to the other. She looked at the small, deadly girl on the rubble, taking a deep, steadying breath.

"Hi," Ruby said softly, her voice carrying a fragile tremor.

"Can I... is it okay if I sit here?" Neo didn't answer. She slowly turned her head, fixing Ruby with a glare so profoundly cold and venomous it could have frozen the air between them. After a long, suffocating moment, Neo simply turned her gaze back out toward the city, completely ignoring the young Huntress. Taking that as a 'no, but I won't stab you', Ruby carefully sat down on the other end of the overturned pillar, leaving a very safe, deliberate distance between them.

The atmosphere was instantly, overwhelmingly awkward. Ruby stared down at her hands. Her mind drifted back to the chaotic, stormy skies over Beacon Academy. She remembered the roaring wind, the terrifying screech of the Nevermores, and the horrible, sickening crunch of the Griffon's jaws closing around Roman Torchwick. It wasn't her fault. Ruby knew that logically. She hadn't summoned the Grimm, and she hadn't pushed him into its mouth.

But the crushing guilt still twisted in her stomach whenever she looked at the silent, grieving girl sitting beside her.

"So..." Ruby began, desperately trying to ease the suffocating tension.

"You... you and Saitama, huh?" Neo didn't move a muscle.

"I mean, it's just... really surprising," Ruby continued, offering a weak, nervous laugh.

"He's been such a great mentor to me and my friends back in Vale. He taught Jaune how to fight, and he always buys us groceries. I was just wondering... how did you guys meet? What do you think of him?" Neo's pink and brown eyes narrowed. She slowly turned her head, giving Ruby a look that clearly communicated: If you speak to me again, I will shove my parasol through your eye. Ruby's nervous smile completely faltered. She slumped her shoulders, letting out a heavy, defeated sigh.

Ruby glanced at the bowler hat Neo wears. The memories of Roman flashed in her mind again. Small talk wasn't going to work.

"I'm sorry," Ruby whispered, her voice dropping all pretense of cheerfulness. She looked directly at Neo, her silver eyes filled with raw, genuine sorrow.

"I'm so, so sorry about Roman." Neo's shoulders flinched. Her grip on her parasol became white-knuckled.

"I never wanted him to die," Ruby continued, her voice trembling slightly.

"I don't want anyone to die. Not even the people fighting against us." Ruby turned her gaze to the broken moon in the night sky.

"When we were on that ship... I wish I had noticed the Griffon. I wish I could have warned him, or pushed him out of the way. I really do." Neo turned to fully face Ruby, her chest heaving with silent, furious breaths. Her eyes were burning with unshed tears of rage.

"I know you hate me," Ruby said firmly, looking at Neo again despite the sheer murder radiating from the smaller girl.

"I understand how you feel. You lost the most important person in your world. I know the world isn't just black and white, and I don't expect you to forgive me. You're allowed to hate me." Ruby's expression hardened, a flash of unwavering Huntress resolve settling over her features.

"But Neo... that doesn't justify what you and Roman did. You helped Cinder tear my home apart. You hurt innocent people. I'm sorry for your loss, but I'm not sorry for trying to stop you." Neo bared her teeth. She aggressively reached into her tailored coat, ripping her scroll out of her pocket. Her thumbs flew across the digital keyboard with blinding, furious speed. She was ready to tear the naive Huntress apart with every venomous word she could type.

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"Yo." Neo and Ruby both jumped, snapping their heads to the right. Strolling casually up the stone steps toward them was Saitama. His garish yellow jumpsuit was spotless, his perfectly smooth, bald head gleaming in the ambient light of the moon. He was carrying a large plastic grocery bag, humming a tuneless, off-key melody.

"The monkey kid actually knew what he was talking about," Saitama announced happily, completely oblivious to the intense, emotional standoff he had just interrupted.

"The fruit market in the lower city is great. I got a massive bunch of bananas for like, zero Lien." He walked over to the pillar, stopping between the two girls, and rummaged through his plastic bag.

"Anyway, umbrella girl, I got your stuff," Saitama said, pulling out a colorful bag of high-end Mistralian sweet crisps.

"I kept my end of the bargain for the giant robot trick you pulled earlier". He tossed the bag of crisps into Neo's lap. Neo looked down at the snack, then looked up at Saitama. She immediately shoved her scroll toward him, having deleted her furious message to Ruby and quickly typed a new one. [I want the ice cream.]"No way," Saitama frowned, crossing his arms like a stern parent.

"You already had two ice creams today. One when we were down in the shady underground market, and one after you kicked those bounty guys. Eating three in one day is terrible for your stomach." Neo puffed her cheeks out, glaring at him intensely. She tapped the screen of her scroll aggressively.

"I don't care if you want it now," Saitama scolded flatly.

"The ice cream is for tomorrow. I'm gonna the rest of the cartons in the freezer. You get one scoop after lunch, and that's final." Neo's left eye twitched. She looked at the bag of sweet crisps in her lap. It was her absolute favorite brand, the incredibly expensive kind she usually had to steal from high-end bakeries. She was still boiling with rage toward Ruby, but she simply couldn't bring herself to reject the snack.

With a deep, highly dramatic pout, Neo ripped the bag open and aggressively bit into a crisp, chewing with loud, silent indignation.

"Good," Saitama nodded in satisfaction. He reached into the plastic bag again, pulling out a small chocolate bar. He tossed it over to Ruby.

"Here, kid. You look like you could use some sugar."

"Oh! Uh, thank you, Saitama," Ruby said, catching the chocolate bar with a surprised, grateful smile. Saitama let out a contented sigh and casually plopped himself down right in the middle of the overturned pillar, effectively creating a physical barrier between the grieving criminal and the guilt-ridden Huntress.

"So," Saitama said, taking a banana out of his bag and peeling it.

"Why is everyone glaring at everyone? The monsters are gone. You should be relaxing." Ruby looked down at her chocolate bar.

"It's... complicated, Saitama. Neo and I have a lot of history. She and her partner, Roman Torchwick... they were the ones who led the White Fang attacks in Vale. They helped cause the Breach. They helped Cinder bring down Beacon Academy." Saitama took a bite of his banana, chewing thoughtfully. He looked over at Neo, who was currently glaring daggers at Ruby while violently crunching on a sweet crisp.

"Cinder? Who's that?" Saitama asked.

"The fiery woman that you punched when you first came to our world!" Ruby reminded him.

"After you destroyed the Wyvern and the flock of Nevermores and Griffons!" Saitama blinked his eyes several times, processing what Ruby explained.

"Huh... I punched many evils, so I don't really remember," Saitama mumbled, swallowing his bite.

"By the way, the umbrella kid here doesn't really look like a criminal mastermind to me. She mostly just communicates in passive-aggressive text messages and extorts me for dairy products." Ruby offered a weak, watery laugh.

"She's incredibly dangerous, Saitama. Roman was a master thief, and Neo... Neo is deadly."

"I don't know about deadly," Saitama mused, leaning back on his hands and looking up at the shattered moon.

"When she first ambushed me in that alleyway, she made these fake Atlesian soldiers out of glass to try and trap me. But then I accidentally shattered all of them, and she ended up just blackmailing me into being her bodyguard because I didn't want to get arrested for eating noodles". Ruby blinked, completely bewildered.

"Wait. She blackmailed you? Over noodles?"

"Yeah," Saitama sighed heavily.

"Then she dragged me to this weird tavern full of guys with spider tattoos. I had to slap like thirty guys into the ceiling just to get us a free hotel room". Ruby shook her head, trying to process the absurdity of it all.

"Well... she did help you today. Professor Ozpin told us during our meeting. He said Neo cast that massive giant robot illusion over the city to keep your presence hidden from the public while you fought the Grimm."

"Oh, the robot?" Saitama scratched his cheek.

"Actually, that was my idea." Ruby's eyes widened.

"Wait, what?"

"Yeah," Saitama explained casually.

"I told her I didn't want anyone to see me, so I wouldn't get in trouble with the noodle-cops and the scary crop-lady back home. I asked her to make a cool illusion to cover it up, like a giant robot from those Sunday morning mecha shows. She didn't want to do it at first because she said it took way too much energy, so I had to bribe her. I owe her five ice creams and a bunch of snacks for it". Saitama pointed a thumb at Neo.

"Honestly, her execution was pretty great, even if her prices are a total ripoff." Neo paused her aggressive chewing. She turned her head, offering Ruby a smug, highly theatrical curtsy from her seated position, taking full, arrogant credit for the sheer artistic masterpiece of the mechanical titan. Ruby couldn't help it. The sheer absurdity of the invincible god bribing Roman Torchwick's tiny, mute sidekick with ice cream to project a giant robot was too much.

A genuine, bubbling laugh escaped Ruby's lips, easing the heavy sorrow in her chest. Neo immediately scowled. She pulled out her scroll, typed furiously, and shoved the screen in front of both of their faces. [He is an idiot.] Saitama frowned.

"Hey, I can read, you know. And I carried you all the way here because you were too tired to walk. Have some respect." Neo simply stuck her tongue out at him. Saitama sighed, taking another bite of his banana. He looked between the two girls, his expression shifting into a rare, mild seriousness. Saitama sighed, taking another bite of his banana. He looked between the two girls, his expression shifting into a rare, mild seriousness.

"Look, kid," Saitama said, looking at Ruby.

"I don't really care about what she did in the past. Or what this Roman guy did. The politics in this world give me a headache anyway." He pointed his half-eaten banana at Neo.

"Since I've met her, she helped me navigate a city I was lost in, she got us a place to sleep, and she used her powers to help me save this entire city tonight so people won't notice I'm here. Though... I still got yelled at by Glynda lady and the robot general guy." Saitama bit his banana again.

"Anyway, she did a good thing." Saitama lowered his hand, chewing then swallowing the banana in his mouth.

"I don't care about anyone's past," Saitama said flatly. His dotted eyes holding a simple, unshakeable wisdom.

"What defines someone is what they do right now. And the choices they make for the future. You can't change what happened back in your city, red girl. And umbrella-girl can't bring her friend back. But you're both sitting here right now instead of fighting. That's a choice." Ruby stared at him, deeply moved by the blunt, uncomplicated truth of his words. He didn't offer grand speeches about heroism or destiny. He just saw the present. He treated them both exactly the same.

Like annoying, complicated younger sisters that he had to inadvertently look after. Neo stared down at her bag of crisps. The burning, suffocating hatred in her chest hadn't vanished. She still despised Ruby Rose. But the edges of her fury were significantly blunted by the sheer, ridiculous gravity of the bald man sitting next to her.

"Anyway," Saitama declared, finishing his banana and tossing the peel perfectly into a nearby pile of rubble.

"I'm going to eat this other banana. Being a giant robot really takes it out of you." Before Saitama could peel his second fruit, the sound of approaching footsteps echoed across the courtyard. Oscar Pine and Qrow Branwen walked out from the shadows of the academy archways, approaching the overturned pillar. Qrow looked exhausted, his flask hanging loosely from his hand, while Oscar looked remarkably alert.

"M-Mr. Saitama," Oscar called out, offering a polite, slightly nervous smile as he approached the trio. Oscar stopped a few feet away, standing tall. He offered a deep, respectful bow.

"It is a profound honor to officially meet you in person, sir. Your actions tonight saved countless lives." Saitama blinked, looking at the farm boy with a deadpan expression.

"The old man inside of you already said that," Saitama replied bluntly. Oscar froze, his face flushing crimson as he immediately lost Ozpin's regal posture, reverting back to a flustered teenager.

"O-Oh! Right. Sorry. Ozpin says you guys talked in the office earlier. I'm just Oscar!" Qrow let out a tired, raspy chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck as he looked at Saitama and Neo.

"Well, you two are quite the pair," Qrow grunted, his crimson eyes shifting warily to the small illusionist.

"But we don't have time to sit around. General Ironwood is breathing down our necks, and our enemies are on the move." Qrow crossed his arms, looking deadly serious.

"Baldy... there's something we need to discuss with you and the ice-cream thief."