Chapter 100: Chapter 100: A Small Apartment

Snot had sent the address with three extra messages, two insults, and one complaint about being abandoned by his so-called friends while he was busy doing something noble and family-related.

Neo had ignored all of them except the address.

By the time he reached the building, Alice was already there.

She stood near the entrance with her hands in the pockets of her jacket, quiet as usual, though there was less strain in her posture now than there had been coming back from Dry Scar. She had recovered well. Not fully. Enough to go back to being Alice instead of a wall held together by stubbornness and low Soul Essence.

"You got here first," Neo said.

Alice gave a small nod. "Barely."

Neo stopped beside her and glanced up at the building. It was old, narrow, and tired around the edges, the sort of place that had survived because nobody had enough money to replace it. Laundry hung across one balcony two floors above them. A window on the third floor stood open just enough to let cooking smells leak into the hall and the street.

"This his place?"

"Yes."

Neo let out a quiet breath through his nose. "He talks like he owns half the city."

Alice turned toward the stairwell. "That’s free."

That got the faintest pull at the corner of Neo’s mouth.

They headed up.

Snot opened the door before either of them knocked properly, as if he had been waiting right behind it listening for footsteps. He leaned against the frame with that same familiar energy that made it feel like the room itself had been talking before they arrived and only paused because now it had an audience.

"There you are," he said. "I was starting to think you two had decided to abandon me forever. I’ve been gone for, what, a few days? A week, two perhaps? Hard to tell when betrayal stretches time."

Neo walked past him into the apartment. "You’re alive, so it can’t have been that bad."

"It was terrible."

Alice stepped in after him and closed the door softly behind them.

The apartment was small, but it didn’t feel miserable. Crowded, yes. Lived in, certainly. A sofa pushed up against one wall, a low table with marks from old cups, shelves holding too many things for their size, and an open kitchenette where a pot still let out a thin ribbon of steam. Someone had tried to make the place warm and mostly succeeded.

Neo stopped just inside the room and took it in.

Snot caught the movement and clicked his tongue. "Don’t judge my home. At least this place has curtains."

Neo glanced toward the window. "You say that like it’s luxury."

"It is if you grew up where we did."

That was fair.

A smaller movement came from the hall beyond the living room.

Neo turned his head and saw her.

A little girl stood half-hidden behind the corner, one hand gripping the wall, dark hair falling messily around her face. She couldn’t have been very old. Young enough that the last few weeks had probably felt like being dropped inside a nightmare and told to stay polite while it happened. She stared at Neo first, then at Alice, and when Snot noticed her, the whole tone in him changed in a way Neo had not seen before.

Not softer exactly.

Closer.

"You can come out," Snot said, voice dropping into something calmer. "I told you they were fine."

She stayed where she was for another moment anyway.

Alice moved first.

Not toward the girl. Just enough to crouch beside the table and place a small paper bag on it.

"I brought sweets," she said. "If you want them."

That did more than any smile would have.

The little girl’s attention went to the bag at once, suspicion warring with curiosity. Snot let out a breath through his nose, already amused.

"You’re cheating," he told Alice. "I’ve spent days trying to get heroic older brother points back, and you walk in with sugar."

Alice rose again. "It works."

"Traitorous logic."

The girl finally stepped farther into the room. Slowly. Carefully. She had Snot’s nose, Neo noticed that first, and absolutely none of his mouth. Too quiet for that. Too sensible too, probably.

Snot straightened and gestured toward them with open palms, making the introductions feel less formal and more like he was trying to prove something.

"This is Alice. This is Neo. I told you about both of them."

The girl’s attention moved to Neo.

That should not have made him uncomfortable. It did anyway.

He had fought monsters, killed people, stepped through a Breach, lied to officials, taken classes from corpses, and somehow this was what made him want to leave the room and wait in the hall.

Snot saw that instantly and brightened in the worst way.

"Oh, this is beautiful," he said. "You’re awkward."

Neo gave him a dead stare. "Shut up."

The little girl gave the smallest snort before she could help it.

There. Damage done. The room felt easier.

Snot pointed at Neo with all the dignity of a street clown who had found a new trick. "See? He’s not scary. He just has the social instincts of a kicked chair."

Neo took a seat on the sofa and said, "You keep talking like that and I’m leaving."

"You won’t. There are sweets now. We’re a family event."

Alice had already taken the bag and opened it, setting the contents on the table one by one with the same calm she used for almost everything. Wrapped candies. Small pastries. The little girl drifted closer by instinct.

Snot folded his arms and watched her with something very close to relief.

Neo noticed that too.

For all the noise in him, for all the jokes and blood and restless movement, the last week had probably been exactly what he said it was. Staying home. Waiting. Making sure she stopped jumping every time the building creaked.

The little girl took one of the sweets and glanced up at Alice. "Thank you."

Alice gave a small nod. "You’re welcome."

Snot clicked his tongue and put a hand over his chest. "No thank you for me? I arranged the whole event."

"You opened the door," Neo said.

"That counts. Hospitality matters."

The girl finally looked at Snot and said, quiet but clear, "You talk too much."

Neo had to turn his face away for a second.

Alice’s mouth shifted faintly.

Snot pressed a hand to his chest harder this time. "You wound me. In front of guests too."

"Good," Neo said.

They sat for a while after that in a way that felt almost strange after everything else. Snot made tea. Alice answered when spoken to and let the little girl warm up at her own speed. Neo mostly stayed out of the way, which turned out to be the correct choice until the girl suddenly sat on the arm of the chair nearest him and studied him with open seriousness.

Snot saw it and grinned at once. "Ah. She’s decided to inspect you."

Neo didn’t move. "I’m honored."

The girl asked, "Did my brother tell the truth?"

Neo frowned slightly. "About what."

"That you killed the bad man."

Snot winced. "Alright. That’s one way to say it."

Neo could have dodged the question. He didn’t.

"Yeah," he said. "I did."

The girl held that answer for a moment, turned it around in her head, and asked the more important thing right after.

"Will he go again?"

This time she was looking at Snot.

The room changed on that question.

No drama. No grand pause. Just the truth walking in and pulling up a chair.

Snot lowered his cup and rubbed once at the back of his neck.

"Yeah," he said. "I will."

Her fingers tightened around the sweet in her hand.

Snot saw it and leaned forward, forearms on his knees now, voice quieter than before and far more real. "I’m not going back because I want to scare you. I’m going back because standing still won’t help either. You know that, right?"

Neo kept quiet. Alice did too. This part belonged to Snot.

"I’ll be careful," he said. "More careful than before. And I’m not alone."

That made her glance flick toward Neo and Alice.

Alice gave the smallest nod.

Neo said, "We won’t let him do anything too stupid."

Snot stared at him. "Too stupid?"

"Within reason."

That earned him another tiny snort from the girl, and that was enough to bring a bit of air back into the room.

Snot leaned back and pointed at Neo. "You hear that? This is the best friendship speech I get. Incredible."

"You invited me here. That’s your fault."

"I invite you into my home, share my family’s warmth, provide tea, and this is how I’m treated."

Alice took a sip from her cup. "It’s accurate."

Snot blinked at her. "Even you?"

"Especially me."

The little girl laughed properly at that one.

Good, Neo thought. That sounded better in the room than fear did.

They stayed longer than he expected. Long enough for the tea to cool, long enough for the girl to stop treating them like strangers and start asking small questions that had nothing to do with death. Alice answered most of those. Neo survived them. Snot talked through the rest like he had been born specifically to fill every space other people left open.

By the time Neo stood to leave, the night outside had deepened.

Snot walked them to the door. His little sister stayed farther back in the room this time, no longer hiding, just watching.

"Tomorrow," Snot said, one hand still on the doorframe, "I’m back for real. No more staying home. No more pretending I’m retired at sixteen."

Neo slipped both hands into his pockets. "That does sound like a threat."

"It is a threat," Snot said, grinning. "Mostly to your peace. Also, I heard something useful about Gray Hand."

That pulled Neo’s attention in properly.

Alice’s too.

Snot caught it at once and looked far too pleased with himself. "There we go. I knew that would work better than saying hello like a normal person."

"You could’ve started with that," Neo said.

"And miss the satisfaction? Never." Snot pushed off the frame and folded his arms. The grin stayed, but only halfway now. "Tomorrow, we meet. We go over everything we know, what we don’t know, what we can fix before the test, and what’s probably going to screw us if we walk in unprepared."

Alice tilted her head slightly. "You found out something important?"

"Important enough," Snot said. "Enough that I’m not in the mood to joke about it for long."

That was new.

Neo noticed it immediately.

Snot always joked. Even when he was nervous. Even when he was angry. When he started trimming the nonsense on his own, it usually meant the thing underneath had teeth.

"Fine," Neo said. "Tomorrow."

Snot nodded once. "Good. We’ve had enough rest. From here on, we prepare properly."

Alice gave a small nod. "Tomorrow, then."

Snot stepped back into the apartment. "Tomorrow."

Neo and Alice turned toward the stairs. Behind them, the door shut with a muted click, and the sound followed them down the hall while Neo’s mind had already gone somewhere else.

Gray Hand.

The test. The people trying for it. The ones already inside. The ones he’d have to outgrow fast if he wanted any real shot at that Ruin.