Chapter Text
Noah had many regrets in his life. Probably a few silly ones here and there, but his biggest regret was the neglect of his son, no, his nephew. Neo Collins. A little kid who had done nothing wrong, but suffered the brunt of Parish's actions. Noah and Parish had married quite young, 16, because Noah had gotten Parish pregnant, or that was what everyone had thought at least. It wasn't until years later that Noah learned the truth. Neo was a product of Parish and Ian. Ian Collins. Noah's own brother.
However, Noah didn't have time to worry about that. The armageddon was much more worrying. Zombies had taken over for years. Noah survived, but instead of living as the CEO of ARC, Noah was just like every other man, trying to survive. Then was his betrayal. Noah betrayed Neo again.
Then Noah woke up in his own bed, to his old alarm. At first, he assumed that it was the his life flashing before his eyes, but it all felt too real. Maybe it was time travel? With the powers that people gained, it wouldn't be a shocker.
Regardless, in case the armageddon would happen, he prepared.
Speaking of which, if Noah was in his house again, then Neo should be here. Maybe this was his chance, his chance to reconcile with Neo-
Neo kicked Noah out of his room. Neo not only didn't care about Noah's attempts, he was too busy trying to figure out why he woke up today, October 28th, in his room. Neo always woke up October 29th, at school.
Back outside with Noah, he was thinking. He expected Neo to hate him, but Noah didn't want to leave it that way. Li, the head maid, had approached.
"Hmp. This is just a wild guess. But could he be pouting?" Li asked. She was the best. That as the best way to describe her. Li had grown up in a... strange place? She was literally bred to be a capable person. After Noah and Li helped each other through a kidnapping, Noah wanted to hire her and Li dedicated her life to him.
"Pouting? Neo??" Noah repeated. Neo didn't seem like the type of kid who would pout. Neo isn't the type to show Noah anything except disdain.
"Kids get pouty when their parents don't remember their birthday. I assume."
"Birthday...? Whose?" Noah's voice trailed off as the sound of echoing footsteps took his attention.
Around the corner, a girl walked toward them. She was wearing a black sweatshirt and sweatpants. Her hair was also black and stretched down the midsection between the shoulder and elbow. She was also carrying a black backpack.
Is she...? Noah thought.
The girl in front of them seemed surprised to see Noah, but ignored him. She smiled at Li, but not batting an eye at Noah, "Good morning, Li."
"Good morning, Miss Yuna," Li greeted.
It is Yuna? Noah mentally repeated.
She then pivoted on her foot and walked toward Neo's door to knock on it, "It's me."
The door opened and Yuna walked in before it was locked again.
I thought Neo met with her through the apocalypse. They were friends? Noah thought. Noah had seen the two of them with another girl in the previous timeline.
"Who's that?" Noah asked, trying to get more information on the girl.
"Miss Yuna? Did you forget?" Li responded.
"Forgot? Who is she?"
"Miss Yuna was Young Master Neo's close friend when they were younger," Li replied, "Miss Yuna used to always come over and play with the Young Master."
Noah thought to himself for a moment before the lightbulb brightened, "Oh, I remember."
Flashback
This was a time before Noah was told about Parish's affair. Everything was so much more peaceful. Noah treated Neo like his child. Parish kept her secrets like always.
"Father!" Neo said. He was such a bright kid. Active, friendly, obedient, but a little mischievous.
"Yes, Neo?" Noah said. He was still a young man—a young, yet prideful younger brother.
The two were about to eat breakfast before school. A little father-son time.
"Can I invite a friend over to play?" Neo asked.
"Of course," Noah replied.
"Yes!"
Time Skip
"Father! Father!" Neo called out.
"Yes, Neo?" Noah said taking his attention away from his computer.
"This is my friend! Yuna!" Neo gestured toward the girl with short black hair.
"Hi," she waved her hand and smiled nervously, kind of scared of the thing around Noah's neck. She was such a young child. So unaware to the cruelness of the outside world.
"Hi, Yuna," Noah waved back with a friendly smile, "How long have you been friends?"
"Not that long," Neo replied, "She doesn't always come to school."
"Why not?"
"I'm kind of busy at home..." Yuna replied.
"I see, well go have fun. I have some work to do," Noah said.
"Bye Father!" Neo grabbed Yuna's hand and started to run to the courtyard to play.
"Bye-bye," Yuna waved, the sleeve of her shirt ruffling up slightly to reveal a bruise, but Noah had already turned his focus to his screen and didn't notice.
Flashforward
Meanwhile in Neo's room...
"Happy birthday, Neo," Yuna said once she closed the door.
"Morning, Yuna," Neo said.
Yuna walked to the dresser to put her bag down, "Did a miracle happen? I saw Noah outside talking about you."
"I don't know. He's giving a damn today."
Yuna checked Neo's reaction. It was technically good that Noah was trying to give Neo attention, but all of a sudden? How would Neo react? Would he like it? After all the years of mistreatment, after all the neglect. Neo didn't leave much expression on his face to be interpreted. The mask covered the bottom half of his face and he had grown used to keeping his face blank.
Yuna decided to change the subject, "Anyway, are you sick? What's with the mask?"
"Something like that," Neo replied.
"Well, I guess you can't have any of the snacks~" Yuna grabbed a bag of crackers and a bottle of water from her bag.
"Give," Neo extended his hand out.
Yuna chuckled. She tossed him the bag and rolled over the water bottle on his bed. She grabbed a bag and bottle for herself as well and then made her way to his bed to get comfy.
Time Skip
"He's cute," Yuna said.
His ears were a triangular shape. The fur on his head puffed up a little. His tail wrapped around in a circle. His eyes were a blue ombre that became cyan. His fur was a snow-white color.
Neo crouched down next to the dog and extended his hand, "Come."
"Grrr," the dog barked trying to get Neo to back off.
Neo's aura changed slightly, Yuna noticing.
"Arf..."
"Come," Neo said again.
The dog gave in and licked Neo's finger. Neo picked him up.
"Isn't that Abel's dog?" Noah said, "It is! I thought he looked familiar. He's got quite the attitude! How did you..."
"What do you want?" Neo asked.
Noah is back again? Yuna thought.
"Here. Happy birthday," Noah held out a black jewelry box.
Neo glared at the male, maybe trying to see if he could sense something.
"I hope you don't hate jewelry."
Neo passed Yuna the dog, "What's with you today?" He grabbed the box. "Asking me about breakfast and now birthday present?" He opened the box to reveal a red earring. "And who gives a boy an earring for his birthday? It's not even a pair."
"The design is cool enough even for a boy, right?" Noah said.
"Is that so?" Neo commented.
"I thought it would suit you..." Noah said weakly before he thought of something else, "Anyway, no birthday is complete without cake! Let's go inside, I had Li bake a chocolate cake, your favorite."
"That's Abel's favorite. I like matcha flavor," Neo said, reminding Noah what a terrible parental figure he is.
There it is. Yuna thought.
"I knew I mixed up something," Noah muttered. They walked inside before Noah started to strike up another conversation, or at least tried to, "You want to try the earring right now? I can help if you need."
"No thanks," Neo shot down.
"Are you sure? You used to wear earrings so it shouldn't be too hard."
Then why ask if he needs help if he knows how to put in earrings? Yuna was getting a little annoyed at how much Noah was talking.
"I said, 'No thanks,'" Neo repeated.
"Well, if you change your mind-" Noah started.
"Where's that son of a bitch..." Someone said.
Yuna looked over and saw two adults, one male and one female, and a small girl.
"Ian, please watch your language in front of Iva," the woman said.
"Ah- Oh look, speak of the devil," Ian said.
"Good to see you too, Ian," Noah said, obviously not meaning it.
"What's with that attitude? Not happy to see your older brother, President Noah?" Ian questioned, putting his arm on Noah's shoulder.
"What do you want? Money? Again?" Noah brushed Ian's arm off him, "As I recall, you have been holding 20% of the company's shares of stocks. How about making use of that instead of leeching off of me? We might be brothers, but I can't keep on spoon-feeding you forever, Ian."
"You are as unfriendly as ever, I see. You little shit. Father was foolish to give the company to the likes of you. All you know how to do is act sick and weakly to get special treatment. You piss me off, Noah," Ian continued to ramble even more.
"Uncle Noah!" A small voice said.
Noah's eyes widened a little, remembering when Ian tossed his own child like she was trash.
"Hey, jackass, are you even listening?!" Ian yelled.
"Wasn't listening," Noah said walking past Ian.
"What?!" Ian shouted.
Noah crouched down to Iva's level.
He literally just said he wasn't listening. Yuna rolled her eyes.
"Long time no see, Uncle Noah!" Iva said cheerfully.
"Hey Iva, long time no see," Noah replied, "Did you know today is Neo's birthday today?"
"It is?! Happy birthday, Cousin Neo!"
"Birthday? When did you start celebrating his birthday?" Ian asked.
Damn. Yuna held back a laugh. It was nice to see Noah get roasted, but she didn't like Ian either.
"Another word and you're on your own for the next month, Ian," Noah threatened.
"Oooh, scary. Fine, I'll shut up," Ian said raising his hands.
They both continued to stare each other down.
"Uhm..." Iva tugged on Noah's sleeve, sparks practically lighting up in her eyes. She asked about the cake. Yuna smiled, the brightness of Iva was contagious, it didn't make sense that she's Ian's daughter.
Noah offered Ivan some cake, but Ian didn't allow her any.
"Too bad, then. Iva, you're such a good kid. Now only if your dad could listen as well as you do," Noah patted Iva's head.
"I heard that asshole," Ian said.
"I wasn't exactly whispering. Let's go, Neo, Yuna."
On their way out, Yuna smiled at Iva, who cheerfully smiled back.
"Tempting a little girl with cake sounds like something an old perverted man would do," Neo deadpanned.
"P-Perverted??" Noah asked as Yuna laughed, "She was the one who asked about the cake. It would be rude to not invite her."
"Wow. Suddenly you're so considerate of everyone," Neo said.
"I can't wait to try the cake," Noah tried.
"You don't even like sweets."
"You suck at changing the subject," Yuna said.
"You're too harsh on me," Noah said. At least Neo didn't walk away while he was speaking with Ian and Yuna spoke to him this time, that's some progress, "I guess it's just gonna be the three of us eating the cake then. I wonder if Li likes cake."
"Just you two. I don't like chocolate cake," Neo said.
"Oh, come on! It's your birthday. At least give it a try!" Noah said.
Later that evening...
Yuna was lying on the bed, playing with the dog while Neo was looking at the box Noah gave him. After Noah gave Neo the present, Neo was more isolated than usual. Or maybe it was just today. Something about Neo was a little different. Noah did suddenly give him attention, it's probably weird.
"You okay, Neo?" Yuna asked.
"Something's different," Neo replied.
"What?"
"Yuna, there's an armageddon tomorrow."
"A what??" Yuna turned to face him completely.
"It's kind of like a zombie apocalypse, but they don't die that easily," Neo continued, "I'm a half-undead."
Yuna didn't say anything, nothing but absolute confusion hitting her.
Knock
Knock
Knock
"Don't tell anyone," Neo said before he opened the door.
"E-Evening," Noah greeted nervously, "You're still here, Yuna?"
"Uh, yeah," Yuna replied trying not to think of what Neo said, "Is that a problem?"
"I was just wondering if your parents would be worried."
"I normally stay over for Neo's birthday, then we go to school the next day," Yuna said, pointing at the extra blanket, pillow, and mattress set on the floor.
"Well, isn't it late? I'm surprised you're still up."
"If it's late, then why are you here?" Neo asked.
"How was the cake?" Noah asked, kind of as a response, but also halfway to talk about something else.
"You came all the way here to ask that?" Neo asked another question.
Noah laughed nervously.
"You're horrible at changing the subject," Neo said, walking to his bed.
"Hey, Neo, Yuna, don't go to school tomorrow," Noah said.
Noah was also different. The attention he gave Neo today was more than he had for the past 8 years. Now he's telling Neo not to go to school when there's supposed to be an armageddon tomorrow?
Does he know? Yuna thought. Honestly that would be the only thing that would make sense.
"Why? Care for an explanation," Neo said.
"Today was your birthday but we couldn't go anywhere fun. I don't have work tomorrow. How about we do something to make up for it?" Noah asked.
"Then why do I not go to school?" Yuna asked.
"You seem to be one of Neo's friends, so you should come with," he looked at Neo before thinking again, "...Is it too sudden? You don't want to?"
"I don't care. Whatever. Aren't you always telling me what to do? Why bother asking for my permission now?" Neo asked, "If you're done here, shouldn't you get a move on? Unless you're planning on spending the night here, Father Dearest."
You set yourself up for that one. Yuna thought.
"Oh, thank you for the kind offer, Neo. I think I'll do that," Noah said closing the door behind him. Neo glared. He really glared. Noah ignored it and made his way to Neo's bed, "It's getting late. We should get to bed."
He moved the blanket to get in before Neo threw him out.
Bark!
"...Bark?"
Sffh
Abel's dog was sitting on Neo's bed, wagging its tail since it was probably the first time he had gotten any proper attention in a while.
"Aren't you the dog from this afternoon? Did Neo bring you in here?" Noah asked.
Noah rubbed his face.
"Do you like him? You can keep him if you want. It's not like Abel even wants him anymore. Were you going to let him sleep on the bed? It's a cute idea, but he's been outside. He might be dirty."
Neo walked over, picked up the dog by his neck, and dropped him on the floor.
"Ah?!"
Thud
"Hey!" Yuna said. No matter how petty Neo is, there was no need to treat the dog so harshly. She knelt down, "Come here." The dog ran toward her. Yuna sat down on the beanbag and ruffled the dog's hair.
"What's wrong?" Noah asked confused why Neo just dropped the dog.
"Didn't you say he's dirty?" Neo fired back.
"Neo..." Yuna said laughing.
Later that night...
Noah and Neo shared the bed meanwhile Yuna was on the floor. Yuna was half asleep, tuning out Neo and Noah's conversation since it was definitely private. Her hand was resting slightly on the dog, feeling comfort in the fur.
Slap!
Yuna's eyes shot open. Her heart rate was racing for a second. There were sounds of muffled talking that she heard, but couldn't hear.
The only thing she picked out was Noah's apology. She heard Neo talk but the ruffling of the blanket blocked out what he said.
Yuna got up slowly and put on her windbreaker. The two of them continued to talk while Yuna was quiet as she stepped toward the door. Noah wanted to apologize. He wanted to apologize for how Neo's childhood ended up... but also for that betrayal. That shouldn't matter though, this Neo doesn't know anything about that.
Yuna left the room, heading to the bathroom. She needed a moment to calm herself before she could sleep again.
The two Collins heard the door click. Neo sat up, looking over Noah to see that the beanbag was empty, only the dog leaning against it. Neo kicked the blanket off. He knew something was off about Yuna. If Yuna wanted to leave the room quietly, she could. She had been over often enough that she knew how to close that door without making a sound.
On the other hand, Noah didn't think it was weird, she probably needed the bathroom. Neo started for the door, Noah didn't follow behind, he already pissed off Neo.
Neo stood outside the bathroom, he knocked, letting Yuna know that he was there. Yuna opened the door.
"I'm fine," Yuna said. She did look fine. Her eyes weren't swollen this time. Her nails weren't recently bitten. The nail beds were fine.
"Was it the slap? I thought you were already asleep," Neo said as he waited for her to start walking back to his room.
"I was almost," Yuna replied stepping out of the bathroom. They started walking, taking slow steps.
"Sorry."
"Don't worry. It only scared me because I was relaxed. I went to the bathroom because I didn't want to disturb you," Yuna smiled. She didn't care if it bothered Noah, but she did feel like with Noah's current track record, Noah might ask if he noticed.
Neo felt guilty. He wanted Yuna to be relaxed around her. It slipped his mind for just one second. Just one second and Yuna's peace was ruined.
"Don't feel bad about it," Yuna said, knocking Neo out of his guilt, “I relax better when I'm walking around."
"I know," Neo said. Yeah, he knew that. He saw when Yuna would go on her walks during the armageddon, "Still, sorry."
"I forgive you," Yuna patted his back. Yuna grabbed the doorknob, twisting it silently this time, "Now goodnight."