The Strength of a Soldier: Male Reader x Pyrrha Nikos (Part I)

Chapter XVII: Haunted

Pyrrha didn't speak to (F/N) for the next couple days. She wasn't sure she could ever talk to him again, knowing what she did. He'd admitted to killing someone. What was worse, he'd admitted to killing more than one. Pyrrha had thought about asking how many but she thought if he'd told her she might not be able to take it. Still, not knowing might have been even worse. When (F/N) had first told her what he had done she was horrified. Now, after recovering from the initial shock, she was conflicted. Confused. Part of her didn't want anything to do with (F/N) anymore, but at the same time she still felt herself being pulled towards him. Everything she had seen had suggested that (F/N) was kind, loving, and extremely gentle. He abhorred violence and found beauty in everything and everyone, no matter how flawed. Despite everything he had seen, he still believed there was more good in the world than bad. And yet, despite treasuring life, he had admitted to her that he had destroyed it. Pyrrha didn't know what to do. Her instincts told her (F/N) was safe, and her heart longed to be near him, but she simply couldn't get the idea of (F/N) murdering someone out of her head. So she pushed him away.

Without her company, (F/N) started to isolate himself. He would sit alone at lunch, and during classes he sat as far back and in the shadows as he could. When classes ended, he swiftly returned to his room, locking the door and shutting the curtains. The nightmares were worse than ever. Even when he was awake, all he could see was red. His head was constantly filled with the sounds of gunfire and screaming, the smell of dead bodies lingering in his nostrils. In the middle of one of Oobleck's lectures a particularly nasty memory flashed before his eyes. His body jerked and he'd accidentally gripped the table so hard it shattered. Muttering an inaudible apology, he ducked out of the classroom.

Combat class became the worst part of his day. Filled with the constant sound of gunfire and other loud noises, it made him jumpy and paranoid. Goodwitch, displeased with (F/N)'s lack of attention, called him to the front of the class for a match against Ruby. Not even a minute into the fight, as Ruby rushed him with her scythe, (F/N) got a flash of an enemy soldier rushing him with a machete. When his vision refocused he saw Ruby lying on the floor, whimpering in pain as her aura flickered. Her teammates and Professor Goodwitch rushed to her side to see if she was okay. Horrified, (F/N) took a step forward but was confronted by an angry Yang.

"What the hell's wrong with you?!" She shouted in his face. "You could have killed her!"

"I-I..."

"You what?!" Yang screamed angrily, her eyes glowing red. "Well?!"

Slowly backing away, he turned and ran to the safety of his room. Curtains closed, lights off, he huddled into a ball in the corner of his room, clutching the back of his head.

It was on the fifth day of his absence that there came a knock on his door. Not waiting for a response, the visitor opened it and stepped inside, light from the hall illuminating the dark room.

"Mr. (L/N)." Professor Ozpin says from the door. "Please come with me."

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"I mean, what the hell was he thinking?" Yang asks her teammates angrily.

Following her match with (F/N), Ruby had been taken to Beacon's medical wing, her bottom two ribs broken. It was just recently that she had been released, her aura helping to expedite the healing process, though she was still extremely tender. Her teammates were currently escorting her through Beacon's many courtyards and back to their room.

"Yang," Ruby begs for what feels like the one-hundredth time, "stop blaming him. It wasn't his fault."

"I can't believe you're standing up for him." Weiss says disbelievingly. "I mean, he broke your ribs."